Chapter 10: Tenth Ring

I exited the Garganta and beheld the most quaint little town I ever did see. I took it all in, the solution to all my problems. Well hello there Mrs. Karakura. I'm here to suck you and your son dry. Hope you don't mind if I destroy that small child's innocence in doing so.

I started casting out my most valued ability, cloaking Mila and Harribel in it to let them know I was on the ball. Better not waste time here.

"Sung-Sun." Lady Harribel addressed me. "Where's Apacci?"

"I gave her some inspirational words. Whether she chooses to follow will be done out of her own free will at this point." All humans touched by my power were drained of all their power. But I had yet to touch every corner of this little town...

"Hmph, what's the hold up with that damn kid? Figured she'd be raring to go, and instead she's holding us all up!"

"She's afraid Mila." I looked at Our Lady out the corner of my eyes. "She's afraid of perishing, as anyone should be. She's a stranger to us, trusting us at this point would be odd."

"And what if she expects a slice of the pie when-" I tuned her out as I looked around. Even if it was just seconds since I got through the Garganta I thought I would have found him by now.

And then I did.

I descended from the sky as my eyes saw a cadaver, obfuscated by darkness and tall grass. But still...even in the dead of night...

I could still see her orange hair.

I descended to the ground with grace, my current companions following me as I stared at this scene. How lucky...hmhmhmhm.

Mila's gruff voice spoke up. "So, is this the-" She was about to nudge the corpse with her paw when a new presence was felt. I turned to the Garganta, Franceska turning with me. "Hm...'bout time she got over whatever she was having."

"Indeed. I thought it would take her a bit longer however. It's only been a few seconds since I got here."

"Still irritating though." Apacci looked around trying to find us until she finally looked down and rushed at us. I saw the Garganta behind Emilou close as Harribel finally closed it behind my back.

Finally the idiot touched down. "Well?! Are we going to stand here or what?!"

I was far too tempted to roll my eyes at her. "Oh relax Emilou, we've found our little gold mine. One at least. Still have yet to find those two." Not even half a minute passed since I got to work and I already found a good one.

Except I didn't.

I heard struggling behind me. Aforementioned failure finally waking up to a whole new world of pain and suffering. "M-mom?" The cadaver moved, the disappointing baby underneath finally having awoken to flap his mouth to make useless noise. I turned to the scene to see Lady Harribel watching in stoic silence as the child finally began to understand what happened. Just as I prepared my body to fling the deceased woman away and in multiple pieces, Lady Harribel plucked her away and placed her down to Ichigo's right. His eyes never left his mothers for a second. And then he began crying.

"Hey..." I heard Emilou whisper in my ear. "Is this that one human kid you were talking about? I can't feel anything from him." Yes...I couldn't either.

"You screw up somewhere Sung-Sun?"

Deep breaths Sung-Sun. There had to be some way out of this. You-

I was interrupted as Lady Harribel punched the soul out of the stupid brat.

...Oh! The Soul-Body Separation technique. Forgot about that. And clearly these two did as well since they were freaking out too.

I slithered up to him as the child began to make even more noise. Now I could feel something. But my head turned to the northeast, my power giving me the sweetest news.

My comr-...my inferiors turned to look in the direction that I was.

"You found em' Sung-Sun?" Franceska's voice overpowered the crying.

"Yes, two of them, both in the same place. This may go quicker than even my wildest dreams suggested it might. Now...as for you..." I turned to the child, his wide eyes brimming with tears as I looked at him.

"Be gentle with him."

"Yes Madam, I'll try not to scar him." I opened my mouth, the alternate version of my ability activating.

To the young boy, her fangs glowed bright pink. And then he felt nothing but immense pain. But the pain inflicted on his body would still be nothing in comparison to the loss of his mother.

To the snake, all she felt was power overflowing. Her power having found all three. And even better, none of them were moving at all. Meaning that not only had the two Captains not caught on, but that she wouldn't have to rearrange her power to catch them again.

"Well Sung-Sun? How do you feel? Are you taking it quickly enough?"

"Yes Milady. This is going far faster than expected, but there was a lot less conversion than I thought I'd have to do." I looked at the boy below me as he tried to run away, only to be pulled back to his mortal yoke by the Soul Chain. "It's like he's part Hollow himself."

