Summary: The rescue team arrives. But are they already to late?
This morning in Mictlan Temple
Nemu had been awake for an hour before the usual arrival time of her breakfast. As expected, her escape attempt had drained her completely and left her confined to bed for a few days. She had been ministered by Patecatl and Mayahuel on rotating shifts. She had actually grown fond of the eccentric couple. Even with their help, she had only recently been able to walk without assistance. In the low spirit particle environment she was in, recovering took a long time. In her mind, she went over the corridors and tunnels she had run through with perfect recall. Her mental map of where she had been was complete. She could made educated guesses of where her men were held and where the nearest exits were located. She planned how she was going to make her next move, what resources she could use from her surroundings and how she was going to lead her men to freedom. All she needed was enough time to regain her strength. Now it was too late.
"Good morning Lieutenant." The young girl said. "Today's the big day. We made you an extra large breakfast since it'll be a while before you can eat again."
For the past week a different girl had attended her needs every day. She supposed this was to prevent her forming a bond and possibly using it to her advantage. She didn't know this girl or the ones that followed her in.
"Why are there four of you today?" she asked.
The girl carrying the food answered. "We're going to help you get ready. You are to be bathed and perfumed and dressed for the ceremony."
"Look at this." Another girl said holding up a beautifully embroidered white blouse. "Isn't it gorgeous?"
"I have your jewelry." The third girl said. She held up huge gold earrings and an assortment of finely crafted necklaces and bracelets. "And you get to keep it all."
"It's such an honor to be selected for the emperor's household." The last girl said. "I really envy you. I wish we could switch places."
"I accept." Nemu said. "You may take my place."
The girls all giggled at her.
"You're funny." The first girl said. "Please eat your breakfast and we'll get your bath ready.
This morning in Seireitei
Captain-Commander Yamamoto stood on a wooden platform overlooking the assembled teams with the other captains behind him. All were in attendance with the exception of Zaraki Kenpachi who would be going with his entire division. In the background, three large gates were open and glowing, ready to transport them to the strange new dimension. The Captain-Commander held up a hand to let the men below know he was about to speak.
"Shinigami of the Gotei 13. Today you embark on a historic mission. Never before have we attempted a rescue effort of his scope and size. For this reason, you are all here as volunteers. You are here because you believe in what you are about to do and are prepared to sacrifice your life if necessary to do what is right. I am proud of all of you. Believe me when I say nothing could change that opinion. So if you may have changed your mind, if you feel you no longer believe in this mission, I am giving you the opportunity to drop out now. This is a hard mission with a very real chance of failure and death. It is only fair as volunteers that you be given every opportunity to reconsider. Again, there is no dishonor and no one, not even myself, will think badly of you if you back out now. This is your last chance. If you wish to drop out, leave the formation at this time."
No one moved except for one man in the front row. With a relieved smile, he took a step backwards and executed a left face to exit the formation.
Captain Soifon snarled as she shouted, "Hold it fat ass! Where the hell do you think you're going?"
"Captain." Lieutenant Omaeda Marechiyo whined. "The commander said I could go."
"Bullshit!" she shot back. "You will NOT disgrace me by chickening out to save your worthless hide. Get back in formation lardo!"
Whimpering under his breath, Omaeda slunk back into position.
Soifon glared at him until he was back in position. Once he was more or less in place, the Captain-Commander addressed the formation for the last time.
"Shinigami, I salute you. Good luck to you all!"
With a cheer, the teams marched towards their respective gates. One skinny young man came running up behind them.
"I can't believe it! I overslept! I'm late!"
Seventh seat Yamada Hanataro knew he was going to be in big trouble if he wasn't in place when they arrived at the new dimension.
"Excuse me." He said as he approached the nearest group.
"I'm supposed to be with the team setting up aid station six. Where am I supposed to go?"
He was ignored.
"Hey, somebody? A little help?"
