Episode 108: Miscalculations
Episode 108: Miscalculations
“This is it,” Duskshine whispered to Di Roy and Roka, “Move at full speed. Don’t attack anyone unless you have to. When I grab Ember, immediately get in physical contact with me, and I teleport us all. Go!”
There was no time to waste, not even a single extra second. Any moment the Soul Reapers in the once underwater laboratory might spot them standing there, no more than a few hundred yards away. Speed and timing were all key, and Duskshine knew the moment they used enough spiritual pressure to make use of high-speed techniques, there was a strong chance they’d be noticed.
He built up the reishi beneath his feet and burst into motion with Hirenkyaku, careful to line his whole body with reinforcing Blut Vene. It was so easy to do now, it felt effortless, like breathing. The hundreds of yards of distance fell away in an instant, and Duskshine could see the lab clearly now that he was in the middle of it. The odd mix of old fashioned wooden construction and more modern metal alloys gave much of the equipment an otherworldly feel that was both organic and somehow mystic. Yet a science lab was a science lab, and while things didn’t look quite the same as they did with Quincy alchemy and engineering, Duskshine found he could readily surmise what much of the gadgetry around him was for.
Of course most of that didn’t matter. Only two things mattered; the fact that Ember was standing bound by bands of translucent energy within a circular apparatus atop a central, circular platform, and that the Soul Reapers within the lab all looked equally shocked at Duskshine, Di Roy, and Roka’s sudden appearance.
While the Twelfth Division was a research focused unit within the Gotei 13, that didn’t change the fact that these researchers were all still Soul Reapers who’d gone through the same combat training others of more battle-focused Divisions did, and each was armed with a Zanpaktou. The main difference was actual combat experience, with most of these Soul Reapers having not been in a real fight since their Academy days. Only three Soul Reapers were able to show any reaction at all besides utter surprise. One Duskshine recognized as Clover, who had been standing beside an eldery, gray skinned man wearing the billowing whie coat of a Captain.
Starswirl, Duskshine knew, already feeling an instant sense of unease upon seeing the man, even if his back had been turned due to gazing up at the floating lake several hundred feet above.
The other Soul Reaper that had enough accuity to react was a tall fellow with brown skin and stray blonde hair, bearing the armband of a Lieutenant. He opened his mouth to shout either a warning or a command, or perhaps invoke a Kido spell, given he was raising a palm, but Roka was faster. The Arrancar flicked her left wrist, and strands flickered out in silver, glinting waves. They wrapped around the Lieutenant’s robes, pinning his arms, and yanked him to the ground.
In that same moment, Duskshine grasped Ember’s arms. Torch’s daughter looked alert, and while a distinct light of mistrust shone in her eyes, she didn’t question who Duskshine was or show any resistance. Roka had grasped Duskshine with her other hand, disengaging the strands she’d wrapped around the Twelfth Division Lieutenant, and Di Roy had a hand on Duskshine’s shoulder, his own Zanpaktou up in a guard position but not attacking.
Which was all well and good because the entire plan hinged on being able to teleport out of here while everyone was still too surprised to do anything to stop them.
Midnight, help me focus. We’re going for the lab.
It was the location he was most familiar with in the local area, so the chances of a mistake in teleportation would be minimal. It also was behind Quincy wards, so once inside it should make them difficult to detect or follow.
Midnight didn’t respond with words, just the ready sensation of magic bubbling up inside Duskshine, eager to be used. He took a split second to focus those energies, crystalizing the image of the field lab in his mind, and began to will forth the magic of the teleportation spell.
Even as he did so, Starswirl turned around. There was no rush in his movement, no whirl of surprise. Duskshine’s eyes locked with Starswrl’s, and he instantly realized something with a sinking shock in his gut; Starswirl had been expecting them. Maybe not them specifically, but he’d been expecting a strike on his lab, and by the utterly placid and unconcerned expression on his face it was obvious Starswirl hadn’t been caught off guard at all.
A hundred fears and doubts rushed through Duskshine all at once, even as he completed the teleport spell and surrounded himself, Di Roy, Roka, and Ember in a brilliant flash of violet light. The moment of disorientation that accompanies a teleport lasted only a second, and then they were all standing outside the two lab trailers, north of Camp Everfree. Ember was still attached to the circular apparatus, the object having been yanked along with them through the teleport, and it teetered over with her in it.
“Urk! Hey, get me out of here!” Ember said, struggling in the still active energy bonds holding her, “Holy crap, Di Roy, Roka, you two have no idea how glad I am to see you! Where’s Adagio!?”
“Hold up, hold up, and quit squirming!” Di Roy said, using his saw-toothed shark blade to start hammering the apparatus, trying to break it enough to halt whatever energies were holding Ember, “Adagio’s fine. Er, well, as fine as she can be while fighting a Soul Reaper Captain.”
“What!?” Ember shouted, redoubling her efforts to break free, “Get me out of here! We have to go help her!”
“Adagio has matters in hand,” Roka said, kneeling down to use her own dagger-like Zanpaktou to pry apart pieces of the apparatus, “Her fight is providing us cover to rescue you. Now that we have you here, we just need to open a Garganta and escape back to Las Noches.”
Suddenly a cool, smooth tone spoke from nearby, causing every head to snap around to look down the path away from the lab, “Ah, so that was your plan.”
Standing there was Starswirl himself, carrying a baffled looking Clover over one shoulder and his Lieutenant over the other. Behind him was the open, paper and wood doorway of a Senkaimon gate, which closed behind him. He unceremoniously deposited both on the ground, Clover scrambling to her feet. Starswirl gestured at her, “Clover, help Lieutenant Meadowbrook out of those bindings, would you?”
“Yes sir,” Clover said, still looking confused, “How did we-?”
“Get here? Oh, I installed a tracking device inside our specimine’s spinal cord, allowing me to know her location at all times,” Starswirl replied, then drew his Zanpaktou. It was a long, straight edged blade, drawn from a dark sheath of polished brown wood. It’s guard held a distinct oval shape bearing a downward curving metal protector, while the hilt itself was wrapped in intertwined blue and yellow cloth.
Holding the blade up, Starswirl said, “I’ve modified my Zanpaktou to create Senkaimon gates that, instead of going to Soul Society, instantly lead to any number of locations, ranging from personal laboratories outside the Twelfth Division, or attuned to specific signals... like a tracking device.”
Duskshine shook his head, drawing a deep breath to steady his frayed nerves, and stood between the Arrancar and the Soul Reapers. He raised his left hand, clad in the Hexenfaust, and formed his bow. By now Clover had freed Lieutenant Medowbrook and both had taken up positions on either side of their Captain. Duskshine noted neither one had Zanpaktou, but that cooresponded to what Sunset had told him about what had occured in Soul Society. He didn’t necessarily think either one as being less dangerous for it, imagining both were proficient with Kido. While he knew Clover was actually on their side, Lieutenant Meadowbrook was another story.
“I should have predicted you’d have a means to follow us. I suspected Ember would be bugged in some manner, but I thought we’d have more time to escape than this. I clearly miscalculated.”
Starswirl made a throwing away gesture with his free hand, “It happens to the brightest of minds, Miss Sparkle, so don’t feel too bad about it.”
Duskshine gulped, face reddening, “W-who’s Miss Sparkle? I’m, uh, Duskshine.”
Starswirl stared back at him. Duskshine slumped his shoulders, “Am I that obvious?”
“Your disguise would fool those unfamiliar with you, I suspect,” Starswirl said, “But I’ve had your profile in my database for some time, Miss Twilight Sparkle.”
“Really? Why? I wasn’t even a Quincy until recently!”
