Chapter 5: Shooting Shark

I must have looked quite haggard as I approached him, I rose slowly from the sands, making my entrance both slow and obvious, for all the good it would do I wanted those extra seconds that my slow entrance and dialogue to provide me with even more Reiryoku. I wanted any edge I could get. Even if it was miniscule and frankly insignificant to the point it was not worth mentioning. Shame the situation wasn't radically different. The power would be beyond my wildest expectations, if only there were more time to act.

I rose slowly enough that it took a handful of seconds for me to get a full glimpse of the man that tried to kill me.

A huge humanoid about Jidanbō's height. He was a gigantic thing covered in grey scales all over with giant yellow eyeballs bigger than my skull, six eyes, one crater sized indent of a nose and a mask stuck in a malicious grin.

I really didn't want to say this, but I could sympathise.

Ugh! Sympathy, god I could feel all my hidden self-hatred bubbling up inside me. Yeah, this guys a cunt. No more sympathy, I don't feel like giving anymore. It feels terrible.

Although maybe self-hate is too strong a word. Intense discomfort?

On top of all those unique details his feet were completely flat, like an elephants, something made for crushing. His arms were made to cut and crush, a mixture of spikes and stumpy mutations, up until his wrist gave way to hands that would shatter bones with a casual swipe, I could see he could barely grab anything at all. His fingers didn't even have fingertips.

Was he supposed to be some cancer ridden Tyrannosaurus Rex?

"Hello there cutie. I was wondering when I'd pass by you."

He stated it like he knew me. He didn't. Like me he was just wandering for the biggest fish in the park that would feed him. I was the next stepping stone for his evolution. Just as he was mine. Such a large collection of souls on either side was enough for either of us to evolve.

Was this the divide? The sheer gap that allowed that talentless waste of meat Grimmjow to kill all other Adjucha Arrancar? Was I at that point now? Was I about to enter legend? Because killing this guy wouldn't be easy at all, it seems like victory would be assured in a one on one scenario. But this man was the first talented Adjucha that I've ever had to face.

I was stronger in every way. There was just no way to win this.

"Oh?" I replied as if nothing was wrong at all. I somehow sounded like I was discussing the weather over tea, despite my imminent death. "And why would you look for me? I don't know any ruffian like yourself, nor do I deal with your sort of rabble."

I accompanied that sentence with some aggressive head movement. An eye roll would have looked disgusting however, so I always held off on those no matter what.

I didn't see him react however, intelligent enough to not fight me on his own without his Gillians weakening me. If he tried to fight me himself he'd die. It was inevitable, he couldn't grab me and would die to me in a straight fight regardless if I drained his Reiryoku or didn't. I had superior Reiryoku and had the perfect control over it. How could I not? Spiritual Energy in any way shape or form was ridiculously easy to understand. All one needed was instinct and intuition, I couldn't understand how Ichigo suffered in understanding his powers early on if it was this simple. But then again...being compared to Naruto so often must have turned him into a scatterbrained tool. Stupidity is infectious after all...

The point was my ability to turn Reiryoku into Reiatsu wasn't impaired at all.

Fuck skill too! I didn't need it! I was a godamn snake! What could I even do with it? And even if it was useless I got here faster than this fat lump of tumors. Who was he to look down on me when he took years to get so strong?!

"I was looking in the neighborhood and found your number sweet cheeks. So how bout' it? You wanna come along with a handsome man like me?" What was this? Recruitment? What on Hueco Mundo?

Was he actually not insulting me?...well...that was new. The yappy ones always did that. Bleach; where every single world was full of violent social rejects.

In my deteriorated state we had to come to a decision. It was a result that we could both agree on. Our fragmented existence was at last aware of the other, and quickly came to a decision as to our present in order to reach an uncertain future!

"And what if I don't feel like going? I don't make a habit of sticking around with those with no manners after all."

...Please be a little rude. I don't wanna be a violent social reject.

Just...give me justification for wanting to kill you.

"Ahhh, that's right I never introduced myself! Call me Zeltopolis. And if your not gonna come with me then I'm gonna carry a piece of you wherever you go. In my stomach! Hahahaha!"

Thanks.

