A.N: It's strange, I planned this fight from the very beginning yet I still had trouble getting this chapter finished. Oh well, can't be helped. Here's Chapter 14, where Ichigo's fight with Grimmjow starts to pick up. Enjoy!
Chapter 14: Vengeful Predators
From across La Torre, most of the prominent members of Los Retazos felt the disappearance of Cortez Orgulloso's spiritual pressure. The first three to notice were Halibel's Fracciónes. Emilou Apacci was shocked to say the least.
"Unbelievable," she muttered, "General Orgulloso lost…"
Franceska Mila Rose and Cyan Sun-Sun said nothing, but their faces said enough. They were shocked as well.
Benito's six Fracciónes noticed next. Pastor Olegario gritted his teeth in anger. "They're better than we expected." He said angrily.
Tesla Lindocruz nodded in agreement. "To think that we've lost two generals before the final battle has even begun, this might be troublesome for us."
"Do not speak such doubts, Tesla," Fielhombre Guardia reprimanded his comrade, "His Majesty will still lead us to victory in the end."
"We'll avenge General Orgulloso and all of the rest." Palmira Halibel added.
The last two members of the Royal Fracciónes remained silent, but nodded their consent to Palmira's words.
General Raoul Arcano sensed the death of his fellow general next while casually sipping tea. Sighing to himself, Raoul shook his head. "Oh Cortez, I've severely overestimated you." He said disdainfully.
Raoul took another sip of his tea. "And now there's just a few of you left who are defending this tower and buying King Benito time to prepare. Don't disappoint me, or it won't be the Soul Reapers you have to fear."
When General Claudia Tentadora sensed the death of Cortez, she just smirked. "Poor, poor, Cortez." she said sarcastically.
Armando Brizna had a look of clear disdain on his face when he sensed the disappearance of his colleague's spiritual pressure. "Geez," he muttered angrily, "the hell's with that? 'Leave it to me' he says, 'I'll take care of it' he says. And then he goes and gets his ass kicked just like that."
Armando scoffed. "What a weakling. Benito really should've kept his standards at the point where he brought me into Los Retazos."
Tia Halibel sighed sadly when she sensed Cortez' death. Remembering his loyalty, she spoke quietly. "You've fought well, Cortez, we will never forget your sacrifice. No, not just that. We will honor it."
In spite of his well known malicious and callous nature (especially whenever he's angered), Benito Muerta seemed genuinely saddened by Cortez Orgulloso' death. He sighed. Thank you for your years of loyal service, Cortez. He thought genuinely.
A soldier nearby Benito spoke to his colleague. "I never thought General Orgulloso would be defeated, he's so powerful."
The soldier's friend nodded in agreement. Benito overheard this and looked at the two men. "Yes, General Orgulloso was a special asset to our cause. His loss is a great blow to Los Retazos."
Benito averted his hard gaze. "I suggest we all mourn him on our own individual time, after we've annihilated the Thirteen Court Guard Squads."
Sajin Komamura panted, feeling his vision start to blur as he took one last look at the corpse of his fallen enemy. "You…you were the strongest opponent I have ever fought against." Komamura said to himself.
In spite of his injuries, Komamura turned around and started walking towards the entrance of La Torre, determined to rejoin his comrades. I must rejoin the others, he thought, the young master, he needs me…needs my support. I must support him for Master Genryūsai…
Before Komamura could finish his thought, he fell forward and started blacking out. Before he completely lost consciousness he heard a familiar voice calling out his name.
Even Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez was surprised when he felt Cortez Orgulloso's death. "No freaking way." He muttered.
Ichigo smiled inwardly. Way to go guys, he thought, take it to 'em!
Grimmjow, however, managed to read Ichigo's feelings and glared at him. "Don't celebrate just yet, Ichigo. You guys may have taken out Bruto and Cortez, but those two can't hold a candle to the other three generals and I."
And then there's Halibel, who's stronger than all of us, Grimmjow thought to himself, but that's an obvious one. She was Espada 3 after all. But then there's Benito…even now it's hard to believe that guy is in a class of his own.
Memories of Grimmjow's first meeting with Benito Muerta came flooding back. He did his best not to quake in fear at the very thought of him. Can't lose focus now! He chided himself.
Grimmjow glared at Ichigo. Not until I rip him to shreds. I'm gonna show this bastard here and now that I'm the king! Not him, not Benito, me!
"I'm gonna kill you, Ichigo!" Grimmjow shouted.
Ichigo blocked Grimmjow's strike, but he was focused on something else he noticed. The moment Grimmjow completely lost his composure and his focus on the fight. He'd seen Grimmjow lose his composure before, during their last fight in Las Noches. But, he had never seen him lose it to the point where he could no longer focus on their fight.
