97 The First Day
(Soul Society Battles: Toshiro)
'The air around us, it's freezing.' The Quincy Cang Du thought as he kept his eyes on Toshiro, changing into a more adult form before his eyes as an icy mist formed around them. The white haired captain then shot toward Cang Du and swung his blade, the Quincy managing to evade and leap away to get some distance. 'He's faster and probably stronger now. What else changed?' The Quincy kept thinking as he readied his claws for battle, soon discovering that his right arm was covered in a sheet of ice and realized how numb his body had become. 'Toshiro Hitsugaya's not supposed to be this strong. Is this his Bankai?' He was then taken by surprise again when the captain appeared before him again, eyes cold enough to freeze the soul yet held such burning anger one would burst into icy flames. Cang didn't have enough time to dodge and instead turned his Blut Vene to the max while his skin turned a metalic gray as he activated his Schrift, the Iron. The moment the Zanpakuto touched his skin he felt a burning cold spread into his arm, forcing him to take the chance and flash away with Hirenkyaku. He got some distance between him and Toshiro, but his arm broke off at the elbow with the stump completely frozen.
'What the hell is he?!' The Quincy's mind screamed as he felt fear grip his soul, the captain whose Zanpakuto just now grew slightly longer with a crescent shaped blade on a long chain. 'Was... was this just his aura? How strong is he?' The next thing he saw was a massive dragon made of ice wrapping a frozen claw around his body with its fangs coming down to tear through him. The image immediately changed to him wrapped in the chain with Toshiro about to cleave the Quincy in half when a figure in a white hooded cloak took the blade for him and the captain's arm snapped and twisted around with many sickening snaps and crunches, forcing the captain to jump back. Toshiro didn't cry out in pain and only grimaced in response to his mutilation before covering his arm in his ice. "Pernida? Did you come to save me?" Cang Du asked, both ashamed at the rescue and grateful for it happening. The now named Pernida said nothing as it watched Toshiro who continued to glare at the Quincy, the captain's rage barely held in check by better judgment. Cang Du took the chance to flee, hoping to find someone to restore his severed arm, leaving Toshiro with a far more dangerous foe. The captain and Sternritter continued to stare at each other, waiting for the other to make a move, when a voice called out.
"Kottaiki!" A column of icy blue energy smashed into Pernida, leaving it encased in ice, and giving Toshiro time to turn his attention to the new arrival, the blue hair woman named Esdeath wielding a massive rapier saber with a skull guard. "Hello, Captain Hitsugaya I'm guessing? My mate told me about you and that our abilities were similar. I hope we can get along."
'Ichigo, you always attract the strange ones.' Toshiro thought to himself as the ice around Pernida started cracking before shattering and Pernida revealed itself to be a giant left hand with an eye with two pupils in the palm. Hitsugaya merely prepared himself for the next round while Esdeath felt bloodlust rush through her as she readied her blade.
(Squad 11)
As was their way, the members of the 11th division charged forward to meet the Quincy head on. Bows and spirit blades clashed with various Zanpakuto as both sides fought with the intent of killing the other as Ikkaku and Yumichika led the charge. Every captain was given the same order after the Hollow Gas bomb was rendered impotent by the Quincy Arrancar: eliminate every Arrancar Quincy and enemy Sternritter, priority 1. Thus, Kenpachi Zaraki left his squad to hunt down said Arrancar while Ikkaku and Yumichika led the troops in his stead.
"12! 13! 14, 15, 16! How're you doing Yumichika!" The bald spear-man called out as he kept score for his game with his friend.
"I was at 15, now I'm at 21." The third seat answered back as another six Quincy fell dead from the vines of his Zanpakuto. "This may feel a bit ugly, but even I have times I wish to win." The two grinned at each other as they continued their battles when someone decided to make himself known.
"This is the strongest combat squad of the Shinigami?" A long blonde haired man yelled wearing a winged helm with a red cape and black pants, having armored armbands and greaves with a round buckler and double edged sword with a V guard and a star emblem on the hilt. "How pathetic!" He shouted while holding his arms out, surrounded by the dead bodies of Soul Reapers and Quincy alike. "Where's your captain? Too scared to fight?" Ikkaku and Yumichika scowled at the man as the lieutenant stepped forward.
"Captain Zaraki prefers to hunt down the strongest opponents to fight on his own." Ikkaku answered, readying his Hozukimaru while Yumichika continued to analyze the man. "How about we entertain each other instead? I am lieutenant of squad 11, Ikkaku Madarame! What's yours?" The man smiled and pulled out his sword.
"Sternritter M, the Miracle. Gerard Valkyrie." The two warriors, having exchanged pleasantries, then charged at each other with the intent of killing their opponent. In the training time before the war Ikkaku managed to strengthen his Zanpakuto, going from wood to metal and making it able to split anywhere along the body and increase the length of the chain connecting it. It was that change to Hozukimaru that kept it from breaking against the edge of Gerard's shield as the Quincy punched into Ikkaku's gut. The lieutenant's quick defense with the chain did little to stop the force of the blow and was shot backwards from Gerard, the fighting around them pausing to watch the battle between Quincy and Shinigami.
'Damn, he's strong.' Ikkaku thought as he stabbed his spear into the ground to slow himself down, Gerard already closing in to continue the fight. 'And fast.' The spear split into smaller sections as Ikkaku bent and twisted himself to dodge Gerard's blade while he sliced along the Quincy's gut. Gerard threw his knee up, slamming it into Ikkaku's chin and dazing the man slightly, but the lieutenant took the chance to wrap his chain around Gerard's leg while stabbing the blade into his thigh. Gerard retaliated with a shielded backhand that sent Ikkaku flying back, though the Soul Reaper managed to keep a hold of his Zanpakuto and the sudden pull threw Gerard off-balance. Despite being dazed and battered, something Ikkaku was used to from training with his captain, the lieutenant pulled himself back to his feet with the spear and yanked Gerard into doing a vertical splits. Ikkaku finished this with charging straight at Gerard and slamming the furred end of Hozukimaru into the Quincy's face, breaking his nose and a couple of teeth in the process. Unfortunately, Ikkaku then felt something cold in his stomach while his Shihakusho became warm and wet.
"You're quite the vicious one, Ikkaku Madarame." Gerard complimented as Ikkaku looked down to see the Quincy's sword in his stomach. "But you'll never be able to beat me." The Shinigami looked back to Gerard, glaring as the Quincy was fully healed. "Miracles do not favor you, but feel honored. I'm among the mightiest of his majesty's elites and you are about to die by my hand!" He ripped the blade out of Ikkaku's gut and was about to swing again but a group of azure colored vines wrapped around his arm.
"Ikkaku! Order a retreat!" Yumichika demanded as his Ruri'iro Kujaku began sapping away at Gerard, but he was barely holding the Quincy back. "Now Ikkaku!" The third seat shouted as Ikkaku pulled on his Zanpakuto with all of his draining strength and cut off Gerard's leg, hoping that a missing limb would take longer to heal as he jumped away from Gerard. That hope sank when a new leg immediately appeared in a flash of light. That's when the Quincy yanked on the vines, pulling Yumichika to him, and ran the Shinigami through as well, slamming him into the ground in one swift motion. Ikkaku was frozen, seeing his life long friend take such an injury and coughing up blood. "S-shame," the third seat started with shaky breath, "I-I was hoping for a beau-" he was cut off when Gerard slammed his buckler into Yumichika's head, crushing it like a melon.
"Like I said, no miracle will save you from me." The Quincy said as a red aura formed around Ikkaku, somehow stopping his bleeding.
