Episode 34: Flashpoint
Episode 34: Flashpoint
“Here, wear these over your clothes,” said Ditzy, having gone into some bushes by a small cluster of trees not far from the edge of the hill they’d landed on. She pulled out a set of heavy looking brown cloaks and gave one to each of the girls, aside from Sunset and Clover. Rarity looked at the drab, plain cloaks with a wrinkle of her nose.
“Why, pray tell, must we put on these... accessories?” the disgust in her town suggested she felt the term entirely inappropriate and too generous for the heavy brown cloaks.
Ditzy smirked, “Your sense of fashion is keen, Rarity, but you lot stick out like a blazing torch dressed like that. That’ll be fine once the party starts, but while we’re still trying to keep a low profile its best any of you who don’t look like Soul Reapers wear something a bit more subdued. Don’t worry, it won’t take us long to reach the safehouse, so you won’t have to let your fashion sensibilities suffer for long.”
Rarity sighed, throwing the cloak on over her outfit, “I suppose necessity at times must dictate heavy sacrifices. Still, you could have chosen a better color than brown. Something in a warm summer tone, perhaps?”
Sunset coughed, putting a hand on Rarity’s shoulder, “I’m sure the next time we sneak into the afterlife we’ll prepare more fashionable disguises.”
As the rest of the girls threw on their cloaks, Clover turned to Ditzy with a considering gaze locked on the distant sight of Soul Society, “Even with those cloaks we’re going to draw attention. No doubt the Second Division has eyes on anyone entering Soul Society’s borders. How are we going to avoid being spotted?”
“Would any jerks keeping watch even recognize us?” asked Rainbow Dash, “I mean, I guess it’d make sense for the higher ups to know all about us, but would the average Soul Reaper have gotten descriptions of what we look like?”
Clover’s expression turned ponderous for a moment, “Given how unlikely it is that any of you would actually come here, possibly not, but even so its a risk. Besides, my face is surely known, and Ditzy Doo’s as well.”
“Don’t you fret Clover,” said Ditzy with a confident smile, “We’re going to where there’s very little chance of Soul Reapers keeping watch. We’ll be hitting up District Seventy Eight.”
Clover’s eyes shot wide, “The Hanging Dog District!? Are you insane!? That’s nearly the worst District in all the Rukongai! Its utterly lawless, and filled with the worst kind of thugs and criminals! The only reason its not as bad as the Zaraki District is because at least the criminals in Hanging Dog usually just want to steal practical things like clothes, rather than just kill you! Why even bother with the cloaks? We’ll have to fend off a small army of hooligans just to walk down the street, and that will get someone’s notice even if Soul Reapers don’t often patrol those streets.”
Ditzy raised a placating hand, laughing off Clover’s worries, “I said don’t fret. Any of the local flavor that decides to say hello to us won’t last long enough to cause the kind of ruckus that’ll draw any unfriendly eyes. Right girls?”
In response Sunset’s friends all responded a bit differently. Rainbow Dash cracked a flashy, madcap grin, “Might make for a good warm up.”
Fluttershy was largely still, not visibly nervous, but rather carrying a calm if reserved air as she nodded, “If we must, but let’s try not to hurt anyone too badly.”
“Ain’t nobody gettin’ in our way fer long,” Applejack said, pounding a gloved fist into an open palm, “I ain’t stoppin’ ‘till I find my ma.”
Rarity flipped some stray hair from her face, sighing, “Educating some local ruffians on proper etiquette will be a pleasure, if it becomes necessary, but I’d just as soon save our strength for more important matters.”
“Maybe all the grumpy gusses in town will ease up their nasty attitudes if we offer them something tasty?” suggested Pinkie Pie, then glanced up as if looking into her own head, “Uh, no Mina, I didn’t mean they would be tasty. I’ll get you something to eat soon, though, okay?”
Sunset gave a dry chuckle, shaking her head at her friends, “Kind of feel sorry for anyone who tries to get in our way. Still, Ditzy, we’d better get going shouldn’t we? We’re kind of exposed out here.”
Clover still didn’t look entirely convinced, but reading the mood of the group she hung her head and sighed, “I suppose if the gangs in District Seventy Eight get their noses bloodied badly enough we won’t have much else to worry about. Still, this just feels like asking for trouble.”
“We’re here to quite possibly battle some of the most powerful Soul Reapers in the Soul Society, Clover. I think ‘asking for trouble’ is a line we’ve long since crossed over,” Sunset said, somehow managing a smile that was at once reassuring and cocky at the same time. She couldn’t really help herself. Nervous as she was, now that she was here, and the task was underway, all Sunset could focus on was what was in front of her. There was zero thought of turning back. Indeed there was a glowing sphere of heat inside her that burned eagerly to get down to business.
Ditzy Doo didn’t waste any more time, and led them away from the hill on a quick trek to what Sunset guessed was in an easterly direction. There was a sun in the sky, which brought all manner of questions to Sunset’s mind, including if it rose and set in the same east to west direction the one in the human world did. Was it a ball of gas, like in the human world as well? Or was it a smaller sphere of concentrated, primordial magic fire like it was in Equestria? Or was this sun its own unique spirit construct?
She was tempted to ask Clover, but thought better of promoting too much idle chatter, although she was sure Clover would probably enjoy the distract from her worries. It occurred to Sunset this might be harder on Clover than it was on any of the rest of them. Soul Society was Clover’s home, after all. The people they might be fighting soon were comrades to Clover, some of them might even be friends. There had to be a lot going through the Soul Reaper’s mind.
Following the edge of the massive city’s border, the nature of the buildings gradually changed. The further east they went the less ordered and clean the buildings looked and the more sprawling and ramshackle they became, until there was a huge slum of dilapidated buildings consisting of countless styles and makes form across dozens of time periods, all boiling out of the city limits like some overflowing cauldron. This district was easily twice the size of any of the others, and extended outward from the normal relatively even circular curve of the city limits like it was a dripping stain across the land. Before long Sunset and the girls found themselves walking muddy, dirty streets between dank wooden buildings.
Both the buildings and the streets were filled with people. Sunset was immediately taken aback by just how many people crowded the twisting pathways of what was essentially one, massive slum. They came in all varieties, from folk wearing the tattered remains of waistcoats and dresses of clear Victorian era design or even older, to men and women in tattered togas or even thick, matted clothing made from animal hide. People of all ages and ethnicity were present, many moving about with distrustful and wary gazes at one another, an especially the strangers in their midst. The smell was also overpowering, like a hazy mist of compressed humanity. Sunset faltered in her step as she noticed dark alleyways where even more people huddled under cloth awnings or inside makeshift shelters.
“Clover, what is this?” she found herself asking, “Why are there so many people here, and in such... living conditions?”
Clover’s face was one of resigned, crestfallen regret as she said, “Its just what happens when there’s too many souls to look after and not enough Soul Reapers to keep order.”
“The hay is that supposed ta mean!?” snapped Applejack, her face a barely controlled mask of rage. “Look at these folk!”
