Despite the fact that at first, Ikkaku felt excited at having to fight a demon, he now had to admit that he felt nervous as he felt the enormous power of the demon that had unleashed his etherious form.
"What's wrong with you? Where was that excitement you felt before? Don't tell me you're cowering?" said Sachaborg through the mouth ornament on his chest.
Ikkaku let out a grunt before he suddenly punched himself in the face, much to the surprise of the young dragon slayer and the exceed.
"Me? Cowering? Never! I was just a little surprised!" said Ikkaku with a toothy grin.
"I like that better already, otherwise it wouldn't be fun to kill you." said Sachaborg moving at such a speed that he was in front of the shinigami in less than a second, much to his surprise.
Sachaborg set about attacking with his scythes while Ikkaku tried to keep steady with his weapon, but due to the demon's increased power, things proved tricky for the shinigami, who was starting to have difficulty dodging or blocking the attacks.
Just as he used his weapon to block a blow from above, Sachaborg took advantage and used his other scythe to hit him hard with the handle part in the chest, sending him flying until he impacted hard on the wall.
"Ikkaku!" exclaimed Wendy with concern.
"Do you see it now? With this form, none of you can defeat me. My strength has increased so much that I can do THIS." said Sachaborg before raising his scythes and bringing them down at such a speed that it sent out a couple of waves of wind.
Wendy reacted quickly and jumped to the side to avoid them, though they did manage to clip a few strands of her hair.
The next moment, Sachaborg continued to throw wind waves, forcing the young dragon slayer to move quickly from side to side to dodge them all.
After dodging another one, Wendy's eyes widened as she saw many wind waves heading their way.
"Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" shouted Wendy releasing two tornadoes from her arms that hit the wind waves, generating an explosion in the process.
Shortly after, Sachaborg broke through the smoke quickly and stood in front of the dragon slayer.
He tried to hit her with his scythes, but Wendy moved fast enough to dodge them, though due to the speed of attack, it was costing her, to the point where the blades of the scythes grazed her body, leaving small cuts in the process.
Wendy jumped to avoid a horizontal cut, but Sachaborg took advantage of that to kick her hard, sending her backwards.
Wendy lifted her head to see in horror Sachaborg charging towards her with his scythes held high.
"This is the end." said Sachaborg.
"I'm not done with you yet, you bastard!" exclaimed Ikkaku suddenly appearing, his body and head bloody and giving the demon a punch in the chest that pushed him back.
"You really are persistent." said Sachaborg.
"If I wasn't, I wouldn't be in the 11th division" said Ikkaku with a smile.
"In that case, I'll make sure they get your corpse." said Sachaborg throwing wind waves.
Ikkaku was able to move fast enough to dodge the waves as he charged towards the demon.
When he reached him, he tried to hit him with his naginata, only for him to block it with a scythe.
Sachaborg tried to hit him with his other scythe, but Ikkaku turned his naginata into a three-part nunchaku and used the third to block the other scythe, but that left him open for the demon to kick him, which pushed him back.
Soon after, Sachaborg appeared in front of him with scythes at the ready, but Ikkaku dodged the attack before starting to throw various blows and slashes with his weapon.
Unfortunately, Sachaborg was able to block or dodge all the attacks.
As they crossed their weapons, Sachaborg gave a shove that pushed it away from him a bit, something he took advantage of to raise his scythes in a crossed position.
Ikkaku put up his naginata as a shield, but when the demon swung his weapons down at full speed, he not only broke Ikkaku's weapon, but left a huge X-shaped wound in his chest, tearing his shirt in the process.
Before Ikkaku could go to groan or scream, Sachaborg kicked him in the cross-stitch that knocked him down.
Wendy's eyes widened in horror as she saw her friend taking a huge wound and being knocked down.
"Hahaha. I reckon you put up a good fight, shinigami. Maybe, as soon as our leader accomplishes his goal with this world, he'll let me travel with him. That way, I'll be able to fight more shinigami and kill them all!" said Sachaborg.
Suddenly, he felt something near him and turned his gaze to where Wendy was, only to be shocked when he saw a tornado around her and inside, there was Wendy looking different.
Her hair and eyes had turned pink and feathers were coming out of her wrists, ankles and back.
That was a sign that she had activated her dragon force.
"You'll pay for what you've done!" exclaimed Wendy angrily.
"Oh, so that's the famous dragon force, huh? I can certainly feel a surge of power, but I don't think that's…" began Sachaborg before suddenly Wendy appeared in front of him and gave him a punch that pushed him quite a bit.
Before Sachaborg could respond, Wendy appeared in front of him again and started throwing fists and kicks that had been powered up by the dragon force.
Sachaborg managed to block or dodge most of the attacks, but a few managed to hit him and he could feel the enormous power behind each one, as well as the pain caused.
"That's enough!" began Sachaborg trying to cut her with his scythes, but Wendy jumped back to avoid him. "Your power may be greater than before, but the power I accumulated over many years is far superior to yours. You can't defeat me easily."
"I don't care how much power you have! I won't let you hurt anyone else!" said Wendy before lunging towards him as Sachaborg lunged towards the young dragon slayer.
The two began exchanging blows that were either blocked or dodged.
However, for some reason, Wendy was having a bit of trouble hitting the demon who managed to block or dodge all of her attacks.
Not only that, but she was starting to feel weaker by the minute, something that worried her quite a bit.
"What? I don't understand. I'm losing my strength." said Wendy mentally.
Because she was with her thoughts, Sachaborg repelled her for a moment which he took the opportunity to turn and hit her with his scythe, leaving a gash on her chest.
Wendy couldn't help but scream in pure pain from it.
"WENDY!" shouted Charle in horror at the sight of her friend being hurt like that.
Wendy fell to the ground and tried to get up, but then, her dragon force deactivated, much to her horror.