"Bankai." The lieutenant said, gaining his three blades with the dragon on his ax blade glowing crimson red. "Ryumon Hozukimaru!" He roared, shooting toward Gerard with an aura of dragon claws forming around the blades. The Miracle knocked aside one blade but was ran through with the other, sending him flying back with a massive hole in his stomach. Again he immediately healed, but Ikkaku was on him again, swinging the guandao blade part and cutting Gerard into three pieces, which soon healed and Gerard punched Ikkaku in the hole in his stomach, sending him flying back into a building which collapsed.
"That was annoying." The Quincy said, brushing dirt off of his body while looking stronger than before and losing his helmet. "But now to move on to-" he was cut off when something fell from the sky and cratered the ground in front of him. The dust cleared and revealed Kenpachi Zaraki, carrying five Arrancar Quincy on his blade with a dark skinned fat man suffocating in his grip.
"I thought I sensed something happening here." Zaraki said as he tightened his grip so much that the fat Quincy's head popped off his body upon seeing the state of his two best officers. "Take Ikkaku to squad 4 immediately." He ordered as his squad scrambled to obey as Kenpachi threw the bodies off of his sword and glared at Gerard. "I won't disrespect my squad by saying I'll avenge them, everyone in the eleven knows that your life is on the line when you draw your sword. But I will say that I am a little pissed off at what you did to my lieutenant and third seat." Gerard charged at Zaraki and swung his blade only for it to be deflected by the Kenpachi's own blade, the chipped edges catching the Quincy's blade and forcing it aside while Zaraki cut Gerard in two. Then a large cut appeared on Zaraki's chest.
"My sword is hope." Gerard started to explain as he healed. "When 'hope' is damaged, it brings despair. When you deflected my sword it caused a nick in the blade and that damage is reflected on you." Kenpachi felt his injury, looked at his bloodied hand, and smiled. He then appeared in front of Gerard, grabbed his wrist and crushed it, tearing away the sword and hand before headbutting Gerard away and stabbing the sword into the ground.
"I can't break your sword and you keep coming back stronger every time you take damage." Zaraki said as he removed his eyepatch. "Well get ready to die a thousand times. Maybe then you'll be worth the effort."
(Squad 12: Mayuri's Playground)
"So, what have we learned?" Kisuke asked his lieutenant while he continued to watch their latest lab rat, a Quincy that tried sneaking in. He was an elderly man with big pink hair, lips that did not cover his big teeth, had a lazy right eye, and was small with stubby legs. The key word was 'tried' as he still set off one of the many traps heading to Mayuri's lab that resulted in his capture and subsequent vivisection. The Quincy couldn't even scream from all the drugs and damage to his throat when Mayuri found his screams too annoying.
"If we weren't looking at him, I'd say he didn't even really exist." Mayuri answered, keeping an eye on the subject lest he forget about it. "And I don't mean his odd ability to remove himself from our memories. I mean he, as a whole, doesn't really exist. He's like an idea someone had that was made manifest through sheer thought."
"Would that be Yhwach or another Sternritter though? All of the Sternritter we've seen have displayed so many odd abilities." Urahara continued as he kept a neutral face, even after receiving a silent notification that another trap was set off.
"You're right about him," the two heard someone say as the elderly Quincy popped like a balloon with nothing remaining, "he was just a fragment of my imagination." The scientists turned to see a young blonde haired man in a hooded trench coat with a high collar. "Hello there, I'm Gremmy Thoumeaux, Sternritter V, the Visionary."
"'Fragment of your imagination'? Are you saying you 'created' that previous Quincy? Does it have anything to do with your Schrift?" Kisuke asked as he and Mayuri drew their blades, with Gremmy not lifting a finger.
"Yes, my Schrift allows me to make anything I imagine into a reality. Wounds heal instantly, the world shifting to my thoughts, anything I can imagine is a new reality." For all the Quincy's boasting, he failed to recognize the glint in Urahara's eyes.
"How does this 'imagination' work?" He asked with a curious smile as he walked up to the Sternritter. "Like when you start bleeding from your every orifice, do you have to know the damage? And if so, to what extent?"
"Interesting thought. I've never had to... did you say 'when'?" Gremmy asked as he felt something trickle from his nose, then his ears, soon tasting copper while something started falling from his eyes.
"Of course he said when," Mayuri chimed in as he caught on to Urahara's idea, "the moment you fully appeared here you set off a number of traps. One of which is a gas that weakens the blood vessels so that they tear from even the weakest amount of force." The Visionary began coughing up mouthfuls of blood before it suddenly ended.
"Well I guess to answer your question from earlier, I should know the effects I'm imagining to be nullified." The Quincy said as he raised his head back up to glare at the two.
"Does that apply to the 2,572 different variations of that same gas?" Mayuri asked, confusing the Visionary again. "Because even the slightest change to a genetic or chemical make-up renders the immunity to it pointless." Again Gremmy felt himself bleeding and immediately began imagining himself healing. "But I wonder about the other gases?" Gremmy froze when Mayuri said that.
"Like the one that causes extreme fevers to the point of combustion, the one that causes malignant growths," Urahara listed off with the symptoms soon appearing on Gremmy's body, causing him to freak out and lose his focus which made every one more active.
"One of my favorites is where the body begins eating itself with the cells tearing the body apart." Mayuri said with a smile while Gremmy began screaming in horror as his body slowly melted and mutated and then everything just stopped. He was suddenly a brain in a domed jar, unable to sense the world around him, unable to think, unable to dream, unable to do anything. "I'm... a little surprised that this worked." The lieutenant said while Kisuke picked up the brain and gave it a look over.
"Which, that we manipulated him into using his own power against him by making him imagine all the possible results of the various poisons you made or that the actual neurotoxin used managed to reach him through this casing?" Mayuri had plenty of other poisons, but the main one for his lab was one that targeted the thalamus and hypothalamus, rendering anyone to a vegetative state.
"The former. Why couldn't he just imagine himself immune to all possible toxins?" Both scientists paused while trying to think of an answer.
"I'm not sure... wanna dissect it and find out?" Kisuke asked while tossing Mayuri the brain case.
"With pleasure!"
(Hueco Mundo: Impromptu Stage)
"Masculine! Masculine! Masculine!" A hundred Quincy, all powerless from using Letzt Stil, chanted to the Luchador on the stage as he basked in their praise, the cheers being led by a small chubby bald man in blue overalls named James. The wrestler was Mask de Masculine, a large muscular man in a standard Sternritter uniform with a coat and high collar but with the difference of a wrestler's belt with the Vandenreich sigil on it with a dull rust colored Lucha mask with blue outlines and a big blue star over his head which left his nose and chin exposed showing a thick blonde mustache. Inside the wrestler ring was Grimmjow in his Segunda Etapa form, beaten and bloody by the Sternritter for the entertainment of the crowd of Quincy and to lure out a high priority target.
"Well, vile Hollow? Where is your king?" The masked Quincy asked. Six Sternritter were dispatched to the Land of Hollows with the mission of crippling squad 16 and luring in Ichigo Kurosaki. To this end, Sternritters F, J, Q, R, S, and U were sent with a small army of Quincy with a few Arrancar of their own to aid in the attack. The Kido barrier that kept the Vandenreich trapped wasn't so constricting that they couldn't send a few small groups out before managing to completely dismantle it a month before they launched their attack, Gremmy's Visionary power being used to make the Soul Reapers think it was still being maintained.
After the destruction of Las Noches, the Sternritters immediately began separating the various Arrancar with orders to use each one to lure out Ichigo Kurosaki, killing them when the hybrid finally does appear and assault him with everything they had with the intent to take him prisoner. Yhwach desired Ichigo for some reason and the Quincy would make that wish come true, no matter the cost. All this? All the destruction and torture? That was for fun.
"Vile Hollow?" Grimmjow said as he forced himself back to his feet, coughing from the damage to his lungs in the brutal beating her received. "That's rich coming from you."
"Oh? Something you want to say villain?"
