Chapter 9: Running from this Nightmare...
As the sun finally vanished beneath the horizon, Nancy made her way to her home tent for some supplies. Namely, some incense she had bought from the market not too long ago. After going over the plan with Soifon, it was decided that they would attempt what was known as a Jinzen. With this, Soifon explained that she hoped to reawaken her Zanpakuto or at least gain a similar power within her now dead sword. Nancy wasn't sure she understood what Soifon had said fully but decided to trust her decision. As she entered her tent, she was greeted by its two other inhabitants, her parents, Donald and Marge.
"So...how did it go?" Donald asked with unease in his voice. Like many others in Beautiful Dream, he had pretty vocal doubts about his daughter's plan to involve a Shinigami in their situation, as dire as things were getting and while Marge didn't say all that much, she didn't need to. He could tell from the look in his wife's eyes that she felt the same as him.
"She said yes!" Nancy beamed. "We're gonna try and put her under at the medicine tent right now so I need the incense." Nancy's attention shifted toward the box of blue sticks to her left and she went to pick them up.
Donald and Marge, surprised that the stranger Shinigami had decided to go along with their daughter's plan, exchanged looks of dumbfounding before the latter spoke up. "Is she charging you anything? Did she make any demands in exchange?"
Nancy shook her head as she lifted the box off the ground. "Nope. In fact, she wants to do this for the same reasons we do." Nancy walked back in front of her parents, kneeled down, and gave them both a kiss on the cheek. "It'll be fine." She reassured them. "I know this is going to work. It has too."
Donald and Marge exchanged another uneasy glance before returning the kisses to their daughter. "I know it will sweetheart." Donald finally responded. "After all, it's your plan."
"Just be careful," Marge said. "We still don't know everything about how things work in this world. It could be dangerous."
"I will Mom. I promise." Nancy got back to her feet and walked out of the room with the box of incense in tow. Once they were sure their daughter was out of earshot, Donald and Marge talked among themselves.
"Do you really think this will work?" Marge asked.
"To be honest, I don't know." Donald sighed. "Frankly, I don't trust any of those Shinigami as much as I can throw them. With those weird powers of theirs, they're not exactly a far cry from that bastard Krueger. And yet..."
Marge placed a hand on her husband's shoulder and rubbed it, relaxing him enough to finish his sentence. "And yet, I wa...I want to believe in Nancy this time. To trust in her. Lord knows not doing that cost us dearly last time."
A single tear falling down her face, Marge wrapped her arms around her husband's torso and he in turn rested his arm over her shoulders. "He should have killed me in the Dream Realm as well." Tears streamed from Donald's own face as his voice began to break. "Then I could have been with you and Nancy.."
"Shhh." Marge whispered in her ear. "You're here now. We're here now. That's all that matters." Marge gently pushed Donald's face into her bosom and placed a hand on his back. As he was killed in the real world by Freddy's possessed skeleton, Donald did not join the other victims within Freddy's being. He ended up in Soul Society all alone and remained that way until he heard word of Beautiful Dream and managed to track them down. Marge still remembered the sheer joy she saw on Nancy's face when Donald appeared at the edge of Beautiful Dream, begging to be let in and apologizing for everything. It warmed her own heart as well, enough for the once-divorced couple to get back together.
"Let's trust in Nancy this time," Marge suggested softly, a small hint of anger appearing in her eyes as she remembered the man who had destroyed her family in the first place. "Let's trust her to succeed where we failed."
The medical tent was almost as big as the Mess Hall. Soifon was quick to notice the lack of any real equipment or medicine but wasn't surprised. Even with the usually warm sense of community within Beautiful Dream, it was still a part of the Rukongai after all. She sat in the middle of the tent's interior, surrounded by a rather large crowd. The people were speaking among themselves, mostly about Soifon and whether Nancy had made the right call in trusting her. Soifon ignored their chatter and focused on the dead sword on her lap. She traced her finger over its blade and shivered at the lack of warmth.
"Will this really work?" She thought to herself. "Can I really use Dream Skills to defeat that monster Freddy?" Soifon aggressively shook her head with a grunt through gritted teeth. "What am I thinking? Now is not the time for self-doubt! I have to succeed for the good of Soul Society!" She looked back at her sword. "And for Lady Yoruichi."