He pulled on the sleeve of one person passing by.
"Excuse me? I don't know where I should be right now."
"Hey, go bother somebody else." The man said as he pulled his sleeve away.
Oh dear. I'm in for it now. Hanataro thought. I'll just have to do the best I can. Looking around, he picked a direction and followed the nearest team though the gate.
Uryuu made one last check of his equipment as his team approached the gate. He has several Seele Schneider on his belt and various ginto, tubes of stored energy, in hidden pockets in his uniform. The one thing that felt out of place was a green flare all Team One members were issued. It hung off his belt on the left hand side. He had to remember if he was the last one to leave, he had to signal the rest of the teams for the operation to be a success. He hoped it everything went as planned. Looking around, he could see the same focused, slightly nervous look on all his friends' faces. Everyone was mentally preparing for what would come next. Though it was totally unnecessary, he took a deep breath before entering the glowing portal. This is it. He thought. We're coming to get you Nemu.
Mictlan Temple
The girls were very satisfied with their work.
"Just look at you!" one said. "You really look like a princess already!"
Nemu had submitted to their ministrations with good grace, not seeing any point in making things hard for the girls. They had combed out her usual braid so her hair hung long and straight down her back. She wore a turquoise studded headband with green and yellow feathers in a fan at the back. Huge gold disk earrings served to frame her face which her handlers had made up with a blue stripe across her eyes and cheekbones. A striped radial pattern, representing the rising sun was drawn on her chin. Her neck was draped with gold necklaces resting over the white embroidered blouse she has seen earlier. A colorful sash cinched it tight around her waist over a gaily embroidered skirt depicting various gods smiting and eating people. To top it off, she even wore gold beaded sandals, allowed by law only to royalty.
"Now we are to take you to the high priest for blessings and instruction."
"Yes." Nemu said. "I am ready."
As soon as she had been able to walk, she had quickly determined that two guards were always stationed at her door. She looked down at her hands that were now covered in solid gold rings and bracelets. She wondered how fast she could get rid of them. Movement gave her the best opportunity for another escape attempt. She would follow the girls out of the corridor, wait until the guards were parallel to her, then drop the right hand one with a stamp kick to the side of the knee. As the left hand guard turned to respond, she would take him out with a solar plexus strike, then run. She could not afford to use shunpo, it would be too draining. While she ran, she planned to get rid of as much of the annoying, inconvenient finery as she could. Smiling and giggling, the girls opened the door and gestured for her to exit first. Nemu was glad. That would make it even easier to run away. With no one in front of her, she may not even have to waste time taking out the guards. As she walked out the door, she realized all of her plans were futile. The hallway was packed wall to wall with strong men. Some had clubs. Some had ropes. None were smiling, except for the man in the back with the broad black and yellow stripes painted across his face. The man she now knew as high priest Tezcatlipoca.
The Outskirts of Mictlan.
The pathfinder from the second division had led them to an abandoned field.
"This is as close as you can get to the city without being cloaked." He said. "I will leave you now and meet with my division for our mission."
"Our thanks." Shuhei said. "We can take it from here."
The second division member nodded and disappeared.
Shuhei turned to the rest of the team.
"Alright everybody. Pass the word down. From this point forward hide your reiatsu and no loud noises. Do a head count and make sure everyone's accounted for. Review the map one last time. We leave in fifteen minutes."
As Team One had to be small but powerful, almost all the lieutenants were there with only a few handpicked lower seats backing them up. It still made for a fairly large group.
"You'll travel with me Yasutora-san" Kira said to Chad.
"And I'm traveling with you." Renji said to Uryuu.
Suddenly everybody froze as a voice filled with outrage yelled out.
"Rukia!" Ichigo held up his reiatsu suppression suit. "What the hell did you do?"
"What do you mean, what did I do?" She replied. "How do you know I did anything?"
"Who the hell else would draw something like this?"
