It was when Rangiku Matsumoto felt a stinging pain in her chest that she knew something had gone horribly wrong. Something had happened to her Captain and when she thought back about the Espada's crazy eyes, she feared for the worst.

'Captain,' she whispered. 'Please come back.'

With her arms folded over one another, she started to nervously pace around, hoping the white-haired ice-boy would come from behind one of the trees any moment now.

When the Lieutenant heard a rustling behind the bushes around, she could feel her hopes rising, only to being crushed seconds later. It was now clear to her that her Captain had lost the fight and all she could wish for was that he was still alive.

'Found you, woman.'

The crazy blue eyes stared at her and soon after, the Espada's entire being was in front of the Lieutenant. She looked at him with fear and determination, ready to slay him, but also afraid of what had happened to her Captain.

'He really tried his hardest,' number six said. 'It's a shame he didn't survive.'

As he laughed in a maniacal manner, Matsumoto readied her Zanpaktou and attempted to cut the panther-like creature in front of her. He just did the same as before, and dodged with a single step to the left.

'You know,' he said while walking circles around her. 'I offered you quite a deal back in the Dangai; I even said I might let you live, but that ship has now sailed. I'm going to make you regret not accepting my offer.'

He took a step forward and grabbed the woman's hair, pulling her in. As he held onto her chin and took another look at her, the Lieutenant herself spoke two words that should have done her opponent some harm.

'Growl, Haineko!'

For a second, Grimmjow was genuinely surprised by the ashes encircling him, but as soon as he noticed the strength of the Lieutenant's Zanpaktou, he just laughed it off and charged towards her, pinning her to the ground.

'Nice try, but no,' he hissed. 'This is where you die, in the Soul Society, serving as my third subject and following the two Captains who died not so long ago.'

As much as Matsumoto tried to free herself from the panther's grip, there was nothing she could do against his monstrous strength. Even though she was nowhere ready to die, the thought of being reunited with her Captain made her fate more bearable.

'Now, let's see what you taste like woman. I'll-'

'Shoot to kill, Shinso.'

Suddenly, the Espada fell backwards, screaming and cursing until he recovered from the sudden attack. When he looked in front of him, the Lieutenant was gone. He looked around and found her standing on a tree branch, held tightly by the traitorous snake.

'You,' Grimmjow growled 'How are you alive?'

Gin quickly whispered something in Matsumoto's ear, after which she quickly disappeared. The snake leapt down and as soon as he was in front of the deviant, he slightly smiled; something he did not do very often.

'Let's just say there are creatures who are conducting way more advanced experiments than you are.' He said.

'I don't get what you're saying,' Grimmjow hissed.

Gin shook his head and laughed in a mocking manner.

'You really are thick, aren't you? There was another Captain in Hueco Mundo when you and I fought; we can call him the crazy scientist. He patched me up with his weird pills and injections and well, here I am. Does that clarify things for you?'

Grimmjow, who was now clearly agitated, showed his teeth and charged forward, but was unable to hit his opponent, for he had disappeared.

'My shunpo is impressive, isn't it?' Once again, Gin stood on one of the tree branches and waved at the Espada while grinning.

Grimmjow grounded his teeth and flew towards the snake with his claws ready to strike.

'I should have made sure you were dead,' he hissed. 'Oh well, now I get to sever your body again, that sounds like fun too!'

The former Captain didn't seem impressed by this statement and as soon as the Espada was in front of him, Gin put all of his weight into his opponent's ribs, causing one or two of them to crack instantly. Grimmjow harshly fell on the ground and before he could get up, Gin had pinned him down.

The snake obviously searched for something in his pockets and for a second, Grimmjow felt nervous, wondering what it was the former Captain needed. It would also give him a few seconds to catch his breath, for his broken ribs caused him more pain that he had expected.

'You aren't going to kill me?' He laughed, readying his claws once again.

'Oh, I am going to kill you,' Gin said with a smile. 'I just need to make sure you die a slow and painful death. Ah, here it is.'

Even though Grimmjow didn't really feel the needle that was being stuck into his arm, he did feel the nervousness arise again, for he did not know what had just been injected in his body. Not that it really mattered; the snake would die soon enough.

'What the fuck did you just do?' Grimmjow asked as he kicked Gin in the stomach and got up.

All Gin did was smile as he watched the panther's eyes get bigger.

'Dymethyltryptamine.'

'What are you blabbering about snake?'

'Dymethyltryptamine, that's what I gave you. It's a drug that was discovered in the human world, also known as DMT. It's a hallucination drug that will make you psychotic in about a minute. Do you see where I'm going with this, Adjuchas?'

The Espada could feel his body slowly being taken over by what apparently was said drug and he looked at his opponent, who was slowly starting to turn green. Also, the trees that surrounded the two suddenly started to take on a different form and a puddle of water next to the panther turned into thick red blood.

'Shit,' Grimmjow hissed. 'This isn't good.'

He turned towards the puddle and got on his knees beside it.

'It's blood,' he said quietly to himself. 'It looks tasty.'

Like a dog drinking out of its bowl, Grimmjow started to lick the water, smirking every time he tasted some.

'Is this your blood, Shinigami?'

Gin didn't answer and kept on staring at the scene unfolding before his eyes. When Mayuri had patched him up and had given him the needle, Gin had found it hard to believe that a simple drug created by humans would cause the Espada to hallucinate, but after the doctor had mentioned it would cause "mental destruction" he couldn't resist conducting in this little experiment of his own.

