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"Advance forward. Zangetsu" The sky turned a deep shade of blood as Shiro released his Zanpakutō. Once again taking on the terrifying form that had destroyed the false Karakura town. "All right Ji-san." His voice hissed out from the skull mask he now wore, "Are you ready to die?"

"Hmph. Impudent Whelp." Yamamoto Genryusai growled, feeling the fear that his opponent's reiatsu caused thunder through him. "You forget who I am."

"You know... Aizen said the exact same thing," Shiro said casually, tapping a long, sharp claw against his chin. "Right before I ripped his body to ribbons."

The ancient Shinigami shifted slightly, his reiatsu beginning to rise. "Aizen was indeed powerful. But his true strength lay in his manipulative abilities. I am not nearly so gentle."

Suddenly, Yamamoto's reiatsu erupted outwards, the preasure of it was so intense that even Shiro found himself pushed slightly backwards. The young Hollow realized with a shock that the reiatsu was so dense and powerful that it was actually blisteringy hot, "Bankai." The Commander's voice growled, the word sending a thrill of excitement down Shiro's spine, "Zanka no Tachi."

The flames of Ryujin Jakka seemed to vanish, leaving only the katana, a thin whisp of smoke rising from the blade which now glowed a dull red. Shiro blinked in mild confusion, "That's it...?" He asked with a hint of disappointment in his voice, "I was hoping for something a bit... grander."

"I am not here to entertain you, nor impress you." Yamamoto replied with an odd smirk, "I am here to kill you." The old Shinigami then lunged forward, his Zanpakutō coming up in a stab straight at Shiro's chest.

Shiro's eyes widened in shock behind his mask as the katana drew closer, Something's wrong here... He thought, realizing just how much heat it was actually giving off. Holy fuck! He thought as he dodged away with a sonido, Just how hot is that blade?! Eyeing the sword warily, he released a powerful cero at his foe before flashing away once again. He finally came to a stop in a district where he couldn't sense any of his hollows nearby and fired another cero at the old Shinigami. Need to test this... He thought.

He didn't need to wait long, as Yamamoto appeared above him only moments later, dropping downward with a heavy slash. Shiro once more dodged away, but this time watched where the blade struck. He felt his eyes widen once again as the building that the Zanpakutō struck was instantly disintegrated, along with a massively long 'v' shaped swath of land behind it.

A low whistle escaped from Shiro's mask as Yamamoto turned once more to face him. "Damn Ji-san... I retract my previous statement. I'm impressed. Just what do you have hidden in that blade? A fucking sun?"

Yamamoto snorted derisivly, "More or less. I see that the battle senses of Kurosaki Ichigo are still alive and well in that abomination of a form." He once more took up a ready stance, preparing to strike again.

This may actually be bad... Shiro thought to himself, absently flexing his claws as he steadied himself for the old man's next attack. This old bastard's power is no joke. That last attack would actually have done more damage than I'm comfortable taking...

"You cannot win Monster." Yamamoto said with a calm growl, his ancient eyes steadily locked on the King of Hueco Mundo. "Zanka no Tachi has sealed my victory. It only now is a matter of time before you accept this and surrender to your death."

Shiro felt his face twist in a disgusted grimmance. "You know Old Man, you can be a really arrogant prick sometimes. Just because your offensive game is on my level now, it means nothing if you can't hit me."

"Then we have a stalemate." The old shinigami shrugged. "You cannot touch me, my body is clad in the same heat that my blade is. You would simply be sacrificing your arm."

Shiro snarled in anger. "Oh I hate you old man."

"The emotion is mutual." Yamamoto's eyes narrowed.

"Well then, I way as well test this out." Shiro sighed taking a wide stance, and flexing his claws once more, reiatsu began to gather at the tips of each claw. Shiro's yellow eyes flashed from beneith his mask, "Getsuga Saigai"

The Hollow King slashed forward with both hands, the massive discharge of reiatsu exploding from the tip of each finger. Each blade of energy arced forwards as it's own Getsuga. Yamamoto snarled in frustration as the cataclysmic attack closed in on him, "Zanka no Tachi Kita: Tenchi Kaijin." He slashed forward unleashing the most powerful attack at his disposal.

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At the ruins of the south gate, what remained of the Gotei 13, and the hollows who still fought all stopped, looking north as a blast rocked Soul Society. The collision of Reiatsu and flame erupted high into the air as a swirling vortex of devastation.