He held up the hood attachment which now had a large smiling bunny face drawn on it.
"Your suit was boring." She said. "I made it look cute."
"Cute!" Ichigo said. "I don't need to go into combat looking cute!"
"Nobody's going to see us, we'll be cloaked." She replied. "I didn't hurt anything."
Ichigo was beginning to get very red in the face. "Look you little…"
"Kurosaki!" Shuhei hissed. "Stop your arguing before you give away our position. You only have ten minutes left before we move out."
"Yeah Ichigo, " Renji said. "Lighten up. We've got more important things to worry about."
Ichigo grumbled as he put on the suit with bad grace.
Uryuu, like everyone else on the team, looked away and tried not to laugh at the comical sight of Ichigo in his modified suit.
Bunny designs or not, it got the job done. Even with Ichigo's monstrously powerful reiatsu, he was undetectable once he had the suit on. Urahara had come through once again.
"Time." Shuhei said. "Let's move out."
"I am so going to kill you when we get back." Bunny Ichigo said.
"Oh hush." Rukia said. "You look great. Now since I have to cloak both of us, you need to stay close."
Taking Ichigo's hands, she put them firmly around her waist. "Be sure to keep up and don't trip. They can't see us, but they will be able to hear and feel us."
Closing her eyes to concentrate, Rukia and Ichigo soon disappeared.
"Our turn Ishida-san." Renji said.
Somewhat embarrassed, Uryuu approached Renji and put his hands around his waist.
"Uh, Ishida-san. You don't need to do that." Renji said. "You just have to stay within about a meter of me at all times."
"Huh?" Uryuu was confused. "But Ichigo and Kuchiki-san…"
"Yeah." Renji said. "I know."
Uryuu took a step back as Renji concentrated. A slightly rippling bubble formed around them. The world looked like it was underwater. Gesturing for silence, Renji took the lead as they headed out. In ones and twos, the rest of the team followed suit.
"Harunobu-san, is that you?"
Ogido Harunobu, 8th seat of the fourth division, started when he heard his name called out. Who would be looking for him here? Looking towards where the voice was coming from, he soon spotted a thin young man wearing the characteristic medicine pack of a fellow fourth division member on his back.
"Hanataro?" Ogido asked. "What are you doing here?"
Hanataro's face was red with embarrassment and he gestured awkwardly as he tried to explain.
"Uh, well, I, uh kinda overslept and when I got to the gates nobody would help me and, uh, I couldn't find my team…"
"OK, OK, I get the picture." Ogido said. "So now what are you going to do?"
"I don't suppose you can show me to where I'm supposed to be?" Hanataro asked.
"No." Ogido replied. "We're too far away and on the opposite side of town. I guess you'll have to stick with me."
"Oh, sure, uh, thanks Harunobu-san." Hanataro was visibly relieved, but only for a moment. "Hey, wait. Isn't your team going directly into combat?"
Another shinigami approached them.
"Shuhei said to pass the word. We're to move out now."
"Well, no more time to discuss things." Ogido said. "Hide your reiatsu and follow me after we cloak."
Hanataro's doubts were written large across his frightened features, bur he followed his new team just the same.
Mictlan Temple
Over the years, the empire had stopped expanding primarily through conquest and started growing through alliances. Wars still happened on the outskirts, but intermarriages, treaties and tribute held the empire together. The amphitheater surrounding the temple was a riot of color as nobles jockeyed for position in the stands based on their rank and position at the court. Their entourages were filled with minstrels, courtiers and bodyguards. Everyone in attendance was tied to the emperor in some way. Some of the royal families had provided concubines for his harem not only to help him gain an heir but also in an attempt to strengthen their ties to the royal house. A prince with blood ties to their clan would be very advantageous. Some were not happy this strange foreigner was taking that opportunity away. If she and her child survived, they would have to watch their step at the royal court. Accidents happen you know.
