Merry Christmas everyone! It took us a long time but we finally got our chapter done, and during a special day no less. Sorry it took us so long but the holidays make our jobs extremely difficult. Needless to say, we're exhausted. XD
But we're here now with another chapter and it's one I hope that you all enjoy. I highly encourage you to all leave a review to let us know what you think since they really help motivate us during rough times like these past two months.
Well, enough with the delay, let us begin!
Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo and Shounen jump. Fairy tail is owned by Hiro Mashima and weekly shounen magazine. I own NOTHING. This is all just for fun.
Upon the edge of the mountains that dwarfed the forever frozen town of Dianthus a stand off between warring spirits was taking place. It was an expected battle for Bambietta Basterbine, one that she had been looking forward to. After all, she had been recruited by Erza Scarlet to partake in a job request that suited her interests: to defeat a pack of wild monsters and their guardian in exchange for a wonderful amount of Jewel.
However had Bambietta found the situation more than just a simple job request. She found herself in the service of dubious employers against what some would call an adorable threat. Some yes, but not Bambietta Basterbine. The Gigalepus were a dreadful lot in her eyes, the oversized rabbits clawing at a fear she had long since suppressed and refused to speak of. Not to Lucy or anyone else in Fairy Tail. Not even Liltotto or her friends within the Vandenreich. She had not been sure if even Yhwach had known the scope of the phobia.
The emotional response to the mere sight of the Gigalepus, however, was not the most surprising part of the situation to Bambietta. No, the most shocking was the appearance of a Soul Reaper. To top it all off, it had not been merely any Soul Reaper. No, it was a lieutenant of Thirteen Court Guard Squads.
Having frozen Erza with the power of Sode no Shirayuki, Rukia Kuchiki now stood before Bambietta.
"So what do we have here, Lieutenant Kuchiki?" Bambietta said at last, the Quincy moving past the shock she had experienced from the Gigalepus and now the Soul Reaper. "Did you die in the war and get chosen to fight a new one here?"
It was a prospect that did not phase Bambietta in the least. Much had changed in her time within the ranks of Fairy Tail but one thing that had not faded away was her disdain for Soul Reapers. It had not extended to Sojiro Kusaka as he was a rogue agent, one who shared the Quincy's hatred for the Soul Society. No, Bambietta had only been hostile to him thanks to his association with Phantom Lord. This, however, was different. This was Rukia Kuchiki, a prime representative of all that was wrong with the afterlife of Bambietta's homeworld. She was both Soul Reaper and member of one of the noble houses.
"Oh I hope I'm right. It'd warm my heart to know that a fucking Soul Reaper was denied a happy end, you know?" Bambietta was hissing under her breath, the Quincy wondering if she was even being loud enough for Rukia to hear. She spoke louder soon after, another theory coming to mind, one that she hated. "Or did the forty-six assholes catch wind of what's going on here and sent you and all the other lapdogs over to drag us back kicking and screaming? Well sorry, I'm not ever going back to that shit hole world of ours, short stack! I happen to like it here!"
Rukia mouth slowly opened, her visibly cold breath escaping into the air. "So you're one of the chosen ones from the other world as well? Wait, your power..."
Rukia stared at Bambietta for a moment, her brow furrowing beneath her sole fallen bang.
"You're a Quincy?" Rukia asked. "Interesting. I didn't think someone from the World of the Living had been chosen."
Bambietta raised an eyebrow at that. "Excuse me? What? You don't recognize my uniform? We completely decimated the Soul Society! Twice! In a row!"
Rukia's eyes went wide. "What?"
"Don't you 'what?' me, flattie!" Bambietta shouted, the Quincy pointing an accusing finger at Rukia, her eyes darting around to get a better look at her. "And where the hell is your lieutenant's badge? No, wait... If you were chosen and brought over here, you wouldn't be working for the Soul Society anymore so what point would it serve? I mean I ditched my Vandenreich logo pretty early on and..."
Rukia was letting Bambietta ramble on, having never before run across someone quite so easily sidetracked as her. However, one part did catch her attention. "Vandenreich?"
"I already said don't play dumb with me!" Bambietta shouted. "And-"
Bambietta stared at Rukia for a moment, the Quincy taking note of just how different she appeared from what she remembered. The lack of a lieutenant's badge was one thing but something just seemed off.
"Did you do something with your hair? Or do something back to it?" Bambietta could not help herself, her eyes focusing on the dark locks that were laying atop Rukia's shoulders. Something about this all felt so off but that feeling only lasted but a moment and Bambietta shrugged. "Oh well! I guess it doesn't matter! Erza and I came here to beat up some bunnies and their guardian and while your..."
Bambietta flinched.
"While your monstrous horde scares me witless I know I can fight you!"
Bambietta stepped forward then, Hirenkyaku propelling her at Rukia. Extending her right arm to the side, Bambietta summoned magic particles into the palm of her hand, giving form to her sword, Schragstrich. It had been so long since Bambietta had clashed blades with a proper Soul Reaper, memories of her tearing apart an entire squad beginning to rise to the surface in her mind. For one moment in time she was forgetting herself as a denizen of Earth Land as well as her role as a member of Fairy Tail. Faced with a high ranking Soul Reaper, it was as if the revolution had never ended, that the war was still ongoing.
It was a war Bambietta still wanted to win. This was no longer a battle between guild member and guardian. No, this was between a Quincy and a Soul Reaper. It was a battle that Bambietta desired to win if for no other reason then to prove her dominance over the so-called gods who lorded over the concepts of life and death like they were worthy. It had been a fervent desire once before but now, having been once ruled by another who deemed themselves worthy of controlling death, it was an impulse that Bambietta could not ignore. She would not fail as she did once before.
She would crush this Soul Reaper and death itself.
To see that desire through to its end, Bambietta observed the shrinking distance between herself and Rukia, Hirenkyaku working as it should. It was a simple strategy that Bambietta intended to employ. She would use a step of supernatural speed to get behind Rukia and attack her from behind.
In that instant of thought she was within Rukia's blind spot. Standing behind her, her eyes glaring, Bambietta planned to strike. In the corner of an eye she could see the frozen Erza Scarlet, a sight that was both a blessing and curse. A blessing as it gave her further motivation to defeat the enemy responsible and yet a curse as it reminded Bambietta that she should not fight as cruelly as she would against a denizen of the Soul Society.
However, neither played a part in the moment that came next. This was not a wizard who was unaccustomed to Hirenkyaku and would have to adapt to the speed it granted on the fly. No, this was a Soul Reaper and a practitioner of the similar skill of Flash Step.
Lost in the moment, Bambietta had thought speed her ally, having forgotten that both Quincy and Soul Reaper were a part of the initiated. Sode no Shirayuki moved under Rukia's command, the pristine blade falling into place to intercept Schragstrich's own.
"Daring to block an attack I delivered? Fine, be that way!" Bambietta's eyes lit up, a wicked smile forming upon her lips. She swung her arm out to the side, technique giving way to wild movement. Blut Arteria flowing beneath the surface of her arm and it was more than enough to give Bambietta the strength to break the blade lock. "I won't lose!"
Bambietta raised her arm up only to bring her blade down towards Rukia. The Soul Reaper held tightly upon her own sword's grip, moving it into a horizontal angle to best block the downward strike. She held her other arm against the back of the sword to give it support, her expression one of focused determination.
Bambietta, meanwhile, was still simply smiling. Wizards and monsters were the things she had grown used to fighting, but a Soul Reaper? This was what she had trained to decimate. For decades this was what she had been told she had been born for. So Bambietta continued to fight, guiding her blade across Sode no Shirayuki's own, sparks flickering off the swords. Once Bambietta had reached its end, she immediately swung the blade down and back towards Rukia's midsection.
Any lesson she had learned from Erza were beginning to crumble, the move an intended death sentence for the overseer of death itself.
However, Rukia was able move out of the weapon's range with a Flash Step. Distance had been achieved, even if only a scant few yards, and Rukia prepared herself for her next move. Pulling her sword back, she held her free arm forward, allowing Sode no Shirayuki's end to rest atop it. Then she stepped forward in a flash, her sword arm pushing forward. It was a stance that her memories brought to mind, those of Kaien Shiba and the training he had overseen so many decades ago. It was meant for his Zanpakuto, to catch an opponent off guard when he activated his Shikai and the katana transformed into a much longer spear in midstrike. Even still, it was intended to be effective with a katana itself.
"Oh. Neat." Bambietta dodged the attack as deftly as Rukia had executed it, the soles of her boots dancing on the frozen ground as she spun around. "But it's not enough!"
Rukia turned on her own heels, swords meeting up high. The Soul Reaper prepared to pull her sword back and execute her own attack but what happened next very nearly caught her off guard. Bambietta's right hand let go of the sword, allowing it to drop. It was a quick motion that followed then, Bambietta catching it by the handle with her left hand. Her grip tight, the Quincy swung out in a horizontal motion. Sode no Shirayuki met it head on once again, held vertically to block Schragstrich. Rukia had just barely managed to block the second strike, something Bambietta was quick to notice.
"You're good, don't get me wrong," the Quincy said as she pressed her advantage, exerting enough force through her sword with Blut Arteria to force Rukia's feet to slide through the snow and give ground. "But swordplay isn't quite your strong suite, is it?"
Rukia knew it was not. Her skills were proficient but this was not a style of combat she excelled in. No, she remembered well that was another. So, as swords clashed and Rukia felt herself lose inch after inch of the ground, she worked on following through on the form she recalled working on mastering following the passing of Kaien Shiba.
Kido.
As she managed to parry an attack, Rukia brought her free hand up towards her face and began to whisper to herself. All the while she kept her concentration on the task at hand, her sword locking with Bambietta's own once again. "Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel..."
"What's this?" Bambietta asked, glaring over her blade. She put both hands on the handle, looking to exert more pressure. "Chanting a little prayer before you lose, Soul Reaper?"
