//------------------------------//
// Vs. Sandbar 1 
// Story: Trapped in a World of Light 
// by Jumpitydude 
//------------------------------//

Silver landed on an open, paved area. She looked at her surroundings through the pink mist. There were a few large metal constructs with silver and black wheels, but not much else of note. There was an odd aroma in the air, but it wasn't unpleasant. She turned away from the metal constructs and locked eyes with her next opponent.

Sandbar, sitting on seemingly nothing. He had a sword with holes in the blade and a large ring attached to the hilt of it. His hoof was through the ring, and the sword was just floating there.

Silver summoned the Gunlance as Sandbar dropped to the ground. A brief stare-off later, Sandbar charged towards her. Silver raised the weapon to block the attack.

"Behind you!"

Silver whipped around in time to block the oncoming attack. The problem was, she didn't see what attacked her. At the same time, Sandbar was behind her but didn't hit her somehow.

"What were you doing?" Silver could hear Reyn, but couldn't see him. "You were facing away from the guy!"

Silver watched Sandbar move to her right, so she raised the Gunlance to block it. "It looked like he was in front of-"

"The left!"

At Mipha's cry, Silver whipped around and blocked another invisible attack while Sandbar's somehow missed. He was the only opponent she could see. Were the others seeing something she couldn't?

"I think her senses are being played with," Mipha answered the unasked question. "She's seeing him coming from one direction, but he's coming from the other side."

"I might have a workaround. Just smash another of those orbs, and I can help you."

"Alright, Ladybug. Just help me survive until we get there." Silver watched her foe approach her from the front and left, so she raised her guard to the back and right.

"Wrong way!"

Silver barely had enough time to block the first attack to come from where it looked like it was coming from. "It looked like he was attacking from there!"

"He can turn it off? That complicates things."

"Just let us be your eyes, Silver. We've got your back, no matter what."

"Oh, that might cause some trouble with my plan."

"It's still worth a shot."

"Behind."

Silver turned around and raised her guard. A loud clank confirmed Mipha's claim.

"You know, if he was smart-"

"Don't say it!"

"Huh?"

"He might hear!"

"Oh. Right."

Silver raised her guard to her right.

"LEFT!"

Silver continued to follow the spirit's directions. They said left, she blocked left. They said behind, she turned around. They said above, she blocked above her.

"Hey, Silver?"

"Yeah?"

"Stomp your right hoof real quick."

Silver complied.

*CRASH!*

"Oh! What? When did that get there?"

"Don't question it! Left!"

Silver guarded to her left, waited for the hit, then pulled out the yo-yo and threw it in the air. Instead of a rocket launcher, a gas mask dropped out of the sky.

"My first plan was to give you a visor that would flip your vision in the same way, but if he can turn the power off on his power, this is probably a better option."

"This is perfect!" Silver slipped it on over her beak... however that works. A few directions later, and the effect of the mist wore completely off. "Ah! There you are!"

As soon as Sandbar was in range, Silver stabbed the sword part of the Gunlance through his stomach. He stayed there for a moment before crumbling to dust.

"I suppose none of my prior opponents had a gas mask handy. Or were able to get one quickly."

Silver turned around. A blond man sat there upside-down while drinking from a bottle.

"I suppose you're the one that had that power to mess with my senses?"

The man smiled. "You're lucky to have had those other spirits with you. They saved your life."

"Yeah. If they hadn't been there, I would have taken every one of those hits, and probably died. So, who are you?"

"My name is Shinji Hirako, and my Zanpakuto is Sakanade."

"Zanpakuto?"

"It's a special sword type that members of the Soul Society can use."

"Soul Society?"

"The place I'm-"

"Can we not play twenty questions with every spirit we meet?" Reyn appeared and started talking with his hands. "I'm this guy from this place with this power! What's that place and that power? Here! Let me explain it in detail and waste time we might not have!"

"But I want to know!"

Ladybug put her hand on Reyn's shoulder. "Galeem is about to win. He has no reason to think of us as something he needs to deal with right away."

"That doesn't mean we should waste our time!"

"It means we can, though!" Silver hopped over to the new spirit. "Shinji! I want to know about Zanpakuto and the Soul Society!"

Reyn reached his hand out to Silver, then placed it on his forehead.

Mipha giggled. "Let her have her fun, Reyn. You never know when she'll lose her happiness."

"Creature like her, she'll always get it back." He shook his head as Silver and Shinji talked to each other.





"... Nothing yet."

"You know, I think we might be the only ones here after all."

"Yeah... But I'm not giving up hope."

...

"There! Look over there!"

"I saw it!"

*Vrooooom!*

"Come on come on... Huh?"

"It's gone!"

"But we all saw it right? That figure."

"It looked like a horse!"

"With a purple tail!"

"That's what I saw too. So we aren't going crazy. There probably is someone else here!"

"What kind of world is this, anyway?"

"I don't know, but I'm not leaving until I find out."