_{(DISCLAIMER: Note that this story will be incorporating some fanon abilities and characterization details for some of the characters. Generally the goal was to keep things in line with the three series while taking some creative liberties when appropriate, for the sake of an entertaining narrative. So please do not expect everything to be strictly 100% canon-compliant. Of course, it was still important to us that we stay in line with the characters as they are established. Basically, just have fun with it!)}

Chapter 5

“In the Kingdom of the Blind”

_{(Chapter art by Carbonated-Jem)}

Roars and jeers filled the air as an army of zombies amassed in a massive, violent throng, thousands and thousands of them clamboring over one another as dozens more ripped from the ground by the second. From the far south, an army of gnarled ghost ships made of dead wood soared through the air, headed by their enormous flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge. Each and every one of them was guided by the will of a single man. A man who was on the precipice of becoming far more.

“ZEHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

His laugh filled the sky, drowning out the countless zombies that stood at his beck and call. Over eleven feet tall, he towered over nearly all of them, and each of his hands crackled with a mighty power that could drown the world itself. Around him stood the zombified corpses of his fallen allies… no, they could not be called that. Mihawk, Jinbe, Kuma, Moria, Doflamingo… They were his stepping stones. Bit players who had fought and died as merely a small part of the tapestry that would be this man’s conquest.

To stand atop all things, to become the immortal king of everything that existed, and crush the dreams of everyone else under his heel – that was his goal. And a mere four people stood between him and that goal. One Akatsuki, three Espada… that was all.

He grinned. 

‘First up… let’s pay hell a visit!’

Facing the fortress to the far west, Blackbeard stood ready for war.

—

The murky blackness of the Garganta pressed inward against their flanks. Nine Arrancars soared through the oppressive darkness, leaping off of footholds in the air as they took a shortcut through the fabric of space. Soft, shuddering whispers echoed through the air, but to an army of Hollows, the darkness was familiar.

At the front of the pack, their leader rushed forward at blinding speed, his short blue hair waving slightly as his Sonído propelled him forward. If he wanted to, he could have far outpaced his comrades, but Grimmjow had learned better than to charge in alone. In his head, the conversation they’d had before leaving Las Noches replayed.

—

“Nel,” Grimmjow addressed his comrade, one of only three who was still technically ‘alive.’ Nel straightened up, hands moving behind her back. He tried not to react with surprise at the small show of deference. 

“Take two Espada and cut off that fleet to the south. Don’t let ‘em meet up with Blackbeard.”

Nel nodded. “Which two?”

Grimmjow paused, considering the question. He wasn’t accustomed to considering strategy; even when he had his own Fracción to command, he had usually allowed them to choose their own battles.

“You’re asking a lot, expecting that trash to think so far ahead…” Luppi sneered under his breath from behind Grimmjow, deliberately just loud enough for him to hear. Luppi, Grimmjow recalled with a stab of annoyance, had been one of Grimmjow’s Fracción, and thus was aware how he normally operated.

“Harribel and Zommari,” Grimmjow decided, ignoring the jab from Luppi. “Zommari’s marks will lock ‘em down, Harribel can drown and freeze ‘em. Then you blast them outta the sky, and meet up with us as soon as you can. Don’t waste any time.”

“Not to disagree with you, Grimmjow,” Nnoitra’s raspy voice cut in, fake politeness in his tone, “but are you sure you can trust this one with a leadership position? After all, she is-”

“Shut up.”

Grimmjow allowed his gaze to flash toward Nnoitra as he spoke, and a sharp spurt of Reiatsu made the Quinto Espada go rigid, his wicked grin sinking into a scowl.

Grimmjow turned his gaze back toward Nel.

“Take Nnoitra too. Seems like he needs to learn his place in the food chain.”

The edges of his lips twitched upward slightly, as out of the corner of his eye Nnoitra bristled but didn’t respond. Nel didn’t smile back, but as she nodded he could tell she appreciated the vote of confidence.

Grimmjow turned and met Harribel’s gaze. She stared back, and though there was the slightest bit of resentment, he could also see regret underneath. Inclining her head slightly, she conveyed her approval without speaking.

‘I’ll follow your lead, this time.’

And so they had set off, into two separate Descorrers. Only moments had passed since they had entered, and in a few more moments they would be emerging upon Blackbeard’s location. In spite of how high the stakes were, Grimmjow grinned. He wasn’t the type to think he could lose.

Some distance behind him, trailing behind the zombified Espada, whose bodies were held together by crisscrossed stitches, the smallest of their number wasn’t focused on the battle ahead, but on the man in front of her, who hadn’t spared a glance her way since he had made his reappearance.

“Starrk!” Lilynette called softly. Only the slightest increase in tension in her other half’s shoulders indicated that he’d heard her. “Slow down! M-My Sonído isn’t fast enough to-!”

Starrk slowed down, ever so slightly, and without turning to look at Lilynette he reached back and plucked her up, pulling her up onto his shoulders before accelerating to catch back up to the rest of the Espada.

“You should have stayed behind…” Starrk murmured under his breath. Lilynette frowned.

“Starrk…”

She whacked him on the back of the head and he flinched slightly, startled by the sudden strike, but otherwise his movement didn’t halt. Lilynette scowled down at him from behind.

“Don’t treat me like a little kid, asshole! You need me just as much as I need you!”

Starrk didn’t respond, and Lilynette’s annoyed frown deepened.

“C’mon, let’s fuse. We’re gonna-”

“No.”

“Eh-?”

“We’re not releasing.”

“But-”

Before Lilynette could protest further, a window opened up in space ahead of them, peering out of the Garganta back into reality. 

—

In the air far above Blackbeard, an enormous Descorrer opened up, unfurling into the sky like an enormous zipper cutting through the fabric of reality. Jerking his gaze up to look at it, Blackbeard only had time to issue one command to his army.

“Brace yourselves!”

Before the words had even fully left his mouth, Grimmjow burst from the enormous hole in space. His hand already drawn back, he thrust it forward, and a Cero exploded downward, shearing across the center of Blackbeard’s army and vaporizing a hundred zombies at once.

In the next instant, a sonic boom blasted out and Grimmjow hurtled down through the sky and slammed into Blackbeard, Pantera clashing against a quake bubble as he pressed forward, the Emperor’s feet skidding backward along the ground as the strongest Espada assailed him with slashes and blows.

Behind Grimmjow, the rest of the Espada burst from the Descorrer like bullets, diving into the throng of zombies and tearing through numerous enemies en masse. Blackbeard’s army balked momentarily, clearly taken aback by the unexpected number of Arrancars.

In the lead, enormous black wings unfurling as he entered his first released state, Ulquiorra soared forward, a dark blade of energy materializing in his hand and carving through dozens of zombies. Behind him, Baraggan slashed through many more with his axe, Luppi plowed through hordes with Ceros, and even Starrk, still unreleased, swatted them away with his bare hands.

Before Ulquiorra could get far, the zombified Kuma materialized in front of him, and intercepted with his palm outstretched. The blade of energy struck the flat of his hand and was repelled instantly, exploding into sparks.

“Hmph,” Ulquiorra hummed, his eyes narrowing as his own energy dissipated in waves around him and he was halted for a split second. “You’re fast…”

Behind Kuma, the zombified Gecko Moria crashed down from the sky, his eyes blank, enslaved by his own former power. With a snarl, he raised his giant pair of scissors and stabbed them down directly toward Ulquiorra’s chest. Before the attack could hit home, though, Yammy’s fist shot out and closed around the blade, halting it in place. The Cero Espada swelled sharply, baring his teeth at his even larger adversary.

“Leave pequeño alone, eh?”

With a forceful growl, he thrust a palm upward and a Bala blew Moria off-balance. A moment later, a volley of Ceros from Ulquiorra blasted into his chest, searing his clothes and sending him careening backward as sputtering snarls escaped his mouth.

Kuma leapt into the air and swept the Ceros aside with a sweeping palm strike, and then fired a volley of air bullets toward Ulquiorra, which Yammy leapt in front of, absorbing the blows. Above Yammy’s head, Ulquiorra shot upward, his wings unfurling wide as black energy charged into his fingers.

“Cero Oscuras!”

A massive blast of energy hurtled into Kuma, who raised both palms to block, but was sent careening back through the air, the enormous energy blast straining against his hands before-

BOOOM!

He threw it to the side and it struck a mountain in the far distance, blowing a huge hole through it. Not losing any of his backward momentum, however, Kuma plummeted downward and crashed into the ground, skidding from the force of the Cero’s impact.

In the momentary respite, Yammy flashed a grin at Ulquiorra.

“Miss me, amigo?”

Ulquiorra huffed as he descended, readying another energy lance as more zombies swarmed toward them.

“Maybe a little.”

As they both readied their weapons, however, the ground around them warped and with a screech, numerous long, thin white creatures emerged from the earth, tearing out like zombies themselves. Ulquiorra and Yammy tensed, startled, but the creatures only attacked the oncoming horde. With their large teeth and distinct white masks, they were distinctly Hollow.

“Fufufufu…” Szayel simpered from some distance away as he walked forward, hands clasped behind his back as he paid no heed to the zombies all around him. Whenever one lunged for him, a Hollow rose from the ground and swatted it away or wrestled it to the ground. None came near to touching the scientist himself, who strolled forth casually, his gaze fixed on the clash between Blackbeard and Grimmjow in the far distance.

“Stronger than an average zombie it seems, but not by much…” he hummed thoughtfully, tapping his chin as one of the Hollows – his army of modified Fracción – was torn apart some distance away by a swarm of zombies. “I’ll have to reinforce their resilience… their regeneration doesn’t seem to be quite up to snuff…”

A horrible crunching sound filled the air as a Hollow toppled to the ground next to him with a spray of blood, and Szayel paused, turning his gaze toward it in surprise. On top of the fallen Fracción, Aaroniero stood, pressing his foot down against his face as his tentacled arm crunched into the creature, feasting on it. Szayel let out a breathy laugh.

“Feeling peckish, Novena?”

Aaroniero ripped his appendage from the Hollow’s corpse. A tongue slid out of its mouth and licked up the blood coating its tentacles. He let out a shuddering laugh.

“It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet out here…”

The heads in his tank swiveled, their gaze shifting hungrily across the zombies doing battle with Fracción all around them. Szayel laughed again.

“Well, do feel free to eat your fill, but try to snack on the enemy, if you can manage it.”

Aaroniero’s tank morphed, and Kaien Shiba’s face materialized in its place. A moment later, he conjured the late shinigami’s trident into his hand.

“I think you’ll find I can. Devour… Glotonería!!”

From his body, purple smoke exploded, and he rose into the air, his shadow becoming wider and wider until he towered over the battlefield. His entire lower body had been transformed, mutated into an enormous, bulbous blob of purple flesh. From the mass of Hollow meat, enormous tentacles swiped out and wrapped around nearby zombies, ripping them into the air and hurling them into a gaping maw that opened in the creature’s center.

With each new morsel shoveled in, Aaroniero swelled slightly in size – and it was not merely the zombies themselves that he was absorbing. As he raised Kaien’s trident into the air, shadows – the shadows that endowed Blackbeard’s servants with their power – began to flow from the zombies all around him, absorbed up into the weapon and then into Aaroniero’s body. 

“Fascinating…” Szayel hummed as he turned away from the carnage, his fingers rubbing his chin, amusement in his eyes as he willed more Fracción to appear around him. “…consuming the zombies is connecting him to the shadows empowering the others… I suppose if anyone were to have picked up on how Gecko Moria’s power works, it would be him…”

Some distance away, Starrk and Baraggan fought side-by-side, both still in their base forms. As Starrk moved, zombies around him crumpled and died, crushed under the weight of his Reiatsu alone. His punches, on the rare occasion he needed to throw one, pulverized them completely and utterly. Baraggan, meanwhile, cleaved through them with his axe, their bones becoming brittle under his blows. Still, he seethed.

“That damnable doctor…” he growled, grimacing as he picked at his stitches with his fingers. “I can barely use my power when I’m being held together by stitches like this…”

“Szayel’s always been a hack,” Starrk shrugged, whacking away a zombie that lunged at him, Lilynette still clinging to his back. “We should be glad to be alive at all.”

“There is a difference between being intact and being alive.” Baraggan scoffed.

“Heh. Fair enough.”

—

To the south…

At the helm of the Queen Anne’s Revenge, his large golden hook guiding the steering wheel, Crocodile’s eyes were fixed on the rumbling and explosions on the horizon. The battle raged at the center of the arena, now only a few kilometers away.

“Hoist the sail!” his growling voice rang out. Behind him, the ship’s second occupant raised two fingers, and the ship’s sail unfurled to full size, guided by the man’s control over space.

…Well, “man” was only half accurate. Though his body was that of Trafalgar Law, his movements were controlled by the ancient creature fastened to the left half of his body.

“We need to speed things up!” Black Zetsu growled, baring sharp fangs as his yellow eye narrowed sharply. “The Espada appear to have regained their numbers! His majesty will need our assistance!”

Crocodile grunted in acknowledgement, and thrust out his right hand. From his billowing cloak, chunks of sand shot out and arced through the air, down behind the Queen Anne’s stern, before firing forward like rockets, shooting into the back of the ship and propelling it forth through the air with greater speed.

“For the record,” Crocodile spat, lowering his hand, “I ain’t calling that bastard ‘his majesty’. I’m not the subservient type. I’m here for that wish, and nothing else.”

Zetsu didn’t respond. Inwardly, he wondered whether it was even possible for Crocodile to get what he wanted. After all, the announcer had not re-added him to the Warlords’ tally. Wisely, though, he chose to keep that particular thought to himself. It seemed like the question hadn’t occurred to Crocodile, or at the very least that it wasn’t keeping him from fighting. There was no reason to jeopardize that.

CRUNCH!

Suddenly, without warning, the Queen Anne slammed to a halt in midair, and the sand propelling it from behind cracked through the stern, the dead wood splintering violently for a split second before Crocodile halted his push with a grunt of surprise.

Both Crocodile and Zetsu tensed. Through their Observation Haki, both could detect the source of the sudden halt: on the front of the ship, across the surface of the wood, a dark flower-shaped patterning had materialized, and immediately they had frozen in place.

“I hope you don’t intend on joining your comrades!” A deep voice rang out. From a window in space several dozen meters in front of the ship, a man had emerged, his entire lower body a strange, pink bulb that held him aloft in midair. All across his body, eyes opened sharply, and for each one that did, another ship in the fleet ground to a halt.

“Shit!” Crocodile swore, and leapt up onto the ship’s bow, angling his hook toward Zommari, and with a burst of sand, the hook exploded from his arm, hurtling through the air at blinding speed to rip the Espada from the sky.

Shing!

A sword strike deflected the hook as Harribel sprang up in front of Zommari, sparks showering out as gold and steel collided, and Crocodile’s attack was diverted.

“Hunt, Tiburón!”

Water swirled around Harribel and then exploded outward as she entered her released state. As Tiburón morphed into its pata form, water flowed from the gills on its side, and then…

“Cascada!”

…exploded down toward the ship, gushing forth with enough speed and force to wipe both Crocodile and Zetsu away.

“Shambles!”

Crocodile vanished and Zetsu materialized in his place, and with an upward swing of Law’s arm, the cascading surge of water split in half, pouring off to either side of the Queen Anne and leaving the deck untouched.

As Harribel and Zommari both fell back, a blur shot between them with such force that they were engulfed by a gust of wind. An insane cackle filled the air.

“I knew that something like this couldn’t be left to the women!” Nnoitra sneered, tongue lolling out as Santa Teresa spun in his hand. “Pray! Santa Teresa!”

Energy exploded out of him and pushed the paralyzed ships back through the air, Santa Teresa splitting off into multiple scythes as new arms sprouted from the Quinto’s torso. From his tongue, blue energy charged up.

“Let me show you how it’s done!”

He fired off the Cero, and three ships in a row were blasted in half. The portions that were marked by Zommari’s Amor remained frozen in midair, while the sheared-off halves toppled from the sky and crashed to the ground below. Without wasting a beat, Nnoitra hurled another Cero, and tore through four more ships.

Harribel growled, a flicker of anger flashing in her eyes.

“That sloppy showboat…”

She raised Tiburón to the sky, and storm clouds swirled into existence dozens of meters up. Rain drops began to fall, and in midair congealed and solidified into razor sharp icicles, spears of frost that hurtled down and slammed into dozens of ships across the battlefield, riddling them with holes.

As Harribel increased the pressure, Zommari vanished from sight, Gemelos Sonído propelling him all the way to the other side of the battlefield, where he stuck mark after mark on ships that tried to take evasive action, locking them in place as Nnoitra and Harribel wrought havoc upon them.

Zetsu gritted his teeth as his eyes whipped back and forth, teleporting icicle spears away by the dozen, but missing hundreds more each second as they speared down through the Queen Anne’s deck.

‘There are too many…!’

‘Oi! Dumbass!’ Law’s voice rang out from his subconscious. ‘Stop going one-by-one!’

Law’s uncovered eye flashed open as Zetsu gave him control, and raising a hand to the sky, he manifested a massive curtain overtop of the ship fleet: a gigantic umbrella that weathered Harribel’s hail of spears all at once.

“Crocodile!” Law cried out to his ally, quickly recalling what he had learned from Nel about the Espada’s abilities. “That laser-shooting freak has impenetrable skin!”

“Got it!”

Immediately understanding Law’s meaning, Crocodile shot himself into the sky, his lower body unfurling into sand. As he approached Nnoitra, the Espada swung himself around, the Cero firing from his tongue sweeping through the air toward the Warlord. Instantly, however, Crocodile spun through the air, twisting himself around the laser beam and closing the distance, his fingers seizing Nnoitra by the throat.

The Espada let out a howl that quickly turned into a choked gagging sound as Crocodile’s power took effect, the moisture draining from his body into the Warlord’s outstretched hand. Even with indestructible skin, he had no defense against being turned into a desiccated corpse.

Shing!

Crocodile’s arm was sheared off at the elbow by a downward slice, spinning through the air in a hail of sand. Though unharmed, Crocodile grunted and turned toward the attacker in surprise, before a kick slammed into the side of his head and hurled him away, back down toward the Queen Anne below, where Law caught him and set him down gently.

“Nnoitra!” Nel cried as she landed in the air next to the Quinto Espada. “Don’t let him touch you – watch out for his hands!”

“Oh, really?” Nnoitra hissed out, seething as he coughed violently, his skin slightly shriveled and steaming, and his muscles twitching. “I would never have guessed that I shouldn’t let the guy touch me, after he almost killed me by touching me, you dumb bitch! No shit!”

Nel opened her mouth to respond, but her attention was quickly diverted as a swirling storm of sand filled the air around them. From where he stood on the ship below them, Crocodile seethed, a vein bulging in his forehead as his arm reformed and a tornado of sand billowed out, his cloak flapping furiously as he stirred up the wind.

“Sables: Abruma!” He practically spat the words out, and the sandstorm swirled to full size. At the rear of the fleet, Zommari groaned, eyes all over his body twinging closed as sand bit into them. As they swiveled in place, markings shot outward but were caught by the swirling sand and dispersed before they could reach any of their targets.

Crocodile scoffed, lowering his outstretched hand and then drawing a cigar from his pocket, biting down on the end of it and then lighting it. His eyes closed, he took a deep puff and then breathed out, a cloud of smoke wafting from his mouth. He opened his eyes and glowered at the Espada as the sandstorm pushed them back, away from the fleet.

“Time to take out the damn trash.”

Raising both hands to the sky, he splayed his palms, and from the gale of sand, the grains morphed together into enormous dragons of sand, two of which dove down toward Nel and Nnoitra with open maws. Quickly, Nel lunged forward, putting herself between Nnoitra and the attack and raising her sword to defend. Behind her, Nnoitra let out a squawk of protest at the act of protection.

However, the attack never reached them. From the side, a blast of water plowed a hole through both sand dragons at once, melting them into mud. With Tiburón outstretched, Harribel swept her arm to the side, and the swelling water ripped a gash through the side of the storm.

As soon as it formed, however, the sand poured in to fill the gap, and more sand dragons materialized. As they swarmed Harribel, she leapt off the air with a sonic boom, shooting upward at blinding speed as the dragons twisted through the air after her.

‘Tch… they’re not as fast as Hyōrinmaru, but they’re persistent…!’

Below, Nel’s eyes followed Harribel’s ascent in alarm.

‘She’s…!’

“Nnoitra!” She cried, crouching down. “Work on whittling down the ships’ numbers!”

“Don’t give me orders, damn it!” Nnoitra snapped back, but Nel had already leapt into the sky after Harribel, shockwaves ripping through the air behind her.

“And I didn’t ask you to fuckin’ save me, by the way!” Nnoitra called after her. He scowled as he realized she was already too far away to hear, and swore under his breath.

Twisting her body in midair to face the oncoming dragons even as she dashed away from them, Harribel swept Tiburón through one of them, shearing off its head. A moment later, however, as the head tumbled through the air, its mouth opened and spears of sand pistoned out, skewering through the air and piercing clean through Harribel’s side and shoulder.

“Hrk!”

Blood gushed freely from the wounds and Harribel flinched sharply, pain searing through her.

“Hah!”

A sword sheared through the sand spears as Nel materialized into existence, having caught up to Harribel with Sonído. Immediately as she completed her swing, Nel raised a hand and a Cero fired out, and as she swept it around, it sliced the remaining sand dragons to bits, superheating their grains as it passed through, and exploding them into a shower of glass shards.

“Don’t just run off on your own!” Nel commanded sharply, sparing a glance toward the wounded Harribel.

“I-Impertinent…” Harribel seethed. “To think, you would presume to give me orders, after you-”

“We don’t have time for that right now!” Nel spoke sharply but calmly, not meeting Harribel’s gaze. “I did what I thought was best. Right now, our job is to stop this fleet, and you’re our best counter to Crocodile.”

Without another moment’s delay, she crouched down in midair, bracing against the Reishi beneath her feet.

“Keep up!”

She exploded off of the air, shooting down through the air like a javelin and swinging Gamuza downward, cleaving three ships in half with rapid sword swings as she blitzed past them. Behind her, Harribel gritted her teeth as the blood seeped down her side. She reached down and touched it, wincing as she realized the sand had dislodged some of her stitches.

‘I can’t use my second release in this zombified state…’ she confirmed, though she had already expected it. ‘Szayel really was in a rush…’

Below, Nel leapt up as she approached the Queen Anne, rocketing into the sky and charging a Cero in one hand. With a battle cry, she thrust her palm forward, and a blast of light ripped forth toward the ship. Even if Crocodile was made of sand, if every grain of his body were obliterated, he wouldn’t come back.

Before the blast could tear the ship apart, however, it split cleanly in half down the middle, each half going wide and blasting ships to the left and right of the Queen Anne, but leaving the flagship intact. Nel’s eyes widened slightly, her hair whipping backward from the pressure of her own blast. In midair where the attack had split…

‘Law?!’

Law-Zetsu bared his teeth in a wide grin. In lieu of his destroyed sword, he had thrust two fingers forward and split the Cero with his bare hand, turning his own body into a scalpel with the power of the Ope Ope no Mi.

“Nel!” Law’s voice called out, just a little too cheerfully. “Good to see you!”

He thrust his fingers upward, and from the ground beneath, dozens of boulders ripped from the ground and assailed Nel, battering her mercilessly as she braced herself with gritted teeth.

‘That creature…’ Her eyes gleamed as she reached out with her Pesquisa. Although Zetsu was visibly grafted to Law’s left side, her sensory powers confirmed what she suspected. ‘…two souls in one? No, not quite…’

She knew what it looked like when multiple souls inhabited one body; Aaroniero, for instance, was an aggregate of many thousands of Hollows. Law and Zetsu, on the other hand, reminded her more of Starrk and Lilynette.

…No, not quite that either. Starrk and Lilynette were two halves of the same whole. Law’s own soul was full and intact; it was the being attached to him that appeared more like a fragment. The essence of another being’s soul, a mere piece of what they once were…

Nel shook her head, and thrusting both arms outward, an omnidirectional Bala burst from her body and pulverized the boulders that had been assaulting her. Angling Gamuza toward Law, she charged a Cero through the length of the blade, its energy swelling at the sword’s tip.

‘Whatever the case…!’

From the sword’s tip, a more focused Cero blasted out and it slammed back into Law-Zetsu. This time, he raised both hands to block, and upon the attack’s impact he was hurled back through the air and slammed down into the deck of an adjacent ship, his feet sliding backward as he struggled to brace himself against the stronger attack.

Nel put on more pressure, and the Cero thinned, pressing inward and forcing the ship back through the air away from the Queen Anne. As she strained to force Law back, however, a massive blade of sand ripped up from the ground below and sheared through the Cero, cutting off the blast.

Crocodile gritted his teeth, straining to keep the wall of sand together as the Cero burned into its surface, and then…

Crkshh!

From the ground below, where the sand had been ripped from, subterranean water burst through the cracks and swelled up through the enormous mound of sand. As it rose upward, soaking the sand in moisture, ice crept up with it, and in moments the sand blade had frozen solid. 

Nel jerked Gamuza back, allowing her Cero to dissipate as steam began to billow up from the side of the newly-formed glacier. To her side, Harribel landed, Tiburón angled toward the ice. Then, with a swing of the pata, the ice expanded, blasting outward toward the horizon in either direction, forming a massive wall between the two halves of the fleet.

Between Crocodile and Law.

“Heh!” Nel exclaimed as she realized Harribel’s intent, shooting her friend an appreciative glance. “Divide and conquer!”

Harribel twitched, her hand lowering to her side to staunch the flow of blood from the wounds that Crocodile had inflicted earlier.

“I don’t have many big environmental moves like this left in me… we have to move quickly, before they regroup.”

Nel nodded, her smile shifting to a more determined expression. “Right!”

Her gaze flickered toward Crocodile’s half of the fleet, which was reeling as markings began to freeze ships in place once again – Zommari had resumed his assault, now that Crocodile’s sandstorm wasn’t blocking his vision. Then, she glanced over toward Law-Zetsu’s half, which was peppered with explosions as the still-renegade Nnoitra leapt from ship to ship, firing off Ceros and slashes from his scythes. 

She pressed her lips into a thin line.

“I’ll take Law.” She declared, forcing the reluctance from her voice.

‘He and I aren’t on the same side anymore… It’s nothing personal. This was always going to happen eventually.’

“Crocodile is vulnerable to your water, and I can make sure Nnoitra stays in line.”

Harribel grimaced, but nodded curtly. Nel crouched, ready to spring off, but Harribel’s quiet words reached her ears before she could leave.

“Be careful, Nel.”

She paused, opening her mouth as if to say more, and then seemed to think better of it. After a moment, Nel nodded.

“Right.”

In a flash, the two split off, rocketing toward their respective opponents.

—

Pantera slammed with immense force into the side of Blackbeard’s fist, a quake bubble crackling violently against Grimmjow’s overwhelming Reiatsu, lightning rippling out and tearing apart the surrounding ground, vaporizing dozens of zombies. Grimmjow swung a foot up toward the side of Blackbeard’s head, but Teach parried with his other arm and knocked the Hollow off balance, before erupting spears of shadowy darkness from the ground with a flex of his fingers.

With inhuman speed, Grimmjow flipped over backward, leaping head over heel repeatedly as the spears barely missed him. As he landed on his feet, one skewered up from his left, aimed directly at his face, but he sharply raised Pantera and the spear slammed against the flat of its blade, deflected off course.

He grinned. “You’re pretty quick for a fat guy.”

Blackbeard laughed. “And you’re pretty lively for a dead man!”