It was at that moment that Nancy finally entered the tent, carrying in her hands a box of incense. A few members of the crowd, including Kincaid, Taryn, Will and Kristen, all grabbed a fair share of incense and planted them around Soifon but did not light them yet. Once Soifon was surrounded by the unlit incense, Nancy sat in front of her, a group of familiar and unfamiliar faces joining her.
"Before we begin, I think it's best if I explain a little more about Dream Skills." Nancy began. Soifon said nothing but gave Nancy her approval to continue with a curt nod. "After my first encounter with Freddy, and some time in a mental ward, I went on to study dream psychology in college. It was there that I discovered the potential of lucid dreams.
"Lucid dreams." Soifon repeated softly. "You mean dreams that you are aware that you're having right?"
Nancy nodded. "I figured that if one was able to fully utilize the ability to lucid dream, they could use weaponize it against entities like Freddy. And so when I was assigned to Westin Hills Psychiatric Hospital and found that Freddy had confined all of the remaining Elm Street children there by making their parents think they were suicidal, I suggested they try using the powers they had in their most wonderful dreams to combat Freddy."
"Of course," Taryn sighed. "It didn't work."
"That's only because we didn't have enough time to properly train!" Will argued.
"Yeah!" Kincaid agreed. "Had we been given just a little more prep time, we would have wiped the floor with a sweater-wearing motherfucker!"
"Well put Kincaid." Nancy laughed. "Of course, the real ace in the hole so to speak was Kristen's ability to pull other people into her dreams. She was instrumental in making the plan work." Nancy rubbed Kristen's shoulder as she said this. The blonde teen blushed slightly and turned away, a small smile on her lips. Soifon thought she looked more youthful than ever at that moment. Nancy turned back to Soifon. "Now you've already met Taryn, Will and Kincaid."
The three teens lifted their hands in greeting. The fourth, a lanky boy wearing a teal kimono, also waved hello.
"And this here is Joey." Kincaid placed a hand on his shoulder. "His dream skill is superpowered shouting."
"Just don't ask me to demonstrate," Joey said. "It hurts my throat."
A lot of the people in the tent laughed at Joey's joke. Soifon, however, was more focused on Taryn. "What about you?" She asked. "What is your dream skill?"
"Let's just say in my dreams, I'm beautiful." Taryn scoffed. "And dangerous."
"Umm...ok." Had this scenario been some sort of anime, a question mark would have appeared from Soifon's head as the Shinigami was very confused.
"Ok. You met all the original Dream Warriors and now it's time for you to become one as well." Nancy said. "Now, I don't have the pendulum that I used to hypnotize the kids so as you can see, I had to improvise."
Soifon glanced at the incense surrounding her and then back to Nancy. "So I see."
"We're going to light this incense and, while you're performing your Jinzen, you'll fall into a heavy sleep. If all goes right, you should be in the Dream Realm before long, and there you should be able to find your dream skill. But be careful! Even without Freddy there, it could still be dangerous."
"Understood." Soifon looked back down at her sword and closed her eyes. Seeing that she was ready, Nancy turned to the two other teens standing behind her and motioned for them to begin. Both teens took out the matches they had stored in their robes, struck them against the bottom of their flip-flops, and went to light the incense. The boy, Philp, lit all the incense to Soifon's left while the girl, Jennifer, took care of the ones to the right. As soon as the last of the incense was burning, the teens shook the matches out and quickly stepped out of the fuming circle, leaving Soifon in the middle. The white smoke coming from the tips of the incense surrounded Soifon, the strong but pleasant fragrance filling her nostrils. This gave her the urge to sneeze a couple of times but she fought it off each time, wanting to focus solely on the task at hand.
