Disclaimer: Bleach is the intellectual property of Tite Kubo. Considering Japanese copyright laws, it might never enter the public domain, but that won't stop me!
Uryu immediately fired off a volley of spiritual arrows at the Privaron Espada. He didn't even know what a Privaron Espada was, but if it was some kind of second in command or lieutenant of the actual Espada, he didn't want to take any chances. Worse, if they were above the Espada, the best he could hope for was to distract the sorcerer long enough to run away.
"Too bad, Niño. Today is not your lucky day." Dordoni flapped his tassels, blowing away the dust cloud Ishida's arrows had kicked up. Then, he threw open his arms, battering Uryu with a wind current.
The Quincy winced, throwing up his own arms in front of his face to blunt the blast. He squinted through the gale, only to be met by the sorcerer's kick.
Dordoni slammed his foot into the boy's stomach, sending him flying back to the edge of the atrium.
"Hiren…" Ishida picked himself up and stumbled forward, narrowly dodging the next attack. "Kyaku…" The mana under his feet frenzied, rocketing him away from the Privaron Espada's barrage.
"Ah, so you can move," Dordoni noted.
"Heilig Pfeil." Uryu didn't bother to respond, instead fully casting his spell and unleashing a hail of arrows at the sorcerer.
"No, no, no, Niño," Dordoni sighed. "Haven't you learned? That won't work." He snapped his shoulders back, launching the dust behind him. "Huh?" He scanned where Uryu had been. "Niño, now is not the time to be playing games."
Uryu tried to level his breathing. His whole chest was burning, straining against his muscles to draw in as much air as possible and pant, but he kept himself to the smallest breaths possible. He had just barely managed to launch himself up to the second floor of the atrium and behind a pillar. If only he had practiced his Hirenkyaku more, then he could have out maneuvered the sorcerer. Uryu shook his head. No use crying about it. More speed wasn't what he needed anyway.
Uryu needed time. Time to come up with a plan or time to charge up an attack. It was clear that the sorcerer wasn't being affected by his holy arrows, or at least, he was dealing minimal damage with his Heilig Pfeil, and he knew that if it came down to a question of endurance, the Privaron Espada would win. Uryu clutched his stomach, feeling the sorcerer's attack ache. There was no doubt about that.
So what could he do? He felt around his pockets. He had his cross still, that would be enough for harassing shots or to kick up cover, though the sorcerer's mana pressure was strong enough to blow away any dust in a matter of seconds. He had his seele schneider, those could probably cut through whatever mana defenses the sorcerer was using. His ginto? Uryu cursed and fumbled with the small silver tubes. His fingers shook as handled them.
That could work.
"Niño? Where are you? Trust me, Las Noches is no place for a boy. You would much rather die to me than some of the other sorcerers here living in the land of night. At least I will make things quick. Someone like Aaroniero or Szayelaporro would not be some humane."
Uryu grunted and shoved himself out of cover, charging as much mana as he could behind his left shoulder. "Over here!" He hurled his ginto at Dordoni. "Licht Regen!" A storm of spiritual energy rained down on the Privaron Espada.
"Niño," Dordoni cried. "Please, you are not this dumb! If you made it all the way to Las Noches then surely you realize how pointless-" The Privaron Espada suddenly grunted as dozens of arrows stuck into his body, burning away at the abyssal energy within him. "What-"
His next words were drowned about the ginto detonating behind him, a mass of pale blue fire swallowing up the area around him.
The atrium shook, the overhanging light fixtures snapping off their attachments and crashing down to the ground.
Ishida squinted through the blaze. A direct hit!
But surely, that wasn't all it took, right? He kept his bow trained on where the Privaron Espada had disappeared, charging up another Licht Regen. "Come on…" he muttered. "Stay down…"
"I'm Nelliel Tu Odelschwank," the green haired woman smiled. "And you are?"
"Uh…" Orihime paused. Rukia had told her how all of the sorcerers in the world were evil, destructive beings who studied the darkest reaches of the Abyss, but surely that couldn't apply to all of them, right? This woman seemed perfectly normal! Well, not perfectly normal, Orihime blushed. She wasn't wearing much, aside from a tattered brown dress and the cracked ram skull on her head, though who was Orihime to judge? In fact, the redhead thought the woman was actually quite attractive despite the odd headdress. "Inoue Orihime," she finally answered.