"What the hell's with you?" Ichigo asked angrily.
"You think you're so cool. You think you're so strong. You are just like Benito! Always looking down on me! Thinking that no matter what I do, no matter how strong I get, you're better than me!" Grimmjow was furious.
"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked.
"Don't deny it you bastard!" Grimmjow screamed. "You've always had that damn delusion of superiority over me and I'm sick of it! It reminds me too much of him! I'm putting an end to that crap right here, right now!"
Grimmjow was swinging his sword maniacally at his orange-haired rival. "Die! Die! Die!" He screamed repeatedly.
With every 'die' Grimmjow took a lethal sing at Ichigo. Ichigo reacted quickly and blocked each attack aimed at him. Well, it's good to see that he's playing for keeps like always. Ichigo thought.
But still, Ichigo's train of thought continued. The way he's been acting still concerns me. I've never seen him lose his composure like that. And furthermore, I can sense something different in his blade. Something about him has changed…and not for the better in his case.
Ichigo Flash Stepped away from Grimmjow and reappeared behind him. Grimmjow spun around to see Ichigo preparing an attack. "Getsuga Tenshō!" He shouted.
Grimmjow's eyes widened. There's no time! He thought, as the blast of spirit energy collided with him.
Akio Yamamoto and Rukia Kuchiki felt the rise in Ichigo's spiritual pressure. Akio whistled appreciatively. "I don't know what's going on up there, but clearly Ichigo's having his fun."
Akio turned to Rukia. "Yo, Snowflake, lets wrap this up already. Ichigo's gonna need some backup when he beats the crap out of whoever he's fighting."
This had become almost routine for the two of them while they were fighting the Adhuchas they were matched up with. They were trying to one up each other with insults. Rukia smirked and gave her own witty retort.
"You should take your own advice, Fizzle," Rukia shot back. "I'm already almost done with these bastards."
Akio sweat-dropped at Rukia's latest insult. Fizzle? He thought, realizing that she was referring to times when some objects that require electricity simply fizzle out.
One Adhuchas attempted to take Akio by surprise in his somewhat distracted state. Akio, quickly took notice of this and moved to the side. He countered the Ahduchas with a karate chop to the head, killing it instantly.
"That wasn't very nice, didn't he know about fair fights?" Akio muttered.
Akio looked at the remaining Adhuchas. "Anyone else want to go a few rounds? I'm always raring to go."
"Don't get too complacent, Soul Reaper!" One Adhuchas shouted, charging.
Akio leapt into the air to avoid a punch thrown at him. "Complacent eh? That's a pretty complex word for you." Akio teased.
Akio pointed Kaminari at the Adhuchas. "Naguru!" He shouted, firing a bolt of lightning.
The Adhuchas was destroyed, leaving Akio with two more Adhuchas. Akio looked at them both. "You guys ought to take your own advice, as Rukia would say. Just because you hate people like us, doesn't automatically mean you should just dismiss us."
Rukia heard Akio's words and grinned. "What do you expect? People underestimate each other all the time." She said.
Akio shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Rukia turned back to her own opponents. "Okay, you three, time to really show you the fruits of my training."
Rukia held out her already released Sode no Shirayuki to the side. "Prepare to bear witness to some of my new dances. Of course, that'll be all you see, I can't reveal everything to guys like you."
"You underestimating us?" The Adhuchas asked.
Rukia shrugged. "If it had been a week ago, then yes. But after all the training I've gone through, not so much."
"Now, Yon no Mai, Hakusō!"
Sharp projectiles of ice were launched at the three Adhuchas, who scrambled to get out of the way.
Ichigo warily looked at the smoke created by his Getsuga Tenshō. There's no way in hell that killed him, Ichigo thought grimly, I've got to be ready. He could come out and attack me at any moment.
However, when the smoke cleared, Grimmjow just stood there. There were burn marks all over his body from being struck by Ichigo's attack, but nothing looked fatal. Grimmjow was panting slightly, but he was grinning all the same.
"I had to raise my Hierro just to lower the damage that Getsuga could've done to me." Grimmjow smirked. "That power just gets my blood boiling in excitement!"
Grimmjow placed his hand on the blade of his Zanpakutō. "So excited that it makes me want to really get this fight going."
Ichigo recognized that position Grimmjow was in. Oh crap! Ichigo shouted in his mind. He's going to use it now?
"Grind, Pantera!" Grimmjow ran his hand across the blade.
A sudden blast of blue spirit energy enveloped Grimmjow, blinding Ichigo slightly. A look of shock came upon Ichigo's face when he felt the level of power Grimmjow was reaching. It's…stronger than before! Ichigo thought in realization.