Darkness oozed off Blackbeard like smoke, mixing together with Moria’s shadow power to create an oppressive, suffocating miasma. As he raised a hand and splayed his fingers, spirits of people long-dead ripped from the ground, howling in their everlasting agony. All across the battlefield they rose, and all around them the light seemed to drain like water into a sponge.

The Espada balked, but the shades didn’t harm them. Quickly, their true purpose became apparent as they flowed into Blackbeard’s zombies, absorbed and imbued into the monsters’ very being. As they did, the zombies swelled. Their muscle mass expanded around their bones, and a certain light seemed to return to their eyes, their faces shifting from expressionless to steely.

All at once, they roared, and they swarmed. Szayel’s modified Fracción buckled under their numbers, rapidly torn apart as the zombies surged toward the Espada, who found themselves suddenly on the back foot.

As Grimmjow’s attention turned sharply back toward the battlefield in alarm, Blackbeard grinned, his eyes narrowing as the shadows seemed to cast his face in more sinister light.

“This arena has awakened potential that I didn’t even know I had…” For once he wasn’t laughing, his voice soft and cold. “Malice I didn’t even know I was capable of… are you ready to taste that malice, Grimmjow?”

Slowly, Grimmjow turned his gaze back toward Blackbeard, his grin returning as he readied Pantera again.

“I’m a Hollow, shithead. I eat malice for breakfast.”

—

Cold. Everything felt cold.

That was the first clear thought that passed through his head as the world came into clear focus around him. A moment later, a cacophony of noise flowed in, and he staggered, disoriented, as the raging battle around him assailed his senses.

His eyes moved down toward his own hands, which were sickly pale blue. His entire body hurt… but by the second it was hurting less and less. A thin, purple aura of energy rippled across his skin, rejuvenating him, returning clarity to his thoughts. Where was he? What was his name again?

SHINK!

A blade carved through his side. Instinctively, he tensed, expecting intense pain to follow, but his senses were met by only a cold numbness. His hands moved on their own, and he struck the stitch-covered man whose axe had been embedded in his side, hurling the attacker away across the battlefield.

How had he done that?

‘Fish-Man Karate,’ his mind supplied.

…Jinbe. His name was Jinbe.

As the thought crossed his mind, the ground in front of him ruptured and an enormous white creature ripped from the ground, its large, blocky teeth pulled back as it released a saliva-spewing screech. Again Jinbe’s body moved automatically, compelled to fight by some otherworldly force, but before he could strike the Hollow, blood exploded from its body and the ground around it was carved into pieces.

From above, a man dropped in and landed next to Jinbe, each of his fingers splayed as shimmering strings swirled around him. His feather coat swayed in the wind, and the light of the moon glinted off his bright pink shades, but his skin was the same deathly pale as Jinbe’s. As Doflamingo turned to meet the Fish-Man’s gaze, it was clear from the scowl on his face that he too had only just regained consciousness.

“Jinbe,” he hissed, his voice tight with rage. “What the hell is the meaning of this? Who is it that’s brought us back?”

‘So Doflamingo was killed too…? Was it Nel, who did that?’

Jinbe cleared his throat and spoke, his normally rumbling voice slightly raspy from disuse. “I’m as clueless as you, I’m afraid. I don’t seem to have control over myself.”

Doflamingo glanced down at his own hands. His scowl deepened.

“Blackbeard…” he hissed. “He’s using Moria’s Fruit to command our movements.”

“NISHISHISHISHI!!”

As if on cue, Moria’s metal shears split the air, and carved a trench into the distance, splitting apart Hollow footsoldiers in the distance. Their shadows split from their bodies, and shot through the air, absorbed into the shears as Moria’s massive body materialized from shadows.

Though his lips were peeled back in a wide smile and his laughter was jovial, Moria’s eyes were bloodshot and his body was trembling with fury. Bloodlust rolled off of him in waves.

“That bastard will pay for this…” He hissed, his razor-sharp teeth grinding together.

Before any of them could say another word, the air was filled with a blinding blue light, and a blast from the distance exploded in. Moria raised his shears, and the Cero reflected off the edge, the laser carving massive trenches into the surrounding ground and sending rubble flying into the air.

Through the smoke, tentacles whirling around his body like a cyclone, Luppi tore in toward the Warlords, his teeth grinding together. Jinbe raised his hands and Doflamingo his strings, but Luppi was too fast.

“Sloppy!” A tentacle slammed across Jinbe’s chest, breaking clean through his guard and sending him flying, bowling over countless zombies as he tumbled.

“Weak!” Another tentacle morphed into a spinning buzzsaw and split clean through Doflamingo’s strings, carving a gash across his chest and staggering him. An instant later, the buzzsaw had become a spiked club, and swung upward, piercing a dozen holes through Doffy’s chest and lifting him high into the sky, before slamming him down into the ground in one fluid motion.

Moria roared and twirled his shears, shadows amassing around the blades and forming a massive saber of dark energy, which he drew back. Luppi’s mad eyes flicked sharply toward Moria, bulging dangerously. His eight tentacles swirled around and aimed toward Moria, energy charging from their tips.

“Utter trash!”

Eight Ceros exploded out, warping space and blasting inward, converging toward Moria in one massive blast. The Warlord swung his shadow-coated blade and carved against the front of the attack, but a moment later, the shears split in half and the combined Cero blasted a hole clean through Moria’s chest. In the far distance behind him, the blast struck a plateau, and it split in half under the force of Luppi’s attack.

The ends of Luppi’s tentacles smoked and steamed, static electricity crackling from them as they swept to the side, dispersing the dust that the attack had stirred up around Luppi. The Hollow himself, however, was focused only on the two people battling in the far distance, many kilometers away, who caused the ground to tremble every time they clashed.

“You had better not think you’re stronger than me, Grimmjow!” Luppi bellowed at the top of his lungs, one eye twitching. “You hear me!? I’ll rip your damn organs out!”

SHING!

Blood spurted from Luppi’s back and he staggered. Spinning around, all of his tentacles morphed into blades and swung inward, but found themselves all stopped by a sword. As Luppi strained against the assailant, recognition flashed in his eyes. He grinned a bit too wide.

“Mihawk…” he greeted darkly. “Here I thought…”

He trailed off as he met the swordsman’s gaze, blank and empty. His skin was deathly pale, and the sword he held was a normal blade, no doubt stolen off of a zombie somewhere. Though Haki coursed through it, it still paled in comparison to Yoru.

Luppi’s face contorted in rage.

“You…!! You died?! Who the hell was strong enough to kill you?!”

Mihawk didn’t answer, his face expressionless. It seemed that of the Warlords, he alone had yet to regain his individuality – perhaps because of his uncommon strength, which had barely been changed by the empowerment that Blackbeard’s shadows provided. Even still, though Luppi had asked the question he was certain he already knew the answer.

‘That damn bastard…! This isn’t over yet! I’ll win this war by my goddamn self, and show him who the strongest Espada is…!!’

His tentacles retracted, and a Gran Rey Cero charged from the end of each of them. The zombie Mihawk drew his sword back, and it crackled with Haki. Luppi leered at him, his body shaking with rage. When he spoke, his voice raised to a shrill shriek.

“I’ll send you back to the grave!” He let the attack fly.

—

To the west, underground…

The ceiling quivered violently, and dust rained down atop the many countertops of Orochimaru’s hideout. Though she was the only Akatsuki left (save for Black Zetsu, the traitor), the shinobi herself was in high spirits.

‘My, my… somebody is getting awfully stirred up…’ Her gaze lazily flitted up toward the ceiling, which quivered again. Were her laboratory not reinforced, she might have feared that the attacks being launched in the raging battle above might have caused it to collapse on top of her.

Thankfully, now that she inhabited Boa Hancock’s body, she could…

Heh.

Orochimaru pulled on her kimono. It had been tailored to Orochimaru’s old body, and had needed adjustments to fit Hancock’s taller frame. Her hair, long and previously allowed to hang down behind her back, had been pulled up into a tight bun. Orochimaru’s purple eye shadow scored long gashes down the sides of her nose, and her eyes, previously dark blue, had become a bright, sickly yellow.

Across from her, nine coffins stood in a line, fashioned ahead of time as a backup plan, their contents hastily prepared in the time since the battle had begun. It was fortunate that Orochimaru was the type to think ahead, or else it wouldn’t have been possible… After all, many of the Akatsuki had died without leaving any remains behind.

As Orochimaru raised two fingers in front of her face, forming a hand seal, Boa Hancock’s normally-beautiful face contorted into a deranged smile. Her sharp fangs glinted in the dim light.

“Showtime.”

—

As Szayelaporro’s modified Fracción buckled under the weight of Blackbeard’s newly empowered-zombie horde, the most intelligent of the Espada observed calmly, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose and making rapid mental notes as he weaved between the raging conflicts unharmed.

‘The Fracción are holding up with remarkable effectiveness, offensively,’ he noted as he watched one of them chomp a zombie’s head off with its thick teeth, and then winced when another zombie punched clean through its torso from behind. ‘…but their external defenses aren’t holding up very well. Light armor aside from their masks… that could be improved…’

He raised a hand and pinched the temple of his glasses. The overlay on his lenses shifted, the energy surrounding the creatures becoming visible. He hummed as his sharp gaze examined the way that the Hollows’ energy clashed against the shadow power that had infected the zombies.

‘Under normal circumstances, the Reiatsu released by the Fracción would be powerful enough to crush a normal creature… but thanks to Blackbeard’s power they have an unnatural resilience.’

No sooner than he had finished the thought, however, the zombie’s body crunched inward, crushed under a powerful spiritual pressure as the side of its body was struck with a powerful blow. For just a moment, Szayel recognized Starrk’s visage, and then the Primera Espada had flitted off to another part of the battlefield.

‘Resilience,’ Szayel mentally repeated with amusement, impressed against his will – as always – by Starrk’s uncommon strength. ‘Not immunity.’

Beneath his feet, the ground trembled. He blinked, and his fingers unpinched from his glasses, his overlay shifting back to normal as his smile shifted into startled confusion. Then, the ground buckled violently and he cried out, staggering. All across the battlefield, roars went up as zombies and Fracción toppled over each other.

Szayel leapt into the air, perching on Reishi as the ground underneath buckled and heaved. In the distance at various other locations, the other Espada did as well. Many of them glanced around with irritation, no doubt wondering whether Luppi had thrown out another series of Gran Rey Ceros.

Quickly, however, the source of the disturbance became clear as earth ripped from the ground all across the battlefield, swirling into the sky and convalescing around a dark orb of floating energy. In moments, the mass of stone congealed together and expanded, a sphere taking shape in the sky.

Atop a plateau to the west, silhouetted against the moon, the man responsible stood, auburn hair hanging around his gaunt face, his hands clasped together as if in prayer. Ringed purple eyes gleamed as the dead skin on his face cracked. Standing to either side of him, eight more silhouettes stood, ready for battle.

Nagato opened his mouth and called to the sky.

“Forward, Akatsuki!”

The other eight figures vanished, dashing forward and descending upon the battlefield. A blast of lightning and fire combined and blasted Hollows and zombies into the air. Massive explosions peppered the battlefield. Torrents of water swept hordes of zombies away.

From afar, Szayel’s lips pulled back in a disgusted sneer.

‘Those copying little-!’

Blackbeard was one thing… he had possessed the power to revive the dead for days now. For the Akatsuki to return in their current form (not quite alive nor dead, Szayel’s Pesquisa informed him), whichever of their number was still alive had almost certainly cheated off of his homework.

That wouldn’t do at all.

With a screech, Aaroniero’s enormous transformed figure tore across the battlefield toward where the revived Akatsuki did battle in the distance. His tentacles flailed and shot out, seizing two of the figures – Kisame and Kakuzu – and lifted them into the air, his gaping maw opening to swallow them whole.

Before he could follow through, however, both tentacles were carved off with a spray of blood, and he howled in pain. Standing below him, twirling his massive scythe around, Hidan howled in laughter. Beneath his feet, he had drawn a pentagram, and as he licked Aaroniero’s purple blood from the blades of his scythe, his cracked, dead skin shifted to become pitch black.

Without a moment’s hesitation or a word of warning or celebration, he drew a black spear from his cloak and drove it back through his own chest, piercing directly through his heart and out the other side.

Aaroniero let out a howl of agony, swaying and staggering. Within the tank of fluid containing his two heads, one of the heads ruptured and blood spilled out, staining the tank red and obscuring the other head as his enormous form reeled. Though he wouldn’t die from that attack, it had undoubtedly crippled him.

Below, Hidan’s eyes practically rolled up into his head as his body tilted backward, his gaze rising to the stars as an expression of ecstasy overtook his face.

“Finally…” he moaned out softly, deep satisfaction etched into the single word.

Behind him, two Hollows burst up from the ground, their jaws opening wide to crunch down on him, but in an instant a punch slammed into one of them and sent it careening into the other one, and the two of them were sent flying like bowling pins. Next to Hidan, Kakuzu landed, his fist retracting to reattach itself to his forearm.

“Pay attention, fool!” he snarled. “I’m not going to be here to babysit you forever!”

“I can’t die…” Hidan mumbled, eyes still gazing upward. “I’m immortal…”

“And how did that work for you last time, eh? You left me behind to clean up your damn mess, as usual!”

“I’m an Edo Tensei this time.” Slowly, Hidan lowered his head and his gaze turned to meet Kakuzu’s, a grin spreading across his face. “If you can get me blood, I can do whatever I want to myself and destroy these bastards, damn the consequences.”

Kakuzu was silent for a moment, then turned away. When he spoke, there was a tight, begrudging respect in his tone.

“That might be the only smart thing you’ve ever said.”

Hidan snickered. “Thanks, I try.”

Atop the distant plateau, Orochimaru approached the edge overlooking the battlefield, hands clasped together in a seal, her eyes closed as she saw through the eyes of the Akatsuki. Within moments of their arrival on the battlefield, the surge of zombies and Fracción on either side were scattered and redirected, the sudden new assault coming in from the side to throw the battlefield into disarray.

A smirk played on Orochimaru’s lips. She would need to thank Kabuto, when she got out of the arena… with his improvements, the Reanimation Jutsu had truly become a work of art.

“I hope you aren’t feeling too pleased with yourself.” The voice rang out behind her, accompanied by the sound of space unzipping. Her smile didn’t falter, however, as she turned around to face Szayelaporro as he emerged from his Descorrer. His eyes scanned her face, no recognition visible in his expression as he registered Boa’s features. Of course, he knew that it was Orochimaru that he was looking at, though.

“Szayelaporro Granz,” Orochimaru greeted, her voice silky. “You appear to have become braver since last we met. Or at least, you aren’t trembling quite so pathetically.”

Szayel tilted his head up in acknowledgement, clasping his hands behind his back.

“I’ll admit, I was unprepared last time… I don’t especially like fights I’m not ready for.” He smiled, and the moonlight glinted off his glasses as he reached down to his belt and slowly drew his sword, Fornicarás, with a flourish. “Fortunately, it shan’t be an issue, now.”

Orochimaru chuckled and raised a hand, pink energy flowing out of her body and forming into four floating, glowing hearts around her.

“No,” she agreed. “It won’t.”

PEW!

Simultaneously, all four hearts glowed brightly and blasted out a pink ray of Mero Mero energy, converging inward toward Szayel. Without hesitation, he snapped his fingers, and a Hollow tore up from the ground and took all four of them to the chest. Instantly, its entire body solidified into pure stone, frozen eternally in place.

Behind the Hollow, Szayel leaned to the side, humming and raising an eyebrow as he took in the creature’s transformed appearance.

“Hm. That’s interesting.”

Throwing out the hand that wasn’t holding Fornicarás, he extended two fingers, and a Cero blasted clean through the petrified Hollow’s back, pulverizing it into gravel as the beam of light rocketed toward Orochimaru. Quickly, though, the shinobi reached up to her mouth, and from her throat pulled an entire sword, which glowed with pink energy as she swung it upward, cleaving clean through the Cero and redirecting it over her head.

The beam arced upward and crashed down onto the battlefield in the distance; Szayel’s Reiatsu having mixed with Orochimaru’s Mero Mero power, a wave of energy billowed out from its impact point and froze the surrounding zombies into stone.

Orochimaru let out a playful giggle, twirling the sword in her hand as if testing out its balance. Though the Kusanagi Blade had been destroyed earlier in the war, Orochimaru had taken great care repairing it, reforging the legendary weapon even stronger than it had been before. As she angled the blade toward Szayel, Orochimaru’s eyes narrowed flirtatiously.

“Hold still.”

The sword shot forward like a bullet, expanding to full length. With an extravagant swing, Szayel brought Fornicarás up and deflected the blade to the side, and it pierced the air above his shoulder, sparks flying as it ground along the edge of his Zanpakuto.

Szayel tsked with exaggerated disappointment.

“Such a predictable attack. And here I thought that a scientist who would dare copy me would at least have a few tricks worth adapting to.”

Orochimaru smirked back, and blew a kiss, a small heart puffing from her lips and expanding into another glowing heart in front of her. She pulled it back as though tugging on a bowstring, and an arrow took shape from the energy. Szayel stood in place unphased, though the Kusanagi Blade still pressed inward against Fornicarás, keeping him pinned down.

“Slave Arrow!!” Orochimaru cried out, the name of the attack springing to his mind unbidden.

The makeshift arrow was shot forward as if by a rubber band snapping, blazing through the air toward Szayel. Without flinching, however, the Espada raised his unoccupied hand, and a barely translucent barrier materialized in front of him. The arrow struck it head on and was absorbed, the clear, window-like surface of the barrier turning bright pink as it assimilated the oncoming energy.

“See?” Szayel tilted his head mockingly from behind the barrier, moving his hand to push up his glasses. “The same attack patterns, again and again. Still getting used to that body’s powers?”

Orochimaru seemed unconcerned. “Something like that.”

Szayel brought his hand down from his glasses and curled his middle finger inward against his thumb while leaving the other fingers extended, as though he were about to flick something. 

“Now, what was it you said before…? Ah, yes. Hold still.”

He flicked his finger, and from the barrier the Slave Arrow reformed, now angled in the opposite direction, and fired out like a javelin back toward Orochimaru. She made no move to block it, and it struck her across the side of the face, sending her staggering backward, her head snapped to the side as if she had been slapped.

Szayel let out a soft, cheerful laugh, lowering the arm holding Fornicarás as the Kusanagi Blade retracted away from him. He allowed his barrier to dissipate, as across from him, Orochimaru sank to one knee, seemingly stunned by the Slave Arrow.

“Oh please, don’t tell me that was all it took to put you on your knees.”

Orochimaru let out a soft giggle, and then dragged herself up to her feet, head bowed. When she spoke, it was under her breath.

“So it’s exactly as I thought…”

“Hm?”

“This body… has developed a tolerance for its own power. Even when struck by my own Slave Arrow, my body remains my own, untransformed.”

Orochimaru slowly tilted her head up, her eyes gleaming bright yellow. They bulged with mad glee as she clapped her hands together, pressing her palms against one another as though praying.

“I finally have a body… that will be able to handle that power!”

Szayel raised Fornicarás, drawing it back as though prepared to lunge toward Orochimaru. He was no fool; he could tell that the shinobi was preparing something. Before he could launch an assault, however, his glasses beeped sharply, warning alarms appearing across his overlay. A moment later, as his vision shifted to perceive the energy in his surroundings, it became quickly apparent why.

‘What on earth…?’

All around Orochimaru, energy flowed from the ground, nearby plants, and even from the zombies and Hollows battling far below them… All of it flowed inward, congealing around Orochimaru and seeping into her body. Szayel’s eyes widened. A powerful energy was building in his foe. Too powerful to be reckoned with.

Without hesitation, he spun Fornicarás around and slashed it across his palm, drawing blood. As he raised his hand toward Orochimaru, blue light shimmered in his palm, twisting inward and charging as a Gran Rey Cero took shape.

Szayelaporro Granz didn’t much enjoy fighting. He found it dull and barbaric, in fact, an unusual perspective for a Hollow to have. But that didn’t mean he was bad at it, or that he was not strong. In his youth, he had been the strongest among the Espada, and although it had been a long time since he had held that title, he had noticed as his days in the arena continued that he could feel his old power returning to him.

Indeed, Szayelaporro Granz was very strong. A Gran Rey Cero from him… their foe would never survive it. He wasn’t even certain whether Grimmjow could.

He smiled serenely, and without a word, let the blast explode forth from his hand. The ground around him split as it crossed the distance between him and his opponent instantaneously.

Orochimaru swung a perfectly-manicured hand, and swatted the blast aside.

It soared into the distance, far beyond the raging battle, and slammed down into the horizon. An enormous cone of energy exploded upward and pierced the clouds above, as the ground was torn to shreds for countless miles.

Szayel’s eyes went wide. Beads of sweat formed on his face as he found himself gripped, all of a sudden, by fear and dismay.

‘That’s… not possible…!’

As Orochimaru lowered her outstretched arm, shimmering nature energy rippling around her, her appearance had seemed to change. The markings around her eyes had grown more pronounced. Her perfectly smooth skin had hardened, its texture becoming almost scale-like. Sharp horns had sprouted from her head, one in the center of her forehead, and two more sticking up on either side of her tied-up hair, like a makeshift crown. Most strikingly, curled around her body were strands of green energy, culminating in two shimmering snake heads which hovered over either shoulder. Her eyes, still bright yellow, had lost their pupils.

Slowly, those eyes rose to meet Szayel’s.

In that instant, everything froze. The Hollow’s body seemed to freeze ice-cold, and then a moment later boil hot. Though nothing was touching him, it felt as though the blade of death itself was pressing against his throat.

A panicked cry bubbled up in him, and he raised Fornicarás. A moment later, blood exploded from either of his shoulders.

‘Wh…?’

Szayel staggered. His white garments rapidly found themselves stained with crimson, and the strength drained from his arms. He crumpled to his knees, and then collapsed face down against the ground.

Behind him, having moved so fast she had been imperceptible, Orochimaru’s amber eyes gazed curiously at her fingers, razor-sharp and now covered in Szayel’s blood. The ethereal snakes atop either shoulder let out satisfied hisses, swaying gently as their forked tongues flicked out.

‘So this is the power of Sage Mode…’ Orochimaru mused, flexing her taloned fingers as she smiled. ‘I daresay that losing Itachi wasn’t a downgrade after all.’

Behind him, Szayel’s form flickered and sparked, and then his appearance dissolved away, his body losing its form as he melted into the ground. Orochimaru turned in momentary surprise and then laughed.

“An illusory duplicate… very clever. Perhaps if you work hard, you might even surpass the subterfuge of a Genin.”

Szayel’s dark laughter echoed across the top of the plateau as a Descorrer opened in their air above Orochimaru. From where he stood in the shadows within, Szayel’s smile widened into a grin, his teeth bared madly as he raised his sword above his head, pointing its tip down at his mouth.

“Sip… Fornicarás.”

He drove the sword down into his throat, piercing all the way into his body.

Reiatsu exploded out from the Descorrer, scorching the top of the plateau all the way across. Orochimaru’s kimono billowed under the pressure, but otherwise she didn’t waver, Senjutsu chakra wafting from her body and effortlessly weathering the assault.

From the Descorrer, a hand emerged, long purple fingers curling around the edge of the spatial window. Szayel pulled himself from its depths, his body now cloaked in a billowing white and purple robe, adorned with lengthy purple drop-like strands.

As he pulled himself out of the Descorrer and it closed behind him, he splayed his arms wide, an expression of serene calmness schooling his features.

“Now, the second act will begin.”

Orochimaru smiled back and clasped her hands in front of her, forming hand seals.

“…Oh.” Szayel continued after a pause, as though something had just occurred to him. “Actually… I’m sorry. Correction. I meant to say…”

Blood exploded from his back and ripped into the air, arcing downward and splattering onto the ground all around Orochimaru. In an instant, it morphed and took shape, and dozens of Szayelaporro copies surrounded the shinobi, who glanced back and forth between them, startled.

“…the second act will now end.”

—

FWOOM!

A torrent of fire ripped through a horde of zombies, sending them flying into the air. Fast as a blur, the man who had fired the wave dashed through the overwhelming horde. It took only a blow or two, to take down each adversary that he came across, a strike across the jaw to concuss them, or to the sternum, or jabs to the joints. When a zombie came in with a sword swing, he sidestepped it, seized the creature by the throat, and hurled him away.

He moved with all the freedom of a living man, but under the pull of the Reanimation Jutsu, Obito Uchiha was as trapped as he had ever been.

‘No rest…’ he thought angrily as he spun through the air, carving through zombies with a sword he had stolen from one of them. ‘No peace…’

WHAM!

A blow caught him across the side and sent him hurtling backward, and he skidded across the ground. The man who had struck him – if he even was a man – straightened up and took a martial arts stance.

“You’d better not get ahead of yourself, Akatsuki!” Jinbe rumbled. Obito straightened up and brushed the dust off his shoulder with a scoff.

“Who the hell are you again?”

Before Jinbe could answer, his eyes shot wide and he leapt into the air, just in time as a plume of fire blasted across the ground where he had been standing. Behind him, Itachi had appeared, his eyes just as black and dead as Obito’s. At his side, a skeletal Susanoo arm materialized, and he threw a powerful punch toward the airborne Jinbe, who raised two Haki-coated arms to block.

CRACK!

The Haki splintered under the Susanoo’s punch, and Jinbe was sent hurtling into the air. Before he could get far, however, an enormous figure materialized behind him and-

FWOOM!

An immense force jettisoned Jinbe down through the air, back toward Itachi, and Jinbe’s palm struck out, a shockwave rippling through the air as he slammed down into the Susanoo’s rib cage. It cracked, and Itachi was sent skidding back.

As Jinbe landed, the figure who had launched him back down landed behind him, and Jinbe turned to look at him in alarm.

“Kuma…?”

The enormous bear-man straightened up, palms ready. His skin was slightly pale – the only visual indicator of his zombification – but it was his eyes that caught Jinbe’s attention. Though just as blank as they normally were, they had become sunken, lined by deep, dark circles. The expression on the man’s face was haunted, even by the standards of a man who had always been haunted.

Jinbe’s expression softened. His lips twisted into a sympathetic frown.

“Oh, Kuma… must this world always put you in chains…?”

Kuma didn’t reply, his mouth pressed thin into a quivering line. Before Jinbe could say anything else, a flash of awareness assailed both of them, and they leapt backward as the ground beneath their feet exploded. From the sky, missiles rained down, and the two bulky Warlords moved with deceptive speed to leap away as explosions rocked the ground with each hit.

Plummeting down toward the battlefield from above, Nagato’s arm transformed, missile launchers folding inward as his wrist opened up to reveal a laser cannon. A beam of hyper-concentrated light exploded outward, raking across the ground and scoring a gash across Jinbe’s side.

As Kuma skidded to a halt, his mouth opened and a laser of his own began charging, yellow light spilling out as his eyes locked onto the descending Nagato. An instant later, a beam fired out, tearing through the sky at the speed of light. Without delay, however, Nagato’s arm morphed back to normal and swung around to catch the blast. As it struck his outstretched palm, the light twisted, sucked inward and subsumed by the power of the Preta Path.

Nagato landed on his feet, his knees trembling as the impact with the ground pressed him down into a crouched position, and he winced. Though Harribel’s energy and now Orochimaru’s had restored much of his vitality, his body still wasn’t accustomed to strenuous activity. It was only thanks to the healing power of the Reanimation Jutsu that he was able to move around so freely.