“Gotta admit, this place is kind of a dump,” said Rainbow Dash, frowning and keeping watch with a wary, on guard gaze.
Fluttershy wore a pained look that looked forced to a difficult level of calm, belied by her trembling hands. “I don’t understand, Miss Clover. Shouldn’t the Soul Society be taking care of these poor souls?”
“You’re right,” Clover said, heaving a sigh, “But its not a simple matter. We-”
“Don’t have time for getting into it now,” said Ditzy flatly, turning sympathetic but hard eyes towards the girls as she looked over her shoulder at them, “I know this isn’t pleasant to see, but save the questions until we’re at the safehouse. For now, just keep an eye out for trouble and walk fast.”
Sunset could see why Ditzy wanted them to pick up the pace. Whispers followed the group as they walked down the dirty streets, the residents of District Seventy Eight eyeing them with suspicious and unfriendly eyes. Sunset saw more than a few people run off hurriedly, perhaps to spread word to others of the group of odd strangers walking the streets.
Pinkie Pie must have sensed something as well, because she’d remained quiet up until then, occasionally twitching in various ways and her baby blue eyes etched with growing worry. Then she got a particularly large tremor in her left leg that ran all the way up her spine, and Pinkie Pie said, “Uh-oh, I think we have a welcoming committee waiting for us a few streets down, and they don’t have any cake for us. Unless its a cake made out of sharp objects and bad attitude.”
Her prediction proved, as usual, to be true. Just a few blocks deeper into the district Ditzy lead them around a street corner only to find the way blocked by a wall of some of the most rough and unpleasant individuals Sunset had ever lain eyes on. It was like a small army of every single bandit and/or thug stereotype from every era of human history, all armed from head to toe in their own culture or era specific manner. Sunset saw flintlock and cutlass totting pirate types rubbing shoulders with bow wielding fellows who looked like they’d fit in just fine with a Mongol horde. A set of men in dirty but still somehow stylish suits and fedoras with tommy guns filled one alleyway while across the street a trio of huge men in outright Viking gear bore axes and swords as tall as Sunset was. And of course there were those thugs whose grimy kimonos and katana may well have stepped right out of a Japanese period drama.
Probing the horde of thugs with her spiritual senses Sunset realized that few, if any of these men (and a few equally thuggish looking women) had much reiatsu to speak of. Their weapons were made of reishi, but then again so was everything else in the spirit realm, but not a single weapon, including the katna present, were Zanpakto. They were just objects made of spirit particles that resembled their real world counterparts. The thugs themselves might be strong, vicious, and skilled, but lacked any real spirit power.
Still, they outnumbered the girls about five to one, so Sunset wasn’t about to take this casually.
Rainbow Dash, on the other hand...
“Whoa, nice of you guys to roll out the red carpet for us,” said Rainbow Dash with a dazzling and smug smile as she stepped ahead of the group, already cracking her knuckles, “You really shouldn’t have.”
Applejack sighed and put a hand on her stetson as she walked forward as well, “Dash, you’d better not be planin’ ta tackle these fellas by yerself.”
“Um, could we at least ask them if they’d let us pass nicely first?” asked Fluttershy, “You know, before the violence?”
Clover exchanged a look with Sunset, and then called out to the thugs in a loud, authoritative voice, “By what right do you bar the passage of duly appointed Soul Reapers of the Gotei 13?”
Sunset found herself inwardly shrugging, figuring she’d let Clover give diplomacy a try, on the off chance it might actually work. It didn’t take her long to see it wouldn’t as one of the thugs stepped from the crowd, apparently the self appointed leader. He was a bruiser of a man, easily topping seven feet, and definitely looked to be of Japanese descent by his style of dress and dark hair. Instead of a katana, however, he carried a huge wooden club with metal studs that Sunset recognized from her foreign cultures studies as a tetsubo.
The man peeled back his lips in a smiling sneer, “Let you pass you say? Sorry ladies, but this is our turf your walking through and we ain’t-”
He was interrupted as Rainbow Dash, completely ignoring his imposing presence, turned to Applejack and started complaining, “Aw c’mon AJ! Let me take these guys alone! Please!? I wanna give my Fullbring a decent workout and see how fast I can take them down.”
“This ain’t a game Dash,” growled Applejack, pointing a finger at the lead thug without actually looking at him, which caused the thug to pop an angered vein on his forehead, “These jerks may be weak as a’ newborn calf but they could still hurt ya if ya dropped yer guard!”
“Now listen here you little-” the thug started trying to say but Rainbow Dash cut him off, snorting and giving Applejack an idle hand wave.
“Pfft, yeah right, like I’d ever let a bunch of two-bit mooks get the drop on me so easily. Give me some credit AJ! Besides, this is like the perfect chance to strut my stuff!”
“Grr, that ain’t the point Dash!” shouted Applejack, “We’re supposed ta be keepin’ a low profile, an yer Fullbring is anything but low profile! Better ta let Fluttershy take ‘em all down at once.”
“Oh, um, if... if you really want me to,” Fluttershy said, but the lead thug, whose face had turned absolutely beet red and gained several extra veins of throbbing rage, lifted his testsubo in both thick hands and roared.
“Stop ignoring me!”
He slammed the tetsubo down, straight at Rainbow Dash’s head. Just before the weapon smashed into the girl’s cranium, Rainbow Dash grinned broadly, and there was a blinding flash of incandescent cobalt light as a bolt of lightning seemed to strike down from the sky itself and strike her. The flare of blue light grew even brighter, and all the thugs took a step back in shock, many covering their eyes at the eye burning white and blue light that filled the street.
Sunset found herself smiling, despite also shaking her head, “Looks like Dash is going to do things her way.”
“Damn straight I am.”
Rainbow Dash’s voice was pure assured confidence as the light faded, revealing her form. She was holding the huge lead thug’s tetsubo at bay with one, sparking finger. Lightning danced over every inch of her body now, but most all the six wings that now spread from her back. Two remained the shining silver metal as before, but were easily half again as large as their previous incarnation. The other four wings, one pair above and another pair below the metallic ones, were forged seemingly from solidified electricity. Indigo energy took the shape of tendons and feathers in a crackling mass of raw lightning given physical form. The electricity all but dripped off Rainbow Dash like wet raindrops, and sparked along the ground. Even Applejack took a step back, but mostly because she knew what was coming.
“T-the hell is this!?” the lead thug started to jabber, but that was about all he managed to get out before Rainbow Dash vanished in a blast of thunder, and a glowing blue fist collided with his chin at super sonic speed and catapulted him through the nearest house.
Rainbow Dash, now airborne, cracked a huge smile and turned her burning magenta eyes towards the rest of the thugs. “Okay boys and girls, give me a countdown!”
She vanished again, nearly creating a sonic boom with her speed, and suddenly there was nothing but an electric blue streak patterned with rainbow after-lights that moved among the gathered thugs in a dizzying pattern. Sunset could barely follow Rainbow Dash’s movements, which may well have surpassed her own Flash Step, as she struck the thugs again and again, launching dozens of attacks in mere seconds... seconds Rainbow Dash counted down herself.”