"When was the last time you actually saved someone?" The panther asked his enemy, staggering to the edge of the ring and leaning against the ropes. "And I don't mean another Quincy. I mean when was the last time you saved any regular human from a Hollow? Or any Quincy for that matter that saved someone for no other alternative motive?" This was answered with silence from Mask while the audience proceeded to boo and insult Grimmjow. "Cat got your tongue? Some hero you are. You and the rest of the Vandenreich are the real villains in this play. While you were hiding, waiting for your mighty parasite king to come back, a real hero appeared. Challenged a stagnant and corrupt society, turning it on its head with the intent of creating a more fair world for those that inhabit it. That's already more than any one of you bastards can claim." Mask felt his anger growing with every word Grimmjow spoke, feeling his honor and pride stepped on by that damned Arrancar. Who was this monster to decide who was the hero and who was the villain?
"YOU DAMN HOLLOW!" Mask roars out as the crowd restarted their cheers, flexing as their cheering empowers him. His uniform blows off his bulked up body and his mask turns red and black with him now wearing wrestling shorts with a star shaped patch of hair on his chest.
"Wow. And here I thought you couldn't look any more idiotic. Then this happens." Grimmjow continued, refusing to show anything but contempt.
"DIE! STAR LARIAT!" Mask roars out as he pulls his arm out to swing a blow that would finish off the weakened Arrancar, only to feel his move stopped by something on his wrist and looking to find a blade that pulsated.
"Report Grimmjow." Ichigo ordered, his arm shaking with his Blut Arterie at the max in an effort to hold back Mask's attack with Kyoka Suigetsu.
"This idiot's strength is connected to the people cheering." Grimmjow said before flopping onto the ring. "That bald fatty there seems unkillable though." Ichigo nodded while Orihime showed up and pulled Grimmjow off the ring before beginning to heal him.
"Well, this should be easy." The hybrid said before pushing Mask away.
"Ichigo Kurosaki." The Sternritter said while glaring at the hybrid. "I'm supposed to call for back-up, but the hero should bring down the greatest villain by himself!" Mask declared before activating his Vollstandg, gaining a cape of light with a star shaped halo. "Time to crush you villain!"
"You're the villain Mask!" The Sternritter heard, turning to the crowd of Quincy to find them booing him. "You has-been! Real heroes don't need people cheering! You're a tool!"
"No... STOP! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE CHEERING!" Mask yells out as he felt his strength draining away. "SHUT UP!" He shouted before firing a massive beam and killing the entire crowd.
"Real heroes love their fans." Mask saw his most loyal supporter, his most loyal fan James, regenerate his damaged body and insult him. "You're nothing without me. You're a loser. Pathetic."
"Stop it! STOP IT!" Mask started begging as he dropped to his knees, trying to block off the jeers but they kept coming. Even after he punctured his eardrums he could still hear their insults. "I'm the hero... I'm the star... I... I..." Mask lost more and more of his muscular form until he shrank into a small stick of a man. "Please love me." He begged before everything went silent when Ichigo crushed him under foot.
"Did you want this one Grimmjow?" The hybrid asked as he wiped the blood off in the desert sands.
"I'm fairly certain that half my body is wrecked my king." The panther answer as he slowly regenerated in Orihime's shield. "Besides, we don't have the luxury of focusing on who got dibs." The two looked out, worried about the rest of the Arrancar.
(Byakuya Fight: Shortly after the Hollow Gas was released)
"Impressive." The Kuchiki clan leader said as the black Reishi smoke cleared away, revealing the Sternritter in still perfect health. "Not many can survive one of Sebonzakura's petals going through their throat and I can assume even fewer Quincy can survive the Hollow Gas, meaning your Schrift must be regenerative in nature. Such a crude weapon though, isn't it?"
"It really is." The Sternritter answered, coughing a few times but was otherwise unaffected. "My name is Askin Nakk Le Vaar, Sternritter D, the Deathdealing, and you're half right." Byakuya immediately felt himself lose control of his body and collapse in front of the Quincy. "My power allows me to control the 'lethal dose' of something I consume and I've taken in enough Reishi to determine how to make it kill you."
"Th-that truly is... a fearsome power." Byakuya coughed out, feeling weaker by the second but still felt his connection to Senbonzakura. "Incapacitate your enemy with your power, then you can take your time killing them." Silently the captain summoned the petals of his blade to his location, surrounding the Sternritter. "A smart warrior would then start breaking necks or stabbing through the heart." Askin glared at Byakuya as he began walking toward the downed captain.
"I prefer elegance to such brutality. I was hoping you'd understand that."
"Just for my own curiosity, can you regenerate from decapitation?" That surprised Askin as he paused to think.
"Wait, what-" The Sternritter was cut off as he was enveloped in a tornado of pink blades, immediately shredding his body to nothing more than mush. The blades returned to Byakuya's hilt, revealing the mess of finely shredded gore that was once Askin.
'Looks like training my Shikai was the right choice.' The noble thought, reflecting of the hundred thousand blades he could control in that release, before he began coughing again while his vision grew hazy. 'His power... isn't fading.' He thought as he struggled to make his hand point upward and gather the strength for a Kido spell. 'I... am not... dying. Not before... I repay... my debt... Ichigo.' He managed to fire off a rather weak Shakkoho before blacking out, the poisoned Reishi slowly destroying his body.
(Hueco Mundo: Neliel)
Two Sternritters went after Neliel; the Fear As Nodt and the Underbelly Nanana Najahkoop. As Nodt was a man with long dark hair, dark irises and white pupils and wore a black facemask with five spikes running down the center. Nanana was a dark man with checkered teeth, an orange mask covering his eyes, and five spiraling spikes for his hairstyle. Neliel was in her Resurreccion since the destruction of the castle and was with her Fraccion, Dondochakka and Pesche. The two were facing As Nodt while Nanana boasted that he'd kill Nel in just a few minutes. He was no closer to his goal than when he started.
'Damn it! How can such a large body be so fast and agile?!' The Underbelly thought as he tried again to observe Neliel's centaur form, only for her to disappear from his sight and just barely dodge another thrust of her lance. "STAND STILL!" He shouted angrily while jumping back for some distance.
"No." She responded as she prepared to throw her lance. "Lanzador Verde." She threw her spear which began spinning and gathering Reishi, becoming a pink drill and slamming against Nanana's Blut Vene and sending him flying. He tried to brace himself but the sand's loose grains caused him to and tumble, the lance sliding off his hardened skin. Nel, utilizing her Sonido to the best of her ability, retrieved her lance and slammed a hoof against the Quincy's chest. "I really hate fighting, so often it is simply pointless. But, for the sake of protecting those precious to me, I will abandon any mercy!" She raised her lance and was poised to ram it through Nanana's mouth when she suddenly froze, a look of horror on her face. "No... no no please!" She said in horror as she backed up and off the Quincy.
"That was annoying." As Nodt said, walking from the broken and mutilated forms of Nel's Fraccion. "I kept injecting them with fear and they just kept powering through. Their willpower is impressive for such weaklings. I wonder how that girl inspired such loyalty."
"Doesn't matter now and back off As Nodt." The Underbelly growled as he began observing Neliel while she suffers the mental assault. "She's mine to kill."
"Please... don't..." She whispered as her mind was ravaged by the thing she feared more than anything.
"They were weak and you are just a child." A mental version of Ichigo coldly said, dropping the lifeless corpses of her dear friends and brothers with her own self reduced to that of a small child. "I have no need for anything as worthless as you." The cold visage of the one she loved and trusted turned his back on her and was replaced with Nnoitra Gilga and Szayelapporo, grinning sadistically down at her.
"You always looked down on me," Nnoitra sneered while raising his crescent blade, "but now, YOU'RE NOTHING!" Neliel let out a scream in the seconds of her fear induced illusions, letting her mind regress to a more animal state where her instincts controlled her. The main instinct was her 'fight or flight' response and she had no where to run.
