Chapter 24

The dragon's length was coiled protectively around the boy's body. Getting past those loops would be a pain in the ass. Cold couldn't harm her much, but that said nothing about impact, which could. Her best bet would be to try to disrupt as much as she could, and get a strike in before he reformed the dragon.

As the head of the sword curled around after her, she buzzed forward, looping around him. She raised her left hand, targeting not the shinigami but his coiling defense. It was moving counter-clockwise, which meant she would intersect on his left guard, which was already wounded.

With a shout, she fired three bala with devastating precision, silently thankful for Grimmjow's insistence on learning how to target moving objects accurately with the attack. The compressed reiatsu bullets hit the spiral of ice in a vertical line, shattering it. Her crushing overhand blow was a smooth continuation of her trajectory; straight through the gap she had blasted. The shinigami was about to feel a lot of pain.

"BANKAI!"

So much for that thought. Her mace smashed into something with a resounding crack, but it wasn't the boy. It was a wall of ice. Still, the force of her strike was enough to penetrate through to the captain within. She felt it brush to a stop gently against a moving target. No damage, but… she activated an unholy rune, grinning as she unleashed her disease. She didn't have to break skin to inflict it.

Then the massive wall of ice moved unexpectedly, with unanticipated force, and in a trajectory she wasn't expecting. Her mace, caught in the hole of its own making, was wrenched from her grip as she was knocked end over end. The wall of ice revealed itself as a massive wing, one of a pair, unfurling. The boy within stood with sword still in hand, extremities encased in claws of ice. Her weapon was trapped within the massive wings still, the hole closing around it as fast as lightning. She didn't think he'd let her have it back.

She had to stop in her groping for another weapon to attempt to dodge the insanely fast sheet of ice that exploded towards her as the shinigami captain gave a flick of his wrist. Cold washed over her, and she felt her momentum cease. Seconds ticked by, then her prison of ice suddenly shattered.

Was that supposed to hurt her? She faced the boy with a laugh. "What was it you said about not knowing your enemy, boy?" She called across the distance separating them. The epithet seemed to infuriate him. He flew forward at her, sword raised.

A target approaching head on is far easier to hit than one taking a diagonal trajectory. She raised her empty hands.

"Cero!" She unleashed not only her reiatsu, but the runic energy she had already built up, standing with feet braced against the sky and hands together, straight out in front of her. Her cape flapped in a phantom wind as the red-black light flared from her palms, and with a tearing sound, blasted straight at the shinigami. It blared out, flaring in a beam which intersected itself in a hyperbolic point before flashing out of existence. Residual heat and billowing clouds of steam distorted the air for a moment. When the air cleared, she saw nothing.

Oh yeah, it was totally worth learning that ability.

A woman's shrill screaming curse echoed out as the cero hit. She glanced briefly to its source, only to find that Luppi had the voice's owner well in hand. Well, erm… tentacle. At the sight of the boy being hit by the cero, the woman began struggling violently.

Her opponent fallen or obliterated, she decided to retrieve her weapon first. Really, she had the most terrible luck keeping her weapons in her hands! She walked in the air over the brush directly below where the boy had flown, senses alert for signs of the mace.

She found the unexpected. The boy. Alive. His hair was singed, and he was looking a little charred, and he seemed to be shaking and feverish, but he was alive, and he still had his ice wings. Spotting her, he pulled his arms inward, angling the tip of his blade high.

"Sennen Hyōrō!" Huge pillars of ice rose up around her on all sides. Before she could react, he twisted his blade.

As the massive pillars came crushing in on her, encasing her once more in solid ice, she felt grudging respect for the canny boy. He'd clearly planned this attack, counting on her to either go investigate his fall or attempt to retrieve her weapon. The cold was nothing – she could freeze the very blood of her veins in order to increase her endurance. The crushing pressure was another matter.

As the prison of ice shattered, she allowed herself to fall into the brush. The boy took off for the sky, eager to save his comrades from the wrath of Tentacle Monster Luppi.

