Damn, three chapters in two days. I'm actually working kinda fast with this. Now then, I've had some trouble with this chapter mostly, because it was kinda hard for me to describe the action in this without repeating myself and saying Runaganga seven billion times. Still, I think I did great work with this, and thankfully, this chapter isn't just action-in-writing.

By the way, in case you just skimmed the last chapter, the Hell Mask is going to be called Montezuma from here on out, so if you're thinking to yourself, 'Since when did he have the Aztec emperor with him?', well it's just the mask's new name.

"Normal Speech"
Thought Speech
"Montezuma Speech"
"Hollow Speech"
'Text'

Phase 2: Battle of the Beasts

Runuganga threw down a giant fist aimed at me, but I leapt backwards before it slammed into the ground. Runuganga then swept his other hand at me. I barely managed to duck in time. I could feel the wind from the attack as his hand passed just over my head. I could only imagine what would've happened if I dodged it too late.

Runuganga let out a guttural roar as he threw down another fist. I was about to jump backwards again when I heard Montezuma say, "Try hitching a ride." It might've been the adrenaline running through my body and mind, but I immediately realized that he was talking about the sandman's giant fist. My mind didn't want to, but my body was already acting on its own.

Just before the fist landed on the ground, I had already leaped up to the giant's speeding fist. I missed the attacking fist by an inch, but I managed to grab onto Runuganga's arm. Despite the fact that he was made of sand, his arm was sturdy enough to at least hold me.

Runuganga, however, didn't really take to me riding his arm very kindly, because the next thing I knew, his other hand was slung down at me, like he was trying to swat a mosquito. I leaped off the arm I was holding and grabbed onto the back of Runuganga's other hand before sliding down onto that next arm. I took a look at Runuganga's face, and I didn't have to read his eyes to know that he wanted to kill me even more now. Without giving it another thought, I ran up the behemoth's forearm, making my way towards its head.

As soon as I reached the upper arm, I felt something rush towards me. I turned around and saw Runuganga's hand rush right at me, like he wanted to grab me. "Jump for it, Johnny," Montezuma coached, so I did, just before the giant hand squeezed me in its grip. Like earlier, I ran along the arm, making sure not to fall off from this height. Another swatting hand came down, but I managed to dodge it in time as I made my way to the upper arm.

Soon, I was on Runuganga's giant shoulder. I took a second to glance down at the ground. The height was staggering; I knew this guy was huge, but still, this was almost overkill. I managed to catch a glimpse of another open palm speeding towards me. Seriously, what was it with this guy and squashing me like a bug?

I slid to the side and I found myself right in front of Runuganga's face. I didn't need Montezuma's advice to do what I did next. I reeled back a meaty fist and threw it into the sandman's face. All that happened was that I felt my knuckles shatter.

"OW! Fuck," I shouted, clutching my wrist. My hand throbbed, and my knuckles were red and purple. It looked like my fist was only bruised, but it still confused me. Two things should've happened. One; my fist should've gone straight through Runuganga's face, considering he was made of sand. Two, and this was the one I was hoping for; the attack would've cracked its face and sent the sand giant in pain.

"Quit your whining, you little pussy," Montezuma scolded. "You may wanna stop worrying about your hand and worry about the one coming right at you." I turned my attention away from my throbbing knuckles and looked up. Sure enough another one of Runuganga's fists was flying towards me.

"Holy shit," I muttered in surprise. Thankfully, because of my reflexes, I jumped down from the sandman's collar, missing the fist by a centimeter as it crashed into his own face. I then slid along the giant's chest and dug my fingers into the sand. Thankfully, it was compacted tightly enough to keep me from falling any more than I had to, and I came to a stop just above the hole in the sandman's chest. I then looked up and saw what seemed like a firework of sand where Runuganga's head originally was.

That was when I felt the rest of the behemoth's body topple backwards. I took that as my chance. When the body was level enough, I picked myself up and began sprinting. I felt the sand loosen under my boots, but I ignored it as I kept moving up to the shoulders. By the time I got there, the body was just about to hit the ground.