"RRAAAAHHH!" Neliel roared out as she was enveloped in pink light, shocking her enemies.
"What the-" Nanana started before being ran through with a lance of pure energy followed by a blast that fried his body and took As Nodt's left arm. The Fear grasped at his bleeding stump and found Neliel in her Hogyoku enhanced form, eyes full of rage and fear as she threw the Underbelly's corpse from her Reishi lance and spied him.
'So this is the power granted by the Hogyoku.' The Sternritter thought as he quickly dodged Nel's attempt to run him through with her lance. 'We may have underestimated how much power that form gives them. Must retreat for now.' He flashed away with Hirenkyaku, trying to get some distance to rethink his strategy since Fear only turned her into a raging beast, when he had to dodge a sudden bala that didn't come from Neliel.
"Are you running?" As Nodt saw a new Arrancar, one that looked like a black and white tiger in a human body with a skeletal tail, long saber teeth, and claws. This was Marik Muyomori, one of two Arrancar Ichigo found in another world with gravity powers. "Didn't you brag about being a master of fear? Are you now afraid?"
"I'm always afraid." As Nodt answered as his eyes rolled back to reveal a Quincy cross. "But I fear his majesty's wrath more than any Hollow. But I will show you true fear! Tatarforas!" The Quincy's skin became bone white along with his cloak, shrinking to show a gaunt near skeletal appearance for his upper body, his mask tearing away to reveal nothing but teeth as his eyes cried tears of blood. His halo and wings were a ring of spikes with a line of stitches going from his chin down to the bottom of his cloak and his forearms were covered in black. "Look upon me, and know fear!" The effect was instantaneous as fear dug deep into Marik's heart, terrifying him to paralysis.
"The weight of fear is heavy." The Arrancar whispered as his unleashed his power of gravity, bringing a crushing weight that almost toppled As Nodt. "The weight of the heart and mind burdened by fear is great but still a metaphorical weight, as opposed to the weight of gravity on everyone's heads." As Nodt somehow managed to glare at his new opponent, despite the near expressionless face, and tried to shoot his Reishi thorns at Marik only to watch them drop because of the increased gravity around them.
"You-!" The Quincy screeched in rage before a Cero vaporized him. Neliel roared and fired another blast, this time at Marik and forcing him to dodge as he released the increased gravitation field.
"Okay, this might be a problem." He muttered as Nel charged at him with a Sonido, him barely dodging the Reishi lance and being blasted away from the shockwave. "I should probably restrain her." The centaur turned toward him and swung her blade, firing a wave of pink Reishi that slammed against him and sent him flying. "Easier said than done." The weretiger groaned before charging at his fellow Arrancar once again.
(Soul Society: Fate's Scathach)
"How boring!" The purple haired spearmaster yelled out as she swung her polearm and sent a group of Soldats flying. "I leave my home, my students, for this? AT LEAST BE A CHALLENGE!" She demanded of the group of Soldats and Quincy Arrancar that surrounded her, the Arrancar becoming winged beasts as they activated their Resurreccions. "Hmph. A little better." A lion Arrancar shot toward her, the immortal witch dodging with ease before throwing her spear throw the beast with enough force to blow it in two and through the crowd on the other side. Four more Arrancar jumped at her with dozens of Soldats choosing to activate their Leztz Stil forms, forcing Scathach to crouch low and leap high into the air. "Too easy." She said before the area she was standing in exploded into ice, skewering anyone unfortunate enough to be close. "Next, this." She summoned a ring of red spears around her that shot toward the ground when she thrust her hand forward, creating a ring of explosions that devoured the group that tried to challenge her.
"So weak." The Queen of the Shadow Lands whispered as she landed, summoning another spear to her hands. 'Damn it Yamamoto. Why'd you declare Yhwach off-limits?' She thought in annoyance, trying to understand what her friend was thinking. 'The three, no you and I would be enough to stop him and end this war. Is it a matter of honor... do you really just want to die?' She kept wondering as a new presence appeared behind her. Candice Catnipp, one of the three Sternritter that was sent to spy on Ichigo and his friends, now in her uniform which was a pair of short shorts and a sleeveless jacket tied in a way that exposed her midriff and showed off her cleavage.
"Try this!" The Thunder shouted with a ball of lightning in her hand that she fired at Scathach, which the Witch of Dun Scaith effortlessly knocked aside with her spear. Candice then created two large lightning bolts and threw them as well, following with another and another. Scathach kept deflecting each one with a quick swing of her spear. "That's it!" The Sternritter yelled out as she raised her hand and summoned a pillar of lightning on Scathach's location, forcing her to jump out of the way and into the air where a large mouth shot out to snap her up.
"Meh, nothing new." The Shadow Queen muttered as she swiped her hand, creating a line of runes that turned into large fireballs that shot into the mouth, blasting it back. There was a cry of pain as it retracted back to a petite girl with chin length blonde hair with a skirt and leggings as her Sternritter uniform.
"Shit! That burns!" She yelled, coughing out smoke and groaning from her now charred mouth. "That hurt you bitch!"
"This is a battle. What were you expecting? That I'd let you eat me?" Scathach asked as she landed, Candice trying again to hit her from behind with another ball of lightning. "Then you're fools." She immediately swung her spear and struck the Thunder in the side with the back half of her spear without even looking. "I've lived for over a thousand years with billions of fights under my belt." She pointed her spear at the two with a dozen more spears appearing around her, with a bunch of Reishi balls floating down around her. "Step up your game kids and I might have- what are these orbs?" Instantly after asking that, she was engulfed in a massive series of explosions.
"Cutting that a bit close, don't ya think Bambi?" Candice asked as she found her partner, now in her Sternritter uniform, looking the most professional out of the three.
"It'll be fine. How many so far?" The Explode asked of her two allies.
"Six, maybe seven of the Sternritters." The small girl, Sternritter G Liltotto Lamperd, answered with some disappointment. "And we don't even know how many Soldats yet. Anyone feel like we should include Giselle? She might-"
"Hell no." Bambietta and Candice adamantly stated. "She's a freak." Any further talk was stopped when the rubble where Scathach was blown away, revealing the Shadow Queen completely unharmed with a bloodthirsty smile on her face.
"Nice hit." She said as she summoned another spear to dual-wield with another hundred floating around her. "My turn."
(With Tatsuki)
She was a martial artist, she was hot headed, she was ready to throw herself into a fight to help protect her friends, she hated the idea of not stepping in when she knew she could help. In the time before the war she trained under the legendary Sun Wukong and received a bit more tutoring under Yoruichi and Soi-Fon, finally beating the idea of staying back to study and analyze her opponents if she had the chance. That's what she was doing now, watching a woman Sternritter with long black hair and a dopey expression named Giselle Gewelle willingly let herself get cut up by other Shinigami with what seemed to be lethal damage, only to be unaffected by the gaping wounds as her blood infect those same Shinigami and obey her commands to kill themselves. Forcing herself to stand back as that freak did something so horrible was hell, but now she had an idea to counter it.
"Ignite, Hidori." Tatsuki said, releasing her Shikai and gaining her gauntlets and greaves. She then took a breath and focused her energy, getting enveloped in an aura that soon turned red with fire. "Let's do this." She said to herself before using Shunpo to appear behind the Sternritter.
"Huh?" The Quincy started before Tatsuki slammed a burning armored fist into her face, her jaw cracking as it popped out of place violently. The force of the blow threw Giselle off her feet which Tatsuki, becoming familiar with high speeds and reaction times, then grabbed and yanked back. When the Quincy was in front of her Tatsuki threw a knee up and her elbow, cracking her sternum and spine and making Giselle cough up blood. She looked with a misshapen smile as her blood flew toward Tatsuki's face, only for it to burn away in the martial artist's burning aura. Giselle's eyes gaped in shock before noticing another fiery fist above her head.
