TTGL: So this is the Heavens.
Chapter 14: Like hell I'm gonna let you sink my battleship!
A strange sound filled the air, like a distant roaring of an animal. The occasional squawk of a high-pitched bird punctured the deeper rumbling sound. The lack of a rhythmic thumping indicated that the Dai-Gurren was stationary.
With a groan, Kamina sat up slowly, his senses blurry. His entire body felt raw but the pain was a background sensation, a dull aching rather than sharp and intolerable. It took some effort but he managed to haul himself from the bed and limp across the room. A quick glance through a mirror confirmed that he was in rough shape, his skin a soar red colour, but none of his wounds remained.
Venturing through the narrow corridors of the battleship he was struck by the general lack of life. In his entire journey to the main deck he saw none of the usual bustle of shinigami. When he arrived on deck the reason became apparent.
The sun shone brilliantly down upon the Dai-Gurren. A cooling breeze drifted through the air, caressing the skin gently. Ahead of him sat an endless mass of startling azure that looked as though the sky had decided to become a physical material and had consumed the land. Crests of white foam broke against golden sand directly below them. A few gulls flew absently above.
"Hey, you're finally up." came a voice from his side. A moment later, Kenpi appeared next to him.
"Where are we?" breathed Kamina, amazement tingeing his voice. He'd never seen anything like the view before him.
"This? This is the sea. A vast expanse of saltwater that makes up a large part of both Earth and the Soul Society." Kenpi explained. Since you, Captain Abarai and Captain Kuchiki were all out of action with serious injuries we decided to hit the beach, allow you all a peaceful place to recover."
"Okay, I can understand that. My only remaining question is, why are you only wearing shorts?"
"This is the beach. You can't come here without wearing the proper attire."
"You mean your underwear?"
"Pretty much. Everyone does it, its tradition I suppose. There was a room in the Dai-Gurren that had boxes full of swimsuits. I've no idea how they got there but we put them to good use."
With this explained Kamina turned his mind to business. "How are Renji and Bayakuya?"
"Captain Abarai is fine. He's a bit battered but after a good rest he'll be fighting fit. Captain Kuchiki on the other hand is still in a comatose state. So that he didn't miss out though we carted him out onto deck." Kenpi motioned over his shoulder. Kamina looked over to see a heavily bandaged Byakuya laid out on the deck on a towel. His pale skin was growing red under the sun's light.
"Did anyone check up on that black gear?"
"Lieutenant Kurotsuchi examined the few remaining shards."
"She find anything out?"
"It was very interesting." replied a bland female voice directly behind him. Kamina hadn't heard anyone approach. He turned and nearly choked when he was confronted with a bikini clad Nemu.
"Are you okay?" she asked naively.
"I'm good. Just wasn't expecting such…bold clothing from someone so er…quiet."
"I was informed that this was the correct attire for the current situation. I would have preferred something more wholesome but the ship had none in stock. Several of the men suggested that this suited me best."
"Weren't you the one that built and stocked everything?" questioned Kenpi.
"That is correct." stated Nemu. "Due to the large amount of spiritual energy in such a confined and unnatural area, the ship appears to have developed its own form of life. Several of the spare rooms have already developed purposes. I believe that a swimming pool has formed in sector C."
"Awesome. I've always wanted a pool. Also, way to go Dai-Gurren. Nice taste in clothing." said Kamina with a grin. When he saw the blank look that the girl gave him he continued. "So what did you find out?"
"The gears have the same molecular structure as the new-type hollows. Technically speaking, the gear was a hollow. Its ability was to control anything that it connects to." she informed them.
Kamina turned away. "It doesn't matter what it is. When we find more, we'll deal with it then. For now, I believe its time to get these muscles moving again. Enjoy yourselves, Aizen's forces will still be their for us to kick around tomorrow." Without another word he dived off of the Dai-Gurren into the crystal water below.
He instantly regretted it. As his body hit the water his skin began to burn, the salt stinging his wounds like acid. Frantically he swam to the shore and threw himself upon the sand.
"You too, eh?" muttered a deep voice at his side. He turned his head to see Renji sprawled a few feet away. His skin and swim shorts still glistened with water. "How you feeling?"
"Until just now, fine. That water is corrupted or something."
"Hmm. I forgot that you've never seen the sea. The burning feeling is just the salt. It hurts, but it actually is good for injuries."