Grimmjow let out a low whistle, "Damn... the boss seems to be having fun." He grumbled as he kicked another Shinigami hard enough to collapse the poor man's ribcage. "And here I am, stuck fighting the worthless rabble."

The blue haired Espada let out a string of violent curses as he looked around. He had been eager to find an exciting battle since Shiro had empowered him, but he had yet to find an opponent that was actually worth his time. Snarling again, he grabbed another charging shinigami and smashed them into the shattered remains of the street, once again killing them instantly.

Growling in anger, Grimmjow picked up the dead shinigami and hurled it at several others. "COME ON!" He howled in fury, "Isn't there ANYONE left in your numbers that can fucking fight me?!"

For several moments, only silence seemed to answer him. Then quite suddenly, the light of the sun seemed to black out. Looking up, Grimmjow's eyes widened as a building crashed downwards towards him, seemingly having been ripped out of it's foundations and thrown at him.

Grimmjow rolled swiftly out of the building's path. However, as he rose up, a small jingle of bells was his only warning as a swirling, mass of reiatsu and maniacal laughter crashed through the wall towards him.

Swearing violently, Grimmjow was just barely able to raise his own Zanpakutō in defense in time, the massive figure that had attacked him continued it's momentum regardless, smashing the Espada heavily into the wall behind him.

"Damn that old bastard for stealing my fight with Shiro!" The large shinigami swore loudly as their blades sparked from the stress of the clash between them. "Ah well, at least I've finally found one of you bastards actually worth killing!"

Grimmjow's eyes widened as he realized just who he was currently facing. He vaguely recalled seeing the man through pain hazed eyes in the dome of Las Noches, "Zaraki Kenpachi..." He recalled seeing the infamously deadly fighter kill Nnoitra Gilga before his own wounds had forced him to pass out.

"Damn straight Espada!" Kenpachi laughed, lifting his sword and smashing it once more against the steel of Grimmjow's own blade. "Now you had better keep me entertained!" With no other warning, the massive shinigami swung a brutal kick into Grimmjow's side, sending the Espada tumbling away.

Grimmjow came to a skidding stop several meters away, forcing himself back to his feet as he moved. He grinned down the lane at Kenpachi, "Finally! Someone worth killing." Bringing his sword up once more in preparation to clash, he winced slightly. That being said... He thought, This fucker can't be taken lightly. That kick was fucking powerful.

Kenpachi turned, squaring himself with his opponent. "Well then, let's have us some fun." He grinned widely, suddenly lunging at the Espada, the strength of the move actually cracking the ground under his feet.

Grimmjow snarled, moving forward to meet his enemy partway. The clash of their blades resulted in a massive burst of reiatsu that shattered the wall beside them. Before the blades could lock in their clash once again, Grimmjow leaped up and over Kenpachi in a flipping jump and slashed at the man's head. However the shinigami's speed was enough that he seemed to flow around the strike, turning to follow his opponent and bringing his sword around and up in a low, upward sweeping slash.

Swearing silently, Grimmjow managed to twist himself in midair, just as the slash flicked past him. He landed mid spin, coming up and around with a heavy roundhouse kick aimed at the shinigami's head. The blow was enough to knock Kenpachi through a wall on the opposite side of the lane, and gave Grimmjow a chance to swiftly regain his footing.

Kenpachi pushed himself back up, shoving sections of wall aside as he moved, his massive grin unchanged. "Nice moves Espada. What's your name?" He moved back out into the open.

Grimmjow grinned, "Sexta Espada, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez." He let out a slow breath, allowing the tension in his form to relax as he once more prepared to clash with the mighty shinigami.

Grinning wider, Kenpachi raised his blade to prepare to strike, "Gotei 13 Squad 11 Captain, Zaraki Kenpachi."

There was a brief pause, then the two fighters lunged once more. Their strikes were faster than eyes could follow, each warrior moving purely on instinct as they dodged, struck, clashed, and cut each other. After several seconds, Grimmjow struck with all of his might, his blade smashing Kenpachi's aside and opening the shinigami's defense just enough for Grimmjow to change momentum and stab towards his head.