He took a few steps forward and looked at the blue-haired one, who was still drinking from the puddle. While waiting for the perfect moment, Gin positioned his Zanpaktou right above his opponent's tongue.

Then, when Grimmjow was ready to take another sip of the water, Gin only had to move his hand downwards and listen to the screams that were emerging from below.

Not only had he caused the Espada a serious amount of pain, but the tip of the sword that was pierced though his tongue also kept him in place, just outside of the puddle, for moving would cause for the panther to lose the muscle completely.

The blood which was flowing from the fresh wound mixed with the water, creating a scene that must have been hard for the panther to watch, because as soon as Gin released him from the tip of his sword, he shot backwards. His hands were pressed tightly against his temples and his eyes were forced shut.

'Snakes!' he yelled. 'There are giant purple snakes in the blood. What the fuck did you do to me?'

Gin had trouble to control his urge to laugh.

'I already told you what I did to you, there's no point in telling you again. By the way, I'm surprised you can still speak so clearly with that big wound in your tongue, isn't it almost coming off?'

Grimmjow kept on pressing one hand against his temple and with the other he created a cero as he searched for the snake.

'Where the hell are you hiding? Show yourself!'

Gin, who was right in front of him, readied his Zanpaktou again and took an offensive position.

'Shoot to kill, Shinso.'

Grimmjow flew backwards as soon as the blade had pierced his upper arm and was only stopped by the tree to which he got pinned. Once again, his screams filled the area as he could feel the bone being sliced in two.

'Fuck!' he yelled as he put his one free arm forward.

'Cero! Cero! CERO! Die, you filthy snake!'

As if it were nothing, Gin simply dodged the coming attacks and swiftly appeared behind the deviant, cutting the tree that was in his way. Grimmjow fell to his knees and looked behind him.

'There you are!' he screamed.

His mouth grabbed ahold of what he thought was Gin's ear and ripped it off, only to discover it tasted like wood.

'How dare you interfere with my experiment?' he asked rhetorically.

'Your experiment was doomed to fail from the beginning, you thickheaded idiot. An Espada can never grow more powerful from eating Shinigami, we are not like Hollows, you should have figured that out from the beginning.'

'What?'

'It's just as I said; we're not like Hollows, you can't gain anything from eating our flesh and bone. And now you have killed someone who is very dear to Matsumoto. Just for that, I will see upon your slow and painful death.'

Grimmjow stood straight and for the first time in this slightly unfair fight, he got to inflict some damage, for the Espada's claw scraped along Gin's torso, causing a small amount of blood to drip on the ground.

'I will kill you, just like I killed that ice-brat and after that, I will make sure that woman suffers even more than he did. Don't think that just because you drugged me that you can bea-'

The panther probably had more to say, more provocations to throw Gin's way, but unfortunately for him, he never got the chance. The snake had grabbed ahold of the blue-haired one's tongue and in one smooth movement, ripped it off, for it had already been severed during his previous attack on the muscle.

Even though the Espada could no longer speak clearly, he could still scream and just hearing the noises that left his mouth would make many creatures shudder with horror.

With a dull thud, Grimmjow fell to the ground on his knees and when Gin put his foot on said knees, he crushed the bones with a force that could only belong to a Captain.

The snake had expected for the panther to let out more desperate screams and found himself surprised when there was nothing but silence.

With a few broken ribs, a severed upper arm, crushed legs and his tongue ripped off, Grimmjow couldn't do much more than staying still. His body was covered in blood, mainly flowing from his mouth and when he made one final attempt to get up, he fell down immediately, coughing up the thick red fluid and pressing his hand against his head.

Looking at the convulsing being in front of him made Gin laugh in a maniacal matter not many had heard him do.

'Are you enjoying your psychotic trip?' Gin asked, knowing his opponent couldn't talk back.

All Grimmjow did, was stare at where he thought the snake stood, a few meters away from his original position.

Gin took a seat on one of the tree branches and looked at the final moments of the one who dared to oppose him, thinking about the irony that came with this victory. He had mentally destroyed death's aspect of destruction, the kind of destruction he had feared most.

'And so the snake poisoned the panther,' he whispered as he watched the Espada's final moments of suffering.

'There you are.'

Gin approached Matsumoto and put a hand on her shoulder as he crouched beside her, hoping she would soon cease her crying.

'It's all my fault,' the Lieutenant muttered. 'If I hadn't run away, I could have helped him and he would still be alive!'

As she stared at the wooden cross in front of her, tears kept on moistening the sand beneath her. Not only had she lost her Captain, but also a dear friend who had fought to protect her. It was more than the relatively young Lieutenant could handle.

'He ordered you to run, didn't he?'

Matsumoto nodded.

'Well then, he couldn't have died a more beautiful death; fighting for someone he deeply cared about. He has accomplished his goal; to save you. If you're not grateful for that, you'll trample on his sacrifice.'

The crying had stopped and with big eyes, Matsumoto stared at her childhood friend.

'Be thankful for what he did and live your life to the fullest, I'm sure he will be smiling upon you when he sees that.'

Upon those words, the Lieutenant started to show a slight smile and started to mumble her gratitude. Though Gin himself didn't really care about Captain Hitsugaya, he did care about the pain Matsumoto felt, for the promise he made her when they were kids was to make sure she would never have to cry again.

'I'm sorry,' he said. 'For everything I did to you. I may have not been able to take out Aizen, but if the Gotei 13 combines all forces, I'm sure we can kill him, we just have to. I will promise you again: I will change things, so that you don't have to cry anymore, Rangiku, I swear.'

~The End