As the sundial reached the noon hour, the platform at the top of the pyramid stirred to life. Built into the side of the mountain, the tunnel system had a door at the top of the pyramid. Two priests came out onto the platform and blew conch shells, trumpeting in unison over the crowd. A band started up with percussion instruments and flutes. More people came out onto the platform in a single file. As they reached the center, they turned to either the left or right taking up their positions. Several led prisoners by a rope around their neck. Their hands were tied behind their backs and their feet hobbled so they could only step forward a foot at a time. They were haggard with fatigue and abuse. Their jailers had not been kind. They were led to stand behind the altar. Their sacrifice was a key part of the ceremony. Finally, the unmistakable form of high priest Tezcatlipoca, limping along on his wooden foot, leaning on his stick, came into view. He walked right up to the edge of the platform just as the music stopped. He held up his hands and the ritual began. He spoke the holy words, the sacred words of blessing. They replied with the affirmations, the responses that rewrote the words onto their hearts. The ritual was comforting in its familiarity as they asked the gods to hear them and bless their ceremony. As it concluded Tezcatlipoca looked down upon his people. He had a good feeling about this.
He called out "People of the empire of Mictlan. I bring to you a new hope. For too long, we have seen our emperor suffer from the curse of childlessness. We have lived in fear of the royal line coming to an end. No more! The gods in their compassion have given us a new bloodline strong enough to bear the next heir to the throne. People of Mictlan, I give you Princess Lieutenant Kurotsuchi Nemu of the tribe of Gotei 13!"
Priests again blew on conch shells as Nemu stepped out onto the platform. The crowd gasped. In addition to her fine clothes and jewelry, her unusual foreign features made her look doll-like. The looks of admiration soon turned to puzzlement as they noticed her other accessories. Her hands were bound in front of her and tied to ropes around her ankles much like the prisoners. She also had a rope around her neck tied to a pole held by a very large warrior. After everyone had a good look at her, she was led to a scaffold that had been built next to the altar. There, her ropes were cut and she was carefully tied to the scaffold by her hands, feet, neck and even a strap across her forehead. The whispering among the confused crowd was starting to get noisy. This was not how the last few ceremonies had gone at all.
Things went back to normal as from the other side, the large ceremonial gates of the amphitheater shook with three powerful blows, boom, boom, boom. This signaled the arrival of the Emperor Mictlantecuhtl. The gates were opened and with great fanfare, the royal procession entered. First was the queen Mictecacihuatl, surrounded by a retinue of handmaidens. She was resplendent in a flowing headdress and blue cotton gown. Her face was regal and calm, with an underlying hint of sadness. She was well loved by the people and everyone felt badly that she was barren. Next came the imperial heralds. They strode into the stadium, singing praises and recounting the great deeds of the mighty Emperor Mictlantecuhtl. They were followed by a phalanx of the emperor's elite jaguar guards. They looked neither left nor right as they marched in, their macuahuitl, obsidian embedded clubs, at the ready. They formed two lines and spread out to make a living barrier between the people on the stands and the floor of the arena. Queen Mictecacihuatl was guided by an official to the royal box where she would watch the rest of the ceremony. Finally, the band started up again as Emperor Mictlantecuhtl made his entrance. He rode in a sedan chair carried by four huge slaves. His headdress had a base of solid gold with feathers streaming down the back. His cape was blue cotton embroidered with gold threads depicting his great deeds. He carried a ceremonial macuahuitl encrusted with precious stones. His jewelry was all gold with precious stones embedded, from his earrings to his bracelets, even his nose ring. His face was painted in a skull pattern. The people murmured in awe as his chair was set down and he stood to his full two meter height. Tezcatlipoca turned to order the first prisoner to be placed on the altar. As soon as Emperor Mictlantecuhtl climbed the stairs, the sacrifices would begin.