"Funka!" Tatsuki shouted as she punched Giselle's head into the ground, creating a pillar of flames from the strike and burning Giselle, the air filling with her screams and the smell of burning flesh. When the flames died down Tatsuki grabbed Giselle's throat and threw her against a wall, following it with a barrage of fireballs that she punched at the Quincy until she was burnt black and fell limp to the ground. Tatsuki took a few deep breath, trying to keep the rising bile down as she flashed away to vomit and recover from the fight. She didn't see Giselle slowly getting back up.
"Gah!" 'Damn that was close.' The Quincy thought as the damage became undone, healing her back to just after Tatsuki shattered her jaw but she was going to fix that as she went to one of the recent corpses. 'If I was any slower in activating the Zombie, I would've definitely died.' She grabbed her shattered jaw and ripped it off her head while tearing off a corpse's jaw and attaching it to her face, completely restoring herself. "She's just as violent as Bambi... almost as cute too." She then adopted a happy and goofy smile. "I can't wait to turn her into a zombie too!"
(Fate Battles)
"50!" Achilles said to himself as he ran his spear through another Quincy Soldat. "What are you at Cu Chulainne? 45?" The greek warrior taunted as the blue hair Irishman waved his hand, creating a line of runes that shot six fireballs at another group of Soldats.
"52 actually." He said with a cocky smile, resting his spear on his shoulder. "Meaning I'm ahead of you." When the battle started, every captain and a few lieutenants went out to find priority targets like Arrancar Quincy and Sternritters. This left the foreign allies to do whatever they wanted, so they just threw themselves into battle while the young witch Medea stayed at Squad 4's barracks. Achilles was about to make a retort when another Soldat got an arrow in his head, followed by five more in quick succession around the two.
"Are you idiots still competing?" Atalanta said, scolding the two as she notched another arrow and fired into the heart of another Soldat. "This is war! Who cares who gets the most kills! I'm beating both of you by twenty-" she fired another arrow, "five anyway."
"What!? I won't lose to a Greek!" Cu Chulainne yelled before rushing off. They were soon alerted about to a loud crack of fire ringing out above them, seeing two figures in shining blue and red fighting in the sky. "Man, those two must really hate each other." The only other member of their group of foreign heroes that wasn't competing with them, Karna, immediately rushed out to find his rival and they were now fighting high above them.
"This is supposed to be OUR fight!" Karna roared as he blazed with intense heat, a blade of fire around his lance as he parried bolt after bolt that Arjuna shot at him. "That's the way it has always been, just us playing out this damned cycle of hatred between our ancestors. Just the two of us suffer this, and you dare surrender to the pull of an outside force!?" He closed the distance in a single fiery burst and swung his blade down on his rival, with Arjuna deflecting the attack with his bow and shooting a massive bolt of light into Karna's chest.
"Did we ask to play this role!?" The archer returned as he fired arrow after arrow of light energy at the warrior of the sun. "I never wanted to hate you, I just did before I even knew you. I didn't ask to be born into this position, I just was and we had this destiny thrust upon us. To hate each other as our forebears did!" Karna kept deflecting the arrows and launched fireballs at his rival who then disappeared with Hirenkyaku to trap Karna in a web of spread-shot arrows that engulfed him in an explosion of ghostly light. "I can't think of a way to end this peacefully because of how much I hate you. So if we're to end this permanently, then let one of us be wiped out from life and death!"
"It won't be me that dies." The pale light was consumed by fire as the area around them became scorching hot. The flames concentrated on one point, Karna's lance, as a gold disk with scarlet metal feathers gave him what looked like wings of fire. "And by grace you will not perish for eternity either, my distant cousin. Because damn fate, damn hatred, and damn you for being weak enough to submit. Instead of beating this curse, you ran. Now I have to save your soul so that your next life won't taint the legacy of Arjuna." The heat continued to grow until the roofs began to melt and trees caught fire as Karna began shining like a star.
"You really want to continue this? Fine. Try and stop me." Arjuna held out his hand and a blue light appeared in his palm. "As Sternritter E, the Endowed, all beings gift their life and strength to me. With that gift I summon this ancient power. Pashupata!" He flicked his wrist and the orb shot up at light speed before exploding into a thousand massive bolts of energy that looked like falling stars.
"Brahmastra!" Karna roared as heat gathered at his eyes and he fired a beam of fire at the falling missiles, making each one explode harmlessly above Soul Society. Arjuna watched impassively as his attack failed, meeting Karna with a smile as the sun warrior appeared in front of him. The golden armor burned away and the spear was cracking with power. "Vasavi Shakti." The both of them were engulfed in an explosion that burned Arjuna away to ash and destroyed Karna's spear, the demigod himself untouched by the flames but exhausted from the amount of power he used. 'Well, guess I'm out of this war.' He thought before blacking out and falling.
"CRAZY INDIAN BASTARD!" Cu Chulainne yelled out as he rushed to catch his comrade, shielded from the heat by rune magic. "Got ya! You freaking idi- unconscious... damn it." Achilles and Atalanta soon caught up to him.
"That was insane! Kind of wish I fought him before this mess started." Achilles said as they began making their way to Squad 4's barracks, the lion archer staying back as she noticed something.
'Is it me or is it getting even drier?'
(Hueco Mundo)
Gin was tired, bleeding from multiple cuts and holes from Quincy arrows that were shot at him while he was trapped in a cage made of Reishi by the Sternritter that called himself Quilge Opie. Said Sternritter also had his squad of ten Quincy surround the prison and shoot and Gin, who had to dodge every arrow despite the limited amount of space. He was not always successful and was stripped of his Zanpakuto before being imprisoned so he couldn't fight back, even Kido was useless as Quilge managed to steal the Reishi away. All he could do was buy time.
"Ready!" Quilge started, the archers readying their bows and Gin getting ready to dodge. "Aim!" Only the Vizard captain saw a horned Hollow with black wings appear in the sky, making him smile. "Fi-!" The Hollow dropped like a comet, crushing a Soldat underneath him, and was revealed to be Ichigo in his Vasto Lorde form, and the King of Hollows had surrendered himself to his instincts to defend his territory. Quilge immediately attempted to trap the hybrid in a cage of Reishi, only for the image he saw to fade. 'Gemelos Sonido!' The Sternritter realized before hearing a sickening crack and the tearing of flesh as he looked around to find his entire squad quite literally torn apart with a copy of Ichigo at every point, and then all he could see was that horned mask in front of him. He immediately stabbed the hybrid in the chest, only for the blade to break against Ichigo's skin. Quilge could only watch in horror before he was devoured by a Reishi construct of Ichigo's Hollow mask.
"Well... that's something I'll be seeing in my nightmares." Gin joked as Ichigo went over to his cage and reverted to a more human state. The hybrid placed a hand against the bars of the cage and forcibly placed his Reiatsu into it, turning it black and quickly absorbing it, thus freeing Gin who fell from blood loss and exhaustion with Ichigo catching him. "Sorry about your..." He was saying before they both turned to where they felt Halibel's Reiatsu suddenly disappear, which was in the middle of a powerful lightning storm.
"I have to go." Ichigo quickly and gently laid Gin down as he flashed over to where the chaos was, only to find Mira screaming in despair as she overworked herself as she began drawing from her own life energy to release an electrical pulse so powerful it blew back Ichigo and paralyzed his body like a high powered taser was pumping him full of a city's worth of electrical energy. "H-had-d-do, nu-num-b-ber s-s-sixty-th-three." He channeled all the electricity into his hands to power the Kido spell, thus dispersing the charge in him. "Raikoho!" He fired a blast of pure electricity harmlessly into the sky and waited for his body to heal. The air reeked of ozone and the sands still sparked with bits of static as Ichigo eventually forced himself to his feet and made his way to Mira, who was already slowly fading from what she did. "MIRA!" The king went to the female Hollow, cradling her as she sensed Orihime attempting to speed up her healing of the other Arrancar as the still able bodied ones moved to his position. "Hang on. What happened?"