Robotically, compelled by Orochimaru’s will, Itachi and Obito moved to stand next to Nagato as he straightened up. On either side, separated by Nagato’s attack, Jinbe and Kuma stood stark-still, their eyes fixed on the three shinobi and their hands raised in preparation to fight.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The ground trembled violently, and the fighters on either side were thrown horribly off balance, barely managing to remain standing.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! 

With each deafening burst of sound, a shockwave rippled across the battlefield as explosions erupted one after the other, sending hundreds of zombies flying into the air. As rubble rained through the air, Itachi and Obito managed to recover and, as they simultaneously formed hand seals, blew two gigantic plumes of fire from their mouths, which tore across the ground toward the opposing Warlords.

Jinbe and Kuma both lunged inward, palms extended as they moved to intercept the blasts of fire. Together, they thrust their hands forward, and Jinbe’s Fishman Jujutsu combined with Kuma’s Nikyu Nikyu no Mi to create a massive shockwave. The fire jutsu impacted, and the two Warlords strained against its overwhelming force as it battered against their defenses.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The ground shook harder as more explosions rocked the battlefield, but the two Warlords steadfastly kept their balance, until…

“Bansho Ten’in!”

Jinbe was ripped from his feet and dragged forward through the flames, which seared his skin and he let out a cry, in surprise rather than pain. A moment later he slammed to a halt as Nagato’s fingers closed around his throat, hoisting him into the air. Behind him, Kuma raised his other hand to push back harder against the fireball, his feet skidding along the ground as he was pushed back.

SHINK!

Jinbe grunted as from Nagato’s palm, a Black Receiver pierced his throat all the way through, stabbing out the back of his neck. Nagato let him go, and he crumpled to his knees, energy rippling through his entire body from the Receiver, paralyzing him in place.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

“Stay there.” Nagato commanded, his raspy voice soft, though he need not have bothered, as Jinbe could not disobey.

Across from them, Kuma gritted his teeth.

“Ursus… Shock!!”

As he ground the words out, a shockwave exploded from his palms and blasted the fireball apart, its flames licking outward as a burst of wind rippled out across the battlefield. Itachi and Obito ceased their jutsu, raising their arms to shield their faces as they were buffeted by the wind. Kuma went down to one knee, the effort of repelling the jutsu having slightly winded him.

Lunging forward past his allies, Nagato moved like a blur, dashing toward Kuma with his hand drawn back, cold ruthlessness the only emotion on his face. He leapt into the air, drawing his hand back and thrusting it down toward his staggered opponent. Kuma’s eyes shot up, his scanners quickly identifying the threat, and just barely had time to bring his palms up to block.

“Shinra Tensei!”

Nagato’s hand thrust outward, meeting Kuma’s palms head-on, and the ground around them was ripped apart.

—

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

In the air far above, moving through the sky like a bullet, Deidara gazed down at the battlefield from where he sat atop his clay dragon, a self-satisfied smile on his face.

‘That bastard Tobi thought he could keep me from showing the world my art… I’ll show him. I’ll show them all.’

As he stewed, he focused his efforts on molding countless clay bombs from his pouch. C3 after C3 took shape, and as soon as they did he sent them plummeting down to earth, tearing up the battlefield with reckless abandon.

‘A fight like this is perfect for me… all of the Akatsuki are Edo Tensei. I don’t even need to worry about who I blow up, hmmmmm?’

SHLRK!

The clay dragon’s head was carved from its shoulders, and a gash opened up across Deidara’s stomach, carving him nearly completely in half. A mortal man’s innards would have gone spilling out, if hit by a blow like that, but for an Edo Tensei it was hardly an inconvenience.

Reacting instantly, Deidara formed a hand seal, and the dragon’s neck stump bubbled, a new head spurting from it and reforming within a split second of the decapitation. The shinobi’s eyes darted around, trying to find the assailant.

“Nice try, whoever you are, but it’s not a real dragon! You can’t kill it so-”

SHLRK!

The dragon’s wings were severed, and for half a second it nearly plummeted from the sky, but Deidara was ready this time, and the wings resealed themselves to the body so quickly that they didn’t even have time to separate. More importantly, however…

‘There!’

With the keen eye of an artist, Deidara had managed to catch the attack that had cut through the dragon this time. With a swing of his arm just as he did, several tiny globs of clay spat from the mouth on his hand and caught on the thin strings that had cut through the dragon, latching on and then-

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

-detonated as soon as the strings retracted, right in the face of the man who had launched the attack, who spun over midair as his body shimmered into view. Doflamingo sneered at Deidara, coughing as he swept away the smoke with his hands.

‘Using colored strings to camouflage into the night sky…’ Deidara observed idly as his eyes found the strings holding Doffy aloft in midair. ‘Clever.’

“Hey there, big guy!” Deidara greeted out loud, taking in Doflamingo’s appearance, his gaze lingering on the pink feather cape. “The last guy was sand, so what are you, the feather duster?”

Doflamingo scoffed, grinning ominously as his fingers twitched. “You Akatsuki are all so annoying.”

Deidara grinned, sticking his tongue out and flashing a peace sign with his hand. “Thanks, we try.”

Doflamingo opened his mouth, and then his senses spiked and he tensed. A moment later…

SHING!

A slash carved across his back, just a moment too late as a web of Haki-coated string extended outward to protect him. The sword sheared against the string, grinding sharply against it, but not managing to cut through, and the assailant tore past Doflamingo without managing to harm him.

Spinning in midair, the newcomer unfurled wide wings, catching the air and bringing themself to a halt midair next to Deidara’s dragon. Dead, emotionless eyes stared at Doflamingo, the only sign of emotion from them being the sword of iron sand trembling in his hand.

Deidara looked startled and then delighted, his eyes widening.

“Sasori!”

The former puppet didn’t even glance at him, his gaze fixed on Doflamingo, whose face had split into a malevolent grin as he stared back.

“Doflamingo…” Sasori growled, kept aloft by his wings of iron sand. He raised his sword and pointed it squarely at the Warlord’s chest. “You have some nerve, being alive.” He paused, and tilted his head and the corners of his mouth quirked up into a small smirk. “To some extent, I suppose.”

Doflamingo sneered at him, leaning back against the strings that he was perched on. “So the little toy became a real boy again. Would you like me to put you back on your strings?”

Sasori allowed his sword to disperse into sand, and from the pocket of his cloak he procured a scroll which he raised to eye level. Cold fury radiated from him as he kept his gaze fixed squarely on Doflamingo.

“I’ll find you some strings you can swing from.”

He threw the scroll into the air, where it unfurled rapidly, and with a puff of smoke, Sasori’s hundred puppets materialized behind him, chakra threads extending from the center of his back to connect to each of them as they filled the sky.

‘Oh my…’ Deidara thought in amusement as he watched from his perch. ‘Master Sasori is getting serious.’

“Deidara.” Sasori’s voice cut through his thoughts and Deidara jumped slightly. “I need to use you.”

Deidara stiffened. His smile slid off his face like water, his expression sinking into one of disdain.

“Uggggggghhhhhhhh, seeeeeeeriously? I hate it when we do that, though. I was having fun on my own.”

“Shut up and do what I say. It will only be temporary.”

Deidara let out a long, dramatic sigh, raising his eyes to the sky and shrugging.

“Fiiiiiiiine. But you owe me.”

Sasori’s hand splayed out, and from each of his fingers a chakra thread snaked out, one connecting to each of Deidara’s limbs, and one to the clay dragon beneath him. As Sasori tugged on the threads, the dragon shot forward and positioned itself between him and Doflamingo.

Doflamingo raised an eyebrow, a low chuckle escaping his throat.

“What’s this? Puppeteering your little partner? Are you really that desperate? Do you think it will make any difference?”

Compelled as if by a phantom, Deidara’s hands moved on their own, fashioning new bombs from the clay in his pouch at a speed so great he almost didn’t believe himself capable of it. Sasori had always been faster and more efficient than him, much to his private chagrin and grudging admiration. Behind him, Sasori’s voice was soft and steely.

“Let’s settle this, Doflamingo. I’ll never be chained down again.”

Doflamingo smiled, and cracked his neck as he flexed his fingers, glinting, brightly-colored strings hanging from each of them.

“We’ll see about that.”

—

On the ground below, Yammy laughed at the top of his lungs as his body swelled larger and larger. From his mouth, a blast charged and then ripped out, a massive cannon of energy that tore across Blackbeard’s army and gouged a trench into the ground before slamming to a halt against a bright orange barrier – Itachi’s Yata Mirror, which split the attack down the center.

An instant later, soaring above the steaming gash in the ground, Ulquiorra’s wings unfurled wide – he had entered Segunda Etapa as the battle had escalated. Black and green energy seeped from his hand, forming into a long, jagged blade of pure Hollow Reiryoku. As he blazed toward the Susanoo at blinding speed, he drew it backward, and in his mind’s eye he saw a certain man who he had once fought.

‘I’ll borrow from you, human… just this once…’

“Cielo Oscuras!”

He swung the energy blade, and a wave of dark energy blasted out, ripping through the air with the force of a bomb, prepared to tear into the Susanoo. At shocking speed, however, an enormous wooden creature hurtled in and blocked the attack, the wave of energy absorbed into its surface. Ulquiorra’s eyes widened as a massive tendril of wood shot out and smacked him back through the air, tumbling head over heels before slamming to a halt in Yammy’s outstretched palm.

The Cero Espada huffed, steam coming out of his nose as he glowered at the massive wood dragon across the battlefield, which unfurled and let out a roaring growl.

“You’d better keep your mitts off Ulquiorra, lagarto feo!”

From the dragon’s maw, purple chains shot out toward Yammy, and he snatched them from the air, allowing them to wrap around his free arm before snapping taut and pulling at him. His enormous feet scraped along the ground as the chains barely managed to budge him forward.

From the ground below the wood dragon, Obito emerged, passing cleanly up through the ground with no resistance, his hands clasped into a seal.

“I’ll make you sit, dog.” He spoke, coldly.

Forming three more seals rapidly, he raised his hand and then pressed it down to the ground. The earth cracked as roots ripped up, spreading outward from his location.

“Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!!”

The ground all around Yammy ruptured, and enormous trees sprouted up, growing massive by the second as gigantic flowers sprouted from its branches. From each flower, a ball of black energy materialized, condensing inward as they charged, and angled down toward Yammy.

From where he stood crouched in Yammy’s palm, Ulquiorra’s eyes widened.

‘That attack…!’

The fox from days before flashed in his mind’s eye, the balls of powerful energy that it had launched…

Yammy had not survived many of those attacks before.

“Watch out!”

His black wings spread wide, energy melting out of his body and forming enormous dark, diamond-shaped walls on either side of Yammy, between him and the trees. An instant later, half a dozen Tailed Beast Bombs blasted out and impacted the barriers in a tremendous explosion of energy.

They cracked, splintered, and then shattered, and the force wave of the blast slammed into the two Espada – but the majority of the attack’s destructive power had been absorbed by the barrier. They had no time to recover, however, as moments later another hail of blasts were charging up.

“Y-Yammy…!” Ulquiorra cried out in alarm as he barely managed to cling to his giant ally’s hand.

“I know, I know-!” Yammy bared his teeth as he charged a blast from his mouth, both of his arms too occupied. His body swelled.

‘I can block half of ‘em and tank the other half! It’ll be fine, if I can just…!’

BOOOOM! CRACK!

All at once, the six trees tore from the ground at their roots, hurled up into the air, their aim disrupted as the Tailed Beast Bombs fired, hurtling in the distance and blasting massive craters into the horizon. As the trees crashed to the ground, causing the earth to shudder, the one who had uprooted them blitzed between them, his teeth pulled back in a seething sneer as the energy dissipated from the ends of his eight tendrils.

“Out of my damn way!” Luppi snarled, sonic booms rippling through the air behind him as he leapt into the air and swung all of his tentacles across the wood dragon’s face, unbalancing it and sending it crashing down as well. Without pause, the Espada lunged forward, swatting Itachi’s Susanoo out of the way as well and cracking its ribs as it was sent tumbling to the side.

Neither Luppi’s thoughts nor his gaze were focused on the people he was swatting at all; he was still fixated on the two pinpricks fighting in the distance, glimmering with black and blue energy. As Grimmjow and Blackbeard’s battle had escalated, their distance from the rest of the battle had grown, and they now blitzed through the air, shockwaves propelling them as they crashed into each other again and again, debris and lightning raining down around them.

Grinding his teeth, Luppi dashed across the hard ground, cracks rupturing beneath him with each step as he allowed his Reiatsu to course out of his body with reckless abandon. His tentacles swirled behind him as he moved, crossing kilometers as he approached the raging fight in the distance.

‘That goddamn bastard thinks he can make us his slaves?! That he can just take the damn throne without a care in the fucking world?!’

From the ends of his extra appendages, azure light began to swell, compressing inward as he prepared Gran Rey Ceros.

‘I’ll never follow you, Grimmjow. Never. Even if I have to choke on my own blood again and again…’

His tentacles swirled around in a propeller-like motion, before coming to a halt, each of them pointed directly toward the clashing specks in the sky above.

‘I’ll make sure you choke with me!’

FWOOOOOOOOOM!

From each of his tendrils, eight Gran Rey Ceros exploded out simultaneously. The ground ruptured for hundreds of meters, and the blasts climbed into the sky, arcing toward Grimmjow and Blackbeard at the speed of light.

Even still, they were too slow. The beams curved through the air, guided by supernatural force toward their target, but as Grimmjow and Blackbeard circled one another, dashing in and clashing before separating again, the Ceros missed their marks one at a time. Several struck nothing but air, aimed toward spots where Grimmjow had been moments before, but had quickly departed. Those that remained were more on course, but split apart as Blackbeard unleashed powerful quakes and Grimmjow’s Reiatsu waves tore them apart.

Too slow.

Too weak.

Luppi gnashed his teeth. His eyes fixated on Grimmjow and Blackbeard, following their movements… but they were too fast. Every time they moved, it took Luppi a moment to adjust to their new position, even from a distance, and by the time he did they were already somewhere else.

Grimmjow hadn’t even released his Zanpakuto yet.

He hadn’t even looked Luppi’s way or noticed the attack.

Around his feet, pebbles trembled, quivering upward off the ground as his Reiatsu disturbed them from their resting place. A scream of fury, and despair, and humiliation bubbled up from Luppi’s throat and ripped out. Energy erupted from his tentacles and blasted into the surrounding ground, tearing up the soil for miles. In the far distance, zombies were vaporized as the lasers swept across them; the mass casualties of Luppi’s tantrum.

His body spasming as Reiatsu coursed through him, his vision blurring as blood vessels bulged and ruptured in his sutured forehead, Luppi leapt into the air and hurtled at blinding speed toward Grimmjow and Blackbeard. His tentacles morphed into buzzsaws, which whirred with enough speed to carve through even a Captain-level shinigami’s flesh. Through his erratic mind, fragmented thoughts flew.

‘I’LL CUT YOU TO FUCKING PIECES!’

CRACK!

As Luppi ascended toward the two fighters, lightning split the air. A hundred feet ahead of him, the two of them clashed, and a shockwave blasted through the air, a world-shaking quake mixed with pure Hollow Reiatsu, and a devastating impact slammed across Luppi’s entire body. His tentacles ripped backward with such force that they nearly tore from his back and the buzzsaws stalled. For several long seconds, he hung stunned in midair, and then another shockwave blasted into him and he hurtled back into the distance.

As the two juggernauts clashed against each other, Blackbeard let out a belting laugh.

“Looks like the little people are trying to interfere!”

Grimmjow managed a grin, appearing only mildly strained as he struggled against the force of Blackbeard’s quake.

“Can’t have that, eh? We’re only just ramping up!”

“Zehaha, I couldn’t agree more! How ‘bout a little privacy?” As he spoke, Blackbeard raised his free hand, darkness seeping from his fingers. Grimmjow’s cocky smile turned to a look of surprise as the blackness spread out past him into the distance, flowing upward and downward until it formed a vast sphere in midair. As the sphere of darkness sealed itself off from the rest of the battlefield, only the sound of Blackbeard’s ominous laughter could be heard, before it faded into the air.

In the far distance to which he had been blasted, Luppi’s vision cleared. Had he blacked out for a moment? He wasn’t sure. Debris tore into his back as he skidded across the ground, zombies splattering into blood as he crashed through them – he had been knocked so far that he had found himself back on the battlefield.

With a growl, he thrust his tentacles down, ignoring how the strained muscles spasmed in protest, and they knocked him up to his feet. Spinning his tendrils around, he carved apart a dozen zombies, and then fired Ceros that destroyed a hundred more.

‘Is this really… all I can do…?!’

Resentment bubbled up in his stomach. For the first time, though, it wasn’t directed toward Grimmjow, but toward himself. He loathed his great weakness with every fiber of his being. Loathed that for as much as he pushed himself, for as much as his rage and his hatred and his ambition kept carrying him higher, it seemed that Grimmjow was only growing further out of his reach.

“Oi.”

A hand gripped his shoulder and instinctively, Luppi whirled around, three tendrils whipping through the air with the force of a missile. Any normal foe would have been pulverized upon impact, but as the Sexta Espada struck to kill, the tentacles slammed to a halt against the man’s arm. A shockwave blasted out, but did not even budge the man, who cocked his head as he gazed at Luppi with some strange emotion in his eyes.

Luppi was silent for a moment, then sneered.

“Starrk. Fuck do you want?”

“You need to calm down.”

“Eh?!” Renewed anger spasmed through Luppi. “The hell do you get off giving me orders? You might be the Primera, but I’ve surpassed you, Coyote. I could pulverize your weak ass.”

Starrk hummed, his lips tilting upward with amusement. “I don’t know. That hit just now was a little weak. You sure you could take me?”

Luppi bristled as he spoke, but before he could respond, Starrk’s eyes landed on something over Luppi’s shoulder, and casually extended a palm.

“You could use someone watching your six.”

A Cero tore from his hand over Luppi’s shoulder, and blasted a large, bulky zombie in half moments before it could attack. It let out a howl as its severed torso crumpled to the ground behind Luppi.

Luppi sneered without looking back.

“Please.”

The zombie roared and dragged itself up, raising a giant, muscular arm and preparing to bring it down on Luppi’s head. But before it could do so, its body was torn into chunks by eight spiked tendrils, a shower of blood exploding outward and raining down on the Espada who stood beneath.

As droplets of the zombie’s blood splattered against Luppi’s face, he licked his lips, tasting the blood with a sadistic smile, his gaze never leaving Starrk.

“I don’t need your damn help.” Luppi spat. From where she clung to Starrk’s shoulders, Lilynette stuck her tongue out at him. For a moment, Luppi wondered what her intestines would look like if he pulled them out.

“Need?” Starrk replied mildly, drawing his sword and decapitating another incoming zombie without looking. “Maybe not, I dunno. But Hollows have always been weak alone. Wretched little things that need to kill and eat others just to get strong enough to make people feel our pain… can’t help but think that if we helped each other out once in a while, maybe that pain wouldn’t be so bad.”

Luppi scoffed, and three more Ceros slaughtered three more zombies.

“Spare me your bullshit friendship speeches. I know your whole thing is being sad and lonely and whatever, but not all of us are sentimental losers. Hollows kill and eat and look out for themselves. That’s the way it should be. The strong survive, and the weak bleed to entertain the strong.”

Luppi turned away as he spoke, and one of his tentacles turned into a spear, skewering a zombie through the chest, before another dozen needles spiked out from the sides of the spear, puncturing the creature in a dozen more places. Luppi grinned at his own handiwork.

“And which one are you, Luppi?”

“Eh?” He turned back toward Starrk, an eye twitching in annoyance. Starrk gazed back passively, fearlessly.

“Weak or strong. Which one are you?”

Luppi scoffed. “Strong, obviously.”

“Would Grimmjow agree?”

Silence.

“…Of course not.” Luppi’s voice when he finally replied was quiet, angry. “He’d say I’m weak. He’s always said that. I just have to get strong enough to prove him wrong.”

Luppi turned away, ready to fly off. He already knew what Starrk was going to say. That they were all weak individually and strong together, or some bullshit like that. He had no interest in hearing it.

“Then why did Grimmjow bring you back?”

That stopped him in his tracks.

“…What?”

“If Grimmjow thinks you’re weak,” Starrk spoke slowly, deliberately, “why did he bring you back with the rest of us?”

“…He didn’t. Szayelaporro did that.”

“On Grimmjow’s orders. Don’t be dense. Everyone knows you want to kill Grimmjow. If he hated you and thought you were useless and weak, he wouldn’t have let Szayel bring you back. So why did he do it?”

“I dunno.” Luppi snapped, turning back toward Starrk with a flash of irritation. “Maybe he’s just underestimating me, thinks I’m no threat to him. Who cares? He murdered me in the first place, in case you had forgotten. You want me to thank him on my hands and knees for bringing me back when he needs something from me? Piss off.”

Starrk was silent, and then smiled faintly.

“I’m not saying you need to thank him. I’m not even saying you should forgive him. I’m saying he brought you back because in spite of everything, he recognizes that you’ve gotten strong.”

Luppi stared. Unbidden, Grimmjow’s crass voice from years before echoed in his mind.

“As long as I’m an Espada, a weakling like you’ll never be one. Bet on that.”

He turned away. Though hidden by his sleeves, his hands balled into fists at his sides, trembling slightly.

Starrk smiled. He turned his head slightly, glancing at Lilynette over his shoulder. The smaller Hollow wore an expression of dazed befuddlement, glancing back and forth between Starrk and Luppi.

“Besides… for the first time ever, the Espada are fighting together. This is no time to be moping around.”

As he spoke, he raised a hand, back up over his shoulder and offered it to Lilynette. Her eye widened, and she grinned, grabbing the hand without hesitation. With a blinding flash of light, the battlefield trembled and zombies all around were blasted into the air or disintegrated. As the light faded around Starrk, he raised both of his Los Lobos pistols and leaned his head to the side, stretching his neck with eyes closed.

“Starrk…”

Lilynette’s voice echoed in his mind, soft sorrow in her tone.

“I’m sorry…” Starrk smiled sadly. “I didn’t want you to see… how quickly I gave up.”

“…It’s okay.” She replied gently after a moment. “I understand.”

Starrk smiled.

He vanished, his Sonído propelling him into the air at blinding speed. An instant later, a thousand Ceros exploded across the battlefield in every direction, released from his pistols in an instant, the ground sheared open at every spot they struck, hundreds of zombies slaughtered all at once. Across the battlefield, Espada, Akatsuki, and Warlords alike turned in alarm toward the new threat. 

Smoke wafting from his guns, Starrk allowed himself to grin.

“We’re back, baby.”

“Let’s crush those jackasses!” Lilynette cheered in his mind.

“Luppi!” Starrk called down to the other Espada, still standing on the ground a short distance below. “Think about what I said, alright? You’re always saying eight beats one, any day. Well, I say ten is even better.”

“Pfft. Corny old geezer.”

Luppi didn’t respond, his bitter gaze fixed on the ground. After a few moments, Starrk nodded, and rocketed off, his attention diverted back to the battle at hand.

—

To the south…

SHING!

Sparks flew as Nel’s sword raked against the space in front of her, which had solidified into a rock-hard barrier, her Reiastu crackling against it as her strike glanced to the side. Although her attack was successfully diverted, as her power coursed through the air around her, her strike melted through the curtain.

SHING! SHING! SHING!

‘Strike, stab, swing, kick-! Keep hitting, keep attacking, don’t let him catch his breath-!’

Nel’s attacks were a blur, far too fast for any normal person to see as she constantly repositioned herself, her Sonído propelling her through the air. Though her opponent was managing to keep ahead of her with his constant teleports, each time he rematerialized she was on him again in a split second, and a swipe of his hand created a new curtain to barely deflect her strike.

‘Ugh…!’

Zetsu gritted his pointed teeth as a particularly fast stab from Gamuza grazed against his side – he had barely managed to warp space in time to keep it from piercing right through his heart.

‘This woman is relentless… to think that she and Law were friends, with how fiercely she’s attacking!’

Under normal circumstances, the fight would have been fairer. But even with Zetsu pumping up Law’s vitality, his body was screaming in protest after the fights against Baraggan and Orochimaru beforehand. To make matters worse, he had lost Kikoku in his last battle. Without his scalpel, even if his fingers could serve as a poor substitute, the Surgeon of Death’s ability to inflict deadly damage had been neutered.

For half a second, Nel’s attacks paused. So briefly that it could barely be considered a lapse as she took an instant to breathe, but it ripped Zetsu out of his thoughts. Without wasting the momentary respite, Zetsu swung both of Law’s arms to the side, and the ships all around them – the tiny portion of Blackbeard’s fleet that had been split off from the rest by Harribel’s glacier – spun around in midair, the ballistae on their sides all angled in toward the ship that Nel and Law stood on.

BANG!

Simultaneously, with deafening volume, every ballista fired, and spears of shadowy energy exploded through the air toward the deck of the ship. Nel’s eyes widened. Zetsu vanished into thin air.

CRUNCH!

A dozen ballista shots skewered through the sides of the ship and the deck. A dozen more, the ones that had been aimed toward Nel herself, were deflected, her arm a blur as she parried each strike with perfect dexterity. The shadows spun into the air and discorporated.

As the ship beneath her feet exploded into wooden scraps, Nel leapt up, a sonic boom beneath her feet carrying her up into the sky as the ships around her reeled from being spun around so quickly.

“HA!”

Nel opened her mouth wide, and a blue Cero exploded outward. Spinning midair, she swung her body around and the laser beam tore through every single ship one at a time, splitting them all in half as she swept it around in a wide circle.

FWOOM!

The air around her was crushed inward, intense concussive force slamming into Nel’s body like a sledgehammer and knocking the wind out of her. Materializing behind her in midair, Law-Zetsu extended two fingers, eyes narrowed.

“Lungen.”

Nel gritted her teeth as the air was forced from her lungs, her chest pressing inward with suffocating force. Rippling from her body, a wave of Reiatsu exploded outward and engulfed the bubble of air that was crushing her. It broke, and the pressure eased.

Nel let out a cry as she leapt off the air, spinning around backward and bringing her foot down toward the airborne Law’s head. Zetsu raised his hands to create a curtain to block the attack…

…and was a split second too late. Nel’s foot collided with his head, snapping his head back and breaking his nose as he was sent flying, spinning head over heels. He groaned and raised a hand to his nose, willing the cartilage back together and staunching the blood flow.

That was a mistake. In the split second he had taken to heal himself, Nel was on him again, and this time it wasn’t her foot aimed for his head.

Gamuza came down from above, green energy crackling through it, and without a moment to spare Zetsu clapped his hands together around the flat of the blade, willing space to condense and Armament Haki to flow into the space between his hands. Lightning rippled outward as the sword slammed to a halt, crackling, trembling as the air around it locked it in place.

Nel’s face was tight. Cold. Emotionless. She pushed the blade down harder.

Law’s arms trembled, slowly pushed back as Nel overpowered him, the sword inching down toward his head. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as Zetsu’s eye widened fearfully.

“Give me control back!” Law cried in alarm from within his own mind. “Hurry, or we both die!”

His large face rippling in the sea of red before Law, Zetsu cringed, his teeth pulled wide in a grimace.

“Ugh… fine!”

Law’s eye snapped open, and instantly he willed the compressed space between his hands to expand. 

BANG!

Like a bomb, the air blasted outward, and Nel’s eyes widened as both she and Law were sent hurtling backward, her sword scoring only empty air in front of her as the sudden blast of air sent the two careening away from each other.

With a swipe of his hand, Law created a curtain in midair, finding his footing on top of it and panting slightly as sweat dripped down his brow.

‘This is bad, Zetsu. We’re really feeling the damn pain, and she still hasn’t released yet.’