"Hmph. Don't be so ridiculous Sung-Sun. This little whelp could never be like us, he must just be some weakling Quincy or something."

"Yes yes Mila, your input is very appreciated. Perhaps you could give us some actual insight when you become more spiritually attuned Hm?"

"Ha! Coming from the person who thought this boy was worth something when I don't even feel anything from him!"

"Hm, your bitterness isn't appreciated Mila, and I'm sure this child doesn't appreciate it either, perhaps if you stop talking he'll stop crying. And besides, I do get something from him."

"Grr-"

"Mila...honestly...you're a lion. Do you think growling will calm him down?"

"You can be such a cu-"

"Mila. Not in front of the child."

"Yes Ma'am." It was nice to hear Franceska grit her teeth. Apacci meanwhile was unusually quiet. Guess she was coming to terms with things.

Strangle To Death, Anaconda!

"Do you feel that Kisuke?" A deep voice from a small being made itself known within the small room.

"Yep, that's a lot of unsettling customers...don't you think so too Yoruichi?"

"Now now Kisuke, just because they're strong doesn't mean they're here to cause trouble." The cat sounded amused.

"Yeah but I can feel that something or other is going on. Not to mention the fact they might bring the cops to our fine establishment!" The blond man with the cane postured about, making only one other man in the room tense up.

"Madam Yoruichi! Kisuke Urahara! Do you not feel this?! If we do not do something-!" The tall dark skinned giant was silenced as Kisuke began talking again, most of his face hidden by his green and white strapped hat.

"Calm down Tessai! What's the worst that's gonna happen? They're only window shopping, whether they come to us or not is entirely dependant on if they're interested in our services or not!" Kisuke whipped out a fan and began fanning himself. There was not a trace of worry in Kisuke's tone. Only joyous optimism and joviality.

He truly wasn't concerned in the slightest.

Tessai Tsukabishi however... "Please! Madam Yoruichi! You must do something!"

The small black cat waved it's paw at him and looked the other way, tail flicking as it did so. "Oh please Tessai, you can't get worked up over every little detail. This situation is going to resolve itself somehow." Yoruichi started looking at the shelves of the shop that Kisuke owned for anything interesting. That was when Tessai's glasses gleamed.

As his glasses took on a terrifying shine he realized how to resolve this dreadful situation. He was silent for but a second before he finally spoke. "I will buy you fifty packets of cat food." A most powerful bribe to be sure.

Yoruichi looked at him our the corner of it's eye. "Well...alright. There's going to be that brand I've been hearing about in it too right? This Felix was it?"

"I'll do my best."

"Well alright then." Yoruichi's tail began to sway as the cat began walking to the door, the giant in the apron sliding the door open for it.

In truth, it was a rather intriguing situation. This power...this ability...

Didn't work on her.

Whatever this ability was it was hard to find. This power was like a black hole, something that could only be seen by it's effects rather than anything else.

She had to use Reiraku on her two friends in order to get an idea of where to look, but the Reiryoku being drained had a trail that ended suddenly. The Spirit Ribbons evaporating into nothing, but she could make enough of a guess to identify where the Reiryoku stealing poison was.

Hm, good thing she developed a resistance to poisons. Hope Soi Fon kept up with that training. It came in useful from time to time.

Strangle To Death, Anaconda!

The Seireitei was alarmed to say the least.

The reason Tessai was so eager to have Yoruichi solve the situation was because of how unlikely it was for the Seireitei to mobilise in the time it took her to handle it.

And indeed, this situation was something that scarcely ever happened.

As in; it didn't.

The night sky was filled with black butterflies. Hell Butterflies, the messengers of death. All of them filled with certain messages. The ones telling the Captains to assemble had already been sent, all of them were assembled before The Captain Commander.