“No, but you were born to one of the most prominent and powerful Quincy families, and showed great scientific aptitude from a young age. I made it a point to keep an updated database on as many figures of note as possible, among the Quincy, Hollows, my fellow Soul Reapers, and even other groups active in the world. Information is a powerful thing, isn’t it? Considering your clearly brilliant mind and talent for scientific pursuits, I did keep a close eye on your activities when I could, especially after that incident at the Friendship Games. Magic being such a new field of study for me, I knew one day your path and mine would cross...” Starswirl raised his Zanpaktou at her and smiled in a manner that only intensified Duskshine’s sense of dread, “I’m glad today is that day. I recover one specimen... and acquire a new, even more fascinating one.”
By now Roka and Di Roy had successfully smashed enough of the apparatus holding Ember that the energy bands holding her winked out. Ember leaped to her feet with a roar, throwing an arm past Duskshine and emitting a deep saffron beam as she fired a Cero directly at Starswirl.
The Captain caught the Cero with his free hand, and Duskshine could see the manner in which the Cero beam’s energies warped around the hand like a bubble. Starswirl’s spiritual pressure didn’t explode out of him, but rather shaped itself in a precisely controlled pattern that cupped the Cero and deflected it with the ease that could only come from someone who’d spent multiple lifetimes studying the energies of both Hollow and Soul Reaper. It terrified Duskshine to see the simple ease in which Starswirl controlled his reiatsu. It wasn’t more powerful than some other Captains, but the incredible skill at which he manipulated his aura was astounding.
The Cero beam was sent flying off as if it were rubber bouncing off of cement.
“Don’t fight!” Duskshine shouted, “Form a Garganta and get out of here!”
Intending to distract Starswirl for as long as possible, Duskshine aimed his bow at the Soul Reapers. He didn’t want to hurt Clover, or even that Lieutenant, Meadowbrook. But he did need to target them to a degree in order to keep up appearances in front of Starswirl. To that end, Duskshine tried a technique he wasn’t incredibly familiar with yet.
“Licht Regen!”
The shower of reishi arrows came out in a teal burst, each small arrow laced with some of the magic within. The blast of arrows wasn’t precise, but rather a shotgun cloud, meant to force the Soul Reapers to focus on defense for a moment. Clover and Meadowbrook both defended themselves with an identical Kido, throwing out their palms and invoking, “Bakudo Number : Danku!”
However Starswirl himself simply vanished with a Flash Step and appeared above the group, just as Di Roy was opening a Garganta portal.
“Can’t have you all leaving yet, my apologies. Bakudo Number Eighty Two: Setsudan-Bashi.” (Severing Bridge)
A white orb of light grew at the point of Starswirl’s finger, which then split into a series of inch-thick bands that snapped out to form the bars of a rectangular barrier that encased the area for around a hundred or so feet in every direction. Wooden slates formed at the edges of the rectangle, blazing with green kanji script for the words ‘Bridge’, ‘Cut’, and ‘Crossing’.
The moment this barrier formed, Di Roy let out a grunt of pain as his Garganta shredded itself and a bit of backlash energy arched back to his hand, burning it. “Crap! Oh this is bullshit! Can’t we catch a damn break for once!?”
Roka gave Duskshine a sidelong look, “Twilight, can we beat him? If not...”
Seeing no further point in the disguise, Twilight placed a hand back to her chest and reconverted herself back to being female; feeling a distinct sense of relief once she was finished. It’d been a good attempt, but it was clear she’d underestimated Captain Starswirl severely. She also knew what Roka was asking, and the question made her heart clench. She did not want to be in the same spot as... that man.
“If it comes to that, do it,” Twilight said around clenched teeth, “But I’m going to try and buy you all an opening to escape. Help fight, if you can, but keep an eye out for an opportunity to break free of this Kido and get away.”
“Screw that!” Ember shouted, eyes blazing, “I’m kicking this bastard’s ass!” Her hands clutched at her side, and her eyes widened, “And where the hell is my Zanpaktou!?”
“Back at our laboratory,” Starswirl replied, shrugging, “I don’t suppose you’d willingly surrender in order to get it back, would you?”
“Piss off you old fart! I’ll get it back after we’re done wiping the floor with you and your cronies here!”
Lieutenant Meadowbrook cleared his throat loudly, “First of all, we’re not ‘cronies’, we’re seated officers. Secondly, why is a Quincy helping Hollows? Even if you’re friends with Sunset Shimmer, I can’t see how that would extend to aiding Hollows.”
“That’s my business,” Twilight replied curtly, “I don’t want to have to hurt any of you, but if you won’t let us go, you won’t give me any choice but to respond with full force.”
“Hey Roka, are you getting deja vu here?” asked Di Roy, shaking his hand and readying his Zanpaktou, “Because this is giving me deja vu out the ass right now. I swear we were in this situation literally, like, two weeks ago.”
“We do seem to have a bad habit of running into unreasonable Soul Reaper Captains,” Roka said, standing beside Di Roy while giving him a coy look, “It must be some manner of karma for something you did.”
“What, why something I did!? None of this is my fault!”
“Perhaps, but it does seem every time you take me out somewhere, we get into a desperate battle for our lives. It does appear to be a pattern.”
Di Roy cocked a brow at her, “Take you out, eh? Didn’t know we’d progressed that far.”
Roka smiled at him, dark eyes shining with mystery, “Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.”
“Right... hey Twilight, you just said ‘full force’, right?” Di Roy said, a faint blue aura surrounding his body, “Figure me and Roka ought to take that to heart.”
Roka nodded, her own body glowing gold as her own reiatsu began to pour out. Twilight glanced back at them, knowing what they were about to do. “Wait, I should be able to cover all three of you-”
“No can do, Quincy gal,” Di Roy said, “Adagio gave us the job of rescuing Ember, and that ain’t happening as long as Captain Bill Nye here is in the way. Ember’s right, it’s time for an old fashioned ass kicking, Arrancar style!”
Ember watched with frustration, lacking her Zanpaktou, whilst Di Roy and Roka’s spiritual pressure spiked to a fever pitch and both spoke the release phrases for their own Zanpaktou.
”Dance in ecstasy; Telerana.” (Cobweb)
”Laugh at death; Picaro!” (Rogue)
With the spread of golden, glowing threads around her body, Roka assumed her Resurreccion form, the white spider legs spreading from her back while her body became clad in form fitting white clothes, including her skull mask becoming replaced with a partial white veil.
Around Di Roy a blast of cobalt light burst from his body as his muscles grew, shredding his white vest. Liquid bone spun around his left arm and solidified into the shape of a massive, conical shell that acted as both arm guard and shield, tipped with a formation at the end that was reminiscent of a hammer-head shark with an outward facing row of teeth. Bands of white, armoring bone formed around his shoulders and chest, like a protective exterior ribcage. The helmet of bone that comprised his partial Hollow mask split and slid down his back, the two parts expanding in side to form two fins on his back like those of a shark’s. Finally, his shark-tooth sword grew in size until it was near twice its original size, gaining larger teeth along its extended length.
When their transformations were done, Ember sighed and said, “If I just had my Zanpaktou...”
“Don’t sweat it,” Di Roy said, hefting his sword over his shoulder and showing a devil-may-care grin to her, “You helped save my ass back in the Forest of Menos. Let me return the favor without hearing you bitch about it, okay?”
“He’s coming,” Roka said, nodding upward at Starswirl, who was walking upon the air towards them. Di Roy visibly gulped, but kept on his brave smile.
“I was trying to be polite,” said Starswirl, “Allowing you a moment to talk and prepare yourselves. Can I assume you’re ready for what’s next?”
“Does this answer your question!?” Di Roy shouted, swinging his blade while still on the ground, with a good fifty or so feet separating him from Starswirl. However, Twilight noticed that the front segment of the blade clicked, and then detached from the main portion, front half flying upward while attached to the back end by a fibrous black cord.
Starswirl moved his still sealed Zanpaktou to parry, but when he did deflect the front end of Di Roy’s blade, he found that the surface of the blade was suddenly gripping his own as tooth-like segments snapped around the sword and held it in place.