Rukia blocked another strike, trying her best to divide her attentions between Kido and her sword. While she was able to use certain Kido spells without an incantation, trying to use one of this caliber while splitting her concentration was not feasible without the full wording.
"With light, divide thi- "
"I don't think so!"
Despite her flippant mark from before, Bambietta knew that her opponent was going for a spell of some sort. Bringing her knee up, she drove it into Rukia's groin. It was neither the most orthodox or chivalrous maneuver to pull but Bambietta truly did not care. Not when facing a Soul Reaper.
"Oh!" Rukia lost her concentration thanks to the unexpected melee strike, her attempt at performing the Rikujokoro spell interrupted. The sudden pain was enough to leave her off guard, both her sword arm and the hand that had been working on bringing forth a Kido spell dropping down, and it gave Bambietta a chance to follow through. Allowing Blut Arteria to once more flow through the veins of her arms, Bambietta put momentum behind the horizontal strike that Rukia had countered. It was enough to push Sode no Shirayuki, throwing the off balance Rukia into a spin.
"Now I got you!" Bambietta hissed. "Sorry, Soul Reaper! But I don't play nice!"
Bambietta stepped forward, preparing to strike Rukia with her sword. However, as Rukia spun around, she was holding her left arm up, her palm facing Bambietta.
"Shakkaho!"
Already moving in close, Bambietta had no chance to evade or block the sudden attack. The burst of crimson energy exploded from Rukia's hand and slammed into her. The fiery power eclipsed her presence before exploding. The Quincy flew back, crying out.
"Oh damn!" Bambietta cackled, her once pristine uniform singed and smoking. She flipped her grip on Schragstrich, plunging the upside down blade into the frozen ground. As the heels of her boots slid through the snow, the sword eventually found purchase and brought Bambietta's momentum to a crawl before completely stopping. Yet despite the setback and the pain it had caused, Bambietta did not stop wearing her gleeful smirk. "There's plenty of life in you still, huh?"
Rukia was catching her breath. It had been a reflex action and nothing more, having resorted to a Kido spell she knew she could utilize even in her sleep if need be. Still, she knew she had to be cautious now. This Quincy was different from Uryu, that much her memory told her. She was boisterous compared to his calm nature, as well as violent compared to his more somber attitude. However there was something else.
"You don't fight like a Quincy," Rukia said simply as she took a defensive position, both hands holding Sode no Shirayuki tightly. She was preparing herself for another wild attack but she also wanted to try and take a moment to find out just what she was dealing with. Her opponent clearly was a talkative one and Rukia hoped to use that to her advantage. "What are you?"
"Huh?" Bambietta got back up on her feet, her brow furrowing as she looked at Rukia. "Seriously, first you don't remember how we absolutely wrecked your shit but now you're playing dumb and acting like I'm... what... not a Quincy? Please, we went way beyond any preconceived traditions a long time ago!"
Bambietta brandished her sword for a moment before letting it dissolve into light. In its place came a bow, Damon Stechen Bogen. A drawstring of light ran parallel to its ebony frame, Bambietta grabbing hold of it and drawing it back as she aimed at Rukia. A arrow of blue light formed as well then.
"But hey, we may have branched out but I've started to grow fond of this old classic again," Bambietta said with a smirk. "And don't think I didn't realize you were trying to bait me into spilling the beans about what I can and can't do. I may like to talk shit... but I know it isn't a free action!"
"Damn it!" Rukia used Flash Step to evade the arrow that had fired off in conjunction with the sudden increase in the volume of Bambietta's voice.
As she fired off arrow after arrow, Bambietta had to admit that Rukia was at least good at dodging. Each projectile seemed all but about to hit the Soul Reaper, only to miss as a movement of Flash Step took her out of their way at the last possible second. This was a Soul Reaper distinctly different from the rank and file ones that Bambietta had conquered during the battles with the Soul Society. She knew she had to have expected that, Rukia having been a lieutenant, but that was still vexing her at even this juncture of the battle. She wanted to know where her lieutenant's badge had gone to.
Watching as the Soul Reaper continued to evade her long range attacks, sometimes with Flash Step, other times simply ducking her head or spinning her body out of the way, Bambietta was growing frustrated with the petite Soul Reaper. "This is getting us nowhere."
The Soul Reaper had her Kido spells and her Zanpakuto's abilities. Range was just as suitable for her as it was for Bambietta, especially if she was this good at getting out of harm's way. Close combat however, was another matter altogether. Bambietta had already seen that clearly in the earlier skirmish. She knew she should have continued that phase of battle as she would have kept her advantage. Unfortunately she had let her ego get the better of her in her desire to show Rukia that she was in fact a Quincy.
Sighing, Bambietta cast aside her bow into the ether in which it came and brought her sword back. Stepping forward with Hirenkyaku, she infused her body with the offensive power of Blut Arteria once more.
Rukia heard Bambietta's voice, the Quincy appearing right in front of her. She had not expected that, Bambietta having traveled through the remaining hail of her arrows with Hirenkyaku. That was not what rocked Rukia to her core however. No, it was the vicious smile that was etched upon Bambietta's face. Before it had simply been a look of one eager for battle but now it was a savage grin that would make most shudder in fear.
Swinging out her sword, Bambietta aimed directly for Rukia's chest with the horizontal slash. Rukia was barely able to counter it in time, Sode no Shirayuki coming between herself and the enemy's blade.
"Not good enough!" Bambietta shouted. "You blocked Blut Arteria earlier but that's just because I didn't put my damn back into it, Soul Reaper!"
Bambietta grit her teeth as she continued to apply force behind her strike. It was more than enough to throw Rukia back, the Soul Reaper's feet skidding through the snow. The attack left her stunned, Rukia having to question much now. "That power of yours... is very nearly that of a captain's. You've been... holding back all this time?"
"Almost?" Bambietta hissed before putting her free hand up towards her slowly shaking head. "I suppose I'm not what I once was. A lot has changed since I came over here, but it'll be more than enough to take you out."
Rukia was shocked to imagine this Quincy was even stronger once upon a time. However, before she could dwell on it further, Bambietta was on Rukia once again. Her sudden attack gave her barely enough time to parry the sword strike. Caught off guard by her enemy's now revealed strength, Rukia was finding herself completely on the defensive. Each and every blow of Bambietta's, parried as they were, were making Rukia's arms shake and her feet tear further back through the snow. It was taking all she had to remain standing.
Facing off against such a combination of power, speed and swordsmanship, Rukia knew she could not keep her defensive position up for much longer.
Seeing that the arrow has stopped, Rukia could not help but be surprised. She was grateful for the momentary break in the onslaught, however, as she was unsure of how long she could have kept her high speed movements going in such rapid succession.
Bambietta continued to smirk, knowing just as well as Rukia how close her guard was to being broken. She was getting so very close to ending this fight with the Soul Reaper and soon a blow would bring her down to her knees. She would be begging for mercy. Mercy that Bambietta would never grant.
"Stupid Soul Reapers!" Bambietta hissed, her irritation at her enemy breaking through her moment of battle crazed joy. "So caught up in your failed traditions that you could never hope to keep up with us Quincy! Not after the hell we had go through! The hell you put us through!"
Finding an opening, Bambietta moved her leg and stomped down on one of Rukia's feet with Blut Arteria. Rukia let out a cry of pain thanks to the uncivil attack before Bambietta slashed with her blade. However, much to Bambietta's annoyance, the attack did not land despite not being blocked.
"Hado number one, Sho!"
The invisible pressure of the low level Kido spell caught Bambietta off guard, the Quincy having been lost in the moment of her impending victory that her defenses had dropped. It caught her directly in the face and caused her head to snap back.
"Stupid Kido spells!"
Bambietta was pushed back by the attack but it did not last long. Taking control of her momentum, Bambietta's head fell forward again, wild hatred buring in her eyes. She screamed as lunged towards Rukia again.
Unfortunately for her, the Soul Reaper appeared before her eyes with Flash Step. The index finger of Rukia's right hand was mere inches away from Bambietta's face. "Hado number four, Byakurai!"
"Motherfucker!" Bambietta reacted on pure instinct, reaching up with her free hand and grabbing Rukia's finger even as lightning began to crackle around its tip. Without any hesitation, Bambietta broke the finger and redirected the Kido's aim. The bolt of lightning shot past Bambietta's face, scorching the ends of her dark hair, the force of the attack blowing her hat away. "You think those damn spells are really going to do you any goo-"
Bambietta was caught off guard then, Rukia ignoring her pain and dropping Sode no Shirayuki. Reaching out, she slammed the palm of her hand against Bambietta's face. Irritated and angry now, Rukia cast another Kido spell.
"Hado number thirty-one, Shakkaho!"
There had not even been a chance for Bambietta to curse this time. Instead she cried out in pain, a fair bit louder than Rukia had when her finger had been broken a moment before. The Quincy's cloaked form hurtled through the air, smashing through a tree and going into a spin. Bambietta hit the ground hard, tearing through snow until at last she stopped.
Spitting out blood, some of it oozing down from of her mouth, Bambietta shook her head. She groaned as she slowly got back up on her feet. "Oh I am so going to be feeling that in the morning... Stupid, stupid, stupid!"
Bambietta cursed herself out, having realized her error. She had grown far too cocky in facing this Soul Reaper. It was all so maddening. Yes, her power had been cut in the process of death and rebirth, both Giselle and Sylphia having played a hand in it, but even without her full strength she should have been stronger than a Soul Reaper lieutenant. However, even Rukia's power made no sense. She did not seem as strong as she had been reported to be by the Vandenreich's information gathering before the invasion had begun. Odder still, she did not look as Bambietta remembered. No, she appeared as she did at nearly two years before the invasion begun. Yet her power and skill were greater than she was back then.
None of it made any sense.
Bambietta bit her lip, knowing she could not overthink it. No, not right now when her vision was only starting to focus after recovering from the point-blank attack.