“Ten... nine... eight...” a dozen thugs were already down, smashed through walls or thrown across the street by flashing punches and kicks of lightning charged fists and feet.
“Seven... six... five...” a few tried fighting back, firing arrows or guns, or slashing wildly with hand held weapons, but they caught nothing but air as their faces were rapidly introduced to Rainbow Dash’s fists.
“Four... three... wait, is it over?” Rainbow Dash asked as she abruptly halted her insanely fast assault to halt in mid-air, surveying the street around her. In less than ten seconds she’d utterly mopped the floor with the entire gang of thugs that had confronted the girls. Not a single one was still standing, the few that were still conscious left groaning in heaps in the street or smashed halfway through nearby walls.
Rainbow Dash laughed, scratching the back of her head, “Huh, thought that’d have taken longer. Oh well, I rock!”
Ditzy Doo looked at the carnage with an appreciative nod, “About what I expected. You girls have gone well beyond the point where opponents like these would be much of a challenge. That light show probably turned some heads, however, so let’s move along before somebody decides to take a peek.”
Applejack put a hand to her forehead, saying, “That’s what I was sayin’ Fluttershy ought’ve dealt wit ‘em. We coulda gone on by without makin’ a holy mess o’ things and telegraphin’ where we are ta anyone an’ everyone in a ten mile radius!”
“Aww knock it off AJ, it ain’t that big a deal,” Rainbow Dash said as she landed and deactivated her Fullbring. “Even if Flutters did her thing, it wouldn’t have been any faster than me doing it the hard and fun way.”
“We’re far enough away from the Seireitei that even reitasu releases like that wouldn't trigger any early warning systems,” said Clover, “But its possible a patrol might have seen the distant lightning. Moving more swiftly to this so-called safehouse seems prudent.”
“Well, while it was a rather vulgar and direct display, I must confess it was effective, and elegant in its own way,” said Rairty, while Pinkie Pie eyed the fallen thugs with a wincing expression.
“Yikes, I don’t envy any of their headaches when they wake up.”
The girls moved along quickly from the scent of the “fight”, stepping over bodies as they went. Sunset shared Pinkie Pie’s sentiments, not at all envious of the beatdown those poor thugs had just endured. At least Rainbow Dash had held back enough to keep from killing anyone. Probably.
Rainbow Dash’s display had certainly left an impact on the locals, as rather suddenly the crowded streets became nearly empty as people cleared the way in front of the girls. There certainly wasn’t any further attempt to bar their way by any local gangs. Before long they found themselves nearing what looked to be a dead end, a spot in the mud strewn road that led to a large circular turnabout that didn’t have any way out of it beyond the thickly clustered buildings, including one in particular that stood out starkly amid the others.
Sunset blinked at the building, “Is this the safehouse?”
Ditzy nodded, a content and happy smile on her face, “That’s the place. He certainly hasn’t changed his style much. No subtly, that guy, I swear. Let’s give a knock, see if he’s home.”
The building in question was a two story house of stone foundation and brick walls, with a steeply slopped roof that reminded Sunset of a coo-coo clock. In fact, clocks were something of a motif for the house, as it had a large one mounted on its roof, and had several tall hour glasses acting as the cornerstone of the walls. Smaller clocks of countless varieties hung from the outer walls, and even a full standing grandfather clock flanked the front doors.
Rarity looked about at the house with a quirked eyebrow, “Well this is certainly a... charming abode. Whoever lives here?”
“An old, old friend of mine and Discy, who has been our contact in Soul Society ever since we went into exile. He’s-” Ditzy was still talking as she raised a hand to open the door, but it flung open inwards before she got the first rap on the door out, and a voice called from within.
“Ahah! I knew you’d be here, and only twenty eight seconds earlier than expected! Come in! Come in! Don’t mind the mess! Just don’t touch anything. At least, nothing that’s sparking, fizzing, blinking, or otherwise... well, just don’t touch things. That is you, right Ditzy?”
Ditzy chuckled, shaking her head and walking inside, with Sunset and the other girls following in bemusement.
“Yeah, Doctor, its me.”
----------
“What do we do? The Eleventh Division is mobilizing to full combat status and if what I heard from the rumor-mill is true they’re getting ready to move on the Thirteenth Divisions barracks!”
Radiant Hope sounded near ready to burst at the seams with agitation, and Meadowbrook wouldn’t be surprised to see her crawling up the walls with all the nervous energy bound up in the young Fifth Division Lieutenant. Radiant Hope was pacing back and forth on the short balcony they’d chosen to meet on, one that was situated on one of the towers overlooking the south side of the Gotei 13’s headquarters.
“We can’t do anything about that,” Meadowbrook said simply, “We’ve zero authority over Divisions outside our own, so if the Eleventh butts heads with the Thirteenth all we can do is stand by and watch, unless we receive orders to the contrary. We need evidence, hard evidence, of suspicious activity to take to the Captains. That means waiting until Moondancer finishes her search for whoever took that book.”
“I can’t accept that!” Radiant Hope nearly shouted, turning a fierce glare towards the distant cluster of buildings south that was built around a sizable lake and forested area within the Serietei’s borders. The Thirteenth Division was relatively small compared to some of the others, and didn’t require much space, so the number of buildings out there was less than a dozen, mostly hidden by the trees. It wasn’t a very defensible position, if the Eleventh Division actually did decide to lay siege to it.
Meadowbrook sighed, wishing he had the authority and strength to give Captain Hurricane a smack upside the head. Ever since the results of the “trial” were made public the Eleventh Division Captain had been on the warpath, putting his entire Division into a state of combat readiness and maximum patrol of the Seireitei. Unfortunately the Captain Commander couldn’t order Hurricane to stand down, because both Luna and Celestia’s Divisions were giving Hurricane plenty of justifiable reasons for his actions. The Thirteenth Division had gathered all of its members at their barracks, fully armed, and rumors spoke of their intentions to rescue their Captain by force before the execution.
To make matters worse the Second Division was split right down the middle between those loyal to the law of the Central 46, and those loyal to Luna. The ones devoted to their Captain had done the opposite of the Thirteenth Division, all but vanishing into the night and no one, not even their own Second Division comrades, knew where they were now. Given the Second Division’s role as part of the Stealth Corps, there was plenty of justifiable fear that those who’d vanished were now hiding in wait for a chance to also try and rescue the two condemned Captains.
And it certainly wasn’t as if the other Divisions weren’t also feeling the strain of the situation, as evidenced by Radiant Hope herself.
“I have to do something,” Radiant Hope said, breathing heavily, “I know many of my fellow officers in the Fifth Division will back Captain Amore if she chose to take a stand! We should go to the aid of the Thirteenth Division! The Eleventh might back down if they saw us standing with the Thirteenth as a united front!”