Patecatl felt a great deal of pride as he watched the proceedings. He'd done it! He managed to heal the foreign princess and keep his heart in his rib cage. Even better, he'd received good seats as part of his reward. As he watched the emperor get up from his sedan chair, he heard a muffled sob next to him. He looked over to see his wife Mayahuel wiping her face with a cotton cloth.
"What are you crying about woman?" he asked. "Everything turned out all right."
"I'm crying because I'm happy." She said.
He looked at her like she was crazy. "Happy? Why would you cry over being happy? No, scratch that, what are you happy about? For the emperor?"
"No." she said. She pointed up to the platform where Nemu was tied. "After taking care of her for so long, it's like watching my own daughter being married."
She broke down into heavy sobbing. "She looks so beautiful!"
Patecatl didn't know what to do. True she had cried when their sons had been married, but not like this. She seemed really worked up. He tried patting her shoulder.
"There, there." He said.
She turned and hit him with her now wet handkerchief.
"Why didn't we have any daughters?" she wailed. "Why did you give me nothing but big clumsy boys?"
Now that hurt, Patecatl thought. "It's not like you really get a choice dear."
"I want a baby girl!" Mayahuel cried.
"Well it's too late for that now." Her husband said.
"I know." She replied. "That's why this is just like watching my own daughter. This is as close as I'll ever get."
She then sobbed harder than ever. Patecatl threw up his hands. What can you do? He thought.
If she hadn't been tied up, Nemu would have kicked herself. She had objected strongly when it had been explained to her how the ceremony would go. The emperor would climb up to the top of the pyramid, a place reserved normally only for priests and sacrifices. There, after some blessings and words from the high priest, her men would be sacrificed on the altar, their spiritual energy converted to some kind of liquid and collected into a large ceremonial cup. She and the emperor would drink from the cup, share in the flesh of the sacrifices and voilà, she would be an honored member of the imperial household. Simple. When she told them what they could do with their simple ceremony, they came up with the solution of making her go through with it. If she wouldn't consume her subordinates willingly, they'd force the vile substances down her throat. They couldn't understand what she was objecting to. If she had only played along, she thought as she strained against her bonds, she may be standing free now, ready to take some kind of action. Then again, maybe not. Tezcatlipoca seemed to be a very cagey opponent. If she had agreed to cooperate, he probably would have seen it for the ruse it was. She wasn't giving up. Her mind raced as she looked for a possible solution. In the back of her head, she also came to terms with the fact there may be no solution. She sighed. If her wedding was like this, she hated to think how the honeymoon would go.
Sneaking in as best they could, the shinigami ironically found the best way in was the emperors own party. As they had to avoid making a sound or touching people, following in the emperor's wake was the easiest way to stay away from the crowd. While they couldn't see each other, you could catch the occasional shimmer of their cloaking field if you looked carefully. Still, the hours of practice from the day before really paid off. As they entered the stadium, they kept walking past the entourage who had stopped to let the emperor out of his chair. Uryuu could not help but be impressed as they walked by him. A large man physically, he also gave off waves of power.
This brute might even give Kenpachi a run for his money. Uryuu thought.
Facing forward again, he nearly bumped into Renji. For some reason, he had stopped moving. Never good at kido, Reji had been red faced with concentration the whole way up. Moving around to see his face, Uryuu spotted the trouble. A large horse fly was on Renji's upper lip. It had already bit him and blood dripped down into his mouth. He couldn't swat it without making noise and the fly ignored his waving hands. Steeling himself to touch the loathsome creature, Uryuu prepared to grab it and pinch it to death. Closer and closer his hand reached out to the fly. It still didn't move. Renji manfully ignored the torment and maintained their cloaking shield. Just as Uryuu's fingers were about to close on the creature, the unthinkable happened. The fly crawled right into Renji's nose! Renji couldn't help it. He sneezed.
"Watchoo!"