"Come on, you damned Soul Reaper! Let's get this over wi-"
"Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren!"
Bambietta was cut off once again, her vision focusing just in time to see a wall of white nearly upon her, an affect of the Soul Reaper's Shikai. Once again having her ranting interrupted, Bambietta gasped as the small avalanche slammed into her. "Damn you, you fucking Soul Reaper!"
Bambietta gave up on resisting the attack, leaping away with Hirenkyaku instead. She turned to watch the attack form into solid ice, a wall cutting through the landscape. Much to her annoyance, she could see a torn fragment of her cloak stuck in the attack.
"My cape? Oh hell no!" Bambietta turned to glare at Rukia, as well as to launch an attack. "Hey, Soul Reaper! Did you really think something like that was going to beat me?"
Bambietta took sight of Rukia running along the top of the newly made ice wall, no doubt to get in close for an attack. That brought a smirk to Bambietta's face, the Quincy reaching out to put the palm of her left hand against the ice itself.
"Boom," Bambietta whispered. "I win."
The Explode infected the remainder of Sode no Shirayuki's power, causing the wall of ice to detonate. However, much to Bambietta's annoyance, Rukia had already cleared the explosion. She had expected such a maneuver, having made herself an easy target atop the ice, and had planned accordingly. Yet she was terrified by the manner that Bambietta had blown it up. However she had done it, Rukia could see now more than ever that she was faced with overwhelming power. All she could do was count on strategy, trickery and feints to win the day.
Stopping behind Bambietta, she could hear the Quincy's boot heels twisting in the snow. Rukia knew she only had a moment to respond, to use Hakuren again, but it was unnecessary. She had already landed her attack the moment she passed by Bambietta.
"Now I got you, you Soul Reaper bi-"
"Some no Mai, Tsukishiro!"
A column of ice burst up from the circle of power that was around Bambietta's feet. It extended up into the sky, keeping the Quincy locked away in its frozen embrace.
"It's done." Rukia Kuchiki looked at both the frozen Bambietta Basterbine and Erza Scarlet, seeing that she had resolved the conflict. She turned to look at the gathered Gigalepus, smiling warmly at them. Soon she would thaw out the two women and allow them safe passage to where they had come from, giving them a strick warning never to return. For now, however, she had to take care of those she adored. "You're safe again. I only wish that people would leave you alone. But until they do, I'll protect you all. That's... what Soul Reapers do."
Bambietta Basterbine, meanwhile, was fuming. Caught in the frozen column, she was still alert if unmoving. She could hear the Soul Reaper speak of her purpose and it infuriated her and made her sick to her stomach. However, it was in that moment she saw something else. The Gigalepus were once more in view, their visage distorted by the ice itself. They were warped looking by the time they reached Bambietta's eyes, leaving her to slowly stop seeing them.
The distortions began to become even more twisted, not by the ice but by Bambietta's own imagination. Memories tugged at her and all she could see was a particular rabbit-like Hollow. One she had challenged to earn her father's approval. One she had failed to kill. One she had been saved from.
It was the one.
The one that had killed Liebe Basterbine even as she had killed it.
The sight of the Gigalepus had brought fear to Bambietta Basterbine once more but this time it was different. Combined with the presence of the Soul Reaper, the fear gave rise to anger. Bambietta's teeth began to grit together, her muscles flexing. More importantly, her spiritual pressure was also roaring.
Rukia was taking a moment to come down from the battle, the Soul Reaper playfully petting one of the Gigalepus on the head, right between its ears. She was smiling as she did so, feeling carefree amongst the beasts she had sworn to protect. "Who's a good little bunny? Is it you, Chappy? Yes it is, yes it-"
Rukia stopped in midsentence, feeling the spike in the pressure around her. Turning quickly, she was just in time to see the column of ice that Sode no Shirayuki had formed break apart, an explosion of pure light issuing forth. It did not take Rukia long to see Bambietta at the center of the blast.
No, Rukia was quick to realize that she was not simply at the center. She was the center. She was the source.
"What kind of Quincy are you?"
Bambietta was screaming as she allowed the Explode to run wild. She had spent so long under the Vandenreich's wing to comprehend her power, how to use it with precision and clarity. However, that was just one such application of it. For now she was running on a razor's edge, letting it live up to its name in its most primal form. Her spiritual pressure was unleashing the Explode in a chaotic manner, destroying all around Bambietta.
It was a power she had been taught control of, yes, but much like Bambietta herself, at times it could be left unfocused and enraged.
Then, at last, the explosion ceased. The orb of luminous and destructive power withdrew back towards Bambietta, becoming one with her. The yelling stopped as well, Bambietta growing quiet. She stood there for a moment, her cloak settling back down on her shoulders. She stood there, panting heavily, the cold making her ragged breath visible to all. Her body was shaking but it was not due to the cold air around her.
No, she was simply enraged and showing it.
Rukia glanced at Bambietta, more than a little shocked by how she had broken free. Gripping Sode no Shirayuki tightly, she turned to confront her fully. As she did so, she waved her free hand behind her back. The Gigalepus took the motion to heart and scurried off into the distance.
Then, without words or hesitation, Bambietta brought her hands up, twin orbs born from the Explode appearing. The quiet had been a momentary reprieve, an outburst once more seizing control of her. She screamed even as she threw her right arm forward.
She knew it could not actually detonate the Soul Reaper, the limit placed on it by the goddess who had chosen her in affect, but she knew the orb could still hurt if it detonated the Soul Reaper's shirt or the snow beneath her. Soon joining it next was the orb in Bambietta's left hand.
Rukia took her chances with Flash Step, managing to walk between attacks. They kept coming, Bambietta generating them at an accelerated rate. All the while could Rukia hear the explosions ringing out around her, could see the snow and ice being kicked up with each burst, but she was not paying attention to any of it. No, she was looking at Bambietta, noting the strange mixture of rage and sadness etched upon her face. She was listening as well, surprised at how Bambietta's howling scream was able to overcome the explosions themselves.
Whatever pain the Quincy was trying to inflict upon her was nothing compared to the Quincy's own internal agony.
Regardless, Rukia knew she had to get in close and end this battle. To facilitate that desired outcome, she darted through the explosions, bobbing and weaving to and fro until at last she was able to close the gap. It had been by the skin of her teeth, yes, but the Quincy was both infuriated and unfocused, her attack patterns easily discernable to one with a keen eye.
Bambietta's face twisted to the side as she saw Rukia come in near her, the flat edge of the Soul Reaper's blade catching her on the cheek. It was enough to stun her, but only for a moment. Yet that was all it took for what came next. Crouching down, she turned to look back at the Soul Reaper, a bloodied smile on her face. However, what she saw was Rukia down on one knee, Sode no Shirayuki held in a reverse grip and her free hand facing towards Bambietta.
"Soren Sokatsui!"
For a moment did time slow for the Quincy. She could see the magical energy of Kido forming in Rukia's hand. Not interested in being hit by it but still so lost in rage that she did not simply consider using Hirenkyaku, Bambietta opted for a more direct and foolhardy approach. She reached out with her own right hand, putting its palm against Rukia's own. She slipped her fingers between Rukia's, squeezing her hand tight. It burned, to feel the power of Soren Sokatsui against her palm, but Bambietta retaliated by forming the Explode in her own palm.
The Kido and the Schrift met head on, an explosion detonating right between both Rukia and Bambietta. Snow began to melt under the force and heat, both Soul Reaper and Quincy being thrown back from one and another.
Rukia hit the ground hard, her grip on Sode no Shirayuki loosening. Bambietta, meanwhile, crashed down on to a knee. She looked at her right hand, seeing how her glove had been all but burned away, leaving behind charred and bloody flesh.
"Stupid move, yeah," Bambietta hissed as she pulled herself up on to her feet and began to walk towards Rukia. "But at least I could use Blut Vene. How about you?"
Rukia pulled herself up from the ground, once more propped up on one knee. She dug Sode no Shirayuki into the snow to better steady herself, her body shaking.
"Yeah, that's what I figured." Bambietta stood before the struggling Soul Reaper, her confident expression giving way to a glare of icy contempt. Her smile cut into her face, teeth gnashing together as all but snarled. Her voice was nothing more than a low hiss in the mountain air. "Now what was that you said earlier? You were going to protect those creatures? Is that what you said, Soul Reaper?"
Rukia was trying to catch her breath, it becoming visible in the cold, but she was quick to respond nonetheless. "Yes."
"Liar!"
Bambietta's brought up a knee, smashing it into the Soul Reaper's jaw. Blood spurted out from between her lips as her head snapped back. It was enough to give life to the light in Bambietta's eyes. She watched as the Soul Reaper fell back on to the ground, all the while stepping towards her, the Quincy's cape billowing in the windswept snow.
"Fucking liars! Each and every one of you! You have absolutely no idea how much I hate you damn Soul Reapers! Every last fucking one of you!" Bambietta's voice was a roar now, one that was more intense than any explosion she could ever hope to muster with the power she had gained as part of the Vandenreich. "Protect others? Your kind introduced death to our world! And every fatality, every murder, every moment of someone passing away is on your heads! You proclaim yourselves protectors of the living but you damned us to die right from the start! And you can't even protect us all from Hollows! And when we decide enough is enough and we stood up the fight for ourselves and protect those we cared about..."
Bambietta took a deep breath as she looked down at Rukia, her eyes as cold as ice.
"Genocide." Bambietta paused then, allowing that word to resonate in her ears if not Rukia's. "Every day of our damn lives we Quincy never knew if you would one day come and slaughter us! To finish what you and your ancestors started!"
Bambietta brought a foot down upon one of the Soul Reaper's own, pinning her leg so as to prevent her from crawling back any further.
"But I suppose they were the lucky ones. Not like the Quincy one of your precious captains would tear apart. Cutting off their flesh bit by bit, ripping out their guts... Dissected in your so-called paradise!"
