Chapter: 17

Ichigo's claws sank into the ground once again missing his target. He roared and ripped his claws free.

Rukia kept moving to avoid being hit. Ichigo wasn't picky about his target. Sometimes he went after her and other times he went after Shinji or Ikkaku. He even went after Zalya when he caught sight of him.

"Looky, looky, baby!"

"Ah!" Rukia felt a sharp pain in her arm and saw blood from her wound rise into the air. She couldn't forget about the other person they were fighting. When Ichigo wasn't attacking, Zalya was. He worked with Ichigo as a team to weaken the group further.

Now that he had her blood, he could use it to attack, along with the rest of the blood still in his control. A few drops didn't seem like much, but it added up. A single drop could cause more wounds and draw more blood. The more blood he had, the more weapons he could use and the wider his range. They couldn't afford to surrender any more blood to him.

Ichigo fired a cero past Zalya's head. "Careful, baby. I don't want to pick a fight with you. I'm after these guys. Why not help me take them down?"

Ichigo responded by firing another cero past his head. Zalya zoomed past him on his board of blood and slashed Ichigo's shoulder. Ichigo roared and chased after him. Zalya flew close to Shinji and made him the target of Ichigo's rage. Once in sight, Ichigo turned his rage on Shinji and tried to slash him with his claws.

"Can't you use your Zanpakuto to confuse his sense of direction or something?" asked Ikkaku. "That way he won't know where to attack. His aim will be off. While you're at it, do the same to that damn Quincy."

"I tried. It's too dangerous. He can fire in every direction so my ability will be pointless."

"I thought if it confused the senses, he wouldn't be able to tell where he was aiming anyway. How would he know if he's firing in every direction?"

"Well, he did!" Shinji snapped. "I can't use it because I've already tried. It didn't work. And I can't risk him hitting Ichigo. There are just too many things to consider and- On your left!"

Ikkaku dodged Ichigo's attack. "What the hell are we supposed to do?!"

Zalya started to shrilly play air-guitar, surfing around the group on his blood board. His actions were annoying everyone including Ichigo. Ichigo was the only one who bothered to attack, but with Zalya's constant movements, Ichigo's attacks were all over the place. He missed several times and came close to hitting his friends, though he didn't appear to mind. A target was a target.

"Come on, baby! Come on, baby!" Zalya shrieked. "Come on, come on! Yeah! Come on!"

Ichigo roared and fired a barrage of ceros at him in a full circle. One cero narrowly missed Ikkaku and the other grazed Rukia. However, one cero managed to hit the side of Zalya's board and sent him flying. The blood melted and dripped, soaking the ground. Zalya stood up and saw the blood spilling everywhere, no longer retaining the shape he desired. He wasn't too concerned. With a wave of his hand, the blood lifted off the ground and formed a long whip which coiled around him like a red snake. Ichigo came at him once again.

"Though we need you to help us take down the Soul Reapers, you don't have long to live anyway, baby. So I see no reason why I can't take you down to defend myself."

Zalya sent the whip into Ichigo's chest and out the other side. It coiled around and entered his body again. It looked like the blood was stitching him like a torn piece of cloth. It entered and exited several times. Ichigo roared and tried to grab the blood coils but they broke away every time he tried to touch them. All at once, the coils pulled in one direction and hoisted Ichigo off the ground.

"What the hell is he doing?" wondered Ikkaku.

The blood held Ichigo off the ground by his rib. His tough Hollow body started to stretched and tear, gravity working against the blood suspending him in midair. Ichigo's flesh tore and his protective skin was ripped from the rest of his body. Ichigo fell, part of his lift rib missing. Blood started to pour forth.

Zalya quickly gathered it up.

Ichigo's body started to heal and regenerate. He lifted himself up and growled at Zalya. He started to charge, then abruptly stopped. He shrieked and roared and his skin started to peel and flack away. He was molting.

"Ichigo..?"

Shrieking, Ichigo ripped himself away from his molting Hollow form and fell backwards onto the ground. He was barely conscious and lay moaning on the ground, his head turning from side to side.

"Ichigo!" Rukia started running.

"Don't!" Shinji warned.

"Come here, baby!" Zalya took aim at Rukia.

She stopped mid-step, seeing a mass of blood heading right for her. She had no time to block and there was no way she would be able to avoid it.

Another cero intercepted the blood and the two attacks canceled each other out.