Everyone in earshot turned towards the loud sneeze. One of those people was Emperor Mictlantecuhtl. With an angry frown, he raised his macuahuitl and struck the ground sending a shockwave of power across the ground. The cloaking fields of the infiltrating shinigami shorted out, leaving them all exposed.
Renji looked around at the scowling faces surrounding of him.
"Uh, friends of the bride?" he said.
Mictlantecuhtl pointed at the intruders. "Seize them!"
"Hey ugly!" Someone said in a muffled voice. "Why don't you try me on for size?"
The emperor turned to see a strange man in a tan suit with a hideous long eared totem drawn on his mask. He could feel power surge from the strange figure as he began to glow. The tan cloth tore away revealing an orange haired man in black robes holding an unusual weapon.
"I object to this wedding!" he said.
Bringing his own considerable power to bear, the emperor engaged the unruly wedding crasher personally.
"Do you feel that?" Ikkaku asked.
"Yes." Yumichika replied. "I'm not sure but it feels like…"
"Ichigo." Kenpachi finished.
"He's fighting already?" Ikkau said. "That's not in the plan. What's happening over there?"
Kenpachi didn't need to ask. He already knew what was happening. Their plan was going to hell. Already through the watery disruption of the cloaking shield he could see warriors from the army they were supposed to engage grabbing their weapons and heading out towards the temple. He had to take action now.
"Get your shit together boys." He shouted. "We're moving out!" He turned his head to his ever present shoulder ornament.
"Yachiru, you find someplace safe. It's about to get messy."
"You got it Ken-chan!" she said. She leaped off his back and scurried away.
Kenpachi pointed at the nearest Kido corps member. "You! Magic boy! Drop the shield."
"But, sir." He replied, "We haven't received the signal."
Kenpachi scowled at him. "I didn't ask for your damned opinion, I gave you an order. Now drop that damned shield!"
"Y y yes sir!" The man replied. He signaled to the other members of his corps who allowed the cloaking shield to fall.
Kenpachi drew his sword and swung it towards the enemy camp. "Eleventh division! Attack!"
Howling with bloodlust, the man of Zaraki's division fell upon the confused enemy. They had no idea where this army of black clad madmen had come from.
It was not the distraction they had intended to provide, Kenpachi thought. Team One was still going to have to deal with the nobility and their men in the stadium. Distracting the army outside was the best he could do. As he swung his sword down on his first opponent, he hoped it was enough.
"What the hell?" Lieutenant Omaeda said. "Why are they attacking? We haven't finished destroying all these disruptors yet."
As second in command of the second division, he was supervising the dismantling of the strange devices that prevented them from opening gates within city limits.
"What should we do lieutenant" one asked.
"Keep working." Omaeda said. "We have to clear the way for their escape."
Mine too, he thought. He'd retreat right now if he wasn't terrified of the thought of what Captain Soifon would do to him if he failed in his mission. He had his future children to think of!
"Faster!" he ordered. "The sooner we're done, the sooner we get out of here!"
Shinigami! Nemu thought.
She could feel the reiatsu of several shinigami nearby. While she was facing the audience, with her head bound to the scaffolding, she couldn't look down. She was sure she detected several lieutenants below. Her heart swelled with hope and joy. They had come for her! There was no reason for her to expect a rescue. It was against Soul Society doctrine. But they had still come for her. She was almost overloaded by the wave of reiatsu from Ichigo. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tezcatlipoca organizing the priests. They formed a line at the edge of the platform and fired spells down at the shinigami below.
Uryuu stood at Renji's back as the enemy closed in from all sides.
Shuhei shouted orders as he moved towards the center of the arena floor.
"Rally up on me! Once we're together we head for the stairs!"
Renji struck down anyone who came close while Uryuu concentrated on picking off distant threats. With the low spirit energy of their surroundings, he was having trouble forming even one arrow at a time. It was a surprise when colored light and explosions rained down on them from above.
"Argh!" Kira yelled as a bolt struck him.
Chad picked him up and carried him out of harm's way.