“Eat it, neeeerrrrrd!” Di Roy bellowed, the cord connecting the two halves of his Zanpaktou suddenly reeling in and yanking Di Roy towards Starswirl at high speed. Di Roy cocked his other arm back, punching forward with the shield on his left arm, the teeth on the end of it jabbing forward at Starswirl’s face.
“Hm, fascinating.”
Starswirl simply let go of his Zanpaktou, bending forward to duck Di Roy’s blow, and placed a palm on the Arrancar’s abs, “Hado Number Fifty Seven: Hammer and Anvil.”
A blast of pure concussive force blasted into Di Roy’s stomach, sending him flying back, while at the same instant a circular plane of orange tinted force appeared in Di Roy’s path that he slammed into, as if it were a wall of steel. The blow left the Arrnacar dazed as he fell towards the ground, but he shook his head and flipped over before landing on his feet. The impact from the Kido had hurt, but didn't cause any severe damage. That said, it’d broken his concentration enough that the grasping teeth on his blade had loosened and Starswirl had freed his Zanpaktou.
Still, that moment Starswirl took to do that, Twilight, Roka, and Ember had all moved as one, taking advantage of the distraction Di Roy’s reckless attack had created.
Twilight teleported behind Starswirl, charging a reishi arrow with magic within her bow. Roka came up from below, hundreds of strands flowing out from her arms and the spider legs on her back, spinning a constricting web around Starswirl to limit his movements against their razor sharp touch.
Ember, controlling her boiling anger, chose Clover and Meadowbrook as her targets. Given they all shared the same handicape of lacking Zanpaktou, it seemed to her the smartest move to keep the other two Soul Reapers busy while her fully equipped Arrancar brethren and Twilight dealt with the Captain. Ember blurred into motion with Sonido, appearing between Clover and Meadowbrook as she lashed out with a spinning kick at the Lieutenant.
Meadwobrook, not inexperienced in unarmed fighting, managed to cross his arms to absorb some of the kic’s impact, but was still knocked onto his back and sent skidding by the raw force in Ember’s strike. Clover Flash Stepped back, putting distance between herself and Ember, and gestured with her left hand.
“Bakudo Number Four; Hainawa!”
She sent the scintillating rope of yellow, binding energy flying towards Ember, knowing it wouldn’t be strong enough to hold the Arrancar girl for very long. That wasn’t the intent. Clover was stuck walking a fine line between appearing to genuinely fight, and still trying to allow for Ember to escape. Sadly, while Ember knew that some people, like Sunset and her friends, were likely on the side trying to rescue her, she didn’t know Clover was among that number.
Even as the binding rope of energy wrapped around her arm, Ember scoffed and used her free hand to grip the binding Kido and with a burst of reiatsu, tore it apart. She then punched at Bala towards Clover, who barely managed to dodge aside as the bullet of red Hollow energy took some of her robe off.
Meanwhile Twilight had finished charging her arrow with a spell that she laced into it with Midnight’s assistance. Within her mind, she felt Midnight give a warning, ”Don’t hold back against this one. He’s too dangerous to take lightly. You’re going to need more of my help, this time around.”
Twilight gave the smallest of nods as she released her arrow. The spell inside it activated almost instantly, duplicating the arrow a score of times in a flash. Then, just before they would impact Starswirl, Twilight reached out with her other power and sent a thread of energy through the reishi of the arrows.
The arrows shone abruptly with intense light, their power overloading with an unexpectedly larger yield. Explosions of blue reishi and teal witchfire hammered Starswirl, obscuring him for a moment.
At that same instant, Roka constricted her strands, slicing them through the shadow of Starswirl amid the explosions.
A moment later the smoke cleared, and Twilight frowned. In Starswirl’s place was a deflated, shredded... balloon?
“Well, that might have been painful.”
Starswirl was reclining a few dozen feet away, leaning against the air the same way he stood upon it. Twilight stared at him, and he smiled, “My apologies, it’s an easy trick to use for when I want to observe my opponents methods.”
He pulled out a rubbery gray object from his robes and held it to his lips, blowing into it. The balloon-like object inflated at an alarming rate, then with a popping noise, it took the shape of an exact replica of Starswirl. The puppet looked shockingly realistic as Starswirl held it out in one hand, “See? A unique decoy gigai I invented ages ago. One of numerous handy tools I’ve made.”
He tossed the clone aside as if it were a plastic cup aimed at a trash bin, and rubbed his chin, “Now, that power you just used. Some of it was magic, but that sudden increase in the intensity of your arrows at the end, that was something else. Your Schrift, perhaps? But you used it earlier to alter your gender. I wonder what the connection is?”
“I don’t intend to give you the chance to work it out,” Twilight said, mentally grasping the magic within her and calling out to Midnight. Her alter ego eagerly responded, flooding Twilight with the warmth of magical power while connecting more thoroughly to Twilight’s mind. Teal flames were born around Twilight’s eyes and faint waves of flickering witchfire spread from her back in the barest hint of raven wings.
This was about as far as Twilight and Midnight had gone when facing Gilda back in Hueco Mundo, and she was hesitant to push things further than this.
Still don’t trust me? Midnight laughed.
More I don’t want to risk overloading the Hexenfaust, or accidentally detonating any of the M-Cells. Remember we’re right next to the lab.
Twilight could feel Midnight in a phantom touch on her cheek, It’s just materials. The important stuff is inside our head. I say we use those M-Cells to give us an edge.
Twilight hesitated. The M-Cells were still fairly unstable and required extensive testing. Using them to any capacity could be dangerous in live combat.
More dangerous than facing a Soul Reaper Captain with anything less than every advantage we can grab? Midnight replied with fresh sharpness in her voice, Do you want to lose more people you care about?
“Hey Quincy gal, look out!” Di Roy shouted, warning Twilight just in time to let her avoid what looked like a wooden cylinder that Starswirl had withdrawn from his robes and thrown at her.
Even as the wood cylinder passed by her face, Twilight saw segments of it open, and sparkling blue dust burst out in a thick cloud. She immediately closed her mouth and held her breath, avoiding breathing anything in, but her eyes started to water and her nose lit up with an intense burning sensation. Almost immediately she felt her body start to weaken, her muscles seizing up with a paralytic effect.
Di Roy swore and aimed his hammerhead armguard at Starswirl, and red energy crackled around the teeth along its edge. A barrage of Bala fired out of the arm guard, forcing Starswirl to Flash Step out of the way. He appeared on the ground next to Di Roy, casually slashing with his Zanpaktou. Di Roy spun to block with his arm guard, but even then the force of Starswirl’s blow drove Di Roy back and left a deep gouge in the shield-like protector.
“Shit!” Di Roy grunted and swung his shark-tooth sword, the tip firing off again to coil towards Starswirl, who reached into his robes and flicked out another wooden cylinder.
This one struck the tip of Di Roy’s sword, and burst into an expanding bubble of gummy pink liquid that instantly solidified into a ball, trapping Di Roy’s sword inside as it hit the ground like a giant ball of cement.
“Oh come on!” Di Roy shouted, yanking on his sword, “Roka, a little help, please!?”
Roka hadn’t needed the urging, having already used Sonido to rush in around Starswirls’ right side. The spider legs on her back all wove an intricate pattern in front of her, and sent a cat’s cradle of razor sharp threads flying at the Captain. He threw yet another wood cylinder at this net of threads, which burst into a blanket of pale liquid that ate into the threads like acid. Yet within that same instant, Roka’s eyes narrowed and a series of threads she’d created from her hands had flown out around the net, which had merely been a feint. The threads meant to be the real attack all became charged with golden energy from Roka as she said, “Cero; Spiderweb.”