"W-What? H-How is that possible?" asked Wendy.
"Hahaha. You deluded, silly girl. You thought it could only absorb magical attacks. When it entered this form, I also acquire the ability to absorb whenever magical emission you emit. Which means, while we were fighting, I was able to absorb the power of your dragon force and add it to my own strength." said Sachaborg.
Wendy was shocked to hear that.
She had intended to use dragon force to increase her power to defeat him, but now it turns out that only served to make the demon stronger.
"It's a pity that our combat is over already. I would have liked to absorb more of that power of yours, but all good things must come to an end." said Sachaborg as he charged towards her.
Wendy pretended to move to escape, but Sachaborg quickly moved in front of her with scythes raised.
"Farewell, dragon slayer." said Sachaborg.
"Wendy!" shouted Charle as the demon lowered his weapons in one last move.
Wendy closed her eyes tightly, expecting her impending death, but it never came.
Opening her eyes, she was shocked to see Ikkaku standing over her, badly wounded and bloodied, and holding the scythes with the blade portion of his broken weapon.
"Hey. Why are you ignoring me? You're not done with me yet!" said Ikkaku gathering enough strength to be able to push the demon away from him.
"Wow. You're still alive despite your condition. You're tough, but you're also stupid. Are you really going to fight me again despite the fact that you no longer have a weapon and are completely wounded? Face it, you're weak!" said Sachaborg.
Ikkaku tightened his grip on the pieces of his weapon in frustration.
It was then that he remembered that time he was tasked to protect a pillar during the battle in the fake Karakura City and fought against a member of the fracción of Baraggan, 2nd espada.
Despite how hard he tried, he was defeated and failed in his mission.
All would have been spoiled had it not been for the arrival of Sajin and Iba, the vice-captain of the 7th division.
After Sajin defeated the arrancar with his bankai, Iba scolded him telling him that he lost because he didn't use that, that he was childish not to want to use all his strength in a fight that was crucial for everyone.
He also told him that if he wanted to go through with it, he would just have to get stronger.
However, he wasn't strong enough to defeat that demon now, and given the situation, there was no choice but to use it even if it meant showing it to someone else.
"Hey, brat." began Ikkaku catching the young dragon slayer's attention. "Don't tell anyone about this, got it?"
"Huh?" asked Wendy confused, as she didn't know what the shinigami was referring to.
Ikkaku got into position before putting the pieces of his weapon together.
"BANKAI!" shouted Ikkaku as a stream of wind surrounded his weapon before expanding, forming a tornado that covered the shinigami completely.
The tornado was so powerful that it shattered part of the area where they were standing.
Needless to say, Wendy, Charle and Sachaborg were very surprised by that, as they could sense more than just that tornado.
"Is their power increasing?" asked Charle in complete surprise.
By the time the tornado was undone, Ikkaku was revealed with a brand-new weapon.
The two weapons he wielded in his hands were a Chinese monk's shovel and a standard guandao. Both weapons had a traditional horsehair tassel on the hilt and a long, cylindrical weight as a pommel. Those pommels were connected by a long, thick chain to the central weapon of the center section, which was on his back. That weapon resembled an axe blade, with a parallel handle forged on the blunt end and a dragon crest on one side of the blade.
"Ryumon Hozukimaru!" shouted Ikkaku positioning himself for combat.
Wendy was in shock at that.
She remembered being told to her and the others that the bankai was the most powerful form of a zanpakuto and very few shinigami could unlock it.
If Ikkaku was using it, it was because he had gotten it, which meant he was very powerful despite being third in command.
What she couldn't understand was why he told him not to say anything.
"So that's the bankai he told us about. It's fascinating." said Sachaborg.
"It's still too early to describe it." began Ikkaku before a red aura enveloped him. "Decide if it's fascinating or not… AFTER YOU DIE!" exclaimed Ikkaku before lunging towards him.
Sachaborg was quick to do the same.
When they were half a distance away from each other, the demon readied his scythe to strike, but then, Ikkaku swung the guandao at a faster speed, getting to perform a slash to the demon's chest.
"Argh!" shouted Sachaborg as he quickly backed away. "Impossible! He was faster than me?!" asked Sachaborg as he suddenly looked up to see Ikkaku bearing down on him with the axe part under him like a guillotine.
Sachaborg quickly stepped backwards to avoid it, causing the weapon to hit the ground, creating a crater in the process.
"All right. Your power may have increased, but I won't be the one to die." said Sachaborg before launching several waves of wind.
Ikkaku stood on the ground and used his side arms to cut through each one, undoing it in the process.
The next instant, Sachaborg stood in front of him and tried to attack him with his scythes, but Ikkaku used his side arms to block each attack.
At one point, it seemed that Sachaborg found the right moment and threw one of his scythes to perform a deadly slash, but Ikkaku was faster than him and used the Chinese monk's shovel to cut the weapon, causing the scythe blade to fall away from the area.
Before Sachaborg could react, Ikkaku attacked him with his other weapon, leaving another cut on his chest as he pushed him back.
After that, with a toothy grin on his face, Ikkaku grabbed the handle of the center weapon and whirled it above him, causing the other two weapons, which were connected with chains, to spin as if on a merry-go-round.
The eyes of the others as they sensed something else.
"Its power… is it getting bigger and bigger!" asked Sachaborg mentally in total shock.
"It's... it's huge." said Wendy in amazement.
"You… Where the hell do you get so much power?!" asked Sachaborg.
"Since you've been told about us, I'll tell you. Unlike the other zanpakuto, Hozukimaru is a slacker. So I need to wake him up, either through battle or by my own movements. Do you see the silhouette of the dragon? As soon as it fills up completely, I can unleash its full power." said Ikkaku as the dragon silhouette of the central weapon was filling up with red like a battery.