After a few seconds, she moved gingerly, taking stock of the damage. Her range of motion was severely limited – the armour had taken the brunt of the attack, deforming around her body and restraining her. A peculiar wheezing noise when she took a slow breath told her she'd suffered a punctured lung, probably from a broken rib. Or more than one. Fortunately she could go a while without really having to breathe. One of her legs was broken in at least two places; and she didn't think that was the only break she'd suffered. She pulled her helmet off – it was more of a danger than a protection right now, and stuffed it into one of her bags. The rest would have to wait until she got back to Las Noches. Hopefully she wouldn't need to borrow Szayel's arc cutter to get out of her armour.

Her arms were fine, though. Using reiatsu to help get herself to her feet, she reached into her pack. This was going to be a trip to the medics, no doubt, but it wasn't over yet. Her hands closed on Sanguiferrous's hilt. Yes, perhaps it was time…

Red rose in her vision as the sword's bloodlust filled her. She felt the sword's annoyance at the fact that she'd let herself become so injured. Yes, it was long past time for Sanguiferrous. This had to be decisive, this had to be quick. The longer she used it, the harder it would be to put the sword away when she had to.

The battlefield had changed; there were more players. Luppi had four shinigami engaged, including Icy. Wonderweiss and Yammi were dealing with Hat-and-Sandals. Off in the distance, she could feel the explosive power of Grimmjow and the Kurosaki kid… and a third presence she did not recognize.

It was time to reclaim her opponent from Luppi.

Vellena rose through the air, leaning on her Runeblade's hilt, marshalling her strength. Above her, she saw the icy captain of the tenth division slice through one of Luppi's tentacles, freeing the busty woman who had screamed for his safety. No one had noticed her. She raised her sword.

"I am not finished with you yet, Captain Hitsugaya." She said, forcing the words out unbroken. With a look of surprise stamped across his face, he turned towards her. Time seemed to slow – Sanguiferrous speeding her reactions. The blade wanted blood. With startling clarity, she saw the effects of her disease still gripping him, though he stoically attempted to suppress the fever raging through his body.

She smiled. And then, she struck. She wouldn't attack someone whose back was towards her, but he was aware of her presence. She did not hold back.

Hitsugaya never had a chance; with Sanguiferrous enhancing her speed, she hit him before he had fully realized she had moved, and kept on going. The long edge of her blade, glowing red with power, cut him from hip to shoulder. Blood sprayed, but did not fall to the ground. Instead, her blade consumed it as it arced through the air, transferring his health to her.

Her leg set, some of her wounds healed, as Sanguiferrous stole his blood and consumed the disease. It was not total regeneration. Her mobility was still reduced, and from the feel of it, her lung was still punctured.

"Captain!!!" The red-haired woman screamed. The boy sagged, clutching at his chest. Then he did something Vellena hadn't thought he was capable of. He turned to face her yet again. The cut she had delivered was vicious, and he would probably die from it if he didn't receive medical attention soon.

Shakily, he raised his sword, wings moving.

"Stand down, shinigami." Vellena growled, leaning on Sanguiferrous. "If you stop now, you will live. If you keep turning to me, you will die."

"I… cannot… fall… to… you…" he panted.

"Very well." She raised Sanguiferrous again. It would end here, now.

It did.

A golden light suddenly encased her, immobilizing her. Hitsugaya's eyes went wide, and she saw him mouth negación, heard his surprised whisper. Out of the sides of her eyes, she saw Luppi (who had somehow managed to lose his grip on his three shinigami), Yammi, and Wonderweiss encased in similar tubes of light.

"Mission accomplished?" Yammi grumped as they rose into the sky. Luppi was screaming threats. Wonderweiss was… apparently oblivious. The shinigami were staring at them with expressions almost as stunned as when the arrancar and the Death Knight had stepped through the garganta.

"My apologies, Captain Hitsugaya. It seems our fight is now over." Vellena said, fighting for enough breathe to speak. With enormous effort, she forced Sanguiferrous back into her bags. The sword did not want to go. But she wasn't so far into its thrall that she couldn't put it down.

Her erstwhile opponent's icy wings suddenly vanished, and he pitched forward. The red-headed woman caught him. Somehow, Vellena thought the boy might just live. Somehow, she kind of hoped so. He had fought valiantly.