"Ah?" Zalya looked around. That cero didn't come from Ichigo.

Zalya felt two hand wrap around his neck from behind.

"No one... hurts my friends!"

Zalya choked, his windpipe being crushed by Veneno's powerful grip.

"One of you get Ichigo out of here now!" Veneno ordered. "Hurry!"

Shinji was the one to make the move. "I got him." Shinji threw Ichigo over his shoulder and took off.

Zalya pulled at the hands around his neck. "Get off!" he choked out. He was starting to see spots.

The blood he had collected from Ichigo and the others were destroyed by the cero. He had nothing.

Ikkaku looked hopeful. It was just as Shinji had theorized. If they could find a way to restrain Zalya before he had blood drawn, they had a chance to defeat him. If Veneno kept strangling him, he would either kill him or cause Zalya to black out. Either way, he would be defeated.

Zalya brought his thumb up to his mouth and bit down on his own flesh. Blood began to flow. With a weapon, Zalya threw the tiny drops into Veneno's face, cutting him. That blood joined his and formed a larger mass which then sliced Veneno's hands.

Yelping, Veneno released him and broke away from Zalya. His hands were dripping with blood which Zalya gathered and used against him.

"He uses blood to attack. Whatever you do, don't cut Zalya and don't let him cut you!" shouted Rukia.

"A little late for that!" Veneno yelled.

Zalya examined the blood in the palm of his hand. The blood he drew from his thumb and the blood he drew from Veneno only managed to be the size of a golf ball in total. It wasn't much to work with but he could always get more.

Veneno backed away from Zalya. He looked from him to Rukia and Ikkaku. Both of them were tired and injured. He interpreted their gazes and looks of encouragement. They were relying on him to take down Zalya.

"Where have you been?" asked Rukia out of the blue. "Cedric said you ran by some time ago. What were you doing?"

"I went to pay their leader a visit. I wanted to see if I could persuade Yagi to hand over the cure, if there is one."

Zalya laughed. "There's no way you can get Yagi to hand something over, baby. That's impossible. Solid as a rock. Even I can't get him to share anything with me and we're related."

"How did you think you could convince him to tell you something like that?" asked Ikkaku. He was very skeptical.

"With my ability." Veneno held up his hand. "I planned on infecting him with the Hollow virus and then use Linnette's power to force him to answer once he's become a Hollow."

Rukia's eyes widened. "That's brilliant."

"Yeah... Until I realized that plan was full of holes. It wouldn't work." Veneno then looked at Zalya. "But that doesn't mean I can't use it on you."

"Me?"

"Yeah. Though you don't have any information to share, if you get infected with the Hollow virus, you won't be much of a threat. All your Quincy powers will be gone. And if Linnette uses her power, she can control you."

"Oh." Zalya looked around. "Is she here?"

Veneno didn't answer, but his look said it all.

"Thought so." Zalya bent the blood into a fine blade. "Then it won't work. Not if she isn't here, baby. And even so, once I become infected, I'll just attack them, same as before. You'll just give me a new power to do it with, baby."

Ikkaku slapped his forehead. "Veneno's plans are really half-baked, aren't they?"

"At least he's trying, and it was a good plan," said Rukia.

"Where is Yagi, anyway?" asked Zalya. "If you went to talk to him and now you're here, that must mean you either gave up or found him. Which is it, baby?"

"Stop calling me baby!" Veneno fired a small cero from his hand.

"Was that a bala?" asked Zalya. "Well, an Arrancar would be able to do that, wouldn't you, baby?"

"I said not to call me that!" Veneno fired again but not at Zalya directly. He aimed at the blood. If he got rid of that small portion, then Zalya would no longer have a weapon to use against them.

Zalya and Veneno kept their distance from each other as they fought, neither willing to get too close to the other. Zalya let the blood hover behind his back while he pulled out his bow and started firing. Veneno used his speed to dodge every single arrow that came his way. He jumped and flipped through the air and fired a cero from above Zalya's head. Zalya dodged but the blood behind him took the hit and was gone.

"Crap." Zalya had no blood to use.

"Bind his hands!" yelled Ikkaku. "Don't let him draw blood from himself!"

"Already on it!" Rukia used Kido to hold Zalya in place. Gold chains wove around his arms, binding Zalya. He couldn't fire an arrow or cut his flesh for more blood. "Now, Veneno!"