The wizened old man spoke. "Tonight an unprecedented situation has befallen us. A Vasto Lorde, along with three Adjuchas, have gathered in a single place. And even more, according to Captain Mayuri's readings from the Research and Development Institute, they are not destroying each other. Furthermore, one of the presences is one that is extremely familiar to us all." Some heads gave a minute twitch. "Yes, it is her again." Head Captain Genryusai Yamamoto opened his eyes. "Our greatest shame, a sign of remarkable incompetence that will not go away until we have dealt with her. Now you may be wondering; is she a Vasto Lorde? Or is she an Adjucha?" He banged the pristine wooden floor with his cane. "Well you should be ashamed regardless of the answer, the rate of growth is unprecedented. But I suppose I should lighten the blow of your failures and tell you that it is an Adjucha."

Two years. That was the general thoughts of those in the room. Soifon clenched her fist, Ukitake pulled his head down, Byakuya closed his eyes for a moment, Kaname Tōsen reflected. Gin and Kenpachi however only grew a more demented grin. The only one's who seemed concerned and empathetic were Unohana and Aizen, their faces expressing care and shock.

"But sir," Aizen spoke up. "What's happening to the town? If it's destroyed then even the Twelfth Division will have it's hands full with the aftermath."

"Indeed young Aizen. Fret not however, the Hollows have yet to move or attack anything so far. But we must be orderly! Do not lose your head over the humans in the living world, or we may lose more of them. If the worst comes to worst, the leader of this may have found even more strong Hollows and convinced them to invade at separate points entirely. The initial force being sent will consist of: Jushiro Ukitake, Soi Fon, and Gin Ichimaru. Bring your Vice-Captains if you think they will be of aid to you. Kaname Tōsen will stand by in the case you need reinforcements. It is not ideal, but Gentei Reīn will be applied. It's not ideal to limit eighty percent of your power, but it as you said, human casualties are a thing that must be avoided at all costs. I have chosen you four because you are all less likely to do damage to the surroundings." He closed his eyes again. "In the worst case scenario, where Gentei Reīn must be activated, Soifon will be the first to have it unlocked. Then Gin, then Jushiro. Of course, if you decide to bring in your Lieutenants then they will go in without Gentei Reīn. You have one minute to prepare. Dismissed!" Gin...perhaps the most dangerous choice, having a Zanpakutō capable of immense damage to the settlement, it was unlikely that he or his Zanpakutō would be manipulated into doing so, but the risk was still there. This...attack if one saw fit to call it that may not have been born out of ego, but genius stratagems instead.

He banged the floor once more with his cane, all the Captains that were to be deployed immediately having disappeared in a Flash Step. Kaname simply walking out of the room.

His first stop being his Vice-Captain. Then they would stand at the Senkaimon, ready to jump into the fray at the soonest sign of trouble.

"Head Captain," Aizen spoke as silence reigned in the room. "Might I send a few Hell Butterflies? Momo is probably scared for my health, as long as a few others."

"Hmm, that behavior is unprofessional and unbecoming of a Lieutenant of a Division. She should learn to grow a spine. I would not promote so pitiful a whelp to the rank of Captain if he needed protection from a little girl."

Toshiro spoke. "That may be Captain Commander, but causing Momo more stress than is needed will not help anyone. She's not the type to learn how to firm up like that. It takes time for a person like her-"

"I am well aware of your interactions with her and find that unprofessional as well. She should learn not to be like this. She will get used to the stress eventually. If her Captain being away for stretches of time, or even him doing his job frightens her, then I must sincerely question her capabilities."

Aizens gentle voice was the next thing to be heard in the room. "Sir I must protest, Momo is an excellent Lieutenant of the Kidō corps, no one else has the same grasp as her. The only thing she's lacking is confidence in combat, and I'm perfectly willing to bring her out if any more strong Hollows appear. Please sir, Momo is just an empathetic soul. There is no need to be so harsh with her." His gentle expression and tone of voice brought to mind certain Lieutenants.

All the Vice-Captains had been told was that the Captains had been summoned and that they had to stand by for possible deployment. The exact situation being unknown. But still, Momo Hinamori was the most emotionally fragile Shinigami that there probably ever was, or ever will be.

It would be amusing to see how she might have otherwise developed as a Hollow. Would she still have that soft personality of hers? Alas, both question and answer were meaningless, he did not trouble himself with what may have been.

"Fine then, I suppose if you are going to bring her in what I assume to be a similar position then it is best she be informed of the situation in it's entirety. If the rest of you feel the need to do so then you may also inform them. Just make it quick."

