14: Cat Fight

Well you've been waiting long enough. Here is the next chapter! Enjoy and review!

The weary group marched on through the eternally winding corridors. There seemed to be no end to them, stretching on into infinity. Ichigo cursed under his breath and took another tentative step forward, then another.

Just one step at a time...That's all I can do. I can feel it. I'm close!

After hours of fruitless marching they came upon a door, a large great iron door truly befitting of a palace. The group all looked to one another and nodded. With a great heave, Ichigo barged through the door and into a large hall beyond.

The walls were a dull blue/green, bathed in the dim light of the moon which broke through thin slits near the ceiling. Across the walls were small windows, only letting in enough light to see where you were going. At the end of the hall was another large iron door, like the one they had just passed through, no doubt leading deeper into Las Noches.

Ichigo set down his wounded companion and studied the empty room. He could hear sounds, faint sounds, so soft he could barely tell whether or not he was just imagining them. He glanced to the others with a frown.

"Do any of you hear something?" he asked.

"I hear nothing." Creed replied sharply.

"No..." Train groaned.

Sven stayed silent. Head still bowed. He had regained consciousness back in the corridors but his strength was still fleeting. He was trying to recuperate for the inevitable battles to come. He decided to refrain from moving and speaking, focusing silently upon the events which had transpired earlier.

Eve's betrayal had struck him harder than her blades ever could. He could not understand. Why? Why had she joined ranks with the Espada? Was she lonely? Afraid? Did she truly despise him for altering her path in life?

"Eve..." He muttered aloud.

"Oh shut up!"

All eyes were instantly on the door on the far end. The great portal swung open and a lone figure stomped into the hall. His face was indistinguishable from such a great distance, but he had striking blue hair and a voice as sharp as a blade.

Sven knew instantly who it was. How could he forget the man who very nearly took his life?

"Grimmjow!" He snarled.

Grimmjow strolled forward casually as if he was entirely unaware of the opponents assembled before him. He grinned mercilessly and twirled a hand about as he spoke, "Eve this, Eve that. Do you ever shut up? No wonder she hates you!"

"How dare you?" the sweeper roared, still shaking on his feet.

Grimmjow was amused. "Well, well, that perked you up didn't it? Ha! I never thought you would drag your sorry ass back for another beating! And hey it must be my lucky day because you brought some buddies with you!" He glared at Ichigo, "And you're here as well! It's like a family reunion isn't it? But soon enough it's going to be a funeral!"

"Where is Eve?" Sven demanded, taking a step towards the blue-haired psychopath.

"Huh? Your little girlie friend is just in there!" Grimmjow gestured back to the door he had passed through, "The cells are all back there. But if you wanna go get them you're gonna have to get past me first!" Without another word Grimmjow drew his sword. "Come! Let's get this party started!"

Ichigo moved to advance but felt something holding him back. He craned his neck over his shoulder to meet Sven's gaze. "Sven..."

"He's mine!" the veteran sweeper stepped forward, trembling as he did so. He leaned heavily on one leg, limping across the battlefield. He was in no condition to fight, but there was no convincing him to back down. This was a fight for his own honour, for Eve's honour. Sven deserved the right to duel his most hated foe.

Ichigo decided to lie in wait in case any more enemies decided to sneak up on them. If what Grimmjow had said was true, that the captives were held just beyond the hall, then surely they were at the heart of Las Noches. The Espada could ambush them at any moment if they had a mind to. They had to move fast. If Grimmjow held out long enough then reinforcements would arrive and it would be game over for them all.

"Alright, Sven! Let's do this! It would have been fun to hunt you down myself, but it's more fun to watch you stupid fools stick your head in the lion's mouth! I'll gladly end your dumb little quest and then it will be off to Soul Society to finish the rest of them off!"

"What?" Train gasped, "You mean...The war is..."

"We had originally planned on departing much later, a few months at least. However your little stunt has taught us something. The element of surprise is the greatest weapon. But greater still is having the numbers to back it up!"

"You don't mean-"

Grimmjow cackled like a hyena, "Your little raiding party is fucking useless! What can a measly four people do against such overwhelming forces? Nothing! But if Aizen were to send out his entire army at once then victory is assured!"

"You bastard! We won't let you reach Soul Society!" Ichigo roared.

"I don't need to. They've gang's already left!"

Before the startled group could react Grimmjow charged, racing across the open plain like a wild animal. Sven only just brought up his suit-case in time to guard against a ferocious upward slash from the madman. The force knocked him back a few steps and without time to counter Grimmjow launched his assault, hacking and slashing at the case with all he had.