“Or,” said Meadowbrook, “It’ll trigger the kind of civil war we’re trying to avoid. Have patience, Radiant. We’re not at the flashpoint yet. We need to hold out and find something concrete to take before the Captain Commander. Only he can diffuse this mess and maybe convince the Central 46 to reconsider their judgement. But we have to show him proof this whole situation was engineered.”
Radiant Hope eyed him, still looking far from calm, “And if we can’t? What then? What will the Twelfth Division do? Will Captain Starswirl side with us, or with them?”
“Us? Them?” Meadowbrook just stared at her, “Radiant Hope, you’re talking like the Gotei 13 has already split apart. We can’t afford to start thinking of our fellow Soul Reapers as ‘them’. We are all comrades.”
“Sure, until we start executing our own! Meadowbrook, you have the face the possibility that there isn’t going to be a way to stop what’s coming!” Radiant Hope said sharply, pain filling her voice. “I hate to say that, but its the truth. If Moondancer doesn’t find anything, if we can’t find anything, then I’m not standing aside and watching Celestia and Luna be executed.”
Her hand slipped to the hilt of her Zanpaktou, gripping it tightly, her voice heated, “I’ll fight, even against our fellow Soul Reapers, if it comes to that.”
She looked up at him, fire in her eyes, “Even against you.”
He took in a sharp breath and let it out slowly, holing up a hand, “Whoa, slow it down Radiant. I never said that if it came to a fight that I’d try to stop you from rescuing the Captains. I’m just trying to tell you to calm down. If you go off half cocked you’re just going to make things worse. Have. Patience.”
Her eyes bored into him like two glowing hot jewels, and with a pained grimace she took her hand off her Zanpaktou, but she also started to stalk past him, “I don’t know how much more patience I can spare. I can’t stand this, Meadowbrook. I just can’t stand not doing anything. I’m going to the Thirteenth Division.”
“Without Captain Amore’s permission?” he asked, which caused Radiant Hope to pause.
“I... I’ll request permission from the Captain, of course. I know she’ll understand.”
“Just promise me you won’t make any rash moves, okay?” said Meadwobrook, wondering why he kept ending up in these kind of situations. Whether it was Radiant Hope’s unending passion for causes or Clover’s unrelenting curiosity for mysteries, it seemed he kept having to keep an eye on these young women who liked to get into trouble.
Radiant Hope turned a glance towards him, and at least a bit of her anger seemed to simmer down a few degrees as she managed to tiny smile, “Even if I did, would you trust me to keep that promise?”
Meadwobrook shook his head, “Not really, but it might give me a little piece of mind.”
“Alright, I promise not to do anything rash. Until I’m given a good reason to,” Radiant Hope said, then her expression turned thoughtful, “Have you heard anything from Redheart since our last meeting?”
“No. The last I saw her, she was sticking around the Fourth Division barracks, preparing for whatever crisis arises,” said Meadowbrook, “In any case, I’m going to go check on Moondancer’s progress.”
----------
Sunset wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from this “Doctor” fellow, given what she’d seen of the outside of his home, but she found herself... oddly comfortable in the surroundings she now found herself.
The room was a lot larger on the inside than she would have expected from the house’s exterior, but then again this was an associate of Discord whose humble candy shop hid a giant underground training field in its basement. It was like one huge mashup of a workshop and laboratory, with machinery and gizmos littering tables shoved up against the walls, cluttering shelves, and even hanging from baskets nailed to the ceiling. Energy snapped and sparked along diodes and coils in one corner of the room, while another strange device like a cross between a barrel and a locomotive engine billowed steam across the floorboards. The whole room smelled of chemicals and burnt hair.
Orchestrating this chaos was a man wearing a brown overcoat a few shades darker than his own light brown skin, along with similarly colored slacks. A mess of brown hair topped his head and bright, if somewhat manic, blue eyes greeted the girls warmly as they entered the house. The man was literally elbows deep in a strange contraption on one of his workbenches, but he turned from it, leaving the machine a mass of wires and gears as he smiled widely at his guests.
“Well look at all of you! Live humans walking around the Rukongai and blending in like lit firecrackers at a funeral! Come in, come in, get comfy. And Ditzy, you’re a vision, like always. How’s the old homestead? The little tike?”
Sunset looked on with interest as Ditzy went up and gave the man a rather long and tight hug, and a far from platonic kiss to the cheek that caused Sunset to blush a bit before Ditzy switched it up to booping the man on the nose and saying, “Derpy is fine. And not so little anymore, given she's about to graduate high school. I keep telling you to come visit, you goof.”
The man coughed in embarrassment, tugging at his collar with one finger while looking away awkwardly, “Next chance I get, but, you know, so easy to lose track of time rather than finding it.”
He quickly stepped back from Ditzy and composed himself, straightening the simple red tie he wore, turning to address the girls, “Now I presume you young ladies are interested in finding a nice, safe, quiet way to get inside the Seireitei?”
“That’s right,” said Sunset, “But before that, how about an introduction? You already know who we are, but who are you, exactly?”
The man snapped his fingers, nodding, “Right! Right, names. Names are important, and I already know all of yours. Well, Ditzy loves to call me Doctor, for a variety of reasons I really don’t feel comfortable getting into with people I’ve just met, so we’ll go with my ‘official’ name in the Soul Society’s records. Time Turner. Yes, that fits quite well for now. So, yes, um, Time Turner at your service.”
“I’m still going to call you Doctor,” said Ditzy.
“Um, why’s that?” asked Rainbow Dash, to which Ditzy just smiled, slid up to the girl, and whispered something in Rainbow Dash’s ear that instantly turned the girl’s blue skin to flushing scarlet, eyes popping wide. At Ditzy’s ensuing giggles Time Turning turned an exasperated look at her.
“Whatever she’s telling you is probably exaggerated lies, I promise,” he said, “Ditzy, please, try not to tease them so much. They don’t need to know our personal business.”
“But you two are... uh, familiar with each other?” asked Sunset, unable to help her curiosity.
“Well, yes,” Time Turner replied reluctantly, “Myself, Ditzy, and Discord are childhood friends of a sort. Discord and myself grew up in this District, and Ditzy, well, I suppose you could say she enjoyed ‘slumming it’ despite being from a noble family. I’ve basically known her my whole life.”
“Aww, that’s the boring PG way of describing it,” Ditzy said with a wicked smile, and Time Turner gave her a breif glare.
“I don’t air personal things in front of strangers, luv. Besides, don’t we have rather significantly more important matters to focus on right now?”
Ditzy sighed, arms crossing under her prodigious bosom, and nodded, “Fine, fine. Spoilsport. You got the path for us?”
“More or less,” Time Turner said, all but skipping towards another workbench across the room with a far lighter air about him now as he pulled a plain green tarp off an object assembled there, “I haven’t tested it out yet, but in theory this will work just fine for bypassing the barrier around Seireitei and getting yourselves inside without being detected.”
The object, or rather objects, under the tarp consisted of eight brass metal spheres, each about the size of a volleyball. As Time Turner unveiled them, Pinkie Pie was almost immediately peering over the objects and poking at them.
