Chapter 7: Ambush! Lloyd VS Arrancar Trio
Several hours have passed since Lloyd made his uneventful trip into the material world, materialising in Marina's last known location, above the same city she disappeared in. He began by searching the sites that Marina checked out before going missing, finally ending up t the sight of her struggle by nightfall.
He picked up traces of her reishi mixed in with that of three others as well as signs of a fight. On closer examination, he found a trail of his Lieutenant's reishi! He debated with himself for a moment, deciding whether or not it was a trap. Eventually, he decided that if there was a chance that Marina was there, he would take it.
The trail led him to a forest clearing outside of the city. When he arrived, he saw two men and one woman, all clad in white. One of the men had striking green hair, while the other had red. The woman had striking blond hair. They all stood with their backs to him, so he could not see their faces. There was another man with blue hair at the woman's feet, lying on is back and panting. It was difficult to see, but the man seemed to have minor wounds.
"Tch, you damned coward! What do you mean this isn't right!" asked the woman as she kicked the man on the ground, causing him to cry out. He didn't sound too old, maybe like a man around his twenties
"*sigh* Shelly, this is getting us nowhere fast" said the man with green hair "We must be prepared to strike when they"
"Bah, you worry too much Harrison" said the woman called Shelly "Besides, we don't even know if anyone will come for her or not! She's probably just some underling like the rest"
"But the Boss said that he knew her" said the tall, hulking red haired man "He said, that she was a Lieutenant."
"Gregory has a point" said Harrison "Also, can you please stop kicking Drake, I think that he's had enough"
"No! This stupid kid screwed us over last time, and he still ain't paid for it yet!" said Shelly as she kicked the boy again in the ribs, obviously taking a kind of sadistic joy from it.
Lloyd attempted to get closer, but stepped on a twig and it snapped. Instantly, the three turned around and engaged him, leaving the fourth blue haired boy to scurry away while he had the chance.
As soon as they stepped into the light, Lloyd made a horrible discovery. They were all Arrancars! And not lesser Fracions either. They were full powered Vasto Lordes! Harrison's mask fragment covered his eyes, making it look as though he wore a pair of goggles while his hole was located in his chest. Gregory's mask fragment was around the sides of his face, looking like a boxing helment while his hole was in the left side of his body, where his heart would be. Shelly's took the shape of a tiara and her hole was in her stomach.
The first to launch an actual attack was Shelly, who rushed towards Lloyd, brandishing her blade and making erratic attacks, almost as if she didn't know how to use a katana. Regardless, although it looked erratic, the attacks were well timed and aimed as Lloyd was nicked by the blade several times, and would have received a fatal blow had he not blocked or dodged. As soon as the chance for a counterattack came, he was blocked by Harrison, who used a set of claws on either hand. Presumably, this was the shape his Zanpakutou took.
He attacked with precise manouvers and acrobatic techniques, almost always staying in the air as he slashed away at Lloyd. The speed was uncanny and almost impossible to bloc. Lloyd threw Harrison of him and attempted to escape, but was stopped by Gregory.
Gregory dug his hands into the ground and gripped the earth. With a massive heave, he lifted a massive chunk of the ground and tossed it, with Lloyd still onboard. Shelly and Harrison were also nearly caught in the attack and were forced to dodge.
"What the hell, Gregory!" asked Shelly "You almost got us you fat pig!"
"Then move" said Gregory plainly
"At this rate, our teamwork will suffer." Sighed Harrison
Lloyd took this chance to counter attack
"Break Free! Hateshinakuwaramekonpaku!" he called as he Katana transformed into a single sword with two blades, one black, one white
"Raikoukami!" he rored as he swung the blade down, sending a blast of lightning towards the trio. However, they dodged easily while continuing their argument
"I don't care if he doesn't have emotions! I'm going to break his legs!" roared Shelly
"My my, calm down Shelly" sighed Harrison "Language like that doesn't become a lady" he chuckled, despite being in the middle of a fight
"Like I give a rat's ass, just focus and try not to make any friendly fire" she said angrily, turning her attention back to Lloyd. The three flew towards him at blinding speed.
Shelly came in for a second assault with her erratic style, slicing away with her katana. However, Lloyd was able to block it this time having seen it before
"Raikoukami!" roared Lloyd while she was up close, getting her caught in the blast. She emerged in the center of a massive crater carved in the ground, covered in dirt and bleeding
"That son of a bitch!" she screamed "Just look at what he's done!" she roared "I'm going to fold him over and break him over my knee! He's ruined my hair!"
"Hold on…" said Harrison "…There's something off here…" he said, examing Lloyd more closely "I knew it! He's a Captain!" he said
"What! Why the hell would they send a Captain after a little bitch like that!" said Shelly in disgust "It doesn't matter, I'll kill him anyway! Or better yet, I'll make him my new toy!" she said with sinister glee.
Gregory rushed forwards towards Lloyd at a surprising speed for a man so large, and swung his forearm into him at high speed in a lariat. Lloyd went flying back, through several trees and was barely retaining consciousness.
"Tch…I wanted to do it myself, you fatass" said Shelly angrily "It doesn't matter, Now I get to torture him to my heart's content!" she said happily with the same sense of sadistic joy earlier.
"You'd better not…The Boss may want him" said Harrison
"Pfft…Like I care!" she said as she went to grab Lloyd's arm and drag him. However, a blue arrow appeared from the darkness and imbedded itself in the tree right where Shelly's hand was about to be. Luckily for her, she pulled it back at just the right time. The three Arrancars froze on the spot
"Damn…Not again…" thought Harrison
"That annoying bastard is back" thought Shelly
Even in his thoughts, Gregory only grunted as the man emerged from the trees. He looked like a young man, but he was dressed as though he was living in the 17th Century, looking like some form of Vampire Hunter.
The Arrancars hesitated before making a move, giving the mystery man a chance to make his. He held out his right arm to reveal a steel gauntlet with a symbol engraved onto it. Suddenly, a massive Blue Crossbow appeared around him, bigger than himself. He gripped it tightly with his right hand and aimed it at the Three Arrancars.
"Damnit…Fall back! Retreat!" said Harrison as he lept backwards, followed by Gregory and then a highly annoyed Shelly, upset that she couldn't keep her new 'toy'.
The last thing Lloyd saw before finally losing consciousness was the Crossbow. It looked remarkably like a Cross, the Symbol of the Heavens
To B Continued…