"Remember what it was like when you first went into Jinzen." Soifon mentally told herself. "Remember the sensation of losing yourself to Suzumebachi's Inner World." At first, she found it difficult to fall into the sleep she was seeking as her mind was racing too fast in focusing on the matter. Once she realized this and took a second to appreciate the irony, she thought back to the advice that Yoruichi had given her back when had first begun attempting Jinzen
"You can't force your mind into a state of calm." She had told her. "To do so would be the same as trying to dig up a mountain with only a spoon. You need to clear your mind of every thought it has and let yourself fall into that state of being that will allow you to see your Zanpakuto's Inner World. I guess what I'm trying to say is, relax Soifon."
"Relax." Soifon whispered to herself, taking in a deep breath of the incense-filled air and exhaling it back into the tent. "Clear your mind and let yourself fall."
It took a few minutes but eventually, Soifon was able to empty her mind and fell unconscious. After a few minutes more, while still sitting upward with her sword in her lap, Soifon fell into a deep enough sleep to dream.
"Do you think she's dreaming yet?" Kristen whispered into Nancy's ear.
"If not, she will be any second now," Nancy reassured her, before turning back to the sleeping Shinigami. "We're counting on you Soifon." She thought. "It's up to you to end this nightmare once and for all."
When Soifon felt the sensation of cold water around her legs, she opened her eyes in a panic, afraid that, as unreasonable as it would be, the tent was somehow flooding. Her fear and confusion only intensified once she realized she was no longer sitting in the middle of the tent but rather standing in the middle of a large pond. It was still nighttime and the full moon hanging overhead provided enough light for Soifon to see her surroundings. The area around the pond looked to be some sort of forest, one that reminded Soifon of the area around the Maggot's Nest.
Remembering that she was still waist-deep in the middle of the pond, Soifon looked down at herself and blushed as she was greeted by the sight of her completely nude body. She quickly laid her arms against her more intimate areas and ducked lower into the freezing water. Out of surprise and embarrassment, Soifon looked around to see if anyone happened to chance upon her predicament. Once it became abundantly clear that she was completely alone, Soifon felt some of her embarrassment ebb away and after pondering it for a few seconds, decided to get back up from the water although she still kept her arms wrapped around herself.
Standing before Soifon was a large dead tree that seemed to have grown out of the pond. Between two of its bare branches, Soifon noticed something wiggling around as if it were stuck. Cautiously, she approached the dead tree. As she did so, a gust of wind blew over the pond and over Soifon, serving as an unwelcome and unnecessary reminder that her body was as bare as the tree's branches. She groaned and continued on her way, grateful that at the very least, this whole situation was just a dream.
Within a minute or so, this fact would cease to be a source of comfort.
As Soifon stood before the tree, she was finally able to make out what the strange object wiggling about was. To her surprise, it was a wasp, its stinger closely resembling Suzumbachi.
"Could it be...?"
Upon closer inspection, Soifon saw that the wasp was caught within a spider's web. Try as it might, the golden-colored insect could not free itself from the silky webbing. Soifon found herself reaching out for the wasp subconsciously.
"Don't bother, Little Bee." A gruff familiar voice croaked. "There's nothing you can do."
Soifon quickly placed her arm back over her breast as her eyes scanned her surroundings. "Who's there!? Show yourself!"
"If you insist," The voice complied. From behind the branch from which the top of the web hung emerged a grotesque spider covered in red and green fuzz. It was around the size of a human hand and its head was completely free of fuzz, the cuticle almost blending in with the branch thanks to its pitch-black coloring. The only thing that kept the spider's head from vanishing into the blackness of the tree's bark was its eight yellow eyes, all filled with hate and staring directly at Soifon.
The Shinigami's blood chilled and while her face only displayed an expression of anger, she tightened her arm's grip around her body. "Freddy."
"The one and only." The spider crawled onto its web and stopped just sort of the struggling wasp. The winged insect noticed its captor at once and attempted in vain to sting its soon-to-be killer. The Freddy-Spider simply looked on and laughed at the futility of the wasp's actions "Look at her." He spoke to Soifon. "So helpless. So vulnerable." He turned his hellish gaze on the Shinigami below yet again. "Remind you of anyone?"
"I won't fall for these mind games again, Krueger!" Soifon replied. "Your old friend Nancy told me the secret to defeating you. And once I find my dream skill, not even your army of Arrancar will be able to protect you!"