Bambietta whirled around the downed Rukia with Hirenkyaku, lashing out with a kick that caught her across the face and stained the snow with blood. Rukia cried out and Bambietta followed up with a scream all her own.
"I never forgot the horror stories my father would tell me about you worthless monsters! Humanity's so-called protectors, those who would guide use peacefully into death, but you did no such thing! You all should die, you miserable dogs!"
Bambietta stopped for a minute, the heel of her boot pushing down onto the Soul Reaper's cheek so as to keep her from running. Bambietta's eyes were wavering then, memories of her more recent past coming to her.
"I thought he would prove me wrong," Bambietta whispered. "That captain, the one I was assigned to watch... and fight... He seemed so kind and so pure. Like you. But he failed me. Your example of true nobility and heroism... And when push came to shove, he was no better than me. A rabid monster who threw away his pride and his honor for revenge!"
Rukia listened well to Bambietta, all the while trying to break free from the foothold on her face. Sode no Shirayuki had fallen from her hand and she was reaching towards it, stretching her fingers to grab the hilt or even the ribbon. Yet all the while she listened well to the hysterical Quincy.
"I hate you." Bambietta said, her eyes gazing down into the Soul Reapers. "You probably fancy yourself a beautiful guardian angel, but you know the fuck what? Satan was an angel as well."
Bambietta pulled her foot off the Soul Reaper's face, dropping down on one knee. Her hand reached out, the thought of strangling the life from her coming to mind. That, however, was much to quick and to the point for the woman who had been hardened into the Vandenreich's Stern Ritter E. It was not long after that her right hand curled into a fist, her knuckles burying themselves in the Soul Reaper's face again and again. More blood was shed, the red fluid beginning to stain Bambietta's hand even as her glove began to shred from the knuckles outwards.
"I despise you!" If you all did your damn jobs right, the Quincy wouldn't have even needed to exist! If you had done your job right, you wouldn't have tried to kill us all for doing it ourselves! If you did your job right, I wouldn't have gone to sleep every night knowing someday I'd be killed just being what I was! I would have had a normal childhood! If you.. If you..."
Bambietta continued to snarl, but her eyes began to unleash tears.
"I would never have lost my mother!" Again she struck the Soul Reaper in the face. However, despite her outcry, the little satisfaction that Bambietta had gained by causing the Soul Reaper pain had faded, bitterness and sorrow entering her heart instead. The Soul Reaper was not even responding to the pain, not even making a sound. She was not even trying to fight back in the slightest.
What Bambietta could not tell was that Rukia was simply listening to her now.
Bambietta's fist quivered as it hovered over Rukia's face, the pristine skin dotted by blood. Despite that, Bambietta was able to read the Soul Reaper's expression. It was not one of fear or contempt, but of pity. As if she was looking at someone in more pain than herself.
"Why?" Bambietta began to say, her voice low. "Why aren't you fighting back? Why... Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Because you're right."
"What?" Bambietta had expected many things. A witty retort. One last word of defiance. A last minute trap of some kind even. Anything but her fallen foe agreeing with her. "What... What the hell do you mean I'm right?"
"The Soul Reapers made mistakes," Rukia gasped. "You and I both can attest to that."
Now Bambietta's confusion was doubled.
"You make it sound like your not one of them." Bambietta simply stared at the Soul Reaper then and there. No longer caught in the heat of battle, her blood lust driving her, Bambietta began to notice something subtle but distinct. "Wait..."
The Quincy could see it so very clearly then, the arcs of azure electricity that seemingly darted around Rukia's eyes. It all made sense to Bambietta then, the truth of the matter leaving her to realize what she was fighting.
"You..." Bambietta whispered. "You're one of those Reigai clones that invaded the Soul Society."
"I..." Rukia's voice trailed off, willing to admit the truth but to speak her opinion of it nonetheless. "I am Rukia Kuchiki and she is me."
Bambietta could say nothing in that moment, allowing the Reigai beneath her to continue even as they lay in the snow.
"My original and I can agree that the Soul Society is deeply flawed. I did not experience her pains but I have those memories still. She lived in the farthest sections of the Rukon District, far away from the prosperity of the Soul Society's capital and the safety its Soul Reapers provided. Every day was a struggle for survival. Against Hollows and hunger. In the end, she was left to watch friends succumb to both until only she and one other remained."
The Reigai spoke candidly but not without emotion. These memories were of another but they were as real to her as they would have been to Rukia, their pain unfathomable.
Bambietta said nothing still, trying to remain calm and impassive. This was not entirely new information to her. She and her kind in the Vandenreich had watched the Soul Reapers. Decade after decade had she begun to see how the system worked. She had known full well that many became Soul Reapers to simply escape the hell that was the afterlife's form of poverty. She knew it, yes, but it was different to hear it spoken of by one who had experienced it first hand.
"But Rukia almost stayed behind when Renji left," the Reigai continued. "There were two children in the Rukon District that Rukia had begun to look after. They were so very fond of her and she..."
The Reigai's voice began to show unpleasant hesitation, as if the memories were too real for even her. They were hers just as much as they were belonging to another and she could not deny that.
"I cherished them," the Reigai of Rukia said, accepting it as just a much a part of her as it was a part of the original. "I did all I could for them, gave them everything they lacked. Love, a family, food, names... But then, they died just as my friend's had. A Hollow... It killed them... when they tried to protect my original..."
Rukia began to cry.
"If the Soul Society had done what they promised us all, they never would have died. That's why I... why Rukia... became a Soul Reaper. All she ever wanted was to protect those in her sight. But even when she did that, she was punished for it. The Soul Society turned its wrath on her for saving a defenseless family. She threw away the law and did all that she had to to protect them, knowing full well what consequences awaited her."
Despite her tears, the Reigai of Rukia looked up at Bambietta, with narrowing eyes.
Bambietta stayed silent. She knew well of the execution that Rukia had narrowly avoided thanks to, of all things, a Quincy, but she had never looked too deeply into the matter. The most concerning thing to the Vandenreich had been that a Soul Reaper had betrayed his own organization and proven himself both a potential singular threat to Yhwach but also a possible ally. However, hearing of that situation was not was truly struck a chord with Bambietta.
No, all she could think of was the trauma of losing those two children to a Hollow, leaving the Quincy to recall when Wendy had stood up to a beast such as that back in Clover Town.
"That was why, when Kageroza Inaba created us, I was more than willing to help him," Rukia continued. "He gave each of us a choice but he had our undying loyalty. We were all going to do what our originals could not. They were all powerless against the system and we... I... pitied them. We were going to make the great change. We were going to make the Soul Society live up to its promised ideals. We were going to change the world..."
Bambietta knew the end of this story, having watched from the shadows. Regardless, she did not interrupt the Reigai.
"But in the end," Rukia finished, "we were nothing to Kageroza. A means to an end. And it took our lives to protect the world we wanted to make better from him."
Bambietta was quiet still, recalling all Liltotto had told her after their reunion. "Bosses, huh? They kind of suck back where we come from."
It was an attempt at levity on Bambietta's part, such a tactics her defense mechanism when she felt she was out of her depth or if things got hard, uncomfortable or awkward. However, in this situation it simply failed.
"If you're going to finish me off for the sins you blame the Soul Society for, then just do it," the Reigai of Rukia continued. "It's as you said, I'm a fake. An artificial being made from the whims of a madman. I was a fool to think I could ever achieve anything for the worlds. That I could do what my original could not. That I could... help her and all the others. I just... ask that you spare the lives of the Gigalepus."
Bambietta could feel her hands shake as she looked down at the fallen Reigai. The Quincy simply did not know what to do. She did not even know what she wanted to do. Bambietta looked at her shaking hands then, noting the fist that one had become. Worse, she could see the damage done to her glove, fabric frayed away, revealing the symbol of Fairy Tail.
A symbol that was now obscured by the blood of one who cared much for others.
"No." Bambietta's voice was shaking now, just as her hands were. "No, I won't. I am Bambietta Basterbine of Fairy Tail! I am no longer... a member of the Vandenreich! I can't... be like this!"
Bambietta was quick to her feet, staggering away from Rukia. She could still see the blood on her hands, her vision blurring as she felt her eyes water. It became so bad that for a brief moment all she could see was not the guild emblem of Fairy Tail but the symbol of the Vandenreich in all its crimson glory.
"No!"
Bambietta took hold of her damaged cape, tearing off a portion of it and furiously wiping her hand clean so that only the Fairy Tail emblem remained.
"I'm just a spoiled child," Bambietta whispered. "I tried to be something better but... I'm the monster my father and Yhwach wanted."
Bambietta's head lowered her eyes closing. She had thought it would bring her relief by granting her visual ignorance of the guild mark she had all but tarnished but it did not. For through her mind's eye she could see those she cherished. Those she owed her new life to. Makarov and Porlyusica, Erza and Levy, Lucy and Wendy, Happy and Natsu, as well as one other.
"Sylphia... Fairy Tail... I'm so sorry. I... failed you all. I failed all you."
Bambietta began to sob then, so quietly that it was all but drowned out in the wind running across the mountain's edge. However, one could hear it. One could hear it far too well. In response they reached out the Quincy, holding them tightly.
"You didn't fail anyone," the Reigai of Rukia whispered, her voice as soft and gently as the falling snow.
Bambietta was taken aback by the sudden action on the part of her enemy, though she did not fight back. She did not pull away either. She simply spoke. "What are you doing?"
"What the true Rukia would if she were here," the Reigai said. "Helping a lost soul."
Bambietta truly could not rationalize this moment. "Stop it. She's a Soul Reaper! She'd never-"
"She would," the Reigai continued, "because she and I are one and the same."