“They’re shiny. What do we do with them? Oh, do they turn into nifty rocket gliders that will let us fly over the wall?”
“What? No! Um,” Time Turner paused, scratching his chin and looking thoughtful, “Although that would be rather amazing. Do I already have something like that? Bah, never mind. These spheres are what I call Reishi Modulators.”
Pinkie Pie’s eyes glazed over somewhat, but Time Turner seemed to notice that at least Sunset and the others were paying attention, so he coughed politely and went on, “You see, Seireitei, that is the area of Soul Society that is the home of the Soul Reapers, the four noble houses, and the Central 46 is protected by several layers of defense. The first is a physical barrier. A wall of dense reishi stone that detects unauthorized trespassers and instantly shuts to cut them off from the interior. There are four gates into the Seireitei, each at a cardinal point, and each protected by a guardian of substantial strength. Rather than brute force through one of those gates, these Reishi Modulators will let you bypass the first layer of defense.”
He picked up one of the spheres with a single hand, indicating to Sunset that he was either rather strong or the spheres didn’t weigh as much as they looked like they did. He held the sphere before him, and in moments Sunset sensed Time Turner’s reiatsu rise upwards, a white aura surrounding him which then poured into the sphere.
“If you concentrate your reishi inside the sphere, it takes that reishi and then alters its signature to a different, pre-calibrated modulation. In the case of these spheres they’re designed to output a new reishi signature that the detection system in the outer wall will see as friendly and allow you to pass without trouble.”
“Awesome sauce,” said Rainbow Dash, swiping a sphere herself and holding it between both her hands. After a second of concentrated starring at it she paused, a small drop of sweat on her forehead, and said, “Uh, dude, its not doing anything.”
Time Turner scratched his head and said, “They’re kind of delicate, Miss... um, Rainbow Dash, right? Yes, you can’t just shove reishi in them, full speed. You have to give it just the right amount, and keep that stream going at a steady pace. It takes some practice. I was intending you girls to stay the night here and get that practice, before attempting to do this for real.”
Rainbow Dash grimaced impatiently, eyeing the sphere, “Well what are we waiting for? Let’s get practicing!”
“Hold up, Rainbow,” said Sunset, “We’re not in an immediate rush, so let’s take our time and hear what else Time Turner has to say. I imagine we’ve got a lot to go over, not just how we’re getting inside Seireitei, but how we’re going to go about things once we’re in.”
“Indeedy,” said Time Turner, nodding enthusiastically, “Its no simple thing you girls plan to do, rescuing imprisoned Captains and all that. There’s a second barrier, another layer of defense, that’s invisible but even more potent than the wall. The ultimate warding Kido protects Seireitei from multiple forms of infiltration. It blocks inter-dimensional gateways such as the Hollow’s Garganta, and it prevents physical access by destroying any spirit bodies passing through it without a pass for the ward. However this ward does have a chink in the armor.”
“Small thermal exhaust port, by chance?” asked Rarity, and as everyone, including Sunset, turned to stare at her, Rarity thrust her chin out a bit and said defensive, “What? I can’t make reference on occasion?”
“Just surprised at what you’re referencing,” said Sunset, grinning, “I didn’t take you for the sci-fi aficionado.”
“I’m not, but I do enjoy good art in all its forms, and the original trilogy is considered classic for perfectly valid artistic reasons,” said Rarity, clearing her throat and then gesturing to Time Turner, “Do please go on, Mr. Time Turner.”
“Ahem, yes, right, as I was saying there is a weak spot in the ward that can be exploited,” Time Turner said while going to another table, this one containing a uneven heap of random papers and scrolls. He knocked over about half of it without a care while snatching up one large rolled up scroll that he unfurled to display to the girls. It was a map, showing a complex maze of tunnels and chambers that looked to Sunset like a-
“Those are sewers,” she said bluntly, blinking, “You’re going to have us go in through a sewer system.”
“Why, yes. Well, sort of,” he said, “These tunnels are technically sewers, although they have functions beyond disposing of waste. The ward itself is so large that the amount of spirit energy it generates requires a huge lattice-work to act as the frame to sustain it. That’s what these tunnels actually are. The sewer aspect is just a secondary function. There's an entrance to these sewers just beyond the first wall that you'll bypass with the Reishi Modulators. It's locked, but that shouldn't be a problem for Ditzy. At any rate, because the ward does have to allow sewage to pass in and out its possible to hide one’s own reiatsu signature in the sewer water and swim past the ward without activating it.”
Rarity looked absolutely disgusted and gulped, “A-are you saying we have to... you’re not serious? We’re swimming through... oh my...”
She started fanning herself and Pinkie Pie grimaced, “Uh-oh, where’s a fainting couch when you need one?”
Applejack went up and put a bracing hand on Rarity’s shoulder, “Take it easy there huh, deep breaths. It won’t be so bad I’m thinkin’. How much waste can a fancy smanchy lookin’ place like Seireitei even make? Water’ll probably be cleaner than some folk’s tap water.”
Rarity looked a tad green around the gills, but nodded, taking deep breaths, “Yes, let us hope so. Ugh, you girls are lucky we’re friends. The things I go through to see to it you’re all looked after, really.”
“Umm...” Fluttershy raised her hand, shifting uncomfortably on her feet, “M-may I ask a question?”
“Of course! Of course! Ask away!” said Time Turner, perhaps too eagerly.
“Well, um, it just seems like such a... glaring weakness in that ward, kind of like that, uh, exhaust port thing from that movie Rarity mentioned. Don’t the Soul Reapers know about it?”
“Oooh, quite right, and very sharp of you to point it out Miss Fluttershy,” said Time Turner with a happy grin, “I was just getting to that bit. The Gotei 13 are well aware of this weakness in their ward, and so each point the water crosses it in the sewers has automated guard constructs, courtesy of the Twelfth Division. You’ll have to destroy them quickly, before they can raise an alarm, then swim by the ward. Difficult, but not impossible for young ladies of your talents.”
“Honestly you can probably leave that part to me,” said Ditzy, “I’m still the fastest one here and can take those things out in a flash.”
“Assuming I don’t get them first,” said Rainbow Dash with a wink, to which Ditzy shared a competitive grin with the girl. Sunset smiled at the sight, but focused on Time Turner.
“Alright, so assuming that all goes well, what then? Can we get to where they’re holding Celestia and Luna via the sewers?”
“Unfortunately not. The sewers don’t have any convenient exits close to the towers they’ll likely be holding the Captains in. In fact, it’d be hard to use the sewers to even get close to the Gotei 13’s headquarters, because there are even more guard constructs occupying the tunnels beneath the fortress itself, too many for you girls to take out without an alarm being raised, even with Ditzy helping you.”