‘Can you win?’ Zetsu’s voice demanded, with unusual anxiety in his tone. Law pursed his lips. Zetsu was becoming erratic… the war was reaching its endgame, and for all of his many faults, the creature was undeniably determined to win.

‘I can maybe…’

He trailed off as he noticed Nel’s gaze, which had become fixed on something over his shoulder, her eyes wide with shock and alarm. Law glanced behind him, and his eyes widened. In the far distance, on the horizon, lightning tore down from the sky violently, explosions rocking the horizon to the north.

But if that had been all, it would not have alarmed him or Nel. The battle to the north had been raging for some time now… no, it was the energy growing at the center of it that had drawn his opponent’s attention. A power that rivaled that of both Grimmjow and Blackbeard, a power seeping from the earth itself and congregating within one individual… an individual who was exuding just as much evil as he was power.

‘Who… is that…?’

Law didn’t really need to ask. Thanks to his Observation Haki, he recognized them…

‘So he is alive, after all.’

‘Orochimaru.’

—

To the north…

It had been a long time since he had felt fear so strongly, so desperately that it felt like his lungs were filling with water. He wasn’t the type to scare easily, after all; he went into every fight with a plan, and then five more plans in case the first one didn’t work out. But as the ground around him warped and swayed like water, and he ran for his life as fast as his Sonído could carry him, Szayelaporro felt nothing but fear.

Emerging from the plateau far behind him, massive snakes of stone rose from the ground like sea serpents rising from the waves, their mouths open wide to reveal razor sharp fangs over a meter thick. For as fast as he ran, they lunged forward, soaring over the earth and closing the distance almost instantly, their massive shadows falling over him as he glanced back over his shoulder in terror at the predators ready to sink their teeth into him.

He whirled around and thrust a palm out, a Gran Rey Cero blasting out and striking the closest snake. But as it hit the surface of the creature’s enormous stone body, the mighty attack exploded and dissipated as though it were nothing, a shimmering sheen of light glittering across the surface of the stone where he had struck it.

‘Impossible…!’

The snake roared and dove, its jaws opened wide, and Szayel barely leapt out of the way in time. Its fangs sank into the ground, and its body followed, passing through the surface of the soil underneath once again, as though sinking back into a sea that only it could reach.

Three more snakes dove, and one after the other, Szayel barely dodged them, and one after the other they were absorbed back into the ground. Seconds later, they emerged again, sprouting up and out, ready for another assault as they twisted around one another. Szayel turned back around, and put on more speed as he fumbled with something inside of the purple clothing he wore.

Though too far away for Szayel to hear it, cruel, high-pitched laughter echoed out from atop the plateau, Boa’s haughty tone mixing with Orochimaru’s oil-like rasp. The woman in question stood with hands clasped in front of her, the Senjutsu snakes wrapped around her coiling as the energy composing their bodies surged.

“Sage Art: Inorganic Animation!!”

From the side of the plateau, more giant stone snakes burst out, slithering out across the ground toward the raging battlefield in the far distance. Orochimaru smiled in amusement as countless explosions erupted across the vast desert surface – numerous Espada unleashing Ceros, leveling hundreds of meters with every shot. 

Of no concern to her, of course. Her gaze lazily moved upward toward the sky, where many even larger explosions ruptured midair; Deidara, there could be no question. Fighting against Doflamingo alongside Sasori, Orochimaru could tell. Her newfound Senjutsu abilities, after all, expanded her senses to a hypernatural degree.

She watched as Sasori deftly maneuvered his puppets, watched as Doflamingo moved with perfect grace to cut through Deidara’s clay bombs, only for them to split off into smaller bombs when cleaved apart…

‘Bless their souls…’ She thought, almost fondly. ‘They’re trying so very hard. To think that only I shall win that wish, should they succeed…’

Even as she contemplated her “allies” to the east, Orochimaru didn’t let her focus waver from Szayelaporro. His clones had been easy enough to deal with. His feeble illusions, child’s play; even a Genin could do better. His rudimentary poisons, downright laughable.

Still, Orochimaru had little doubt that the scientist had more tricks up his sleeve. She could not allow herself to become complacent until he had died.

As if on cue, Szayel procured a vial of liquid from his pocket, which he held delicately between his long, purple fingers. Bright orange and bubbling violently, the contents of the vial were brimming with unseen energy. Skidding to a halt, Szayel turned and thrust out his other hand toward the snakes pursuing him, hurling a small capsule toward them. As soon as it left its hand, it ruptured, and a barrier of energy expanded outward to surround Szayel.

The snakes slammed down into it, coming to a screeching halt as their fangs raked against the sides of the barrier, scoring long gashes into it but failing to immediately pierce through.

Within the barrier, panting slightly and his hair and glasses slightly askew, Szayel lowered his hand, a confident grin back on his face. He uncorked the vial of liquid, and the energy within began to steam out, the air around him growing hotter.

Orochimaru’s eyes widened as the familiar energy assailed her new senses.

‘Is that…?!’

“I meant to save this for Blackbeard…” Szayel spoke evenly, his face settling into his usual smile as he regained his composure. “But I suppose I’ll have to trust our fearless leader to handle that. I suppose it’s fitting that I use it against you anyway, no?”

Orochimaru’s eyes bulged, bloodshot with anger as she leaned forward, willing nature itself to bend to her will. The ground under Szayel’s feet surged upward, a snake even larger than the others ripping up under the forcefield, its jaws opening wide to swallow up its prey.

Szayel raised the vial to his lips and threw his head back, drinking the entire thing in one gulp.

The snake’s massive jaws snapped closed on top of him, and the barrier shattered into a thousand pieces.

From a distance, Orochimaru watched, her entire body tensed as her yellow eyes stared widely at the massive, motionless snake head, her pupils having narrowed into slits.

The surface of the snake began to glow orange. The stone began to drip down, melting as the orange spread out across the snake. Then, instantly, the head was blown apart. Shattering into a thousand pieces as a wave of energy rippled outward.

Szayel’s Reiatsu, to be certain…

…But also something else.

Szayel’s howl filled the air, but whether it was a howl of glee or anger or agonizing pain or all three at once was impossible to say. Where he stood in the destroyed remains of the snake head, he hunched over forward, bubbling orange energy coursing all across his body. His skin began to peel and melt away as the energy ravaged him, but as fast as he was torn apart his body repaired itself.

He was immortal, after all. He couldn’t die.

From the back of the aura of energy that engulfed him, a long appendage began to swell outward. Then another, and then another, until there were nine in total, swaying in the wind like makeshift tails. The defining trait of the beast this energy had first come from: the Nine-Tailed Fox.

Szayel chuckled, a deep, demonic echo underlying his normal voice, and then it grew into full-blown, cruel laughter as the Kyuubi chakra around him slowly stabilized, drawing inward toward his body and clinging to his chest, merging with his purple cloak as it took on a brighter, pale yellow hue. The skin on his face knit itself back together and he raised a hand, looking down at his hooked fingers with fascination.

“It took me days to get the formula just right…” The low growl of the Nine-Tails rumbled underneath every word he spoke, though had grown quieter. “I had to make some modifications, so it’s not quite like the real thing… but it will do.”

Orochimaru sneered as she crouched down atop the plateau.

‘So the hare thinks himself a fox…’ She smiled cruelly. ‘But he’s prey all the same.’

She leapt off, Senjutsu chakra propelling her at speeds far faster than she would normally have been capable of, and as her torso stretched out like a snake, she drew the Kusanagi Blade and descended upon Szayel from above, having crossed the distance between them in moments. Szayel drew a hand back, the bulb-covered tendrils on his back whirling back, and then swinging forward to meet Orochimaru’s strike head-on.

—

To the south…

Law-Zetsu’s eyes were wide as Law craned his neck to look over his shoulder to the north. Though his Observation Haki gave him keen awareness of the situation in greater detail than a normal person would be capable of, he needed no extrasensory abilities to feel the surge of power that Orochimaru was exuding. Coupled with the already-oppressive power emanating from Blackbeard and Grimmjow, it almost felt as though the world itself was screaming in protest.

In his mind’s eye, Law was reminded of his fight with Luppi in the Valley of Screams. The energy he felt now was not altogether dissimilar from back then…

‘Orochimaru has reached a new level of power,’ Zetsu’s growling voice spoke, urgently. ‘I would never have expected Boa Hancock’s body to be such a boon, but the natural energy in this arena is preternaturally high… his capabilities with Sage Mode far exceed that fool, Kabuto.’

‘Don’t know who the hell that is, save the exposition for someone who cares. We need to-’

“You better not be getting distracted, bastard!”

Whatever he was about to say was interrupted and he grunted with shock as a large mass – a giant hunk of metal? – slammed into him, catapulting him from his midair perch atop the curtain he had created. He spun head over heel and then formed a new curtain with a sweep of his arm, which he landed on unceremoniously, laying in a crumpled heap in midair, momentarily dazed.

The weapon that had struck Law was yanked back through the air by its chain, and the man who had hurled it caught it deftly in his hand, twirling it around along with the five other scythes he held. Nnoitra’s gaze, however, wasn’t even fixed on Law, but rather his own “ally.”

“Oi, bitch!” Nnoitra snapped down at Nel, who had turned sharply to look at him with consternation. “Stop gaping like a dumbass and focus on the damn fight!”

“C…Can you not sense that power from the north?!” Nel cried incredulously. “We have bigger things-!”

“Let Grimmjow deal with it! We have a job to do down here!”

Nel opened her mouth to retort angrily, and then paused, and then closed her mouth, her irritation shifting to surprise.

“I… wouldn’t have expected you to be worried about me at all.”

“Eh?!” Nnoitra’s lips curled sharply in disgust. “How the fuck did you get that from what I said, cunt?! I wanna win this fight!”

But Nel’s face had broken into a wide, cheeky grin, her childish nature momentarily breaking through her mask of seriousness.

“Yeah, and you don’t think you can do it without me, right? Otherwise you wouldn’t care, riiiight?”

“Tch! Don’t try to paint me like some kinda fuckin’ pansy! Don’t forget that I cracked your skull open and left you in the desert to rot! And I’d do it again if I could!”

“So you admit you can’t?”

“Wh-?!”

Across from them, Law sweatdropped, his expression deadpan.

‘The hell? They’re acting like a couple of dumb kids…’

Bizarrely, he found himself thinking about a pair of pirates he knew, one loud and angry, and the other annoyingly carefree…

‘Guh.’ He shook his head. Getting distracted thinking about things like that was dangerous, at a time like this.

“Oi, Nel.” He spoke up sharply, cutting off Nel and Nnoitra’s bickering. Both of them turned to look at him in surprise, as though they had momentarily forgotten he was there. “You down to take a rain check and move this up north?”

Nel cocked her head, contemplating the suggestion as Nnoitra squawked in protest (“Don’t ask her like she’s the one in charge!”).

“If we move north before eliminating you and your fleet, you’ll be free to aid Blackbeard. I’m not foolish enough to overlook the threat your power poses, Law.”

“You seriously think I wanna help Blackbeard? I want him dead as much as you do.”

“I don’t. But I think that thing attached to you does, for whatever reason.”

Law winced. Zetsu forced his mouth into a smile.

“Busted.”

‘They won’t let us move the fight, and there’s no way we can beat both of them.’

Within his mindscape, Law closed his eyes and crossed his arms, grimly, but still managed a grin in spite of himself.

‘We’ll just have to get a little sneaky, then.’

Zetsu snickered.

‘Sneaky is my specialty.’

—

A kilometer to the east, on the opposite side of Harribel’s ice wall, a localized storm cloud swirled overhead, icy rain pouring down on Blackbeard’s main fleet as the Queen Anne’s Revenge reeled, hammered from the side by Ceros that were only partially blocked by massive walls of sand. Above the ship, a tornado of sand swirled, surging upward into the storm clouds above like a funnel and stirring up powerful winds to divert the falling rain.

At the center of the sandstorm Crocodile stood, his arms raised to the sky, his teeth clenched so tightly on his cigar that they ached, his full concentration on diverting attack from two different angles at once.

‘Just my luck…! How many damn water users do they have in this arena?’

Standing in the air above him, Harribel held Tiburón to the sky, swirling it in a wide, circular arc as she stirred the clouds faster and faster. Her eyes were cold, focused as she brought sleet down ruthlessly.

“He’s doing a remarkably good job countering, given the circumstances,” she assessed quietly, under her breath. “But even so…”

The image of an enormous Hollow flashed in her head, one she had seen countless times roaming the empty wastelands of Hueco Mundo.

“…he’s just like Runuganga. Water will melt him, as long as-” She brought Tiburón down, and all at once the storm clouds above condensed, morphing into a torrent of water that surged down toward the ships like an airborne tidal wave.

“-I find my opening!”

Crocodile’s eyes widened sharply and he bit his cigar clean in half. Reacting almost instantaneously, he clenched his fist and his swirling sandstorm crushed inward, a wall of hardened sand solidifying above the fleet. The torrent of water crashed down atop it, soaking through the grains of sand, liquefying them and melting them together into a hail of mud.

“Gh-!”

Crocodile swung his arm to the side, and with tremendous effort hurled the giant mass of mud aside before it could come crashing down on top of him. It just barely missed the Queen Anne, sloughing off to the side with a cacophonous squelching noise. Crocodile had no time to be happy about it, however. All at once, the sand that he had stirred up for defense had been stripped away, and the ship was left wide open.

BANG!

Harribel wasted no time, angling Tiburón’s point down toward Crocodile’s chest. With the force of a bullet, a mass of water blasted from the sword’s gills and shot through the air. Too slow, Crocodile tensed in preparation to dive to the side.

SPLAT!

The concussive blast of water found its mark, striking Crocodile clear across the chest and blasting a hole clean through his sand body. He staggered, the mud on the edge of the gaping hole dripping inward. Though his body was still made of sand, and thus unharmed, his sand was unable to flow in to fill the wound as it normally would.

Crocodile let out a roaring snarl, fear replacing his anger rapidly as he felt the water spreading up his body. Quickly, he lashed his hook out and struck the wheel of the Queen Anne. The ship lurched to the side, turning sharply until its port side was angled toward where Harribel hung in midair. Ballistae blasted from the ship’s cannons, shadowy projectiles assailing her, which she swatted aside.

Simultaneously, Crocodile’s hook ripped from his arm, propelled through the air by a hail of sand spewing from its back. It hurtled through the air away from him, and then turned in a wide arc, circling back around and beelining back toward its owner.

SHING!

The hook struck Crocodile’s neck, and his own head was severed from his body. It spun into the air, his expression blank and expressionless. From where she stood defending from the raining ballistae, Harribel’s eyes widened.

‘He killed himself…?’

Immediately, however, reality made itself clear. Every part of Crocodile’s body below the neck, severed and motionless, was soaked with water and lost its shape, collapsing across the deck in a wide splatter. In the air above, sand spewed from the bottom of the Warlord’s severed head like blood, expanding and twisting together. Harribel’s eyes widened.

‘No… he’s reforming!’

She gritted her teeth as the ballistae assailing her increased in frequency. She had no time to waste on defending – she needed to attack while Crocodile was vulnerable…!

SHOOM! SHOOM! SHOOM!

One after the other, the ballistae froze in midair, halted in place as flower-shaped markings materialized across their surface. Behind Harribel, Zommari’s eyes opened one after another, halting the oncoming assault.

Harribel shot him a grateful glance, but in her moment of distraction an attack sheared down from above. Just barely, her senses guiding her reaction, Harribel turned and barely managed to raise Tiburón in time to block the attack, a long scythe of sand slashing down across the large pata.

SHRRREEEEEEK!

Crocodile’s sand sheared into the side of the tooth-like weapon, and water flowed out from the resulting gash, like blood. With the slightest concentration, the water morphed into spear-like skewers, spiking up toward Crocodile, but fast enough this time, his body separated, wide holes opening across his body which the long needles of water shot through harmlessly.

He laughed.

“You think just cuz you’ve got the advantage you’re sure to win? Trash is trash!”

—

To the north…

Black fire exploded across dozens of zombies. A dozen more found themselves locked in place as the image of gleaming red eyes filled their minds, the man who had done it so fast he appeared a blur. When Jinbe appeared, conjuring powerful waves of water, a fire jutsu turned them to steam. When Aaroniero rampaged through, tentacles sweeping wide with powerful strikes, Fuma Shuriken carved through his flesh, halting his assault.

Espada. Warlords. Zombies. Hollows.

Every single one that his eyes landed on, Itachi struck hard and struck fast, and didn’t wait around to be struck back.

All the while, he never spoke a word.

His actions weren’t his, after all. His body moved on its own, compelled by the power of Orochimaru’s Reanimation Jutsu.

He was just a tool.

As he had always been.

Defeat. Failure. Imprisonment. Death.

They all hurt so much more when he had finally cared about living.

Were the circumstances different, he could have broken himself free with Kotoamatsukami, commanded himself to defend the Hidden Leaf Village… but that contingency had already been expended. He had used it to turn Obito against the Akatsuki…

Yet another gambit that had only ended in failure. Obito too had died, and it had made no difference.

Itachi had nothing left. No backup plan, no will to live, no chance for victory.

And so he fought in silence. 

His Sharingan roamed the battlefield. In the far distance, lightning, water and fire assailed zombies, blasting them into the air. A moment later, a blur of motion slashed through them, blood spurting from thin gashes in their sides, not deep enough to incapacitate them.

‘Kakuzu and Hidan.’ Itachi recognized.

As Hidan landed, he twirled his scythe around, the blood of numerous zombies splattered across the blade. Without hesitation, Hidan dragged his tongue along the length of the blade’s flat, and as his skin changed color, he raised his other hand, and drove his long, black spear back through his own chest.

All around him, dozens of zombies howled and clutched their chests, toppling over backward as the shadows empowering them fled their bodies.

Itachi let a sharp huff of breath escape his nose.

‘Heh. Clever.’

Explosions rocked the air and his gaze turned upward. Far above, Sasori and Deidara fought as a team as well. C3 bombs exploded across the sky, nuclear blasts rocking the air every second; if the two of them had not been so high up, the constant blast waves might have ruptured his ear drums.

The man they were chasing, however, was undeterred despite how close he was. As five C3 bombs got dangerously close to him, Doflamingo twisted his wrist toward them, and countless strings spun out, binding tight around the explosives, constricting into impenetrable balls of thread around each of them.

For a moment, nothing happened, and then the spheres swelled sharply in unison, the muffled sound of a deafening explosion barely escaping them; the bombs had detonated, but Doflamingo had contained their power.

Without hesitation, Sasori raised his hand, and compelled Deidara to move. The clay dragon that the “artist” was perched on swooped down, diving like a bullet toward Doflamingo, who turned to meet it head-on. Deidara – or rather, Sasori – though, had other plans beyond just rushing him. 

In the seconds before he reached Doflamingo, Deidara doubled over and vomited a deluge of clay from his mouth, thrusting his hands into the goop and shaping it. Thrusting his hands to the side, the clay split apart and then solidified into half a dozen Deidara-shaped missiles, which rocketed down ahead of the dragon, bee-lining for Doflamingo.

Below, Itachi’s eyes widened. A moment later, as Doflamingo’s strings carved up into the Deidara missiles, they ruptured, and split apart into the air, dissipating.

Doflamingo sneered, his attention already turning back toward the descending dragon above.

‘Pathetic-’

Then he convulsed in agony, his entire body spasming as searing pain coursed through every inch of him. His eyes went wide behind his sunglasses and he let out a gagging howl.

His body began to melt, his arms and legs and face crumbling away. Tiny, microscopic bombs had detonated within every cell in his body, and were ripping him apart completely and utterly.

Though he barely had the presence of mind to act, Doflamingo responded on instinct. He willed his strings to get thinner and thinner and sent them stabbing through every cell. His Observation Haki helped – within moments he had skewered every miniscule bomb that had yet to detonate, carving them to pieces and leaving them harmless.

Immediately, Doflamingo’s attention shifted toward repair. His strings stitched organs back together, and re-wove flesh that had been ripped apart, new skin and bone and muscle growing to fill the gaps that had been created.

In his haste to save his own life, however, the Warlord’s attention had fallen off of the approaching Deidara. Deidara howled with laughter and ripped the string out from the mouth on his chest, quickly raising a chunk of clay for the mouth to eat as he slammed into Doflamingo, his other hand closing around the man’s throat.

“Finally!” Deidara cawed. “Finally, I will be seen and heard!”

Black patterning began to spread across his body as Doflamingo struggled against his grip, snarling with anger.

“My art will be grand, absolute, earth-shaking… and you will be its great sacrifice! Worry not, Doflamingo: I’ll be back before long! Can you say the same, hmmm?!”

The black markings closed in around his eyes, obscuring his pupils. In the air above, Sasori hovered with iron sand wings extended, cold satisfaction in his dark eyes as he gazed down, one finger extended to control Deidara’s movements. His attention was squarely on Doflamingo.

“Burn in hell.” He whispered.

Blinding light engulfed the sky.

Itachi willed his Susanoo to form, the Yata Mirror raised to the sky to shield from the light and heat and sound. Many of those across the battlefield were less fortunate. Hidan shrieked, burns forming all across his body (and doubly searing the zombies whose blood he had just lapped up, in the process). Kakuzu groaned and his skin hardened to protect him.

As zombies writhed in pain, the stronger fighters ceased their movements to cover their eyes. The Espada were fine for the most part, their Hierro strong enough to protect them, but the monstrous Aaroniero halted his rampage, letting out a bellowing roar as the light engulfed him, his Resurrección melting away as surely as if he had been caught in actual sunlight.

The Edo Akatsuki were less resilient, but even as their skin sizzled and the blast wave knocked them from their feet, their bodies were already repairing themselves, the power of the Reanimation Jutsu keeping them alive.

‘Deidara will regenerate too.’ Itachi recognized. He grimaced. Deidara’s C0 was dangerous enough as a one-use jutsu. For him to be able to use it over and over, as much as he wanted… that made him one of the most dangerous people here.

“Mind giving me some shade, partner?” A growling voice pierced his thoughts. Itachi turned. Giving him a toothy grin, Kisame stood just behind his Susanoo, his muscular arms raised over his head to shield him as best as possible from the radiation. Even still, his expression was pained and the skin on his arms sizzled.

Itachi regarded him silently for a moment, and then spoke for the first time.

“We are no longer partners. We’re cogs in a machine. It’s hardly my decision.”

As he spoke, the back of the Susanoo shimmered and Kisame stepped through it, letting out a sigh of relief as he dropped his already-healing arms to his side.

“Be that as it may,” Kisame snickered. “You would have let me in anyway.”

Itachi was silent. Kisame moved to stand next to him.

“This isn’t so bad, really.” Kisame remarked. “It’s less than appealing to entrust all of our hopes to Orochimaru, but even so.”

Itachi didn’t look at him. Outside the Susanoo, the light was dying down, the rumbling in the ground diminishing slowly as the gigantic explosion faded. Kisame smiled.

“I’m glad to be fighting alongside you again.”

Slowly, Itachi turned to look at him, his eyes meeting Kisame’s. The other shinobi had the same bloodthirsty, battle-hungry expression that he always wore. Eyes just slightly too manic, which belied his shark-like nature.

But there wasn’t a hint of irony in his gaze. He meant what he said.

“I hope you aren’t under the impression that we were ever friends.” 

The words had left Itachi’s mouth before he had time to reconsider them, but as soon as he said them he was glad he had. He realized he had been wanting to say them for a long time.

Kisame tilted his head.

“Oh?”

“I’ve never been on the side of the Akatsuki, not really. I hope you aren’t so stupid that you never realized that.”

Kisame was silent for a moment, considering Itachi’s words. He didn’t look surprised.

“I suspected it. Especially after that whole business with Sasuke. I never imagined you could lose if you actually wanted to win.”

Itachi laughed, humorlessly as he turned to look at Kisame fully. He had already lost. There was no hope. No reason to mince words, or to keep up his carefully-constructed mask.

“Let me tell you something, Kisame. Everything I did, I did for Sasuke. I lived and I cried and I suffered and I died for him. My brother, the last surviving member of my clan. The only comrade I had left to love.”

Kisame grinned, the implications not lost on him. “Now you’re just being hurtful.”

“I’m being honest. For the first time since I’ve known you, I’m telling you how I really feel. I despise you, Kisame. You and the rest of the Akatsuki, you’re all disgusting. You’re a murdering thug and I loathed every second I had to spend tolerating your presence!”

His voice rose as he spoke until he was shouting, hands balled into fists at his side as his body trembled. A sickening feeling roiled in his stomach. He registered with dull anger that Kisame was still smiling.

He swallowed and took a moment to compose himself. When he spoke again, his voice was low.

“Dying was the best thing that ever happened to me. I was finally free of you. Of myself. Of everything.”

His voice caught in his throat. He looked away.

“It was so much easier when I wanted to die.”

Kisame chuckled, and Itachi felt a dull stab of anger at how unbothered the man was, but it was fading quickly. Replaced only by exhaustion and misery.

“Even so, you have to admit,” Kisame replied conversationally. “Dying wasn’t all that.”

Itachi was silent, then let out a soft, exhausted chuckle.

“No, I suppose it wasn’t.”

The Susanoo dissipated around them, though Itachi didn’t do so consciously. Deidara’s explosion had died down. It was almost showtime again.

“For what it’s worth, Itachi. I still like you.”

Itachi didn’t look at him for a moment, then turned to reply.

Kisame was already gone.

—

Emerald green serpents made of pure natural energy raced across the battlefield, their jaws snapping as they dived down and bounced off the ground, rupturing it with every impact. Acidic energy spewed from their fangs and sharply seared the earth. One step ahead of them, however, Szayel shot forward at blinding speed, twisting through the air as his Sonído was pushed to new heights by the synthetic Kyuubi chakra that now coursed through him.

He skidded to a halt, a Gran Rey Cero charging in his clawed hand, but in an instant the twin snakes were on him, twisting up around his body and crushing his arms in toward his body, like boa constrictors seizing their prey.

In the moment it would have taken for Szayel to break free, Orochimaru ripped from the ground in front of him, peeling up and out, clawed fingers outstretched as she lunged for the Hollow’s face.

“Ha!”

The tendrils that extended from Szayel’s back whipped up and then down, driving down into the ground in front of him, and Orochimaru’s nails struck the pustules growing from them, crackling sharply against them as their Hierro-enforced surface repelled her attack.

As her blow bounced off, a crunching noise rang out, as the surface of Szayel’s tendrils morphed into stone at the point of impact.

SHING!

With the other hand, Orochimaru swung the Kusanagi blade in a wide arc, carving into the surface of two more pustules, and a noxious purple fluid spewed out like blood.

A lesser individual might have been melted alive on contact with the poisonous fluids that coursed through Szayel’s artificially modified body. To Orochimaru, it tickled. She laughed as it struck her skin, and was absorbed through her pores. The antibodies that Orochimaru constantly pumped through her own body quickly neutralized the effect, assimilating and incorporating the poison’s properties into her own toxic blood.

‘If I can absorb the power of the Nine-Tails as well…’ Orochimaru mused. ‘Perhaps this war truly will be over.’

In an instant, her senses shot onto high alert as more pustules began to sprout from Szayel’s tendrils, energy glowing from them as they began to charge.

“Oh my~!”

Ceros blasted from the end of each of them, half a dozen lasers lancing toward Orochimaru all at once, but as her body twisted unnaturally like a serpent, she weaved deftly between them and they decimated the land behind her.

A crackling noise filled the air around Szayel. His face, previously set in an expression of calm confidence, dropped into a startled expression as in the air around him, small white objects floated, sparks flickering from them.

Szayel had only a moment to register them as clumps of paper, carefully folded into jagged star-like shapes, before…

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!