"Nice to meet you!" Nelliel immediately hefted Orihime all the way up and gave her a gigantic bear hug.
"Ack!" The woman was unnaturally strong.
"Ahaha," Nelliel let go of Orihime. "Sorry about that," she giggled. "So, why are you here in Las Noches?" She dusted off the redhead and started walking around the perimeter of the Institute again.
Orihime bit her lip. "Actually, I'm looking for my friends at the moment, but we all came here to get my boyfriend back."
"No way!" Nelliel suddenly stopped and turned a full 180 degrees to give Orihime her full attention. "You have a boyfriend? What's he like? That's so sweet that you've come all this way!"
Orihime smiled. "He's one of the most kind and brave people I've ever met, and he's always looking out for his family." Unconsciously, she brushed her bangs behind her ear. "I don't think he's good at always explaining what's going on in his head, and sometimes he's a little stubborn, but I know that he would lay down his life to protect anyone innocent."
"Wow," Nelliel whistled. "He sounds like a great guy. You must really love him."
"Oh," Orihime gasped before nodding. "Yeah, I really do." She chuckled. "But that's besides the point, what about you?"
"Me?" Nelliel seemed taken aback by the young mage's interest. "Oh, I guess I'm also looking for someone. My pesky brothers have run off somewhere and I've got to find them before my co-seat leaves Las Noches on research." The two women finally came to a gate which the taller one gently forced open.
"Co-seat?"
"Mhmm," Nelliel nodded. "Tier Harribel. She's taking her Fracción somewhere soon, so I'm trying to find my brothers to hold down the fort while she's away. None of us are very good with paperwork, so I hope she's not gone too long…" Suddenly, the green-haired woman summoned a sword and ran its length down the hallway's concrete wall. Sparks lashed out from the blade, flying into the air and blossoming into stable motes of light. "Oops," Nelliel giggled. "Sorry, that must have spooked you."
Orihime had already reflexively cast Santen Kesshun. "N-no, it's fine," she laughed nervously, dispelling her shield. Maybe that's what Rukia had meant. Maybe sorcerers saw violent things as normal. That was okay… Maybe. She'd have to put in some time getting used to it.
"Anyway," Nelliel turned back around. "I'm sure she'd be happy to help you. I'll guide you there before she leaves. My brothers can wait for a little bit at least."
"Lady Nel," a new voice echoed down the hallway. "What are you doing?"
Orihime squinted in the direction of the voice. Even with Nelliel's lights, the hall was still too dark to make out the end of it.
"Gantenbainne, what are you doing here? Are you looking for someone too?" Nelliel called back, even putting her hand up to her mouth to project despite the hallway's echo.
Slowly, a man clad in white emerged from the shadows into Orihime's view. "Indeed I am, Lady Nel. In fact, I am looking for the mage right next to you." The man rolled up his sleeves. Orange lightning began to crackle around his knuckles. "Please allow me to dispatch this infiltrator."
"Are you sure it's this way?" Kuukaku asked for the seventh time.
"Yes," Soi Fon replied through gritted teeth. "I'm sure this is the way." It figured that as soon as she started tackling one problem, another one popped up. That was just how her life worked. Never a dull moment, she thought bitterly. Even her body was beginning to ache from the forced free flow of mana she was utilizing to guide them. Her vow to accept Yoruichi's mana was a start, but it would be a while before her own magic would stop tensing on instinct and scraping against Yoruichi's. Conscious thought was only able to relax her body so much.
"One step at a time," Suzumebachi chuckled humorlessly.
"You're telling me," Soi Fon raised an eyebrow. "You're the one with wings."
"Are you sure?" Kuukaku repeated. "Because I think we're actually headed out of the Institute, not deeper into it."
Soi Fon threw her hands up in the air. "Well, I don't know, because someone shot the roof out from under me before I got a chance to tell which way was up from down!"
Kuukaku tsked. "Sorry."
The younger mage just sighed. "Whatever, I think we can take the next right." Navigating with only a single direction wasn't the easiest thing in the world. If she had a map of the Institute, at least the tug towards Yoruichi's location would have made planning a route easier, but with only one point of information, she never knew which corners led to dead ends or looped back on themselves, and i certainly didn't help that Yoruichi seemed to be on the move too.