In response, the Freddy-Spider simply laughed even harder., causing Soifon to become annoyed as well as a tad indignant.
"What so's funny!?"
"Protect me? Protect me!?" The Freddy-Spider howled. "Bitch, did you land head first when you fell into this village of idiots? Because if I recall correctly, I was handing you Shinigami fuckers your own asses on a sliver platter even before my posse butted in!"
Soifon gritted her teeth in anger.
"I'm Freddy fucking Krueger! I don't need any fucking protection. And even if I did," The Freddy-Spider stopped to glare at Soifon once more. "I know my lackeys would do a much better job than you."
"What are you talking about?"
"You know damn well what I'm talking about! What you promised your precious little mentor that night in the forest. Back when you were still nothing more than her lapdog."
Soifon's eyes grew wide in horror as she began to realize what Freddy was saying. "How..How.."
"You think the birthday suit's for show?" The Freddy-Spider asked. "I'm a demon of the mind, bitch! There's not a single memory or thought you can hide from me. In fact, why don't we take a little trip down memory lane right now?"
"Wait! What are yo-" But before Soifon could finish her sentence, she heard the sound of sword swings and grunts of effort to her left. Slowly turning toward the trees, Soifon could make out a shape moving about among them The moonlight intensified, revealing the trees to be cherry blossoms and the shape swinging its sword about to be none other than Soifon herself. "That's...me.."
I have to become stronger!" The younger version of Soifon cried out as she swung her blade aimlessly about. "Dammit! Not good enough!"
"I remember that night." Soifon breathed. "I was training my sword techniques in the forest when.."
Suddenly, another shape appeared behind the younger Soifon and gently grabbed her wrist. Both versions of Soifon looked up in awe to see Yoruichi standing there among the cherry blossoms. This is how you swing a sword, Soifon." She explained softly as she helped her protégé into a proper stance.
"Why..." The older Soifon whimpered. "Why are you showing me this?" Seeing her beloved mentor alive and well before her made Soifon want to weep. It made her want to run out of the pond and embrace the violet-haired Shinigami, modesty be damned. But she knew better. This was only a dream. Yoruichi was dead and the woman before her was nothing more than a literal memory. That didn't make the pain hurt any less.
"There. Just like that!" Yoruichi praised. "You're doing great!"
Without warning, the younger Soifon suddenly dropped the sword and kneeled before Yoruichi.
"Soifon? What's the matter?"
"I'm not doing great!" Soifon replied sadly. "I'm not good enough! I need to be stronger in order to protect you!"
The present-day Soifon's heart sank upon hearing those words. She knew what was coming next and she didn't want to see it. She didn't want to relive the memory that had brought her so much pain during the century that Yoruichi was gone but now hurt for a much different reason. But she couldn't run. She couldn't even close her eyes and turn away. Something, maybe the Freddy-spider, maybe her desire to keep Yoruichi in her sights, compelled her to keep watching as her mentor gently placed her hand on her younger self's head.
"That's enough." She said. "You need to stop putting yourself down like that."
"L-Lady Yoruichi."
"You're a lot like me you know." Yoruichi continued. "Honestly, sometimes I can't help but think of you as my little sister."
The younger Soifon blushed at the compliment. "I-I am not worthy of such praise!" It was at that moment, the moment the current Soifon dreaded, that Yoruichi laid down and placed her head in her protege's lap, her already flushed face burning even more.
"I said that's enough," Yoruichi repeated as she looked up towards the starry sky. "It's a full moon tonight." She said.
The younger Soifon looked up at the moon as well. Its soothing light seemed to cool her burning face. "Yeah. It is."
The current Soifon fought to keep her tears at bay. It was a fight she was already losing.
Yoruichi closed her eyes and let herself fully relax on her protege's person. Seeing this, the younger Soifon ran her fingers through her mentor's violet hair. "I will always be by your side to protect you." She promised. "Always."
"Yeah. It's a promise." Yoruichi replied.
"Lady Yoruichi." The current Soifon cried as tears ran down her face and into the water below. Clouds made their way over the moon and darkened the forest and before long, the past versions of Soifon and Yoruichi were gone.