There was suddenly a massive explosion of reiatsu and Grimmjow found himself thrown backwards, his chest bleeding viciously from a wickedly long cut that had appeared. Slowly picking himself up, he gasped for breath, one hand instinctively clutching at his new wound, "What... the fuck... was that...?" He looked back towards his enemy, eyes widening as he beheld the monstrous amount of reiatsu that poured from the man.

Kenpachi stood, a small cut along his right temple, and blood dripping from the tip of his Zanpakutō. The eyepatch he had been wearing blew past Grimmjow, carried on the wind. "Tch. You cut my eyepatch off jackass. Now I won't be able to have anymore fun."

"Oh?" Grimmjow's eyes narrowed, as he thought back to Shiro's briefing on Zaraki Kenpachi, "That's right... you seal your power away with that thing don't you..." He grinned, wincing slightly as more blood seeped from his chest. "Well, I'd hate to disappoint you now." He took up his stance, placing his fingers on the flat of his sword blade. "Let me see if I can make it up to you. Grind! PANTERA!"

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Tatsuki coughed as she pushed a rock off of her from where she lay. "Well... this hasn't gone as smoothly as I had planned..." She sighed, spitting dust from her mouth and forcing herself up once again. "Those bastards are just so fucking quick..."

"Give up Arisawa-san." Urahara Kisuke stepped through the hole in the wall that Tatsuki's body had made. "I may still be able to reverse your condition." His eyes were cold, as if his offer was simply made on reflex rather than heartfelt.

Tatsuki chuckled lightly, dropping back down into her stance. "No need to strain yourself there shopkeep." She sneered, "I kinda like this body, now that I'm used to it."

Kisuke sighed, raising his blade once more, "Disappointing." He lunged forward, stabbing straight towards her.

She slid to the side, allowing the blade to pass harmlessly over her shoulder and causing his momentum to bring him into her own reach. Tatsuki grinned as she saw his eyes widen in realization. "Gotcha." Her spiked gauntlet rocketed upwards towards his chin, however, the former captain's reflexes saved him as he managed to shift his momentum just in time to flip backwards.

Scowling in frustration, she pushed her advantage, flashing forward and driving her fist home into his shoulder as he landed. Kisuke let out a shout of pain as the punch connected, but used the force to spin himself out of the way as another figure flashed into the building.

Yoruichi flickered into view just as he moved, her leg scything down towards Tatsuki's exposed head. With a swear, the Cuarto Espada snapped her unused hand up to block the strike. The kick connected with her forearm with enough force to crack the ground beneath her, forcing another swear out of her.

Even as Yoruichi's kick connected, Tatsuki saw her third opponent snaking in low, armed with that wicked looking fingerblade. As Soifon closed in on her, a sudden thought caused Tatsuki to grin. Just as the 2nd Squad captain was about to strike, Tatsuki threw her legs backwards, kicking herself up into a flip and pushing herself up and over Yoruichi's leg, which was still pushing down from it's kick. This maneuver pushed Yoruichi's kick down into the path of Soifon, connecting solidly with the small captain's face. Meanwhile, Tatsuki's momentum continued around until she found her face to face with Yoruichi, allowing her to loose a solid punch to the other woman's face.

However, before the punch could connect, Kisuke's Zanpakutō flickered into view, blocking the strike and turning it aside harmlessly. With another swear, Tatsuki pushed backwards, landing some ways further into the building. "Fuck... fighting three of you is fucking hard..." She panted tiredly.

"You can't win kid." Yoruichi said calmly as she helped Soifon to her feet. "You're doing well, but you won't last."

Tatsuki spat to the side, barring her teeth in defiance. Shit... she's right though... She thought as the three shinigami began to move into the room, spreading out to cut off any escape routes she may have used. If it was even just two of them... I may be able to take them down, maybe... but all three of them at once is too much for me. She glanced cautiously between the three of them, weighing her options.

As the three shinigami moved, Tatsuki's eyes fell once more on the wicked little Zanpakutō attached to Soifon's finger. Something about it's golden form sparked a thought in her mind. A stinger... Time suddenly seemed to stop as her mind locked onto the thought. A stinger that moves faster than the eye can follow... that is what my fists need to be for me to survive this fight... As her mind raced, an image flashed through it, she saw herself, but the form was completely different, transformed. That's me! That's my Reserrecion! I see now...