"Ah, you mean like what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger!" exclaimed Kamina before barrelling back into the water. He cried out in pain but laughed it off by creating a wave that splashed down upon Renji. He wasn't a good swimmer, having had very little water to practice in throughout his life but Kamina found that if he moved enough he managed to go the way he wanted.
He lazed in the water for a bit, watching as the other shinigami played ball on the beach or splashed around in the crystal sea. Despite all the chaos in the world at that moment, and all the losses they had suffered, they were all still able to take a day out and enjoy themselves. Humanities fighting spirit never ceased to amaze him.
This tranquil moment of reflection was shattered by a terrified scream. Kamina whipped around to see Clara's head disappear beneath the surface of the waters. The shinigami around her dived down but returned empty handed. Kamina had never dived before but he quickly found himself under the water and swimming at full speed to where the girl had vanished.
He caught a glimpse of green hair fading from sight and he increased his speed to catch up. Her face came into view, then her bikini clad body, then her legs. Kamina's speed doubled again when he saw that wrapped around her left leg was a large grey tentacle that was dragging her down.
Throwing punches was useless in the water, his movements dramatically slowed. Kamina tried to pull Clara out from its grasp but it made no difference. Changing tactic he grabbed hold of the tentacle and stabbed at it with his ever present shades. The sharp point ripped through the grey flesh causing the appendage to spasm and release the girl.
The lack of air and the ever growing water pressure had severely weakened Clara and Kamina wasn't feeling too good either. He wrapped an arm around her and swam upwards with all of his remaining strength, is sight narrowing every second and his mind growing more sluggish. As his vision finally blackened completely and his thoughts shut down, he vaguely felt hands grasping at his shoulders.
Both of their heads crested the surface. Kamina glanced to see Renji and Kenpi pulling them along. Kenpi took Clara and with her being lighter they reached the beach first. As she was being dragged across the sand, Kamina and Renji had only just reached the shallows.
There was a crash of water. Five of the thick feelers burst out of the sea and swayed menacingly in the light. They seemed to sight targets among the shinigami then lunge forward, smashing violently into the sand, gouging deep holes where they hit.
On the horizon appeared a mass of ships that began to fire cannons at the Dai-Gurren the second they came into range. Crewing them was a host of bandits.
"Everyone at the ready!" ordered Kamina before collapsing to the ground spewing out a lungful of saltwater. Sasori ran to his side with Gurren held in his hands and Kamina's cape over his shoulder. Kamina took them and stood at the host of a rapidly assembling force of swim suited warriors.
"We're sitting ducks here!" bellowed Kamina. "We need to get closer. Nemu, can the Dai-Gurren float?"
"Theoretically yes. It would not be advisable though without prior tests and modifications."
"Right! Everyone to the Dai-Gurren. Let's take the fight to them!"
The members of Dai-Gurren flooded aboard amidst a barrage of cannon balls and tentacles. Kamina himself slammed the forward gear into place and with a burst of sudden speed the battleship jerked them began to jog. Giant splashes erupted around its footfalls until the legs were completely submerged into the water.
"Get someone on the guns!" Kamina barked. "Aim for whatever those tentacles belong to. The ships we can take ourselves, just get us in close."
"Aye aye sir!"
Without a second of inaction he marched back out onto the deck and stood defiantly upon the prow. A tentacle lashed out at him but with movement he held his sword out before him, splitting the appendage so that each side passed to either side of him harmlessly.
The Dai-Gurren's cannons opened fire at the tentacles and water around it but the limbs were too quick to score many hits while the water reduced the rounds power so much that they wouldn't hurt whatever hellish creature lay beneath the waves.
Rounds from the enemy ships tore through the Dai-Gurren's armour while the octopus limbs lashed and rocked it. More than once the vessel threatened to tip into the whirling waters.
The battleship's arms grappled with the tentacles but were outnumbered. Even as it fought against several, more wrapped around its wide deck and lifted the entire construct out from the ocean and into the sky.
Kamina had remained upon the prow throughout this occurrence. Now he gazed down upon the enemy boats like he was a god while they were ants. His teeth gleamed as he got that look that meant that he had just thought of something crazy.
"We're gonna strike them like soaring eagles!"
Kenpi began to shout. "You don't seriously mean-"
"We're gonna jump! They won't know what hit 'em!"
"If we hit them from this height then they won't know what hit them as all that would be left of us would be nasty looking splat marks!" Kenpi tried to argue. It was too late though, Kamina had already drawn his sword.
"Onward, to victory!" he roared. Without pause, hesitation or any sign of fear he jumped. Using his cape as a type of parachute he guided himself toward the ships below. With great reluctance, several shinigami followed suit.