The threads, now charged with the same power of a Cero, flew in at Starswirl like radiant spears. For a moment Starswirl gained a mildly concerned look as he vanished with Flash Step a microsecond before impact.
And even when he appeared a good distance away, he examined his arm and a fresh cut through his robes, scoring his arm with a slightly bleeding wound. “An interesting use of Cero. I’ve never seen that level of control before, even among Espada. Intriguing, young miss. Very intriguing. You’re not a normal Arrancar, are you, unlike that riff-raff over there.”
“H-hey, who are you calling riff-raff, you wrinkly old creeper!?” Di Roy yelled, pulling back a leg and giving the cement ball holding his Zanpaktou a solid kick that managed to shatter it and free the tip of the blade.
Starswirl shrugged, apparently taking no insult, “You, obviously. You’re a painfully mundane specimen of an Arrancar, with no worthwhile ability. Meanwhile the young miss by your side interests me, with her remarkable level of reiatsu control.”
By then Twilight had fallen out of the cloud of glittering blue gas, hitting the ground in a heap. Starswirl glanced back at her, frowning, “Done already? I wouldn’t have thought just one canister of paralysing gas would have done the trick. Then again, the young do tend to overestimate themselves.”
However, even as he was finishing his sentence, Twilight was surrounded by a flash of purple light as she teleported. She appeared in mid-air over his shoulder, flipping as she unleashed a point blank arrow of blazing witchfire and reishi. It impacted Starswirl before he’d had a chance to blink, and this time Twilight made a point of probing his spiritual energy with her own senses to confirm this wasn’t a fake.
The arrow exploded in a ball of teal fire, and smashed Starswirl backwards with a pained grunt. His shoulder showed a scorch mark from the strike, but it was clear his own reiatsu negated the lion’s share of the damage. Twilight didn’t care, and went ahead to unleash another swarm of arrows with Licht Regen. This time she also put out strings of her own reiatsu to affect the swarm of arrows, utilizing her Schrift inside them.
Starswirl blinked as the arrow swarm started flickering and shifting about, every single arrow altering it’s trajectory at seemingly random, yet never without losing target on him. He invoked the Kido, Danku, again, but even as he did so a number of arrows were able to shift around the transparent barrier, forcing him to Flash Step away. And even then, as he zipped from one point to another, several arrows still altered trajectory to strike him.
He resorted to using his Zanpaktou to deflect the remaining ones coming at him, but it was clear from the bead of sweat on his forehead that he’d actually had to put forth some effort, that time.
Starswirl took a deep breath and eyed Twilight more cautiously, with a hint of respect in his eyes. “I think I’m starting to understand. I’ll need a few more examples, to be certain, but negating the poisoned gas, changing the movements of your arrows, increasing the intensity of your attacks, alering your gender... they all share a common thread.”
Meanwhile Ember had backed Clover up against the edge of the barrier containing the fight. Clover had been forced to keep evading Ember’s clawing hands or punishing kicks, which had left several small craters in the ground. Meadwobrook had gotten back on his feet and now came at Ember from behind, flinging an arm out.
“Bakudo Number Sixty Two: Hyapporankan.“
A bar of light appeared in his hand and he threw it like a jawline, where the hexagon shaped bar then split into multiples and rained down at Ember from an angle. Meadowbrook trusted Clover to get out of the way, and also anticipated it when Ember evaded the hail of binding Kido rods. He was already invoking another Kido, even as Ember used Sonido to get in front of him, her fist ramming towards his gut.
“Hado Number Thirty One: Shakkaho!”
Ember’s fist smashed into his stomach even as the Kido fired a ball of explosive, red spirit energy into Ember’s face. Both were blasted back, Meadowbrook clutching his gut, but still managing to cry out, “Clover, now!”
While Ember was still off balance from the Chakaho, Clover Flash Stepped next to Meadowbrook and rapidly thought of a spell to use that would hopefully make it look like she was trying to capture Ember without actually trying to do anything of the sort.
“Bakudo Number Seventy Three: Tozansho!”
A single point of pulsing blue energy appeared beneath Ember, then four lines of energy extended upward to form an inverted, pyramid shaped prison around the Arrancar. However, because Ember had been knocked back towards the edge of the barrier Starswirl had created earlier, one of the top edges of the pyramid pushed through that other barrier, making it so that about a five foot span of the pyramid edge was outside Starswirl’s Kido.
Clover just hoped Ember would notice that and realize it’d give her a way out, but for the moment Ember looked too pissed off to take note of that detail as she screamed and rammed a fist into Clover’s barrier. The Tozansho held, but Clover wasn’t sure it would for long, given Ember was definitely well above average strength for an Arrancar.
Starswirl cast a look towards that situation, then back at Twilight, Di Roy, and Roka. There was a loud, thunderous sound in the distance, and the ground beneath their feet shook. To the east, it looked as if something was ripping apart a large swath of the forest, and everyone could feel the intense spiritual pressures from what Twilight could recognize as Adagio and Luna.
Noting that, Starswirl sighed, “Hm, considering the gravity of the situation, I should probably take this more seriously. A shame. I hate rushing my observations.”
He inverted his grip on his Zanpaktou, holding it by the pommel like one might a walking cane. He tapped the tip of it to the ground, and Twilight felt his spiritual pressure intensify around him. Unlike other instances she’d felt other spiritual beings unleash their power, this didn’t feel like a storm, or sudden burst, but rather like Starswirl’s reiatsu was encasing him like an unbreakable sphere, his body rimmed with faint white light.
She would have tried to use a silence spell on him, but that trick wouldn’t work ona Soul Reaper Captain. It’d worked on Gilda because Arrancar usually needed to invoke their Zanpaktou verbally. Captains, however, who had access to Bankai, could activate their Shikai without a release phrase, if necessary.
She still tried to stop him by aiming and firing an arrow towards him, but he was already speaking as she did so.
”Pull apart; Jukuko.” (Contemplation)
What looked like grey ooze spilled out of the Zanpaktou’s hilt, then covered the weapon. The bubbling substance ten expanded and emitted acrid smelling steam as the grey goo took a new shape and solidified like hardening concrete. All the while Starswirl’s spiritual pressure encased him in an ever denser cloud that made Twilight feel as if she was sensing a newly formed gravity field.
When the change was complete, Starswirl was holding a weapon that was roughly five feet long and almost as wide. Twilight took a second to realize she’d seen this type of weapon before, and it technically wasn’t really a weapon so much as an object used by officers in Japanese armies from long ago; a ‘gunbai’, or war fan. Double sided, it looked like a large pair of butterfly wings attached to an iron rod, all solid black save for the gleam of sharp metal edges around the ends.
With his Zanpaktou released, Starswirl held it out to the side, and turned it so the fan was angled towards them.
Twilight tensed, trying to anticipate what manner of attack Starswirl might enact. There was no way of knowing, without having a notion of what kind of power his Shikai had. Starswirl wasn’t making any motions, but she sensed his reiatsu hadn’t flagged at all. He hadn’t relaxed his guard at all. So what was he doing?
An instant later she felt the smallest, most imperceptible fluctuation in the air, and then the acrid smell she’d noticed earlier intensified, her scientific mind immediately went to a deadly possibility.
“Move!” she shouted to Roka and Di Roy, who took her warning without hesitation and leapted away with her.
Just in time, as the air shimmered with what looked like the convergence of two different streams of gas, that once mixing together igniting in a blinding flash of light and head.
A hydrogen fluoride explosion?
Twilight couldn’t be sure, but the explosion seemed similar to a chemical reaction she was familiar with. And as her mind wondered about that, she saw Starswirl smile and turn his war fan slightly, touching it to the ground. She saw lines of spirit energy move into the ground beneath her feet, and she had to throw herself to the side as the ground erupted in a sudden burst of red, blinding energy.