Sachaborg was horrified at what that would mean.
"No… No… I won't let you!" exclaimed Sachaborg lunging towards the shinigami with his last scythe.
He first launched multiple waves of wind, but Ikkaku increased the spinning speed, causing the side arms to neutralize the waves.
As Sachaborg approached, he tried to break through the area of the side arms, but they were spinning so fast that he was forced to stop while blocking the side arms with his scythe.
Finally, the dragon in the center weapon filled completely, so Ikkaku stopped spinning and stood in position with a huge toothy grin.
"Let's do this!" exclaimed Ikkaku excitedly.
"Very good! In that case, my next attack will have my full power!" exclaimed Sachaborg holding the scythe, which was emitting a black aura, with both his hands.
Both opponents took position.
All was calm, like a western duel and then, they both charged towards each other and the moment they impacted.
BOOM
There was an explosion so powerful that the whole room shook as if in an earthquake, an earthquake that could even be felt throughout the base.
Wendy had to duck her head to protect herself from all the smoke, dust and wind.
When she felt it was all over, she raised her head and gasped in shock at the sight.
The demon had completely disappeared and all that was left was Ikkaku lying on the ground, with his zanpakuto in normal form on one side and the scabbard on the other side.
"Ikkaku!" exclaimed Wendy getting up to run to his side and kneel down.
"He's badly hurt! He needs immediate attention!" said Charle looking at the shinigami's condition.
"I'll handle it." began Wendy placing her hands on him and then, a green aura enveloped, both her hands and his body. "Take it easy, Wendy. Remember what Captain Unohana taught you." thought Wendy remembering the lessons of the 4th division captain.
Soon after, Ikkaku let out a groan as he opened his eyes.
"Ugh. At last Captain Hitsugaya was right about pairing us up." said Ikkaku.
"You shouldn't talk. Wait until Wendy heals you up enough." said Charle.
"Tsk." said Ikkaku.
"Ikkaku." began Wendy, getting his attention. "Why don't you want anyone to know that you have a bankai? Isn't that an achievement among shinigami?"
"She's right. After all, as far as we know, only the strongest reach that level. If they knew, you would no longer be third in hand. You could be vice-captain or even captain." said Charle.
"Tell me, do you know how captains are chosen?" asked Ikkaku, receiving a shake of the head from both of them. "Sometimes you usually get that rank by defeating the current captain of a division, but most of the time it's through the promotion of many. You're right. If people knew I had a bankai, they would promote me to be captain of some division or even captain of one of their own. Tell me, Wendy." began Ikkaku surprising the young dragon slayer, as it was the first time he said her name. "Do you have dreams?"
Wendy was confused by that question and nodded in response.
"Yes, I do." said Wendy.
"I have mine too." began Ikkaku before looking up with a smile on his face. "It's all about living and dying under my captain's orders."
Wendy was shocked to hear that.
To know that Ikkaku held his captain in such high regard and respect that he was willing to hide all his power in order to stay with him.
In fact, if she was offered to join the best guild on the planet or even be the queen of a kingdom, she would refuse, as she would rather stay with her guild, with the family she loves so much.
"It seems that in the end, you weren't a heartless energizer." said Charle.
"If I wasn't without strength right now, I'd skin you, you stupid cat." said Ikkaku with an anime streak running through his head.
Wendy couldn't help but chuckle slightly at that as a respect for the shinigami third in command of the 11th division arose in her.
"I'll finish you!" exclaimed Wilzard throwing multiple whips towards them.
"Requip! Adamantine Armor!" shouted Erza switching to armor carrying a large shield which she used to protect her and Rukia from the lashes.
She was resisting for a while, but due to the force and the continuous lashes, the shield ended up breaking into pieces, much to the shock of the red-haired mage.
Before she could react, Wilzard gave her, with a whip composed of several, a huge lash that sent her towards the wall.
"Erza!" exclaimed Rukia worriedly.
"Now it's your turn!" said Wilzard throwing her whips towards her.
Rukia used shunpo immediately to quickly escape the whips.
She moved back and forth at top speed as she also advanced towards her.
When she reached her, she tried to attack her with her sword, only for her to block it with her whips.
Rukia launched multiple attacks without stopping, but Wilzard blocked them all.
Rukia used shunpo to get behind her and attack her, but Wilzard grabbed her waist with a whip and pulled her to slam her to the ground.
With a flick of her arm, Wilzard had the whip pull her back to send her crashing into the wall before sending her crashing into another.
"For a vice-captain, you're nothing but a nuisance." said Wilzard.
"Requip!"
Wilzard spun to the side to see Erza getting up and covering her body with a glare.
"Morning Star Armor!" shouted Erza changing her armor completely.
"Do you think another of those armors can handle my whips?" asked Wilzard.
"We'll soon find out." began Erza as she charged energy into her two blades. "Photon Slicer!" shouted Erza bringing the two swords together, causing them to shoot a beam of energy.
Wilzard formed a shield with her whips, blocking the attack in the process.
Despite this, the force of the attack ended up pushing her back quite a bit and in the end, there was an explosion followed by a smokescreen.
Before Wilzard could react, Erza stood in front of her and began to strike several blows with her swords.
It was then that, in one of those sword blows, she ended up cutting the mask off the whip mage's mouth.
Needless to say, that left her horrified for a few seconds before that shock turned into pure rage.
Wilzard let out a scream of rage before throwing her own punch at Erza, hitting her in the face in the process and knocking her back a bit.
Erza was about to strike again when suddenly several whips wrapped around her wrists and ankles and pulled to various sides, holding her in the air with her limbs outstretched.
Raising her head, Erza was shocked when she saw that, on Wilzard's face, was a brutal scar that crossed her mouth to her chin.
"Now I understand. You were once abused." said Erza.