Veneno didn't draw his sword. He was going to defeat Zalya with other methods. He was going to strangle him again. No blood would be shed.

Veneno was about to grab Zalya's neck when he saw the Quincy bit the inside of his cheek. Veneno gasped and pulled back as Zalya spat blood at him. The blood followed Veneno whenever he went. Then it curved around and struck Ikkaku through the shoulder. Ikkaku tried to cover the wound before blood could escape but it was pointless.

"Is there no stopping this guy?!"

"I'm just resourceful, baby." Zalya used the blood to break his bonds and freed himself. "Now who wants it next?"

Veneno fired another cero at him. Zalya bent over backwards to avoid it. As he did, Veneno moved it to attack him while in that vulnerable position. Maybe if he snapped his spine, it would be enough to stop him.

Just as he was about to attack, a folly of arrows came his way and Veneno retreated.

Yagi stood further away with his bow at the ready. "I never gave you permission to leave. We were in the middle of a conversation and you just run off? How rude. At least be a man and stand your ground rather than run off."

"You're one to talk," said Veneno. "I've heard and seen the things you do. You run off the second you're in possible danger. As soon as Ichigo becomes a Hollow, you run off. You only came after him when he's unable to move. You? A man? Ha! You're nothing but a coward!"

Yagi scoffed. "A coward, am I? Hm. At least I'm alive. That's all that matters. I am not so proud or stubborn as to throw my life away just to keep up appearances or for the sake of pride. Such unwritten rules get in the way. I'd rather share may tale myself than be remembered through another one's stories."

Veneno gave Yagi a serious look. "You'd rather be alive. That's it?"

"Is there anything else?"

Veneno's expression changed to one of sadness. "What good is being alive when you're alone?"

Rukia knew Veneno was speaking from the heart. At one time, Veneno existed but wasn't living. Choosing the safest path would keep him alive but he was always lonely and miserable. Choosing to be with people and look after them gave him purpose and helped him discover what it was like to truly live. Being alive and living were very different. Veneno finally discovered what was truly important and what he wanted. Living and being alone wasn't a life he wanted to be a part of. He was happy having friends and people in his life who cared about him and who would remember him even when he was no longer there.

Abandoning people, using them as a shield to protect himself was something he no longer wished to do. He wanted to protect those he treasured. He understood why Yagi thought this way but he couldn't condone it. He knew it was wrong. Yagi was wrong. Somethings were more important than being alive. A life was meaningless without others in it. Veneno truly believed that. All his experiences have taught him that much. Living two different lives allowed him to compare and see which way was better.

A life with friends was the life he chose.

Yagi raised his bow. "I still can't fathom why you would chose their side. An Arrancar has no place among Soul Reapers or Quincy. You walk a path alone. You are just fooling yourself."

"I choose to be with them. They are my friends and I want them in my life."

Yagi shook his head. "There is no life for you. Not with them, or anyone. You are an Arrancar. A Hollow. You have no say and no place. No rights. The only thing you deserve is death."

Something sharp pierced Veneno's body. He saw a blade of blood sticking out of his chest, run through from behind. Exactly where his hole was located.

Rukia's mouth fell open, her eyes wide with horror.

Veneno carefully turned his head to look at her. Seeing her horrified expression and worried eyes gave him comfort. She cared about him. She truly cared. Knowing this gave Veneno so much joy. He truly would be missed. He had people who cared for him. People who loved him.

Veneno managed a smile. "Don't worry," he said through bloody lips. "I'm going to be just fin-"

The blade expanded in his chest. Taking on the form of a vice, the clamps went in different directions, tearing Veneno apart. His torso was severed into pieces and fell to the ground in a heap.

"Ah..." Rukia's lips trembled.

Veneno's eyes stared straight ahead, lifeless.

Rukia screamed. She just watched him die right before her eyes. He was only a few feet away and she watched it happen. She couldn't even warn him. She couldn't help him.

Zalya stepped up to the body and sliced off Veneno's head with his own blood. "Looky what I got, baby." Zalya picked up Veneno's severed head and held it up for Yagi to see. "Decently heavy. With the way he talked, I kind of expected it to be empty."

"Zalya," said Yagi. "Do not play with the body. That's disgusting."

"Don't bother me none." Zalya waved Veneno's head back and forth, his jaw hanging open and dripping even more blood onto the ground.

"It is an Arrancar," Yagi explained. "Though it is nothing short of what he deserved, I wouldn't recommend you touching it. It's nothing but filth."