One after the other, they all detonated right on top of him, explosions battering his body, but his Hierro coupled with his Kyuubi cloak blunted the force of the explosions. Still, they hurt.

“Bansho Ten’in!”

Szayel was ripped off his feet, hurtling into the air. A moment later-

WHAM!

A massive fist collided with his body from above and he slammed to a halt, his tendrils whipping upward as their momentum carried them past his body.

“Hrgh!”

The fist that had struck him shrank and changed shape, revealing the man behind it. Nagato, his arm angled downward, transformed his arm into a cannon which glowed with increasing energy.

BOOOOM!

A massive laser exploded out of the end of his arm, ripping down through the air toward where Szayel floated below. From the Espada’s hand, a massive clawed appendage of Kyuubi power shot out, its fingers splayed to block the blast with its palm, but the attack was too wide. Light slid through the gaps between its fingers, and jackhammered down into Szayel’s body.

Szayel blasted down through the air, tumbling head over foot, and then was again ripped to a halt as his body was ensnared around the center. He let out a snarl of pain and frustration as his arms were constricted against his chest, an interlocking chain of paper having snapped tight around him. Attached to the other end of the chain, he caught sight of Konan, watching him with dead, black eyes.

In the split second that he was motionless, Szayel strained against the paper, and then he was jerked bodily forward. Konan whipped the chain around, dragging him in a wide arc and slamming him across the ground, kicking up rubble before hurling him back up into the air.

‘Get-’

He swung a clawed Kyuubi hand toward Konan and carved through her body, but struck only paper. As the clone dissipated, Nagato seemed to materialize in her place, hand outstretched.

‘-these-’

“Shinra Tensei!” A blast of gravitational force exploded from Nagato’s hand and blasted Szayel back down across the ground, tumbling and skidding.

‘-fucking-’

CRUNCH! The ground around Szayel exploded, snakes made of nature energy ripping up and battering him even more, but he whipped his tendrils around to dispel them.

‘-people-’

His eyes went wide and he turned as he sensed an incoming attack, fire and lightning and wind tearing across the ground toward him. He thrust a hand out and a barrier formed, splitting the attack around him.

‘OFF OF ME!’

A tendril whipped out from Szayel, through the deluge of elemental energy, ignoring the sting from the flames and electricity as it shot like a spear toward its target. On the giving end of the elemental deluge, Kakuzu stood crouched, three masks each spewing a different elemental power. 

The tendril struck home, passing through and across Kakuzu’s body like sludge before whipping to the side and retracting back toward Szayel. In an instant, from the pustule that had passed across Kakuzu, a Kakuzu-like doll dropped into Szayel’s outstretched hand. Without wasting time, Szayel popped the doll’s head off with his thumb.

“You shouldn’t have tried me, freak!” Szayel sneered, the fire glinting against his glasses through his barrier. “I’ve taken you apart already! I know how you tick!”

Pouring the doll out, a number of tiny pieces tumbled from it – several colored pellets, each labeled in miniscule letters spelling out “HEART.” With a swipe of his hand, Szayel cracked three of them apart midair, and across from him Kakuzu howled, staggering as the masks on either side of his head splintered apart. He reached up and clutched his chest, pain registering in his expression.

Szayel had no time to celebrate his foe’s momentary debilitation. A sword carved down from the sky, and one of his tendrils whipped up to block it, grinding sharply against Konan’s attack.

“Your paper is sharp,” Szayel remarked as he glanced up and over his shoulder toward her, his composure regained as he flashed a cheeky smile. “But can it cut skin stronger than steel?”

He raised a hand which glowed with Kyuubi chakra, but an instant later a chain of ghostly purple energy fastened around it, wrapping his wrist tight and suppressing the energy he had called forth. Szayel’s smile vanished and was replaced by alarm as the effect began to spread up his arm, Nine-Tails chakra melting away as the Demonic Statue Chains worked to suppress the chakra.

On the other end of the chain, both hands working to pull against Szayel’s strength, Nagato glared at him with grim determination.

‘He’s strong, but he’s just one foe… There was no point continuing to waste our time with that zombie army… It’s just a massive distraction, to divert us from the fact that the only deaths that truly matter are the participants who haven’t died yet!’

PEW-CRACK!

The chain holding Szayel down splintered as it snapped clean in half, a laser of pure black energy blasting right through it. Nagato staggered backward, eyes widening as he turned toward the new arrival. Fingers outstretched and wings spread wide as he dove inward, Ulquiorra raised a lance of dark energy and drove it in toward Nagato.

When he spoke, his voice was calm and without emotion.

“Return to rest.”

SHING!

Nagato was knocked to the side as Konan swooped in, her paper sword raised to parry Ulquiorra’s attack. Without even slowing down, however, the energy blade carved clean through her paper – and Konan with it, severing her body clean in half across the center. The ashes flaking out from the wound made it clear that she had not managed to substitute herself with a paper clone this time.

“Konan!” Nagato cried, dismayed in spite of the fact that intellectually he knew she would regenerate, being an Edo Tensei. She paid him no heed, and as her upper half spun back through the air she hurled a paper chakram toward Ulquiorra, who deflected it to the side with ease.

SHIIIIIIING!

A blade carved into Ulquiorra’s wing from behind and he twisted to the side, his cold expression shifting for the first time since his arrival, in pain and surprise.

“Hahaha!”

Hidan laughed and spun his scythe around, sticking out his tongue toward the thin trickle of blood that he had drawn from Ulquiorra. A moment later, however, a shadow loomed over him, and he had no time to react before being slammed down into the ground by a massive weight which cratered the ground all around. Overhead, the gigantic Yammy leered down gleefully.

“Hope I’m not interrupting!” he rumbled.

As he drew a massive fist back, however, ready to bring it down, a purple chain much larger than Nagato’s wrapped around it, holding it back. He grunted in surprise as he looked back toward his arm, straining against the chain.

“The hell?!” 

Around his feet, wood burst from the ground, wrapping around his legs and creeping up his body, trying to drag him down. He roared and swung his free arm, splintering some of the wood, and then another chain snared that arm too, and the wood kept growing.

Perched atop a boulder some distance away, his chin resting on one hand and the other hand raised lazily, projecting the chains, Obito watched bitterly. Though his chains pulled Yammy resolutely backward, Obito showed little enthusiasm. Yammy roared again, spitting.

“Little insect! I’ll squash you like a damn bug!” As he opened his mouth, a Cero charging up, wood fastened around the lower half of his head, muzzling him and he let out a muffled howl of rage.

“I don’t give a damn about the outcome of this battle anymore…” Obito spat. “I’m fighting because I have no choice. Just shut your mouth and die.”

Watching with amusement from the ground, Szayel raised a finger and pointed it toward the chains binding Yammy, a Cero charging into his fingertip as Akatsuki and Espada battled around him.

‘Given the construction of these restored Akatsuki… hm, yes, Yammy is most likely our easiest-’

The air under his chin split, and he was pulled out of his thoughts as he felt something thin and cold pressed against his neck. Glancing down, he caught the glint of steel out of the corner of his eye, and when he looked to the side…

“Tell your little servants to stand down.” Orochimaru spoke lightly and softly, her eyes gleaming with faint triumph as she held the Kusanagi Blade to Szayel’s throat. Slowly, the Espada lowered his arm and raised both hands in mock surrender.

“Let’s not do anything too hasty, now.”

There was no fear in his tone. Of course there wasn’t; a sword couldn’t kill him. But Orochimaru didn’t need to know that. Szayel smiled pleasantly at her.

“Why don’t we settle this like civilized people, eh? No more unnecessary blood needs to be spilled.”

Orochimaru’s smile widened slightly. “Oh… I couldn’t agree more.”

—

To the south…

Scythes of sand whipped through the air, spinning in wide arcs and all converging inward upon Harribel, before she blocked them each one by one. Tiburón sheared through a wave of sand, and a moment later liquefied the split remains into mud, and Crocodile lost control of them.

No matter how hard she tried, however, she hadn’t managed to get anywhere close to Crocodile.

She ground her teeth, frustration bubbling up. She had everything she needed to win this fight, she knew it… She was stronger than him. She was faster than him. If she managed to catch him with a water attack that engulfed his whole body, it would be over. But as Blackbeard’s fleet continued to multiply and the moon rose higher and higher into the sky, she couldn’t find the opening she needed.

He was just too slippery.

Zommari was keeping the ship fleet at bay with his markings, freezing them in place as quickly as they emerged – and thank god for that. If Crocodile managed to mount an assault with all of their ballistae on top of what she was already dealing with, Harribel wasn’t sure she would be able to hold out for very long. But the more that new ships appeared, the thinner Zommari was stretched. Eventually, his many eyes wouldn’t be able to keep up, and then…

The normally-composed Harribel wanted to scream in frustration. There was only one conclusion.

If the fight continued to drag on, Crocodile would win.

Her fingers clenched so tightly around Tiburón’s hilt that they ached, and she swung the pata upward, ground water exploding up from the earth below like a geyser toward the ship that Crocodile had just landed on, but the Warlord simply slammed his foot down into the ship’s deck and it melted into sand, expanding downward and forming a massive wall that the geyser slammed into.

Harribel swept Tiburón in a wide, horizontal arc. From the glacier to the west of them, a sheet of ice blasted out and swept across the now-airborne Crocodile. Too fast, however, he raised a hand and sand ballooned outward, striking the deluge of frost and dissolving it into sand, which swirled around Crocodile and carried him up higher into the air.

“Sables!”

A tornado of sand and dust swept out and engulfed Harribel, biting into her skin as she raised her arms to shield her eyes.

‘Hgggh…’

Crocodile laughed. “Desert la Spada!”

Through the whirlwind, four massive sand blades split down toward Harribel, who forcibly expelled her Reiatsu outward, pushing the sand momentarily away from herself to prepare a counterassault.

“La Gota-!”

“Desert Grande Espada!”

A bullet of compressed water shot out to block the blades, but simultaneously, a spear of sand drove up from the ground far below, and with her attention diverted, Harribel was unable to stop it before-

SHLOCK!

It skewered up through her stomach, blood erupting out from the massive hole in her torso and soaking into the sand. Her eyes went wide, Tiburón tipping down sharply as the strength fled her limbs, and she struggled to keep holding it up.

Slowly, the fight left her. As Harribel’s head slumped down, Tiburón left her hand, tumbling down along the slope of the sand spire that pierced her. Slowly, she drew her hand inward and pressed it against the sand beneath her, the sticky blood warm against her palm as her eyes slid closed.

Crocodile grinned, and drew his hand back, more scythes forming midair and swirling around above his palm.

“Say goodnight, little fish.”

Drawing his arm back, he slung it forward and the sand blades sheared down toward where Harribel hung, impaled on his sand.

The next couple of seconds felt like an eternity to Harribel as images flashed in her mind. Espada plotting, disobeying, fighting, dying. Her desperate attempts to rally them, to come up with some sort of plan, to fill Aizen’s unfillable shoes. Her promise to Grimmjow, broken no matter how hard she had tried to keep it.

Failure.

Death.

Rebirth.

A new king.

Her eyes opened. She may have lost already… but she was the Tres Espada who embodied sacrifice. She would do her part… and leave the rest up to the others.

She thrust her hand out, blood now soaked into her palm as she splayed her fingers out toward Crocodile. Energy condensed inward, the blood mixing together with Reishi, and with every ounce of strength she could muster, Harribel unleashed a Gran Rey Cero.

Space folded in on itself. The sand scythes that Crocodile had thrown were deleted midair, unable to mount any kind of resistance against the immense blast as it ripped through the air toward Crocodile. The Warlord vaulted backward in alarm, trying to put distance between the attack and himself, but as the light filled his field of vision…

FWOOSH!

Harribel borrowed his own trick. As the Cero’s light blinded Crocodile, occupying his attention, she had telekinetically summoned Tiburón back to her free hand, and swung it upward. From below, another surge of subterranean water burst through the ground and swelled up, striking her foe from below and soaking his entire body.

Crocodile’s eyes widened as the water soaked into his clothes, and into the sand grains beneath, solidifying them. In horror, he felt his body knitting together, becoming solid, becoming tangible… just as the Gran Rey Cero reached him.

‘No-!’

BOOOOOOOOM!

The enormous blast of light slammed into him, and engulfed him without slowing down, annihilating dozens of Blackbeard’s ships behind him, shearing through the majority of the fleet and impacting the ocean on the far horizon. A massive amount of steam erupted into the air, the resulting heatwave wafting across the nearly-destroyed fleet.

Floating in the air above, Zommari looked down in surprise at the strength of the attack. Many of the eyes across his body slid closed, the ships that they had been targeting now gone. The rest swiveled down toward Harribel, widening in alarm as they saw the extent of her injuries.

Across from her, from the enormous plume of smoke that the Cero had produced, Crocodile plummeted. Most of his clothes, and large amounts of his flesh beneath, had been burned away. His mouth lolled open and his wide eyes had rolled up into his head. Smears of blood sizzled on his forehead, and sand flaked off his body as he fell, seared into glass.

Harribel didn’t watch as he fell, or feel as the sand holding her up destabilized and crumbled apart, or register as Zommari’s hands gently caught her before she could fall. Tiburón fell from her hand, and she slumped, blood gushing freely from the gaping hole in her stomach. All that her clouded mind registered was that the clouds that she had conjured overhead had broken, and thin beams of moonlight were beginning to poke through.

‘Grimmjow…’ she thought as her eyes closed. ‘I’ll trust you… to see the rest of this through…’

“ATTENTION ALL PARTICIPANTS! ONE OF THE WARLORDS OF THE SEA HAVE DIED! THREE REMAIN!”

—

To the north…

Szayel didn’t even flinch at the sound of the announcement. He cared nothing for any of the Warlords whatsoever; they were nothing more than cattle to be herded, as far as he was concerned. In the moment that the booming voice rang out, however, Orochimaru reacted with a start. It was only for a moment that she looked up toward the sky, surprise and confusion registering on her face.

But it was enough that she lowered the Kusanagi Blade ever so slightly. And that was all Szayel needed. His hand shot up, Kyuubi chakra morphing around it to reinforce his grip as he clenched his fist down around the blade, shoving it away from his throat. Orochimaru’s gaze turned sharply and violently back toward Szayel, her grip re-tightening on the Kusanagi Blade’s hilt, but it was too late; the momentary lapse was enough that she had lost her positioning and leverage.

Szayel thrust out the hand that wasn’t gripping the blade, and fired a Cero through Orochimaru’s chest. For a moment, as her jaw went slack, it seemed he had succeeded, but then her body split and dissolved into snakes. They twisted around Szayel’s body, hissing violently before merging together, reforming into Orochimaru once again.

Szayel whirled around. An arm made of Kyuubi chakra stretched out from his hand, clawed fingers reaching for Orochimaru, but in a flurry of hand seals, an energy snake shot from her mouth and twisted around the arm, binding it in place so tightly that it halted inches from her face.

Szayel chuckled. He clenched his hand down around the Kusanagi Blade, which remained in his grip, and it cracked in half. Slowly, he put on the pressure, and Orochimaru’s feet slid backward slightly, the Kyuubi arm inching forward as the energy snake squeezed tighter.

“It’s too bad, Orochimaru,” Szayel remarked. “That body you’ve collected was a fine specimen, before you defiled it with your scaly little fingers. I would have loved to have it stuffed for my collection. But noooo…”

He let out an exaggerated sigh.

“I’ll just have to destroy it instead… what a bother…”

As he spoke, pink Mero Mero energy oozed from Orochimaru’s snake and seeped into the Kyuubi arm around which it was wrapped, a sheen of stone spreading across its surface at the appendage was slowly petrified. Szayel smiled, reaching up and brushing his hair back as chakra surged up his arm and through the Kyuubi appendage, crumbling the stone away and pressing forward even further.

Orochimaru’s eyes narrowed as her feet slipped backward along the ground even faster. Two more energy serpents surged from her body and wrapped around the Kyuubi arm, halting it once more.

“What’s the matter, culebra?” Szayel taunted. “Nothing to say? No more tricks to pull out? Go on, say something! Beg for your life, and maybe I’ll make your death quick!”

Orochimaru didn’t reply. Szayel smiled wider as he advanced, pushing Orochimaru back further and further as he spoke.

“You really thought you could do it… that you could turn this entire war around by yourself. That you could save your little group from certain doom. But you can’t. You’re weak! All of you Akatsuki have been nothing but pitiful little vermin, and you are the most feeble and pathetic of them all! You seek immortality, you seek perfection – but I have already achieved both of those things!”

He splayed his free arm wide, his eyes bulging with madness and his mouth opening wide into a gleeful cackle as he spoke.

“I, Szayelaporro Granz, will carry the Espada to victory! I am he who changed the tide of the war – the savior! Not you! Not Grimmjow, or anyone else! Me!”

He willed his Kyuubi chakra to surge forward, his own strength as the Cero Espada bolstering it, to push through the snakes and crush Orochimaru into a stain with a single blow.

It didn’t happen. All of a sudden, it was as though he was pushing against an impenetrable wall. His smile faltered slightly. He pushed again, but again nothing happened. Orochimaru had halted, as though she had found her footing, but even as the shinobi glowered at Szayel, she still said nothing.

Szayel forced his smile to return.

“Heh. So you still resist. It’s pointless, you know. You can’t kill me. Nothing can.”

Orochimaru was silent. Szayel pushed again, and she again didn’t budge. Annoyance flickered in Szayel’s eyes.

“Are you just going to stand there glaring at me forever? Nothing to say?”

Orochimaru was silent. Szayel’s eye twitched.

“Talk, damn it!”

He pushed again, with all the strength he could muster.

Still nothing.

Frustration bubbling in his gut, he willed the Kyuubi chakra to retract, but the snakes held it firm and it didn’t budge.

He willed the chakra to dissipate.

Nothing happened.

Szayel’s blood went cold. His eyes widened, his expression faltering. Then he grinned again.

“Oh, I see! Some kind of illusion, eh? You had me confused there for a moment, but it’s hardly an issue. Reiatsu as strong as mine… can break any illusion!”

He willed his own power to explode out, to shatter whatever Genjutsu Orochimaru had placed him under, but even as his Reiatsu rippled outward, his foe didn’t budge, and he was unable to pull his arm free.

As the Reiatsu wave dissipated into the air, Szayel’s expression faltered again, a trace of fear entering his eyes.

“V… Very funny, Orochimaru! A devilish prank, I’ll admit! But you should know that stalling me won’t get you anywhere!”

As he spoke, his eyes darted around, anxiety entering his voice no matter how much he willed it not to. His feet felt as if they weighed a ton, and wouldn’t budge from where they stood.

“Th… This isn’t funny!” Szayel whipped his tendrils around, and Ceros blasted into Orochimaru, but she didn’t budge. He willed duplicates to appear around himself, but they too stood motionless.

He was stuck. Rooted in place.

“Let me go!” He bellowed, his eyes darting around in panic. “Th-This isn’t-Let me go!”

In the air behind him, two large, gleaming red orbs materialized, their black patterning swirling in a cyclone as a beam of red light descended on Szayel like a spotlight. Slowly, terrified against his will, Szayel turned to look over his shoulder at the two gleaming eyes in despair.

“You’re wrong, Szayelaporro Granz…” A deep, soft voice echoed through his mind. “You are not the savior.”

Pain stabbed through Szayel’s chest as though a spike of ice had been driven through his heart. His gaze turned down sharply, and he saw a shimmering orange blade protruding from him. His jaw went slack. Slowly, his gaze rose to meet Orochimaru’s again. Still, she stared back at him without saying a word.

Szayel’s eyes, normally a dull amber, twisted into a red Sharingan pattern, and he laughed weakly.

“I… see… I guess that’s… checkmate, huh?”

Outside the illusion, Szayel’s body swirled around, twisting inward along the length of the Totsuka Blade and disappearing into the gourd at Itachi’s side, which sealed tight, a puff of exhaust hissing past the cork.

“ATTENTION ALL PARTICIPANTS! ONE OF THE ESPADA HAVE DIED! TWO REMAIN! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA-oh, oops, the mic is still on, ah, oop-!”

Without reacting at all to the announcement, Itachi regarded Orochimaru icily, the shinobi looking back at him with amusement.

In the air to the right of them, the Yata Mirror materialized into being, just moments before attacks slammed to a halt against it, Ceros battering against the barrier. Ulquiorra’s attention had been drawn away from the Edo Akatsuki by Szayel’s death. Within a few seconds, however, the barrage ceased as his focus was forced back onto Nagato and Konan.

“Just in time, Itachi.” Orochimaru remarked casually, as calm as though the attack hadn’t even happened, energy snakes rippling around her. “Timely as usual.”

“You control my every movement,” Itachi spat bitterly. “I arrived exactly when you wanted me to.”

“Be that as it may, you did your job well. He won’t be able to escape?”

“He’ll be playing that game of tug-of-war within my Tsukuyomi for the next thousand years, and even if he breaks out, the gourd will have him drugged and hallucinating for a thousand more.” Itachi allowed his Susanoo to dissipate as he spoke, though the Yata Mirror remained in place. “Provided nobody frees him, he’ll go mad a hundred times over sooner than escaping.”

SHRRRRRRRK!

Powerful slashes assailed the Yata Mirror, and Itachi and Orochimaru turned toward the attackers, their attention caught for the first time.

Baraggan sheared Gran Caída down the side of the barrier, bristling, his lips pulled back in disgust. 

“That weasely little weakling couldn’t handle himself for one damn fight without getting killed?! Pathetic.”

POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!

Countless Ceros exploded against the barrier simultaneously as Starrk descended on the field, eyes narrowed. He didn’t speak a word as he opened fire, sheer anger and displeasure radiating from him.

‘More power, Lilynette. I broke this thing before, I can do it again.’

Within Starrk’s mindscape, Lilynette floated, hands balled into fists and her teeth clenched.

‘Your body will give out… Szayel didn’t make it strong enough to handle our full Reiatsu…’

‘I don’t care!’

Both of Starrk’s Los Lobos pistols morphed into blade form, and he brought them down, massive slashes ripping through the air and carving into the Yata Mirror – but doing no damage.

Behind the mirror, Orochimaru laughed.

“Is this genuine anger? From a Hollow for a Hollow? I thought you Espada all detested each other.”

BOOOOOM!

A powerful Cero slammed down into the Yata Mirror from above, and coupled with Starrk and Baraggan’s attacks, the impenetrable shield creaked, pushed back slightly. Itachi’s eyes twitched in alarm.

Above them, Luppi stood midair, his tentacles swirling behind him as two of them angled downward. Gran Rey Ceros blasted out, putting more and more pressure on the barrier.

“I’m not doing this for any of these guys…” he muttered under his breath, glowering down. “But I owed that freak-show scientist. So die.”

“Orochimaru…!” Itachi spoke in an urgent tone, shifting his weight backward as the Yata Mirror strained. Orochimaru simply sneered and raised two fingers, forming a hand seal.

FWOOSH!

Some distance away, in response to Orochimaru’s mental command, Konan shot into the air, wings unfurling wide. Paper chains shot from her body and wrapped themselves around Luppi’s tendrils, pulling them backward and diverting their aim off of the Yata Mirror. Luppi whirled in place, practically spitting with rage.

“Who do you think you are, touching me?!”

As Luppi turned to attack Konan, Starrk and Baraggan’s assault continued. A moment later, though, Starrk’s eyes widened with a sudden flash of awareness before a blow slammed across the side of his face. Rolling with the punch, he slid to the side and turned his aim toward the attacker, swords morphing back into guns as Ceros blasted out. They struck the assailant… and were absorbed into their skin.

Kisame bared his fangs, his muscles swelling as energy flowed into his body.

“Mmmmmmm, tasty.”

He lunged for Starrk with fingers outstretched and rows of teeth bared, and the Primera Espada raised an arm to block, his attention fully diverted.

“Oi!” Baraggan snapped, turning side to side in dismay as he realized his backup had swiftly been occupied. “What’s the big-?”

A loud roar filled the air, drowning out his voice. Above him, the massive Yammy swayed, pushed fully off-balance by the chains and wood dragons that still ensnared him.

“Could-someone-get-these-damn-things-off-me?!” He roared, toppling over backwards and crashing to the ground with an earth-shuddering impact.

“See, Itachi?” Orochimaru smiled, lowering her fingers. “We’ve got this well under control. It took all of them to-” 

Her face froze mid-sentence, her eyes widening slightly as something struck her senses.

“Itachi!”

KER-CRACK!

A single attack impacted the Yata Mirror, and it ruptured, shattering like glass into hundreds of pieces. The attacker was a blur of movement, having descended from the sky at such blinding speed that even Orochimaru’s Senjutsu-enhanced senses had barely reacted in time.

Itachi was fast enough, though. In the split second that it took for the attacker to destroy the Yata Mirror, the Totsuka Blade materialized and rose to meet their second strike.

KR-SHINK!

Sparks exploded through the air, the Totsuka Blade’s miasma rippling outward as it met the strike, the two shearing across each other and repelling. The attacker that had blitzed in flipped backward, righting herself as her gaze flickered from person to person, taking account of the situation. Itachi’s eyes widened as he recognized her.

“Baraggan!” Nel cried. “Szayel or Grimmjow?!”

It took a moment for the former king to react to her inquiry, his eye wide in startled surprise at the speed of her entrance, but he quickly recovered, his face hardening.

“Szayel!”

Nel nodded sharply.

“Okay! Focus on those other Akatsuki, and free Yammy! I’ll handle these two!”

As she spoke, she swung Gamuza to the side, and a wave of green energy swept across where Itachi and Orochimaru stood, and they leapt into the air to evade.

Once upon a time, Baraggan would have rebuked her defiantly for giving him orders… but now was not the time for that. Without hesitation, he turned toward the raging battle behind them, Gran Caída crackling with energy as he leapt in with great speed.

Nel crouched down and leapt off the air, a shockwave blasting out as she dove toward the airborne Itachi, who swung the Totsuka Blade toward her. Quickly, she twisted her body out of the way, the attack missed, and her fingers closed around his neck, clenching down. Itachi let out a sputtering gasp.

Nel made sure not to meet his gaze, her eyes fixed on his chest for the moment that she spent holding onto him. Under her breath, she murmured, “It’s nothing personal, Itachi,” and then spun around in the air, dragging the shinobi around like a miniature tornado, before hurling him down into the ground, where he impacted, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

Her hand clenched around her sword.

‘This… This is…! If only I had finished things up quicker in the south… Szayel might not have…!’

As soon as she had heard the announcement, she had dashed quickly north, abandoning the fight with Law… if Grimmjow had been the one dead, after all, the Espada would have almost certainly been doomed. Szayelaporro, however, was still a devastating loss. Without him, any Espada who fell in battle now would stay dead.

Nel had no time to dwell on her thoughts, her gaze rising to meet the massive energy serpents that twisted into the air, emanating from Orochimaru’s body. The shinobi stood on the ground, licking her lips hungrily as she gazed up at Nel, the earth rippling around her as nature itself morphed in accordance with her will.

Nel pressed her lips together tightly. She might have been able to break the Yata Mirror… but Orochimaru was strong. Much too strong. She couldn’t afford to hold back. Grimmjow was handling Blackbeard… She would take responsibility for Orochimaru.

Without hesitation, she raised Gamuza to eye level.

“Praise!!”

—

To the south…

Zommari shot through the sky like a bullet, in the direction of the explosions that rocked the horizon in the distance. The wind whipped against his face as his eyes scanned the sky above, the swirling storms and crashing lightning illuminating the night sky.