"Great, I hope it's somewhere a bit brighter." Kuukaku rolled out her shoulder. "Because holding this candle spell is really starting to wear on me." She lifted her left hand as if to prove a point. Burning in the middle of her palm was a tennis-ball sized flame.
Soi Fon didn't bother replying, instead focusing in again on the lightning running through her. It was getting easier to attune to her and Yoruichi's mana at least, even if the sensation was still viscerally disconcerting. The more she forced herself to approach it, the less intimidating the foreign mana was, though she still had no idea how it would react in actual combat. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to find out until after that had escaped with everyone in tow.
The trio continued on in near silence, the echoes of their footsteps the only noise reaching them in the darkness beyond Kuukaku's light, and slowly, so slowly Soi Fon thought she was imagining it, a small pinprick of light opened itself up down the halls.
"Oh thank god," Kuukaku muttered, though Soi Fon frowned. Beyond the square of light, she could see dozens of crimson pillars stretching up from the ground into an unseen roof. The upcoming room was clearly gigantic, but they hadn't climbed that many staircases down. Even counting the floor or two that they had skipped because of Kuukaku, there wasn't enough space for a room this tall based on the few glances Soi Fon had spared the Institute midair.
"Hold on."
"No," Kuukaku answered and waltzed into the room. "Ahhh, that's the stuff. I knew even those Abyss Sorcerers missed sunlight from time to time!" She paused. "You know what? It's actually pretty impressive that they did make an artificial sun room."
"Well, I'm glad you mages have at least some appreciation for our achievements."
Soi Fon froze as Kuukaku glanced wildly around for the source of the new voice. It was haughty and dark.
"But clearly not that bright since you wandered in here without a care in the world." The unknown woman laughed as Kuukaku disappeared in an explosion.
"Kuukaku!" Soi Fon screamed and sprinted forward into the room.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Kuukaku coughed. "Alright, who's turn is it to pummel?" She smashed her right fist into her left palm.
The voice laughed. "My, my. Feisty, aren't we?" Soi Fon finally reached Kuukaku as the dust settled, revealing their unknown assailant. "You stand in the presence of Cirucci Sanderwicci, Privaron Espada of the Las Noches Institute."
The blood drained out of Soi Fon's face.
"What?" Suzumebachi glanced over frantically at her partner. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Kuukaku called back, cracking her knuckles.
"It means…"
"I might kill you more kindly if you are," Circucci chuckled.
"She's a former Espada."
Uryu just managed to release his bow string before he was buffeted back by the sorcerer's next attack. The spiritual arrows sailed directly into the Privaron Espada, but this time they immediately shattered upon his new armor. Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio rose from his kneeling position, thick spires of bone emerging from his shoulders and coating his legs. Uryu shivered, so that was what a sorcerer's true form looked like, skeletal and demonic. Of course it did, he reminded himself. Working with the Abyss had to twist your soul in some way.
"Niño, you are making me very angry." Dordoni cracked his neck. "Perhaps you would consider giving up now that your last attack was a failure. I have only just started to fight."
Uryu stayed silent and raised his arm again to conjure another arrow. Surrender wasn't option.
"Too bad, niño."
Quicker than Uryu could process, the sorcerer had appeared in front of him, grabbing him by the shoulders and slamming him into the ground.
Uryu's eyes widened as he saw the sorcerer's foot stamp down on his chest. He panicked and tensed the mana in front of him to blunt the attack instead of using the mana under him to escape with Hirenkyaku.
"Oh no, niño!" Dordoni chided. "Something like that won't save you!"
Uryu just barely managed to move out from under the sorcerer before the air around Dordoni's foot screeched into a cyclone. He tumbled out of the hold, avoiding his arm being crushed as the whirlwind drilled through his makeshift barricade.
The sorcerer had gotten faster. Incredibly fast. Uryu couldn't even track him fully anymore. "Dammit…" Uryu hissed. And that meant he wouldn't be able to aim at the sorcerer properly either.
"Oh dear, niño. You are only prolonging the inevitable."
Uryu flinched as the man launched himself at him. "Would you just shut up and stop calling me, that?!" He raised his seele schneider just in time to knick the sorcerer's outstretched palm.
Dordoni grunted and recoiled, blood hissing as the mana inside of it fled his body.