This is unexpected though. I still couldn't grasp why exactly he'd attempt to recruit me. Did he just not sense it? How close he was to evolving? Either way he insulted me and I could hardly suffer that, not from a clearly stupid barbarian with such a stupid name.

"Cyan Sung-Sun. It's a displeasure to meet you. Typically I wouldn't play nice with someone so ill-mannered as you, but you did give me your name." I threw in a few sassy postures here and there. The beads dangling from my mask making such an action rather charming to me.

Thinking of those I gained a new perspective on them. They weren't really beads were they? They were clocks. Six of them.

My death knell...and maybe his.

The three beads made a rather nice sound when placed so closely to my ear, and I have no doubt that although my lips or face didn't move, my eye contact and head tilting must have gotten my insult across perfectly.

He wouldn't realise that I was thinking only about his death. This small moment in time where I knew I had control made me focused. I knew I was perfectly in control, and I felt a little less sick for it.

Morals could wait, I had to kill a man.

We could have traded more lines back and forth while I added centimeters to a highway of power, but suddenly our rather regretful dialogue ended when he tried to reach for my face.

He was slow. Too slow to even touch me, I guess I was the faster one of the two of us, as expected. Ugh, spiritual beings were perhaps the most confusing things to ever exist. Attributes such as speed or defence should be the same, and yet that never seemed to be the case. Differences both huge and minor could be observed.

Ridiculous.

Like the divide between Grimmjow and his Fracción. What would obliterate them wouldn't even mar his skin. How did that even work? How the hell did that weakling Yammy possibly be worth more than Cyan Sung-Sun?!

Hmm...doesn't the answer lie with Aaroniero Arruruerie? Didn't he mention his collective kill count? Was I near that number? Whatever it was? I don't feel like I reached that number, but I couldn't answer that right now, not as long as the situation stayed like this, bit busy dodging hits and analyzing weaknesses.

Need to find that moment where he overreached and left his neck open. Can't let him scream orders for his barely conscious firing squad after all.

I could see that by the speed his arm moved at it was possible that I could coil around it, traversing all the bumps and spikes, then lay across his back to get under his other arm's armpit and swing myself up his chest from there and bite his neck. Binding one arm and getting at his neck was the best I could do considering our sizes, I just didn't have that much tail.

You know...for a guy as tall as a small Gillian I'm rather impressed the environment wasn't destroyed. How remarkably gentle of him.

The Touch version of my Serpientes Veneno Inexistente didn't have to pierce to drain, it didn't need to break skin, it didn't matter where I bit my opponent, it didn't matter what the difference between me and my opponent was. With this ability there would be no repeating what happened with Ichigo's first strike on Zaraki, I could beat Nnoitra without effort using this ability. Attacks would be the one to rebound off my body!

But the bite had to be in a different place every time, I could not bite the neck ever again, no. Now I had to bite the leg, the arm, the other arm or leg, the thighs and torso, sides or chest. Or I could push it further and bite the thigh bone or the spine. Such was the limitation of my power. It abided by a specific set of rules that were random, I couldn't even tell you if the organs unique to Shinigami such as the hakusui or saketsu were viable targets for my poison, nor the vents on their wrists. But the rules it abided by were useless to even know as my venom was simply too powerful. Admittedly it wasn't the strongest power, this Soul Reaper called Yumichika had some power to completely drain Reiatsu. But that's all I knew of his power.

Wait! Shinigami had...once again, ONCE AGAIN-my mind faltered. Unable to recall what I just thought moments ago. All I could recall were feelings of inferiority and hate.

But that's enough of that, I launched myself at him and coiled myself around his arm and went under his armpit. The force I was exerting placed his arm behind his head and locked it there. A crack was even heard as his arm suddenly went straight, the elbow being unable to resist the pressure.

Imagine your arms being in a ninety degree angle upwards, shoulder included. I've clearly snapped something with his shoulder, and probably his elbow too...if he had one.

I moved to strangle his neck with the rest of my body before I was suddenly punched violently by his other arm, dazing me and letting him get one more breath. He screamed in pain, the Menos Grande he brought not even twitching as he yelled out in pain. Good.

One more shot then, I started to speed towards his neck, having recovered from the punch when I felt him move again. My own movements have energized him, as I closed in on his neck, as thick as my body, I felt an unexpected section of his body moving. He was going to crouch?

