Corroded Spirits

Corroded Spirits: 38

Chapter 38: Fruitless Retaliation

 "Wait a moment, Ukitake-san." Retsu said, quickly spotting, yet another trail of Shinigamis that lay like a bunch of fallen dominoes along the ground. Ukitake halted to a stop to let her inspect them and assess whether or not they could still be saved. The doctor knelt to one of her fallen commrades and lay a hand on his shoulder to feel for any Reiatsu flow. So that he may be more of a use rather than a fighting guard, Ukitake approached one of the fallen as
well. Judging by the way in which they were all sprawled on the whole pathway, he'd expected all of them would be either dead or dying, but.. "This one's alive."

 Retsu stood up from her place. "They all are. I don't know why, but for some reason they're not killing anyone." She looked on ahead, as far as the eye could see, many other fallen Shinigamis. "They're not even injured." Ukitake pointed out, seeing that there were no wounds or blood in the scene either. "No. The likeliest theory is that they collapsed from the pressure of the Reiatsu the girl and Arrancar were releasing. They were unharmed." Retsu emphasized. "Why would they break a rampage streak? Only several months ago, they succeeded in destroying a fourth of Seiritei!" Ukitake reminded. "That may be true..." The doctor trailed on, sensing something even more than usually odd. "But we won't know until we find them." And the headed on out.

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 There was a dreadful silence that hung in the air when Toshiro and Byakuya finally got to their destination. "This is close enough." Byakuya called, making both of them stop just a couple of feet away from the portal from there to the Human World. "It is untouched." Byakya said, stating the obvious. "Yeah." Toshiro replied anyway for the situation's sake. "Though it's a bit questionable why they wouldn't come here first.. If they wanted to create mass chaos, the Human World would be an easy target." Toshiro admitted. Bcause after all, it's what the recent
hypocrites like Aizen (among others) would go to first.

 Byakuya's eyes narrowed down an inch at the empty Senkaimon. "Is creating chaos really what they wish?" The question was unexpected that Toshiro couldn't help but turn. "What? What do you mean?" Byakuya looked down the ground, still trying to collect his thoughts. The younger captain could practically see the cogs turning in his head. "There's been several little details that we've been failing to notice for more  than once now." The noble began.
"Details..like what?"

 "As Urahara Kisuke has explained to us, the Arrancar's soul has merged together with Orihime Inoue's own. Their bond has become so strong that Inoue, a mere human, can now control the same abilities as that Arrancar." As the older man spoke, Toshiro backed up each statement with the memories of the very words that Urahara Kisuke had indeed said. "Now if you recall, the Arrancars have a default ability to tear a hole known as the Garganta that acts as their portal to Hueco Mundo and the real world similar to the Senkaimon." His young companion straightened up. "I understand all of that, but what does all that have to do with anything?" Toshiro asked.

 The 6th Captain stepped forward to the Senkaimon. "The girl, with the aid of the Arrancar's power has managed more than just one escape from our captivity. They attacked us, injured us, made a mess of Seritei... and yet it bothers me to think, that even when they had all the time to do that, they didn't even thought about opening a Garganta so that they could completely escape to Hueco Mundo." He heard Toshiro give a choked exclaim, which was pretty much the reaction he was waiting from him. "What're you saying?! That they--" Byakuya cut his
thought short. "I can't exactly assume anything as of yet. I still lack a few patches to the loopholes. All I'm saying is that they may have a different agenda than just destroying Soul Society."

 The blue that was his eyes widened in horror, as Toshiro processed this. Usually, if it was a mere by-stander who told him that, he would still be a bit skeptical. But it came straight from the mind of Byakuya Kuchiki himself. Skepticism would be damned. "But what other possible motive could they have?" Toshiro asked, most likely to himself. When they stopped speaking for a moment, it was only then they noticed how eerily silent the air was. That was until Toshiro felt it. The ocean-like mass of Reiatsu that kept spiking in frightening intensities all around them. Swarms of black-green energy shrouded over Seiritei like a dark cloud. "The storm is coming." Byakuya whispered.

 Then out of nowhere, Toshiro gave a horrified gasp, realization crashing on him like a boulder. "What is it?"Byakuya inquired to his sudden exclaimation. The younger captain was staring into the distance, seeing something Byakuya couldn't quite see, but seemed to know what. "You know where they are, don't you?" He asked. Toshiro breathed slowly to try and regain the sudden air he had lost. "Not really.. But I have a hunch." He said. And although  that was all it was, it had been enough to take his breath away due to the fear for the horrible outcome
should his hunch be true.

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 "We are here.." There was a soft and quiet scrape against the ground, and the silent flapping of a wing. Orihime and Ulquiorra had successfully escaped their captors, and eluded them of their presence. Masking Reiatsu seemed a whole lot easier when it was encased in a soul whose own Reiatsu was rotting away. Who'd have thought? Mismatched claw marks grated against the cement as the creature walked. When Orihime looked down, she saw that her exposed feet were beginning to elongate and blacken.

 She stopped for a moment as if to collect herself. Her head bowed and she gave a restrained groan. There was a coldtrickle starting to stream down her legs, and now when she looked down, she saw that she was bleeding. A sound between a crazed laugh and a suppressed sob escaped the girl. "Are you all right?" Her Arrancar companion appeared beside her, a hand bracing her by the stomach to keep her upright. The mess of a girl leaned into him gratefully. "I
didn't think that the transformation would hurt this much." She said quietly.

 Ulquiorra's hold on her firmed itself. "We are almost there." He said to assure her. But then the Arrancar turned just before the echoing sound of step behind them floated through Orihime's ears. Her wing whipped against itself as she turned, sending a small cold breeze towards the new-comers who had somehow managed to find them. "We're already here." Byakuya said to announce himself. Ulquiorra wasn't surprised in the least. He had expected that the noble would be one of the first to predict their whereabouts. "How did you know we would be here?" The creature inquired. "The answer to that is irrelevant to you.." Toshiro now said.

 The younger Shinigami eyed the blood trailing across the girl's legs, and even though she tried not to, Orihime lowered her wing to slightly cover it. "It would be pointless for you to continue fighting us... You're in terrible shape.." A loud scoff escaped the entity's mouth. "Shouldn't that gladden you? Higher advantage of subduing us, rather than droning on about a lost cause." Orihime said. She raised one of her hands, readying to engage. Reflexively, Toshiro's hand immediately went to Hyourinmaru's hilt. Although prepared to fight, he still found roomto say: "Don't do this.." The heavy Reishi in the air began to collect itself into Orihime's hand. The particles turned into a vibrant green as they harnessed at the tip of her fingers. "Even if we do...there's nothing more left for us.." And the Cero shooted outwards, carrying with it rage, hate and regret that was not meant for the two captains.