Chapter 29: A Deadly Fight in Las Noches! The Straw Hats vs. Espada Zero!

"Bankai!" Smoke surrounds Renji and his zanpakuto transformed into a huge whip shaped like a snake's skeleton. "Hihio Zabimaru!" Renji lashed his weapon towards the espada.

"No matter how hard you try, it's useless!" Yammy punched the snake-like weapon and destroyed it. Then a red beam appeared out of both sides of the segments, connecting to the others and forming a chain around the espada. "What's this?!"

"Chad! Rukia! Now!" Renji shouted. Rukia and Chad nodded and prepare to attack.

"Dance, Sode No Shirayuki!" Rukia stabbed the ground in front of her four times and pointed the tip of her sword at Yammy. "Tsugi no Mai…Hakuren!" A powerful wave of snow appeared from her sword and headed towards Yammy.

"Brazo Derecho del Gigante!" Chad fired a huge blast from his black arm towards the espada.

"You shouldn't be so confident!" Yammy shouted as a red aura surrounds him, cancelling out Chad and Rukia's attacks. The aura caused an explosion, blowing Renji away and burying Rukia and Chad in the sand. The three popped out of the sand and looked at the espada. Their eyes widen when they saw that their attacks did nothing on him.

"How could he be completely unharmed?!" Rukia said shocked.

"Your pathetic efforts to hurt me will never work." Yammy said as he charged up a cero.

"108 Caliber Phoenix!" A projectile was fired towards the espada, disabling the cero and creating an explosion.

"Hmm?" Yammy said, looking at the direction that the attack came from.

"What the hell?" Renji whispered as he and the others looked the same direction Yammy was looking at and saw Zoro, Robin, Usopp, Brook, and Franky.

"It's those pirates from earlier." Chad said, looking at the Straw hats.

"Yeah, I thought that they were on their way to help their captain." Renji said.

Brook and Usopp looked at Yammy with a scared expression as Zoro, Franky, and Robin glared at the espada.

"Wha…what is that thing?!" Brook asked scared.

"It looks like some kind of monster." Franky said.

"I don't know." Zoro said, narrowing his eyes. "He looks somewhat familiar."

"Really, Zoro?" Usopp asked scared as well.

"Yeah, he looks like that big arrancar that attacked us at Sabaody."

"You're right but his appearance is different than when we last saw him." Robin said. "This must be his released form."

"Release form?!" Usopp said.

"Yeah, like the guy that me and Brook took on earlier." Franky said, remember the battle with Zommari.

Yammy looked at the Straw Hats and grimaced. "Great, even more weaklings I have to deal with." He said. "Do you think increasing your number gives a chance on beating me?! Well, think again. It doesn't many of you there, you still gonna die!" Then Yammy looked up and saw a huge dark cloud hovering above him. "What's this?"

"Thunderbolt Tempo!" A yellow ball was thrown into the cloud. Lighting then came down from the cloud and struck Yammy.

"Hold on, that attack…" Zoro said, recognizing that attack.

"Hey guys!" a voice shouted, getting everyone's attention. "Is everyone ok?!" The pirates' eyes widen when who it was. It was Nami and Chopper.

"Hey it's Chopper!" Usopp shouted happily. "He's ok!" Yammy looked down and saw Chopper and Nami running towards the group and prepared to attack them.

"Concasser!" A figure appeared from behind Yammy, spinning down and planted the heel of his foot into Yammy's head. It was Sanji, landing on the sand below in front of the others.

"Sanji!" Brook shouted.

"It looks like we made it just in time." Sanji said, blowing out a puff of smoke as he turned and faced the espada.

"Hold on, where's Luffy?" Usopp asked.

"He's above the canopy." Sanji said. "He went up there to fight one of those espadas."

"Wait a minute then he must up there with Ichigo." Renji said.

"If you're talking about the guy with the orange hair and black sword, then yeah, Luffy's with him." Nami said.