It had happened. In that one moment had Bambietta's core beliefs, been challenged. This facsimile of a Soul Reaper, this imitation of Rukia Kuchiki had broken through her hatred and disdain. Bambietta began to soften in her embrace, the Quincy realizing that the battle was over. Not just this battle between Soul Reaper and Quincy in the here and now, but the battle she had waged since her father had begun to tell her of lineage. It was a battle that she had never won, but neither had even the honorable Captain Sajin Komamura had managed to achieve victory in either. Both Quincy and Soul Reaper had left that invisible war broken and beaten.
In the end it had taken a Reigai to see the war through to the end. The Reigai of Rukia Kuchiki had won this battle not through power or skill, not through cruelty or ruthless determination, but through compassion. Bambietta Basterbine realized that then, though she continued to sniffle. "This whole thing... This whole thing is stupid..."
Regardless, Bambietta was growing calm, both outwardly and inwardly. It was the first time she had felt like that since laying her eyes on the Reigai Soul Reaper. She whispered then, her torn expression becoming that of a faint smile.
"You win, Rukia Kuchiki."
Rukia pulled away, looking at Bambietta with confusion. "I didn't think think we were still fighting."
"That's all my life's been for... so long," Bambietta replied. "It was nothing more than a dead run. And you... you won, all right."
Rukia was no less confused. "Well I-"
"Don't make me say it again!" Bambietta suddenly snapped. "God, it's hard enough saying someone beat me twice as it is!"
Rukia took a step back. The Reigai could clearly tell that this Quincy was the type to wear her ever-changing emotions on her sleeve. "Then I will not press the issue. Truce?"
Bambietta sighed, calming down once more. "Yeah. Truce."
It was in that moment the two tired warriors could hear footsteps in the snow. For a moment Bambietta had to wonder if Erza had broken free from the results of Rukia's earlier attack but in moments she could tell it was several individuals approaching.
"Oh right," Bambietta said as she and Rukia turned to look upon those who were approaching them. "I forget about my current 'employers.' Such fine gentlemen..."
"Them?" Rukia was more than a little surprised. "I thought I taught them a lesson after the last time."
"Yeah, yeah you did," Bambietta replied. "That's why they hired me and Erza to kick your butt. I know you meant well but you can't expect a bunch of villagers to be happy after you beat them up while they were trying to protect their crops."
"What are you talking about? Those aren't any of the local villagers." Rukia was more than a little confused. "The Gigalepus haven't left the forest ever since I began to care for them. All they were eating were the truffles in the nearby forest so I started doing odd jobs around the area to buy them treats. You can't seriously think I'd let these adorable little bunnies eat a poor village out of house and home."
Bambietta pondered that, the Quincy already having figured out the true character of the Rukia and her Reigai. "Fair point. And just to get it out there, they aren't little. Anyways, if these aren't any of the villagers you've met..."
Bambietta was quick on the uptake then, her suspicions when she had first met the 'protectors' of Dianthus proving to have been well founded.
"These hunters have been coming here week after week with the intent of skinning the Gigalepus for their fur," Rukia said, the Soul Reaper more than a little irritated and disgusted at the notion. "That's why I decided to stay here."
"You jerks tricked Fairy Tail!" Bambietta screamed at the approaching men, all the while pointing an accusing finger at them. It was not even a moment later when that finger was pulled back and into Bambietta's fist, a much more offensive one waving towards the men. "You sons of bitches got balls pulling a stunt like this!"
"Look at the big brain on the wizard," Amber Schaefer, the leader of the group said nonchalantly. "But do not hold this against my men or I. We are not responsible. This betrayal is your enemy."
"Yeah, well I- What does that even mean?" Bambietta blinked, her index finger drooping instead of pointing fiercely. Shaking her head, Bambietta retracted her index finger into her fist, replacing it with a much more offensive finger that she held up. "Don't go trying to confuse me with potentially bad ass one liners!
"You'll have to forgive Amber." A newcomer came forth then, stepping out from the crowd of revealed mercenaries. He was an older man, one dressed all in purple and possessing a balding head that was adorned with barely there spiky gray hair. "Though he is correct. Fairy Tail has no one but themselves to blame for being fooled by these mercenaries under my payroll. I, for one, would never have imagined that the renowned Titania Erza would have fallen for such lies."
"Yeah, that's a fair point. But Erza has been acting odd ever since she asked me out on this job request. Wait, I wonder if she was testing me to see if I would-" Bambietta suddenly stopped scratching her chin while thinking it over. She pointed at the older man and began to shout as only she could. "And who the heck are you?"
"You wound me, my darling wizard," the man said before becoming incredible animated as he shook his fists up towards the sky. "I am the Doctor El Dritch, the most renowned scientist in all of Fiore!"
"Oh, right. You." Bambietta was less than impressed. "I remember reading about you in Sorcerer's Weekly. The Magic Council disowned you awhile back."
"Is that true?" Rukia asked the Quincy.
"Hey!" Bambietta snapped. "I read the articles... when I get bored with the Jenny Realight pin ups."
"I meant about the Magic Council," Rukia said, taken aback by Bambietta's defensive tone. "I can only guess that he committed atrocities in the name of science."
"Hah, he wishes!" Bambietta laughed. "No, we're not dealing with a Mayuri Kurotsuchi... though I'm sure the Magic Council would disown him too unlike a certain forty-six jackasses that come to mind. No, the Magic Council kicked Doctor Dick here out because all of his inventions either sucked or blowed!"
"Doctor Dritch!" the man shouted, now waving his fist at Bambietta.
"And yet he says nothing about me saying all his inventions were crap," Bambietta muttered under her breath.
"Another fool!" Doctor Dritch shouted, his voice reaching new heights.
Bambietta sighed, her shoulders sagging. "Never mind. And here we go..."
"I was once one of Fiore's best and brightest! But the Magic Council fools were too ignorant to see my brilliance! I gave them art! I gave them masterpieces! But all those foolish fools saw was a child's kindergarten art project! They could not see the majesty of my mind! They never learned! They never listened!"
"I don't care," Bambietta hissed under her breath. She wanted to simply go on the offensive, the mercenaries easy pickings if she could operate at full strength. That however was the problem. The battle with Rukia having drained her reserves. She needed time to recover her spiritual strength and knew that Rukia needed it as well. So she spoke under her breath, wanting to vent while still leaving the good doctor to rant and buy her time. "Shut up..."
"And then one day I showed them the glory that was a combination of fire magic and a mutant chicken man and they dared... they dared to mock his magnificent mohawk! Those monsters!" Doctor Dritch continued to bellow after taking a deep breath. "To think they cut my funding after that! To think they could not see the true glory of my intellect! On that day I swore I would make them pay for what they had done! But without my funding, I could not easily get my revenge! It's taken all of my life savings to begin this operation. And with the Gigalepus pelts I could triple my investment ten times over! I would never need the Magic Council to continue my research!"
Doctor Dritch finally calmed down, his voice no longer a roaring mass of chaos.
"And now you know my story."
"And guess who doesn't care?" Bambietta raised her hand before pointing a thumb at herself. "This girl!"
Rukia, meanwhile, was much more serious. "I see. It all makes sense now. You hired Fairy tail as a way to weaken me when your mercenaries failed. All so you could kill the Gigalepus for their fur when it was all said and done? How cowardly."
"And twisted," Bambietta said. "I take it back. We are dealing with a Mayuri Kurotsuchi. At least the Magic Council kicked him to the curb. In the sane they trust..."
Rukia was also trying to recover her strength and put up a brave front that would hopefully make the mercenaries and their master flee. "Your plan failed. Now you have myself and another to contend with."
"My plan has worked, you pathetic pair of pinheads!" Doctor Dritch cried out. "I do not see Titania Erza here and you two are all tuckered out. Easy pickings! Did you think you could pull one over my unparalleled intellect?"
"Well... shit." Bambietta chided herself for earlier. "Guess you're not as dumb as I thou- Wait, you knew that and gave us time to rest up with your rant? You're one can short of a six-pack! The only thing your mind is unparalleled in is lacking any form of common sense!"
There was a moment of silence then, a hush falling upon the scene of impending battle Then, as soon as it began, Doctor Dritch ended it.
"Destroy them!"
"Seriously?" Bambietta summoned her bow into her hand. "I may be a bit tired still but a bunch of cannon fodder like this shouldn't be a problem!"
Bambietta took aim and prepared to fire an arrow at the charging mercenaries. She did notice Amber hanging back and standing beside Doctor Dritch. She could only assume he was the last line of defense. Regardless, Bambietta prepared to fire at the closest of the approaching mercenaries.
"Damn!"
Bambietta was still just tired enough that one of the mercenaries managed to rush her from the side, catching her in an offguard blind spot. The Quincy lost her footing in the snow as the man tackled her, the arrow firing off course. Much to her shock, it hit her intended target not in the knee but his face. Bambietta saw the impact before she fell, her mind going numb for a moment. Death and her went back far but she could not afford to allow herself to do such things as a member of Fairy Tail, not even as an accident.
"You damn idiot!" Bambietta screamed as she tightly wrapped her fingers around the face of the man who had tackled her and proceed to slam him back and down to the ground. "Look what you made me do! He was one of your own! He..."
Bambietta shocked to see the man she had hit dead on walking towards her still, a large portion of the flesh that made up his face peeling off. Yet despite it all, there was no gore. No sign of muscle and bone. Just exposed metal and electricity sparking around it.
"Do you see my wondrous craftsmanship?" Doctor Dritch said. "Only an uncreative cretin would hire actual mercenaries when he could build his own! The ways of the flesh are unnecessary when you have robots in disguise doing your bidding! You cannot hope to face them as their lacrima cores grant them strength fifty times greater than the average person!"
"And you didn't build something like this for the Magic Council?" Bambietta asked as she got back up. "What, too busy trying to make sentient tomatoes or some shit? What are you, stupid?"
"That was a brilliant idea!" Doctor Dritch
"Whatever." Bambietta was at least relieved that she had not tarnished the name of Fairy Tail but one other thing made her more than a little happy. "You what the best thing about robots is? You can blow them up with no regre-"
"Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren!"