Now red phosphorus!? But the reaction is far too powerful. These can’t be normal chemicals
Seeking to regain the momentum, Twilight took aim to unleash a set of arrows. Interlacing teleportation magic into the arrows, she shot off three of them that then popped out of existence and reappeared around Starswirl. However the air sparked around him with several blinding flashes from what Twilight could only assume were more chemical reactions, generating flares of white phosphorus.
Temporarily blinded, Twilight instinctively moved back, only to sense Starswirl moving behind her, having evaded her arrows with a Flash Step and gotten behind her while she was distracted by the flares.
More on instinct than conscious thought, she swung her bow to protect herself, and felt a shock course up her arm, jarring muscle and bone, as she caught Starswirl’s war fan just in time to keep him from having opened up her back. For such an old looking man, he was still quite physically strong, and Twilight was knocked off her feet by the blow. Her vision cleared in time to see Roka and Di Roy coming at Starswirl from behind, Roka slashing with her strings, while Di Roy thrust with his shark-tooth sword.
Starswirl swept his war fan around behind him, deflecting Di Roy’s sword, and at the same time emitting a blast of foul smelling gas from the fan, some odd mix of chemicals that left both Arrancar coughing and staggering back.
“I’ve deduced you can somehow alter certain factors in battle,” Starswirl said, “I’m not sure the extent of that power, but I suspect you’re limited to needing to be familiar with what you’re altering, and can’t readily alter something inside another person. As for myself, no doubt you’ve figured out my Jukuko can produce any number of chemical substances, be that solid, liquid, or gas, in any combination I desire. Of course, being Soul Society’s foremost scientist, I have knowledge of chemicals you’ve never heard of, as a human. I’m curious to see how you’ll fight, now, Twilight Sparkle. I wish to test your intellect as well as your power...”
He aimed his war fan at her as Twilight flipped back to her feet, readying her bow.
“Test all you like... but I won’t lose. As long as I know what ‘variables’ are in play, I can beat you.”
----------
Sunset’s was fed up with with this impersonator’s cryptic words and they’d barely even said anything yet. She felt her face tense with a heated glare as she said with flame in her voice, “Cut the crap, whoever you are! I don’t know why you took Sour Sweet’s appearance, and you know what? I don’t care! I can tell you’re bad news, and in serious need of a boot up the backside, so I’m willing to deliver!’
The person wearing Sour Sweet’s skin laughed in a manner that used the former Crystal Prep student’s voice to a perfect octave, but had none of Sour Sweet’s sugar laced tone of hidden razor blades. Instead she sounded posh, and... well somewhat flamboyant.
“Ho-hoh! I can see why Fleur De Lis was so wound up in a tight little murder-knot over you, Sunset Shimmer. You’re quite the firecracker. Normally I do prefer to focus on business, but I just can’t deny myself a little pleasure here and there. If you wish to dance, I gladly accept the invitation.”
Gaw flicked a golden eyed glance towards Sunset and Rarity, then popped next to them with a flash of Sonido. Sunset could smell the cooper scent of blood from the Arrancar girl’s wounds. Gaw said nothing, but made it clear from her stance that she didn’t view Rarity or Sunset as enemies, and was focused entirely on the imposter Sour Sweet.
“You still good to fight, injured like that?” Sunset asked, and Gaw responded with a snort.
“Just pain. Used to it.”
Sunset responded with an approving smirk and turned her attention back to ‘Sour Sweet’. Rarity had taken up position on Sunset’s left side, giving a crystal rapier in her right hand an idle flourish while the floating pool of blood next to her started to slowly disgorge a flotilla of curved daggers as she eyed the unknown Quincy. “You must be one of those Sternritter, the same as Fleur De Lis. I must say you’re remarkably confident for a three on one fight... and there’s something about your tone. Have we met?”
Sour Sweet’s expression turned into a disturbingly sharp smile, “Oh my, your perceptiveness is astounding, Miss Rarity. Even with my voice altered, you could still pick up on that much?”
“So we have met,” Rarity said, eyes glittering with narrow focus “Not recently, and certainly not since your recent misadventures. I’ll let you continue guessing. In the meantime I’ll be generous and allow you ladies the first move.”
Gaw growled, “Careful. They have strange ability. Change things. Make traps.”
“A Schrift,” Sunset said, “We know about them. Real wild cards. Thanks for the heads up.”
It’d been awhile since she’d fought a Quincy. Fleur De Lis had been strong, and Sunset had never been certain just how much Fleur might have been holding back during their skirmish back then. Sunset had managed to overwhelm her initially, or at least keep pace with her Shikai, but thinking back on it she got the impression she’d caught Fleur off guard. She couldn’t assume anything about this new opponent. They might be a Sternritter, like Fleur, but that didn’t really mean anything solid. They might be stronger. Their Schrift would be completely different, too. Gaw said something about changing things. Well, that made sense, given they were masquerading as Sour Sweet.
So they could alter things other than their own body? To what extent?
I won’t find out by wondering about it. Best bet is to hit fast and strong. If I can keep their attention focused on me, and reveal what their power is, then Rarity can set up a counter.
Her mind made up, Sunset braced her feet and kicked off the ground, her body vanishing with a Flash Step that took her right behind the Quincy. Hokori’s edge burst with raging flames as Sunset swung, carving a path of heated air at the imposter’s back. She wasn’t holding back on the speed or strength of her strike, and to her pleased surprise she saw her foe gain a flash of unexpected shock on their face as they spun away from her attack. They were a shade too slow to evade the edge of Hokori entirely, the flaming blade cutting through uniform and searing flesh beneath. Sunset felt the hard contact with skin, and noticed the glowing red lines of Blut Vene absorbing some of her blow.
As the Quincy imposter shifted back in a high-speed flicker, they retaliated with a salvo of streaking reishi arrows. Sunset raised Hikari, taking the arrows on the shield. Rather than bounce off, the arrows appeared to stick to the shield, and Sunset felt the reishi inside the arrows try to burrow into her Zanpaktou. Sunset instantly felt Hikari’s outrage at this invasion, and Sunset’s on anger fueled her shield as she pushed back against this invasive reishi with her own spiritual pressure.
Rarity and Gaw went on the offensive as well, Rarity throwing out a string of spinning crystal blades while sending more crystals across the ground to spear upwards and try to box the Quincy in. Meanwhile Gaw, using pure battle instinct to sense Rarity’s intent, took advantage of the crystals limiting the Quincy’s motions to charge in, despite her injuries. The Arrancar’s sword clawed downward, but ‘Sour Sweet’ smirked and sent reishi into the ground where her foot touched it. Suddenly the earth opened up and the Quincy vanished into it in an eye blink.
Gaw growled, then let out a cry as the ground where the imposter vanished suddenly grew stone spikes and shot upward. Gaw managed to evade, if barely, but both Rarity and Sunset also had to jump back as the ground shook and erupted with more spikes of rock. Rarity gave a lady like frown as she sent forth a wave of blood from her whirlpool to crystalize around the spikes, holding them fast, while Sunset used Hokori to smash the ones coming towards her.
“The heck kind of power is this?” Sunset grumbled as she swung Hokori’s blade to cut the reishi arrows from Hikari’s shield. She felt the pressure from the invasive reishi lessen, then gradually vanish as Hikari gleamed with white light. At the same time, extra power flowed into Hokori, the red cloth on her hilt glowing red.
Gaw growled again, “I tell you, she make stuff change. Make traps or other things. It’s dumb.”
“Be careful, both of you,” Rarity said, closing her eyes in focus as she grew more crystals to extend underground, “She’s moving around down there. I’ll try to flush her out before she tries any more tricks.”
The ground heaved as Rarity started sharpening her crystals underground to spear towards where she sensed their Quincy foe, but was irritated to discover that her crystals were ramming into something hard, like metal. Then, to her further surprise, that metal seemed to be growing. To everyone’s shock, a moment later the ground, grass, rocks, even the lower portions of the trees were surrounded by a gleaming blue glow, and then gained a metallic shade.