"Are you down talking down here?" Yammy asked, getting everyone's attention. Everyone looked at the espada and saw that he was still unharmed.

"What?!" Nami said shocked. "I was hoping that our sneak attack would do a little damage but it's like we hardly did a thing to him."

"Like I said before, these pathetic adepts to hurt me will never work!" Yammy shouted as he charged up a cero and fired it at the group. Everyone quickly dodged the attack as the cero hit the ground miles away, causing a giant explosion.

Above the canopy, Orihime was healing Luffy and Uryu's wounds that they both sustained from the fight against Ulquiorra. Then explosions were heard inside the palace below them and it caught Ichigo's attention.

"Ichigo." Uryu said, causing Ichigo to look at him. "Don't worry. Just go ahead, we're fine. Down there, there are people waiting for you."

"Uryu…" Orihime whispered.

"Are you sure?" Ichigo questioned.

"Get going…" Uryu answered.

"But you're…"

"You heard me! If there something you want to say, I'll hear it when this is over. But right now, there's something else you have to do."

Ichigo sighed and said, "Alright then…"

"Wait!" Luffy shouted. "I'm coming too!"

"Wait Luffy, you can't!" Orihime protested. "You still haven't recovered from your battle."

"I don't care." Luffy said. "I can still fight. This is my battle too! I'm going to fight if it kills me!"

Ichigo closed his eyes and sighed. "Alright then, you can come with me." He said, and then turned to Orihime. "Orihime, please take care of Uryu."

Orihime nodded and said, "Ok, leave it to me." Ichigo and Luffy walked towards the hole leading inside the palace and jumped through it.

Below the canopy, everyone landed on the sand after the cero was fired and turned their attention to the espada.

"He's tough and has plenty of power." Renji said. "So what now?"

"There's nothing to discuss we have to defeat this guy now." Rukia said.

"Yeah, you're right." Chad agreed.

"What are you whining about now?" Yammy asked. "You look like scared little ants."

"Let's do this!" Renji shouted as he and Rukia disappeared.

"Where did you go?" Yammy said, looking for the two soul reapers. Then Renji appeared beside one of Yammy's legs. "I see one…" Renji disappeared and Rukia appeared floating behind the espada. Yammy looked behind him and saw the petit soul reaper. "…and two…" Then Rukia and Renji started to flash step around the giant espada. "Why do you keep moving around?! Just hold still, will ya?!"

Renji and Rukia continued to flash step around Yammy, much to the espada's chagrin. "How annoying!"

'I knew it.' Rukia thought as she keeps using the flash step. 'He can't keep up with our speed.'

"They'll throw him off, and then we'll strike." Chad said as he and the straw hats ran towards their positions.

"Where are you?" Yammy said annoyed, still trying to follow Rukia and Renji. "You can't hide from me." Then Rukia appeared in front of Yammy. "There you are!" Yammy balled his fist, preparing to hit Rukia.

"Now!" Chad shouted.

"Right!" Usopp shouted, preparing his slingshot, Kabuto. "Special Attack…Super Smoke Star!" He fired several pellets which exploded and created a huge smokescreen in front of Yammy as Rukia disappears and Renji appeared behind the espada.

"Hikotsu Taiho!" Renji lashed Zabimaru at Yammy as a red orb charged up in its mouth. Yammy looked behind him and grabbed Zabimaru before it fired its blast.

"I had enough of you!" Yammy shouted as he punched Renji through a pillar, knocking him out. "Well that's one down." Yammy swung his tail towards Chad. Chad had no time to react as Yammy's tail pushed him back, knocking him out as well. "That's two. Just one soul reaper and eight pirates left."

"Damn it!" Franky cursed. "Now what do we do?"

"We can't waste any more time with this guy." Zoro said. "We need defeat him and find a way to get above the canopy."

"Agreed, but how?" Rukia said. Her eyes widen when she saw Brook running on top of the wall behind Yammy.