Before Bambietta's eyes a wall of snow and ice tore through the advancing robots, freezing them solid. If the familiarity of the voice that had shouted the name of the attack only a moment earlier was not enough to clue in the Quincy to the identity of the one who had ended the battle, then the pristine nature of the attack would have.
"I appreciate the information," Rukia said as she stepped forward and glared at both Doctor Dritch and Amber. "All this time I thought I was just fighting greedy humans and holding myself back."
"Not bad," Bambietta muttered under her breath, looking over the simplicity in how Rukia had ended the situation. "I'm starting to like that Reigai Soul Reaper."
"My robots!" Dritch screamed, Amber remaining quiet by his side. "How dare, you scatterbrained sorcerers! Do you know just how it took me to make them?"
"Don't care but... here's the thing," Bambietta said. "You spent all that time and remaining jewel to build them, right? And last I checked, mad scientists don't exactly adhere to moral sanity... and I'm not one who should be throwing stones... but why didn't you just sell these things to the highest bidder?"
Doctor Dritch had nothing to say to that, the man suddenly staring blankly at Bambietta. "Because shut up?"
Bambietta laughed. "I'm so going to enjoy kicking your ass after all the crap you've put me threw! How dare you make me even confront these horrifying bunny monsters!"
"They're not horrifying," Rukia interjected. "They're adorable."
Bambietta did not want to hurt the Reigai's feelings and moved on to yelling at Doctor Dritch even more. "Now the way I see this, there's only two ways this can go. Either you both surrender or I just take care of your terminator over there and then kick your ass. Please, please don't surrender."
"You find the Gigalepus terrifying do you?" Doctor Dritch lit up. "Then this invention's success is two-fold!"
Bambietta felt her heart skip a beat. "What... did you do?"
Doctor Dritch and Amber both stepped to the side, the mad scientist waving his arms excitedly. "Gentlemen, behold!"
"We're girls," Bambietta muttered under her breath. Whatever further remarks she considered making fell by the wayside however as both Bambietta and Rukia could suddenly feel tremors in the ground, the snowy terrain shaking as if a behemoth was lumbering beyond the horizon.
"You two wizards stand no chance, no chance, against the greatest of my inventions!" Doctor Dritch cackled. "It has been made from the finest of materials, the most dense of metals, and has the power to crush even a diamond the shape of a very large diamond in its robotic grip!"
Bambietta found the resolve to act sarcastic in light of that speech. "The fuck?"
Then and only then did the tremors stop, both Bambietta and Rukia seeing an object in the distance hop into the air. It drew closer and closer, the machine clearing the distance between itself and its prey as it came crashing down.
"Run away!" Bambietta shouted once she realized a shadow was falling over herself and Rukia. She and the Reigai both slipped away with their high speed movements. It had not been a moment too soon, snow and icy kicked up in the air as Doctor Dritch's invention landed.
Bambietta looked upon the machine. It stood an impressive fifteen feet, it's torso a wide cylinder that was home to hydraulic legs that were no doubt responsible for its impressive leap. From its front extending out two extremely short mechanical appendages that ended with crude hands. However it was its head that Bambietta stared at. The large, circular eyes of glass. The pair of makeshift teeth that descended down from beneath a faux nose that seemingly wiggled despite its metal composition. Then there were the large ears that stuck straight up into the sky.
The very sight of that machine drove her and the Reigai to have a difference of opinion. Rukia stood in awe of that which could be seen, her eyes lighting up in amusement and happiness. Bambietta, however, was much more vocal.
"You crazy sonuvabitch!"
Doctor Dritch was not stymied in the least, the madman laughing hysterically. "You two stand before a wondrous happening! The unveiling of ultimate perfection! You who could never dare hurt a bunny... You who fear them... The both of you are absolutely powerless before the almighty... Robbit!"
There was a moment then, where the only sound upon the mountain's edge was the wind and Doctor Dritch's laughter. However, that moment in time was caught short when Bambietta casually lodged an orb born from the Explosion at the Robbit. The mechanical beast detonated on the spot, leaving behind little more than circuitry and scrap metal.
Doctor Dritch was more than a little perturbed. "No! My all powerful Robbit! How could this be?"
"You think something like that was going to scare me?" Bambietta shouted as she placed her hands on her hips. "Nice try, jackass! Next time bring your A-game and maybe make it look like the real thing and you'll have a shot!"
"Oh, my Robbit..." Doctor Dritch said as he knelt down in the snow and looked over the wreckage, going so far as to pick a piece up and hold it against his chest. He looked at Amber then, hatred burning in his eyes. "Murder them! Make them suffer!"
Amber cracked his knuckles, one set after another. "It's show time."
"Oh please," Bambietta said with a shrug. "Even as tired as we are we've already taken out your robots and Mecharabbit there... What's one more older looking robot goin-"
Bambietta's question was cut short by Amber's fist in her face and his voice echoing in her ears.
"Knock knock!"
"Okay, no!" Bambietta was mad then, spitting out blood into the snow. She threw out an orb, intent on blowing up the last remaining robot. The Explode hit Amber directly in the chest. However, much to Bambietta's dismay, nothing happened. "What? No sparky sparky boom?"
Amber looked down at Bambietta before kicking her so hard she flew back across the ground.
"So he's not a robot," Bambietta hissed as she rolled across the ground and got back up on her feet. "Then time for my next trick!"
Bambietta summoned her sword into her hand and charged Amber, only to her blade bouncing off his shoulder.
"Huh?" Bambietta tried again and again, the Quincy at least happy that Amber was giving her the free hits. Unfortunately they were doing nothing. "No, no, no... We already made it clear you're not a robot so what the hell?"
"I like you; you're a funny girl." Amber reared back a fist. "That's why I'll kill you last!"
Bambietta stared at the knuckles. "Oh fuck me."
Bambietta felt the man's iron grip around her face, Amber slamming her to the ground. "Talk to the hand."
Bambietta struggled against him but found it no avail. She had recovered enough spiritual power to deal with the robots and the Robbit but this was no mere underling. Bambietta could tell that she would have needed all her strength and stamina to fight him.
"Hado number thirty one, Shakkaho!"
Amber flinched, his body lurching forward even as his expression remained impassive. He turned then to look over his shoulder, seeing exactly what Bambietta did.
Rukia had taken the shot, leaving Bambietta to feel Amber's grip loosen. It was enough for her to use Hirenkyaku to slip away. She shook her head, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she had just been saved by the next closest thing to a Soul Reaper. "Damn, what the hell is this guy made of?"
Rukia appeared beside Bambietta thanks to a Flash Step that took her around Amber. "I don't know. I don't sense any magic power coming from him but he's not an machine, so perhaps he was born with this monstrous strength?"
"Don't know, don't care. Let's just blast him!"
Bambietta let loose with a barrage from her bow, Rukia joining in with repeated uses of Soren Sokatsui. However, much to there shock, Amber was walking through their attacks. The duo could take some solace in how it was slowing him down, his steps forward labored, but it was not enough for their liking.
"You know... I'm as hungry for a good and proper fight as the next red blooded Quincy but this is ridiculous!" Bambietta shouted.
"Hungry?" Amber asked as he finally drew in close. "I hope you leave enough room for my fist because I'm going to ram it into your stomach and break your damn spine!"
Bambietta vanished from sight as Amber's fist hit the air that had once been occupied by her torso. Rukia followed along, Flash Step and Hirenkyaku bringing them into Amber's blind spot. Bambietta grabbed Amber around the head from behind, leaping up and driving a Blut Arteria empowered knee into the back of his skull. It rattled him enough she hoped, Rukia following it up by stepping in front of the mercenary as he pitched forward, the Reigai striking him point blank in the face with Shakkaho.
It was enough to stun him, his sunglasses shattering and his eyes momentarily blinded. Bambietta took that moment to grab him by the arm and put all her dwindling might behind her next move. Lifting Amber up with Blut Arteria flowing through her arms, she cast the man up and over her shoulder and sent him careening far and away into the snow.
Much to Bambietta's annoyance, however, Amber was quickly getting back up on to his feet. "Oh come on, does anything hurt you?"
"Only pain," Amber replied as he he shook the snow off his shoulders and cracked his neck. "Now come on, wizards. Let's party!"
Rukia took him up on his offer, the Reigai beginning to chant. "Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat! Bakudo number nine, Geki!"
With the incantation complete, Amber's body began to glow a scarlet shade, the energy enveloping him. The man clearly tried to move, but the affect of the spell was managing to hold him in place. "Bullshit!"
"And now it's my turn!" Bambietta said before she began to fire a volley of arrows at Amber, each one slamming into his defenseless form with enough force to push him back. As she kept it up, Bambietta put more and more power into each and every arrow. "And now for the grand finale!"
Bambietta let go of one final ethereal arrow, the dart of blue energy growing larger as it fired off from the bow. It struck Amber head on, the power exploding in a azure light."
"Well I think that takes care of that." Bambietta panted as she looked at her equally tired enemy turned ally. "That wasn't bad back there, Rukia. You would have made one hell of a Quincy."
"And you would have made a fine Soul reaper. A captain even." Rukia said with a smile. "No offense."
Bambietta shrugged. "Look, not all of them are dog shit, okay? So compliment accepted. And hey, I can see it now, you could have been Stern Ritter F, the Freeze!"
Rukia looked at Bambietta in confusion. "What's a Stern Ritter?"
Rukia did not receive an answer to her question, Amber suddenly slamming into her and Bambietta. He was worn and ragged, smoke billowing out from his torn shirt, the final arrow having hurt him. He was damaged but undeterred. The mercenary's hands wrapped around the throats of both Bambietta and Rukia, lifting their struggling bodies into the cold air.
"Don't resist," Amber said. "Remember, I could break both your necks like a chicken!"