"Ishida, can you hit those guys?" Renji gestured with his sword towards the top of the pyramid.
Uryuu could see who was firing at them now. Drawing his bow, he managed to hit one, but soon they started taking cover by stepping back from the edged coming forward only to fire, then ducking back again.
"It's no good." He shouted. "They have the high ground. They can keep this up all day unless I can get higher."
"Higher ground coming up!" Renji said. "Bankai!"
With a powerful explosion, Zabimaru took its final form.
"Hop on!" Renji shouted. 'I can't do much more than this and I'm not sure how long I can hold it."
Uryuu tried not to think about the strangeness of the situation as he mounted the zampakuto's skull-like head. He had more important things to worry about.
Try hiding from me now! He thought as he rose into the sky.
Nemu struggled to get her head free from the restraints. She desperately wanted to see what was going on. She could feel the ebb and flow of reiatsu as the shinigami below fought against the Mictlan warriors. If only there was some way she could help! The burst of power from Renji going bankai was unmistakable. It was no surprise to see Zabimaru rise up above her eye level. What did surprise her was its rider. She locked eyes with him as he was lifted high above her.
"Uryuu?" she said.
Was that Nemu? Uryuu thought.
He could hardly recognize her in the native dress and face paint. He had to admit, she did look rather fetching. On a different, more shameful level, he also wanted to get a good look at her blouse. Even at this distance the fine embroidery stood out. He'd love to see an example of the stitching close up.
No, no. Now's not the time. He chided himself. Now was the time to rain fire on his enemies!
Not only could he engage everyone on the platform from his height, he could absorb energy from Zabimaru. Arrows sleeted from the sky double tapping every priest in sight.
Now who was this guy? Tezcatlipoca thought.
He wasn't wearing black like the rest. The high priest shielded himself as arrows rained down all around him. Sadly few of his priests had the presence of mind to do the same. Most of them went down with two arrows in their chests. Oddly enough, they didn't die. The strange archer seemed to be cutting off the centers that processed spiritual energy. They would live, but they would never work magic again.
"Take the prisoners back inside!" he shouted. "Get the girl!'
Uruu saw a man approach Nemu with his knive drawn.
Oh no you don't! He thought.
He fired arrows in their direction only to see them bounce off some kind of shield. He fired a steady stream at the shield and managed to crack it. The man went down. Another man tried to get to Nemu as well. As Uryuu confidently aimed at him, his footing suddenly became wobbly.
"Renji." He shouted. "What are you doing?"
"You're absorbing too much energy!" Renji shouted back. "I'm losing it!"
Losing it? Uryuu thought. He's losing his bankai? Uh oh.
"Quick, Renji. Put me down!"
It was too late. With a sick feeling in his stomach, the Quincy felt the bamboo serpent beneath his feet disappear and he began to fall.
Nemu watched in horror as Zabimaru faded out and the young man fell below her line of sight.
"Uryuu!" she screamed. A man cut the ropes holding her right hand. Quick as a snake, she seized him by the throat and began to squeeze. Before she could do much harm, Tezcatlipoca touched his walking stick to her temple. An arc of power sparked across her head and she fell limp.
That should keep her quiet for awhile. He thought.
"Get her out of here!" he ordered the priest who was still massaging his bruised throat.
The man nodded and went back to sawing at the girls bonds. Tezcatlipoca was going to take her to the safest place in his compound. He was damned if he was going to lose her now.
Fear of falling was one of the most primal fears humans have. It was almost a blessing when Uryuu landed in the middle of the melee. Seeing their intent, the imperial guard had formed in front of the temple steps to deny the shinigami their goal and prevent them from seizing the high ground. Uryuu landed right on top of one, breaking his fall. Fighting off the confusion of just where he was and ignoring the pain in his ribs from the impact, he looked up from his position on the ground to see he was totally surrounded. None of the faces he saw were shinigami.