"Jump for it," I heard Montezuma say. I nodded then leaped off as soon as the sandy body hit the desert floor. I rolled along the ground before catching myself on my feet and skidding to a stop, facing where Runuganga was originally standing, now a new sand dune. I panted for a few seconds before straightening myself up and turning to the palace, Las Noches.

"That seemed a little too easy," I commented, taking a few steps forward. Montezuma sighed and said, "As long as that thing's down, it's all the same. I hate that we didn't get any blood out of it though." I sighed as I moved forward towards Las Noches.

I only took about two or three steps when I heard a familiar voice utter, "I never gave you permission to approach the palace." My eyes widened as I spun around, seeing the sand pile rising once again.

I stared as Runuganga reformed himself, saying, "I knew it was too easy." Once the sand giant was back to his prime, Montezuma told me, "I think we should run." I didn't need to be told twice; I turned tail and ran for Las Noches, kicking up a cloud of dust as I sped through.

"You can't run from me, human!" I didn't bother turning around to face him again. I had just fought him once, and if that didn't work, I doubted it would work a second time.

Suddenly, a wide area of sand dropped into the ground, leaving only a deep pit. My eyes widened as I stepped to the left, running along the edge of the pit. I took a look inside, but all I could see was darkness.

"Watch the fuck out," the mask yelled, breaking my concentration from the pit right beside me. Just in front of me was another pit; connected to the one I was close to. There wasn't enough room for me to steer out of the way, so I only had one choice.

Just before I stepped off the edge of the pit in front of me, I kicked off and hopped to the side, just barely missing the gap. I looked back at the pits before I heard what sounded like a geyser in front of me. I faced forward and saw what looked like a tower of sand shooting up in the air. Surprised, I ducked to the right, only to steer myself into another sand jet.

As I sidestepped out of the way, I heard Montezuma demand, "What the hell is going on here?" I had just dodged another sand geyser before saying, "It must be the sandman back there." Soon, I cleared the last of the sand spouts only to feel the wind pick up.

I looked behind me to see a giant cyclone shifting quickly towards me. I skidded to a stop and stared at the cyclone disbelievingly. Extremely irritated, I cried at the top of my lungs, "YOU'VE GOTTA BE SHITTING ME!" At that last word, the twister's pull lifted me off the ground and up in the air.

I spun around in the air, the sand scratching me as it brushed my skin at high speeds. I felt my weight being thrown around, like a tetherball around a pole. I couldn't tell what I felt more: terrified, pissed, or nauseous. After a few minutes of spinning, I was soon flung out of the whirlwind and sent flying away from the white palace. I didn't fly for very long before something or someone grabbed me from midair.

My head was swimming, and I could barely make out what was in front of me. I wanted to throw up, but I had the feeling that Montezuma would pop off my face and abandon ship right there. After about a minute, my vision cleared, and I could immediately see who plucked me out of the air.

Runuganga pulled me closer to his face and narrowed his yellow eyes at me. "You insubordinate human," he hissed, keeping everything below my waist clenched in his fist. "I already said that you don't have permission to enter Las Noches."

I then heard Montezuma comment, "This guy's a broken record." I nodded subtly as I tried to free myself from the sand colossus's grip. Unfortunately, he had me squeezed in pretty tight, and he still had strength to spare.

The next thing I knew, I soon felt my legs being crushed by Runuganga's tightening hold. I cried out in pain; I could've sworn my legs were being crushed into jelly. I needed to get free, but I couldn't budge.

Suddenly, I felt something crawl under the skin of my arms. Unless his grip was strong enough to have my arms explode, it didn't feel like the sandman was doing it. Immediately, I felt an extremely sharp pain erupt from my arms, almost as though something was shooting out of them. I gritted my teeth and clenched my eyes in pain.

Eventually the pain subsided, but something felt…different about my arms. I looked down at them to see that something had shot though my arms: two bone-white spikes, no, blades, poking through my arms, each one stained with blood. I looked at each bone blade with confusion and surprise.

Runuganga was surprised as well, because his yellow eyes widened and he stuttered, "Wh-what is this?"

Montezuma, on the other hand, sounded like this was a good thing. "Now this'll work," I heard him say. Before I could ask him what he was talking about, he told me, "Well, what're you waiting for, a phone call from the president? Cut yourself free and kill this son of a bitch!"