"Swallow Bond En Avant!" Brook jumped high in the air and jabbed his sword at the espada, stabbing his shoulder.

"Hmm?" Yammy looked at his shoulder and saw Brook. "You want to be the first to die!"

"Oh no, this is bad!" Brook shouted, trying to escape. "I'll die if he hits me! Although, I'm already dead! It's still a bad situation!"

"Get ready, Franky!" Usopp shouted as he prepares to fire from his slingshot. "Special Attack: Special Oil Star!" Usopp fired a black pellet towards Yammy's face.

"Alright, my turn." Franky said, taking a deep breath. "Fresh Fire!" Franky released a fire ball from his and hit Usopp's pellet, lighting it on fire. The small fire ball then transformed into a huge fire bird.

"Apparition: Super Fire Bird!" The giant bird hit Yammy directly, lighting him on fire. Brook quickly jumped off of Yammy, avoiding getting hit with the fire himself.

"It worked!" Rukia said in disbelief.

"Yeah, take that!" Usopp shouted.

"Thank you, I could've died if you didn't do something!" Brook shouted, running towards Franky and Usopp. "Although, I'm already dead." Then Brook felt a huge fist punched his bony body, sending him back a few feet, knocking him out.

"Brook!" Usopp yelled scared. Then Yammy lashed his club-like tail at Usopp.

"Look out!" Franky shouted as he pushed Usopp out of the way and took the hit instead.

"Franky!" Usopp yelled as Franky crashed into the sand, knocked out. Usopp looked at the espada and saw that the attack did nothing to him.

"Did you honestly think that a little fire is enough to beat me?" Yammy taunted as he balled up his fist and lowered it down on Usopp, who quickly move out of the way.

"Great, now what?!" Sanji said, glaring at Yammy.

"Sanji, I've got an idea!" Chopper shouted, charged towards Sanji. "Rumble…" Chopper bit down on a rumble ball. "Arm Point!" Sanji extended his leg and Chopper jumped on it.

"Arme de L'air: Sakura Shoot!" Sanji launched Chopper towards the espada with his leg, sending the doctor high in the air.

"Cloven Roseo!" Chopper hit Yammy in the face with his hoof, leaving a hoof mark near Yammy's nose. 'Did it work?' Yammy glared at Chopper as Chopper started to fall to the ground.

"You little bastard!" Yammy shouted as he charged a cero at the falling Chopper.

"Chopper!" Nami shouted, fearing what could happen to Chopper.

"Ochenta Fleurs…" Robin said as multiple arms appeared on Yammy's shoulders. "Cuarto Mano…" The arms morphed together, creating four arms. "…Shock!" The four arms hit Yammy in the head, causing the cero to defuse.

"Thanks Robin!" Chopper shouted as he continues to fall to the ground. "Walk Point!" Chopper changed into his full reindeer form as he landed in the sand. He then quickly ran towards Robin.

"I've had it with the both of you!" Yammy roared as he fired a bala at the two pirates. The attack came fast, not giving Robin and Chopper time to dodge. The bala hit the sand and caused a huge explosion, engulfing Chopper and Robin.

"Chopper! Robin!" Sanji yelled. When the smoke cleared, both Chopper and Robin were lying on the ground unconscious.

"Chopper! Robin!" Usopp yelled. His eyes widen in fear as he noticed that the espada turned his attention to him. Usopp quickly loaded up his sligslot but he felt Yammy's fist hitting his smaller body, sending him flying back a few feet and crashing into the sand, motionless.

"Usopp!" Zoro yelled.

'No way, we're dropping like flies.' Nami thought as she fell to her knees, looking the espada with a scared look in her eyes. 'He's taking every one of us down one by one.' Yammy turned his attention to the navigator and prepare to attack her. Sanji quickly spun around at a rapid pace, lighting his leg on fire, and ran towards Yammy.