After Crocodile had been defeated, he had made short work of the Queen Anne’s Revenge and its many ships. Without a captain left to defend them, they had fallen from the sky and decimated the land below, the rot that gripped wood spreading out from their impact point… whoever had created them was certainly a twisted soul.

Zommari’s gaze shifted down toward Harribel, who lay slumped and bloodied in his large arms, her blonde hair matted with blood and obscuring her eyes. He grimaced deeply. Though he had died early in the war, he had come to respect Harribel as a leader in the brief time he had acted under her. He hoped that she could be revived, though given the fate that had befallen Szayelaporro…

He shook his head, his gaze rising toward the horizon as he cast his senses out, tracking the battle ahead, and immediately a surge of power assailed him and he nearly stalled midair, eyes widening in surprise.

‘Is that Nel…?!’

Far ahead, many kilometers across the barren desert, Nel landed on all fours, hooves kicking up sand as she blazed forward toward Orochimaru. She swung Gamuza to the side, and in a blaze of green Reiryoku, it transformed into her long, two-sided lance.

As she closed the gap quickly, Orochimaru thrust out a palm, her fingers curled inward like claws, and the energy snakes above her surged forward, crashing down toward Nel. She dove to the left, then the right, then the left again, and each serpent struck the ground where she would have been a moment prior. As she dodged, she didn’t slow her approach, but she swung Gamuza in wide arcs, carving off each snake’s head in a shower of energy.

The shockwave of each attack struck Zommari, even miles and miles away, and he clutched Harribel tighter, fearful that he might drop her.

Nel neared Orochimaru, and the serpentine woman sneered, forming hand seals.

‘Even just moments ago…’ Zommari thought.

In a puff of smoke, a wall formed in front of Orochimaru: Rashomon. Her path blocked, Nel swung Gamuza as though it were a giant baseball bat… and shattered the gate into pieces as though it weren’t there. Energy spun around the outer edge of the lance, and the side of it struck Orochimaru head-on, blasting her up into the sky.

‘…Nel wasn’t this strong…!’

Nel spun the lance around in her hand until the point of it was angled down toward the ground, and she drove it down. Like a drill, it sheared into the earth beneath her feet, and massive chunks of rubble ripped up into the air, crackling with Reiatsu.

“Ha!”

She swung Gamuza again, releasing a wave of verdant energy which slammed into each piece of rubble and fired them into the sky like a hail of shotgun shells. Chunks exploded against Orochimaru and ripped out chunks of her flesh, and she was battered further into the air.

Quickly, though, she recovered, spinning over in midair, her muscle sinews and skin rapidly knitting back together. Each of her hands moved like a blur, forming individual one-handed seals, before she clapped them together in front of her mouth.

“Fire Style: Mero Mero Inferno!!”

From her mouth, a massive plume of pink fire exploded out. From the mouths of the snakes on either shoulder, green fire joined it, the two colors spinning inward around one another and melting into a gigantic wall of flames that descended on Nel.

Without hesitation, she drew Gamuza up over her shoulder, energy spinning around its edge once again and coalescing inward.

“Lanzador Verde!”

She swung her arm forward, putting her entire body weight into the throw as she hurled Gamuza up toward the incoming surge of fire. The two attacks impacted, and the energy Gamuza twisted inward, the fire condensing and boring into its tip as the two of them struggled against one another. Heat scorched the surrounding stone, and lightning crackled out from the impact point.

To the south, Zommari’s gaze returned to Harribel as he finally found himself forced to a halt. He recalled how in the battle with Crocodile, Harribel had been unable to enter her second released state. At the time, she had attributed that to Szayelaporro’s construction, but…

‘I see… whatever that strange energy is, that fills the air in this arena and has been imbuing us all with power… it doesn’t seem to affect us dead folk. Only those who are still alive are seeing their potential fully drawn out by this place. Which is why…’

Orochimaru’s attack exploded outward, its flames successfully spun to the side by Gamuza. Instantly, the lance shot back down to ground level, returning to Nel’s hand just in time for her to swing it around and parry the next attack from Orochimaru, who had circled around to attack her from the side. The snake woman’s hand was coated in green energy, scaly fingers sharpened like claws as their point crackled against Gamuza.

‘…Those of them that have managed to survive all this time… are in a league of their own…!’

Again, the two canceled out and the attack exploded outward, ripping up the ground all around the two of them.

—

A short time prior…

Law swore under his breath as Nel rocketed into the distance. Turning on his heel, he willed himself to relocate, teleporting through the air after her at high speed and ignoring Nnoitra’s squawks of protest behind him. Even as he blinked through the air after Nel however, she had already disappeared over the horizon. She had sure changed her tune quickly about heading north, after hearing the announcement.

It made sense, though, he supposed. Two Espada left… Grimmjow, Nel and…

He shook his head. He couldn’t remember the other one, but if Nel and Grimmjow were the only two left, it was no wonder she had run out of there so desperately. It was a good thing, he supposed, that she had left him alone to do what he wanted. Given that Crocodile had died and the Queen Anne’s Revenge had been blasted from the sky, the Warlords were practically finished… or at least, all the Warlords he cared about.

Three left. Blackbeard, himself… Mihawk? He couldn’t be sure, but in any case, he knew it was imperative that he stop Blackbeard. That was his priority now, victory be damned. 

As he materialized, the sounds of a raging battle beneath him reached his ears, and his gaze turned down to survey the conflict below. Hundreds… no, thousands of hulking figures tore into each other, some pale white and others a dark shade of green, and even by the second, more and more tore from the ground.

Zombies, he registered, no doubt born from Moria’s Fruit, and… Hollows, if he had to guess? Had Nel mentioned anything about an Espada who could spawn Hollows…?

No, he shook his head. It was unimportant. In the distance to the north, he spotted Yammy’s hulking form, struggling against something. A glint of purple light reached Law’s eyes. All around him, gleaming white lights and dazzling explosions filled the air – Ceros. It seemed that was where-

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

An explosion ripped apart the air next to Law, and without a second to spare he twisted a Curtain around himself, the force of the blast rippling violently across it. A second later, something big and dark slammed against the exterior of the Curtain, struggling against the barrier for a moment, and then cracks opened, and it pierced through.

Law blipped out of existence, and then reappeared a hundred feet above the smoke cloud. A second later, small globs of white shot up from the dust and reached his location, their shape morphing until they resembled miniature insects, floating all around him.

Law’s eyes widened, and on instinct, he swept out his arm. The bugs vanished, relocated kilometers away, and the distant sounds of violent explosions reached his ears a moment later.

‘Bombs…?!’

The dust cloud parted with a fwoosh!, and up from its depths Deidara’s clay dragon soared, ascending toward Law. Fully reformed from his earlier suicide blast, the Akatsuki let out a hearty laugh, forming hand seals.

“A new challenger approaches, hmmmmm?”

Arcing up from beneath him, huge streams of iron sand twisted up around Deidara and shot toward Law like javelins as well. Far below, Sasori had his hand raised, commanding the sand with his will. As the dragon opened its maw and the iron sand converged on Law, the Warlord gritted his teeth and readied himself to teleport once more.

There was no need, though. Materializing in front of Law so fast it looked like he teleported, Kuma swung his massive hand and struck the iron sand javelins with his palm. Instantly, they were diverted to the side, spearing down into the ground and skewering half a dozen zombies.

BLAM!

Deidara’s dragon was struck from the side, a shockwave rippling out through the air. The bomber let out a yelp of surprise as it spun to the side, tumbling over and over in midair as its rider barely managed to cling to its back. Midair, having struck the dragon with his palm, Jinbe turned sharply toward Law.

“Trafalgar! Get out of here, this place is a war zone!”

“Jinbe…?!” In the excitement of everything that had been happening, Law had completely forgotten about Blackbeard’s revival of the Warlords who had died…

That bastard really was despicable.

“GET BACK HERE!”

Law was shaken out of his thoughts by a howl of rage. From the south, where Law had come from, a laser beam split the air, blazing toward him at blinding speed. Again, however, Kuma managed to get in the way. Propelling himself in front of Law with his repulsion, he raised a palm, and the Cero was slammed to the side, blasting down and carving into the battlefield below in a shower of bodies.

Approaching rapidly from the direction the Cero had come from, Nnoitra’s tongue lolled out, smoking slightly. His singular eye was narrowed into a slit. With his six arms, he spun his many scythes around, readying to attack as he neared the Warlords.

“Don’t think you can just forget about me, you little fuckin’-!”

Whatever he was going to say, however, was lost to the wind as a powerful wave of shearing blue energy carved off three of his arms and sent him spinning out of control.

“Wh-?!”

From below, the zombified Dracule Mihawk joined the fray. As he leapt up and swung his sword down on Nnoitra, the Espada raised a scythe to parry, and found yet another arm sheared off, and then another. He howled, and with a surge of energy his lost limbs sprouted back from their stumps. Undeterred, Mihawk kept swinging, blood now gushing from cuts all over Nnoitra’s body.

“Mihawk!” Law cried, relieved to see the swordsman, but a moment later his smile froze. Mihawk’s skin was sallow, and unlike the other Warlords, he wore no expression, and his eyes were blank and empty.

Emotionless.

Dead.

Law’s stomach sank. Even Mihawk…

“Go, Law!” Jinbe’s words shook him out of his stupor, as Deidara and Sasori reappeared, and Jinbe and Kuma moved to intercept them again. “Stop Blackbeard! As long as he has us under his thrall, we can’t lift a finger against him!”

Law shook his head to clear it, and nodded sharply. At the back of his head he heard Zetsu snicker softly.

“Right!”

He turned, and vanished. Behind him, Jinbe turned back toward the battle, a grim scowl schooling his features.

‘No matter how the rest of this war plays out… the outcome won’t be good for anyone if Blackbeard is alive… please, Law, hurry!’

—

Blackbeard, for his part, was having the time of his life. Sealed away from the outside world in the center of the massive bubble of shadow that his Fruit had formed, he was free to concentrate on Grimmjow and Grimmjow alone… and that battle was certainly going well for him.

“Hah… hah…hahhh…”

Grimmjow panted heavily, a trickle of blood running down the side of his face, one of his eyes squeezed closed and his hair disheveled. One of his hands was pressed against a wound on the side of his stomach, and the other arm hung down, clutching Pantera tightly.

In spite of his wounds, though, a wide grin adorned his face. Though he remained on the back foot against Blackbeard’s overwhelming strength, it was clear that the Hollow was having the time of his life.

“You really are strong…” Blackbeard laughed. “I can see how you beat Mihawk!”

He thrust a hand up and spears of shadow erupted out of the dark miasma beneath their feet, dozens of spikes shooting out one-by-one to fill the space where Grimmjow stood. With exceptional dexterity, though, Grimmjow seemed to dance between them, laughing as he sliced several of them in half with Pantera.

“Save your compliments,” he retorted, “I’m still just getting warmed up!”

As he spoke, he blasted a Cero out and Blackbeard raised a hand, darkness materializing around it and swallowing up the beam of light entirely.

“Hurry up and release, then! I’m getting anxious the longer you hold out on me!”

“Aw, come on, you can’t rush these things!”

Though Grimmjow maintained a carefree, competitive tone, his eyes narrowed slightly as he brought Pantera down and Blackbeard blocked it with a forearm coated in Armament Haki, energy crackling out from the impact point.

‘He’s stronger than Mihawk, that’s for sure… but he’s not showing his full power. He’s trying to wear me down in this enclosed space, and pressuring me to release so I’ll tire myself out quicker while he’s got the home field advantage… Feh!’

As Blackbeard repelled Grimmjow and he landed on his feet, skidding backward across the darkened ground, he drew Pantera back, placing his fingers along the edge of the blade.

“But fine! You wanna party? Let’s party!”

‘I’ll just have to fill this place with my power till it pops!’

“Grind, Pantera!!”

—

Law zoomed across the battlefield, the enormous, floating sphere of black energy hanging in the air far ahead. Though Blackbeard’s power blocked sensory abilities, there was little doubt in Law’s mind that it was Grimmjow whom the Warlord was fighting within it. After all, the strongest of the Hollows was nowhere to be seen. Still, Law’s mind was preoccupied with another issue at the moment.

‘I need a sword. If I’m gonna take on Blackbeard, I need a sword!’

Thus far, he had been making due with his bare hands, but without Kikoku in hand, his offensive capabilities with his Fruit were severely diminished. If he tried fighting Blackbeard or Grimmjow without a blade… Well, he couldn’t imagine that his Curtain would hold up against what they could hit him with.

His eyes scanned the battlefield below, searching for a zombie with a sword. Most of them would be of substandard quality, but that was fine. He could use Haki to reinforce their resilience, and his Devil Fruit to enhance their properties. It would be better than nothing-

All of a sudden, the breath was crushed out of his lungs as large, rock-hard fingers closed around his midsection, and he let out a sputtering gasp. He only had a split second to react before he was ripped from the air, dragged down and then slammed into the ground below with enough force to rupture it, dust flying up and cracks spreading out from his location.

The hand that had gripped him retracted and he sharply inhaled, coughing heavily as he struggled to his feet, his bones aching from the sudden impact. At the same time, dismay flashed through his mind as his eyes followed the orange, spectral hand back to its owner.

“It’s been some time, Law.”

Itachi looked tired. Dark circles had formed under his black and red eyes, his robes were torn, and his cracked skin were abnormally pale, even for an Edo Tensei. He regarded Law wearily. Confusion swirled in Law’s chest, his hands balling into fists at his side. He, of course, had no understanding of the Reanimation Jutsu.

“Itachi?” He asked, incredulously. “How are you…?”

“Here? I’m not sure… I would guess that Orochimaru stored some of my DNA before going into battle, just in case my body were destroyed… that was clever of him.”

He appeared to be speaking to himself more than he was speaking to Law. For a moment, the Warlord tried to make sense of what he was saying, and then shook his head, dismissing it as unimportant.

“Help me, Itachi.” He urged his former ally. “There are only a few people left… we can’t let Blackbeard win!”

“I can’t.”

“Why the hell not?!”

“Because Orochimaru wants me to kill you.”

Law was silent momentarily, processing the response. When he spoke, he was quiet.

“…And you’re… helping him?”

“Entirely against my will,” Itachi sighed. The skeletal Susanoo surrounding his body morphed, growing into a full Armored Susanoo as skin and clothing stretched across its surface. “The Akatsuki who were brought back… we all do his… no, her bidding now.”

Law took a step back, anxiety flooding his mind. This was bad… he wasn’t sure if he could take Itachi normally, let alone without a sword, as he was now. His eyes flickered side to side, to the zombies that were giving the two of them a wide berth, until…

‘There!’

He caught sight of one, glinting in the moonlight. He raised a hand and willed his Room to expand, and a moment later it was in his hand: a cutlass, stolen from one of the men Blackbeard had pulled from the earth. Slightly rusted, several of the gemstones missing from its hilt… but a sword, all the same. Willing his Haki through it, he raised the blade up to eye level, angling its point toward Itachi as he prepared himself to fight, wordlessly.

Itachi chuckled humorlessly, hollowly. His Susanoo raised an arm, and the Totsuka Blade materialized in its grip.

“Even with a sword, you won’t beat me, Law. You would be better off running away.”

“I’ll put you to rest.” Law declared, not wavering. “It’s the least I can do.”

Itachi was silent for a moment, and then sighed.

“Fine. Let’s settle this, then. Once and for all.”

—

“Lanzador Azul!!”

Having leapt high into the sky, agile in spite of her bulky centaur body, Nel hurled Gamuza like a javelin, and it speared down through the air toward Orochimaru, telekinetically shifting side to side as spikes shot up from the earth to intercept it. From Nel’s mouth, a Cero raced after the lance and caught up to it, blasting it forward with far greater force, and it connected with Orochimaru’s chest, blowing a hole clean through her.

Immediately, Orochimaru’s flesh began to knit back together, new scales taking shape to bridge the gap in her torso. Before she could finish regenerating, though, Nel raised a hand, and Gamuza spun around midair, before blasting back toward Orochimaru from behind.

“Lanzador Rojo!!”

Nel charged a Bala into her hand, gleaming red energy crackling around her palm, and a concussive blast exploded forth, reaching Orochimaru from the front at the same time Gamuza struck her from behind. A shockwave rippled outward, tearing up the surrounding ground as she was pushed back into the lance boring into her back.

SKKKKKRRRRRRCH!

Once again, Gamuza bore a hole through Orochimaru’s torso, just below the first one. Above, Nel’s hooves kicked off the air and she leapt downward. The lance ripped out the front of Orochimaru’s body and soared into the air before slamming to a halt in Nel’s grip, the excess red energy flying off in a spray of light. Her momentum carrying her downward, Nel skidded to a halt in front of Orochimaru, spinning Gamuza in her grip like a propeller and swinging it forward. Her body unbalanced by the blow from behind, Gamuza slammed into Orochimaru and tore into her violently, like a blunt buzz saw.

Bruised and battered, blood spewing from the two giant holes in her chest and stomach, Orochimaru’s jaw went slack and her eyes rolled up into her head. A saliva-covered hand tore up from her mouth, and from the body a new Orochimaru appeared, dragging herself up and out and rocketing forth, shedding the mangled body like snake skin. As she made her escape unharmed, she evaded Gamuza and twisted herself up and around Nel’s arm like a snake.

Nel swung her arm to the side, trying to dislodge her opponent, but Orochimaru was fast and flexible, already twisting herself around Nel’s body and squeezing tight. Nel swung her arm again, but grunted as she found that Orochimaru had constricted around it so tightly that she couldn’t move it. Suddenly, as the shinobi coiled around her stomach and chest, her breath hitched and she found it hard to breathe.

“Guh…!”

Orochimaru’s neck expanded, and her head twisted up and around until she was positioned over Nel’s shoulder, razor-sharp teeth bared into a wicked grin as the Tres Espada struggled in her grip, the hand holding Gamuza locked firmly in place.

Nel reared her front legs up into the air, and then brought them down violently into the ground, shattering the earth and knocking chunks of stone into the air. As her upper body struggled against Orochimaru’s vice grip, her lower body remained free to struggle… not that it did any good.

“Ssssssstop ssssssstruggling, little foal…” Orochimaru hissed softly into Nel’s ear. “Clossssssse your eyessssss… it will all be over sssssssssoon…”

“Ugh…” Nel groaned and squeezed her eyes closed as she continued to buck and strain, groping for Orochimaru with her singular free hand, but unable to reach her. Orochimaru chuckled.

“Ssssssssuit yoursssssself~…”

She unhinged her jaw, and sank her fangs down into the side of Nel’s neck.

CRRRRRRRRSSSSSSHHH!

‘Ugh-!’

Her teeth grinded sharply and painfully against Nel’s skin, which was reinforced by rock-hard Hierro. Orochimaru willed Senjutsu chakra to pour into her fangs, focusing the edge until they were sharp enough to cleave clean through steel, but still Nel’s Hierro held. Orochimaru felt a flash of annoyance, but quickly squashed it.

‘We’ll see how long you can resist before tiring out, little one… I have all the time in the world…’

As soon as the thought crossed her mind, the world turned upside down.

—

Earlier…

“Grind, Pantera!!”

Grimmjow raked his fingers down the side of his blade, and energy exploded out, bathing the dark interior of Blackbeard’s pocket dimension in blue light. Blackbeard scoffed and raised an arm to shield his eyes, shooing aside the miasma stirred from the ground with a swipe of his hand.

“Now that’s more like-”

SHRRRK!

Blackbeard was cut off as claws scored into his side. The newly-released Grimmjow had dashed through his own energy aura at blinding speed, taking advantage of Blackbeard’s momentary blindness to strike the first blow. As blood gushed from the wound that Grimmjow’s claws opened, Blackbeard found himself for the first time on the back foot, leaping backward to put distance between himself and Grimmjow.

“Now, now, that’s hardly-”

Grimmjow seemed to vanish, and Blackbeard’s eyes widened. He spun around, his fist coated in a quake bubble, just in time to parry a slash from Grimmjow’s claws, which had become coated in a powerful blue energy.

“Desgarron!!”

The quake bubble, which would normally have exploded against an oncoming attack, was carved apart, popped by the Desgarron. Blackbeard’s eyes widened, and the slashing attack continued onward to slam into the Emperor’s chest, widening into five massive, shearing scythes that spanned the length of the darkness bubble.

Blackbeard howled as blood gushed from his chest and he was hurled away from Grimmjow, tumbling head over heels. As he managed to land on his feet and find his balance, he hopped from one foot to the other, clutching his bloodied chest and wailing in agony.

“Ow ow ow ow owwwwwwww! That hurt!”

Grimmjow stood across from him, claws still extended. His smile from earlier was gone, his face set in determination, though the bloodlust in his eyes remained. He flicked his wrist, shaking off most of the blood on his fingers, before raising his hand to his mouth and licking off some of the remainder.

A moment later, he wrinkled his nose and spat it out.

“Tastes like shit.”

Blackbeard, panting heavily, turned back toward his foe, taking in his new appearance. It seemed that Grimmjow’s transformation had repaired his wounds.

“Well, I have to admit, you’re a lot fiercer this way! I might have to actually put in a bit of effort.” He let out a loud, dramatic sigh. “And here I was hoping that you’d just roll over and die like a good little kitten.”

“Sorry to disappoint.” Grimmjow sneered. He raised his hand, and Blackbeard’s blood sizzled, evaporating off of his fingers and twisting inward. Blackbeard’s eyes widened, and he took a stance, darkness swirling from his body as he appeared for the first time alarmed.

“H-Hey, isn’t that a little… a Gran Rey Cero from this close will hurt you too-!”

Grimmjow grinned meanly at him.

“Oh? You know what can hurt me?”

“Ah, well, that’s…” Blackbeard faltered. Grimmjow’s cruel smile only widened.

“I think we could use some fresh air, wouldn’t ya say?”

—

It happened so suddenly that the majority of the remaining combatants didn’t notice it until it was too late to take cover. All of them were, of course, focused on their own battles, so they didn’t notice when the enormous orb of shadow that had been hanging over the battlefield swelled sharply, expanding outward like a balloon that was being filled beyond its capacity.

A moment later, cracks opened all across its sides, and rays of blue light poured out, illuminating the surrounding area. Had this lasted more than a split second, it might have drawn more attention. But the moment the light reached the ground, the balloon reached its limit, and popped.

For several long moments, as the explosion burst outward and space itself ruptured, it was as though no sound was released by the blast. The earth split apart, the storm clouds overhead were eradicated, and the countless people fighting for kilometers around were launched by the massive blast of air. But there was no sound.

Those in the air, like Deidara and Zommari, were sent hurling from the sky. Those struggling on the ground – at least, those too weak to shield themselves – found themselves suddenly buried under mountains of expelled debris. Even Yammy, large as he was, was hurled off his feet, the wood and chains binding him shattering as Obito’s attention was diverted – though thanks to his Kamui, the Akatsuki’s former leader was one of the few who remained standing, debris passing harmlessly through him.

Then, the sound came.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

“Ugh-!”

The shockwave hit Law like a truck, and though he was able to quickly adjust his position and momentum with his Fruit, the wind had been thoroughly knocked out of him. Itachi, though protected by his Susanoo, was not faring significantly better, as the Susanoo’s armor flaked off like shingles in a tornado.

Elsewhere, the ground under Nel and Orochimaru was ripped up, the two of them sent flying. Though neither were so weak that the actual force of the blast hurt them at all, Orochimaru’s grip on Nel loosened, the sudden shift thoroughly disorienting her. At that moment, Nel seized her opportunity.

“Hah!”

She wrenched her constricted arm down and drove Gamuza down through the serpent-like body that was wrapped around her own stomach, wincing as the tip of the lance pierced her own flesh. Orochimaru howled in pain, her bearings still not yet regained, and as her grip loosened even further, Nel’s free hand seized onto the snake and tore it away from her body, hurling Orochimaru into the distance.

The Tres Espada let out a gasp as oxygen flooded into her lungs. Her vision, which had started to grow dark from lack of air, cleared instantly, spots dancing in front of her eyes as she struggled to reorient herself as she tumbled through the air.

As she managed to right herself, she landed as gracefully as possible, her hooves skidding across the newly-disturbed ground, half buried zombies groaning all around her. Some distance away, Orochimaru landed, her stretched-out body retracting and returning to a more humanoid shape once more.

Orochimaru made no effort to hide her displeasure at the interference, Boa Hancock’s features schooled into a deep scowl.

‘Those meddlesome little… to rob me of my victory when I had it all but secured…!’

She formed a hand seal, and the flesh on either side of her head rippled. From each of her shoulders, a face emerged, eyes closed as though asleep. One a female face, tufts of pink hair hanging down around her eyes, the other male, with white hair and two red dots on its forehead.

Orochimaru managed to force her face back into a grin as she faced Nel once again, the Espada drawing Gamuza back as her hooves pawed at the ground, ready to charge. The white-haired face opened its mouth, and from the base of its jaw a bone sprouted, grooves in its side. This tactic had failed against Law, thanks to his ability to silence sound, but against Nel…

Orochimaru smiled. She broke off the bone flute, and placed it against the lips of the pink-haired face. Nel let out a battle cry, and charged toward her, her lance pointed forward toward him as though they were in a jousting match.

“Let’s see you break out of this hold! Tayuya! Musical Genjutsu: Chains of Fantasia!”

Tayuya’s eyes shot open as she blew into the flute. Sound waves rippled out and struck Nel head-on, and everything went dark.

—

Law swung the cutlass up and scored a mark across the side of Itachi’s Susanoo. Though both of them were still reeling from the aftershocks of Grimmjow’s blast, for some reason it seemed as though Itachi was having a harder time of things, his Susanoo only slowly reforming its armor after it had been peeled away.

Fleetingly, as he launched more incision strikes and took care to keep out of the Totsuka Blade’s reach, Law wondered if perhaps the wave of Reiatsu had interfered somehow with whatever jutsu Orochimaru was using to keep his hold on Itachi. It would explain why he was so slow to recover.

“Amaterasu!!”

Itachi’s eye shot open and a trickle of blood slid down his sallow cheek. Black flames exploded into existence on top of Law, but he was ready for them, and they instantly vanished, teleported hundreds of meters behind him.

If he hadn’t known about Amaterasu already, it would surely have killed him.

Itachi swung the Totsuka Blade in a wide horizontal arc, and Law raised the cutlass to defend, willing energy to expand along its blade. Though the sword was of shoddy quality and its blade was heavier than Law was accustomed to, it did the trick. As the Totsuka Blade struck it, space warped and the spiritual weapon blipped out of existence momentarily, before reappearing on Law’s other side, having passed over him harmlessly before continuing on its way.

If he hadn’t known about the Totsuka Blade already, it would surely have killed him.

Law swung the cutlass upward and scored another gash into the bones of the Susanoo. Several armor pieces that had managed to reform were split off, but the Susanoo itself didn’t rupture. Itachi was still safe inside his perfect defense.

‘Not so perfect, though.’

He wasn’t using the Yata Mirror. In fact, he hadn’t used it to block Grimmjow’s attack earlier. Even when broken, as it had been by Starrk before, Itachi could reform the mirror… Had it been broken again? How long would it be before he could repair it? Law grimaced. He could only hope that the Yata Mirror would remain out of the question. He had no idea how to damage it.

As the Totsuka Blade swung back around again, Law teleported backward, just barely clearing the blade’s reach, and then back inward immediately after it had passed, scoring another slash into the Susanoo’s ribs. As his gaze flitted across the chakra avatar, looking for gaps in its defenses, he took care not to meet Itachi’s eyes.

‘Zetsu.’ He thought sharply, a concern suddenly occurring to him as he dodged another slash of the Totsuka Blade. ‘Need your help.’