As time once more began to flow, Soifon lunged forward, her speed almost fast enough that Tatsuki couldn't follow it. However, the Espada grinned, snapping her hand up and catching the small shinigami's wrist before she could land a strike.

Soifon, Kisuke and Yoruichi's eyes all widened in shock at Tatsuki's move, and Yoruichi felt a chill run down her spine as she noticed the evil looking glimmer in the Arrancar's eyes. "I suppose I need to thank you lil'miss Captain," Tatsuki purred wickedly, grinning down at Soifon as she struggled to free herself from the vicelike grip. "Thanks to you, I finally know it's name." She then hauled the shinigami around and hurled her towards Kisuke with a sudden burst of strength.

"Soifon!" Yoruichi called out, watching her former subordinate get thrown, before turning her gaze angrilly back on the Arrancar. However, before she could do anything, her eyes widened in shock as a sudden burst of reiatsu actually pushed her backwards several inches. What?!

Tatsuki's eyes glowed with a wicked yellow light as she widened her stance. "Let's see what it feels like!" She laughed, "Murder! Asesinato Águijón”

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The air rang out with equal parts steel and laughter as Grimmjow and Zaraki Kenpachi clashed again and again.

Grimmjow had to admit, he was impressed that the Shinigami was able to keep up with his Reserrecion’s speed as he once more flitted along the roof of a building and leaped towards his foe in a lethal arc. However, once again, his claws only found the edge of Kenpachi’s Zanpakutō as the man was once more able to flash his weapon around in time to block.

“This is more like it Espada!” Kenpachi laughed maniacly, slashing towards his opponent once more but finding nothing as the cat-like Arrancar flipped away from the strike. “This is a good fight!”

Grimmjow’s teeth glittered in the light as he grinned at the shinigami. “Never thought I’d find myself agreeing with a fucking shinigami.” He chuckled, flexing his claws as he once again lunged forward. “We’re just getting started!”

Kenpachi’s grin only widened as the Espada flipped mid-lunge and brought a heavy kick down towards his head. He sidestepped the kick, moving in time as Grimmjow followed it up with a flurry of strikes, his form seeming to blur as he kicked, punched, slashed and thrashed like a wild animal. Kenpachi meanwhile dodged and parried, finding time in between Grimmjow’s blows to get in his own slashes and stabs.

When the two finally broke apart once more, they each bled from several small cuts and gashes. Both of them breathed heavilly, but each had a wide, crazy grin plastered across his face.

“Heh, what the hell are you? A fucking blender?” Kenpachi laughed as he rolled his neck, examining the dozens of wounds he’d sustained. “Never seen anyone flip and spin around that fast in a fight.”

“What’s the matter shinigami?” Grimmjow sneered, readying himself to lunge again. “You can’t keep up?”

Kenpachi’s eyes flashed as he chuckled once more, “Oh don’t you worry about me.” His feet slid back into a combat stance as he prepared to attack once more.

However, before either of them could move, a massive burst of reiatsu from nearby caught their attention, drawing their gazes away from each other for a few moments. “Oh?” Grimmjow chuckled lightly, his head tilting in mild surprise as he recognized the reiatsu, “So the kid’s finally figured out her Reserrecion eh?”

“A friend of yours?” Kenpachi glanced back towards his opponent, lifting an eyebrow.

“Sorta.” Grimmjow shrugged.

“Hmm... feels strong.” The shinigami closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the feel of the energy, “But it looks like they’re fighting Kisuke’s little bitch-brigade.” He shrugged, “Tch, shame I can’t go fight them, they feel even stronger than you.”

Grimmjow spat, his smile turning wicked, “Maybe, but you wouldn’t have any fun fighting her.” He then lunged, stabbing his claws towards Kenpachi’s chest in a feint, before leaping at the last moment and kicking viciously towards the shinigami’s head with his bladed shin.

To his credit, Kenpachi managed to recover from the feint fast enough to pull his head mostly out of the way. He was still grazed just enough to get knocked into the nearby wall and through to the next street. Grimmjow quickly pushed his advantage, leaping forward once more and aiming to shred his opponent’s flesh with his claws.

This time, Kenpachi was ready, as Grimmjow came down, his foot kicked up, catching the Espada full in the chest and knocking the wind out of him. Pushing hard, he threw Grimmjow backwards and kicked himself back to standing, quickly lunging after the Arrancar and stabbing towards his chest.