"Yes. Day after day, I suffered harm because of that person, but one day I awakened my magic and was able to take revenge on him. Since then, I swore that I would make everyone suffer the same pain as me." said Wilzard with a cruel smile.
"In the end, you've only become the same person who tortured you." said Erza.
"Shut up!" shouted Wilzard giving her a whip to her body, making Erza groan in pain. "Oh, come on. Don't hold back, you can scream all you want. Come on! Scream for me!" exclaimed Wilzard giving the red-haired mage several lashes.
Despite this, Erza was doing her best to endure the lashes, for it was not the first time she suffered such punishment.
However, it only brought back memories that she didn't want to recall, but thinking of a certain blue-haired person, she didn't let herself be intimidated by those memories.
After a while, Wilzard stopped whipping around to see Erza with several wounds on her body and her head lowered.
"Behold. Mighty Titania looking weak and pathetic." said Wilzard with a smile.
But that smile was wiped away as soon as she heard Erza chuckle lightly before raising her head to show her a cheeky grin.
"Is that all? Once, I knew a demon that hit harder than you." said Erza remembering the Tartaros demon that whipped her after using her curse on her.
That made Wilzard growl in anger.
"Damn her!" exclaimed Wilzard preparing a whip to strike.
Suddenly, before she went to strike her, Erza caused her armor to emit such a blinding flash that Wilzard screamed in pain as she covered her eyes, which caused her to lose control of the whips holding Erza and end up releasing her.
Wilzard stepped back a little as he held his eyes with cries of pain.
It was then that…
"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!" shouted Rukia launching an avalanche of cold air.
Due to Wilzard's condition, she was unable to do anything when the avalanche engulfed her, shortly before everything affected by the avalanche froze.
Rukia and Erza stood side by side as they breathed heavily.
"Are you okay?" asked Rukia with concern.
"Well enough." said Erza.
"You shouldn't take that kind of damage. One day, you could end up bad." said Rukia.
"I know, but… I do what's necessary… to protect those I care about." said Erza with a smile, leaving the vice-captain surprised.
"She's just like Ichigo." thought Rukia before smiling.
CRAC
Suddenly, the two heard a crunching sound and turned their gaze forward to see cracks forming in the ice and then…
BOOM
Chunks of ice flew up in an explosion and the two swordswomen's eyes widened as they saw a cocoon of whips and as it unraveled, Wilzard was seen gasping as the whips wrapped around her in such a way that she had tentacles for arms and was elevated on several tentacles, like an octopus.
"Damn you! I don't care about causing you pain anymore, I just want to kill you!" exclaimed Wilzard swinging her tentacles at them.
Erza and Rukia scrambled back and forth as they dodged Wilzard's tentacles that were tearing the place apart with each swipe.
"If we don't stop it, this place will come crashing down on us." said Rukia.
"I have an idea, but I need you to stop it for a moment." said Erza.
"That will be enough!" said Rukia.
"I will kill you! I will kill you! I WILL KILL YOU! And once I get to hell, I will make sure to be your torturer!" exclaimed Wilzard madly.
"Like we're going to hell." began Rukia standing to the side and stabbing her zanpakuto into the ground. "Juhaku!" shouted Rukia causing, from the area where she stabbed the sword, a path of ice to emerge and travel until it reached the whip mage.
When it reached her, it began to freeze her from bottom to top, drawing her attention.
"That trick won't work again!" exclaimed Wilzard using the tentacles of her arms to break the ice that was still spreading despite how much she was breaking it with her blows.
"When you were free from your torturer, you were able to have a normal life, but you let the hate control you and lead you to where you are right now." said Erza.
"Shut up! You don't know anything!" exclaimed Wilzard as she was focused on avoiding being frozen completely.
"Yes I do, because I lived it. Requip! Fairy Armor!" shouted Erza switching armor and before anyone said anything else, Erza charged one of her swords with energy and charged towards the whip mage with her sword in front of her. "Fairy Burst!" shouted Erza as she continued on her way.
Wilzard noticed her and tried to shield herself, but it was too late, for the moment the sword touched her, there was a huge explosion that caused the room and everything around to shake.
By the time the smoke cleared, Erza was seen lying on her back on the floor with Wilzard, also knocked down, but unconscious, in front of her.
"How are you feeling?" asked Rukia approaching her friend.
"Ugh. I think I really need help now." said Erza.
Rukia helped her up as she rested her arm on her shoulder.
"Hold on for a bit. I'll take you to Captain Unohana right away." said Rukia.
"No. If it's true that there's an arrancar around here, we should go find it before others find it first." said Erza.
"I agree with that, but we can't do much in our state. We should heal a bit at least." said Rukia.
"Yes, you're right." began Erza accepting her friend's suggestion. "I just hope the others are okay."
"I hope so too." said Rukia before starting to walk as the red-haired mage leaned against her.
Granvaiser threw a barrier towards Lily, who used his sword to protect himself, but the barrier proved to be too hard and ended up pushing him into the wall, forcing the exceed to push against the wall and the barrier to avoid being crushed.
"Iron Dragon's Knife Sword!" shouted Gajeel turning his arm into a sword that quickly extended towards the barrier mage, only for him to block the attack with another barrier.
"You were lucky before, but that luck runs out now." said Granvaiser before shifting the barrier to the side, causing Gajeel to stumble a bit, which he took the opportunity to throw several barriers as discs.
Gajeel had to cover his skin with iron scales to protect himself from the attack.
While he was at it, Renji took the opportunity to throw his zanpakuto towards him, but Granvaiser saw it coming and raised a barrier to block the attack.
"Your luck has run out too." said Granvaiser before sending the barrier flying quickly towards him.
Renji used shunpo to move away from the impact zone, but the moment he appeared in another area, the barrier changed direction towards him.