I held my arms up, taking another look at my new weapon. When I clenched my fists, the blades shot out so that they were almost as long as my arm. I let out an impressed whistle before glaring at the sand giant with a scowl on my face.

I then rammed the blades into Runuganga's fist and sliced it in half, the separated piece falling to the desert floor below. Almost as soon as I freed myself, I kicked off from the giant's fist and soared towards the giant itself. As soon as I got close enough, I shoved the blades into the behemoth's sandy body.

My blades held tight into the beast's sandy flesh, holding me tightly enough to pull one blade out and shove it into a higher spot on the body. I then pulled myself up and did the same with the other blade, climbing higher and higher up to its masked face.

Runuganga, on the other hand, was in a state of fury. He tried to slap me off of his chest with a giant hand, but I swung my free blade a couple of times to cut cleanly through it. The giant hand fell to the ground, split into several pieces, as I kept climbing until I was up to his shoulders.

"I-I will not let you win," the sand giant declared, his voice quivering. I was already in front of the giant's face when he cried, "YOU WILL NOT ENTER!" I couldn't help but sigh. This guy was really getting annoying. I then spread my arms out, the blades jutting out to their farthest, and swung them inwards across the giant's faces.

My blades slid easily through, like a knife through hot butter. Runuganga's head was slashed in half, his eyes frozen wide with horror. "Stop talking, God Dammit," Montezuma hissed, just as annoyed as I was. "You're giving me a headache."

The next thing I knew, my feet started sinking into the sandy body. I looked at the rest of the giant figure and saw that it was dissolving back into sand. The giant's arms turned to dust and fell to the ground as the rest of the body was "melting." I let out a relieved sigh as I slowly dropped to the ground, my bone blades receding into my arms and the wounds they left behind healing shut.

I heard Montezuma whistle and say, "Nice one, Johnny Boy. I didn't think you'd be so handy with those new blades of yours." I sighed as I rubbed my arms, the feeling of the blades still lingering.

While the power did feel amazing, I couldn't help but think of what was happening. First, I arrived here in this bleak desert with the body of an overzealous bodybuilder and the strength of a carnival sideshow, and just then, I wound up with blades implanted in my arms that could cut possibly through anything. What would I be able to do next? What the hell was I turning into?

Montezuma didn't sound anything at all concerned as he said, "Come on. The place is close by. We can make great time if you run it." I nodded, then turned around and sprinted for Las Noches. As I approached the giant palace, I couldn't help but feel like something, or someone, was watching me.

I had been running for what felt like an hour before I finally managed to make it to the base of the building. I leaned against the wall to catch my breath. I could feel myself sweating from behind Montezuma. After a few seconds, I began to feel like there was enough air in my lung for me to even blink.

"Well, John, we're here,"Montezuma said, stating the obvious. "Now let's see if we can find a door." I, on the other hand, chose something different. I leaned in with my ear against the wall and began tapping. I kept moving along and tapping the wall, ignoring a curious Montezuma's question, until I heard a hollow thud behind one section of the wall. I smirked behind the mask and faced the white stone.

I let in a couple of deep breaths and relaxed myself. Suddenly, I threw my fists and began punching on the wall, cracking it with each hit. My fists began bleeding, but I ignored the pain as I destroyed the wall. In a little more than a minute, my fist managed to break through a weak point and penetrate the wall.

As I rested my sore and throbbing knuckles, I heard Montezuma say, "Or you could crash through a wall and save time. That's a better idea." My only response was a nod.

As soon as the pain in my hands eased up, I reached into the hole and began pulling out the debris. The sharp edges of the stone dug into my hands as I pried out more and more, until there was a big enough hole for me to go through. I peered inside and only saw darkness.

I thought I was up shit creek without a paddle until I checked my pockets. From my left pocket, I pulled out a small box of matches. I nearly forgot; I borrowed them from Nathan to light the torch in the mask chamber. I fumbled with the matchbox – it was a lot harder with my giant thumbs and fingers – and managed to pull out a match, which I immediately struck against the box. As soon as the match ignited, I stepped into the darkness, keeping silent.