‘Oh? I was beginning to think you might have forgotten I was here, what with your flagrant scheming.’

Law ignored him. ‘The Tsukuyomi that Itachi implanted in my head before. Is it still there? Can he activate it a second time?’

‘It is not, or Orochimaru certainly would have made him use it already. He would need to re-cast the Tsukuyomi, now that the first has elapsed, which he can’t do as long as you avoid eye contact. But-’

Law shoved Zetsu back into the depths of his consciousness, returning his full focus to the battle at hand as the cutlass clashed repeatedly with the Totsuka Blade, the effects of Room protecting it from the spirit weapon’s effects. So Tsukuyomi was off the table, as long as he was careful. That was a very good thing. 

Still… It was a great stroke of luck indeed that he knew to avoid Itachi’s eyes. If he hadn’t known about the man’s powerful illusions already, they surely would have killed him.

So many deadly powers, any of which could individually prove fatal. There was no doubt about it, Itachi was a terrifying foe. Even so, with all his foreknowledge keeping him safe, and with several of Itachi’s options removed from him, Law couldn’t help but feel that…

As the Totsuka Blade glanced off the cutlass and Law was pushed backward slightly, he opened his mouth and spoke before he could fully consider his actions.

“Itachi! The hell are you playing at?”

“Hm?” Though Law kept his gaze fixed squarely on Itachi’s chest rather than his face, he saw out of the corner of the eye that Itachi tilted his head. “Whatever do you mean?”

“You’re holding back is what I mean. Trying to throw the fight. I’m having a way easier time here than I should be!”

It was true. Every attack had a moment’s delay behind it, abilities like Amaterasu were thrown out with no strategy behind them, and Itachi made no effort to maneuver himself in such a way that eye contact would be forced.

The shinobi was fighting like a man who wanted to lose.

When Itachi replied, he did so in a flat, emotionless tone, as if he were a robot.

“I am merely an Edo Tensei acting in service to the will of Lord Orochimaru. My will is not my own, and to deliberately lose would be beyond my capabilities. If you feel that you are having too easy a time, perhaps you are imagining things. Perhaps it is due to the limited capacity of this Edo Tensei body. Or perhaps you have simply gotten stronger.”

Even as he denied Law’s accusation, however, the Susanoo stalled, making no motion to attack as Itachi was speaking. Law pursed his lips.

‘Zetsu?’

‘Oh, do you wish to hear what I have to say now?’

‘Just shut up and tell me.’

‘Itachi is most certainly holding back… he does not require eye contact to use Genjutsu other than Tsukuyomi. Though for what purpose I cannot say. Perhaps he resists Orochimaru’s control out of sheer spite for the one who stole his body, or perhaps he simply has reached the limits of his own will, and wants to die. Either way, fighting him is a waste of time. He is already dead.’

Across from them, the Susanoo readied the Totsuka Blade. Itachi continued to speak, ignorant to Zetsu’s words in Law’s head.

“Your ability to divert the Totsuka Blade with your Devil Fruit power is remarkable, given the low quality of the sword you wield. Between that cutlass and my Totsuka Blade, the difference is incomparable. Your power alone is making up the difference. I would shudder to see what you could do with a blade like mine.”

Law blinked, confused momentarily. On the edge of his vision, Itachi didn’t smile, but he tilted his head even further.

“I trust you understand what I’m getting at, Law.”

For a moment, Law didn’t. Then, he understood, and his eyes widened sharply.

‘He’s…?’

Zetsu’s raspy chuckle sounded in his head.

‘Well, I suppose that answers my question.’

“Enough talk, Law.” Itachi’s voice rose and became more commanding. “If you would still condemn me for my actions, then do your best to condemn me. Cast me into the pit of hell that I deserve.”

Law’s eyes narrowed and he readied the cutlass, his mouth twisting into a thin, determined scowl.

“Right!”

—

Grimmjow moved like a blur, both clawed hands shearing forward, Desgarron blades trailing behind each of his ten fingers. With every strike, the ground in front and behind him split. With every leap, a sonic boom burst out. As he blitzed back and forth across the battlefield at blinding speed, launching attack after attack, his foe matched him blow for blow.

“ZEHAHAHAHAHA!”

Blackbeard’s enormous body twisted around in midair, both hands cloaked in quake bubbles, and they slammed one after the other into Grimmjow, each one rupturing cracks in the air and sending a tidal wave of earth rippling outward. Grimmjow’s Hierro absorbed the blow, but even in his released state the quakes sent a dull pain shuddering up his body.

“RAAAAGH!”

He let out a bloodthirsty roar and brought a clawed hand down, scoring a gash across Blackbeard’s chest, but Armament Haki coated his skin and it only left a shallow wound. Pivoting midair, Grimmjow spun around until he was positioned behind Blackbeard, his clawed feet scraping to a halt across the ground. Leaping back in, he swung his other arm, but this time Blackbeard managed to swing a darkness-covered fist to intercept, striking up against Grimmjow’s forearm and diverting the strike upward, severing the air above his head, rather than his throat.

WHAM!

Blackbeard’s foot came up, coated in a quake bubble, and it slammed against the bottom of Grimmjow’s chin with a crack, his teeth slamming together so hard that blood oozed from his gums. He let out a growl of pain. A moment later, a shockwave blasted out, the quake bubble expanding and slamming Grimmjow’s chin upward even harder, the ground rupturing all around.

As the Grimmjow hurtled into the air, he recovered and caught himself, pausing in place momentarily before letting out a howl and somersaulting forward. Head over heels he spun downward, Desgarron blades trailing from his heels as his entire body formed a buzz saw of blue light.

The attack met its mark as Blackbeard swung a fist forward to meet it, and Conqueror’s Haki poured out of him as the two blows impacted. The empty space between them filled with sheer, overwhelming energy as they pushed together, neither side willing to give.

Blackbeard howled with laughter.

“I can feel it… every second I’m getting stronger. How long can you keep this up until I surpass you, Grimmjow?!”

With a crack of energy, the two separated, and as Grimmjow spun around backward through the air, he raised an elbow, and spikes exploded out. They rocketed through the air toward Blackbeard like missiles. With a swipe of his hand, Blackbeard swept them all up in a sheen of darkness and spat them out to the sides, cratering the ground where they impacted.

Crouching midair, Grimmjow leapt off, a shockwave rippling out behind him as he shot back inward toward Blackbeard, razor sharp strikes fast and unrelenting like a feral animal, but Haki, darkness, and quake punches matched him blow for blow, the two dancing around each other trying to find an opening.

As they again separated, Blackbeard laughed and his entire body began oozing black darkness and purple shadow energy, which rose into the air like a fog and then twisted inward, absorbed into his right hand. Drawing a fist of darkness back, Blackbeard slammed it down into the ground, and the smog poured out from his location, spreading across the ground until it had far passed where Grimmjow stood, a many-kilometer circle of dark energy shimmering on the ground below.

Grimmjow’s eyes darted left and right angrily, trying to figure out where the attack would come from. Blackbeard, crouched down with his hand pressed to the ground, grinned and then shot up straight, thrusting his arm to the sky.

“Shadows… Muspelheim!!”

The darkness exploded upward, the entire circle surging into the sky like a massive volcanic eruption, and the ground shook violently as pure blackness filled the sky, blotting out the view of the stars above.

—

Grimmjow wasn’t the only one surrounded by darkness, though the inky blackness that now surrounded Nel was considerably more metaphorical than what Blackbeard commanded. As she let out a soft groan, she forced her eyes open, squinting as she waited for her vision to adjust to her surroundings.

How had she gotten here again? She had been fighting Orochimaru, he had used that strange flute attack, and then…

Nothing.

She looked down at her hands, and alarm flared through her as she found her fingers much shorter and stubbier than normal. She registered that she was missing several teeth, and as she tried to take a step forward into the darkness she tottered, hobbling on her much shorter legs and put off-balance by her oversized green rags.

For a moment, panic started to set in. Her arm band kept her from reverting to her child form normally, but if Orochimaru had broken it-! A moment later, her now-stunted mind caught up to her situation. This wasn’t the battlefield… this darkness was unnatural. And besides, she had seen this trick before.

“I know thish ish a Genjutshu!” she lisped, trying to keep her tone level, but couldn’t help as a slight quiver entered her voice. She was a child now, after all. “Sha-Shasho- …The puppet tried thish!”

No response. She took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes closed, and concentrated. It was an illusion. It wasn’t real, so…

She opened her eyes. Her breathing steadied, and she saw with relief that her proportions had returned to normal. Her hand found Gamuza, hanging on her hip in sword form, and drew it, readying for attack. Her surroundings were still the same eerie darkness, even if she had managed to retake some control.

“Show yourself, Orochimaru!” She commanded, her voice much stronger this time. “This trick won’t win you the fight! I overcame it before!”

Orochimaru’s soft, menacing laughter filled the area, light and feminine but overlaid with the menacing rasp that characterized the shinobi’s voice.

“I hope you don’t think that Sasori and I are comparable…” She crowed silkily. “I’d be terribly insulted…”

Nel stood firm, tense, waiting for any sort of attack to come. The voice seemed to come from all around, so she had no doubt it was part of the Genjutsu, and not something she could use to discern Orochimaru’s location. But although she refused to let her guard down, the momentary lull in the action allowed her to consider her opponent more carefully for the first time.

‘That new body… He must have stolen it at some point during the war. A woman, and not one I recognize, so it must be either Konan or Hancock…’

Two Akatsuki left. Orochimaru and an unknown. Three Warlords left. Blackbeard, Law, and an unknown. Were both of the remaining Akatsuki facing her right now? She supposed it was possible, but even so…

She thought back to her conversations with Law and Itachi. Neither of them had made any special mention of Konan or Hancock, only that the former was a close confidant of Pain’s, and the latter…

Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t remember Law saying anything at all about Hancock. Had that been intentional? Was she really too irrelevant to be worth concerning themselves with, or was she some kind of secret weapon that Law had been withholding from her?

There was no point worrying about it now, she supposed. Though she knew very little of Hancock, she still felt a stab of sympathy for the other woman. If she was indeed the one whose body had been stolen, her soul consumed by Orochimaru, she had met a truly horrible-

It happened so suddenly that there was no time to react. Searing pain exploded from Nel’s stomach, chest, and shoulder, ripping her out of her thoughts, and she cried out in shock and agony. Her vision went fuzzy and she almost fell unconscious from the pain, but she forced herself to focus again.

All around her, the pitch blackness had turned into a sea of blood, and sickening red spikes had shot up from the water and pierced through her body. Her mouth and nose filled with blood, and she felt all of a sudden as though she was choking, the grim reaper’s hand pressed against her face, forcing her breath back down into her lungs…

Floating on the surface of the blood lake, lifeless Arrancars lay torn to shreds, motionless, glassy-eyed. Grimmjow, Harribel… the rest of the Espada… even Pesche and Dondachakka, her friends who had stood by her side through thick and thin, were not spared…

Tears of blood streamed down her face as the pressure in her nose and mouth built further and further. More spikes burst up and speared through her torso. Her limbs wouldn’t move, her body going into shock, critically wounded…

‘This isn’t real… This isn’t real, this isn’t real, this isn’t real…!’

She forced the thought to repeat through her mind like a mantra, even as her own thoughts were drowned out by agonizing pain. It was just a Genjutsu, she knew that… but Sasori’s Genjutsu hadn’t been even nearly this torturous.

With a cry of effort, she forced a wave of Reiatsu out of her body. The spikes impaling her dissolved, and her airways seemed to clear, air filling her lungs as she dropped to her knees atop the surface of the blood lake. Though she lacked the high-speed regeneration that some of her peers possessed, she felt the illusory wounds across her body vanish as she gasped for breath.

It hadn’t broken the illusion entirely, but her Reiatsu could suppress the effects well enough to alter what was going on. That was good.

But Orochimaru was far from done. All around her, the dead Espada corpses stirred, their limbs twisting at unnatural angles as they dragged themselves slowly to their feet. As they crowded toward her, Nel backed away slowly as her eyes darted from person to person, the sight of their dead eyes and the smell of rotting flesh assailing her senses.

‘This isn’t real…!’

“Nelllllll…” Harribel rasped. Her mouth was torn at the edge and her jaw was angled oddly, so it came out as more of a guttural moan than a word. As she reached to grab Nel’s arm, Nel swatted her away, backing up as she raised Gamuza.

“Don’t come any closer!” she commanded, and the fake Espada paused for a moment.

“Traitor…” Harribel whispered, and Nel flinched back, the word hitting her as hard as a punch. “We’re dead… we’re all dead. And it’s your fault, Nel. How could you? I trusted you…”

“Shut up.” Nel spat, her grip around Gamuza tightening. “Stop speaking with her voice, about things that you don’t understand. You have no right to do that.”

Orochimaru’s laughter whispered again through the air.

“Does it bother you, little girl? Why ever would that be? If they’re fake, then you should have nothing to be upset about… if you don’t think they actually blame you, then why should their words hurt…?”

Her words sent a chill up Nel’s spine, and she forced herself not to shudder. She forced herself not to respond, not to meet her enemy’s bait… but as Orochimaru kept speaking, more and more Arrancars gathered in a wide circle around her. Old faces, past members of the Espada she had almost forgotten about…

She swallowed heavily. Orochimaru’s words whispered softly in her ear.

“While we’re here, little one… why don’t we have a chat?”

—

Law rocketed through the air, willing himself to blink forward through space, a trail of blue energy from his Room crackling behind him as he went. Orange arrows pierced the air, ripping forth with enough concussive force to punch a hole through a mountain, but Law managed to stay one step ahead of them. 

On the ground below, Itachi loaded another spiritual arrow into the large bow that he had formed with the Susanoo. Spinning in a circle around the head of the arrow, a small chain of three Magatama beads glimmered, connected by a thin thread.

“Magatama Arrow!!”

Itachi released the shot and it blasted into the air, the Magatama chain expanding to swirl around the arrow, the air around it twisting inward as though vacuumed up by the speed of its spin. Law barely cleared the attack and it tore past his head, but the tornado-like gale that followed ripped him off course, sending him spinning out of control.

“Guh-!”

“Amaterasu!!”

The air exploded, filled with black flames, and Law’s skin seared with blindingly hot pain for a split second, before he managed to swing the cutlass and carve the air in half.

A moment later, the side of his stomach exploded with agony. He would have screamed, but blood quickly filled his mouth. Thanks to his Ope Ope no Mi, he didn’t need to look to see what had happened; another arrow had struck him head on, in the moment he had spent negating the Amaterasu wave.

Law wasted no time, and clapped his hand against the gaping wound in his side. He willed the cells on either edge of the wound to multiply rapidly, closing inward at unnatural speed. Under normal circumstances, such a tactic would be risky, as forcing cells to divide too quickly could cause DNA mutations that could then metastacize… but Law didn’t have time to worry about that. He could fix any issues later; for now, the priority was staying alive.

Within a few seconds, the wound had closed, and the organs that had been punctured within had been stitched up well enough that Law could breathe again. Narrowly, he dodged another arrow, and registered that Itachi hadn’t shouted out the attack name the second or third times. Had he done so the first time to make Law think that he needed to do so? If so, it had worked. He had been unprepared for the attack because he hadn’t heard Itachi shout it out.

Not for the first time, he felt a stab of overwhelming annoyance at Itachi’s cleverness.

The world around him disappeared and then rematerialized as he relocated to the ground, dashing toward the Susanoo, brandishing the cutlass. He had hoped that taking to the sky would allow him to outmaneuver Itachi, but it hadn’t worked out. In addition to the arrows, fighting from a distance meant that he was always in the shinobi’s line of sight. Not good. He needed to keep the fight up close, if he wanted to maintain any kind of momentum.

As he rapidly approached the Susanoo, the bow in its hands vanished, and it re-conjured the Totsuka Blade. At the center of the figure, still entirely unharmed, Itachi watched his approach with gleaming, narrowed eyes. Law drew his hand up the length of the cutlass’ blade, energy seeping through it. He drew it back.

“Puncture… Wille!!”

The sword expanded sharply, blasting forward with a massive shockwave, its point aimed directly for the Susanoo’s chest – for Itachi in the center. Even though the Yata Mirror was still gone, though, Itachi drew the Totsuka Blade across the Susanoo’s chest, and the tip of the cutlass slammed into the flat of the spiritual blade.

Powerful Armament Haki exploded out, lightning arcing against the ground, and the Susanoo was pushed back along the ground, but the Totsuka Blade held. Slowly, the Susanoo ground to a stop, and began to push forward again, inching back toward Law, who strained to keep pushing it back.

Within the Susanoo, Itachi did not appear rattled. The Susanoo crept forward as Law pressed back against it, the distance between them slowly closing. Finally, when they were only a few meters apart, the Susanoo’s skeletal arm shoved outward and repelled the Puncture Wille, Law’s energy dissipating as the sword returned to normal length.

The Susanoo rose the Totsuka Blade, and with a powerful overhand strike, brought it down toward Law’s head. He barely managed to raise the cutlass to block, the coat of energy around its edge expanding in length and width. The Totsuka Blade struck down and slammed to a halt against it, and then came down again and again, blow after blow raining down on the cutlass, finally bringing Law down to one knee. 

Law let out a grunt of determination, and in the split moment between strikes, swung the cutlass out in a wide horizontal arc, but the Totsuka Blade deflected the blow and retaliated with a strike of its own, sending Law tumbling backward. Though he managed to land in a crouched position, the cutlass raised to defend, he panted heavily, sweat pouring from his brow.

‘For someone holding back,’ Law thought bitterly. ‘He’s still really damn strong.’

Itachi regarded him coldly, with no trace of mercy on his face. 

“From close or from afar, I see through you all the same, Law. You’ll have to do better than this.”

—

Nel backed slowly away from the fake Espada that surrounded her from every side, but no matter how hard she tried to ignore it, Orochimaru’s voice pierced through her mind like an ice-cold knife.

“You embody death via sacrifice, don’t you, little Nelliel? Or was it lamentation? No… lamentation once upon a time, and sacrifice now. That’s what it is.”

“What does it matter to you?” She asked, tightly. She had no time to be playing mind games while the war waged outside.

“Oh, I was just thinking that it’s fitting, isn’t it? The Hollow who cared, beaten down again and again by lost comrades until finally, the one she has to mourn is herself. Stabbed in the back by a comrade. Right?”

Nel paused, and her grip on Gamuza loosened as she felt a flicker of alarm. Orochimaru was… reading her mind? That had to be it; there was no way he could know about that otherwise.

“That’s all in the past.” She snapped.

“Is it? Is it truly all in the past? Can you really fight alongside Nnoitra and Szayelaporro, knowing what they did to you? What they took from you?”

“Grimmjow and Harribel lead the Espada now. They’re different. I trust them.” Even as she spoke, she wasn’t entirely sure why she was bothering to argue the point.

“Are they? Do you? Because it seems to me like you betrayed them.”

Nel was silent for a moment. Intellectually, she knew that Orochimaru was trying to get under her skin. That she excelled at picking at weak points and ripping them open. She knew that, but…

“…That’s not… it has nothing to do with…”

“Oh, but doesn’t it? Isn’t that why you turned traitor? You were hurt once upon a time, and you can’t stand sitting around waiting to be hurt again. So you spend all your time doubting your comrades, and no longer cares who you lose, as long as you’re fighting for what you think is just…”

“That’s not it.”

She spoke the words forcefully. They were true, after all, Orochimaru had it wrong. She wasn’t afraid of Nnoitra, or even bothered by the idea of working with him… not too long ago, she had been playfully teasing him, even…

Even so, as Orochimaru continued, she couldn’t help but feel a growing discomfort in the pit of her stomach.

“Your mind is laid bare before me, Nelliel. Every image you see is here because you fear to see it. Every iota of pain you feel, you feel because you think you deserve it. That is Fantasia: it forms its melody around your mind.”

Nel shook her head. 

“I… you’re lying. I don’t feel that way, I’m sure of it. Besides, even if that was true…” Orochimaru laughed louder. Nel raised her voice above it. “It would just mean that you’re a hypocrite. How can you sit there and judge me for not trusting the other Espada when you’ve betrayed every ally you have? Stolen body after body in pursuit of your own selfish dream-?!”

Orochimaru’s laughter quieted, but there was amusement in her tone as she replied.

“I am a monster. I have always been a monster, and I will always be a monster. The difference is that even when inhabiting another’s flesh, I still wear the skin of a snake, and not a man.”

Nel forced her hands to stop trembling around Gamuza’s hilt. The fake Espada didn’t seem to be advancing, so she supposed Orochimaru was enjoying the conversation. That was good. The longer she kept her occupied, the more she could recover her strength.

“So what? You’re better than I am because you don’t pretend to be good? Is that what you’re trying to say?”

“Not especially.” Orochimaru laughed. “I’m utterly deplorable, frankly. Everything you said about me is true, on top of a thousand other things that would make you retch if I recounted them. And between you and me, I’m not above pretending to be good.”

“Then why-”

“The difference is that I don’t care. You could throw all of my crimes back in my face and I wouldn’t blink an eye. Whereas you try to be a good monster. To fight for a better world, even though you’re nothing but a devil born to eat and kill. So unlike me, when you’re confronted by your mistakes, it hurts.”

Nel let out a short, humorless laugh.

“So, what then? You don’t actually have a point, you’re just trying to attack me psychologically. Why should I listen to you?”

“You shouldn’t. That’s the fun part. I have absolutely no moral high ground, I don’t know you, and I have no business speaking here. But even in spite of all of that, it still bothers you anyway, doesn’t it?”

Nel was silent.

“Go on, admit it.”

“…Yeah.” Nel spoke quietly. She lowered Gamuza slightly. “Yeah, it bothers me. I guess that’s why I’ve been fighting you so hard… to make up for betraying the Espada.”

The sound of slow applause filled the air. The fake Espada in front of Nel shuffled to the side to reveal Orochimaru emerging from the blood lake, clapping her hands together, a condescending smile on her face.

“Bravo, bravo… It seems I was wrong. You’ve still got some lamentation in you, after all.”

Nel scowled at her, resentment and anxiety bubbling up inside of her.

“What on earth is the point of this? Stopping the fight just to have this conversation? Why do you even care why I’m fighting you?”

Orochimaru tilted her head, a coy smile on her lips.

“I suppose… it’s a matter of rhythm.”

“Rhythm…?”

“I’m a deeply curious individual, you see. My hunger has always been for knowledge. To understand all things in this world.”

In spite of herself, Nel found herself listening intently to her words. Orochimaru continued.

“This whole war, being confronted by people from a different world… that is deeply fascinating to me. It’s as though I’ve been introduced to a whole new spectrum of colors that I’ve never even imagined before. I’ve been eager to explore every shade, to learn every texture and color combination.”

She splayed her arms wide, closing her eyes as Boa Hancock’s face settled into a peaceful smile. Nel felt a small stab of anger at the sight.

“If your powers are like colors, then your personalities are like music. The way you act, the way you fight, they all have a distinct, unpredictable rhythm to them. Like a song playing in a key that I can hardly hear.”

Orochimaru opened her eyes, and immediately her peaceful expression morphed back into something sinister.

“Once I learn that rhythm? I can follow it at my whim… and it no longer fascinates me.”

A tense silence spanned between the two of them for a few long moments.

“You understand what I’m saying, right?”

Before Nel could reply, agony exploded in the side of her neck, just above the ridge of her shoulder. She staggered and nearly dropped Gamuza. All around her, the blood lake seemed to drain away and her feet hit the solid ground hard, four bovine legs giving way beneath her as she dropped to her knees.

Orochimaru’s head retracted, her fangs pulling back from where they had sunk into Nel’s neck, leaving two long trails of blood behind. Red tinged with a faint green as they trickled down the side of her neck. Another spasm of pain rocked her body, and Gamuza dropped from her hand, clattering to the ground as both her arms went limp, numbness spreading down to her fingertips.

As Orochimaru’s neck retracted and her head took back its position atop her shoulders, she smiled morosely as she waved a finger back and forth.

“I’m saying…” she said slowly, leisurely approaching the collapsed Arrancar. “…that you no longer interest me, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck. I understand your rhythm, now. So you can go ahead and die for me.”

‘Poison.’

Nel had recognized the signs right away, but her brain was already sluggish, struggling to piece thoughts together. Hollows were more resistant to poison than most, but… it seemed that Orochimaru’s venom was plowing through whatever defenses she had, and she could hardly muster the Reiatsu needed to suppress it temporarily.

She cursed herself inwardly in a thousand ways for being so stupid. She had thought that she was keeping Orochimaru distracted, prolonging the fight until she could recover from the mental attack – never considering that the real danger might lie outside the illusion.

Her eyelids felt very heavy. Faintly, she regretted not at least managing to take down Orochimaru… but it wasn’t all bad, she supposed. Crocodile was gone, and Law… Well, Law was still alive too, she supposed.

‘I really didn’t… manage to accomplish anything…’

She laughed weakly, a faint pain building in her chest as she did. To think, that in the end she would die so-

“Nelliel!”

Her lidded eyes slid open slightly as her gaze turned toward the sound of the voice, which sounded vaguely familiar. In front of her, Orochimaru turned too, startled. Some kind of savior…?

No, it wasn’t. Whatever faint hope of a rescue she’d had deserted her at the sight of the newcomer dashing over the crest of the nearby sand mound. While Nel was hardly displeased to see him, she could not find herself overly relieved at the sudden appearance of…

“Zommari…?” she mumbled, struggling to keep her eyes open as numbness continued to creep across her body. She heard Orochimaru laugh.

The Septima Espada had seen better days. His white cloak was torn in many places, the pink bulb that would have normally adorned the lower half of his body had been torn away, and many of the eyes across his body were swollen closed or dripping with blood from having been gouged out entirely. But most pressingly, in his arms…

Nel felt as though she had been doused with cold water, her senses clearing as horror spiked through her.

“H-Harribel…?!” she rasped out, her torso twisting toward Zommari, legs struggling beneath her, trying to stand.

The Tres Espada lay limp in Zommari’s arms, covered in blood and completely motionless. Though Nel’s Pesquisa was weak from the poison, it hardly took any sensory power at all to tell that the body Zommari was carrying wasn’t alive.

Somehow, she managed to force herself up, and took a couple steps toward Zommari before her strength failed her, and she crumpled again. Behind her, Orochimaru laughed.

“Well, well, well… What do we have here? One last death to lament for the road, Nelliel? I suppose I’ll let you say goodbye… you’ll be reuniting soon, after all.”

“Where’s Szayelaporro?” Zommari cried, his gaze flickering toward Orochimaru and then back to Nel. “We need to regroup-”

“Szayelaporro is dead.” Orochimaru cut in. Zommari froze, his eyes going wide. “I killed him.”

Nel’s vision blurred, her gaze fixated on Harribel. Though she had already known that Szayel was dead…

She wasn’t sure exactly how she managed to stagger to her feet, didn’t remember racing forward, but a few moments later she had crossed the clearing and reached where Zommari stood, her eyes desperately scanning Harribel’s body as though looking for some kind of trick.

Nel trembled badly as she stared with horror at her friend’s lifeless face. Harribel had died before, and Nel had known that, but… she hadn’t seen the body, and Grimmjow had tasked Szayel with reviving the other Espada before she had any time to process it. It hadn’t felt real.

Slowly, she wrenched her gaze away from Harribel, and her eyes moved upward to meet Zommari’s downcast, sorrowful ones. She felt the strength leave her legs again and she swayed in place, bowing her head as bitter tears started to fall.

“I’m afraid,” Orochimaru spoke from behind her, speaking slowly, as though savoring the moment, “that there are no resurrections for you Espada this time. Of course, I could bring you back myself, as Edo Tensei… if you get on your knees and beg for it.”