He used shunpo again, going back and forth to escape the barrier, but it followed him on either side.
In the end, after performing one last shunpo, he was left wide-eyed as he saw the barrier so close to him that he couldn't stop it from pushing him hard and fast until it impacted him on the wall, causing the vice-captain to scream in pain.
"Enough. Iron Dragon's Roar!" shouted Gajeel shooting, from his mouth, a tornado of metal pieces.
"You see, I don't just defend and attack. I can also do this." said Granvaiser before causing several barriers to form and come together in such a way that it looked like a tube.
The iron tornado went into the tube and Granvaiser continued to form barriers so that the tube lengthened until, in the end, the tornado ended up flying back towards the iron dragon slayer, taking a direct hit.
By the time it was over, all three found themselves unconscious on the ground.
It wasn't long before all three began to get up.
"Ugh. It really has been a drag fighting you. I'd like to get out of here, but I have to make sure you don't bother me again" said Granvaiser before causing several barriers to form in such a way that they trapped the three of them in separate cubes.
Soon after, Granvaiser clenched his fists, causing the cubes to gradually shrink.
"He intends to crush us!" exclaimed Renji in horror.
"Then I won't let him! Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!" shouted Gajeel covering his fists with iron scales and slamming hard into the barrier, but it was undeterred.
"It's no use, they're too hard!" said Lily when the cubes had become so small that they had to duck while holding the top.
"I know this is really cruel. Seriously, but I have work to do and it annoys me that they're mad at me for not following through." said Granvaiser.
After a few seconds, Renji was on his knees in his bucket as the space got smaller and smaller.
"Ugh. I'm not going down until I give it my all!" exclaimed Renji.
"Didn't you see what I did with your sword? What else can you do?" asked Granvaiser.
"This." began Renji managing to place his zanpakuto in front of him. "BANKAI!" shouted Renji as there was an explosion that completely destroyed the cube, much to the surprise of the others.
In fact, Granvaiser was so surprised that he stopped reducing the cubes, much to the relief of the iron dragon slayer dragon and the exceed.
By the time the smoke cleared, Renji was revealed with an entirely new weapon.
His sword had become a giant snake-like skeleton whose cervicals resembled shikai blades, plus a red mane on its head.
Renji also got a new look. With a sort of Baboon skin shoulder guard that extended to the wrist of the sword-wielding hand and a baboon skull imprinted on the side of the left shoulder.
"Hihio Zabimaru!" shouted Renji as his zanpakuto was coiled around him and with its head raised, like a real snake.
"That's a bankai? That's amazing! How much power it has." said Lily in awe.
"Tsk. If he's going to unleash that much power to fight, then, I won't be far behind." said Gajeel before letting out a cry of exertion as his power was increasing, which the others noticed.
Suddenly, the next instant, there was a black explosion that shattered the cube as well.
By the time it dissipated, it revealed Gajeel with iron scales and also shadows emitting from his body.
"Iron Shadow Dragon Mode!" shouted Gajeel with a toothy grin.
"Heh. You didn't tell me you had that power." said Renji.
"And you didn't tell me your sword would be a snake either." said Gajeel.
"You both have reached a different level of power than before. I recognize that, but will it be enough to defeat me?" asked Granvaiser.
"Why don't we check?" asked Gajeel before charging towards him.
Granvaiser raised a barrier to stop him, but Gajeel dove into the shadows and quickly moved away, much to the surprise of the barrier mage who looked around quickly so he could locate him.
However, unknown to him, Gajeel emerged from the ceiling.
"Iron Shadow Dragon's Club!" shouted Gajeel turning his arm into an iron pole with shadows emitting from it that reached out to strike Granvaiser in the back of his head, causing him to fall to the ground.
"Higa Zekko!" shouted Renji swinging his sword.
Then, the sword fragments separated while connected with red energy before settling on Granvaiser.
Before he could react, the red energy holding them together broke apart and the fragments plummeted at full speed towards him with the blades aimed at him and when they reached him, there was a huge explosion.
"He'd better stay on the ground." said Lily, who had broken free of his cube after that explosion.
Unfortunately, when the smoke cleared, Granvaiser was seen on the ground quite injured, but with a barrier over him that managed to protect him from the attack, though not entirely.
With groans of pain, Granvaiser stood up to glare angrily at the two.
"Damn you! I've had enough of you!" exclaimed Granvaiser throwing several barriers in the manner of cutting discs.
The three quickly moved back and forth to dodge the incoming objects as they tried to attack him, but each blow was blocked by his barriers.
"This time, none of your attacks will hit me." said Granvaiser.
"Then, I'll do this." began Renji before causing the fragments of his zanpakuto to split apart and fly towards the barrier mage, surrounding him in the process.
Before Granvaiser could react, a rope of red energy connected all the pieces, causing it to become a rope that bound the barrier mage, preventing him from moving.
"W-What?" asked Granvaiser having difficulty moving.
That's when Lily stood in front of him and hit him hard with his sword, sending him crashing into the wall.
Soon after, Granvaiser stood up.
"Damn you bastards. You've pissed me off enough. I'll make you pay for this!" exclaimed Granvaiser angrily.
"Hey, shinigami, what do you say we get this over with?" asked Gajeel.
"I'm all for that." said Renji.
"Iron Shadow Dragon's Roar!" shouted Gajeel firing, from his mouth, a shadow beam with traces of metal.
"Hikotsu Taiho!" shouted Renji throwing his sword forward.
Red energy burst from the parts between the fragments and traveled until it reached the head which opened its mouth, revealing a charge of energy that turned into a huge red energy beam.
Both attacks traveled side by side until they ended up merging into a spiraling beam.
"A Unison Raid?" asked Lily surprised to see that, as the two energies, magic and reiryoku, weren't the same.