"Diable Jambe…" Sanji jumped towards Yammy's head. "…Frit Assort!" Sanji's flaming leg met with Yammy's fist, knocking it back. Then Sanji felt a sharp pain in his leg and instantly grabbed it. 'Damn it! I'll mess up my leg if I keep this up!' Then Sanji felt Yammy's fist hit him, sending him crashing next to Renji and knocking him out.

"Sanji!" Nami yelled. Yammy turned his attention to Nami and Rukia and brought his fists down towards them. Rukia prepare to block the attack as much as she could but Zoro quickly got in front of them. He let out a huge huff of air and straightened out his arms.

"One Gorilla, Two Gorilla…" Zoro put his sword in a triangle over his head. "Three Swords Style: Two Gorilla Slice!" Zoro's swords met with Yammy's fist as the two collided. Zoro let out a loud roar as he pushed Yammy's fist to the side.

"What?!" Yammy said shocked. Zoro jumped higher and crossed his three swords together.

"Three Swords Style: Night Crow!" Zoro started rolling up Yammy's arm, leaving markings of crow's feet on it. Trickles of blood came out of each cut but the attack did little damage to the espada.

'What?!' Zoro thought, looking at the damage he managed to do to Yammy's arm. 'All I was able to do was nick him?!' Then Yammy punched Zoro through the wall behind him with other hand.

"Zoro!" Nami yelled as Zoro fell to the sands below, unconscious.

"Now there are two weaklings left." Yammy said as he threw a punch at Nami and Rukia.

"Rukia, run!" Nami shouted as she and Rukia avoided Yammy's fist and ran underneath him.

"Come on, it's no use." Yammy said, looking around for the two girls. He looked down under his legs and Nami and Rukia running. "You two think that you can get away from me by running?!" Yammy kicked both Rukia and Nami in the air as they got behind him.

"Damn it!" Rukia cursed as Yammy caught both girls in his hand.

"Now I've caught you!" Yammy said, tightening his grip. "You two are the only ones left. Catching you two wasn't easy since you're so tiny. But now, you're all mine." Rukia and Nami struggle to break from Yammy's grip but couldn't. "Don't struggle. This requires a delicate touch from me. It's not easy to hold you two without crushing you."

'There's no way…' Nami thought. 'It feels like he's breaking every bone in my body. How are we supposed to defeat this guy?'

"Now then, how exactly should I kill you two?" Yammy asked. "Let me think. Squeezing you two into bloody pulp with my hand isn't that amusing. I'm not coming up with a fun way to kill you right now. Hey, how you two want me to do it? I'll kill you however you tell me to. I know I look mean and scary to you but I'm really generous to weaklings." Nami was able to free one of her arms with her bo-staff. Rukia managed to free one of her arms as well.

"Thunder Ball!" Nami fired a yellow ball from her bo-staff at Yammy.

"Sokatsui!" Rukia fired a blue energy blast from her hand. The two attacks collided and hit the espada in the face, causing an explosion. The smoke cleared revealing that Yammy was unharmed.

"Ow, that stung." Yammy said, rubbing his cheek and pretending that he's hurt. "That hurts! That really, really hurt me! You two sure got me on that one!"

Nami and Rukia widen their eyes, seeing that their attack had no effect. 'We didn't do a thing to him!' Rukia thought.

"That was so painful that it made me lose my grip!" Yammy tossed Nami and Rukia to his side. Rukia tried to move to save Nami and herself but couldn't. A smirk appeared on Yammy's face.

'What an incredible power!' Rukia thought. 'I can't get back into my posture because the wind pressure is too intense.'

'This is insane!' Nami thought. 'There's no way we can beat this guy! Luffy, someone, help!'

Ichigo and Luffy continued to fall towards the battle that is taking place. Their eyes widen when they saw Rukia and Nami rapidly falling down towards the sand.

"Rukia!" Ichigo shouted.

"Nami!" Luffy shouted.

To be continued…

Next Chapter: The Strongest Tag-Team! Luffy and Ichigo's Hard Struggle!