"Yes, yes!" Doctor Dritch cackled as he approached. "Do what must be done! Finish off these pests so that we may skin the Gigalepus at last!"
Bambietta and Rukia both continued to struggle but they were not the only ones. Both could see that there was something going on in that moment, Amber hesitating.
"What are you waiting for?" Doctor Dritch said. "I command you to kill them both! Now!"
Both Quincy and Reigai could feel the grips on their neck. They were not growing tighter but neither were they loosening. They both could see it as well, confusion dancing in Amber's eyes, as if he was struggling to wake up from a long dream. It was something they had not seen before, his sunglasses having obscured the glazed look in his optics.
"What's... going on?" Bambietta asked.
"Is that... maniac controlling him?" Rukia gasped. "Is he... fighting back?"
"How very observant you are!" Doctor Dritch shouted. "Yes, I went to much trouble to find this man, the most celebrated mercenary of the kingdom of Isvan! And with the lacrima I put in his head coupled with this..."
Doctor Dritch stuck out his tongue, revealing a small golden lacrima that was seemingly fused to his tongue.
"Well," the doctor continued, "you could say he has to obey my every word! And all I had to do was see if I could force him to kill his whole mercenary guild!"
"You fucking... prick!" Bambietta gasped. "I hate... people like you!"
Doctor Dritch sneered. "Amber, I command with all of my being that you kill them immediately!"
Amber could not disobey, the control unbearable, but neither could his inner nature allow him to take innocent lives. Snarling, he tried to obey both impulses and threw Bambietta and Rukia to the ground hard. As Bambietta hit the ground, she had to admit a fact that annoyed her greatly. Due to stamina they had both expended against one and another earlier, she and Rukia were fighting a losing battle. However, she knew one way that Fairy Tail could win the day.
"Hey, Rukia," Bambietta whispered. "I got an idea. You know my friend that you froze? The beautiful red head?"
"You want me to free her?" Rukia replied as they struggled to get back up on to their feet. "I was going to do that after I brought you two away but... what difference could she make? I mean if I was able to freeze her so easily..."
"You need not be concerned."
Bambietta's eyes widened as she heard those words. It was a voice so very familiar to her. With a sparkle in her eye and a smile of pure joy, she turned to see Erza Scarlet standing behind both herself and Rukia.
"That armor," Rukia said as she took in the sight of the red and gold plating that covered Erza's body. "She wasn't wearing that before."
"My Flame Empress Armor," Erza said. "Requipping it was the fastest way out of your attack."
Rukia glanced behind Erza then, seeing a clearly person-shaped outline melted through the ice wall that Sode no Shirayuki had created.
"I believe I waited in the wings and observed long enough," Erza said as she stepped past both Bambietta and Rukia, her armor vanishing and becoming replaced with her Black Wing Armor. "I will end this in an instant."
"Wait a minute, Erza!" Bambietta shouted. "The big guy isn't to blame! He's just being controlled by that bastard scientist!"
"I'm aware of the situation," Erza cool informed her. "As I said, I have observed long enough. I was able to see and hear while frozen. And you need not worry. I already have a solution in mind."
Amber began to walk towards Erza then, the mercenary once more cracking his knuckles. "Hello, cutie pie. One of us is in deep trou-"
It was over before Amber could even finish his sentence. He fell to the ground, Erza and her blade firing past him. In one moment had she brought the mercenary to his knees and took hold of Doctor Dritch in her right hand.
Lifting him up by the labels of his violet shirt, Erza held him aloft before her.
"I suggest you give me the lacrima," Erza said calmly, making sure that her blade was in clear view of Doctor Dritch. "Before I'm forced to remove it myself."
"Y-Yes, of course! Command code: release!" Doctor Dritch shrieked in fear, his mouth opening wide as the lacrima fell free from his tongue. Erza let her sword return to her armory in a flash of gold light, grabbing the lacrima in her armored palm. With that she proceeded to smash her head against Doctor Dritch's one, knocking him out.
"That's settled then," Erza said as she dropped the madman in the snow. Looking down at the vile lacrima in her hand, she crushed it until it was nothing more than crumbled dust. "Such cruel experiments."
"I... I didn't even see her move." Rukia was simply astonished, the Reigai awed by the strength of the wizard before her. All she could think of was to compare this Erza Scarlet was to a captain of her home universe. "She's... amazing."
"That's Erza for you," Bambietta said as he looked up at her friend and guild mate. The Quincy could see it then quite clearly. She and Rukia would have defeated Amber if they had not expended energy fighting other, but it was doubtless that they would have so with the grace and ease that Fairy Tail's Titania had. Bambietta could see that there was a still a gap between herself and Erza but while she would have been perhaps jealous once upon a time, Yhwach having subtly encouraged competition among his subordinates, now Bambietta was simply feeling pride for one that she shared a guild with. "She really is something else."
Erza shifted back to the armor she wore in her daily life and looked towards Bambietta. "As you know, I witnessed your battle with Rukia Kuchiki."
Bambietta flinched. "Oh right, you did. Yay?" The Quincy gulped back any fear she felt, sweat forming on her brow despite the cold. As Erza approached, Bambietta prepared herself for the inevitable scolding that was to come. She knew full well she had succumbed to her baser instincts, the ones that had been encouraged throughout the lifetime that preceded the one she was experiencing now. "Look, I know I messed-"
Bambietta was shocked then when she felt an armored hand on her shoulder. Looking up into Erza's face, Bambietta was surprised to see her smiling.
"I'm proud of you," Erza said.
"Excuse you, what?" To say that Bambietta was surprised was a severe understatement. "But I flew off the handle! I went totally nuts and lost control! How the hell can you be proud of that?"
"Make no mistake, I was discouraged to see you fall apart," Erza said. "And while I am baffled by your fear of the Gigalepus, I know full well of the bad blood that has existed between Soul Reapers and Quincy back in he world you both called home."
Bambietta continued to stammer. "I never-"
"Master Makarov eventually shared with me the details of the conversation you shared when you first joined our guild," Erza explained. "Please do not be upset with him. He simply was worried about the newest member of his family."
Bambietta found it difficult to be upset, though she was unsure if that was simply because she was so emotionally spent from all else she had experienced this day. "But that still doesn't explain why your proud of me being a blood psychopath."
"You speak so poorly of yourself," Erza continued. "Don't. I was prepared to step in when I felt you had lost control but in the end I did not have to. Emotions are a powerful thing. It's hard to keep them under control at all times. But it is even harder to reign them in once they've been unleashed. However, Bambietta, you were able to do that. You fell, yes, but you rose up higher than you even realize."
Bambietta was quiet, leaving Erza to speak at length further.
"Clover Town. Phantom Lord. And now. You continue to move beyond the limitations you believe you suffer from. How could I not be proud of you?"
"I..." Bambietta began to blush, overwhelmed by what Erza was saying. Oh, the Quincy loved to talk big but her deeply buried insecurities made it hard to accept such honest and heartfelt praise. She began move one hand behind her head, fingers nervously running through her long hair. "It totally wasn't special or anything. I seriously don't deserve-"
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Rukia said as she approached. "What you did... it matters. My original, she would have been happy to see this conflict end without further bloodshed."
"I... suppose." Bambietta looked at the unconscious Doctor Dritch and Amber, as well as the scrap metal that was once the mad man's robot army and mechanical rabbit. "But I don't think we really did this without, you know, kicking ass."
"Our battle," Rukia said before glaring at Doctor Dritch. "Fiends who would dare hurt adorable bunnies deserve no pity."
Erza shrugged that statement off but Bambietta blinked before muttering to herself. "Okay..."
Erza spoke up once again, taking hold of the Quincy's attention. "I will be honest with you, Bambietta. I asked you on his journey to see if you were ready for the S-class exam. I've known for some time you had the power for it but I wished to see if you had what it took deep down. I knew we were being manipulated by an outside force, this job request not what it seemed, and I wanted to see how you would handle it. However, I never expected it to test you in the manner in which it had. For that I offer my deepest apologies. However I'm also happy to say that... you exceeded my expectations."
Bambietta lit up. "Does... does that mean I'm going to be an S-class guild member? Finally, a chance to move up in the ranks! That lightning jackass can never hold that over me again!
"Not just yet," Erza said to Bambietta. She was concerned about her motivation then and there, but she also knew that both Natsu and Gray would have been no different. Laxus was, after all, a motivation for those he looked down upon and snubbed his nose at. "The exam isn't for some time and while I am happy that you came back from the edge..."
"I never should have gone to that level in the first place. I know." Bambietta was solemn for a moment but quickly grew happy again, her determination refusing to falter. "Don't you worry! I'm going to kick bad guy butt and chew bubble gum until you think I'm ready! And since I'm all out of bubble gum, I'll just have to double down on the first one!"
"No, not just yet." Erza told Bambietta as she felt an immediate wave of disappointment was over her. "While you may have passed this initial test, you were far from ideal. I'll continue to test you in the future to see when your truly ready."
Erza nodded, her faint smile still there. She looked at Rukia then, taking in the sight of the Reigai Soul Reaper. "As for you, I will admit that I was impressed by your performance. Bambietta is one of the strongest A-class members of Fairy Tail and you fought admirably against her. Are you by chance in a guild?"
"No." Rukia glanced away. "This world confused me to be honest. I don't even know how I got here but... a voice told me this was my second chance... I was drifting until I came here and found these poor bunnies in need."
"I see." Erza nodded. "In that case, I'd like to offer you a chance to no longer wander. If you want, I'd like to offer you to join Fairy Tail."
Rukia stared up at her. "Me?"
"You possess strong moral conviction and a level head," Erza said simply enough. "Our Fairy Tail family could use someone like you. And I feel that you'd fit in well."
Rukia was quiet. She knew that her memories were merely copies of another's, the true Rukia's, but she felt what she had felt. The isolation as and aimlessness of the Rukon District had haunted her. Wandering Fiore without a home had been little different, though even more painful at first. Without Renji Abarai, without friends, she had been left alone, seeking comfort from the Gigalepus she swore to protect.