As Sunset touched the ground, she grimaced as she realized the grass, every single blade, was now a literal blade of metal. The entire ground had been altered to a metal hardness akin to steel. She felt the intense rise in reiatsu from underground, and realized their opponent was about to attack.
“Everybody, up!” she shouted, and Rarity and Gaw followed her in leaping straight up, just in time to avoid the stabbing of dozens of elegantly shaped, sharp blades that sprung up from the metallic ground.
Even the trees around them sprang keen edged instruments from branches that cut at the trio as they flew up above the treetops.
“Well, that’s a nasty ability,” Rarity said, “Although I think my own crystals are quite a bit more charming compared to whatever this rude individuals is doing.”
“I...think they’re altering whatever they touch with their reishi,” Sunset said, raising her shield, “They just tried to shove their spirit energy into Hikari. I was able to push back with my own energy, but the ground can’t really do that, so they can change it to their will pretty easily I’m guessing. Must be how they took Sour Sweet’s form, too. Just changed their body to match hers.”
“But why?” asked Rarity, keeping her eyes fixed below for any further attacks, “Who would want to replace Sour Sweet?”
“I don’t know,” admitted Sunset, “Spying on Twilight, maybe? She said something about a target that hadn’t gotten into position yet.”
“Target is a word that suggests... well, unpleasant things to me,” Rarity replied, then her eyes scanned beneath them with growing concern, “Wait, I can’t sense them any longer, can you?”
Sunset frowned and focused her senses. The Quincy’s spiritual energy had vanished. Sunset let out a sharp curse, “Dammnit! I’m an idiot! That attack was meant to force us up here so they could slip away!”
Gaw grunted, “So what? Dumb enemy runs away, makes for easier day.”
“But if they’re after a ‘target’ and that target is one of my friends, I can’t just let them run around free!” Sunset said, her Zanpaktou flaring up with her anger.
“If they can mask their spiritual pressure so well and so swiftly, finding them would be impossible, normally,” Rarity said, “But if we guess who their target is, we go to them instead. And really, who else could they be targeting but Twilight?”
Sunset considered it for a second. Twilight was a pretty unique case, among the Quincy. Brand new to their ranks, but with incredible potential and power, not to mention had enough of the Quincy King's ear that she could arrange having her own magical research unit and coordinate a secret operation in cooperation with Adagio. All things considered, it did seem likely that if another Quincy had some sort of target in mind for assassination, then Twilight made for one heck of a canidate.
Of course she could be overthinking it. The Quincy might be after any of the Soul Reaper Captains, as well. It wasn’t even impossible that the Quincy King was using Twilight as a means to draw out Espada and Captains alike to target for assassinations.
“There’s no way to be sure,” Sunset said, “But here’s what we’ll do. We’ll link up with Fluttershy, and go help the rest of the girls out at the camp. Once the camp is safe, we’ll move out as a group and try to find this assassin.”
Rarity glanced sidelong at Gaw, “And what about you?”
Gaw gazed off to the north, face set in a grim but determined look, “Adagio fight with Captain over, but she weakened. Rest of tribe still rescuing Ember. I go to Adagio, then hear what she command.”
“Aren’t you going to check on your friend I left down below?” Rarity asked, but Gaw shrugged.
“Not friend, just ally. If not dead, can take care of self. You leave other Quincy girl below, too?”
Rarity smacked her forehead, “Lemon Zest! I’ll go grab her, so Fluttershy can heal her up. Sunset, shall we?”
“Yeah, sooner we get everyone together, the sooner we can try to keep this mess from getting worse.”
----------
Sweet Cider didn’t trust the Quincy anywhere near as far as she could throw them if she got a good grip on one of them, but she had to admit they were damn good at eradicating Hollows. Sort of a shame their abilities supposedly destroyed Hollows, rather than purify them. Sweet Cider otherwise didn’t see any reason for the Quincy to actually be enemies... and given how much she’d learned about Soul Society’s shady side, she wasn’t entirely convinced the excuse of Quincy abilities destroying souls couldn’t be another lie, or at least a half-truth.
For the moment she was more than willing to accept Filthy Rich and Soarin’s assistance, and they’d certainly made cleaning up the Hollows in the city much easier. These strange mutant Hollows had a number of irritating powers, but none of them were strong enough to stand up to a Captain and two Sternritter for more than a few minutes, and the Quincy’s cooperation freed up more of Sweet Cider’s Division to focus on protecting human lives.
The last mutant Hollow to fall was the humanoid one with the nearly smooth, blank mask beneath it’s ragged black hood. Sweet Cider felt a hint of familiarity with this one, old memories of the day she met her husband coming to mind and the strange humanoid Hollow she’d fought back then as well. This one wasn’t quite the same, but it felt similar, somehow, as it came at her with long, clawed hands of darkness that tore through a metal street light as if it was paper.
This one was a bit stronger than the others, and fast enough to keep Sweet Cider on her toes, but she was much stronger than she’d been back during her Xcution days, so even if this Hollow was like the one from back then it wasn’t much of a match for her now. She let it pursue her to the edge of a small inner-city park, then with more room to maneuver and no civilians around to worry about, Sweet Cider struck with full force.
Her simple, overhead sword swing cleaved through Hollow and a good chunk of park alike, and when it was done, she took a deep breath and let her spirit senses stretch out.
Finally, that was the last of them, she thought, breathing a sigh of relief.
“Looks as if we’ve finished cleaning up, here,” spoke Filthy Rich as he appeared nearby, shouldering his ornate musket. Soarin arrived a second later, his bow still in his hand.
“The Garganta portals have closed,” Soarin said, “I think it’s safe to say that there aren’t any more Hollows coming to attack.”
The younger Quincy gave the city a morose look. Smoke from numerous fires waved between the rooftops, accompanied by the wailing sounds of emergency service sirens and human suffering alike. “We kept casualties down, but still not damned low enough!”
“Easy there, Soarin,” Filthy Rich said, “This was one of the worst attacks on a city I’ve seen in my lifetime. We’re lucky it turned out as well as it did.”
“Captain Sweet Cider!”
She turned from giving the Quincy a wandering stare to see both Lieutenant Silver Star and Lieutenant Posey approaching at a swift pace across the park. Both were injured to one degree or another, but neither seriously. Both also had their Zanpaktou in their Shikai states, which in Posey’s case somewhat surprised Sweet Cider.
“Got yer sword workin’, Posey?” she asked, and the pink-haired Lieutenant came up short and gave a shy nod.
“Kyoki and I are, um, better, now. He’s learning to be a good boy.”
Sweet Cider cocked an eyebrow, but nodded, “Glad ta hear it. Hey, Filthy, Soarin,” they both looked at her and she made a point of sheathing her Zanpaktou, “Ya help us out. Don’t care ‘bout our peoples feud right now, so I’m just gonna say thanks.”
Soarin wore an expression of surprise and uncertainty, but Filthy Rich’s features broke into a smile, albeit a strained one.
“Don’t mention it. At least for today, we’re on the same side.”
“A fine sentiment,” said Silver Star, “But what ‘bout tomorrow?”
Filthy Rich shrugged, “That’ll be another day. For now, I must return to my tower. Soarin, I assume you’ll be trying to catch up with Miss Sparkle?”
“I’d better, because if anything happens to her, it’s anyone’s guess which member of her family will kill me, assuming His Majesty doesn’t do it first,” Soarin said, and gave the Soul Reapers one last, wary glance before leaping into the air and stepping across the city skyline.
Sweet Cider frowned, glancing sidelong at Filthy Rich as she asked, “What’re ya doin’ in yer fancy skyscraper that’s more important than goin’ to yer daughter?”