He pointed to a location on the map, where three tunnels intersected in a triangular shaped room, “You’re best bet is to come up here. This exits to a storeroom beneath the Thirteenth Division’s barracks. My sources indicate the Thirteenth Division is mobilizing under Third Seat Inkwell, and they may well already be preparing to try to rescue the Captains by force. Now I’m not sure if you could convince them to help you or not, but if you could sneak out of the barracks then you’ll find yourself in a forested area with plenty of cover. From there you could try to get to the prisoner towers on your own, but honestly at that point this is more or less where my contributions to this plan end and you girls will have to figure things out on your own. Improvise, follow your instincts, whatever it is you’ll have to do.”
“There’s no telling just what the situation will be when we get inside the Seireitei,” said Ditzy, “I know the place well, and can guide us to the prison towers easily enough. It’ll just be a matter of using stealth as best we can, or getting involved in the fighting if this powder keg of a situation lights up before we get there.”
“We’d better get practicing with these, then,” said Sunset, pointing at the spheres, at which point her stomach decided to issue its own plans by gurgling loudly. Sunset cleared her throat, “But first I don’t suppose you have anything to eat?”
“Certainly! No point trying to do anything on empty stomachs. Come on, ladies, right this way!” Time Turner strode across the room towards a back door leading deeper into the house, “Kitchen is this way. I don’t claim to be a brilliant cook but I can certainly avoid poisoning any of you. I think.”
“Well, that’s encouragin’,”said Applejack with a shrug. Rainbow Dash elbowed her.
“Aw stop being a wet blanket. So far this is all going pretty dang smooth.”
----------
There was a palpable feeling of bloodlust in the air as the Arrancar prepared for their raid. Adagio watched as Torch strode among his horde, every inch of his towering frame looking like the picture of a warrior king. She noticed that not all of the horde was mobilizing, perhaps a hand picked group of a dozen being chosen to arm and move out while the rest would remain behind. Among this dozen was the Arrancar who kept giving her annoyed glares, Garble. He seemed to have a small cadre of fellow Arrancar that palled around with him, and Adagio did her best to ignore them while the raiding party got ready to move. Still, only a dozen seemed a small number for such a venture. When she asked Ember why that was the other Hollow gave her a sidelong look.
"If we sent off everyone then some other Espada's horde might move in and take our turf while we're gone. Dad's got to leave a big enough force behind that he'll know our territory will still be ours when we get back. Its not a big deal, Adagio. We're taking out a bunch of Quincy rookies. Even with just a few of us, with my dad present, plus two other Espada, it'll be a slaughter."
Adagio wasn't so certain about that. While she had not seen much of the Quincy in action, they wouldn't still be standing in an ongoing war if they were weak. She wondered if Torch and Ember both weren't underestimating their opposition. Still, it wasn't as if she had much choice but to go along with things for now. If the situation turned sour she could always use a Garganta to make a break for it, although with Grogar's devices still implanted inside her she would have to return to Hueco Mundo one way or another. She was stuck serving him until she found a way to eliminate the bastard.
Torch and his chosen raiding party were gathered at the edge of his horde's camp, and before Adagio could ask just where these other Espada were, the question was answered for her as she felt the wash of heavy and potent reiatsu as a number of figures strode towards them from the inner wall leading to this section of Las Noches. Well, some of them walked. One of them was carried on a palanquin made of draping green silk over a framework of what looked like oversized bones. As the group drew nearer Adagio made out more details. The palanquin was carried by some of the oddest Hollows she'd ever seen. They were short, bushy and trollish creatures covered head to toe in shaggy white fur. Their faces were largely obscured save for glowing red eyes, and the only thing indicating their Hollow nature were the dark holes through their stomachs. There were at least twenty of these bushy Hollows, each about only three feet tall, but they must have had some strength for it only took two of them to carry the palanquin while the others marched alongside it like an honor guard.
The person occupying the palanquin was a female Arrancar who gave Adagio a momentary flash of jealousy, because while Adagio knew she had good looks both by siren and human standards, the dark skinned woman in the palanquin had the kind of figure that caused wars. Her face had a faint feline quality to it, heart shaped and with emerald eyes that all but glowed with smokey promises; of pain or pleasure in equal measure, depending on her mood. Curls of wavy red hair trailed down the woman's back, contrasting with the sheer white clothing she wore, which consisted of loose and flowing silk in a fashion akin to a Greek toga. The remnants of her Hollow mask consisted of fragments around her brow, almost like a broken tiara, and her Hollow hole existed right in the center of her throat. The woman lazily carried a huge metal fan in one hand, with bladed edges, which she used to idly fan herself as the procession approached. She saw Torch and licked her lips, smiling in a way not unlike a cat seeing particularly hyperactive puppy.
"Lord Torch, I see you've got your troops all nice and mustered. How good of you to come meet us for this fine day of eminent blood and violence."
Torch gave her the barest of nods of respect, "Lady Catrina. Still dragging those... critters of yours wherever you go. Are they even going to be useful?"
"Useful?" Catrina laughed, which to Adagio's ears sounded like claws tearing through velvet. She reached over with her free hand and pet one of the bushy Hollows with affection, "My little Bushwollies are more useful than your horde of ravening savages. For one, they're loyal, a trait I find most valuable. Still, we're not here to debate our choice of servants. We're here to make war upon our mutual foes and their little generation of up and coming recruits. Squirk, be a dear and start warming up those Gargantas, would you?"
Standing a good distance to the side of Catrina's palanquin was another Arrancar, this one a man, and a fairly heavyset one at that. His skin was red like the carapace of a lobster, and his head was bald save for a large fringe of white bone that extended to a mask around half of his face like that of a ancient crustacean. He wore tight fitting white clothes, along with a black cape that trailed behind him. Carried in his right hand was a large solid metal harpoon, which he brandished as he glared at Catrina.
"Don't presume to order me around. Third Espada or not, I am not your servant, woman!" Squirk grunted in a low, gurgling tone.
Catrina rolled her eyes and stretched in her seat, and as she did so Adagio noticed some of her toga slip to reveal the etched number three across Catrina's left breast, just along the upper cleavage. So this was the third strongest Arrancar in existence? Even more powerful than Torch? She didn't look that strong, and while the spiritual energy coming off of her was potent, it didn't seem overwhelming to Adagio. Then again, Catrina was probably holding back.
"Oh you can be such an utter bore, Squirk. Tell me, do you wear that ridiculous cloak because you're ashamed of the number nine tattooed on your back, oh lowly Ninth Espada? Really, your pride is more easily wounded than the flesh of a helpless human soul. It still amazes me you reached our esteemed ranks, even with such a low number."
"Why you little tramp! You need me for this raid!" roared Squirk, his power flaring into a coiling blue aura around his body. Adagio could immediately sense his power, and if it hadn't been for Torch's own attempt to crush her with his reiatsu earlier, she would have been more impressed with Squirk. Merely the Ninth Espada or not, he was still an incredibly powerful Hollow, just one step below Grogar, and so far above her it left Adagio mentally gnashing her teeth in anger at how far she had to go before she could match these monsters as an equal.
Torch let out a roar and smashed his axe to the ground, apparently a favorite gesture of his, Adagio was guessing, as he glared at Squirk and Catrina, "I have no patience for your games! Catrina, stop baiting Squirk. Squirk, grow a thicker hide! We have Quincy we could be killing right now, for the glory of Las Noches and Lord Tirek."