Uryu panted, summoning another burst of Hirenkyaku to rush the sorcerer from his backside. His attack found its mark, blade sawing its way through Dordoni's shoulder until it clashed against the bone spire that had torn itself out of the sorcerer's body. Uryu winced as his sword was wrenched out of his hand and sent flying into the air.
"Now where did you get such a dangerous toy, niño?" The sorcerer growled, raising his good arm to catch the falling blade. Uryu was sure the seele schneider would slice through the man's fingers, but the wind around the sorcerer's boots frenzied, knocking the sword's flight path around until it landed calmly in the sorcerer's grasp. "Something that slices through mana and reverts it to its basic components. You are a threat, niño." Dordoni flung the sword into the ground at his feet where the activated blade buried itself into the stone floor.
This was bad. Uryu scrambled for his next seele schneider. The sorcerer's mana reserves were large enough that he could shrug off even a deep cut from the seele schneider, and what was worse was that the bone armor that he had grown was immune to the blade too. No, maybe it even actively repelled the seele schneider. Uryu had never encountered such a deep blend of Abyssal magic and flesh to be certain.
"Don't even try, niño. Playtime is over." Dordoni rammed his boot into Uryu's wrist, armor hissing as it made contact with the blade the Quincy had just managed to activate. "I'm not asking you to give up now."
"Bring it!" Kuukaku pounded her fists and leapt forward.
"My, my. So eager to rush to your death." Cirucci smirked and lifted her arm, wrist leading the way as if she was dragging it through water.
Immediately, Kuukaku disappeared within another explosion of dust blocking her from Soi Fon's view. "Raikouhou!" The dust cleared instantly as the Shiba's lightning bolt blew it away, her spell headed directly towards the Privaron Espada.
Cirucci tsked and batted the air with her hand, the bolt somehow crashing into the ground with her movement. "Rude."
"Hey!" Kuukaku started. "No fai-"
Soi Fon flash-step tackled Kuukaku out of the next explosion. She had seen it just a moment before the Privaron Espada had attacked, a tensing of the other woman's back and a blurring of something behind her. Unfortunately, Soi Fon had underestimated her spell, flinging herself at the older mage at an uncontrollable speed.
The pair of them tumbled past the Privaron Espada, deep into the crimson poles that crowded Cirucci's lair. "Let go, squirt! What the hell's that for?!" Kuukaku yelled.
"Shhh!" Suzumebachi covered the Shiba's mouth with her hand while Soi Fon caught her breath.
"I got her, I got her!" Kuukaku sassed back even though her voice dropped to match the sprite's volume. "I tanked the other two. What makes you think I can't handle some more?"
"Maybe because she just swatted your spell away like it was nothing?" Suzumebachi hissed. "We're just trying to keep you alive!"
Soi Fon wasn't listening to them. That flash step had been too fast. The difference in quality between her own energy and Yoruichi's was like night and day, and while the rational part of her brain was processing how to adjust her casting to account for that change, the rest of her was caught up in a state of sensory overload.
Using Yoruichi's mana in that moment had been pure instinct, the exact opposite of when she had been trying to consciously approach it, and she recognized now how familiar the feeling was. Every time she had been running low on her own supply, she had been reaching for the Shihouin's power. Ever since she had started training under Kyouraku and when she had tried to spar Ichigo, those sudden bursts of speed must have come from Yoruichi! Instead of making it harder to integrate Yoruich's mana, combat was making her casting almost seamless.
Would… she actually be able to use this power to fight in Las Noches!?
"Hey! Earth to Soi Fon, anyone in there?" Kuukaku flicked the younger mage's forehead. "Thanks for getting me out of there, I guess, but do you have any bright ideas in that head of yours or were you just tackling me for the hell of it?"
Soi Fon blinked. "I- uh, sorry." Her mind was still struggling to keep up with her environment. "I just didn't want you to get hit again."
"Well thanks, but no thanks since we still have to figure out how to deal with her, and I was just about two seconds from ripping her head off."
Soi Fon bit her lip. Was she really? "What about that thing behind her? How are you going to deal with that when it's blocking all of your attacks?"
"What are you talking about?" Kuukaku started rolling out of her shoulders. "I didn't see anything like that."
The Chinese woman scoffed. "I mean it was a small flicker, but how in the world could you have missed your lightning being redirected?" Or was it because her senses were being jacked up to eleven on Yoruichi's mana?