"Thank you Head Captain." Aizen prepared the butterflies. And as Kaname and his Lieutenant stood by, one of Aizen's butterflies would land on Kaneme's fingers, delivering orders to him.

Strangle To Death, Anaconda!

"Hey Sung-Sun, I'm not exactly feeling the power flowing through me over here."

"Yes yes Apacci, I know that you're not the smartest one here but if I haven't even evolved yet then giving you two power will hardly help with anything. Honestly..." God I want to evolve already, then I can finally sass these idiots with eye rolls and not look ugly doing so.

Fools almost made me say third wheels which is an alarming sign. I hope my IQ isn't going down with each word from them I hear.

"So how close are you Sung-Sun? We've been lucky supposedly but I can't exactly sense things as well as you and Lady Harribel can." Franceska's voice was wrought with more tension than Apacci's.

"Relax Mila..." I ran the numbers in my head. I think I've got it in two minutes. But I wasn't too confident about the number I admit. "Probably three minutes and there will be two Vasto Lordes on the field." That was the answer I finally settled on giving.

"I see, then there will be trouble. But that is fine." Harribels words roused our intrigue, and my admiration.

"Yes? How so Ma'am?"

Our Lady stood in front of us all, staring across the riverbank as it rained. "We will handle the Captains as well. Sung-Sun can even alert us to their presence, allowing us to move away and potentially buy more time as she drains them. Eventually, we'll be able to look out for each other, just don't let your guard down. They're bound to have tricks up their sleeves."

I spoke up. "I see, we will become Vasto Lordes yes, but do you really think these two idiots can avoid getting suicidally overconfident? No offense Milady."

"Hey! I'm not that stupid, we just gotta be careful of rookie over here."

I spoke before Emilou could get a word out of her mouth. "I dunno. I think both of you will probably get at least a little power hungry and I'll have to reign you in." Having flashbacks about being burnt wasn't the greatest thing to recall. "Some Captains are going to require all of your concentration. Especially with these bodies of ours."

"Ha! Well I'm not nearly as afraid as you!"

"Yes yes Mila, we get it. There's plenty of fat for them to cut through when they strike you."

"What?! You cheeky little bint! When I become Vasto Lorde I'm gonna-"

Oh, that's a problem...Yoruichi beheld the tragedy before her, staring at Masaki's corpse and her young child. More specifically, at Ichigo's soul chain. This really isn't good at all...Masaki...

"How uncouth Mila. Perhaps you should wash your mouth after saying that? There's a stream right there," the snake pointed with her tail. "Perhaps I'll throw you in it?"

Yoruichi stepped in before the lion Hollow could reply. "Excuse me," she stayed still as all Hollows present turned to her. "Do you happen to know who might have assaulted that woman on the ground over there?"

I was immediately on edge. This little furball wasn't showing up on any of my senses. This thing didn't have any spiritual energy at all. I reared back and began to speak. "Oh look Mila. Something to take the edge off. Oh wait, I forgot you prefer women."

"For God's sake Sung-Sun! Shut the hell up before I shove my paw down your mouth!"

"Oh god please don't." I groaned. "I don't want your muddy paw and fur any near my mouth. Keep whatever dirty little fetishes you have to yourself okay?"

"You bitch! How can you say that! You even know how desperate you sound at times?!"

"Oh that's rich coming from little Ms. Insecurity over here. Just because you're too afraid to come out the closet, honestly...I've seen the way you look at-"

"Shut the fuck up Sung-Sun!"

"Okay okay geez, but you're teaching the child over here bad manners." I pointed with my tail at the child trapped in my coils, unable to escape. "You know Lady Harribel just forbade that didn't you? Oh, speaking of which, what'd this cat want again? Why don't you meow at her Mila? Perhaps wag that fat behind of yours? One of them will inspire a response more pleasant than hearing you talk at least."

The little black cat spoke up. No, little wasn't right, it just wasn't as tall as a Hollow. "Actually we felines speak in a myriad of ways, but her shaking that at me will be asking for the impossible. I'm not actually a man you see."

"Oh, that explains Mila's rough and tumble voice. You're all cursed with that, I see...my apologies." I dipped my head to her, the poor leper could do with some sympathy I guess. "So you were talking about the woman? Some loser killed her."