A few minutes into the cavern, the match went out, nearly burning my finger. I pulled out another match and struck it against the box lighting it. Montezuma, who had been surprisingly quiet, just asked out of nowhere, "So, what's with the silent treatment, Johnny? You still disturbed by what happened with the big-ass sandman?" I stopped in the spot where I was standing, eliciting a noise of confusion from Montezuma.

I let out a sigh and asked, "Just be honest with me, Montezuma…what exactly am I becoming?" If the mask was about to answer me, I didn't give it a chance as I added, "I want to know…what do you actually need me for, and how much of a monster do I have to become?"

Montezuma was quiet for a second before I heard him sigh and say, "So far, John, I've been enjoying the carnage of this place. There are things here around every corner that'll want to kill you and eat your organs, and you justify that by killing them first. I enjoy every second of blood, carnage, and war just as much as the next guy, but, believe it or not, I wanna go home, too." I blinked at that. Was he being serious, or was he just trying to pull a fast one?

I was still unsure as Montezuma continued, "You're my only ticket home. If I could just sprout legs and walk, I'd leave you to die just like that. Since I can't, and you're pretty much the only person around who can wear me, we're going to have to work together, even if that means making you lose your humanity. You let me stay on your face when you're going into a fight, and I'll make sure you stay alive until we get out of here, deal?"

I kept quiet as I thought for a few seconds. Montezuma really sounded like he was pouring his heart out, or whatever he had, into his explanation. Still, I had a few qualms with trusting an ancient Aztec mask that could turn me into a three-way combination of John Cena, the Incredible Hulk, and Jason Voorhees.

After a minute of thought, I sighed and replied, "Alright, you have a deal. Just remember, I'm not saying I trust you, and what you said about making me lose my humanity really didn't help you at all…but I'm also not saying that I don't need your help either."

I know Montezuma can't really smile, but I could swear that his at the time would've been from ear to ear. "Alright…by the way, watch your finger." Before I could do so much as raise an eyebrow, I felt the flames on the match burn my finger. I hissed in pain and shook my hand around to ease the pain. Montezuma laughed as I pulled out another match and lit it before continuing down the dark hallway.

It was only a matter of time before stumbled upon a staircase leading up to what seemed to be a steel door. "Maybe that's the way out," Montezuma suggested. I nodded and went up the staircase, throwing down the match I had in my hand. When I got to the top of the stairs, I felt around for the handle.

When I got a feel for the handle and gripped it, I told Montezuma, "Well, we're on the home stretch." Of course, I had no idea how wrong I was until I actually opened the door. I passed the threshold, only to run into a round, unnaturally lit room with nine passageways. They surrounded me on all sides, all possibly leading to my death.

Montezuma chose that moment to speak up. "Well, shit," was all he said. He took the words right out of my mouth. "Hmm…maybe," I heard him think. After listening to the mask mutter for a few seconds, he then told me, "John, I want you to close your eyes and point your finger forward."

I already had the feeling that I knew what he was planning, but I still did as he told me anyway. Once my eyes were shut and I was pointing right in front of me, Montezuma added, "Now spin around until I say stop." I nodded and spun around, just fast enough to not feel like vomiting – I already had to deal with that once that day.

I spun around for what felt like five minutes until I heard Montezuma finally say, "Alright, stop." I complied, and opened my eyes. I was facing the same doorway that I had just walked in through. I gritted my teeth and growled as Montezuma giggled like a madman.

"Fuck it," I deadpanned. "I'm just going with the grab bag. I don't care where it takes me." I then turned back around and began walking through a random hallway, not really sure what waited for me at the end.

For those of you wondering how John was able to kill Runaganga with a slash across the face when Runaganga punched himself and basically came out unharmed, well, he didn't kill him. All John did was knock him out long enough to make it to Las Noches, but John doesn't know that, at least, not yet.

Now that that's all said and done, this is going to be the part where I'll have a problem. I can't, for the life of me, think of who John should fight now. I don't really want to use Dordoni because, well, he's a little too eccentric. So I will be putting up a poll to see who you want to see John fight. Will he go up against Dordoni, Cirucci, Gantenbainne, Aaronierro, or Szayel Apporo?

Also, if you want him to fight an Arrancar who wasn't fought first in the manga, tell me in your review or send me a PM telling me who. You will have until Monday to vote.

As per usual, R&R