Renji stepped up to the edge and looked down. It was a very long drop. "This would be so much easier with my bankai. I could just ride down and wreck their ships. Of course though this happens on the occasion that I haven't recovered and can't use it. I blame Kamina, its gotta be his fault somehow or other." he muttered. With a sigh he hopped off the edge.
Far below upon one of the bandit ships stood two men. They gazed up at the dangling Dai-Gurren absently with little else to do except to comment on the procession of the battle.
"Looks like they're falling to a gruesome death now." commented the first. "Hitting the water from that height would be the mother of all belly-flops."
"Aye, and the ones that do survive will be easy pickings." summarised the second.
"Indeed."
"Hmmm. Is it just me or is there some kind of bird of prey up there too?"
"I do believe there is. May be its an eagle?"
"Naw, eagles don't have red wings like that."
"A Braviary perhaps? Its air speed velocity does seem somewhat of a variant though."
"I'm not sure but it is becoming frightfully big. I suppose it could be a-"
Kamina dropkicked him in the face. He rolled to absorb the landing and was instantly up, punching the other bandit clean overboard. Around the boats the other shinigami began to splash into the water using diving positions to avoid serious harm to their bodies. None managed the same distance as Kamina, but then none had a cool-ass cape to glide with.
The cannons opened fire again now that targets were within range. Shinigami darted through the water like fish as the metal balls crashed violently around them. Slowly they managed to swim to the ships and climb aboard where they stood a fighting chance. There was no organisation, just every man for himself.
This suited Kamina just fine though. He charged through his chosen ship, wrecking everything in his path. His sword flashed again and again as he cut through the defending bandits. Even in his weakened state the bandits were no match. He burst through the door that led to a command centre expecting another wave of attackers but the only occupant of the room was an elderly man whose white hair covered most of his features, his beard descending down his chest in a great wave.
"Hey, old man, who's in charge here?"
Without moving even slightly, the old man replied. "I am."
"How did you know we were here? You got some kind of tracker?"
"We did not know of your presence here. We were drawn by a powerful reitsu."
"Ha, you was drawn here by me then. My own power is a curse, its so hard being this awesome."
"Your power level is insignificant."
Kamina's eye twitched. "Fine, Renji and Byakuya. I know they pump out a lot."
"Now that they are near at hand their power has become apparent but they did not attain our notice until we were already here."
"Who then! Just answer the damn question!"
"What does it matter. You will be dead soon." stated the man. Throughout the entire conversation he hadn't moved. Kamina wasn't even sure that he was breathing. There was a click behind him and Kamina whipped around. There was no one there. He tried the door but it was now locked.
"Look old man. You might have been strong fifty years ago but you look ready to croak any second. Just attacking me is likely gonna give you a heart attack. Just give up control of the ship, unlock the door then go tie yourself up somewhere and we'll call it a day."
A dry, rasping laugh echoed out from the old man's throat. He stood with the slowness of a heavily arthritic sack of bones. As he gradually straightened up his beard parted, revealing a black gear within his chest cavity.
"Ah." grunted Kamina. He only now realised just how small and confined the room was.
The man began to grow, black veins spreading across his skin and warping his features and limbs. Unlike with Byakuya though it didn't stop there. The man continued to change until a large black hollow with spikes running across every inch of leathery skin and a large mane of tangled hair stood before him.
Kamina readied his sword. There was no room to dodge. His life came down to his skill with a sword and nothing else. "Bring it on."
The beast lunged forward with its sinister claws out at front ready to rip Kamina's face off but the man blocked easily. The hollow's strength sent Kamina flying back though, hitting the wall behind with force. Kamina had no time to recover before another talon clawed hand hit him across the small space into the opposite wall.
"I'm not a god damn Ping-Pong ball!" Kamina raged. He knew that he needed more room or he would quickly be reduced to one. He swung his sword at the wall and channelled his kido through it to create an explosion. The surface was metal though and simply sent him flying into the hollow who batted him away with the back of its hand.
With one giant hand, the hollow grabbed Kamina's face and picked the young man up, lifting him high into the air. He was slammed against the side again, his feet dangling two foot from the floor. He kicked at the monster but his bare feet packed little punch to it.
"Man flesh is on the menu. I get to eat while you cease to exist completely. Goodbye, Nemesis." growled the hollow. It opened its shark-like mouth wide and leaned in toward Kamina's shoulder.