"Oh that? Well, something will get through eventually." Kuukaku shrugged. "I'm a very scientific woman. Experimentation is how you figure things out, yeah?"
"You're just going to brute force it?!"
"If you've got a better idea, I'm all ears." Kuukaku cracked her neck and stood. "Otherwise, I've got faces to pummel."
Soi Fon sighed. Why did she always get stuck with the knuckleheads?
"Maybe because you are one yourself?" Suzumebachi shook her head too and landed on her partner's shoulder.
"Hey!"
"You are though," Suzumebachi mentally laughed. "I mean, isn't your first instinct always to throw yourself at the problem?"
"I- you- I-" Soi Fon stammered. "But seriously, this isn't some kind of school fight! That's a former Espada out there! She's going to get us killed!"
"We better do something then. Besides, it seems like you've figured something else out. Mind sharing?"
Soi Fon staggered to her feet and chased after Kuukaku, dashing from foot to foot between the vermillion pillars. "Maybe. I think Yoruichi's mana is speeding me up."
"Well, that's one good thing to come out of her." Suzumebachi shrugged. "What are you planning to do with it though?"
"Do you think we can ambush her while she's busy with Kuukaku? I can try punching through whatever's protecting her with a wind tunnel so you can dive through." Soi Fon whipped around the last pillar back into the main space of Cirucci's room to see the Privaron Espada and Kuukaku trading explosive bursts. "Nigeki Kessatsu seems like the only real option we have."
Suzumebachi grinned, baring her teeth. "Sounds good to me."
"What?" Nelliel looked back at Orihime and then back at Gantenbainne. "Gantenbainne, what are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the woman by your side, Lady Nel. She's a Shin'o mage sent here to infiltrate and sabotage us."
"What, no she's not," Nelliel gestured up and down Orihime's figure. "Look at her! There's no Shin'o uniform on her! She's just here to visit her boyfriend."
"I assure you, Lady Nel, she is a spy or thief. We just detected an intrusion into our space and have already confirmed the locations of at least three of her companions, all of them from Shin'o or a Quincy." Gantenbainne stressed the last word, as if it was the final straw in a long list of grievances.
"Well, why don't we ask her?" Nel huffed. "She's been perfectly civil ever since I ran into her."
"Lady Nel…" Gantenbainne pleaded. He was only a few meters away from them now, but his shoulders sagged as he realized the Tres Espada wouldn't budge.
"Well?" Nelliel looked expectantly at Orihime.
"Uh…" Orihime stalled. She didn't want to lie to Nel, or anyone really. She just wasn't that kind of person. But even Orihime could tell that the truth would probably get her killed. "I'm not part of Shin'o. I'm not a student or teacher or anything. I'm just looking for my friends and Ichigo, and… they might be students…"
"Oh." Nelliel's face darkened.
Orihime turned even paler. Wasn't honesty supposed to be the best policy?
Kuukaku Shiba was not having a good day. Or night. Whichever one it was in this blasted pocket dimension of sorcerers. First, her reishukaku had shattered, then the girl she had hoped would have things together enough to guide her to her idiot best friend really was clueless, and now she had run into an enemy that refused to be exploded. In fact, said frustration had more than enough explosions of her own.
The fire mage narrowed her eyes. Cirucci Sandwich, or whatever her name was, was more of a threat than Kuukaku would have liked to admit to Soi Fon. She could tell since she specialized in explosives, the Privaron Espada was throwing up enough dust for the clouds to detonate. It wasn't that the explosions were causing the vision blocking dust, the dust itself was causing enough friction to explode. That meant the explosions themselves weren't even the sorcerer's primary ability. Kuukaku was fortunate to have a high fire affinity and enough training with the reishukaku to project a good shield, but that didn't change the fact that she was slowly accumulating damage, and she had no idea if her defenses would fair any better against the Privaron Espada's real spells. Meanwhile, she couldn't even leave a scratch on the sorcerer.
Kuukaku grit her teeth and brought her hand to her forehead, concentrating. If Raikouhou wasn't going to cut it, a change up was in order. "A thousand ashes and a thousand wisdoms. The plan of the white cloud," she chanted, incantation conjuring a swirl of red and white. "Kakaku Shahou!" She swiped her arm in front of her, dichromatic flames spiraling forth at the abyssal sorcerer.