“There’s more than one way to protect one’s family, and what I’m doing is, honestly, none of your business,” Filthy Rich said with no rancor in his tone, but also no compromise as he bowed, “Take care of yourself, Sweet Cider. If we run into each other again, it’ll probably be less pleasant than this, but those are the breaks.”
As he left, Sweet Cider couldn’t help but notice just how stiff the man’s words had been, and the way his eyes had kept shifting towards the direction of Camp Everfree. It was obvious he was seriously worried about Diamond Tiara, and possibly more. She had no idea what he was going to be doing in his business tower, but clearly it had to be important if it was keeping him from rushing to his little girl’s side during an active crisis situation.
And considering that crisis, Sweet Cider focused for a moment to try and get a feel for the distant reiatsu signatures from Camp Everfree. The distance made it difficult, but she could surmise a few things; none of them good.
“Silver Star,” she said, “I’m leavin’ ya in charge here. Secure the city, help out any livin’ folk that ya can with Kido, an’ then hold here ‘till I get back.”
“You’re going to Camp Everfree,” Silver Star said, offering a salute, “Understood, Captain. I’ll make sure nothin’ else goes wrong here, in case them Hollows come back.”
“Wait,” Posey said, stepping forward, “I’m coming with you, Captain Sweet Cider.”
“I don’t need no escort,” Sweet Cider said, “An’ given what’s over there at the camp, I ain’t certain ya can do much ta help, Lieutenant.”
“You don’t know that,” Posey said, “I am one of the few people in the Eleventh Division trained in healing Kido. If there are injured over there, you’ll want my help... um, you know, if that’s okay?”
She’d started out sounding bold and confident, but it hadn’t taken long under Sweet Cider’s staring eyes for Posey to gulp and shrink back a bit. But Sweet Cider nodded, conceding that Posey had a point, “Guess yer right, havin’ ya along wouldn’t hurt none. Just make sure ta keep up, ya hear?”
Posey gave off a warm smile, saluting and nodding at the same time, her Zanpaktou seeming to buzz eagerly in her hand. With that, Sweet Cider left Silver Star to go regroup their troops, while she and Posey took the same general route Soarin did a moment earlier, jumping into the sky and flickering with rapid Flash Steps towards the direction of Camp Everfree.
As they moved, Sweet Cider’s senses continued to probe for information from the camp grounds, her eyes narrowing with concern.
I can hardly feel any o’ Luna’s reiatsu, an’ there’s a’ Hollow near her that’s strong. Did she lose, or is she still fightin’!? Horseapples, an’ Celestia’s still tanglin’ with a different Espada, an’ if I ain’t goin’ crazy, that fella’s gettin’ stronger by the minute fer some reason. Hmm... there’s AJ an’ her friends. Dang, they’re scattered all over the place! Bad tactics, girls! Least AJ’s spirit energy feels alright. She’s goin’ strong, atta girl. Huh... Starswirl’s fighthin’? The hecks goin’ on over there!?
It all felt like one giant mess to her senses, or to borrow one of Granny Smith’s phrases, ‘Nuttier than a squirrel’s outhouse’. The term ‘fubar’ also came to mind.
Her Zanpaktou grew warm in its sheath, and she felt the rising tension within Kizuna’s spirit which translated to a hot anger burning up from within her, one she knew wasn’t entirely natural. The heated thoughts of violence grazed her mind like grasping fingers, and she fought to keep them at bay. She was angry her daughters were in danger, angry that Hollows had struck at her hometown, and angry that Soul Society hadn’t sent more help during a clear attack on human lives.
Even knowing that some of that anger was due to the unstable nature of her Zanpaktou fused with her Fullbring didn’t do much to curtail it, but Sweet Cider wasn’t planning to lose control.
She was going to Camp Everfree, and she was going to sort this mess out.
----------
Within the protective wards that surrounded his shop, Discord might not have directly heard or seen the fighting taking place across the city, but he had most certainly been observing it. Not only had he used various surveillance devices to keep an eye on the action, he’d had Screwloose and Screw Ball out there, ensuring the safety of Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Applejack’s families. Given there were only two of them, that task would have been difficult by remaining simply on guard, so the pair had been given specific instructions.
The result was that Discord’s shop was rather full at the moment, the entirety of those families now resting, rather anxious and confused, in several adjoined rooms that Discord had removed the walls from in order to make large enough for everyone. Convincing Applejack’s Granny Smith and brother Big Macintosh had been fairly easy, given their understanding of things. The same applied to Pinkie Pie’s parents and sisters, who had already been to the shop once before. Rarity’s parents, Rainbow Dash’s father, and Fluttershy’s parents and brother had required more convincing, but with the city under clear crisis, and a few Hollows beaten by Screwloose and Screw Ball, even the most skeptic among the girl’s families were at least convinced to follow to the seeming safety of the shop.
Discord had explained things as best he could, but he’d been busy monitoring the fight in the city and keeping an eye out for Ditzy Doo’s return from Soul Society. Bringing them all up to speed on the whole story would have to wait... although he didn’t intend to sit on that for very long. His feared projections were coming to pass. Even before seeing her, he’d sensed the awakened power inside Maud Pie, and Screwloose and Screw Ball confirmed the girl’s capacity to take out several attacking Hollows with a set of spiked, stone knuckles created from her pet rock ‘Boulder’.
Fullbring is awakening in the ones who weren’t even exposed directly to magic. If I’m going to keep the families safe, they can’t be left ignorant. And if the girls are going to keep them safe, they need to know everything just in case... something happens to me and I can’t do it any longer.
Those were his thoughts as he stood on the front steps into his shop, waiting. He’d made a call not long after settling the families in, and was waiting for two people to show up. This whole situation involved them, too, and he more than suspected that they’d be on the move even if he hadn’t called them.
And with the likelihood of the Zero Division becoming directly involved themselves, soon, Discord was going to need every shred of help he could pull together. Even then, he wasn’t certain what the outcome of the next few hours were going to be. His right foot tapped upon the steps as his hand gripped the cane containing his Zanpaktou.
Hurry up, Ditzy, and don’t take any unnecessary chances. Not with Medley in Soul Society.
Medley might have been the youngest of the Zero Division, but that didn’t mean she was the least dangerous. Discord knew that woman’s mind was cagey at the best of times. He’d once thought she had a similar soft spot for humans that he had, but for all he knew that had been an act. Most the Zero Division he felt he had pinned down in terms of their minds, even Glory, who had frustrated him at the best of times. Medley was the only one he couldn’t really predict. Probably part of the reason Glory had sent her down to Soul Society instead of any of the others.
The wards sparked with the arrival of someone outside, and Discord tensed for a moment before he saw who was coming through, feeling his stress flood out of him to the point that he almost felt weak in the knees.
“Heya Discy!” said Ditzy Doo, grinning in her cat form. She had a small bundle tied around her back, and she was riding upon the shoulder of one of two familiar faces that had come in with her, “Look who I ran into on my way in!”
“Discord, oh my, you look as if you’re about to pass out from stress,” said Holiday as she picked Ditzy off her shoulder and set the cat down, the Bount woman placing a hand on her hip as she cast an understanding gaze towards him. “Not that I don’t get it. It’s pandemonium out there. All those people getting hurt...”
Holiday shook her head, and beside her Lofty placed a comforting hand on the other woman’s shoulder, her own eyes glassy with remembrance. “Gives me the willies, how much this feels like being back in the Bount Purge. Too many Soul Reapers about. I’m just glad none of them senses us coming in. We’re taking a lot of risks, coming here.”
“There’s no choice, Lofty,” Holiday replied, squeezing Lofty’s hand gently, “Scootaloo’s in danger, and if what Discord said is true, it’s not safe to hide near Canterlot City anymore.”
