"Shoo!!!"
Black-crimson light streaked across the sky like a comet.
Yammy's colossal body unraveled in that glow, crumbling like dust—within a single second, nearly half his mass was swallowed away. Blood fountained from the semicircular void, dyeing the entire street red.
Chad and the others stood directly opposite Yammy. Watching the meteor-like stream still roaring toward them after piercing the brute, all three sucked in a breath.
"It's coming straight at us!?"
Uryu snapped back to himself, face blanching. With a flick of his right hand, a blue spirit bow formed; he drew and loosed in an instant.
"Shff! Shff! Shff!"
Blue arrows poured forth in a storm—only to gutter and vanish like moths diving into flame before that black-crimson torrent.
Orihime mustered her courage and shouted:
"Koten Zanshun (Solitary Cutting Shield)!"
The hexagonal hairpins above her brow flared; a thread of dark light shot out—Tsubaki of the Shun Shun Rikka. He started to arc toward the incoming flash… and slammed on the brakes at the last moment.
"Huh? What's wrong, Tsubaki?" Orihime asked.
"What's wrong—what's—"
Veins popped on Tsubaki's forehead. He zipped to her side and yanked her hair, teeth grinding. "You idiot woman, trying to get me killed!?"
He was a spirit shaped from Orihime's will—but her resolve wasn't strong enough to draw out his full power. Asking him to cleave a blast like that… he'd be shredded by the shockwave before he even got close.
"S-sorry! Sorry…"
"Quit gawking!" Tsubaki snapped. "Use Santen Kesshun (Three-Heavenly Binding Shield) to defend!"
He couldn't carve through that terrifying cero. But maybe—just maybe—Santen Kesshun could tank it. Better than waiting to die.
Orihime hurried to summon the rest of the sprites—yet before she could act, the black-crimson flash ripped the sky again, moments from blasting the trio off their feet.
At that hair-thin instant, Chad strode forward and threw up the broad shield of his dark-red giant right arm.
"Boom!"
The detonation howled. Chad skidded back, both feet gouging twin trenches through the ground. As he slid, he clenched his right fist—and his left, the pure-white demon arm, snapped forward with a hammering punch.
"The demon… left arm!"
"Kra-BOOM!"
His shockwave collided with the black-crimson flash and the two snuffed each other out. Uryu, Orihime, and Chad sagged with shaky relief, wiping cold sweat from their brows.
Too close. With the three of them together, they had nearly failed to stop the leftover wash of Cole's cero.
None of that touched the duel at the street's center.
"Yammy. Go."
Ulquiorra's voice was flat. A new left arm had already knitted itself; with it he seized Tatsuki again and stepped backward into the garganta. His right index finger, meanwhile, leveled at the sprawled, unconscious humans and souls all across the street.
"Cero Oscuras (Dark Hollow Flash)."
"Ffssht! Ffssht! Ffssht…!"
Deep-green lances fired like lasers in a chain.
Ichigo's face went purple. Tensa Zangetsu in hand, he charged and sheared blast after blast apart—but the explosions still kicked up vicious shockwaves.
Cole's tone stayed even. "Bakudō #73: Tōsankishō (Falling Mountain Crystal)."
A vast, sky-blue inverted triangle unfolded in mid-air, hundreds of meters across, wrapping the entire avenue. Shockwaves from ceros and sword-slashes alike slammed harmlessly against its planes and died.
Ichigo exhaled. "Cole! Hurry and get Tatsuki—she's about to be taken into Hueco Mundo!"
Cole looked into the black fissure. Two silhouettes within: one, the black-winged demon, whole; the other, the raging beast, all but ruined. The former still dangled Tatsuki from one hand. The latter stuffed Hiyori Sarugaki and Lisa Yadomaru back between his teeth—using the two women like talismans.
Cole shook his head, lowered his hand, and said, "Let them go. If I smash the space now, who knows where the current will throw them."
A garganta was a corridor of space; crack it, and the eddies could hurl them into the Dangai. At that point, even the Royal Guard wouldn't be able to find them.
"Damn it!"
Ichigo clenched his fists. If he'd had the power to one-shot Yammy, Cole could have saved Tatsuki in the same heartbeat.
As the black fissure neared closure, Cole thought a moment, then beckoned his golden staff and pitched it into the dark.
"Go. Protect Tatsuki."
The staff flashed into a streak of gold and slipped through the crack just before it sealed, vanishing from the World of the Living.
Inside the lightless corridor, Ulquiorra and Yammy went taut, warily facing the hovering staff. Even with its master absent, after the power Cole had shown, they dared not treat it lightly.
After a long, silent sway, the staff finally moved—darting like a golden carp into Tatsuki's chest. The glow went out.
Yammy was half-dead—seven legs gone, half his body eaten away. If not for Hollow vitality, he wouldn't be moving at all; a touch would've finished him. Ulquiorra, by contrast, was little harmed. Even having an arm blown off and then torn away meant little; with high-speed regeneration, such wounds barely counted.
He reached out his right hand toward Tatsuki's slender throat—
—and his devil's palm blasted back before it touched her skin, hurled away by a brutal repulsive force.
"Golden… light?"
A rare crease formed in Ulquiorra's gaze. Even he had to admit—Cole's power was unsettling. For a masterless zanpakuto to raise a barrier that could repel him…
"…What a waste. What a waste…"
Cole pulled his eyes back and sighed. "I'm still too weak. Couldn't finish both Espada at once."