That was when I felt his knees smash into my spine and stun me.

Shit, it was too late, now I was dazed again and he had the breath to give the order now, and now no matter what I did I was facing certain extinction. There was no chance he would fight me face to face, a brute that acted bigger and better than he actually was due to his rather competent hundred strong help. All I could do was wait for death as I twisted his arm in all ways possible as I still tried to reach for his neck again.

"GILLIANS, FIRE CEROS!"

I could see them charging it already, now it was hopeless and nothing I could do would stop this. My singular Cero would halt it for a few seconds but they would naturally kill me, or this dumb jockey could just toss me into it by sacrificing an arm. I would have to keep firing my Cero as one continuous beam that would not withstand all of those Ceros for long.

Damn it! If only the penalty placed upon my inferior brethren was more strict! Only eating! Only devouring! Only having a part of you be eaten was what kept you away from greatness! An arm being erased by a Cero did nothing to impede you!

"Look at you, some dumb meat head that can't stand on his own strength. You're too panicked to even get proper sentences out of your mouth. Such senseless violence, I'll remind you in case you've forgotten- because you clearly have- that you're caught in the explosion too." I felt only bitterness, but my voice did not reflect that. I said it all with a sense of finality, and I could see no reaction.

"That's fine you crazy little slut! Tryna' bite me!? You're gonna die and I'm gonna live! You wanna know why? Its because I can absorb all these Ceros and give myself a little power boost for a while. Makes me stronger in every way. Do you like my ability? Heheheheh. So long you stupid supine moron!"

I stared at death and slowly closed my eyes. Not a single piece would remain of me and I was going to perish.

I buried my emotions and told myself it would be fine. That it would all be okay.

Supine huh? Yeah, I guess that fit me just fine, I wouldn't be doing anything to resist this, there just wasn't anything I could do. So why would I even bother?

I just couldn't determine why fate would do this. There really wouldn't be anything left of me for him to eat. Was it because this was how I was truly going to die? A death that I'm actually fully conscious of this time?

I could already feel the fragments of my personality and control over this body fading.

Indeed, for just this one moment, we watched it together. Myself and Cyan Sung-Sun. The woman, who now that I thought about it, committed both birth and murder.

I don't think any other body would have let me in. Just a hunch admittedly. So although she was erasing me...I guess I couldn't hold it against her.

So I cracked my eyes open slowly and looked at the red laser created from the combined might of a hundred Hollows and stared. I stared as I watched it charge, and I stared as I watched it descend towards me, to wipe me off the face of Hueco Mundo. And I blinked for a moment.

I fully intended to turn my head around and tear a chunk out of him and gulp it down but...

I stared.

I stared with even more intensity at the sight in front of me.

There was no way this was true.

"This is...a beautiful dream." I whispered.

How could it not be? I looked and I stared.

Although this moment was false hope, my own delusions, I wanted to believe it so dearly that I'd rip my heart out to make this moment last forevermore. The violent belief I had made me tighten across his arm unconsciously. A snap from his arm being heard once again.

I stared at sweet succulent power and its colour. I looked at the most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on. I looked at a vision of power, kindness, wisdom and intelligence in one. I could extol her praises and virtues upon a novel of a hundred thousand pages and be found wanting for even more to write on. I could eulogize her only in six million works of art. I could only politely compliment her by sculpting a mountain into her figure, I could only laud her by taking worlds for her and crushing them on her words. I was certain then, that I would lionize her by toppling Barragan. I would idolize her by killing Aizen. I would show my adoration for her by killing Yamamoto. I would deify her by killing this so called Soul King and replace that faceless figure with the visage of beauty itself.

By the end of my quest to earn her favour, to earn her love in any shape, be they her painful affections, or her loving affections or perhaps sisterly affections, I would make sure every living being worshiped her. I would make them spill their blood and values until they learned how to idolize her like I did. And I would speak to them that day, of the day I met her, describing it in great detail, and when they asked for the name of the one they now tribute and love unconditionally, I would whisper into their ear: The Shooting Shark.

That one love song that I adored.

But I would never tire of this love, never give it up or trade anything away that she gave to me.

I stood transfixed as I watched a miracle given to me for no reason or potential reward.