"But you didn't protect her, didn't you!" The Freddy-Spider's voice taunted. "Poor little Yoruichi didn't have anyone at her side the night she died. Well, except for me."
An ear-splitting scream filled the air and Soifon turned to the direction it came from, the other side of the pond. The moon's light once again rained down onto the forest below but the scene it revealed to Soifon was the exact opposite of the memory depicted before. There was but a single tree and standing on its largest branch was Yoruichi and Freddy. The fire-damaged spirit was already digging his blades into her stomach, reveling in the pain and terror he was inflicting on the former Captain of Squad 2.
"Lady Yoruichi!" Soifon cried out.
As her blood poured out from her stomach and onto the tree and grass below, Yoruichi weakly turned to her former protégé in the water and mouthed something to her. Despite Soifon remembering her mouth forming "Sorry" on that horrible night, the word Yoruichi's lips formed this time seemed to be "Why"
Why didn't you protect me Soifon? You promised me you would.
"No!" Soifon grabbed her head and shook it as hard as she could, trying in vain to banish the intrusive thoughts that were now flooding her mind.
I guess you were right, Soifon. You weren't strong enough to be by my side.
"Stop it!"
You couldn't even protect your own Zanpakuto. You can't do anything right!"
"Stop it! Please!"
You've never been anything more than a nuisance. That's why I didn't take you with me. That's why I left you behind.
"That's enough!" Soifon sank back into the water, crying uncontrollably as the Freddy-spider laughed at her misery.
"So much for that Dream Skill huh?" He taunted. "Come on! Did you really think you were gonna find a way to defeat me with lucid dreaming? In case you haven't been keeping score bitch, every single one of those Dream Warrior assholes was killed by my hand! You really must have been desperate if you were taking their advice. It must be so shameful for you, a Shinigami from a noble house taking help from mere human souls. No wonder your master abandoned you!"
Soifon did not respond to Freddy this time. She was still weeping in the pond, her resolve all but lost.
The web on which the Freddy-spider sat trembled as the wasp once again struggled to get free. "I'd love to stay and chat some more." The Freddy-Spider said. "But I gotta get dinner started." With this, the demonic arachnid approached the wasp and began wrapping her in a silk cocoon.
"Maybe he's right." Soifon thought miserably. "Maybe Lady Yoruichi did hate me all along." She shook her head again. "No! That can't be true. Why would she say I was like a little sister to her if that was true? But then why...why..."
"Why didn't you take me with you!?" Soifon whimpered. "You should have known that I would have gone anywhere with you!" Her pride shattered and her heart heavy with tears, Soifon collapsed onto the ground before her former mentor. It had been a fierce battle with both Soifon and Yoruichi sustaining wounds that were sure to take their time to heal. Fostering her feelings of betrayal and hatred for Yoruichi, Soifon had come at her with full force, intending, one way or another, to slay this traitor of Soul Society that she had once called her master. But now, despite unveiling her Shikai and even going into Shunko, it was Soifon who laid on the ground defeated, not because of physical injury but because of her emotional anguish.
"You've become much stronger since the last time I saw you," Yoruichi spoke.
Soifon remained on the ground, her tears turning the dirt below her into little spots of mud. "I had to." She finally spoke. "I had to because you left us behind! Because you left me behind!"
"Soifon." Yoruichi bent down to the ground, picked Soifon up off the ground by her shoulders, and laid her head down on her lap. Soifon was stunned by this and mentally commanded herself to get up off the traitor's lap but she couldn't. Instead, pushed her face against Yoruichi's legs and let her black pants soak up her tears. "Why?" She asked again. "Why didn't you take me with you?"
"It all happened so fast," Yoruichi answered. "One moment, the Soul Society was investigating a few cases of missing souls and the next, a group of Shinigami, including four Captains, become contaminated by Hollow spiritual pressure. They were going to kill them Soifon."
"You should have let them!" Soifon barked. "It's not like they're Shinigami anymore!" Soifon wanted to say more but was silenced by Yoruichi's glare.