There was a sudden drilling sound followed by an burst of shredded metal shards. Kamina felt an intense wind pass between his legs. He looked between the thick leathery fingers to see a long spinning drill pierced through the wall, between his legs and into the hollows groin area. There was a lot of blood. The hollow bubbled at the mouth and began to lower Kamina toward the drill as strength left its arm.
Kamina dropped. The hard thud of the floor was a welcome relief as he hit it, glad that the drill had shot back into the wall a microsecond before it reduced his manly spirit to a nasty stain on the wall.
There was a cutting sound then a section of wall fell away. Kamina rolled onto his back to peer through the new hole. Nemu emerged, her arm still spinning.
"What is it with you and drilling between my legs." he muttered angrily as he heaved himself onto his feet. "How am I suppose to preach about manliness if you castrate me? Don't rob the world of Kamina junior, I need him, as do the women of the world."
My and Kenpi entered behind Nemu. "We're still in combat you know." scolded My. "Stop being a chauvinistic jerk and come on or I'll be doing the castrating." She held up a rusty spoon from her bikini bra for emphasis.
"Why do you have a rusted spoon there?" queried Kenpi.
"Its my backup weapon. In skilled hands it is a terrifying tool of pain." she said smiling reminiscently. Kenpi eyed her warily, taking a step away.
Kamina strode past them through the hole. "How's the battle going?"
"Who knows. We don't have any form of communication." grunted Myu frustratedly. "From what we can see up on deck we're winning the boats but that tentacle monster is ripping apart anything in range. The Dai-Gurren is still grappling with it."
"We'd better go show this freak of nature who's boss then!" Kamina announced boldly.
"And you plan to do that how?" asked Kenpi sceptically.
"Plan?" responded Kamina. "Frontal assault then we'll make it up as we go along."
"That's suicide."
"No, its adaptability!"
"Damn it Kamina! You need to start coming up with proper plans or we're all going to die."
"Plans happen when they happen. Unless its in the mission, they only get in the way of a battle. I'm still live and kicking aren't I?"
"This is Soul Society. You are dead. So no, you are not live and kicking." pointed out Kenpi as the group emerged onto the deck.
"Dead and kicking then." rectified Kamina as he approached the decks railings. "Now lets go kick some tentacle ass!" He dived off the edge.
The waters around the monster were chaotic at best, swirling around violently as the long limbs battled with the Dai-Gurren. Kamina was thrown this way and that by the waves but his strong arms and legs managed to propel him toward has target. After a brief glance around he found a container floating near by that must have fallen from the Dai-Gurren. He scrambled on top of it.
"Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey!" he roared, striking a heroic atop the container. He pointed Gurren toward the mass of tentacles. "Listen hear you overgrown squid. I am the mighty Kamina, and if you think for a second that I'll let you keep smashing up my stuff then you've got another thing coming. Like hell I'm gonna let you sink my battleship!"
The monster didn't seem to register the sheer force of epicness that confronted it. Instead it lashed out, wrapping a tendril around him. As it had done to the Dai-Gurren, it lifted him high into the air. The mass of tentacles parted and from the waves rose a huge bulbous head. Its swollen black eyes glared up at him with pure malice. With exaggerated slowness it opened its maw to reveal a giant abyss of a gullet filled with pin like teeth. A second later it released Kamina, allowing him to fall into the toothy chasm. He passed beyond the beak like lips which then closed shut behind him.
"Kamina!" roared the collective voices of the shinigami. There was an awed silence that followed, everyone too shocked to move or speak. The tentacles swayed contentedly.
"No way." breathed Renji. "That wasn't an end for him, the thick headed fool."
"This can't be real." Myu half sobbed. "He's a hero, they don't die."
"He was here wasn't he. A mortal, just like the rest of us." said Kenpi solemnly.
Renji stomped forward, suddenly infused with movement. "That squid thinks its some kind of god. After what its done I say its time we finish this. Everyone, forward! Give it all you've got!" he ordered before summoning his bankai and charged forward.
As one entity Team Dai-Gurren leapt at the monster, some soaring through the air, others speeding across the surface of the water, anger and grief burning within every pair of eyes. There was a moment when everything seemed to slow down. A long battle cry came from the shinigami on their approach. The monster convulsed then exploded into a wave of gore, blood and rubbery strips of flesh that cascaded down upon the shinigami.
Upon a dismembered eyeball that floated where the monster had been moments before stood Kamina in a triumphant pose. Gurren was held across his shoulders. He looked pristine as ever.
"Sushi, anybody?"
