Aphrodite slashed horizontally at Lust, but the Sin quickly leaped back, a taunting grin on her face. The blond goddess swung her blade again, Lust ducking under the attack. Aphrodite slashed repeatedly, aiming to split Lust in half in any direction. Lust just kept an expression that told everyone who looked at her that she was simply toying with the goddess, that she wasn't taking the fight seriously.

"You've slowed tremendously, Aph," Lust said in a teasing tone. "You used to be so quick and nimble. Has married life left you feeling a little too relaxed?"

"A slut like you wouldn't have any idea what married life is like!" the goddess exclaimed as she attempted to cut Lust down through the middle. When the Sin dodged, she attempted a roundhouse into Lust's side, but she missed that attack as well.

Byakuya stood back as Aphrodite had asked of him. He watched the two women go at it, giving Lust hateful glances. She was toying with his wife, something that he didn't really support. He wanted to jump in, but if he did, Aphrodite would only be angry with him, and that was something he didn't ever want to see. He watched as the Goddess of Love and Beauty continued her struggle against Lust the Lascivious, the latter dodging all of the former's attacks with frightening ease. His eyes narrowed impatiently.

You have to win, Aphrodite, he thought with the utmost faith in his wife.

-o-

In the skies above Karakura, Soi Fon hacked through a number of demons with incredible speed, not even bothering to pay attention to the countless monsters. She sliced a winged creature in half as she dashed through the hordes, the whole of the Stealth Force following and taking out any creatures that their leader may have missed. One of her subordinates appeared by her side, his short sword at the ready.

"Captain Soi Fon, there may be too many," he said as he stabbed a demon in its eye and tossed the creature's body away. "We already have over fifteen casualties in our squad alone."

"If you're suggesting a retreat, you can forget it," Soi Fon said with a shake of her head. "We're not retreating unless Head Captain Yamamoto orders it. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," the man replied he went on ahead, but only got about ten feet forward before he was suddenly hacked and slashed into bits in almost an instant. Soi Fon's eyes went wide when she saw this, not believing it until she saw the culprit.

Before her was a man who looked to be about in his twenties. His hair was a dark green mess that reached down to his thighs. He wore nothing but a pair of black cargo shorts, revealing a lanky frame of a body. He looked at her dark eyes that seemed to seethe with anger and hate.

"Who are you?" Soi Fon demanded more than asked.

"Stupid humans," the man said with a twisted glare. "Your audacity is endless. If you must know who I am, then I guess it's only fair that you know the name of the man who's going to kill you. I am Envy the Jealous of the Seven Deadly Sins."

"'The Jealous'?" the Soul Reaper captain inquired with a raised eyebrow. "What makes you jealous?"

"I'm not jealous of anything!" Envy screamed indignantly. He quickly calmed down, and slowly began to grin. "But you are…"

"What?"

"Your jealousy is what drew me to confront you," Envy explained. "You're envious of someone. I don't know who, but you are. It's as obvious to me as the fact that you're going to die here."

"I don't think so!" Soi Fon growled out as she dashed at Envy, her zanpakuto ready cleave him in half. The Sin smirked cockily and vanished in a flicker of movement. He reappeared behind Soi Fon, a sword having suddenly appeared from in his hand. He swung down to cut her in half, but only managed to get her white captain's haori. She stood back a few feet in her shihakusho, her zanpakuto, ready.

"You're a speedy one," Envy commented with a somewhat angry tone. He seemed awfully miffed about missing. "Oh well. I'll still kill you in the end."

Soi Fon narrowed her eyes at the lanky man. She could sense that his spiritual pressure was far larger than the demons that she had been facing. She may not be able to hold back. She placed her hand on the blade of her zanpakuto and said, "Sting my enemy, Suzumebachi." Her blade glowed briefly, becoming a small stinger that encased her right middle finger. "Now we can really start."

Envy grinned evilly. "Yeah. I always wanted to fight a Soul Reaper. Now let's just see if you can really match up to the Grim Reapers of North America."

Soi Fon responded to that by charging at the Sin, her small weapon trained for his heart. She rapidly landed two blows before he could react. Envy's entire body convulsed as he fell from the sky crashing into the roof of a building. The Soul Reaper captain smirked. "And that's that." She turned and was just about to continue on to her next opponent when she heard dark chuckling that slowly escalated into full-blown mad laughter. She looked to where Envy had landed, her eyes wide in shock.

"Was that supposed to kill me?" the green-haired man asked with a twisted grin on his face. "You should know that as long as you feel jealousy towards others, you'll never be able to defeat me."

The Sins can't be killed? she thought with some level of horror. She knew that the Soul Reapers were going to face some tough opponents, but she never in a million years would've expected immortal enemies. If that was true, then they may be fighting a battle that they can never win. She shook her head. "Just because you say that you can't be killed doesn't make it true. You must have pulled some kind of trick."

"A trick?" Envy said with a laugh. "If you say so, Soul Reaper. If you want to kill me, then give it your best shot." They eyed each other warily – though Envy still wore a sadistic grin on his face – each waiting for the other to make the first move. They soon charged each other, both ready to kill.