"That's not true and you know that." Yoruichi scolded. "In any case, Kisuke and Tessai needed help taking care of them and I had already doomed myself by saving them from Central 46. There wasn't even anytime to explain anything to you." Yoruichi's gaze softened, almost as if she were about to cry herself. "You have to believe me Soifon. I wouldn't have left without so much as a goodbye otherwise!"
"That doesn't matter!" Soifon cried. "You wouldn't have had to explain anything to me! I would have gone with you regardless! You know that!"
Yoruichi lowered her glance, the tiniest hint of shame in her eyes. "I know you would have. But to live in exile is to live in disgrace. To never be allowed back to the home you always known and to be detested, perhaps even feared by the people that loved you." She forced herself to look back at her former protégé. "I just couldn't do that to you."
"Lady Yoruichi." Soifon sobbed quietly into her mentor's lap, overcome with emotion she had kept bottled up inside for years. Yoruichi allowed this to continue for several minutes before speaking again.
"I'm very proud of you, you know."
Soifon let out a small gasp and looked back toward her former mentor.
"You managed to become Captain of the Stealth Force!" Yoruichi chirped. "That's quite an achievement! I bet your Bankai is pretty powerful!"
Soifon couldn't help but blush at her predecessor's words. "I-It's really not. Lady Yoruichi. I-I mean it i-is but it's...not really..."
"Soifon?"
"I-It's not really the most fitting Bankai for someone leading the Stealth Force," Soifon explained with her eyes downcast to the ground. Yoruichi seemed uncertain as to how to respond to this at first. Then she smiled and placed her hand on Soifon's head, running her fingers through her silky black hair.
"I'm sure that whatever it is, it's an amazing Bankai." She reassured her successor. "After all, it was born from your soul."
"Lady Yoruichi." Soifon had ceased her crying and dug her face deeper into Yoruichi's lap. There the student and teacher would remain until Retsu's message of Aizen's evil plan pulled them from their embrace and back into the line of duty.
"I'm very proud of you, you know."
"Lady Yoruichi." Soifon whispered through her sobs. "That's right. I remember now! I remember what Lady Yoruichi had told me after we had reunited. I had let myself forget thanks to the whole ordeal with Aizen. No. That's just an excuse. The truth is part of me didn't want to remember because that part still hadn't completely forgiven Yoruichi. Because I couldn't be sure she wasn't just going to disappear on me again." The last of Soifon's tears vanished into the pond as she wiped her eyes dry. From his web, The Freddy-Spider became perplexed by the sudden halt in his victim's suffering, not noticing the wasp resuming its attempted escape with slightly more gusto.
"But Yoruichi did say that to me. She did tell me she was proud of me. And while I chose to ignore it at the time, when I looked into her eyes.." The mental image of Yoruichi's saddened expression reformed in Soifon's mind. "I could see she carried real regret within them." More tears returned to Soifon's own eyes but she wiped those away as well. "I'm so sorry Lady Yoruichi. I should have seen your pain as well. I should have known better than to think that you'd abandon me out of your own free will."
"You managed to become Captain of the Stealth Force!" Yoruichi's words echoed in her mind. "That's quite an achievement!"
"It was." Soifon said proudly. "It was my achievement!"
More memories filled Soifon's mind. Memories of resolving to train all the harder in Yoruichi's absence. To refuse to let the at the time apparent betrayal of the women she held over the whole world hold her back from fulfilling her duties as a member of the Stealth Force. She remembered the somewhat bitter disappointment of achieving her Bankai and of being made Captain of Squad 2 soon afterward. It was a title she never even considered holding but she accepted it regardless as she wanted to prove (to herself more than anyone else.) that she didn't need Yoruichi. And in a way, she did indeed prove that.
Soifon stood up in the pond and marched back toward the tree, making no effort to cover herself this time. Why would she? The only other beings with her at the pond were a wasp and a spider she considered lower than said wasp. The Freddy-Spider seemed to notice the look of resolve in her eyes and chuckled to himself. "What's this now? Trying to play the tough-girl card a little late, aren't ya?"
"That's enough." Soifon simply replied. "I've grown quite weary of these childish mind games of yours as well as your blatant disrespect for Lady Yoruichi's memory." Once she was before the tree, she met the spider's hateful gaze with her own. "I won't allow it anymore."