Uryu and the rest, who had just walked up, all twitched with collective black lines across their foreheads. Weak? You're absurdly strong.
Ichigo rubbed his neck, abashed. "This is on me. If I'd put that big guy down, you would've had Tatsuki."
Cole didn't offer comfort or excuses. He'd misread Aizen—hadn't expected him to target Tatsuki. On reflection, it wasn't surprising. Aizen had watched Ichigo for a long time; he'd know exactly who the boy cared about. Even without Tatsuki, some other classmate would have been snatched.
If he'd thought of that sooner, he would've brought Unohana along. With Hana-nee and Ichigo together, they could have crushed Yammy quickly.
But it was too late for hypotheticals.
Cole's mouth curled in a cold smile as he stared at the air where space had been torn. "In the end, Aizen's still wary. Otherwise he wouldn't stoop to kidnapping a human."
In the original, Aizen used abductions to split the Gotei's forces. Smart, yes—but it also proved he had no intention of facing the Soul Society's full strength head-on. And now, three snatches in a row? He clearly meant to fragment his enemies and buy time for his evolution.
"Cole, what do we do now!?" Ichigo ground out the question. He didn't care what happened to him—but he couldn't accept his friends paying for his battles. Especially Tatsuki—she wasn't like Orihime or Chad, and she didn't even know the Soul Society existed.
"Plan…" Cole thought, then said, "Get in touch with the Soul Society. They'll send people to invade Hueco Mundo."
"What about you?"
Cole rolled his neck. Both hands lifted toward the air; a thin smile spread. "I'm going to Hueco Mundo—right now."
He had no interest in a one-man duel with Aizen—but that didn't mean he feared him. If they truly fought, the outcome wasn't set.
"Take me! Waiting on the Soul Society is a waste of time," Ichigo said.
"No. You'll make it harder."
Hueco Mundo was at its zenith—Espada complete, plus Aizen, Gin, and Tōsen. Dragging Ichigo along would only lead to trouble; the kid would barrel straight into Las Noches without a second thought and get the living daylights beaten out of him. Cole, for his part, was fully prepared to be mobbed—fight, then flee if he had to.
He blinked across to Orihime. She squeaked as he swept her into his arms.
"C-Cole!"
"Come to Hueco Mundo with me?" Cole asked, smiling.
Sōten Kisshun (Twin-God Reflection Shield) was divine even among miracles; it would be useful in any situation.
Orihime hesitated for only a heartbeat. Her eyes firmed. "I'm going to save Tatsuki-chan!"
"Good."
Cole glanced toward his home and faltered. "Hana-nee…"
"…Forget it." The memory of Unohana's dazed face made him abandon the thought. Let her rest for now.
"Let's go."
Cole tore at the air with both hands; space ripped open. He stepped into the pitch-black passage.
"Damn it…" Ichigo clenched his fists. He turned to Mashiro and Hachigen. "Mashiro, Hachi—contact the Soul Society. Tell Shinji what happened here, and get Kisuke back, now!"
Ichigo's Hollow form was ferocious, but it wasn't fully mastered; he couldn't open a garganta. To invade Hueco Mundo now, he'd need Kisuke's senkaimon device.
Mashiro and Hachigen nodded hard and began reaching out to Shinji and the others.
Soon after—
Seireitei. First Division.
A black butterfly floated in, wings lilting—that message-bearing Hell Butterfly flitted into the grand hall of the Commander-General.
Everyone was present: all the captains, plus Rukia, Renji, Ikkaku, and Chōjirō, in the midst of discussing the campaign against Aizen. The untimely butterfly made several captains frown.
Soi fong's voice went cold. "During a captains' council, a Hell Butterfly has no right to enter. Who raised that one?"
Brows drew tighter; some hands shifted toward hilts. Their discussion was secret. If the butterfly carried word out, it could imperil all Seireitei.
Shinji hadn't cared—until his eye fell on the butterfly, and he jolted. "Wait—wait. That's one of ours—Yoruichi gave it to us back then, for messages."
Soi fong's face darkened; she ground her teeth. "Yoruichi… she gave Hell Butterflies to you?"
Within Seireitei, Squad Two—Stealth Force—held partial right to cultivate Hell Butterflies. It was trust, and an honor. Soi fong's jaw worked; her feelings toward Yoruichi twisted, love and hate entwined—adoring her carefree grace, resenting her lawless whims. Her glare slid to Shinji and the Visored—those four had "stolen away" her lady.
Awkward, Shinji raised his right index finger to let the black butterfly settle. He listened.
When the message ended, frost settled over his features. His fist clenched, teeth bared. "Bastard… Aizen…"
He'd come to ally with the Gotei against Aizen—and got reverse-uno'd. The bastard had raided his house and abducted Hiyori and Lisa. How many moles did Aizen have in Seireitei?
Drawing a long breath, Shinji relayed the news at once. "Commander-General—our plan has to change. We need to split a contingent to head for Karakura immediately."
They had planned to ambush Aizen in Karakura—since forging the Ōken required the town's high spirit density, all they had to do was lie in wait. But this? Aizen had slapped them in the face. They could almost hear him, looking down with that lofty disdain:
"You would ambush me? Do you know when I will go to the World of the Living? Only the weak dream of others acting according to their plan."
(End of Chapter)
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