"Hey! Where's my apology Cyan?!" I ignored Mila.

"I see. And do you happen to know the name of this person?" The cat's yellow eyes made direct contact with mine, no trace of fear to be found in her eyes.

"Grand Fisher or something? I don't really care to remember pathetic nobodies, so I won't be able to give you that answer again."

"I see, thank you miss...?"

"Are you really so stupid as to think I'm just going to give it to you?" I looked at Rose. "Is this some kind of defect amongst your inferior kind Franceska?"

"Heh. Yeah Rose, that funny skull of yours turn your brains to mush or something?" Even Emilou picked up on how stupid Franceska's Hollow Mask looked.

"How about you two sassy trollops go fuck yourselves?"

I tilted my head as I thought. "Hmm, that was an okay insult Mila. But because it only applies to Emilou I'm going to have to take points away for the plural. And next time don't regurgitate my words okay? It's adorable but not that creative."

"Tch, I'll get to putting you in your place later Sung-Sun, but for now..." Mila swung her head towards the cat. "Now that you're satisfied get the hell outta here! You're an eyesore."

Now I just had to step in. "Oh come now Mila, there's no need to be distant from possible friends just because you're a little fat in comparison. Stop being so insecure!"

"Pfft-Ahahahaha! Yeah Mila. Might want to hold off on being more lonely than you are right now. You're pretty bitchy so maybe actually having someone to talk to will make you less of a pain to be around."

"See? Even Emilou's noticed it." I closed my eyes. "Honestly...you would be a hopeless savage without the magnanimous charity of Our Lady. Wandering the wastes and killing everything you saw...honestly." I shook my head and opened my eyes once again. "At least I talked to someone without killing them."

"Not to interrupt the circus but might I ask you to stop whatever it is your doing to my friends?"

I froze. And I wasn't the only one.

Me and Mila turned to the little black cat. The worst sign of luck. Mila however, was more uncomprehending of just how threatening the little thing had suddenly become.

I tilted my head, looking down at the cat. "You mean...those two friends...?" Did she know those two? But how? I already caught Kisuke and Yoruichi in my grasp, so how?! "Wait...I never did get your name. Don't you think you should at least give your own before you ask for mine?"

"If I do will you give me yours?" The black cat just sat there and calmly sassed me. Wagging it's tail and meeting my eyes, not a quiver of fear to be found in it's body.

Emilou spoke up, audibly hostile. "Hey didn't Sung-Sun just give you the name of that guy you wanted so bad? I think you owe her something!"

"Yes well...I suppose so. Your friend over here is-"

"Hey! Where the hell do you get off sayin' that I'm friends with her!?"

I couldn't let that slide. "I know exactly what you mean Apacci, no one wants to be friends with you. The only charming trait you have is your insolence. And that's really not a good thing to have."

"You..." She seethed.

"I see, well my friends are called Kisuke and Tessai." Who?! "You see your kind of mooching off them, and they can't really handle that, so Tessai asked me to help stop you."

I burst in before those two could open their mouths. "And how are you going to do that?" I maintained my composure as best I could, yet actions spoke louder than words. Speaking before the rest may have been too suspicious, but I absolutely could not have those two rattle off names.

"Well...originally I was going to fight you all, as it is I'm going to have to handle the humans. So, if you please? Oh and...can you undo whatever it is you've done to the young man over there?" She pointed her paw at Ichigo, her paw smaller than Lady Harribel's hand, her paw that contained what I could only think of as too much power.

"Hmm..." I couldn't help but be glad I had yet to evolve, else I might be grinding my teeth with enough force to turn metal to dust.

"No."

At the sound of My Lady's words we all lashed out, myself being far more quicker on the draw. You see there was a reason I called my ability Serpientes Veneno Inexistente. It was because Veneno meant both poison and venom, and this little bitch was only immune to the one, so I was going to rip into her and find out just how much Spirit Energy really lay in that meatsack. My four fangs descended as my neck and body lunged for her, the remaining half tightening around the boy and yielding a scream of pain from him. Speaking of screaming...

"Graahh!"

"Rrrrah!"