"Oh! Is that so?" The Freddy-Spider mocked. "Well, let's see what Yoruichi herself has to say about it!" At this, the rotting corpse from Soifon's last nightmare suddenly resurfaced from the water and latched itself onto her exposed form. It leaned its broken jaw to her ear and whispered foul things with its even more atrocious breath as the Freddy-Spider laughed.
Soifon never even bothered looking at the abomination slobbering all over her. Instead, she simply uttered a single word. "Shunko!" At once, the corpse was blasted away by the energy pouring out from Soifon's body, the pieces disintegrating before they could even hit the water. The Freddy-spider's laughter ceased immediately., all eight of his eyes wide with shock.
"W-What?"
"Tsk. How pathetic." Soifon said. "As if its appearance wasn't already enough of an insult to Lady Yoruichi. You really have some nerve trying to pass off something as weak as that corpse as my beloved mentor." A small smirk appeared on Soifon's lips. "But then again, creations do often reflect the spirit of their creators don't they?"
"W-What are you talking about?" The Freddy-spider asked.
"You think of yourself as some sort of highly dangerous predator because you hunted other humans when you were alive. But as someone who hunts down Hollows for a living, let me tell you, you're nothing but a pathetic wannabe!"
"You bitch!" The Freddy-spider cursed. "I am the Dream Master!"
"The Dream Master?" Soifon chuckled a little. "Don't make me laugh. Your most consistent prey are helpless human teens with no special abilities to fight back with. You are akin to a hunter finishing off an already dying animal and then claiming it was a brutal struggle. You do not impress the likes of me."
"Are you forgetting what I did to you and the other Captains?" The Freddy-spider growled. "What I did to your precious Soul Society?"
Soifon put her finger to her chin and thought for a moment. "I suppose you have a point. You did take us by surprise, I'll admit that much."
Despite having two huge fangs in place of a mouth, the glint in the Freddy-spider's eyes told Soifon he was smiling. She responded to this with another much cockier smirk. "But you wouldn't have been able to do nearly as much damage without the help of your fraccion nor the Arrancar you roped into your little invasion. As much as it pains me to say a single word of praise for that bastard Aizen, he was strong enough to simply subjugate the Arrancar into following him while you've had to rely on charisma alone. Simply put, you pale in comparison to the last foe we faced." Soifon's smirk became a full-on grin. "A foe that, just for the record, was defeated by the same kind of teen you prey upon."
"You bitch!" The Freddy-spider cursed." He meant to say more but before he could, he felt the sensation of his web trembling all over. He glanced toward the spot where the wasp was trapped and saw, to his horror, that the now glowing golden insect was nearly free, its giant stinger cutting through the silk of his web like butter. "Wh-What?"
"But more than anything else, the reason you succeeded was that I made the one mistake an assassin should never make. I let my emotions cloud my judgment and take priority over the mission." As Soifon said this, the wasp finally freed itself from its constraints and hovered over the shaking Freddy-spider. "Rest assured, that is a mistake that I, Soifon, Captain of the Stealth Force, never intend to make again!"
"No!" Was all that the Freddy-spider could think to scream before the wasp rammed her stinger into his abdomen. He howled in pain as she dug the stinger deeper and deeper into his innards, his web coming apart as its creator flailed helplessly about. At last, once the web had completely disintegrated, the Freddy-Spider ceased its movement and fell lifelessly off of the wasp's stinger. Much like its web and the corpse before it, the spider crumpled away into nothing before ever touching the water.
"Assassination completed," Soifon whispered. She watched as the wasp buzzed around the tree as if searching for something before flying toward her. As it did so, Soifon was able to get a better look at its stinger which all but confirmed her earlier theory.
"S-Suzmebachi?" Soifon uttered as she held out her right hand for the wasp to land on. The golden insect took the invitation and rested on her middle finger for a few moments, its big black eyes staring into Soifon's. Then it dug its stinger into her finger but she felt no pain. Instead, the familiar sensation she would feel every time she activated her Shikai spread from her hand through her arm and over her entire body. It was a warm, pleasant feeling and the Kido surrounding Soifon seemed to intensify as the sensation did, the water around her knees moving in ripples.