"No matter what attack you launch, I'll block it completely!" exclaimed Granvaiser before forming multiple barriers in front of him like dominoes.
The combined attack hit the first barrier and for a few seconds, nothing happened until, at last, it broke it, moving on to the next barrier.
"Impossible!" exclaimed Granvaiser putting all his effort into holding the barriers.
Unfortunately for him, the attack eventually got past the second barrier and then the next and the next until there was only one left to get through.
Granvaiser did his best to make the barrier hold, but then, the barrier began to crack and before he could react, the barrier broke and the attack hit him full on, causing a huge explosion in the process.
By the time the smoke cleared, Granvaiser could be seen lying on the ground and unconscious.
"It's finally over." said Renji.
"Good." began Gajeel before returning to his normal form. "Now let's go find that starter." said Gajeel about to take a step, but Renji put his hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"Wait, we're too tired and hurt to fight an arrancar." said Renji.
"He's right." began Lily before returning to his chibi form. "Judging from what you have told us, it wouldn't be advisable to fight something like that in our state. We'd best go see Captain Unohana so she can heal us sufficiently."
"Tsk. Alright, but hurry up that old woman." said Gajeel.
"Eh… I'd advise you not to call her that. Much less in front of her. Seriously." said Renji.
"I guess I'm done letting you attack me. Now I'll be the one coming at you." said Nagchico before quickly charging towards them.
"Like we'd let you take one more step. Ice Make: Wall!" shouted Gray creating a wall of ice in the middle of their path, but Nagchico launched a burst of force that shattered the wall with ease as he continued his charge.
Taking advantage of his weakness, Toshiro launched an ice dragon towards him, but Nagchico jumped over the dragon and ran on its back.
As he approached them, before they could react, he unleashed a blast of wind that sent them flying.
"With your current power, you won't be able to defeat me. I'm disappointed to see a division captain not showing his full power." said Nagchico as the two ice users stood up.
"You're right. All this time I've been holding back. I wanted to save my strength to fight the arrancar, but in view of the situation, I have no choice but to use it against you." said Toshiro standing up completely before… "BANKAI!"
That caused, from the hilt, a large amount of ice to erupt and cover his arm and back.
In the end, the result was that huge ice wings formed on his back, a tail and the ice covering his right arm took the shape of a dragon's head.
"Daiguren Hyorinmaru!" shouted Toshiro.
Needless to say, Gray was shocked, as this was the first time he had ever seen a bankai.
"Amazing. His power is now on par with Ur." said Gray impressed by how strong the captain had become.
"So that's the famous bankai our leader told us about. I find it impressive. Both the form and the power you now possess." said Nagchico.
"I didn't activate it to listen to your flattery. Sennen Hyoro!" shouted Toshiro before four pillars of ice emerged around Nagchico.
Those pillars began to spin around him as they were rapidly approaching and the second they were about to completely enclose him, Nagchico unleashed a blast of wind that destroyed the pillars.
"Is that all your great power can do?" asked Nagchico.
"No. Guncho Tsurara!" shouted Toshiro causing the fragments of the pillars to turn into icicles that flew rapidly towards Nagchico, who forced himself to jump high to avoid it, but in the next instant, Toshiro flew off to stand in front of him with his sword in a lunge hold. "Ryusenka!" shouted Toshiro flying quickly towards him and when he reached him, he encased him in a block of ice that spread out as if it were a frozen explosion.
The moment he heard a crack, he thought it was the end for him, but as soon as he turned to see it, he was in shock, as suddenly an explosion shattered the ice block completely and before Toshiro could react, Nagchico used his power to pull him in and thus grab him before he fell to the ground, with the captain being placed underneath him.
By the time they hit the ground, Nagchico unleashed a blast of wind that pushed Toshiro further into the ground, increasing the force of impact and leaving a large crater in the process.
"I admit you almost had me there, but the power the heavens bestowed is no match for those who serve them." began Nagchico before realizing he could see his breath. "Don't think that even lowering the temperature will get rid of me."
"It… It's not up to me." said Toshiro.
It was then that the two looked to the side to see Gray with a purple aura surrounding him and then, the right side of his body, including arm and face were covered in a black cloak.
That was a sign that he had activated his other magic.
The ice devil slayer magic.
"Hey, you fanatic. You better not ignore me. If he's going to unleash his full power, I'm going to do the same." said Gray.
Needless to say, Toshiro was surprised by that, for he could feel a surge in his power.
"Where did he get that power from? He feels almost the same as a hollow." thought Toshiro.
"Ice devil slayer magic? That kind of magic would have served you well against our vice-captain, but it won't affect me at all." said Nagchico.
"I don't care if you're a demon or not. What matters is that you're going down. Ice Devil's Rage!" shouted Gray launching a great purple blizzard of cold air, ice and snow from his mouth.
However, Nagchico simply used his power to repel the attack, but in the next instant…
"Hyoryu Senbi!" shouted Toshiro, who had stood up, launching a wave of ice, forcing the mage to jump high to dodge it and while he was in the air, Gray stood in front of him with both of his arms covered in purple ice.
"Ice Devil's Zeroth Destruction Fist!" shouted Gray managing to hit him multiple times before hitting him with one more that sent him to the ground with a thud.
Both ice users were about to attack again, but then, Nagchico reacted quickly to unleash an explosion of force that sent them flying until impacting them hard into the wall.
"While your attacks are having an effect on me, it won't be enough to take me down." said Nagchico.
"So how about this. Ice Devil's Laughter!" shouted Gray shooting purple icicles of ice that Nagchico repelled with his power.
"Ryusenka!" shouted Toshiro flying quickly towards him with his sword in a lunge position, but Nagchico jumped high to avoid him before unleashing a burst of force that sent the captain backwards.
"He must be defeated in the next attack." said Toshiro.