Grimmjow managed to spin in the air as the stab came in, knocking the blade wide and allowing him to once again slash towards Kenpachi’s chest. However, his momentum only allowed him to land a light cut as he continued to spin around and land lightly on the pads of his feet.

They both recovered at the same time, lunging forward and both stabbing as they moved. Grimmjow felt his eyes widen in pain as Kenpachi’s Zanpakutō bit into his left side, but refused to give ground as his own claws pierced the same spot on his enemy. “Well...” He coughed, blood already dripping from his mouth, “This sucks...”

Kenpachi looked down at the clawed hand reaching into his chest, spitting blood as he did. “Tell me about it...” He grumbled. “Never had this sort of synchronized stab ever happen before...”

They both looked at each other and chuckled weakly, before the both pulled backwards, extricating themsleves from the clash and stumbling back. “What do you say Zaraki Kenpachi?” Grimmjow asked, holding a hand over the wound, “Put it all into one final strike?”

Kenpachi spat to the side, his expression turning sour. “Tch... This sucks.” He was already having difficulty breathing he realized. “Must have nicked my lung with that stab...” With a grunt of effort, he took his sword in both hands, preparing for one final clash. “Fine then, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez.”

With a flex, Grimmjow pulled the reishi in the air towards himself, solidifying it into a set of massive arcing blades that extended from his claws, “Desgarrón!” He howled, slashing at his enemy with his most powerful ability.

As the blades of energy closed in on him, Zaraki Kenpachi inhaled deeply, raised his blade, and struck.

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Shihouin Yoruichi’s gaze took in the form of Tatsuki’s released form with an odd mix of fear and admiration.

The young woman’s features were still visable, however she was now covered in a coat of yellow and black fur, and black segmented armor. A large pair of insectoid wings grew from her back, and a second set of arms flexed out from just below her original pair. Her Tiara-like mask fragment now extended across her head as an elegantly simple golden crown.
Tatsuki looked down at her new form, her eyes wide in surprise as she flexed her fingers and felt the power flow through her body. “So this is Reserrecion...” She marveled. “No wonder Grimmjow loves to fight with his. It feels so... right!” Her eyes once again rose to lock with her opponents, “I hope you are ready shinigami!”

All three of them flinched, dropping down into ready stances. “Be careful Soifon, Yoruichi,” Kisuke said, his voice calm dispite his own unsurety. “We have no idea what she’s now capable of.”

“You don’t need to tell us that Kisuke.” Soifon spat, her glare briefly redirecting to the man she had hated for a hundred years. “We’re not novices.”

Tatsuki licked her lips in anticipation, her grin only widening as she noticed the bickering. As she lowered herself down into a predatory crouch, her four arms splaying out around her, she mentally examined herself in the way that Grimmjow had taught her, quickly gaining an understanding of what her body, and more importantly her powers, were now capable of.

“Lucky lil’ me that this building survived up till now,” She chuckled lightly as her wings began to move, flapping slowly at first, but swiftly picking up speed until they moved faster than the eye could follow, a thrumming buzzing filling the room. “Make’s my opener that much stronger.”

Opener...? Kisuke thought, his expression darkening in a frown as he quickly wondered what the young arrancar could possibly have planned. A moment later, his eyes widened in shock, “Soifon! Yoruichi! Get out now!” He shouted, launching a reiatsu blast at Tatsuki as he leaped backwards towards the hole in the wall.

“Too late smart guy.” Tatsuki grinned wickedly, as a long, vicious looking stinger slid into view from the top of each of her wrists. “Miss Captain? Would you please kill that obnoxious man in the stupid hat?”

Soifon suddenly vanished, reappearing behind Kisuke, her eyes dull and glassy, and her Zanpakutō already thrusting forward to strike. “Soifon!?” Yoruichi cried in shock, flashing between the two and barely catching her former pupil’s strike in time. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”

“It’s Arisawa’s Pheremones!” Kisuke answered, his eyes flickering between Tatsuki and Soifon. “Her new form must have enhanced them, and made her ability to distribute them more efficient.” His mind swiftly looked over all of the data he had to work with. “Her wings must double as a distribution system.”