Now she was being granted a home, just as Byakuya Kuchiki had done for her once before when he had found her at the Soul Reaper academy. Yet where he had been cold and distant, this Erza Scarlet was warm and comforting despite her hard exterior. Rukia wanted to say yes. However, there was something holding her back.
"I'm honored," Rukia said, bowing. "But I cannot take your offer. I swore to protect the Gigalepus and while this threat is over, there could always be another band of poachers in the future."
Erza was understanding, another marked difference from Byakuya Kuchiki at that time so many decades earlier. "You do as you must. However, if you ever do change your mind, Fairy Tail's doors will always be open to you."
Erza and Bambietta were prepared to leave then, the silence overwhelming. However, that very silence was shattered when Amber suddenly burst up from the snow with a loud roar of overwhelming strength. Erza was nonchalant to his sudden awakening though both Bambietta and Rukia were taken aback, their eyes wide.
"Pardon me, ladies," Amber said, his roar eerily fading into pleasant conversation. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. The fact of the matter is I don't have anywhere to go now thanks to that fucking asshole. I..."
Amber's shoulders dropped.
"Go with them, Guardian of the Gigalepus. You can do so much for this world in Fairy Tail and I... the least I can do to atone for what that son of a bitch made me do is to protect the animals he almost made me destroy."
"I couldn't possible make you take on such a responsibility," Rukia countered. "You don't need to sacrifice your happiness for my sake! Thanks to Erza, you're finally free!"
"Yes, I am," Amber replied. "Free to make this decision for myself. So please... go with them to your new home."
Rukia was silent, the Reigai clearly in thought. She was conflicted, not to mention surprised when Bambietta put a hand on her shoulder. "Look, you don't have to feel like you have to join Fairy Tail but..."
The Quincy took a deep breath.
"When I came to this world all I had with me was nothing but the pain of betrayal. They were my friends and... I never thought I'd be able to trust anyone again. But Fairy Tail... they helped me out more than anyone else. When Erza says its a family, she's not just putting you on with hype. She means it. I thought that the world itself was my enemy and that I had only myself to depend on. But Fairy Tail...They helped me out more than anyone else has in my entire map. When Erza called the guild a family, she means it. I know it sounds hard to believe, but trust me when I say this...There's no better place on earth you would rather be."
"After what happened with Kageroza, I haven't... been sure of trusting people either to be honest. But..." Rukia looked at Amber. "You're an honest man and... I know I can trust you. But I need to... say goodbye to them."
Rukia stepped forward, motioning for the Gigalepus. The heard of oversized rabbits approached her and Rukia proceeded to hug each of them, all the while trying to hold back her tears. "I'll miss you, Chappy. And you to, Sir Chappy the Third. Oh, and how could I forget you, Chappy Claus? You be a good girl for Amber, Chappinator..."
On and on it went, Rukia saying farewell to each of the Gigalepus she had taken under her wing. She watched as they scampered off towards Amber, the man reaching out to pet Chappy. He looked at Rukia and the others. "I owe you all a great deal. If you ever need my help... I'll be back."
As he left, Rukia sniffed back a tear. Calming down as befitting a noblewoman of the Kuchiki clan, she turned to face Erza and Bambietta. "I would be honored to join Fairy Tail."
"Excellent!" Erza said as she took Rukia into a hug, the Reigai's head inadvertently colliding with the wizard's breastplate. "Once Master Makarov has returned from his Wizard Saint meeting we'll get you your guild emblem."
"Wonderful..." Rukia groaned, her head ringing. "I hope my headache will be gone by then..."
Bambietta reached out and patted Rukia on the back. "I know your pain. It's just how she shows her affection. You get used to it. Or maybe that's just the concussions talking."
Rukia heard that almost clearly. "What?"
Bambietta smirked. "Kidding."
Night had fallen upon Magnolia. Bambietta had returned so late that Lucy, Wendy and Carla were all sound asleep. The Quincy was cursing her luck then, having hoped to spend time with them all. The return home had been sidetracked and it made her sad even if she knew it had to be that way. Before even returning to Magnolia, there had been a bout of Rukia using a Kido spell to repair the damage Bambietta and she had done to one and another in there battle. However, there had also been the clean up of Doctor Dritch's destroyed robots, not to mention handing him over to a local branch of the Magic Council. The reward they received in return, at least, had made the job request financially worth it. Only then had they headed back to Magnolia. In the end it had left Bambietta bereft of something she generally enjoyed, maybe a little too much. She knew her problem, that she thrived on social activity. That was reason enough she had made her way to the guild hall then, hoping to find Levy there. Unfortunately the only people Bambietta had seen there were Laxus Dreyar and Stella Upland, the two of them conversing in the upper levels in the dead of the night. Not wanting to hang out with them, as well as realizing that Levy had no doubt gone to bed back home, Bambietta had returned to her apartment. Still, it had to be that way.
Tiptoeing back through her apartment, moving as slow as possible so as not to wake those she cared about, Bambietta was dwelling on all that had happened. If anyone had told her a few months ago that she would potentially be in a guild full of wizards alongside a Reigai Soul Reaper she would have laughed at them. However, she had to remind herself that if anyone had told her months ago that she would be alive and well that she would have cried tears of joy.
Bambietta suddenly yawned, the Quincy stretching her arms up and out to the sides. "I so have to hit the sack. Especially if I want to work extra hard tomorrow to show Erza I need to take that exam."
Bambietta slipped her hat and cloak off and headed towards the closet. Her eyes continued to flutter as Bambietta tried to fight the urge to sleep, smacking her lips slightly as she did so. She opened the closet then and began to move in an effort to toss her discarded hat and cloak into it, not even caring about hanging them up thanks to how tired she was.
A hand reached out from the closet and took hold of the clothing and pulled them in.
"Thanks," Bambietta said simply enough.
"Think nothing of it."
Bambietta casually closed the closet then, turning around so as to head to her bed. However, the Quincy only made it one step before her eyes widened, her body now suddenly alert. She whispered her next words then. "What the fuck?"
Bambietta whirled around on her heels, opening the closet once more. What greeted her inside was Rukia Kuchiki. The Reigai was dressed in pink bunny pajamas and sitting on a shelf that had been converted into a makeshift bed. On top of that, she was now using Bambietta's cloak as an extra blanket, her hat cast up on to another shelf.
"What do you think you're doing?" Bambietta asked calmly.
"Well I need a place to stay here in Magnolia until I can get my own place," Rukia said. "And your closet seemed like the most logical place."
"How is my closet the most logical choice?" Bambietta shouted, her shock leaving her to forget her roommates.
"Erza offered me her closet," Rukia said, "but there's just... I don't know... something nostalgic about sleeping in a Quincy's closet. I don't know why but it just... is. So Erza let me in here."
"I... What? How did she even.." Bambietta was simply flabbergasted. "God, Erza was right. You will fit right in Fairy Tail!"
The shouting was enough to wake the others in the apartment.
"God heavens, Bambietta, what's going on?" Carla complained, the cat rubbing her eyes with her paws.
"Bambi, who's that?" Wendy asked.
"Someone I can't get out of the closet," Bambietta complained. She saw Lucy staring at her then. "Not even remotely what it sounds like! I meant literally!"
"I don't know," Lucy teased. "Don't you think I know you well enough that it could be metaphorically?"
"Uh huh." Bambietta blushed. "Anyways, she's Rukia Kuchiki. Erza said she could join Fairy Tail when we all had a ... super good time on a job request together. Yeah."
Rukia looked up at Bambietta. "Can't I stay? You won't even know I'm here outside of helping with the rent."
Bambietta softened up, though she really did not want to show it. "It's Lucy's apartment in the first place so it's up to her."
"I'm okay with it," Lucy quickly said. "We could use some extra help with the rent."
"And there you have it," Bambietta said with an errant shrug. She reached out and put a hand on Rukia's shoulder. "Welcome to Casa de Basterbine."
"Hey!" Lucy cried out. "I thought it was my apartment."
"Compromise?" Bambietta looked back at her love. "Casa de Basterfilia?"
Rukia smiled, the Reigai liking the chaos that she had seemingly settled in. At last she felt as if she was setting out on a journey that was all her own, no longer following in the wake of another's footsteps.
Man, I don't think many of you would have seen Rukia, Regai Rukia at that becoming a member of fairy tail now did you? Considering Rukia is a favorite character of ours, and given the possibilities' having her in the guild brings, it felt natural for us to bring her in. Needless to say, you Rukia fans can expect to enjoy seeing her more in the wonderful world of fairy tail!
I will confess that there are indeed other regai around in earthland, but don't worry, I don't plan to have or use ALL of them. Just the ones that I think can make things interesting.
Also, Bambietta's fear of rabbit's isn't so funny now is it? In case you couldn't tell, the hollow that resulted in her mother's death was in the shape of a rabbit. That's bound to scar you in some way mentally. But at the very least she's on the road now to becoming S class, though as you can all still see, she's not as strong as Erza just yet.
Amber was an expy of Arnold Schwarzenegger if you didn't realize it, and doctor was an expy of doctor weird...or every mad scientist ever. That's why their dialogue was so...unique.
Finally, for those of you confused as to the children Rukia was referring to, no we didn't make shit up, she's referring to the two kids in the 3rd Bleach movie. We're really taking things from all over the place from this franchise and you can expect us to continue to do so to keep things interesting.
In any event, thank you so much for taking your time to read our story. It really does mean a lot and it would mean even more if you left a review. It really does help motivate us to get out chapters faster and more efficiently.
Anyways, before I go here are the MPF's of the chapter.
Bambietta: 4000
Bambietta tired: 900
Rukia: 2850
Rukia tired: 750
Amber: 2100
Erza Black wing: 4500
Robbit: ?...Oh do you REALLY care?