Discord slipped from the stairs with smooth steps, sighing heavily as he knelt down to pat Ditzy’s cat form as he said, “I’m sorry it’s come to this, Lofty, Holiday. I’ve done my best to help keep your presence in the area hidden, but Canterlot City is too hot, now. After today, I might have to move this entire shop elsewhere. I appreciate you both coming.”
He unsecured the tied up bundle from Ditzy’s back, and examined it, feeling the object within. He cast an uncertain look at Ditzy, “You’re sure you weren’t followed?”
The cat rolled it’s shoulders, stretching herself out, “As sure as I can be, but it’s Medley we’re talking about, so who knows? I would’ve expected her to try and stop me at the Senkaimon Gate, if she was going to pull anything at all. I’m not going to waste time worrying about it, though, when we’ve got a more immediate crisis on our hands. Is Derpy okay?”
Discord gulped a bit at the raw intensity that came off of Ditzy’s golden, feline eyes, and quickly replied, “She’s okay...ish.”
“Ish?” Ditzy drew out in a frightening purr.
“There may be a bit of an intense battle taking place, uh, pretty much all around her location,” Discord replied, shaking a vague hand, “A few Espada here, a few Captains there, sprinkle on a few Quincy and a horde of magical monsters, Sunset and the girls caught between it all, you know... stuff.”
After a stretched out moment of silence, Ditzy Doo said, “I’m going to go check on her.”
“Ditzy, wait,” Discord said to the feline, who was already turning around. Ditzy paused, if only for a moment. Discord kept his voice as calmly soothing as possible, “You know if we make a ruckus at the wrong moment, it’ll cause trouble. We’re going, rest assured. That’s why Lofty and Holiday are here. But we have to play this smart.”
“It’s my daughter, Discy. Time Turner stays out of her life to protect her, and I keep so much from her for the same reason. But if she’s in the middle of all of this, I’m not pussyfooting around any more...” the cat changed shape, flowing into the unclad human form of Ditzy Doo, although her fierce expression somehow made her seem all but geared for war despite the bare skin. “If I have to act to protect her, don’t think I won’t, even if it brings the whole damn Gotei 13 and Zero Division down on our heads.”
Discord provided a solemn nod and held up the bundle in his hand, “All things considered, we seem to be on a collision course with that unavoidable point anyway. All I ask is that you wait for my signal on when to make our move. Now, Holiday, Lofty, I imagine you might be a tad confused-”
Lofty rolled her eyes with a snort, “It’s you, Discord. I’m not surprised everything is steamrolling towards craziness. Just tells us what we need to do to get our niece and her friends out of the frying pan.”
“For now, come inside and let me introduce you to some other individuals who are in a similar boat to yourselves,” said Discord, “And Ditzy can get some actual clothes on.”
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Sci Twilight is not really a protagonist because she is being to blind in her trust of sombra when all she has to go on is his word.
I see the quincies of being bad because their power is not meant to be used willy nilly like they do. I see it as the soul queens execution ability for the truly evil souls.
They are like cops that give every criminal the death penalty.
Of course you recommend another million-word epic. It's not like I have a job now or anything.
*sigh* I suppose I'll give it a shot anyway.
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Trust me, you won't be disappointed.
Oh yeah, Sweet Cider and her hubby are heading into a confrontation.
Twi's power is pretty nasty for someone as well read and smart as she is. But she might have bitten a bit too much off with this one.
If she can hold her own until backup arrives, or someone can get Ember her sword, she should be ok, but that's a pretty big "if"
i keep forgetting that Ditzy is in the buff after transforming.
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Except that even in the original bleach canon, Quincy don't actually destroy souls, they get drawn into the king.
So in this setting, they are also reincarnated as quincy.
Well now at least I have a good idea who this particular assassin is. Someone who Rarity met in the past, who also happens to be posh, with a power that relies on creativity much like Rarity's. I think it's Suri Polomare.
Twilight's either going to have to go full Midnight Sparkle mode OR Volstanding to stand a chance against Starswirl here. Di Roy and Roka really have no business in this fight. Their priority should be trying to get out of the barrier with Ember.
Well shit Sweet Cider's on the way. If she joins Starswirl, Twilight isn't going to have any choice but to call in the cavalry and give us the husband/wife reunion we've been waiting since near the end of the first arc.
Great work as always, can't wait for the next chapter. Hoping we get some of Celestia vs Grogar.
Another great chapter. Getting so close to the confrontation between Sweet Cider and Hard Nail.
I'm starting to not keep up with everything again, but it's still enjoyable. Has anyone done a recorded reading of this?
All these interceptions, all the same powerful forces on a collision course?
Everfree Crater National Park, formally Camp Everfree.
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On the recording, not to my knowledge, no. I'd feel kind of bad if someone did, just given how long the story is. That'd be a lot of recording to do.
Hmm, and yeah, as is almost traditional for Friendship Souls at this point, there's a lot of characters running around. I've considered the possibility of making sort of a "situation map" that shows the area and which characters are where, just to provide a clearer visual, although my lack of anything resembling artistic skills would mean it'd be a bare bones map made in paint. I don't know, would any of you folks be interested in me trying something like that?
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I think I know where everyone is right now, maybe, but my memory of some of the plots, lore, and previous events is slipping. I love that it's so well built up, it's just that this is the longest story I've read on a continuing basis ever. Just over 2 years is a long time to keep all these facts straight!
Which reminds me, I'm still waiting for that cool Soul Reaper guy to get a new arm. It's the one detail I won't forget, it seems.
Excellent job and I can’t wait to see how things play out now!
It was 2:30 in the morning and I woke up from a dream about this story with a sickening sense of guilt for being so far behind. The truth is, I had been really struggling to read anything these past few months. But I intended to change that now. It took three attempts, but this chapter is done. And I enjoyed it. I'll do my best to keep going.
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You don't have to feel guilty of all things. The story isn't going anywhere, and everyone's got their own pace when it comes to reading. Take all the time you need, man.
Time to use your thingamabob Twilight.
i kinda shipped Di-Roy and Gaw, but this alongside many others moments make me ship Di-roy with Roka.
Although, love triangle is a possibility
they are absolutely badass, and i really want to see Adagio main crew (Ember, Fenice,Gaw, Roka and Di-Roy) taking on a captain using bankai and defeating him or her.
Nothing wrong with this in itself but I saw an interview with Kubo translated and he has THIS to say about Zanpaktou names.
Since Starswirl is supposed to be one of the older Soul Reapers, he SHOULD technically have a longer release phrase.
A bit late to fix this now admittedly but it's a good thing to keep in mind for later, with regards to Scorpan and the Zero Division's Zanpaktou.
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I now have the headcanon than as they became older, Zanpakuto are more acting like jerks and the longer phrases are because they want long supplications before they actually start helping.
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Although technically he doesn't need to say it since he have Bankai.
I guess the captains still do it out of politeness.
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Actually that specific point was addressed earlier in the story.
If they skip the release phrase too much, the Zanpaktou starts to get annoyed at it, so they do it so as not to piss them off.
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So it's literally what i had said earlier ? Neat
In which chapter it was said though ? Also i am now sure than the release being longer the older the Zanpakuto is really is due to the Zanpakuto being prickly.
Also Vex, are we ever going to see Ditzy Shikai and Bankai ? I know than she is the Yoruichi of your story, but it would kinda suck not to see her use it.
Unless it was stolen by Starlight.
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Can't remember the exact chapter, somewhere in the second arc.
That's exactly what happened to it.
It was stolen by Starlight along with Screwloose and Screwball's Zanpaktou.
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So to answer the question, yes you'll be seeing Ditzy's Zanpaktou form and power fairly soon, just not wielded by Ditzy.
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And it's why i absolutely loath this bitch of Starlight
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Thank you
Fleur de Lis.
And i am fairly sure it's murder-knot.
Also, it's sure there can't be a ost for the moment where Roka and Di-Roy release their resureccion after the latter say they wouldn't let Twilight on her own ?