"Hm?" Cirucci flinched and dodged out of the path of the spell's roar. "Nice try but-"
"Raikouhou!" Kuukaku cried, leveling her other arm at the Privaron Espada and shooting her with lightning.
"You!" The sorcerer swatted the bolt back down, only to stumble backwards as a black flower tattoo bloomed across her cheek.
"Hey, kid!" Kuukaku grinned. "Took you long enough."
But the Shiba's words hadn't even registered in Soi Fon's mind before she felt herself battered away from the Privaron Espada thousands of times.
"Soi!" Suzumebachi screamed and rushed over to her partner.
Soi Fon hissed as she caught herself, clutching her arm. Hundreds of cuts had opened up across her sleeve, the fabric now stained a bright crimson. "Heal, dammit," she muttered. There was no way she'd be able to do that again, but now she had finally seen exactly how the Privaron Espada was deflecting all of Kuukaku's attacks.
"Her wings."
Soi Fon craned her neck to meet Suzumebachi's eyes. "You saw it too?" The Privaron Espada had sprouted a pair of chitinous wings that were vibrating almost faster than Soi Fon could detect. Together, they produced an erratic wind current that beat away physical attacks while the sorcerer imbued them with mana to create a similar magical barrier, Soi Fon was sure of it. When she had tried to channel a wind current for Suzumebachi to close the gap between her and the sorcerer, her mana had almost instantly dispersed, and it was only by forcing her arm right into the maelstrom that she had been able to get Suzumebachi through safely.
Her familiar nodded. "I felt it, right when I got in close with her. I know that wing pattern." She flexed her own wings.
Soi Fon staggered back upright. "Her wings, Kuukaku! She's using them to block your spells!"
"Tch," Cirucci leapt towards the injured mage. "Just my luck that one of you pays attention. How annoying." She grabbed at where Soi Fon had been, the younger mage just barely managing to flash step out of the way. Even with her enhanced speed from Yoruichi's mana, it was hard for Soi Fon to punch down her pain and concentrate on the spell. "But so what if you know?" The Privaron spread her arms out and let the younger mage retreat back again. "It's not going to help you. Here, as a reward for seeing through my perfect defense, how about I show you some of my offense?" She grinned maniacally, wings slowing just long enough for even Kuukaku to glimpse them before they shone brighter than the sun and shimmered back out of existence, replaced by a hail of blinding bullets.
Soi Fon closed her eyes, flash stepping back frantically, but she wasn't Cirucci's only target.
Kuukaku screamed as dozens of glass shards buried themselves into her arms and abdomen.
"Oh ho? Still alive," Cirucci's smile grew even wider, stretching into a sadistic line across her face. "It's been a long time since someone survived my feathers."
Kuukaku panted. First wings, now glass feathers? What was going on?
Blood dripped down her arms.
"Yeah, well it's definitely been a long time since someone cut me too." Kuukaku smirked. Yeah, this was definitely a crazy lady.
"Niño, I believe there is a saying outside the Abyss that goes something along the lines of repeating your failures is a sure sign of madness." Dordoni slammed his foot down on another one of Uryu's seele schneiders, embedding a fourth blade into the cool stone of the atrium.
Ishida backpedaled furiously, trying to open up enough space to safely draw his fifth blade out.
"You tried once and failed. You tried again and failed. You tried a third time and a fourth time! What do you think will change, niño?" Dordoni tossed open his arms, as if daring Ishida to charge him again.
"My dad always called me a blockhead," Ishida muttered. "Blame it on my genes." He raised his free arm and conjured another Heilig Bogen, firing at the Privaron Espada until the sorcerer was enveloped in a thick cloud of dust.
"Niño, did you not try this before too?" Dordoni cried, stamping his foot down and dispersing the dust in a whirlwind. "Why must you be so stubborn? Do you think I am a fool? What are you hiding from me?" The Privaron Espada looked around. "Or just plain hiding?"
Ishida bit back his reply from behind another pillar. He was so close. He just needed to-
The column shattered, shoving Uryu onto the ground as Dordoni tore through the stone.