I gave everything a closer look. In order to burn the memories into my brain and never forget it. I looked at that wonderful yellow light standing in the way and how it carved apart the horizon of red with no effort at all. I looked at the beauty that seemingly deigned to save me for no reason.

And I looked upon what I was jealous of the Tres Bestia and Soi-Fon for having.

Somebody to live for.

It was my ultimate desire. I had always dreamed of someone saving me and of then giving my life for them. I distantly acknowledged I was a lot like Momo Hinamori in that regard.

Distance...I was dying here if my own thoughts were becoming distant. My own soul being sent into the stomach that I put so many others into...

But why did I want to live like them? I had never questioned it before, never wanted too and certainly never needed too. Was it because I gave nothing to the world? Was it because I deemed the value of people by who you lived for? Who you surrounded yourself by? Was it possible that I needed someone...because I was just wired that way? Dependant? Perhaps it was because...no...there were too many possibilities. I just knew that my life's wish had been granted.

My consciousness began to fail me. But that was fine, as long as I got to observe and comprehend this beautiful moment.

It was the thing we both fought for.

I observed the woman that had now become my one and only obsession, I looked at the beautiful woman that was named...

Tier Harribel.

I was hypnotised. Still watching her deflect all those Ceros with but a swing of that sword arm of hers. I didn't even realise, that she was already standing above me, looking down at me. I distantly realised my power stopped increasing, the Hollow I was coiled around being twain in two, I didn't even realise that I had fell to the ground. Did the two of them even trade words? It seemed far too quick for there to have been any transaction to have taken place.

I looked up slowly, looking into those beautiful eyes. Those beautiful aqua eyes. I gasped as I stared at her.

That smooth Hollow mask with jagged lines for teeth that covered everything but her forehead and eyes, that river of golden hair made me swoon. And that was ignoring the bodysuit she wore. Some sort of faint blue material that covered her stomach and breasts, the sides and underneath of her breasts being covered by...a really useless bone plate actually. Only covered one side of them. Her weapon was like a huge shark tooth, attached to her right arm and as wide as her torso while being taller than it, with six black decals in the shape of gills and a curved spike in the shape of a shark fin near the base of the weapon.

It was a pata. A sword arm of sorts, but perhaps gauntlet would have been the better word.

My lavender coloured eyes looked at her legs, that seemed to be massive thigh high stilettos made out of armour. But the most impressive part of her was the shark tail originating from the back of her Hollow mask. A long thin line with a shark fin and a tail as wide as her weapon.

I was fainting. Or slowly falling into unconsciousness...no. I was losing my consciousness as the body of Cyan Sung-Sun felt only tremendous pressure upon it. And that was not acceptable, I had to know, I had to follow. No...I had to endure the release of her Reiatsu and follow or I would never be worthy enough to help her. But I had to ask a question to my new deific figure that had so suddenly inserted itself into my life.

But...

I had trouble getting the words out of my mouth, I...could not breath properly anymore for some reason. Strange. I hadn't taken a single hit. Not really.

Was this...the power of her Reiatsu? I saw Hollows tremble and freeze when directly confronting me, but was this the effect? I had trouble breathing and moving under her immense spiritual power, was this what it felt like for all those other Hollows to face me? I instantly ignored my own query and asked the most important question that I would ever end up asking.

"Wait! Why...why did you save me?"

She looked down upon my form, unfazed by my question and seemingly not having even heard it. But I knew I wouldn't have to ask again, I wasn't a belligerent idiot like that.

Precious seconds...passing in silence as my soul was eroded by a Hollows stomach acids...but I still had to hear it. Had to know why.

"Come with me."

Ahh...so...she'll never...tell me...

The pained grunts of a dying man, they sounded to him like they would be the last words he ever spoke. It even felt like it. The pulling from within Cyan Sung-Sun's stomach having eroded enough of his soul that he knew he'd never find the reason for her unfathomable act of charity and generosity.

And then she walked off, and I followed in her footsteps as best as I could. I left the shattered piece of a mirror behind and walked past the barren landscape that held only signs of damage. There were no Hollows here but the two of us. The rest were erased from this-no...her world.

But still, even without the request I would have made the choice to follow such a dangerous being of my own free will. One that could erase me whenever she felt like it if I pissed her off.

Why? Why follow someone so dangerous to me?

Because she saved my life.