"Well with that power he has, it'll be tricky." said Gray.
"Not quite. There is a way, but I need you to give your best attack as fast as possible." said Toshiro.
"You can count me in." said Gray as purple steam rose from his hands.
"You can throw as much as you can. My power will neutralize any of your attacks. You can't defeat the power of the heavens." said Nagchico.
"Despite your power, you shouldn't underestimate us, for that may mean your downfall." began Toshiro holding with both hands his sword that was emitting energy. "Hyoten Hyakkaso!" shouted Toshiro as his sword emitted that energy upwards, disappearing as soon as it touched the ceiling.
The next instant, the roof was filled with black clouds and, to the surprise of the others, it began to snow.
"Snow?" asked Nagchico raising his open hand for a snowflake to fall on it. "Do you expect something like that to…?" began Nagchico before suddenly, the moment the snowflake touched his hand, it transformed into an icy flower. "What?"
Each snowflake transformed into an ice flower the moment they touched it, beginning to cover him with ice flowers.
Not only him, but the ground around him was filled with ice flowers from the snowflakes and they were piling up around Nagchico, almost burying him in the process.
"This… This won't be enough!" said Nagchico before unleashing a blast of force that destroyed all the flowers and pushed the snowflakes away.
However, before he could react, he was left wide-eyed in horror as he saw Gray with a purple ice bow and an energy arrow ready to be fired.
"Ice Devil's Zeroth Destruction Bow!" shouted Gray shooting the energy arrow.
Due to the fact that he had used his power to free himself from the ice flowers, Nagchico couldn't use it to protect himself and also, because the arrow was traveling at high speed, it didn't give him enough time to dodge it, so in the end, it stuck in his shoulder and before he could even scream, he was covered by frozen completely, being locked in a purple ice explosion.
Both ice users waited a couple of minutes in case he was going to break free or something, but nothing happened, signaling that the fight was over.
"It's over." said Gray as his body returned to normal.
"Not quite. We still have to deal with that arrancar." said Toshiro.
"So, shall we go get it?" asked Gray.
"As much as I'd like to, we can't. This fight has worn us down a bit and we might need the others to fight the arrancar. So, for the time being, let's meet up with Captain Unohana and wait for the others. Once we've gathered and recovered sufficiently, we'll head out in search of that arrancar." said Toshiro.
"Understood." said Gray before the two of them ran off, leaving Nagchico completely frozen.
"You may have defeated me, but it's completely impossible for you to defeat our leader. Not when he now, thanks to us, possesses great power." thought Nagchico in his frozen prison.
Salivchi threw his chains toward the girls, who jumped aside to avoid them.
Lucy threw her whip towards the chain mage, but he deflected the lash with a chain.
Rangiku sent her ashes to attack, but Salivchi saw it coming and quickly moved out of the way before sending a pair of chains towards her, only for her to use shunpo to dodge it.
Through that, Rangiku appeared behind Salivchi and tried to attack him from behind with her ashes, but his chains acted immediately and wrapped around her before sending her crashing into Lucy, both of them being knocked down in the process.
They then looked up to see the kunais in the chains flying towards them, but they rolled out of the way, letting the kunais impact the ground, creating a crater in the process.
Lucy made her whip lengthen before flinging it towards him.
Salivchi threw a chain to block the whip, but at the last moment, Lucy made the whip shorter to pass the blocking chain before lengthening it again, managing to hit the chain mage.
Before he could strike again, Rangiku sent the ashes flying towards him, but Salivchi jumped aside to avoid them by the skin of his teeth, though they did manage to graze his face and body.
"You may have the ability to nullify magic, but that's about it." said Rangiku.
"That's right. Even without my magic, I don't plan on submerging a despicable guy like you." said Lucy.
"Silence! Bitches like you should shut up or die!" exclaimed Salivchi as he pulled out several chains and started scattering them all over the place while aiming the sharp points at the girls.
They had an easy time dodging it at first, but then, they realized that those chains had spread all over the place like a spider web, so they also had to avoid touching the chains under the risk of being trapped and vulnerable, which made things complicated.
Lucy was able to block the chain that was chasing her as she moved to avoid all the chains there.
Meanwhile, Rangiku was able to dodge all the chains thanks to her shunpo, but because there wasn't much room to move, she was finding it difficult.
Suddenly, Lucy saw the chain flying towards her out of the corner of her eye and quickly leaned back to avoid it, but that caused her to slip and she ended up falling on a chain that pulled on her as she was winding it up.
"Rangiku!" shouted Lucy before her body was caught in a cocoon of chains.
"Lucy!" shouted Rangiku just as a chain took advantage of that moment to wrap around her and pull her into a cocoon of chains.
Both cocoons were lifted into the air as the girls inside did their best to try to escape, but to no avail.
"Hahaha. That's a nice way to die, don't you think? You fell into my web, got into cocoons and when you come out, you'll be just dead meat! Sounds even poetic! HAHAHA!" exclaimed Salivchi laughing with extreme madness.
"Regulus Impact!"
Suddenly, a fist wrapped in light hit him hard in the face, knocking him to the ground.
That caused the chain cocoons to come undone, freeing the two girls in the process, though they ended up falling on their asses.
"Are you all right, Lucy?"
Lucy startled at the familiar voice and looking up, she let out a gasp of shock when she saw that, in front of her, stood an orange-haired boy in glasses and a smart suit, that is…
"LOKI?!" asked Lucy in total shock as she quickly stood up.
"At your service." said Loki with a smile.
"B-B-But how? How are you here? That guy nullified my spirit summoning magic." said Lucy pointing to her shackles.
"Did you forget that? When Karen died, I remained in this world on my own for a while?" asked Loki.
"Oh, that's right." said Lucy remembering that, when she first met the spirit, everyone thought they were just another member of the guild until he revealed his identity.