"No!" Uryu rolled out of the way of another cyclone as the sorcerer slammed his foot where the Quincy's head had been just a moment before. "No!" He cried again as the cyclone suddenly widened, scraping away his clothes and skin before he could escape. "Hirenkyaku!" he gasped, skating away from the second follow up attack and back into the middle of the atrium.
"All this flailing for what, niño? You are not dying with any dignity. You are not dying painlessly! I could have granted you both, except you have done nothing but squirm!" Dordoni turned around slowly, advancing on the Quincy. This was all meaningless, especially now that the Quincy only had his thin and wasted blades for cover.
"Maybe for you!" Ishida shouted and jammed his fifth blade into the ground. "But I'd like to live!" No time for a Ginto, blood would have to do. Uryu scraped his bleeding forearm against the top of the embedded seele schneider, smearing the dirty red liquid over it. "Sprenger!"
Mana blazed out of each blade, wrapping itself around the Privaron Espada and binding him in the center of a new pentagram. This whole fight, he had been setting up the blades, stalling for enough time for them to gather the ambient mana.
"What-" Dordoni didn't even have time to finish his question before he was engulfed by the overloading scheiders, the Quincy's toxic mana flooding in through the back wound Ishida had been able to inflict.
"Mala Suerte, tío," Uryu spat.
"So you're a part of the Shin'o mages, Orihime…" Nelliel's shoulders sagged. "I thought it was a little odd that a young lady like you was wandering around outside…"
"Now then, Lady Nel, may I?" Gantenbainne took a new step forward, fist raised and sparking with orange lightning.
Orihime scrambled to focus her mana. "Baigon, Hinagiku, Lily!" She raised her Santen Kesshun over her head, but the blow never came.
"But that's still no excuse to go harming a guest!" Nelliel karate chopped Gantenbainne before he could assault the orange-haired mage, instantly dropping the dark-skinned man in a single blow. "There," Nelliel dusted her hands off and picked up Gantenbainne. "Do you mind helping me, Orihime? If you're going to be walking around the Institute as a mage, the least you could do is lend me a hand," she smiled.
"I, uh…" Orihime's brain short circuited.
"Yes! Say yes!" Baigon and Hinagiku cried.
"Of course!"
What do we do?! What do we do?! Soi Fon dodged frantically in and around the crimson poles. She had already lost track of Kuukaku and the Privaron Espada was mercilessly chasing them through her makeshift forest of red poles. With her new flight pattern, the sorcerer was able to constantly bombard them with her feathers from range, each wing beat loosing a deadly flurry of glass.
Amazingly, the Shiba mage had seemed excited after Cirucci had revealed her new technique. Maybe she had a plan in mind, or maybe she was insane, but either way, Soi Fon had no way of knowing or asking for help now that they were separated.
A place to hide! I need time to think! Soi Fon screamed mentally. How in the world was she supposed to keep up a foe who had seemingly infinite range and a perfect defense. Where am I-
The next thought was cut short as a feather grazed her forearm, even the brief contact slicing deep into her flesh.
Soi Fon hissed and clutched her arm to her chest. Heal! She should have spent more time learning Kaido. All those days laying around in the infirmary with Unohana fixing her and the gang up and for what? Now she couldn't even perform basic first aid during combat?!
"Got you." Suddenly, Cirucci appeared in front of Soi Fon. The younger mage had been so preoccupied dodging and healing that she hadn't realized the sorcerer's attacks had been leading her right back to the Privaron Espada.
"No!" Suzumebachi cried and lunged at Cirucci, trying to redirect the sorcerer's assault away from Soi Fon.
"I meant you." Cirucci grabbed the sprite out of the air. "Twerp. You're an interesting specimen." She kicked Soi Fon away as the Chinese woman attempted to stop her. "What did you mark me with? I wasn't aware any mages were interested in that kind of magic. Usually they contract familiars to keep away from that sort of thing, not invite it into their lives like a real sorcerer."
Suzumebachi struggled against the Privaron's grip. "Let go!"
"I don't think so," Cirucci smirked.
Soi Fon screamed. "She said let go!" Thunder blossomed under her, rocketing her body forward before she pivoted into Cirucci's chest, heel jamming into the Privaron Espada and hand grabbing Suzumebachi before another thunderclap exploded out of her feet and she flash stepped away.
The Privaron Espada grunted, losing sight of the mage-familiar pair as they disappeared into the vermillion maze.