"I-" she started before coughing painfully, "I doubted. The Sternritter... called herself, the Question... somehow... made us doubt our strength... our loyalty... our... memories." With a shaky hand she reached for the golden locket hanging in her Hollow hole in her heart. "Made me... doubt Masaki..."
"That's enough Mira. Save your strength." Ichigo ordered, piecing the rest of the situation together. Mira told him her history, that she befriended his mother when they were younger despite being Quincy and Hollow, that she had to leave when Masaki was attacked by White and any Hollow presence threaten her life, how she promised him to one day return to her friend. The pain of doubting that must've pushed her sanity to the brink and unleash that hellish lightning strike. And doubting loyalty? That must mean they kidnapped Halibel and brainwashed her. The sins of the Vandenreich keep growing and Ichigo needed to return to Soul Society. The Quincy presence in Hueco Mundo is gone and he needs to move. "Mira. Hang on until-"
"Just devour me." She demanded while her legs disappeared into dust. "I won't make it and I swore to be of use to you, my king. Take what remains of my strength and add to yours." She took off her locket and handed it to Ichigo. "Just... make sure she gets this." She begged while tears fell from her eyes. Ichigo silently took the locket and did as Mira asked, ending her slow death. When he finished, Starrk and Marik were the only ones that made it to him, though Marik looked a little worse for wear.
"Your orders?" Starrk asked, despite knowing the answer just before Ichigo tore open a Garganta.
"We head for the main battlefield." The hybrid said as they charged through the hole in space, heading for the Soul Society. The trip lasted a few minutes as they charged as fast as the two Arrancar could through the endless space of the Precipice world, but it felt like an eternity to the hybrid. They soon found themselves entering a Soul Society in chaos. "This is wor-" Ichigo started before he was shoved to the ground, turning just in time to watch Marik's head get a large hole in it. Starrk immediately aimed one of his guns and fired a concentrated Cero at where the shot that killed Marik came from.
"Go where you need to!" Starrk yelled out before flashing blue and transformed into his Hogyoku form before charging to where the sniper was. Ichigo looked around the battlefield; finding giant left hands attacking wildly, a giant gladiator warrior, and many plenty of Reiatsu of people he knows fading away. One in particular demanded his attention as he was warned about it.
'Master used his Bankai.' He thought in horror before flashing to his location.
(Soul Society: Earlier)
It wasn't going good for the captain of the 2nd division, despite all of her training and prep work. In the free time she managed to get for training, she trained with Yoruichi to complete the Shunko form and learned that each Shunko was unique to Shinigami's Reishi elemental type. Hers being wind led to creating a vortex that greatly enhanced her speed, striking power, and maintain her Shunko for as long as she desired. Or it would have but her opponent almost instantly found a weakness in its form and disabled it with laser precision. She expected the Vandenreich to build a new synthetic Sternritter following their loss of what was known as BG9, but she failed to account how much of an upgrade the next model was.
Her opponent referred to itself as BG10, creative naming is not a skill of whatever passes for a Vandenreich scientist, and it seemed tailor made to kill both her and Yoruichi. It had a single circular visor that shot lasers, small sentry guns that flew independently of the main body, what seemed like a liquid metal chassis that resembled interwoven cords, and enough firepower to resemble an armory. It was like fighting an instantaneous adapting mech because of the Shrift K, the Knowledge. Any amount of data and it would know how everything about the target, or that was what Kisuke suspected it was anyway from working on BG9. It was a reasonable assumption since, from the moment she activated her Shunko, it pierced her wrists and completely canceled it, then her ankles were shot and her mobility dropped to an unacceptable degree that left her covered in bullet holes. The less said about Omaeda's condition the better, he was already taken out of commission despite everything he did and it was a miracle he was still alive.
'Damn it!' She cursed, pinned against a wall by multiple tendrils of liquid metal that seemed like they were prodding inside of her veins. 'Lady Yoruichi would laugh at me if she saw this!' She tried to fight against her restraints but it was useless since the slightest motion would tear the insides of her limbs apart. She let out a grunt of pain when the metal shifted and retracted violently as an electrified blade was lodged in the robot's chest, acting as a magnet that forced all the liquid metal to it and revealing the solid metal skeleton within. Two more spinning blades destroyed two of the Sternritter bot's ten guns, forcing it to jump back as something caught Soi-Fon's arm.
"Greetings captain." A robotic voice called out as the assassin looked to see her back-up. "I am Z9, a mechanized Soul Reaper combat droid derived from the former BG9." Z9 looked like a thinnly armored samurai, with blades in any location that wouldn't be detrimental to its movements, and a ring of six spinning dual ended curved glaives floating just behind it. A snap drew their attention back to the Quincy droid as it freed itself of the electrified blade and fired a beam at the pair with Z9 deflecting it with a blade. "I shall distract. Use your Bankai with the Hollow pills. Captain Urahara's recommendation." It quickly said while holding off the beam before charging at the Quincy bot.
Soi-Fon growled at the thought of doing anything Urahara suggests, but knew only a fool would abandon his advice for the sake of pride. She pulled out a black pellet and absorbed pure Hollow Reishi, giving her boney claws, a mask fragment over her abdomen that seemed like a hole, and regenerated all of the damage done. She then flashed to her lieutenant and carried him a safer distance away before flashing back, Z9 and BG10 moving around like mechs in a space battle with how they were moving. Soi-Fon looked for a good stable support to anchor herself, but every building already looked like it was ready to fall apart. She ground her teeth in frustration before flashing back up with an incredibly risky idea.
"Z9! Brace me!" She ordered as she activated her Bankai. Z9 saw her and seemed to understand the plan, flying to her for a bit before flashing directly behind her and grabbing onto her, Soi-Fon having BG10 directly in her sights. "Jakuho Raikoben!" She shouted and the missile shot forth, almost instantly hitting her target in spite of the kilometer gap. The speed shocked Soi-Fon for the instant before a wave of heat and fire consumed both her and Z9.
"I-i-i-it a-a-a-appear-pear-pears-" Z9 was glitching out, "Hollow Rei-Rei-Reishi st-st-str-strengthened the-" The droid exploded as Soi-Fon tried to withstand her own empowered Bankai. Eventually she flew out of the explosion, burned black with dozens of shrapnel lodged in her body.
"K-Kisuke... I'm gonna... kill you..." She promised before going into a coughing fit and knew right away that it was an empty promise.
"Soi-Fon!" She heard a familiar voice say and while her vision was fading, she'd never mistake Yoruichi's voice for anything else. "Geez little bee. Think you overdid it a little?" She joked but Soi-Fon heard the fear in her mentor's voice. "Hang on. I'll get you to Retsu-"
"L-lady Yo-Yoruichi... I'm s-sorry." Soi-Fon forced out, every word unbearably painful and every breath getting harder.
"Quiet Soi-Fon, save your strength." The Shihoin demanded as she cradled her protege.
"I.. I can't... keep my... promise... to lead your squad."
"Soi-Fon, that's enough." Yoruichi commanded more forcefully.
"I... hope... I made... you proud... Lady... Yoruichi..."
"SOI-FON SHUT UP!" Yoruichi yelled, tears forcing their way out of her eyes as she reached Squad 4.
"I... love..."
"Soi-Fon? Soi-Fon!? Soi-Fon wake up! SOI-FON I AM ORDERING YOU TO WAKE UP!" She yelled helplessly at the now lifeless body of Soi-Fon. "SOI-FON!" Retsu came out to the despairing form of Yoruichi Shihoin as she cried over the loss of her student, her protege, her little sister, her precious little bee.