Tatsuki’s grin widened once again, as she now hovered just above the ground, her wings still buzzing steadily, “Shiro-sama said you were smart.” She chuckled, “Good to know you don’t disappoint.” With that, her body flickered out of view, reappearing over the three shinigami and lashing out at them with her murderous stingers.

Swearing violently, Yoruichi kicked her foot into Kisuke’s back, knocking him out of the way and pulling herself and Soifon away in the oposite direction. As she moved however, she gasped in shock as the small shinigami in her arms drove a heavy punch into her ribcage, dislodging herself from Yoruichi’s grip and once again launching herself at Kisuke.

“You deal with Arisawa!” Kisuke called out as he blocked a stab from the miniature captain, “I’ll try to knock Soifon out of her control!” With that, he darted away, cutting his way through a wall and back out into the sunlight, Soifon following with ruthless focus.

“You’re going to pay for that bitch.” Yoruichi’s eyes flared angrily as she once more squared off against Tatsuki.

The Espada simply smiled innocently, clearly unintimidated. “Oh please. She’s fine. It isn’t permanent or anything. I’ll give you a hint, beat me and she’ll be right as rain.” Tatsuki flitted back and forth lightly, hovering in the air, her arm stingers raised, ready to strike again. “Besides...” Her grin turned wicked, “Shouldn’t you be more worried about yourself?”

Yoruichi felt her eyes widen in shock, even as the world seemed to blur and haze. “Shit...” She swore, suddenly staggering and struggling to even remain standing. “You cheeky little...”

“What?” Tatsuki laughed, buzzing over to her struggling opponent, “I am utilizing my natural abilities to the best effect I can muster from them. It’s not my fault that I work better at dividing my prey and picking them off one at a time.” Two of her hands grasped Yoruichi, cupping her beautiful features, “Don’t worry, shinigami.” Her silken voice purred, “I promise to make it painless.”

Yoruichi gave the Espada a defiant smirk, “Hate to dissapoint you kid...” She said, “But I ain’t goin’ down that easy.” Lifting her hand to Tatsuki’s chest, her smirk widened, “Thanks for holding my head steady, really helps with my aim. SHUNKO!”

Tatsuki let out a shriek of surprised pain as a massive blast of reiatsu took her full in the chest and hurled her through the room to crash painfully through the far wall. She lay there, smoke rising from her chest, staring into the sky, trying to once again catch her breath. “Dammit Tatsuki...” She chastised herself, pushing herself up and seeing her enemy shaking off the effects of her pheremones, “How many times are you gonna get your ass handed to you for thinking it’s over before they’re dead...?”

“You almost had me there for a second kid.” Yoruichi smirked, sparks of reiatsu bursting off her body like lighting as she turned to once again face Tatsuki, “But now, I’m going to show you why they called me the Goddess of Flash.” Her thighs flexed once, and she was suddenly above Tatsuki and kicking down at her head.

Eyes widening in surprise, Tatsuki moved to block, however the blow was so fast that she had barely registered it before Yoruichi had repositioned and was striking again. And again. And again. The shinigami woman had seemingly become a living hurricane of strikes and movement, so fast that Tatsuki could only just see her out of the corner of her eyes as she moved.

This is bad. She thought as yet another strike knocked her head forward. I need to break her momentum! Mind reeling furiously, trying to see a pattern in Yoruichi’s movements, she felt her anger begin to burn underneath the pain, rising with each strike. “DAMMIT!” She roared, letting loose a massive burst of reiatsu and pheremones.

Yoruichi was thrown back her head already spinning from the Espada’s ability. As she collided with the wall, a flare of white hot pain exploded through her, causing her to cry out. Opening her eyes, she found her gaze inches from Tatsuki’s as the younger woman drove a stinger through each of her shoulders, and pinned her to the stone wall. Yoruichi let loose a vicious snarl, lifting her foot and kicking as hard as she could into Tatsuki’s stomach.

There was a ripping, popping sound, an agonizing scream of pain, and a massive spray of blood as Tatsuki’s second set of arms were ripped apart, their weaponized lower section remaining in the shinigami’s shoulder while the rest of the Espada fell back to land several feet away.

“You BITCH!” Tatsuki shrieked, her eyes wide with shock and pain.

“That’s enough Arisawa!” Urahara Kisuke’s voice echoed down from the roof of a nearby building. He stood with the unconcious form of Soifon slumped over his shoulder, his blade leveled towards the wounded Espada. “Surrender! Now.”