And that was all the reason I needed. Or perhaps...I should say we when it came to our reasons for following her.

It was then that I died. This was fine, the whispering soul had thought. Although I C.N died, having my personality erased and obliterated, there was still one more hope for the future. Although my soul had been overwritten, although I would never rise again, there was still hope.

Even as my soul was being slowly extinguished, my dimming soul was relieved and secured with one lone thought. Knowledge is forever. Although my very sense of self was being utterly erased, it'd take far more time for my foresight to be completely erased. Perhaps none of it would be, but as long as Cyan didn't do anything stupid then enough of our knowledge would reach heedful ears.

This was how the soul of C.N met it's end. Finally reaching dormancy, like so many other souls before it. C.N slumbered within the sub-dimensional stomach of a Hollow. Resting in piece with the countless amounts of men and women he devoured. He would never grasp just what he changed, in the future or in the present. For he would never rise again.

Cyan Sung-Sun had took one more thing from him without either one of them noticing. She took his heart. Taking all the adoration and love he had for Tier Harribel and taking it for herself, amplifying her emotions towards their savior.

She had taken her love for Tier Harribel alongside his own. This would be a permanent arrangement. Her loyalty towards her saviour being doubled by his own. But most importantly...her existence was tied to her saviour's.

Cyan Sung-Sun would come to weigh her own life against Tier Harribel's, and would come to find that her saviour's held more weight and value. That was the only natural conclusion. Each time, without fail, she would support Tier Harribel at the cost of her own life.

Ultimately however, the power drunk bravado of C.N had been purged from her. And a more efficient killer had come to rise, with an attitude to bolster that.

Cyan Sung-Sun's callous attitude towards others would serve the world far better than C.N's would have. But that is neither here or there.

Narcissism and loyalty remained, as did misanthropy and a love for all things beautiful. Traits kept by Sung-Sun, even if unknowingly done so.

She followed her past countless dunes, following her for hours until eventually coming across that fancy hole in the mountain that Lady Harribel had made for herself. And as we reached the base of it she reached out with her left hand and pulled away a piece of the mountain, revealing a smooth staircase that was cut to perfection. As I entered she put the large slab of rock back in it's place before leading again, as I waited for her.

I looked at the walls as we moved down the stairs. It all looked like jade to me, but in a land where the sand and trees were white you weren't really surprised bizarre colours. Lady Harribel placed one foot in front of the other, the stairs being so numerous that they fit each one of her feet perfectly. I on the other hand being a serpent just moved down them. There was actually a curve in the staircase, where it curved to the right, revealing the living room proper.

It was exactly like how I remember it. She even had that stone table and that little torch that she somehow got a hold of that was in the anime.

I still couldn't comprehend how she got that torch, or how it was even burning.

And looking towards the stone table I saw something that both surprised me and didn't. As I descended the finely shaped staircase - no doubt cut into its form by my Mistresses blade - I realised I was the first she saved and might even be the reason Miss Harribel was referred to as "My Lady." I suppose I would end up setting the precedent for those two buffoons to use, along with some other appropriate titles to address her by.

"Are you alright?"

She asked it so simply, with no emotion, it was like it wasn't a question, was it naive of me? Did I expect everyone I talk to too wear our hearts on our sleeves? Or our masks? I suppose living so long with chatty fools had made me a little naïve. I was just surprised by her stoicism, I guess, I suppose I forgot that people could be somewhat taciturn and seemingly cold.

"I...y-yes. My Lady. I'm fine." And that was all I could manage in the face of her question and stoic personality. A pitiful few words.

I was still...swept away by what she had done for me. I was still a little speechless and awestruck over her and what she had done that I was still struggling mentally with it.

"My Lady?" Now I could hear the slight puzzlement in her voice. "And why would you call me that?"

"Because you saved me after all. For seemingly no reason and because...I don't know your name...Mistress." I couldn't help it! My tail was tying itself into knots behind me and I'd be blushing if I were a human again.

Ugh, sickening species. And they looked so pretty too! So weak and fragile, yet pretentious and stupid.

She looked me in the eyes as we sat in silence for a few moments. The fire from the torch being the only sound to be heard as she examined me.