Meanwhile, Soi Fon gasped for air. What the hell was that? It wasn't like an echo of her fight with Yoruichi or her sparring match with Ichigo. This time it wasn't wild mana running amok, nor was it Yoruichi's power augmenting one of her spells. No, it felt like something entirely new.
A blend, Soi Fon realized. Her wind and Yoruichi's lightning affinity. She was walking with thunder, and those shockwaves had the ability to disrupt the sorcerer's defense!
"What an inefficient Sonido," Cirucci sneered, having caught up with the two of them. "An uncontrolled burst of energy. I thought you mages prided yourselves on your silent teleportation," she spat.
"Soi!" Suzumebachi yelled mentally. With her warning came a vague sense of pressure on Soi Fon's left side, and she stepped right, another sonic shockwave issuing from her movement.
"You!" Cirucci winced as the thunder washed over her. "Are you trying to show off with such an amateur technique?!"
But Soi Fon didn't stop moving. She rushed around the sorcerer, each step sparking another thunderwave in her wake. They washed over the Privaron Espada, battering her and disrupting her wings' defensive vibrations.
She could feel it, the hum of mana and the gentle blooming of each thunderbolt under her feet. For a moment, Soi Fon danced trance-like through the Privaron Espada's counter attacks and guards.
But she couldn't sustain it. With every step, Soi Fon felt fatigue dig into her. She simply didn't have the physical energy to keep the sorcerer locked down, and all it took was one feather to lance out and cut into her calf for Soi Fon to crash.
"Insolent!" Cirucci picked herself up to tower over the Asian mage that had caused her so much trouble. "To think that you would cause me so much trouble!" The Privaron Espada's wings resumed their defensive posture, blurring out of Soi Fon's vision. "Once I'm done with you, I'm going to-"
"花鶴大砲 (Kakaku Taihou): Flower Crane Cannon."
A blaze of white and crimson ripped through the Privaron Espada's chest as Kuukaku Shiba emerged from behind the sorceress.
"I thought as much," Kuukaku noted grimly. "You dodged that spell instead of deflecting it before. Your defense isn't so perfect against spiral attacks, is it?"
"You…" Cirucci turned and coughed, blood splattering the Shiba woman.
"But I couldn't have pulled that off if you weren't so absorbed with Soi Fon. You shouldn't be blaming me; you should be blaming yourself for thinking you could handle both of us." Kuukaku let the sorcerer drop to the ground pitilessly.
"Hey," she glanced away from the body to look at Soi Fon. "You did good, kid. Maybe a little overzealous since I couldn't attack her while you were flinging out all those thunder waves, but we got there eventually. Told you I'd rip her head off," Kuukaku grinned.
A/N: I think that's a good note to end on. I am… tired. The more I write, the more I respect Kubo. Balancing and pacing three "fights" is hard. Granted, I didn't have to do them all in the same chapter but… It's been a long time since I've updated, so I wanted to make sure the wait was worth it!
I do think it's funny how quickly Nel got over Orihime being an infiltrator, but like I said before, I think she'd get along with Orihime great, so I wanted them to have a less confrontational setup. As for Uryu, I always wanted him to end the fight by pulling off the Sprenger trap, which just left Soi Fon and Kuukaku's fight with Cirucci as the major roadblock for writing this chapter. Soi Fon having to sort through her hang ups while finally utilizing Yoruichi's power consciously meant the fight had a lot of development potential for her, and I wanted to give Soi Fon a win without making it seem like an out of the blue victory. I've been setting up the "thunder" aspect fusion for a really long time… Ever since the fight with Yoruichi actually. I hope the pay off was worth it, even if Soi Fon hasn't mastered it yet. I also wanted Kuukaku to be a significant player in the fight, so balancing her contributions against Soi Fon's was also difficult. Still, I'm fairly happy with how everything turned out, if a little exhausted.
I wanted to thank you guys again for sticking with me on this project. It's definitely gone on longer than I thought it would and… life is still chaotic on my end. I guess I can't just write fanfiction forever as nice as that would be. I wonder how all those authors with weekly updates of thousands of words or mangaka do it? Updates will continue to be slower than my usual, but I hope you'll all bear with it. I definitely want to finish this story, so if you enjoyed the chapter and are excited for the next one, please leave a review! I could always use help improving and motivating myself to continue!