"Wait, he's one of your spirits?" asked Rangiku getting up.
"That's right. Loki at your service." began Loki bowing in a gentlemanly manner before approaching the vice-captain. "But you can as you please, beautiful. Would it be alright if we had a drink over there?"
"Maybe later. We have business to attend to now." said Rangiku seriously.
"As you wish, but before that." said Loki before grabbing Lucy's shackles and ripping them off with his brute strength.
"Thank you, Loki." said Lucy rubbing her wrists.
"You're welcome and I hope you don't mind, but I brought extra help." said Loki.
"Help? What kind of help?" asked Lucy.
"Meow. Mine."
Rangiku startled as she stepped back, revealing a cat-woman with pink fur covering part of her body like a short sleeveless top that left her abdomen in the air, baggy shorts, long mittens that went almost to her shoulders, a legwarmer on her left leg, and a garter of sorts on her right leg.
"HAINEKO?!" explained Rangiku in shock.
"Wait, she's the spirit of your zanpakuto?!" asked Lucy in shock.
"How come you're here?" asked Rangiku.
"Thank your young friend for that." began Haineko placing herself next to Lucy and putting an arm over her shoulder. "Apparently, she possesses enough spiritual energy for her to be here."
"When I came this way, I met her by chance and suggested she lend a hand." said Loki.
"For the record, if I hadn't been asked by that handsome boy, I wouldn't have lifted a finger for you, old woman." said Haineko lowering her right eyelid while sticking out her tongue.
"Why you little…" began Matsumoto annoyed by the insult.
"*Sigh* Why can't my owner be this girl here?" asked Haineko patting Lucy's shoulder. "She's so young, slim and pure."
"Uh… Thank you?" asked Lucy with a bead of sweat. "Something tells me the two of them don't get along."
"And besides…" began Haineko before patting Lucy's breasts, who blushed in the process. "She has better breasts than you." said Haineko with a cheeky grin.
"I wouldn't agree too much. That girl's are pretty big in my opinion. I'd have to check to find out." said Loki as he extended his hand towards the vice-captain.
POW
POW
The next instant, both spirits found themselves with a bump on their heads courtesy of both girls.
"NO TIME FOR THAT!" said Lucy and Rangiku in unison.
"HEY! DON'T IGNORE ME!" shouted Salivchi at full volume before throwing several chains towards them, but they quickly dodged them.
"We'll argue later, let's finish him off first." said Rangiku.
"For once, I agree with you. Anyway, I don't like ugly lunatic men." said Haineko.
"I'll make him pay for what he did to Lucy." said Loki cracking his knuckles.
"That won't be necessary. I'll take care of that. Star dress! Leo Form!" shouted Lucy changing her outfit.
"Meow. Even she knows how to dress better than you, shameless one." said Haineko.
"Spoke the mute and said what she could." commented Rangiku with an anime vein in her head.
Salivchi let out a cry of rage and madness as he combined several chains to form larger ones before throwing them towards them.
"Regulus Impact!" shouted Loki wrapping his fist in light.
"Regulus Lucy Kick!" shouted Lucy wrapping her foot in light.
They both impacted their attacks on the chain, shattering it in the process.
Rangiku and Haineko worked together to send the ash flying towards the giant chain, managing to shatter it due to the multiple cuts made on it.
"Damn you! I'll send you all to hell!" exclaimed Salivchi pulling out multiple chains that swung back and forth wildly.
"Ladies, I advise you to close your eyes." began Loki adjusting his glasses before the girls closed their eyes at the spirit's request. "Lion Brilliance!" shouted Loki taking a stance before emitting a blinding glare.
Salivchi let out a cry of pain as he covered his eyes.
"Now, Haineko! Let's do it!" said Rangiku.
"As you wish." said Haineko.
"Noko Rinbu!" the two shouted in unison as they sent the ashes towards him and before he could react, the ashes swirled around him as his screams of pain could be heard due to the nature of those ashes.
By the time the ashes moved aside, Salivchi was seen trying to stand despite all his injuries.
"Still… Still… I'm not done… with all of you yet!" said Salivchi.
"I'd say you are. You'll never hurt anyone ever again." said Lucy as a golden aura enveloped her.
Needless to say, Rangiku was taken aback by it.
"What's that? Your power is increased." said Rangiku in surprise.
"Survey the Heavens, Open the Heavens… All the stars, far and wide… Show me thy appearance… With such shine. Oh Tetrabiblos… I am the ruler of the stars…" recited Lucy as many spheres of light formed around her. "Aspect become complete… Open thy malevolent gate. Oh 88 Stars of the heaven… Shine! URANO METRIA!" shouted Lucy launching the spheres of light towards the chain mage.
As the spheres impacted on him, there was a huge explosion that filled the place with smoke.
Lucy was about to fall over from exhaustion, but Rangiku arrived in time to catch her.
"Quite an ace you had up your sleeve." said Rangiku with a smile.
"Yeah. Hehehe." said Lucy.
When the smoke cleared, Salivchi was seen lying on his back on the ground and unconscious.
"Good thing it's over." said Lucy.
"Yes, but we have to go to where Captain Unohana is so she can heal us. We still have one thing left to deal with." said Rangiku.
"The arrancar." said Lucy seriously, for she knew that arrancar could be powerful and dangerous.
"Hey, beautiful. While we're waiting to be called back, what do you say we go for a walk?" asked Loki flirtatiously to Haineko.
"Meow. How flattering. If you take me to some good places, I'd be delighted. I might even reward you if it goes well." said Haineko.
"Deal." said Loki with a twinkle in his glasses.
Lucy and Rangiku stood with a bead of sweat at that.
"We won't mention this." said Lucy.
"To no one." said Rangiku.
"NEVER." said they both at the same time.