Squirk grunted, but backed down, casting Catrina a final death glare, but nodding his bald head, "Yes, yes, the Quincy. About time we found out where they had their Academy hidden, but who would have guessed it would be so close to their main fortress? Is this information reliable?"
"Squirk we've been over this a hundred times," Catrina said, "The Second Espada confirmed the information herself. Why would the information be inaccurate? Unless you want to accuse her of all people of being a traitor? I'm certain Lord Tirek would love to hear such an accusation."
Squirk visibly paled, swallowing, "No, no accusation. Just caution. This raid relies entirely upon surprise to work. Even with the three of us together, we'll be right in the Quincy's back yard. If their Sternritter launch a swift enough counterattack, we'll be rapidly outnumbered."
"My my, is that harpoon of yours made out of your backbone?" asked Catrina, hiding her laughing face with her warfan, "Because it seems like you removed yours."
Torch growled at her warning, then turned to Squirk, "That's why we need you for this raid, Lord Squirk. Your specialty is Gargantas, and your the only Arrancar with the power to create Garganta that don't leave a detectable presence. The Quincy won't sense us coming until we're already among their flock of little sheep, tearing them to shreds, and by the time the mobilize to counterattack the damage will be done and we can fall back to Las Noches with ease. Our strategy is reliant on your power."
This seemed to puff up Squirk's confidence, or more likely his ego, Adagio imagined, and she saw him grin. "Yes, well, of course it does! Now then, is this all our forces?"
Torch nodded, "This is it, my finest warriors, including my own daughter."
This caused both Squirk and Catrina's eyes to look over to Ember, and by extension, Adagio. She froze under the twin gaze of the Espada, and wondered if she should bow her head, or meet their eyes. While one part of her warned for caution, a flare of pride caused her to keep her head straight, and her gaze level. Catrina's eyes narrowed, but a strange smile crossed her features, while Squirk merely glowered.
"What's this low class Adjuchas doing here?" asked Squirk. "Battlefield rations?"
Torch pulled back his lips in a combination of a smile and a snarl, "She is Adagio Dazzle, and I'm testing her for her usefulness to my horde. Its no business of yours."
Squirk snorted, "I'll never understand your obsession with recruiting from the lowly peasant stock, Torch."
"She'd make an adorable pet," said Catrina, running a slim finger across her chin, "Then again, I also enjoy a fine meal of fish. Hmm, if she fails to impress you, Lord Torch, perhaps you'd make a gift of her to me? Pet or food, she'd amuse me I think."
Ember took a defensive step towards Adagio, but Torch just waved his hand dismissively, "Whatever happens will be for after the raid. Now, Lord Squirk, will you open the Gargantas so we may begin?"
In answer, Squirk turned around and raised his left hand, then grasped as if he were clawing at the air. Adagio felt his reiatsu spike upwards as he tore his hand downward, and with a groaning sound not just one, but three Garganta portals opened up simultaneously in the air behind the Espada.
----------
Sunny Flare growled as she flipped away from the slashing pincers of a Hollow that looked like the abominable offspring of a crab and a millipede. Her hands danced in a complex kata of moves with her twin dart throwers, which fired a needling rain of thin reishi projectiles. While each individual needle of slim blue energy didn’t do much damage, they penetrated the Hollow’s touch skin with ease and left dozens of holes stitched through it like wet ink pelted by rain.
However even as that Hollow fell in a vanishing mass of ash, four more took its place and Sunny Flare found herself surrounded. Before the young Quincy could get mobbed, a potent and swift blast of concentrated reishi blew apart the heads of two of the Hollows, giving Sunny Flare enough of an opening to leap away from the other two.
“T-thanks for the save, Sour!” she shouted.
Sour Sweet, standing atop a nearby tree with her huge sniping crossbow braced on one of her knees, smiled kindly, “Why of course Sunny, no problem.” She then rolled her eyes and muttered, “It’d be nice if I had to stop saving your butt, though.”
The Hollows were overrunning the clearing the Quincy trainees had set up their ambush in. Indigo Zapp and Sugarcoat were on the side of the clearing opposite from Sour Sweet, alongside Twilight, the three girls having set up a firing line that poured arrows at the horde of Hollows. Sunny Flare had gone out to break up the Hollows’ initial charge and draw their attention, but had overextended herself. Now Twilight feared the girl getting swarmed and torn apart, and held her glowing bow of energy nervously as she fired into the Hollows.
“Zapp, go back up Sunny. We need to withdraw to a better position,” said Sugarcoat, to which Zapp snapped.
“Who put you in charge, huh!?”
“There’s no time to argue. Do you want to die? Because that’s what’s going to happen if we stay here,” said Sugarcoat in her usual blunt manner, yet Twilight could hear the faint undercurrent of strain and fear inside the other girl’s voice. Indigo Zapp, also hiding fear beneath her bravado, gave a worried glance towards where Sunny Flare continued to have to evade a growing number of Hollows.
“Damn! Okay! Just hold this spot until I get her out of there.”
Indigo Zapp rushed forward, using Hirenkyaku to achieve blinding speed as she fired blazing, electrically charged arrows into the front ranks of Hollows as she went to assist Sunny Flare. Twilight focused on providing covering fire for the other trainee’s charge, working to regulate her breathing and steady her hands as she picked her shots and fired. Her arrows tore into Hollow masks, killing several, but more and more kept rushing into the clearing from the deeper woods.
Twilight could also hear the distant sounds of other battles as no doubt the rest of the Academy trainees were mired in their own battles. It seemed unlikely that she and her companions would receive any kind of help. A high pitched scream of pain echoing over the trees chilled Twilight’s blood and reminded her this ‘training exercise’ had deadly consequences for failure, and she redoubled her efforts to fire.
“Where did Suri go?” Sugarcoat suddenly said, and Twilight abruptly realized their sixth teammate had vanished at some point between now and the start of the fight. Sugarcoat’s stoic face gradually turned into a frown, “She’d better not have run off...”
“Pfft, please,” said Suri, literally appearing from seeming nowhere as she landed next to Twilight and Sugarcoat, “I was doing something more useful than just firing arrows at random, m’kay? Watch this.”
It was then that Twilight noticed that Suri was holding a thin, gleaming silver wire in one hand, which looked as if it lead off to the clearing edge where the Hollows were coming from. Suri reached into her white uniform and withdrew a metal vial, popping the top and dripping a line of glowing blue liquid onto the wire in her hand. Quincy, reishi infused chemicals reacted with the transmitting wire, looking like smokey blue fire. In seconds that reishi traveled down the wire and then wrapped around a dozen trees across the clearing, burning through the trunks in moments. In short order a bunch of trees were now crashing down on the Hollows, temporarily stemming the tide.
“See? Now we have a opening to retreat. Brilliant if I do say so myself.” Suri preened. Sugarcoat merely nodded in a single gesture of acknowledgment.