Tatsuki slowly pushed herself up, backing away from both him and Yoruichi’s struggling form. She clutched at the bleeding stumps of her missing arms, and snarled at the shinigami. “You should be happy that you have friends bitch.” She said to Yoruichi before letting out another angry, pain filled roar and unleashed a massive wave of pheromones.

Kisuke shook his head, clearing away the dizziness and nausea as he looked around. Tatsuki was nowhere to be found, and her reiatsu seemed to have vanished. Sighing gratefully, he gently set Soifon down, before moving to try and cut Yoruichi loose from where she was pinned. He noted that the dark skinned woman’s feet actually hung almost a foot off the ground. He then noted with a sense of dread that she had stopped struggling. “Shit!” He swore, snapping his sword along the wall behind her, cutting the nearly sword-length stiger off behind her and then doing the same to the front side.

He caught her clumsily as she fell from where she hung and quickly examined her wounds. Thanking his lucky stars, he discovered that the stinger’s lengths were not serrated, allowing his to gently pull them from her shoulders. His luck seemed to end there however, as he quickly noticed traces of some form of poison leaking from the broken ends of the stingers.

Dammit! He swore to himself, picking her up gently before moving to retrieve Soifon once again and ran towards the 4th Squad baracks. “Don’t you dare die too Yoruichi...”

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Tatsuki stumbled through the streets of the Seireitei, the stumps of her arms wrapped tightly in a torn up shinigami kimono that she had taken from a dead man. “Shit... Shit... SHIT! Damn that bastard showing up when he did! I could have at least killed her if I’d had a few more seconds...”

As she walked, she started to realize that the ground was getting more and more broken, as though she were walking into another battlezone. Looking up, she saw dozens of shinigami bodies strewn about, and there, at the middle of the destruction, in the middle of what almost looked like a crater in the street, lay two figures.

One of them was an extremely tall shinigami. He lay on his back, a massive ‘X’ shaped wound cut into his chest, and his long black hair splayed out chaoticly around his head. Opposite him lay Grimmjow, a single, immanse slash reaching from his left shoulder all the way to his right hip. “Grimmjow!” Tatsuki forced herself to stumble forward, landing in a tumbling heap beside her comrade, “Don’t be dead. Don’t be dead. Don’t be dead!”

She leaned over him, placing two fingers gently against his neck to see if he had a pulse, before placing her ear above his mouth. As a small, short breath brushed against her skin, her eyes widened, and she sat up once again. “Oh thank god...” She sighed. Looking around, she grabbed several kimonos from the dead shinigami nearby and used them as a makeshift bandage to stop his bleeding.

Once that was finished, she lifted her head to the sky and let loose a loud shout, “GIRI! WHERE ARE YOU?”

A moment’s silence was broken by the humming sound of a sonido, heralding the arival of her fracion. “You called mis-” Giri broke off as she took in Tatsuki’s state. “Mistress! Are you alright?!” She rushed forward to inspect Tatsuki’s arms, but the Espada waved her off.

“I’ll live. But Grimmjow won’t be so lucky if we don’t get him back to Hueco Mundo, NOW.”
Giri nodded curtly once, turning to the other espada’s prone form and carefully began to move him out of the small crater so that she could open a Garganta.

Tatsuki let out a small sigh as her Fracion went to work. However, her peace of mind was interrupted by a cough from behind her. Spinning around, she found herself staring into the eyes of what must have been Grimmjow’s opponent.

“Hey woman...” He hadn’t moved from where he lay, but his eyes were vibrantly fierce. “That asshole and me ain’t finished...”

“You look pretty finished to me.” Tatsuki said, moving towards him and sliding out one of her stingers. “But if you’d like, I could go ahead and finish you here.”

“Tch. Don’t insult me.”

“Then shut up. You and Grimmjow can murder each other again once you’re both back on your feet.” With that, she retracted her stinger, and stalked back to where Giri stood over Grimmjow, ignoring the large shinigami’s weak protests. “How is he? Think you can get him to Las Noches safely?”

Giri nodded and opened her mouth to respond, but a new voice cut her off. “You won’t be going anywhere my dear.”