"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! DIE! Die you stupid piece of shit!" The arrancar's voice was dripping with malice, assuming a beastly tone, unlike his previous calm. It seemed blood-lust had driven him wild.

Sven ducked under a horizontal slash rolled past the subsequent downward chop. Grimmjow spun on his heels and brought his sword around in a complete circle but Sven slammed the flat of his suitcase into the path of the blade, throwing him off guard and halting his maddening onslaught. With an opening at hand Sven moved in for the kill, bludgeoning the psychotic beast with his weaponised luggage carrier.

Grimmjow was sent flying, landing in a heap several metres away. He recovered quickly, crawling up onto all fours with his sword between his teeth. His eyes became alight with animalistic rage and with a bestial battle cry Grimmjow lunged for his prey.

Sven flicked the switch under the handle and a small gun barrel poked out of the side of his case. He pressed down on the trigger and a rain of lead pelted the baying blood-hound, throwing him back onto his haunches.

Once again he countered quickly, rushing off again without any hesitation. Sven had no choice but to dive out of harm's way as Grimmjow danced about like a lunatic, swinging his sword wildly. There was no predicting his movements and Sven soon found himself backed up against the wall. He flipped open the case and retrieved the two daggers from inside. As the beast moved closer he drove them both into his centre mass.

Grimmjow spluttered and snarled, stumbling back, the blades still embedded deep in his chest. His eyes darted about and his teeth gnashed uncontrollably in fit-like episodes.

"Sven, quickly! We can't waste any more time here!" Train called from the sidelines. He was clenching Hades within his white-knuckled hands just in case.

Meanwhile Sven was having trouble standing. His burst of adrenaline was wearing off and now he was getting dizzy. Everything was getting blurry but still he reached for the trigger of his case. He took careful aim, taking longer than usual to line up his shot with the wobbling blue smudge in his field of vision. He took his aim and pressed down on the trigger.

The blue smudge disappeared.

Sven felt hot breath misting across the back of his neck. He whirled around as fast as he could, but in doing so his head started spinning. He stumbled and fell on his back, dropping his weapon in the process. As a last resort he reached into his coat and drew his silver pistol but a vice-like grip enclosed around his wrist and wrenched it around behind his back.

Grimmjow growled like a caged lion, "That wasn't very nice! I forgot you liked to play dirty! I should have known you were hiding those damned toys in that case of yours!" The wild warrior pulled both blades out from his body and threw them aside. His fingers were soaked in his own blood which he lapped up like a cat would with milk. His grin only spread wider.

"That hurt you know! I'm gonna have to repay you for that little trick! How about an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth? Since you cut me and shot me, surely it's only fair that get to cut you in half!" Grimmjow raised his sword high but it was blown out of his hand.

Before he could find his intrusive assailant he was kicked hard in the side of the head and sent spinning across the battlefield. In his place, train stood protectively over his long-time friend.

"Don't over-do it next time Sven. You always used to get angry at me for doing that, I never thought I would have to remind you that!"

"Ha...I must be getting rusty then." Sven murmured.

"You've done your part. Let me finish this. Besides, I've got a bone to pick with this psychopath!" Train grinned as he brandished his trusty Hades in one hand and a glistening katana in the other. "Alright Grimmjow, you wanted a party! Well now it's my turn! Let's see how you like this!"

With a great battle-cry, Train raced off to meet his foe.

The beast leapt up onto his feet and stared down his new opponent. He licked his lips and smiled, eagerly awaiting his next bout.

Train brought his sword down with thunderous force, creating an earth-shattering shockwave which brought the room down around them. Grimmjow forced the young man off of him and dealt a vicious stab aimed at his stomach. Luckily Train managed to manoeuvre around it and swat the blade away with his gun. He sought to take advantage of the opening but Grimmjow merely let his sword fly out of his hand and used his bare fist to deal a powerful blow to his foe.

Train was rocked back by the impact and struggled to regain his footing. Grimmjow kept up the assault and smacked his elbow against the side of his head, spinning around 180 degrees before thrusting his back leg out. Train was knocked back further into the crumbling wall and as he struck the cracking piece of stone Grimmjow pounced, driving his shoulder into the flesh of Train's gut. The wall collapsed around them, raining large pieces of debris. Grimmjow just howled, the sound piercing the air and forcing everyone around him to cower.

The great howl even managed to break apart the falling boulders, reducing them to pebbles and dust which cascaded down around him as he laughed manically.

"Is this it? Is this all you've got? I haven't even released my ressureccion yet and you're already done for! Ha, and you thought you could bust in here and rescue the princesses? Fucking idiots!"