"I'm gonna fucking kill you!" Woah Emilou, calm down.

As I screamed, my mouth about to crush her jaw I felt something happen in the back of my body, a slight shift happened inside. Must have been the child, I made for Yoruichi, my head sinking into where she was.

And eating dirt.

No meat or soggy fur to be tasted, just wet soil. I pieced it together and tightened my body as best as I could. But the lightness still remained.

I registered one child lighter.

I turned to see the cat with the woman's shirt in her tiny mouth and the Soul Chain having been slotted on her left paw, her paw having been small enough to slip through the chain link if done in the right way, thus dragging the meat and the soul of a child who still had my mark upon his left shoulder.

We all turned around, watching as she stood there with our ticket to freedom. "Well," She spoke around the blood soaked blouse in her mouth. "I have to be going now. Ta-ta." She disappeared, in a flash of movement too fast for the three of us to track, but Our Lady seemed to know where she went, head turning in another direction to track them.

"Dammit!" Emilou stomped on the ground, cratering it. Guess we knew where to bury that wretched furball at least.

"That wretched little- where did she go?!" Mila also started destroying the ground in rage. "How could you let that happen Sung-Sun?! You were holding onto him with your ass!"

"No I wasn't you imbecile! Her Majesty expressly forbade me from crippling him! What was I supposed to do?! Break every bone in his body?! Don't you pin this all on me you slacker!" I on the other hand was just in scathing disbelief.

Beaten by a filthy mutant midget...

"You were supposed to hold on tighter you fool!"

"That's enough." We turned towards Lady Harribel. "That was the tightest grip she could have had on him without breaking him. What happened was that she waited until Cyan's strike had blinded her to her opponent. It was then that she moved towards Ichigo and with a slight movement unlodged her grip on him. That cat possesses a Captains power level."

"Huh?!" We all stood in disbelief.

"You mean I was outwitted by a mutant animal and overpowered? That's even more embarrassing Lady Harribel!"

"Heh." Emilou gave a small yet hollow chuckle, clearly disoriented by the events that just happened. If it was any less hollow then she would have been disoriented by the beat down I would have given her.

"Relax Sung-Sun. Still...it is a bit tragic...what we just heard that is. Kisuke and Tessai huh? Then it's likely you forgot someone else as well."

I hung my head in shame, for once I failed in something when she desired a far different outcome. "I'm sorry Lady Harribel..."

The thick skulled tool threw her head my way and barked. "You better be Sung-Sun! You let Lady Harribel down when she wanted that little bitch dead! You say that we can die in the future yet your forgetting people?!-" I metaphorically bit my tongue and weathered Mila's onslaught.

"Relax Mila. Sung-Sun forgets those who are less interesting than our most recent visitor." She turned towards the riverbank and observed the city. "If I'm correct, that may have just been Yoruichi herself. So in a fight Tessai will be the one we have to worry about the least. Sung-Sun, notify us when they start moving."

"Yes Ma'am."

"Wait!" Emilou yelled, like she usually did. "What about the brat? Is Sung-Sun getting anything from him?"

"Yes, my venom is unavoidable. He could go to the north pole for all it mattered and I would still have all his unused Spirit Energy coming to me until he was sucked dry."

"Woah? Really? Why don't you use it more?" Her entire tone and body language exuded wonder.

"Well no one really gets to live afterward, I typically crush their entire body once I bury my fangs somewhere soft. In fact, no one's lived after I used it on them since I killed them, so if Kisuke can't administer a cure to young Ichigo then I guess I'll figure out it's length."

"Woah..." Her head tilted as she stared at me. I was content to sit here and look beautiful for now, staring across the river, my body poised in the dried blood across the grass blades.

Did humans see me in the reflection of the water? I don't think so. But that question was the least of my problems.

After all it was my duty to excel in all tasks imposed on me by Lady Harribel. Yet to fail so...

Suffice to say, it was a very hard time for me to repent for my mistakes since everyone was focusing on the plan. But suddenly it became not so hard to make up for my mistakes after a sufficient amount of time passed. I didn't need to say anything, the reality bending object in the sky did all the talking.

Senkaimon...

"They've appeared. Sung-Sun?"