"I'm waiting for you." A voice spoke. Despite its mouth not moving, Soifon knew that this voice belonged to the wasp. To Suzumebachi. "We all are."
"Suzumebachi." Soifon whispered as she closed her eyes and bowed her head in thanks.
When Soifon lifted her head back up and opened her eyes, she once again found herself in the medical tent. Everyone had fallen asleep waiting for her. Even Nancy had dozed off, she and Kristen leaning on each other and keeping themselves upright. Soifon looked down at herself and was relieved to see her blue kimono still on her body. Unsurprised of course, but relieved nevertheless. What really caught Soifon's eyes, however, as well as the eyes of everyone in the tent as they were awakened by the light one by one, was her Zanpakuto.
It was glowing a brilliant yellow, almost like gold. The warmth generated from its energy caused Soifon's lap to itch a little and so she carefully picked the sword up, the warmth now spreading to her hands.
"It's beautiful!" Kristen awed. "Like something out of a fairy tale."
"No." Nancy softy corrected, her smile almost as bright as the sword. "Like something out of a dream."
"This...This is...my Dream Skill." Soifon realized. "It must have transferred into my sword."
"So what is it exactly?" Taryn asked. "What does it do?"
"I'm not entirely sure," Soifon replied without taking her eyes off the sword. She thought over her dream again and again to find the answer and ended up coming to the same conclusion every time. "I don't think it's a physical or elemental power." She finally continued. "I think it's more ideological."
"Ideological?" Kincaid asked. "The hell does that mean?"
"Easy Kincaid." Joey placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"It's just a theory." Soifon turned to the open tent entrance, the first rays of the Sun poking through the horizon. "A theory I won't be able to test until I rescue Suzumebachi."
"Your Zanpakuto?" Nancy asked. "What do you mean by that?"
Soifon got up and turned to the entrance. "I thank you all for your hospitality and your help. Rest assured, I owe you a debt I intend to pay in full once this is all over. But as for now, I must return to the Seireitei." She began walking toward the entrance. "There's no telling what that bastard Freddy has been doing to my comrades since I arrived here and now that I have my Dream Skill, I intend to carry out my mission at any cost."
"Wait!" Nancy cried just as Soifon was about to step out of the tent. Feeling slightly impatient, Soifon turned to her host. Nancy walked up to Soifon and placed something in her hand. It appeared to be a small net-like object with two tiny feathers attached to its side. "It's a dream catcher," Nancy explained. "It's supposed to catch bad dreams and allow good dreams through. I'm not sure how Shinigami feel about good-luck charms but..." She trailed off, the smallest hint of a blush appearing on her face as she was regretting giving Soifon the good-luck charm.
Soifon looked at the dream catcher in her palm for a few seconds, smiled, and placed it inside her kimono. "Thank you Nancy." She turned back to the entrance and attempted to walk out again.
"Yo Soifon!" It was Kincaid who caused Soifon to turn back this time. "When you kick Freddy's ass all over the Soul Society, make sure to get a good blow in for us."
Soifon stared at Kincaid for a few moments, trying to process his request. Once she understood what he meant, she smirked. "Sure thing." With this, Soifon left the tent and walked to the center of Beautiful Dream. She focused on her still-glowing Zanpakuto and closed her eyes. "Alright," She mentally asked it, still unsure if her theory concerning her Dream Skill was even correct. "Which way is the Seireitei?"
At once, the sword turned in Soifon's hands by itself, moving its blade to her right towards the surrounding forest. "I see." Soifon purred. Her confidence in her theory a little stronger now, the Captain of the Stealth Force flash-stepped in the direction her Zanpakuto pointed to, determined to make it to the Seireitei as soon as possible.
(While there are a few days left before October, I figure I might as well announce this now as I'm not sure if I will finish the next chapter of my other story before then. Come October, I will be temporarily ceasing work on my three current stories to work on some other projects for Halloween. As I intend to publish those on Halloween, there is a good chance that there may not be any uploads from me during that month. After I'm finished with those stories, however, I will resume my usual story schedule. Until then, BSC out!)