(Chad's Fight: Same Time)
A vicious right hook slammed into the face of Meninas McAllon, a tall, busty, and thin woman with long pink hair, green eyes, and dressed in a skirt and short sleeved uniform ending in frills, even on her gloves and boots. She was Sternritter P, the Power, and her shrift gave her superhuman strength. Strength that was so far being matched by the Fullbringer, Yasutora Chad Sado. She threw her own punch but Chad deflected it before slamming an elbow into her gut.
"Your strength is real," The mixed Hispanic teen admitted, "but you can't actually fight." It was apparent to the teen that she merely relied on her raw power instead of technique or speed, letting his throw several quick jabs into her stomach before backing up due to feeling like he was punching steel.
"That hurt." Meninas said as her body bulked up greatly, like her skin was being strained to the limit to contain her muscles. "I'm going to kill you now." Chad barely had the time to bring a shield up to absorb the blow before being sent flying through the entire Seireitei, a shield at his back to withstand the worst of the damage, before finally stopping.
"And I thought I packed a punch." The Fullbringer groaned as he slowly got back up, just in time to see Meninas about to throw a building at him. He activated both shield arms and charged them, Reishi flaring from the ends of his arms. "El Directo!" He shouted, firing both blasts at the Quincy and the building. The building was destroyed but Meninas shot like a bullet to toward Chad, slamming her fist into his shield and making a massive crater from the force of the impact. The Fullbringer felt the shock throughout his entire body, the bones in his arms and legs feeling like they were about to snap from the pressure she put on him. Chad felt trapped trying to withstand the power behind Meninas's attack but he remembered the basic ability of all Fullbringer, Fullbring itself.
It was more than Bringer Light, more than a specific object granting them strength, it was controlling anything and everything around them. One just needed control and Reiatsu to do so, and Chad had plenty. He used Bringer Light to help him push Meninas aside and off him. As her fist slammed into the ground it sent a cloud of debris into the air and Chad took the chance to Fullbring the debris to shackle her wrists and force herself into a choke-hold, using her enhanced bulk against her. Meninas made her arms bigger and pulled back, cutting off more of her own blood flow but also made Chad feel like he was about to have his arms ripped off of him. He let go of one and let himself get pulled along by her massive arm, practically passing out from the sudden rush, but he held on long enough to use Bringer Light to get himself into the proper position to dislocate her shoulder.
"AHHH!" She screamed in pain as her bones cracked from the forceful motion. Chad then grabbed her other wrist and slammed a foot against the base of her spine while manifesting his Devil arms.
"La Muerte." He charged his fists and threw a series of jabs to send shocks through her body, soon making her black out. Once she was unconscious, he released her. "These Quincy are something else." He groaned before seeing a giant gladiator and giant hands attacking the Shinigami. Wordlessly he reached into his pocket and pulled out a few Gikon. It was discovered that a Fullbringer using the full power of their unique ability drew heavily from their life force, but Nozomi found a way to substitute that with the raw power in a blank artificial soul. Bracing himself for the next fight, Chad swallowed each of the pills and activated his Diablo Gigante, growing in size to match Gerard. But before he could take a single step a hole appeared in his chest, dispelling his giant form and fall to the ground as his life drained from him. 'Ich..i..go... please... hurry.' His last thoughts before everything faded.
(Vantage point)
One job, just one job in this battle. That was all he had to do was that one job. Kill Ichigo Kurosaki; that was the one task assigned to Lille Barro, the first Quincy given a Schrift and leader of Yhwach's Schutzstaffel. He was a dark skinned man with short white hair and a black X crosshair over his left eye which he kept shut, wearing a white sleeveless shirt and leggings with dark green furred pants, pauldron, and bicorn hat. Even his weapon of choice, a rifle called 'Diagramm' had a furred body with a plus sign at the end of the barrel and a wide vertical stock to stabilize it. But his ultimate power was with his Schrift, the X-axis, a power to pierce through anything in his line of sight.
Lille still took the chance to remove any unsavory elements that may threaten the other Quincy, not out of concern for his allies as all Quincy that fell fed their king's power but out of boredom. The persons of interest, or 'special war potentials' as his majesty referred to them as, in Kenpachi Zaraki and Kisuke Urahara were unfortunately impossible for him to snipe. Either moving around too quickly or just not in his sight and it would be detrimental to give up his vantage point. One person close to Ichigo eventually made himself a prime target, trying to get as big as Gerard.
"Yasutora Sado," Lille took aim and fired, making a baseball sized hole in the Fullbringer's chest, "eliminated." He then sensed two powerful Reiatsu and found two Arrancar with his main target. He quickly took aim, attempting to shoot Ichigo through his head, only for one of the Arrancar to notice and shove the hybrid aside, losing most of his head in the process. "Damn!" The sniper cursed when a compress Cero flew straight at him at light speed. The speed and accuracy shocked Lille into opening his left eye as the blast of Reishi washed over him, covering the top half of his body but left him untouched. "How shameful, forced to use my left eye." The X-axis had another power, sealed by him leaving his left eye shut, the power to phase through attacks by 'piercing' them with his being.
"Die." He heard from above him as Starrk appeared, glowing in blue burning Reishi in his empowered form as he readied another shot. Lille brought his rifle up to shoot the Arrancar when a scimitar blade cut through it. Starrk fired another Cero and Lille was forced to open his eye again to avoid damage, closing it once the Cero ended but had to jump away when Kyoraku attempted to slash him again.
"That was terrible of you, shooting Sado like that." The captain as he noted the change in Katen Kyokotsu's mood to Kageoni. "That's one of my Kouhai's best friends." Starrk kept his guns trained on Lille but both marksmen kept an eye on Kyoraku as he walked about. "And you wouldn't like that kid when he's mad." The moment Kyoraku stepped on Starrk's shadow he disappeared, surprising Lille but not Starrk who suspected his ally was attempting something. With the window of opportunity the captain gave him, he shot rapid-fire Balas like a machine gun. It was only activating his Blut that kept Lille from wasting a third time opening his eye, feeling it an insult to do so against a Hollow that already forced him twice. He flashed away with Hirenkyaku and landed some distance away.
"White." He heard from underneath him as Kyoraku sprang out of his shadow and swiftly cut off a leg, hitting the white part of the Quincy's leggings. He tried flashing away again before Starrk appeared behind him.
"Match." The Arrancar charged a Cero, but didn't release it when he noticed Lille's opened left eye. "That left eye prevents you from being harmed, doesn't it?" Coyote guessed it after seeing it happen the second time but the third would confirm it.
"How infuriating." Lille said as all three landed while the crosshair on the Quincy's left eye began to glow. "To open my eye three times to you. You are correct, but now nothing can hurt me. And I will kill both of you for this unholy transgression you've committed. Jilliel." He flashed white with a Fleur-de-lis pentagram and revealed a robed figure with eight wings of golden light with three holes in each with a giant halo above his head and white lines on his face.
"Is that supposed to be intimidating?" Starrk asked as he and Kyoraku prepared to fight. "Because you look ridiculous."
(Squad 4 Barracks)
It was a nightmare. Despite all their prep work and training done, casualties just came pouring in from unseated officers to lieutenants. Unohana was almost about to thank her luck that not a single captain needed her care before Yoruichi came in too late to save Soi-Fon, making her wonder how many more unlucky souls were out there that her squad would be unable to reach. When Yamamoto activated his Bankai, her concern grew even more as she prepared to lose an old and valued friend. She even had to make the difficult order to focus on those that they know they could save among the critical cases. She had the ability to help with Minazuke but she couldn't use her Shikai out of concern that someone may strike when she was without her Zanpakuto. A concern that validated itself when a male Quincy with long blonde hair and a Sternritter uniform appeared in her Squad's courtyard.