"Yes Ma'am." I sicked my power onto them. "There are three of them Master." I spread my power, capturing six Captains within it.

"Tch." Mila was clearly aggravated at the news but slowly calmed herself. Emilou was a bit more scared.

Something that Our Lady took notice of. "Are you afraid Emilou?" Said girl was about to reply when Tier continued speaking. "That's okay, it would be suicide to be confident in the face of this." The doors of the Senkaimon glowed yellow and began to move. "Even I'm not, I just won't accept our sacrifices when it will bring no purpose. As long as I still stand I will safeguard you all, look out for each other too. The Shinigami have clearly learned this, and that is why you feel that primal fear of yours. Savour it. Never forget it, because your instincts are serving you right. We simply can't take them on. Probably not even if we were Vasto Lorde. Never forget that fear, it will be the thing that saves you." The doors opened, three Captains, two of whom immediately started sizing us up. "Even as the third strongest Hollow in existence I wasn't enough, so never forget the wisdom in your instincts, it's impossible to win here, but it's possible for us to do something else, and that is why I will never settle for a sacrifice of ours to ever be meaningless-" All three Captains slowly started to descend. "I would like to say I will never have to settle for a sacrifice from any of you, but I am not nearly that foolish or idealistic, but I will do all I can. Just as the person besides you will." I could hear Emilou give a faint gasp.

The silver haired one...the one with longer hair that is, spoke up. "What do you think you're doing here?"

The flat chested woman spoke in a voice remarkably similar to my own. "Why are you even bothering to ask Jushiro? No matter what they say we're going to kill them."

"Yes but don't you think the Captain Commander would like to know why they are here?"

"We can get that when we bring one of them to that freak Mayuri."

"Now Soifon, I know you may not like him but-"

"Honestly you two are unbelievable, just because we share the same station doesn't necessitate making friends." Her voice was like music to my ears, if surprisingly acidic in it's disciplining tone. One might mistake her for sounding scornful, or god forbid...bitchy.

Jushiro sighed, leading to the other man to speak up. "Well...that's actually quite the shame." He frowned, his eyes still closed. "I want to be your friend Soifon, what about you Kira?"

Huh? All of us turned to see someone we somehow missed. How did? No, I had him in my power too was he just?...Forgettable? Whatever. "Ah-please don't involve me in this Sir, I'm...in your division for a reason." The dour man looked downwards.

I guess I just forgot him in the face of so many interesting and stronger characters. "Aw come on Izuru, I'm sure Soifon is perfectly willing to have friends. She just can't have a lot of opportunities what with her work an' all. I know!" The irritating man began to sound excited, his lips turning up into the sly grin it was before. "How about you become her Vice-Captain? I'll just fob hers off on Ukitake or Toshiro and take his Vice-Captain instead!"

"Sir...could you please...not? I'm actually getting kind of embarrassed over here." Izuru hung his head which almost put me in a laughing fit what with his Zanpakutō and all.

"Aw, come on Izuru! Why don't you practice talkin' to these three? Get your social skills up and ready for the Vice-Captain swap?"

"Uhh Sir I don't think-" Kira looked at the unchanging face of his Captain before finally turning to us. "Attention Hollows, your presence here is-"

"No no Kira, that's not how you talk to people. Here, like this-"

The only blonde male I've ever actually seen in my lifetime became incredibly flustered, gaining some colour in his cheeks and some energy to go with it. "But Sir! The reason we're here is to wipe them out!"

Jushiro gave them an exasperated smile. I gave a beaming one, tilting my head down in order to hide it. That was when I started funneling some power over to Mila and Apacci, who gave me a look, the former saw Emilou stare at me and wisely aborted the head movement so as not to give anything away.

This literally could not be going better, these complacent fools were just standing around like tools! And I loved it! Jushiro spoke up. "I'm glad your relations with your Lieutenant are so tight, mine are too actually. What about yours Soifon?"

"He's garbage." Okay, now the scorn was audible, as was irritation. "If we're going to swap Lieutenants then make it convenient for my timetable. Fat tub of lard can barely handle any hard work and the upcoming month is going to be full of it. So hurry up and start arranging it when we get back. Shunsui and Mayuri are going to complain for too long." Wow. No banter from her two colleges. She really shut things down. She turned to us, her long braids swinging minutely as she did so, accidentally showcasing the large golden rings at the end of them. "Now you, what are you doing here? Speak, or be destroyed!"