Whirling around once again, Tatsuki took in the figure standing over the fallen form of Grimmjow’s enemy. She was a gentle looking woman, with an almost ‘matronly’ feel to her appearance. Until Tatsuki’s gaze reached her eyes. The woman’s eyes were cold, dispassionate and filled with death. Tatsuki felt herself involuntarily shudder just looking at her. This woman is extremely dangerous!

“I’m dissapointed in you, Kenpachi-san.” The woman said with a small smile, gazing down at the man on the ground. He simply grumbled angrily in reply. “As for you Hollows, you have invaded my home, and killed my people. You will receive no quarter from me.” As she spoke, the woman slowly unsheathed a long Zanpakutō, “I am Unohana Retsu. Captain of the 4th Squad of the Gotei 13,” The air suddenly grew heavy with an unbelievably powerful reiatsu, “And you are now my prey.”

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The streets were filled with death and chaos, but she barely registered it as she ran. She had stumbled and fallen countless times. But each time, the same thought forced her to get back up and continue running. I have to get away from them! Onwards and onwards she ran. Somehow the monsters never found her.

Eventually her flight found her in a large forest, far from the screams and the death, and the lies. She was exhausted, but she kept running, blinded by her tears and hardly caring where she went.

As she ran, she emerged into a clearing, just as someone else was walking around into her path, causing her to barrel headlong into them and bowl both of them over.

“Woah there!” The man she had run into said, chuckleing slightly as he sat back up. “Easy there lil’missy.”

“Sorry...” She mumbled, forcing herself to stop and breath. She moved over and slumped down against a tree and once more began to cry.

“Uh oh! Easy there kid.” The man said, trying to calm her down, “I’m not mad or anything...”

“It’s not you.”

“Oh?” He crouched down a few feet away from her, clearly not leaving anytime soon. “What’s the matter?”

“My family is nothing but liars and monsters!” She slammed her fist into the tree, causing a small trickle of blood to flick out. “I can’t take it anymore!”

As she reared back to hit the tree again, his slender hand closed gently around her fist, lowering it back down. “Now, I don’ know about monsters or anythin’.” He gave her a thin smile, “But I do know all about liars.” As he spoke he pulled a small roll of cloth from his robe and began to wrap her hand where she had hurt it, “And what I know, is that liars are what make this world turn. Everyone lies, whether its to protect the ones we love, or to hurt those we hate, that’s up to us. But we all lie.” He finished wrapping her hand, and set it gently in her lap, “And while I never really had a proper family, I do know that for the ones that we love, we all are willing to go to unbelievable lengths. Even lie to them. Lies that may break them at the time, but in the end, it’s all for the better.”

She looked up at this strange man, and forced herself to smile weakly. “You’re kinda weird, you know that?”

He snickered, shrugging with a practiced ease that briefly turned into a wince which spoke of a recent injury. “I’ve been told that once or twice.” He looked up for a few moments, looking back the way that she had come, “What’s your name kid?”

“Kurosaki Karin.” She said, wiping away her tears. “Although is that shitty ass dad of mine is anything to go by these days, I guess it’d be ‘Shiba’ Karin.”

“Kurosaki?” His eyebrows raised in genuine surprise as she spoke, “You wouldn’t happen to know to know a guy named Ichigo would ya? Tall? Orangeish hair?”

Her expression froze, as she thought back to the creature she had met not long ago. Finally she nodded, “Mmm. He was my brother... but he’s dead.” She looked up at him once again, “Why do you ask?”

“I only ask because I used to be one of your brothers biggest fans.” He smiled widely, “I’m sorry to hear that he died.” As he spoke, the unmistakable sound of a Hollow cry echoed up from somewhere in the forest. “Speakin’ of... it ain’t exactly safe aroun’ here right now for a kid like you. I’ve been hiding out in a cave not to far from here, it ain’t much, but it’s safe from Hollow attacks, and it’s a warm place to lay yer head for the night. What d’ya say kid? You’ll probably feel better about your family after a good nights sleep away from them.”

She peered at him, clearly trying to decide if she could actually trust him, however, another Hollow cry, closer this time, made her mind up for her. “Fine...” He grinned and popped up, helping her stand before turning and hiking along through the woods, with her just slightly behind him. “By the way, You never told me your name?” She asked as she stepped over a fallen log.

“My name?” He asked, smiling back at her. At her nod, his smile seemed to widen, almost reminding her of some kind of snake. “You can just call me Gin.”