"Alright, alright." Zalya drop-kicked Veneno's head past Yagi who then fired a single arrow to cause unnecessary damage to the dead Arrancar. It was overkill.

"You sons of a..!" Ikkaku jumped to his feet and started slashing Zalya without thinking. Even he was out for revenge after what they had done to Veneno. "You didn't have to do that!"

Zalya wrapped blood around Ikkaku's body and threw him into the air. "He was an Arrancar, baby. Had to be put down. Nothing but filth. You should be thanking me for doing your work for you, baby."

"Zalya..." Yagi gave him a warning. "Enough."

Zalya turned to him. "Oh? But we were..."

"I said enough. There is more work to be done." He motioned for Zalya to follow. "Come."

Zalya sighed. "Fine." He dropped Ikkaku and the two Quincies disappeared.

Ikkaku lay on his back looking at the sky. He started cursing and beat his fists against the ground.

Rukia crawled to Veneno's mangled body. Already it was starting to disappear and fade into nothing. She watched the process through teary eyes.

What made matters worse was how she was going to break the news to Ichigo.

Shinji set Ichigo down once they were far enough away. On this stretch of land, there was nothing to hide behind other than the occasional rock. There wasn't a tree around for miles and populated areas were even further, which was actually good news.

Ichigo was still moaning but he hadn't opened his eyes. Shinji touched Ichigo's arm through his sleeve. Even without direct contact, he could feel the heat coming from Ichigo's body. He was running a high fever. He needed water before he dehydrated.

Ichigo started to open his eyes. Everything was blurry but he could make out a white figure hunched over him. The last thing he remembered was being near Yagi and he was wearing white. Thinking it was him, Ichigo went into attack mode. He grabbed the front of the figure's jacket and pulled himself up into a sitting position to attack. He pulled back his fist, ready to punch.

He had to be sure of his target first so Ichigo hesitated before throwing a punch.

Slowly his vision began to clear and he could see blond hair. Yagi wasn't blond so this couldn't be him.

"It's me." That was Shinji's voice. "It's me, Ichigo. It's Shinji. Just me."

Ichigo relaxed his grip and let his fist fall limply at his side. His strength already wavering, Ichigo started to fall over. Shinji caught him and held him in a sitting position.

"You ok?"

"Woozy..." Ichigo's throat felt dry. It was hard to swallow. "I'm thirsty."

"I don't have anything to give you."

Ichigo's body went tense. He quickly shoved Shinji away and vomited. Shinji moved away to avoid sitting in it.

"Ew..."

"Tell me about it." There wasn't much for Ichigo to throw up. He had no idea how long he had been a Hollow this time and couldn't remember the last time he ate. The last time he felt sick, there was nothing coming up but dry heaves. This time something, though small, came up. "Did I hurt anyone?" he asked, fearing his vomit contained pieces of a Soul Reaper body.

"Not that I know of."

All he could taste was vomit. "Disgusting..." Ichigo's body was shaking. He felt weak.

"We ran into a couple of Quincies," said Shinji. "One of them could use blood as a weapon. He's going to be hard to face. But Veneno showed up and helped us out."

Ichigo was happy to see Veneno again but they didn't have much time to catch up. In addition to having a reunion, Ichigo was worried Veneno wouldn't be able to face this challenge. Their enemy was strong.

"Is he ok? Is Veneno alright?"

"Don't know," said Shinji. "He told me to take you and leave. He's trying to protect you since he knows you're in bad shape."

Ichigo spat to get the taste out of his mouth. "I'm fine. Help him."

"Heh. He seemed to be doing pretty well," said Shinji. "I think he can handle it."

It wasn't that Ichigo didn't trust his friends or think they were weak. It just couldn't help but worry about a friend. It was in his nature to protect.

Shinji looked Ichigo up and down and knew this was bad. "All the training we gave you is pointless now," he said. "This isn't about controlling your Hollow. This is far different. I don't know how to help you with this."

"Don't worry about it," said Ichigo.

Shinji wished he could help his friend. He managed to help train him before and was there for him. Now he hadn't a clue. He also knew how strong Ichigo was and trusted in his ability. Seeing him like this was disheartening. Ichigo was on his knees, heaving into the soil running a fever. What could he possibly do for him now?