"And why bother when answering will kill us anyway?" Mila was the one who spoke.

"Because it's also the answer to whether you want a painless death or not." She smirked. "Tell us and maybe you won't end up on Mayuri's dissection table. None of you may be frogs but I'll go ahead and assume the threat still carries the same weight."

"Oh yeah?! Well how about you come down here so I can show you where to shove those words, along with my hoof!" Emilou was obviously the one to say that.

Soifon's smirk stuck firmly on her face. "Hm, you're a bold one aren't you? Then let's see how long that bravado of yours can last." She didn't even draw her sword, she just charged at us at a speed we could follow with our eyes.

And then Our Lady came to our defence, flashing in front of her and forcing the woman to draw her short sword. Soifon was clearly off balance where Our Lady stood strong. "I'm afraid you'll have to get through me if you want to hurt my comrades."

"Sir?" Izuru looked at his superior.

Said man sighed. "Well I suppose a job is a job. I guess you can join in if you want Izuru, you did persist on coming here after all."

"Yes Sir!" Kira and Jushiro came at us all, Gin consciously going much slower.

"Rragh"

"Hrrahh!"

"Rrrrrhh!" A normal warcry from Apacci for once.

As Mila charged Soifon Jushiro backed his fellow Captain, charging at Her Majesty's left as Kira charged at Emilou with a solemn expression. I went with Apacci to wipe him out quickly so we could gather around Her Majesty.

Just before reaching him I saw Soifon kick at Lady Harribel, only to widen her eyes when that had no effect. "I'm afraid you won't find me easy prey when I'm fighting for a cause." Saying this she kicked her opponent in the stomach with her right leg sending her flying away, and as she braced herself for Ukitake she slammed her sword arm down onto his Zanpakutō. Visibly bringing him to his knees and cratering the ground beneath them. Dirt flying everywhere with enough force to tussle Izuru's hair.

Emilou turned to me. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be helping Lady Harribel? Uh, I mean-"

"I'm helping you so we can get this fool out of the way and alleviate Lady Harribel's concerns and pressures." Whether she was concerned or not wasn't something I really knew if it was true or not, but just in case...

Izuru tightened his grip on his Zanpakutō.

"Shoot To Kill, Shinsō."

All three of us turned to Gin as he achieved first release and extended his sword towards Lady Harribel. We watched as his Zanpakutō extended towards her as she held down Jushiro. Repositioning her sword she aimed to fling him at the sword through sheer strength, but then Soifon Flash Stepped behind Lady Harribel. This wouldn't actually be a major cause for concern since Harribel's outfit was actually armor. I don't know how but it was, and the only part open was a part of her face. Unfortunately Soifon was an assassin, so such a thing didn't bother her.

"Get away from her you hussy!"

Strangle To Death, Anaconda!

6817 words or so if you ignore all this. Phew, I kinda wanted to just cram the fight in here but I felt like I kept you waiting long enough, I kind of want to give myself an excuse to take even more time off, because frankly a lot of the waiting was just sloth keeping me behind.

I have no fucking idea how to spell Soifon by the way. All these ō's make me freak the hell out man, I got no idea if there's a space or a dash in between dude. I freak out a little every time one of my favourites comes up. So it's been about month huh? You thought I was joking but I wasn't! Well it only gets worse. But I have to say, for a chapter that's all original content I did pretty damn well getting it out as quick as I did.

God I kinda wanted to turn it into a 11000 word epic. But I did keep you waiting long enough.

So about Kisuke and friends knowing about Sung-Sun's ability before these three did...that's because they got the skills to pay the bills.

Kisuke, Tessai, and Yoruichi. All of whom dabble intensely in Kidō, and are thus more sensitive to it. These three aren't at their level yet, and aren't quite specialized enough.

By the way, someone mentioned using Orihime for stuff that makes a lot of sense, but then he said to fix Nel's mask. Would that actually work? I'm not sure if she'd just get wiped from existence. Sounds like it from what I know, but I'm not an expert at this.