"My name is Tier Harribel. You don't have to call me by any title or anything like that, such as ranks. We're partners after all, if you want that sort of relationship. I have no ulterior motive for bringing you here, we're just easier prey for the male Hollows. And so I thought it would be easiest to protect each other in a group."

And I could see her point. She had to put up with being pushed around by Baraggan. And there were a lot more men than women in Hueco Mundo.

And there was still that blue haired cun-

"You...want us to work together My Lady?" My heart had started racing. It was everything I ever wanted and more.

"Yes. If preferable, I understand if you might not want too. And I'm not going to force you to join." It was a calming, soothing statement. She was talking about her power, how she didn't want a mook or a servant. But a partner.

"No! I'll...I will graciously accept your offer, Lady Harribel."

She waited a while before talking again. I got a feeling of faint exasperation from her. But that was ludicrous, so I writ it off as my imagination. "Alright then, so now that we're working together from now on, what's your name?"

"Oh! My name is..."

"What is it?"

How did I answer? In the end I just decided to be as truthful as I could be. I remember having pride in that when I was alive at least. "I...just still remember a small piece of the name I had while I was alive. My name is..."

Strangle To Death, Anaconda!

Post Script...

The decision to kill C.N here was done once I made a few chapters past this one, it was meant to be a gradual thing. Not too many chapters stockpiled now. Only about four to go.

I just had nowhere to state that other than here. It's actually why I wrote this post script section. But while I'm at it, the "fight" didn't have the arm being broken at first. I never even thought to leverage her weight to break it, just thought it looked cool and added a useless movement when I first wrote it, until I had the idea to do that.

I guess I should also state that her Reiryoku draining ability DOES count towards her evolution. And it's explicitly Reiryoku, nor Reiatsu.

It's a good ability, and you're gonna find out why soon enough...oh, and the final edits to this chapter was made at 3AM.

As for my Guest; Anonymous, don't worry. You'll have to try very hard to offend me. The reason we're not going to the Human World is because we've already done that. Already ate the humans and Shinigami, and since she found them so disappointing, she went to my elementary knowledge of Menos.

Which is you can only evolve by eating Menos. I also won't deny that there ain't much fighting...I just have no idea how to write a snake kicking ass, kind off why I'm rushing for Vasto Lorde. I'm also rushing it because no one else thought of raiding prisons or asylums as far as I know.

I also don't mind the long walls of text. I'm the one writing this story after all, and thanks for the introspection comment, not sure if it's true but I'll take it. The lack of struggle is also because power levels are pure crap. You've heard my gripes about the Arrancars. Some inferiors become stronger than their superiors. For Grimmjow and literally everyone below him to crap all over other Adjucha class Hollows...man...it's like this is Dragon Ball or something.

Speaking of, that speech in italics? I write this on a phone, so I've had to delete it and redo it all or else you just have two asterisks doing nothing.

Strangle To Death, Anaconda!

Deleted section. (And omake?)

Narcissism and loyalty remained, as did misanthropy and a love for all things beautiful. Traits kept by Sung-Sun, even if unknowingly done so. C.N's self-loathing erased by the kept narcissism and aesthetic pleasures, once again, unknowingly done. All the best parts were kept from the parasitic transaction.

In her brief bouts of consciousness, Sung-Sun had shed what she viewed as useless traits, keeping only the ones that would help her. Knowledge was a trait she tried her best to modify. She shaved away knowledge of certain things. Such as the HOW of knowing the future.

But there was one good trait in him she deigned worth keeping. Honesty, primarily the admittance to oneself that horrible events had happened to her, and not to ignore them. But although she tried her hardest...

She did not remember a single moment where she was not in control of her own body.

C.N was completely forgotten despite her best efforts, and although she had begun to change her mind about finally comic to terms with her life being nothing more than anime and manga...she could never get that back, no matter how hard she tried. It was just like with retaining the fact that someone controlled her and took two stages of her life from her, that the person who done so was a pervert, it was just impossible to hold on to for some reason.

If there was one silver lining to the situation however...

Perhaps it was Rule 34. It would be endlessly funny to torment Soi-Fon with THOSE kinds of pictures. Cyan Sung-Sun was just glad she modified some of those memories.

So desperate was she to keep his memories however, that she forgot her own. 'Twas where an instinct to paint rose from.

[Some parts of this aren't deleted, but added. Guess it's also an omake.