Ichigo swung his massive blade, cleaving a trio of demons in one slash. As soon as they died, however, a dozen more took their place. Ichigo scowled in frustration at this. No matter how many he cut down, more just kept coming. And to make things worse, Urahara had disappeared on him and his friends.
"Ichigo!" called Orihime's voice. Ichigo turned to see his girlfriend struggling to keep her Santenkesshun up against a huge demon. Several small children were cowering behind her.
"Dammit!" he cursed as he sprinted up and beheaded the monster with one mighty slash. He immediately turned to Orihime. "Get those kids somewhere safe!" She nodded and instructed the young ones to follow her.
The Substitute Soul Reaper turned again at the sound of demonic cries and saw another horde of monstrous creatures. He cursed again. Things weren't looking up.
-o-
Greed's fist slammed into a wall, breaking the stone with a frightening ease. That punch had been intended for Urahara, who had dodged at the last second. The Avaricious yanked his arm out of the wall and turned to face Kisuke again, who didn't look at all scared. "You're a speedy little bastard, aren't you?" Greed asked with a smirk.
"Was that a compliment?" Kisuke inquired with a lackadaisical grin. "Why, thank you, sir. I think you just made my whole day!"
Greed's eye twitched in slight annoyance. "Cheeky, too. I think I'm going to enjoy killing you." He dropped back into his fighting stance. "Get ready!" He charged forward with incredible speed, his fist cocked for another attack. He threw countless punches at the former Soul Reaper, who casually evaded each of them. Kisuke had a grin on his face the whole time.
"Come on!" the shop owner taunted. "I know old ladies who fight better than you do!" Greed growled in clear frustration, but was still grinning, which Kisuke easily found rather odd. Why is he so happy? What's making him so glad?
Soon, one of Greed's punches made contact, slamming right into… Urahara's crotch. Both combatants stopped. Silence pervaded the immediate area. Greed suddenly shrieked in pain, grasping his partially broken hand with his good one. Who looked over at the unharmed Urahara, who gave Greed a look of confusion. "WHAT THE HELL KIND OF UNDERWEAR ARE YOU WEARING THAT CAN BREAK A MAN'S FINGERS!?"
"What are you talking about?" the ex-captain asked, his eyebrows raised with clear lack of understanding.
Greed stared at the man, completely dumbfounded. As his hand began to heal itself, he slowly went back to his grin and chuckled a little. "Well, you just got a bit more interesting," he stated as he regained his previous composure. "How about this?" Suddenly, Greed vanished, causing Kisuke's eyes to widen in shock at the Sin's speed. "Over here."
Kisuke turned to swing his blade behind him, but Greed's fist instantly connected with his face, sending him flying several yards away and crashing into a building. He groaned in pain as he sat up, his hand on his head. He picked up his hat off the ground and replaced it on his head. "Well," he said. "This might just be a little more difficult than I thought."
To prove his point, Greed appeared in front of him with little more than a flicker. The Sin threw another powerful fist at him, but he quickly Flash Stepped out of the way. Greed's fist utterly annihilated the entire floor of the building that he was in. Kisuke whistled as he stood in the air not too far from where he was earlier, impressed by the Sin's strength.
"You know, if I hadn't dodged, that probably would've been the end of me. I'm legitimately in awe right now."
"Thank you," Greed said appreciatively. "But you know, I think I've just noticed something." Kisuke raised an eyebrow. "You're holding back." The shopkeeper's eyes widened slightly, barely noticeable, but Greed still saw it. "I want to see what you're really capable of, Soul Reaper! I can feel it! I know you have more power! Show me all of it!" Greed then charged forth again, grinning madly as he approached his enemy at unnatural speeds.
Kisuke barely evaded Greed's attack, but was unable to counter as the Sin immediately appeared right behind him. The Avaricious slammed a bone-shattering kick into Urahara's back, making the blond man cough up blood and sending him flying until Greed flickered ahead of him again and swung both fist down, nearly crushing Kisuke's skull and forcing him toward the ground, where he left a good-sized crater in the concrete.
Greed laughed sadistically as he descended toward the crater. "Now this is just sad! Come on, Soul Reaper! Show me what you can really do!" Kisuke, now covered in his own blood, stood shakily and eyed Greed seriously, to which Greed laughed. "What's wrong? Are you afraid of your own power? Tch. You wouldn't believe how many saps I've killed who were too scared of their own strength." There was silence. "Tell you what. How about I show you my true power? Then you'll have no choice."
Kisuke's eyes widened at a sudden mass increase in spiritual energy in the air. He saw tiny lights form in the air, all of them converging towards… Greed. The Sin was absorbing the spiritual energy in the air and merging it with his own. The Sin's body suddenly bulked up considerably as he laughed insanely.
"YES!" Greed shouted as he grew. "MORE! MORE! MORE!" Very soon, the Sin was easily twenty feet tall, with huge spines piercing out of his back, and blade-like forms growing from his elbows. His teeth became an array of razor blades, and his eyes glowed an evil red. "YES! THIS IS IT! THIS IS POWER! MORE!"
Kisuke narrowed his eyes at the demonic man before him. "So," he said, "this is the true form of Greed, is it? I've gotta say, I'm not too impress-" Immediately before he could finish his sentence, a massive fist slammed into his gut, sending him soaring through six buildings before he could even try to regain his footing. As soon as he did, however, Greed appeared right in front of him. The Sin grabbed him and held him in a crushing bear hug before he flipped upside down and darted for the ground, too fast for Kisuke to react.
As soon as they collided with the ground, an enormous pillar of debris clouded the air. As it cleared out, Greed stood up again, grinning like a madman. He chuckled darkly, and soon went into full-blown mad laughter. "Oh, yeah, that's the stuff! That's the adrenaline rush that I wanted! Come on! You aren't dead yet, are you?" He picked the barely conscious Kisuke Urahara up off the ground, holding him by his left arm. The former Soul Reaper was still holding onto his zanpakuto. Greed grinned at this. "That's what I thought."
Kisuke responded with nothing more than a pained groan. He could barely move. He could barely feel his body. This was easily the worst moment of his life. He moved his head just enough to look into Greed's eyes. It was obvious that this guy was powerful. Maybe too powerful. What could he do to beat him? Nothing came to mind.
"Use me, Kisuke," said a woman's voice. That voice surprised him. He hadn't spoken to the owner of that voice in a long time.
Benihime, he thought, speaking to the spirit of his zanpakuto.
"Use my power, Kisuke," she replied. "Do it now, or we will both die here. You have to use our full power!"
"I'd hoped you'd be a decent opponent," Greed stated. "Oh, well. There's more fish in the sea I guess. I'll a worthy rival someday I suppose." Right before he could deal a finishing blow, however, Kisuke muttered something under his breath. "What was that?"
"I said…" the shopkeeper muttered again. "Ban… kai…"
-o-
BAM! Cliffhanger!