Ichigo took long deep breaths, still having the urge to vomit but being unable to do so. Shinji moved closer and rubbed Ichigo's back. At this moment, it was about all he could do for him.

Back at the sickbay Yumichika and Soi Fon were being seen by numerous members of Squad 4. Yumichika kept fading in and out of consciousness while Soi Fon was still able to speak. They were put in separate rooms and given transfusions in addition to medical Kido treatments.

The Soul Reapers who saw them were in utter shock. "Captain Soi Fon was cut down? But that's impossible," some were saying as she was wheeled by. "These Quincy guys are bad news. They must be really strong in order to do that."

"I don't want to face them."

"Me neither."

"I'm pretty scared right now. I mean, if they could send Soi Fon to the sickbay that fast..."

Soi Fon heard them and called from her bed, "I wasn't cut down, you idiots! I was brought here because my legs were too badly damaged. I didn't lose anything. Besides, that coward of a Quincy was hiding behind Ichigo, using him as a shield. Disgraceful." If given a fair fight, Soi Fon was certain she would win. Her Zanpakuto would get the job done without the need for blood. It would be over in two seconds.

The Soul Reapers in the hall were still unsure. Seeing the Captain of Squad 2 in such bad shape did a number on their confidence. They weren't so sure they could face the challenge.

"The Quincy we faced can use blood as a weapon," Soi Fon explained. "So long as you don't cut him or allow yourself to be cut, he can be brought down."

"Did you think to use Kido to hold him down or something?"

Soi Fon threw a pillow into the hall. "You think we didn't think of that? Of course! Kido didn't work on him because the blood he uses can move on its own and break his bonds. Our best chance is to strike before he can draw blood."

Uses blood as a weapon? What a frightening ability. From what Soi Fon described, this Quincy was very powerful and difficult to face.

"Whoa... I figured those guys had a frightening leader but using blood and being next to impossible to hold down? Man..."

"He isn't the leader," said Soi Fon. "He's one of the leader's followers. The leader's name is Yagi. This Quincy went by the name of Zalya."

"He's not even the leader and he's that bad-ass?"

"Now I really don't want to fight him."

A Soul Reaper turned to Cedric. "You. You're with that girl, right? Is it true you don't bleed? You don't have blood so you should be the one to fight him. What are you waiting for? Go get him!"

Cedric didn't say a word and didn't obey the request.

"Don't dump our issues on him!" Soi Fon snapped. "He isn't a Soul Reaper so it isn't his responsibility."

"But I don't want to face something like that!" cried the Soul Reaper.

"Are you a man or not?" Soi Fon shouted back. "You're giving up before you even face the problem. Once I'm healed, I'm going back out there and stopping the enemy. Since when did you turn into a bunch of cowards?"

"Since that happened!" The Soul Reaper pointed to the wall where numerous others were gathered, slumped and depressed. "They can't even move and won't eat. I don't want to end up like one of them. And I certainly don't want to end up as that either!" He pointed to Soi Fon's mangled legs and weak body.

"You just have to be ready. Be quicker than your enemy and fight! Don't give up. You want them to win?"

"If this is what a follower can do, I don't want to meet the leader. Can you imagine?"

Cedric moved away from the yelling. He wanted to find Linnette and make sure she was doing well.

He was pointed in the right direction and found her in Ukitake's office. She leaped off the couch and ran to hug him. "Cedric, you're back!"

"Linnette, it's good to see you." Cedric hugged her. "How have you been? Have you been eating well? Getting enough rest?"

Ukitake answered from his desk. "She's been wonderful. Hardly know she's here." He smiled at her and she smiled back. "She's been eating just fine. Even has snacks between meals. We were just about to have lunch if you would like to join us."

"I'll think about it." Cedric had no need for food so he never ate. He didn't mind keeping Linnette company and watching her eat. "Has Victor shown up at all?"

Linnette shook her head. "No. He's been staying at the lab helping that Mayuri person. He doesn't want me in the lab so I don't go in. They're still working on a cure."

"Well, maybe after lunch I will go check on him." Cedric walked Linnette over to the couch and sat down beside her. "Tell me what you've been up to while I was gone." He wanted to keep her distracted as much as possible. He didn't want her to worry or get stressed.

It would be devastating if a friend ended up dying because of the Quincies. Thankfully, Cedric didn't have any news like that to break to her. He could only hope Ichigo was alright. It would break her heart if anything happened to her friend.

T^T What's next?

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