A small hand clasped around his collar and clenched. Train kept his head bowed as he growled, "You are the fool! You fight blindly, with no purpose. You have no heart to guide you. You are just a feral cat and nothing more!"

"Bah! What bullshit!" Grimmjow buried his knee in Train's mid-section with enough strength to lift him up off of the ground. The poor young man dropped to the floor with a heavy thud.

"You think you can beat me because you have a heart? Don't make me laugh! Your heart is nothing more than a weak spot! Don't spout such idealistic nonsense to me!"

"Fine..." Train grunted, "I see words are pointless to a brainless hunting dog. I'll just have to show you through force!"

"What was that?" Grimmjow snapped, only to be answered with a point-blank shot to the empty cavity where his heart would have been. Blood spurted out of the wound, spreading crimson stains further across his white uniform. He grit his teeth and snarled, preparing to counter-attack.

But Train was already one step ahead of him.

Swing his sword like a bat Train unleashed a mighty cry of defiance and hacked into his opponent's chest. A deep gash opened up and blood gushed out in thick red torrents. Grimmjow's eyes widened in shock and for a moment his grin faltered, but in a matter of seconds he was foaming at the mouth and cackling madly once again.

"Excellent! Excellent! Now this is fun!"

Grimmjow opened the palm of his hand and shot off a blast of blazing red energy. Train could not dodge it in time and was struck full force, thrown far across the battlefield to land in a heap in the corner. Grimmjow retrieved his sword and moved to hunt down his prey.

Meanwhile, standing away from the bloodbath was Creed, fixated on the two duelling warriors. One fought with the weakening ember of passion and the other fuelled by his malevolent thirst for death and destruction. One fought because he had to, the other fought because he wanted to, because he enjoyed it!

One had accepted battle as a necessary sacrifice to attain peace, the other saw violence as a game, a blood sport with highest of stakes, their very lives.

One combatant fought with determination in their eyes. An admirable glow, but entirely surpassed by the blazing fury of his opponent.

"Fascinating..." Creed whispered in a hushed whisper. He couldn't help but overhear a symphony in the back of his mind. They brought back bitter memories of a chapter of his past he wished to see never again repeated. He shook the damning thoughts from his head and returned his undivided attention to the fierce battle between two entirely different warriors.

Train had risen, merely to be knocked down flat again by the overwhelming power behind Grimmjow's sword swing. He quickly bounced back and pounced, arcing his own blade upwards in a high strike. Grimmjow backed away from the path of the sword and drew his weapon back, thrusting it forward with tremendous strength.

Train brought up Hades and used it as a shield, the blade bouncing off of the orichalcum encased pistol. As Grimmjow edge forward Train slid past him until he was standing behind the blue-haired fiend. He glanced off three rounds simultaneously but Grimmjow wrenched his blade around with lightning fast reflexes and slicesd each bullet in half. He immediately launched a counter and threw himself at the young warrior.

Train rolled onto his back and kicked out with his legs, throwing Grimmjow over his head and into the wall. He rolled about and flipped onto his feet, scanning the dusty wreckage for his foe.

Grimmjow burst forth from the rubble and hacked down on his opponent. Train brought up his sword just in time but was forced down on one knee by the astounding strength behind the impact. He struggled to hold Grimmjow off, but it seemed the arrancar's strength was overpowering his own. His own sword was pressed up against his throat, pressing down on his flesh.

Sweat poured down his face as train exerted all he could in pushing Grimmjow back. Amused at his efforts, his assailant doubled his own efforts and pushed down harder. Train's knee sank through the ground, breaking through under the stress. He was slowly getting pushed into the floor.

"Ugh! Help me! Don't just stand there!" Train cried to his companions.

Ichigo took a step forward but was blocked by the figure of Creed.

"I shall go."

Ichigo withdrew and squatted down beside Sven, checking up on him.

Train held off as best he could, listening to the pounding footsteps getting closer and closer with each passing second. The blades were digging into his throat now. He could feel blood trickling down to his collar bone. His hands were shaking, unable to hold out much longer.

The footsteps were only a few metres away now. So close.

Almost...

Grimmjow pushed down harder. Train felt the biting pain of steel as it bit down against his neck.

Hurry!

'Shunk!'

The blades against his throat dropped back.

Grimmjow backed away, his eyes wide. He looked utterly shocked. His chest was splattered in fresh blood, a promising sign. Train tried to laugh but instead of words, blood bubbled up out of his throat and oozed out between his lips and down his chin. Suddenly the room was spinning.

It was hard to stand.

Train dropped down onto both knees and glanced down at the bloodied piece of steel protruding from his stomach. He began to tremble, fear seizing hold.