"Oh my, this is an unexpected visit." She said, maintaining a pleasant smile as she unsheathed her blade. "You must be quite confident in your abilities to so brazenly set foot in my hospital. Especially since you're an enemy."
"This is something I could only do now." The Quincy said as he walked toward Unohana without fear. "When his majesty is without his Omniscient sight and while he is busy killing your Captain Commander."
(Final Fight)
Yamamoto waited, waited for the Quincy Emperor, waited for his destined rematch, waited for the end. Chojiro, his loyal right hand, stayed with him determined to fulfill his duty and Yamamoto's lieutenant. Even when a Sternritter called Discroll, the 'Overkill', appeared to fight him, Chojiro did not abandon his captain. Even after becoming exhausted from a stubborn opponent and the use of his Bankai he stayed, refusing to abandon his post. And Yamamoto waited, knowing that he would be coming to him soon. That patience was rewarded when his old enemy appeared. He looked almost exactly as he did a thousand years ago, tall with long black hair, broad chin, reddish brown eyes, long face with pronounced cheekbones, the only difference was a bushy mustache and muttonchops but he was still the same Yhwach from a thousand years ago, wearing a white double breasted trench coat covered in a tattered maroon black cloak.
"A thousand years ago, myself and the first generation of the Gotei beat you into submission to the point you had to hide and lick your wounds for the next millennium." Yamamoto stated as his cane revealed his Zanpakuto. "It's truly telling of your depravity how just the sight of you, even after a thousand years, feels me with such anger and hate." The area around him erupted into fire as he continued to blaze with the flames growing higher and higher. "But this will be the last time either of us sees the other."
"Do you believe yourself able to win this fight?" Genryusai heard from his left, looking to find another Yhwach. "I did lick my wounds, but I also made sure to gather my strength. You, on the other hand, grew old, gentle, and weak. The captain commander from a thousand years ago would've wiped out entire clans from breaking the law, would've reduced his own to ashes without a second thought instead of letting a long and flawed justice system drag it out. The Genryusai Yamamoto from a thousand years ago was far harder and far stronger."
"So imagine my disgust when that powerful figure, turned into such a tired old wretch." A third Yhwach appeared behind Yamamoto. "But, in knowing of my return, did some of that old fire come back? To do whatever it took to win?" The fire around the captain commander compressed onto himself.
"I have gained no artificial means of strength Yhwach. I have no illusions of seeing tomorrow and will fight you to my fullest ability. Ban-" Yamamoto said as Ryuujin Jakka became an ancient, weathered sword, damaged by fire and smoking. At the same time, all three Yhwachs pulled out a Quincy medallion and attempted to steal the Bankai of the ancient dragon, to ultimately no effect. "-kai, Zanka no Taichi. I have no means of strengthening myself Yhwach, but I did ensure this power would never become yours. It's my parting gift to my successor." In the month before the battle, Yamamoto wrote his final requests, what he would leave to who, and drank a vial of Ichigo Kurosaki's blood, consigning his power and blade to the future Soutaicho. But until that time, it was his for one last battle.
"Truly spiteful Yamamoto." One of the Yhwachs said as all three attacked, one firing a spirit arrow while the other two charged in to swing their blades. One blade lost half of its body as it finished its arc, another blade collided with Yamamoto's Bankai and started to become warped while the hand that held it started to burn, and the arrow was caught by Genryusai and disintegrated in his touch. After the failed strike, all three Yhwach backed off to figure out what happened.
'The one that lost his blade to West cannot be the real Yhwach.' The captain commander thought as he tried to figure out which one was the actual Yhwach. 'Even if Zanka no Taichi's power burns away anything in an instant, the real Yhwach would find some way to defend against it for as long as he could.' His eyes drifted to the only Yhwach that was unharmed by his flames. 'The other one is a candidate for withstanding East for as long as he did, but would Yhwach willingly put himself in harm's way?' The two that managed to have some resistance to Yamamoto's heat attacked again, shooting arrows and sword slashed, both trading who was attacking and who was assisting, putting Yama on the defensive while he still tried to figure out who was who when the third Yhwach restored his blade and jumped in as all three began shifting their motions and positions.
'Captain... I'm sorry for my weakness.' Chojiro thought as he tried to use the power of his Koko Gonryo Rikyu, but the absolute heat and dryness in the air left no charge for him to utilize and was left with his pike sparking as the only source of conductive material. Yamamoto himself continued to try and determine which Yhwach was real when the lieutenant noticed one of the Yhwach smirking confidently as it summoned an arrow, this one brimming with power. 'Not if I can stop it!' Chojiro promised himself as he charged at the lone Yhwach, a charge ended by a sickening series of cracks and tears as Sasakibe's body was twisted to the point that was torn apart.
'What was-' Yamamoto glanced at the sound and found Chojiro's broken form with the unharmed Yhwach. "THERE!" He shouted, stabbing the tip of his blade into the ground. "Zanka no Taichi, Minami: Kaka Jumanokushi Daisojin!" He shouted as he summoned an army of skeleton, the ashes of all the people he killed with his flames, and left them to handle the two Yhwach's that were attacking him. 'This clinches it.' He thought as he saw a look of recognition and horror pass both the Yhwach faces. 'The real Yhwach cared nothing for the people under his command, would make sure he was protected, and he will pay for what he did to MY LIEUTENANT!' He thought in fury as he charged for the lone Yhwach, who readied an arrow. "Zanka no Taichi, Kita: Tenchi Kaijin!" He roared as he swung at the lone Yhwach, only for it to cut through someone else. "Ishida!?" Yamamoto yelled in shock as Uryu instantly appeared between him and Yhwach in a Sternritter uniform and lost most of his gut from the Captain Commander's attack.
"Sorry Captain Commander. I must do this for the Quincy." Uryu apologized as he was instantly healed and Yamamoto was now missing much of his torso, the heat now dropping as Yamamoto felt the impact of such a mortal injury. So much so that his left shoulder was then blown off by an arrow from the Yhwach he was trying to attack while a broadsword made of Reishi slashed Zanka no Taichi in half, disabling the Bankai and bringing in the rain.
"Good work Royd, Lloyd." The Yhwach with the burned hand thanked the other two as they nodded their thanks for their lord's approval. "And you too Uryu. I actually doubted you were capable of doing this." Uryu bowed his head to the Quincy emperor.
"Like I said, I do what I must for the future of the Quincy."
"And we shall prosper for it." Yhwach then turned to face his rival then jumped away immediately along with the rest of his Quincy. 'How did, when did... was that his true speed?' Yhwach wondered as Ichigo looked upon the dying form of his master and mentor.
'Ichigo... so you've finally returned... a pity.' Yamamoto thought as he looked into the eyes of his young student, unsure if his eyes were wet from disbelieving tears or from the rain. 'It... seems like I can't speak. Must've lost my lungs... and my vision is playing tricks on me now.' The image of the hybrid he knew was there was switching between him and an older, more confident, and stronger Ichigo with three blades at his hip. 'This... is honestly a better final sight than I deserve. But, I know I'm leaving Soul Society in good hands.' The dragon smiled and held up what remained of his blade and Ichigo slowly took it into his hands as he figured out what Yamamoto was silently telling him to do. In his eyes, the future Ichigo returned the smile with an expression that said 'I've got this'. In reality, Ichigo bowed his head as tears started falling down his face. 'Goodbye.'
'Goodbye.' The two silently thought to each other as Ichigo felt Yamamoto's life fade. "Auswahlen." He said, barely a whisper, as Yamamoto's form was consumed in black fire that was absorbed into Ichigo, leaving a dead Genryusai Yamamoto. Still standing, still smiling, as he knew the future was safe.