Renji stood twitching, covered in several different bodily fluids as did the other shinigami. He growled to himself angrily. "I'll kill that guy."
Myu and Kenpi were barely recognisable under a layer of sludge and tentacle sections. The girl danced around screaming "There's tentacle in my bikini, gross, gross, gross! Get them out, get them out! Aaah!"
Kenpi ignored her. "How is it that he was eaten yet is the only one not covered in vital organs?"
"He's a demon!" screamed a bandit. "Run for it! If the kraken cant kill him then what chance do we have." At this the remaining boats turned tail and sped away from the massacre.
Walking forward so that the eye rolled through the water, Kamina quickly made it back to the beach. The others took substantially longer as they franticly cleansed themselves of the filth that coated them. When they finally returned to the sands most collapsed with exhaustion.
"What was that all about?" asked Renji. Both he and Kamina had set up a HQ on the beach while Nemu patched up the Dai-Gurren.
"The old guy that I fought said that they were drawn by an incredibly powerful reitsu that wasn't caused by any of us."
"Hmm. I wonder what that was. I don't sense anything so they must have had a very delicate way of picking it up. But still…"
"KYAAA!"
The scream came from Myu who was laid out on the beach nearby. Kamina and Renji rushed over to find a head sticking out of the sand between her legs. It had long brown hair and whiskered features. It looked inquisitively around. A hand popped out to join the head which helped to pull the rest of the body out. Myu stared on in horror as a fully grown man in a flowery pink jacket emerged.
Renji stuttered in shock. "C-captain Kyoraku
"Pervert!" screamed Myu angrily. In one fluid motion she rose to her feet and smashed the man in his face, sending him flying across the sand.
"Er, Myu, that was Captain Kyoraku, one of the senior and most powerful captains of the Gotai Thirteen." pointed out Renji.
"Oh my!" she squealed. Myu ran to the prone captain and helped him back to his feet. "Sorry, sorry. I'm so sorry."
"No worries my flower." he smiled. "That was a good right hook. Nanao would be proud."
"Enough flirting ya damn pervert." snapped Renji.
"Ah, Captain Abarai. Long time no see. You look well."
"Enough of the pleasantries. I don't know how much you know but we're at war. We don't have time to wait." Renji said.
Kamina stepped up to the pink clad captain. "So you're a captain too. I'm guessing that you're the one that those bandits were tracking. I am the great Kamina and I invite you to join my badass Team Dai-Gurren."
Shunsui laughed. "The wild card Kamina. Looks like you're doing pretty well for yourself. Since I slept through a battle designed to get me, I'll help you out. As long as you let me sleep drink and be merry then we'll get on well."
Captain Shunsui Kyoraku's face became serious now. "I will tell you this though. Aizen's forces are readying to move. Soon he'll sweep the land in one move to destroy everything. We have about a month before his strike."
Kamina seated himself upon the sand. "A month you say. Right. I don't say this lightly but I need your help to get stronger. I wanna be the one to kick Aizen's ass into the next millennia but I know that I need to get stronger. Will you help me?"
"Hmm. There is nothing I could teach you that would help. There is something that you yourself could do to expand your power level dramatically though." mused Kyoraku.
"You don't honestly mean THAT do you!" exclaimed Renji.
Kyoraku nodded. "It's the only chance he has of improving that fast. He does have your backing doesn't he?"
"Damn. Yeah, he has my support. Probably Ichigo and Hisagi's too."
Kamina stood again. "What the hell you talking about already?"
"There is a passage that leads into Hell. If you can survive the journey then your power will have increased tenfold, probably taking you easily to a strong Lieutenant's level if not higher. The last guy that survived unlocked his bankai there, although that was several hundred years ago."
Kamina griined. "Let's do it! Time to pierce Hell. After I'm done thrashing the Devil I'll return to show Aizen who's boss. Everyone get aboard!"
Everyone embarked but the Dai-Gurren only took a few steps before coming to a halt.
"Where is Byakuya? Did anyone bother to move him off deck before that squid started to sling it around?"
Silence was the reply.
"He's over there, sir!" cried out a girl who pointed down into the waters.
"Can someone fish Byakuya out please, I Want to get moving ASAP."
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A/N: So sorry about the delay, tests came quicker than I expected lol. I hope you enjoy it despite its tardiness.
Next week will probably not get an update as I have three tests that week but after that it's my summer holidays until I start at Uni (provided that I get the grades that is).
Please review or PM me with your thoughts. Cya all in a fortnight.
-FWF