Indigo Zapp reached Sunny Flare, letting loose an arrow straight into the face of a bearish Hollow that’d been barreling towards her, and skidded to a halt. “Sunny, time to jet!”
Sunny Flare, arms spread out to fire in two different directions as she spun about, said, “Don’t need to tell me twice, deary! Sour Sweet, some cover fire would not go remiss!”
Up in the tree, Sour Sweet grumbled, “Yeah, make me do all the hard work why don’t ya?” She then smiled and shouted, “Sure thing, I just love making myself a target while my dear friends get to run away!”
“Quit your complaining and just shoot already!” Indigo Zapp yelled as she and Sunny Flare started falling back towards the others, both of them cutting loose with rapid fire shots into the Hollows trying to pursue them. However, Suri’s trick in cutting down the trees were forcing a bulk of Hollows to go around, buying the girls precious seconds without being too heavily pressured. Twilight felt a sigh of relief escape her as Indigo Zapp and Sunny Flare got back to them. All that left was Sour Sweet.
“Sour, we’re clear! Get out of there!” shouted Sugarcoat, pulling back on her bow and sending a potent and large arrow flying into the regrouping Hollows. Sour Sweet shouldered her long crossbow, and prepared to jump from the tree, when Twilight and all the Quincy girls felt a rush of potent and dark spirit power, coming from somewhere nearby.
“What the hell is that!?” Indigo Zapp shouted, looking around for the source of the sudden reiatsu. Twilight looked around as well, her own analytical mind churning rapidly. She recognized the reitasu as that of a Hollow, but it felt much more dense and potent than the lesser Hollows filling the forest. And with a cold sweat breaking out on her brow Twilight realized there wasn’t just one reiatsu, but many. At least a dozen. More than a dozen.
“Sour Sweet, look out!” shouted Sugarcoat as out of the forest a intense red glow appeared, then abruptly erupted into a powerful and destructive beam of deep red energy.
Sour Sweet threw herself from the tree top with blinding speed, but even so her back was caught by the edge of the crimson blast and Twilight gasped as she saw the girl get knocked out of the air, her back torn and burned. Without thinking about it she moved, Blut Vene and Hirenkyaku activating both at once to give her speed as she jumped into the air and then soared upwards and across the clearing to catch the falling Soul Sweet.
She had to let her bow vanish for a second in order to catch the girl with both arms. Sour Sweet wasn’t unconscious, but she was clearly in a great deal of pain from the way her face was twisted up, and she was letting out a stream of choked swear words as Twilight landed.
“H-hold on, let me see how bad it is!” Twilight said, slowly turning Sour Sweet over as the girl hissed.
“Grrr, g-godamn bad, is what it is. Shit,” Sour Sweet ground her teeth, “That was a Cero.”
Twilight didn’t immediately respond, instead assessing Sour Sweet’s injury. She winced as she looked at the girl’s burned flesh. The back of Sour Sweet’s uniform was charred black, and the skin underneath alternating between angry red blisters and scorched skin. The wound wasn’t fatal, but Sour Sweet would be in agony at the slightest movement. Which was why Twilight was utterly shocked to see the girl stand, hefting her sniper crossbow, aiming through the scope, and screaming in both pain and anger as she fired a return shot int he direction the Cero had come from.
“Bastards! Hurt me!? I’ll freakin’ kill all of you!”
“S-Sour! You shouldn’t move-”
“Shut up! That must have been an Adjuchas. Goddamn instructors let an Adjuchas loose on us. I’m gonna splatter it” Sour Sweet growled, eyes bloodshot. It was thin Twilight noticed something strange. The lesser Hollows had ceased moving. As if the Cero had been some kind of signal, the lesser Hollows had all stopped their advance and now crouched down, like they were scared.
And the intense reiatsu signatures that Twilight was sensing were still out there, getting closer.
Sugarcoat the others all appeared beside them, Indigo Zapp grabbing Sour Sweet’s crossbow by the stock and yanking it upwards, “Sour, you idiot, stop shooting and giving away our position! We need to get outta here!”
“These reiatsu are not normal,” said Sugarcoat, adjusting her glasses in a nervous gesture, “Staying to fight would be unwise.”
“I dunno about that,” said a smug and mocking male voice as a dusky skinned young man with red scales dotting his flesh and a blazing orange mohawk came walking out of the forest. He waltzed past the lesser Hollows as if they were no more than street dogs to him. He wore white clothing similar to the Quincy, but edged in black, and no one would mistake the young man for human with the Hollow hole in his chest. The strange Hollow in a human shape, what Twilight realized what she had heard of as an Arrancar, stopped in the center of the clearing and eyed the girls with a hungry lick of his lips.
“Personally I don’t much care for your chances if you run either,” he said as three more Arrancar emerged from the forest behind him, and he gave Twilight and the other Quincy girls a smile like a wolf in a sheep pen, “But you’re welcome to try.”
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Shit's getting real now.
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Nice Christmas Eve update! Hope to see more soon.
Aaaand you jinxed it now!
not bad, not bad at all; also:
Oh, things are gonna get interesting now for Twilight and Adagio. Amazing action scene, as usual.
Thank you for the Christmas update!
at one another, an especially the strangers in their midst
the district Ditzy lead them around
in mere seconds... seconds Rainbow Dash counted down herself.”
No subtly, that guy, I swear
you have the face the possibility that
You’re best bet is to come up here
and your the only Arrancar with the
they penetrated the Hollow’s touch skin with ease
1. And.
2. Led.
3. Extra closing quotation mark.
4. Subtlety.
5. To.
6. Your
7. You're
8. Tough.
Rainbow Dash, elder of Subtlety she is not. I mean really, she needs more tact than lightning reflexes when going into enemy territory. When shit hits the fan then I would say let loose girl.
Our ally revealed and I was completely off the mark. Guess I was seeing to draw from a limited villain pool but it's definitely a nice twist. Now I just wonder if someone named Longwalk is around and is hefting a mighty spear...
Seems Twilight and the gang are going to have the earliest encounter with Adagio. I do wonder how that's going to happen since she's now hardly going to get the chance to meet Twilight one on one. Twilight is definitely gonna be surprised from the tales she's heard from the rest of the girls. Now if only they had a reliable way to communicate...
Nice to see the girls are taking the subtle route into the Seireitei instead of say, launching themselves from a cannon into the barrier, that's be just ridiculous. Oh right, Clover is still with them too... possible reinforcements from her squad? Though they are coming up in another division's area first... wonder how Starswirl will react to his Third Seat becoming so much more stronger now.
this chapter was a great christmas gift!
Great chapter.
Captain Platinum's dubious surveillance recordings say 'hello',
Welp, Twi's gonna have a BAD TIME
So there's a spy among the quincy. I can help thinking that Chrysalis is the spy and/or second espada.
Unplanned Advanced Training, now!
Half of the sneaky stealth force decided not to support their captain and don't have the slightest idea where the other half are? Yeah, not buying it. They're loyal to Luna too. And perfectly positioned to spy and backstab.