Benito Muerta felt the sudden change in his subordinate's spiritual pressure as he stood in place, awaiting moment of departure. He smirked at the feeling. "So, Grimmjow has made his move."
Benito chuckled slightly. "You'll soon regret that you didn't kill him when you had the chance, Ichigo Kurosaki." He said, in spite of the fact that he knew Ichigo would never hear his words.
"Ever since Grimmjow had joined Los Retazos, I watched him train every day for the sole purpose of being strong enough to kill you, the man who defeated him in a fight to the death, yet let him live."
Benito's chuckling turned into a full blown laugh. "The very thought of it is so amusing. To think that in the end, your complex code of honor is what killed you," he said, "I haven't had a laugh like that in quite some time."
"I am happy that the situation has brought a smile to your face, Your Majesty."
Benito turned to see Palmira Halibel entering the room he was in. "Ah, Palmira, are the Royal Fracciónes ready?" He asked.
Palmira nodded. "Fielhombre and the others are ready. Los Retazos is ready to move out once the Professor has finished his preparations."
Benito smirked once more. "So, what will you do now Ichigo?" Benito muttered. "The clock is ticking and your alone with a man who's sole mission in life at the moment is to kill you. I'm quite curious as to what your next move will be. After all, with the way that Grimmjow is now, one false move means your death."
Grimmjow's Pantera had barely changed in the past two years. The only noticeable difference was that it radiated even more power than before. Grimmjow cackled at the prospect of overwhelming his rival with his newfound power. And after that, I will finally be free of that man! Grimmjow thought.
Ichigo remained calm in spite of the fact that he was concerned about Grimmjow's power. Yeah, definitely stronger than before. Ichigo thought grimly. I may have to draw on my Hollow at this rate.
Grimmjow smirked and suddenly vanished from Ichigo's view. Sonido! Ichigo thought in realization.
Grimmjow appeared right in front of Ichigo and swung his right claw-gauntlet into Ichigo's abdomen. Ichigo coughed up blood and was sent flying back from the sheer force of Grimmjow's attack.
"I'm not letting you recover, you bastard!" Grimmjow shouted.
Grimmjow used Sonido again and appeared at the flying Ichigo's side. Grimmjow than grabbed Ichigo by the neck with his long tail. "Take this!" Grimmjow shouted.
Grimmjow leapt into the air and threw Ichigo back to the floor with his tail. Grimmjow then followed up by pointing his arm at Ichigo. "Garra de la Pantera!" Grimmjow shouted, firing the five explosive darts.
Ichigo, still recovering from being thrown to the ground by Grimmjow's tail, couldn't dodge the attacks. Grimmjow grinned as he heard Ichigo scream from the darts hitting him. The area around him exploded. The former Espada cackled once again as the smoke cleared and he saw his rival lying in the crater.
"In the two years I spent training to kill you, I evolved!" Grimmjow bragged. "I evolved into a true predator. And you, Ichigo, are my only prey!"
A.N: Hopefully, I can start getting chapters out at a much faster rate. I want to finish this series up before I start college. I'll probably end up taking a slight break to get into the swing of college. After that, I'll set to work on a sequel to this series, along with several other new stories. Awhile back I talked about my future writing plans, and how I might do a One Piece story, a Naruto story, a Fairy Tail story, or even a multiple Anime crossover story. After due consideration (and a long time in the development stage), I've decided to set to work on the Anime crossover. I won't reveal too much about it, I'll probably give you more of an idea of it after I finish La Batalla de la Torre. Maybe I'll even release it after I finish La Batalla de la Torre, I've got a couple chapters of the opening part of the story done after all.
As for the other stories, I'm still thinking of an idea for the Fairy Tail story. However, I do have some ideas in the development stage for One Piece and Naruto. The Naruto story will take place after where I think the Manga will end (after Madara's defeat in the Return of Madara Arc). As for the One Piece story, I don't want to write a story that takes place after the Dressrosa Arc considering how unpredictable One Piece is. Therefore, I've decided that the One Piece story will be a direct sequel, a One Piece 2 of sorts that will introduce a crew and overall world of OC's that will also have plenty of characters of the previous generation. I am much further into development of that story than the Naruto one, so if I'm going to release either of those stories in a certain order, expect that one first. Like with the crossover, I won't reveal too much about these stories.
Also, for a little side note, I think it's pretty cool that we are finally seeing Yachiru fight in the Manga. I had always been curious as to how strong she really is, considering that Ikkaku is downright terrified of her wrath. Either she's gonna own that creepy-ass Sternritter, Guenael, or Kenpachi's going to save the day. I'm probably going to find out tomorrow when I read the latest chapter.
Well, as always, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Keep on reading everyone! This is ND2014 signing off.