…

Nel turned toward her, staring blankly at her foe, who stood a short distance away, not having moved from the spot where she had been moments prior.

Orochimaru was smiling.

Slowly, Nel turned to face her, the strength creeping back into her legs. As the tears fell harder and faster, a burning sensation spread through her, overtaking the cold numbness, pushing it out.

Anger.

Despair.

Determination.

They all swirled together in her chest, mixing into white-hot Reiryoku that ripped the poison from her veins, extinguishing it, suppressing it. A roaring sound filled her head as she raised her hand and Gamuza shot through the air like a bullet, her fingers closing around the hilt of her weapon.

As Reiatsu rose through her entire body, wafting out from her skin like steam, her wide, tearful eyes met Orochimaru’s, and the shinobi’s grin faltered as she took a step back. Nel felt her lips move, and the next words came out unbidden.

“No one shall mourn you. I’ll make sure of that.”

As the words left her mouth, something inside her snapped. Her Reiatsu, which she thought could not climb any higher, spiked sharply with such force that she felt as though her entire body shattered. A wave of green energy exploded up from the ground at her feet, consuming her entire body in an enormous conflagration. Behind her, Zommari staggered back, and leapt away with Harribel in tow, putting distance between himself and the sudden energy surge.

Orochimaru took another step back, and then another, a small trace of fear flickering in her mind for the first time since she had first entered Dragon Sage Mode. The power she now possessed had been more than enough for Szayelaporro, and even Nel in her released state, and with every second she got stronger, more natural energy flowing into her, but…

In spite of that, the power that now assailed her felt as though it was crushing her, collapsing her lungs and suffocating her.

FWOOSH!

The enormous eruption of energy split in half as something large and long swept through it, dissipating it. Within, Nel stood, but her appearance had changed. Her height had increased, but her bovine lower half had shrunk down, two large, cloven hooves planted on the ground instead of four. The ram horns adorning the skull atop her head had grown larger and more jagged, curling around themselves several times, and her already-large mane of green hair had grown much larger and more unruly, hanging all the way down past her waist.

Most striking was her face. Her eyes had turned pitch-black, as though completely empty, aside from the bright yellow pupils at the very center. Down each of her cheeks, several streaks of black had appeared, like tear stains scored permanently into her face.

Orochimaru gritted her teeth. Though she had never seen this phenomenon in person, she had seen it in Itachi’s memories, when she had possessed his body, but it had been Harribel then, and Ulquiorra before that.

Segunda Etapa.

The world faded away as Orochimaru allowed her Senjutsu senses to take over, the invisible energy around Nel’s body becoming a swirling mass of green. Orochimaru could tell that within the Espada’s veins, her poison still flowed, but her Hollow Reiatsu was pushing it back, keeping it faint.

Were it not for that poison, Orochimaru realised with a flicker of fear, the woman would be even more powerful. She forced a smile, and clapped several times.

“Well, well, well, isn’t this interesting? Seems the show isn’t over quite yet. It appears you’ve taken the form of a Minotaur?”

Nel ignored her, raising both arms in front of her, her eyes moving down her own body, taking in her new appearance.

In her right hand, Gamuza had also changed shape. Rather than the massive, two-sided lance it had been just moments prior, it had become thinner but much longer, closer to a spear than it had been before. Running all the way along the edges of each pointed end were numerous barbs, razor-sharp and jagged, pointed back toward the grip of the weapon.

Slowly, as her eyes traveled up the length of the weapon, they rose to meet Orochimaru’s gaze. The two stared silently at each other, both trying to gauge the other’s reaction.

Behind Nel, some distance away, Zommari watched with stunned surprise. When Nel spoke, her voice was deeper and raspier than it had been before, and he jumped.

“Get Harribel out of here, Zommari. I can’t guarantee that I won’t destroy this whole place.”

Zommari swallowed.

“R-Right!” He turned and leapt into the air, propelling himself away as fast as he could with his Gemelos Sonído. From his perspective, he couldn’t even seem to gauge how strong she was now… which, by his instinct, probably meant he was better off as far as possible.

Behind him, Orochimaru watched him go with amusement, but made no effort to chase him. Zommari was already eliminated, after all, and thus wasn’t a priority… plus, she had a feeling she needed her full attention for Nel.

“Now that we’re alone,” she started, “why don’t we-”

A hole blasted through her stomach and she staggered, blood filling her mouth. Behind her, facing away, Nel stood with Gamuza raised, having shot past her so fast that even Senjutsu-amplified senses couldn’t catch her.

Nel turned back to face Orochimaru as she stumbled backward, pitch-black eyes regarding her coldly.

“I didn’t say you could speak.”

She turned all the way around and thrust Gamuza again, a dozen times all at once, and holes ripped open all across the shinobi’s body. A moment later, with a puff of smoke, she vanished, a log materializing in the air where she had been, now thoroughly perforated as it toppled to the ground.

Without reacting, Nel’s eyes rose into the air and found Orochimaru again, the Sannin having appeared high above. Hand seals formed at blinding speed, and the glowing green snakes above each shoulder lunged down toward Nel, jaws open wide. With a flick of Gamuza, their heads were severed and went flying. Orochimaru stared down in dismay, wide-eyed.

Nel raised the hand that wasn’t holding Gamuza, pointing it toward Orochimaru as her own bright green energy flowed out into an orb of light.

“Die.”

Light exploded outward, filling the air as the green Cero reached Orochimaru instantly. Without time to do anything else, she thrust both her hands out to block, Haki and Senjutsu chakra alike seeking to repel the attack.

‘Ghhhhhhhhhh!’

The blast tore into her palms, the normal Cero striking with far more force than even Szayel’s Gran Rey Cero had, previously. Orochimaru was blasted further into the air, the skin on her arms peeling away as she let out a howl of pain, until finally she managed to force the blast to the side, and it descended on the horizon, a massive explosion erupting that spanned many kilometers.

—

On the opposite side of the battlefield, Blackbeard and Grimmjow clashed violently, powerful punches slamming against devastating slashes, shaking the ground around them. As they separated, Blackbeard let out a guffaw.

“Looks like the small fries are getting a bit rowdy! That one of yours, Grimmjow?”

Grimmjow grinned. “You’d better believe it.”

“We oughtta step up our game, then! Wouldn’t want anyone else stealing our spot as the main event, eh?”

Grimmjow scoffed.

“As if.”

Some distance away, as the Edo Akatsuki and the Espada continued to wage their battle in spite of the devastation that had rocked the battlefield, the sudden surge of energy unbalanced them. Ulquiorra’s eyes widened as he turned towards it, his battle with Nagato interrupted.

“Is that…?” He murmured the words under his breath, trailing off.

‘Segunda Etapa… power beyond even Resurrección… someone else has achieved it?’

Above him, the recovered Yammy let out a peel of laughter, bringing his massive fist down on the battlefield and sweeping it across.

“Now that’s a wake-up shot to the senses!” He bellowed. “But I ain’t falling behind!”

He opened his out wide and fired a laser into the sky, carving through a hail of clay missiles that Deidara rained down. On the ground below, Obito turned, lips curled up into a satisfied smirk as he watched Nel and Orochimaru battle on the horizon.

‘Having trouble, Orochimaru?’

—

Orochimaru let out a roar of anger as her skin regrew, stretching up the length of her arms all the way to her fingertips in mere moments. Her eyes rolled up into her head, bloodshot white sclera all that remained visible as her mouth opened wide, rows of razor-sharp teeth gleaming.

Her flesh blasted outward, milky grey, scale-covered skin expanding like a balloon around her, growing larger and larger, until the shadow eclipsed the battlefield below.

Nel looked up, her expression blank, as Orochimaru crashed down in front of her, nine long, serpentine heads sprouting up from her now-massive torso and filling the sky. She slammed a clawed limb down, and talons as long as a building scored deep gashes into the ground.

“You inssssolent little inssssect…!” She snarled out the words, and the sound reverberated across the sand for miles. “You think that thissss issss enough to kill me?! I’ll melt you alive!” 

All nine heads reared back and then lurched down, and from each of their maws, a massive plume of swirling green and pink fire blasted down toward Nel, converging at ground level and combining, tearing across the sand toward where she stood.

She raised Gamuza and spun it in her grip, and it formed a propeller. When the fire impacted, it parted around her, blasted to the side by the sheer wind pressure of the spinning lance. When it touched the ground, the sand below was seared into glass, but moments later the glass hardened, a grey sheen spreading across it as Boa’s Mero Mero power turned it to stone.

Nel’s eyes widened as she glanced down at it, and then up at her arm. Though Gamuza was successfully diverting the attack, the Mero Mero effect had begun to pass through it, and was now creeping steadily up her arm.

Instantly, Nel jerked her right arm back, away from the flames, and thrust the left one forward. From her palm, a Cero blasted up into the onslaught of flames and split clean through it, racing up the length of the inferno and shearing through the mouth of the central hydra head, carving its top half clean off.

Orochimaru howled and her other heads recoiled, the flames ceasing as she felt an unexpected surge of pain.

“One.” Nel murmured under her breath.

Without hesitation, she spun Gamuza around into her left hand and brought its bladed end down, shearing off her right arm before the Mero Mero effect could spread past her elbow. As blood showered down, she ignored it, and turned her gaze up to the hydra, which spat violently, venom searing the ground at its feet.

“Why you…!”

Nel crouched down, and blasted off the ground, much more lithe now that she had two legs again, rather than four. Shockwaves rippled out behind her as her Sonído propelled her up toward Orochimaru’s heads, which were slow to react.

SCCCHHHHHHLOCK!

A swing of Gamuza tore open the side of one of Orochimaru’s necks, and again she howled in pain as blood and poison sprayed out, the head lurching to the side, only held onto the torso below by a narrow thread of scales and sinew.

“Two.”

Another head swung around, ready to bodily slam Nel out of the air. She leapt up, and it bulldozed harmlessly under her, hitting nothing but the empty space where she had just been. She tossed Gamuza up and caught it as it spun around, now angled backward in her hand as she raised it behind her.

The hydra head that had swung for her whirled around, opening its maw wide as fire built up in its throat. Before it could fire, however, she hurled Gamuza down, and its point drove down into the hydra’s mouth. With a choked howl, the head was slammed down by the immense force of the throw, crashing into the earth with a mighty crunch as it was skewered into the ground and went limp.

“Three.”

Another head lunged, its jaws open wide, but with the back of her hand Nel slammed it to the side, its neck twisting violently out of alignment. Another, her hooved foot drove down into the top of its head, crushing its skull inward.

“Four. Five.”

Another nearly got her, its jaw closing around her, razor sharp fangs of emerald energy seeking to sink into her flesh. But with her one remaining hand, her grip fastened around the fang, and her hooves pressed down against the base of the serpent’s mouth, forcing its jaw to remain open as it struggled furiously to crunch down.

With cold, silent effort, Nel twisted her body and leapt up, the speed and force of her Sonído twisting the hydra’s massive head until it ripped off, and Orochimaru let out yet another agonized howl. Spinning around, she hurled the giant, severed head into the distance, and it crushed a faraway plateau under its weight.

“Six.”

The three remaining heads recoiled, the hydra backing away quickly, the anger in its massive eyes giving way to fear at how quickly it was being torn apart. As Nel plummeted freely through the air, she drew her hand back, green energy charging into her palm.

“W-Wait…!” Orochimaru wailed, but it was too late as a Cero melted off one of her remaining heads, and then swept to the side, carving through the neck of a second.

“Seven. Eight…”

As the Cero dissipated, Nel’s gaze landed on the last head.

Their eyes met.

“A-Akatsuki!” Orochimaru bellowed, lurching back sharply, eyes bulging and teeth bared wide in fear. “All of you, to me!”

Nel hurled another Cero, intent on finishing the fight before any Akatsuki could arrive, but before it could reach the hydra, the ground ripped up in front of it, and a massive golem of wood emerged and backhanded the Cero to the side. Though the attack was diverted, the creature’s arm shattered into splinters from the force of the impact.

A second later, a chain of paper wrapped around Nel’s midsection, and then two long, black thread-like tendrils – one made of thread and another of metal. On the ground below, Konan, Kakuzu, and Sasori stood, dragging her back, away from Orochimaru.

Nel let out a soft snarl and spun around, ripping the three Akatsuki off their feet and flinging them around in a wide circle before the bonds finally came loose. They were hurled hard into the distance, skidding along the ground.

Nel had no time to celebrate her momentary freedom, as a purple chain twisted around her neck from behind before snapping fast like a leash, the other end attached to Obito, who phased up through the ground. As she crouched down against Reishi in the air, the chain pulled tight, dragging her downward, and choking her.

SHING!

The chain split in half and Nel lurched up, gasping for breath as the pressure on her neck alleviated. From below her, Ulquiorra shot up, wings spread wide, and drew level with her.

“Focus on Orochimaru!” He barked, forcefully. “We’ll hold these Akatsuki off!”

Without waiting for her to reply, he flipped over midair until he was upside down, and with a flap of his wings he blasted downward. However, no sooner had he vanished than…

“Bansho Ten’in!!”

An unearthly force gripped Nel’s body, and she was ripped downward from her perch in the air, hurling toward the ground at speed far greater than that of natural gravity. As she slammed down into the ground, hooves-first, the earth beneath her was crushed into a wide crater, faint pain spasming through her body.

“Urgh…” She groaned, straining as the intense gravity pressed her down into the ground harder and harder, but she managed to remain standing. On the edge of the crater, Nagato stood, hand raised toward her, willing her to be flattened into paste… she felt her spine beginning to creak as the weight grew heavier and heavier.

She gritted her teeth and raised her hand. From one of the dead hydra heads in the distance, Gamuza ripped up and shot through the air toward her. As her fingers closed around its hilt, she turned sharply to point it toward Nagato, energy coursing through it into the tip. A Cero blasted out, and the pressure suddenly abated as Nagato raised his other hand, the Cero absorbed through it into his body.

He had no opportunity to resume his attack, as three blades carved clean through the side of him, and skin flaked off like dust. His arms a blur, Nnoitra attacked him relentlessly, pushing him away from Nel. The Quinto Espada had seen better days – his skin was covered in deep gashes all over, and his stark-white clothing was soaked in blood.

Under normal circumstances, Nel would have felt a momentary flash of gratitude for her ally, even in spite of their shared history. But ever since she had entered Segunda Etapa, she only felt crippling melancholy.

So, her gaze turned back toward the problem at hand. The massive wood golem that had parried Nel’s Cero was now grappling violently with Yammy, leaving the hydra in full view. As it retreated, Nel noted, it was still bleeding profusely from each of its severed necks. It seemed that unlike a real hydra, Orochimaru’s lost heads didn’t grow back… or perhaps Nel’s Hollow Reiatsu was stifling her regenerative abilities. Either way, she was weakened.

She flipped Gamuza over in her hand, green energy spiraling through the blade. One final Lanzador Verde would be all that it would take to eliminate Orochimaru, and her Reanimation Jutsu along with her.

“Nel!”

The urgent voice gave her pause, and she turned toward the newcomer. Itachi dashed toward her, leaping over sand dunes at breakneck pace. Behind him, Law was chasing him, a glowing blue sword clenched in his hand.

“Get back here, Itachi!” Law cried as he pursued the other man. “We’re not done!”

Itachi ignored him. Even as he rushed toward Nel, hand seals forming against his will, he spoke sharply and clearly.

“You can’t kill Orochimaru yet! Even if he dies, the Reanimation Jutsu won’t end! Our souls will be bonded to this place forever!”

Nel’s eyes widened. ‘What…?’

Itachi’s fingers rose to his lips, his cheeks puffing out as he leapt into the air.

“Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!!”

A hail of fireballs blasted from his mouth, descending toward Nel. Before they could reach her, Law materialized in front of her and diverted them with a swipe of his sword. As Itachi lunged down through the air and drew his sword, Law leapt up to clash with him, the two trading blows furiously.

“Figure out how to deal with his damn jutsu!” Law called out over his shoulder. “Or else they’ll all keep regenerating!”

Nel’s gaze turned up toward the hydra, which was glaring down at her as it continued to balk, unwilling to rejoin the battle. Since its heads weren’t regrowing, it seemed unwilling to jump back in, to put itself in more danger. Thinking hard, Nel’s eyes flickered to the left, toward where Yammy was grappling with the wood golem.

Her eyes widened.

‘That’s it-!’

Without another glance at Law and Itachi, she leapt off the ground, and then off the air, blazing across the battlefield as fast as she could.

—

Law panted heavily as he tumbled back across the ground, sweat and blood pouring down his brow. The cutlass trembled in his hand, and his vision blurred. It seemed that even with Black Zetsu bolstering his vitality, overexertion was catching up to him. Nights without rest, difficult battle after difficult battle, a forced immortality ritual, pushing his powers constantly past their natural limits… under normal circumstances, he would have killed himself ten times over by now.

Itachi, meanwhile, didn’t appear to be feeling the effects of the battle at all. His Susanoo, which would normally have exhausted him by now with its use, shimmered strongly around him, and had managed to constantly repair itself from whatever damage Law inflicted. Itachi himself was no different. Though Law’s attacks had managed to pierce the Susanoo several times by now, any gash landed upon the shinobi inside was healed in mere moments.

‘It’s the Reanimation Jutsu,’ Zetsu supplied mentally. ‘It grants him everlasting regeneration and unlimited chakra. He will never tire or go blind, in this state. You might as well be trying to outlast the ground beneath your feet in a battle of stamina.’

“Great,” Law muttered under his breath as he launched two slashing strikes that the Susanoo parried. “Fantastic. Do you have anything helpful to give me?”

‘I would advise you to retreat and allow the battle here to play out. Defeating Itachi and taking the Totsuka Blade would be useful, to be sure, but-’

“Hell no.” Law cut him off, not bothering to keep his voice quiet for Itachi, as he deflected several fireball jutsu. “Cuz I can tell exactly what your damn plan is.”

‘Oh?’

“You want me to outlive everyone else here, and then detach yourself from me and let me die.”

Zetsu was silent, but Law needed no confirmation to know that he was right… Zetsu had positioned himself in such a way that he could not be eliminated without Law dying, too. There would be no way to truly put an end to the Akatsuki, without Law’s own sacrifice.

It was annoyingly clever.

From the Susanoo, a hail of orange chakra shuriken materialized into existence and arced through the air toward Law, who cut each of them in half one at a time.

‘So… what then?’ Zetsu sneered. ‘You intend to die to get rid of me? You want Itachi to kill you?’

“No. I want you to help me beat Itachi, and then I want to use the Totsuka Blade to get rid of Blackbeard. Then you can leave and I can die, and-”

‘And then the Espada win, because the Warlords and the Akatsuki have destroyed one another? No, I refuse to stake my chances of victory on Orochimaru alone. Blackbeard and Grimmjow must tear each other apart, or I lose. I’m certain you don’t think you or I can overcome an opponent who killed Mihawk, after all.’

Law paused his assault, putting distance between himself and Itachi, as the Uchiha watched him passively. He thought over Zetsu’s words carefully.

“…You’re banking on Grimmjow and Blackbeard killing each other? What happened to being on Blackbeard’s side?”

‘Bah. You said it yourself, I intend to outlive everyone here, Blackbeard included. He was always a means to an end. Of course, he knows that. He never truly trusted me, it just so happened that we were mutually beneficial to each other. Now, Blackbeard has outlived his usefulness, so he and Grimmjow can both die.’

“Isn’t that risky too, though? What if one of them wins?”

‘Then the other will be weakened enough that we can finish them off. Or, we can wait for them to weaken each other and then pick both of them off ourselves. I’m not picky.’

“And what about Nel and Orochimaru?”

‘Orochimaru is nearly finished, and that Nel woman is dying. They are a non-issue.’

“…and then once they’re all gone, you kill me?”

‘…I kill you.’ Zetsu echoed. Law didn’t miss the pause beforehand. He remained silent for a few moments, thinking it over.

“…Fine.”

‘…Hm?’

“Fine. I’m okay with you winning, as long as it’s not Blackbeard. But we need that Totsuka Blade. I don’t think we’ll be able to finish off Blackbeard or Grimmjow without it.”

Zetsu went silent, and several seconds passed. Finally, he spoke.

‘You… are truly foolish. You still don’t even know what I intend to wish for, but you’ve decided you’re okay with my victory? What if my goals are worse than Blackbeard’s?’

Law shrugged. “Damned either way, then. Now are you gonna keep complaining, or are you gonna help me get that sword?”

He kept his gaze fixed in Itachi’s general direction, though continued to take care not to meet his eyes. Finally, Zetsu let out a wry chuckle.

‘I think you are a fool, Trafalgar Law. But I will not refuse victory, if you’re offering it.’

—

Nel’s gaze scanned the people fighting through the explosions.

Deidara rained clay missiles across the battlefield, but as they soared down toward the ground, black marks materialized on their surface, and they fell harmlessly. On the ground below, the wounded Zommari stood over Harribel, his remaining eyes working overtime to halt Deidara’s assault.

Starrk was unleashing hundreds of Ceros into Kisame, whose muscles had swollen dramatically, soaking up the Primera Espada’s energy, sharp spikes protruding from his skin as he evolved. His features, while shark-like normally, were beginning to lose the traces of humanity that he had left. In the air above, Luppi rained Ceros down as well, searing trenches across the battlefield.

In the center of the maelstrom, Baraggan stood. Though his zombified state couldn’t enter his Resurrección at all, he barked orders with the natural ease of an ancient king. He swung Gran Caída, and waves of power slashed across the ground, supporting other Espada with every attack.

Finally, Nel’s gaze landed on the man she was looking for. As she descended from the sky, she swung Gamuza down, and a green flash of light separated Ulquiorra from Nagato. The two of them leapt away, managing to avoid the attack, and as Nel landed she struck out toward Nagato, a Cero flashing into him and blasting him away too quickly for the Preta Path to absorb it.

“Nelliel-” Ulquiorra started, his face sinking into an expression of dour consternation. No doubt, he was annoyed that she wasn’t focusing on Orochimaru.

“Be quiet and listen.” She commanded, and Ulquiorra blinked in surprise. Quickly, she told him her plan, and he was silent for a few moments.

“And you’re certain that will work?”

“I’m not. But do it anyway.”

“…Fine. I’ll admit, it’s clever. Let’s try.”

Ulquiorra unfurled his wings wide and shot up into the air, swooping out of sight like an enormous bat as he soared toward Yammy’s towering figure in the distance. Nel refocused her attention on the hydra, and then winced as a flicker of pain spasmed through her. She raised her remaining hand to her chest, wincing as the pain flickered again.

‘Orochimaru’s poison… so I haven’t suppressed it entirely… only slowed it down.’ For some reason, she felt no fear at the realization, only sad resignation. She lowered her hand, and her fingers curled more tightly around Gamuza. ‘If I don’t end this quickly, then…’

She crouched, Reiatsu building up in her powerful lower body as she stared down the hydra in the distance, and it stared back with anger, fear, and challenge.

‘…then nothing.’

She kicked off the ground, blasting through the air toward the hydra, resolve surging through her.

‘I’ll end it quickly.’

The hydra reacted sharply, its final remaining head rearing back and then lunging forward, a plume of fire blasting down through the air toward her, but as Nel soared up toward the creature with lance in hand, she leapt to the side and felt only faint heat against her skin as it missed her.

Reaching the creature’s head in a matter of seconds, she swung Gamuza up against the bottom of its open jaw, and its mouth snapped closed with a crack, cutting off the fire spewing from it. With a thrust of her hand, Nel fired a Cero downward and it impacted the hydra’s scaly torso, sending it careening backward, its claws scraping along the ground as it tried to find its footing.

“Akatsuki!” Orochimaru shrieked. “What do you think you’re waiting for?! Protect me!!”

As if summoned, Obito materialized from a swirling vortex in front of the hydra, and swung his newly-repaired Gunbai to intercept the next Cero. The fan struggled violently against the blast for a moment, before managing to swat it to the side, where it blasted apart the ground to the hydra’s immediate right.

Behind her, Nel could sense Ulquiorra flying up toward Yammy, dodging around as the Cero Espada and the wood golem jerked from side to side, nearly smacking him out of the air by accident.

‘Come on, Ulquiorra!’ She thought as a flash of pain surged through her body. ‘Faster!’

From behind the hydra, a shadowy shape shot into the sky and spread its wings wide, silhouetted against the moon. Atop the back of his clay dragon, Deidara had ripped off his Akatsuki robes and was already forming the hand seals for his self-destruct.

“I’ll be the grand finale!” He cawed, splaying his arms wide as his dragon flapped its wings and dive-bombed down toward where Nel hung in the air. “True art… is an explosion!!”

Light filled the night sky as he exploded, a massive amount of energy expanding outward and engulfing Nel, the ground hundreds of meters below crumbling under the sheer force of the blast… and then the light began to shrink. Slowly, it twisted inward, the gigantic size of the explosion blunted as it got smaller and smaller.

The hydra paused, confused, and then its eyes went wide as it became clear what was happening. At the center of the blast, Nel stood planted in midair, her mouth wide open as the energy of Deidara’s C0 swirled inward, sucked down her throat as she trembled violently, struggling to absorb it. Slowly but surely, it compressed until she clamped her teeth down, the entire blast swallowed up.

For a split second, there was silence. She raised her head, and met the hydra’s gaze. Orochimaru stood frozen, his serpentine expression morphed into one of fear. Then, Nel opened her mouth.

“HAAAAAAA!”

“Wait! No-!” 

As Orochimaru scrambled backward, trying desperately to put distance between himself and the former Tres Espada, the full energy of Deidara’s C0 exploded back out from her mouth, mixed with one of Nel’s own Ceros. Normally an indiscriminate blast, the power Deidara had released was now targeted.

Aimed squarely at the hydra.

Kisame and Nagato leapt up in front of their master, having abandoned their battles with the Espada on the ground, prepared to absorb the full might of the blast. As it engulfed them, though, Nagato only managed to absorb a small amount of it, the rest rushing past him, and Kisame was blasted out of the air entirely, his skin flaking off from the overwhelming force of the strike.

Unblocked, undeterred, the blast struck the hydra’s torso head-on, and tore violently through its flesh. Scales and green blood ripped away as Orochimaru howled an unearthly roar of agony. The hydra’s massive body skidded back across the ground, pushed back as its flesh boiled and seethed. After several moments it tumbled over, unbalanced, rolling back across the ground, scrambling as it tried to find its footing again.

Slowly, the attack wound down, the energy flowing from Nel’s mouth shrinking and puttering out. She huffed, her chest heaving in exertion from the effort of redirecting such a massive attack. The Reiatsu around her body violently wavered, and she knew that the time she had left to end the fight was short.

Fortunately, the attack seemed to have done its job. Orochimaru let out a miserable howl, the hydra’s steaming body partially melting as it struggled to drag itself up. Nel drew her hand back, another Cero charging through Gamuza’s length. The next shot would end it-!

A purple chain wrapped around her wrist. Iron sand lashed around her waist, and paper seals struck numerous spots across her body. She strained against the chain, and then a black thread shot up and lashed around her neck, strangling her from behind. Pain and fatigue spiked through her. She tried to force out a blast of Reiatsu to dislodge her bindings, but before she could manage it, long tendrils of wood shot up from the ground and fastened around her, violently squashing her power down, suppressing it.

Obito. Nagato. Konan. Sasori. Kakuzu. On the ground far below her, dust swirled as Deidara’s body slowly reformed. The Akatsuki were working as one to keep her off of Orochimaru, and even with the strength granted to her by Segunda Etapa, Nel felt herself rapidly flagging.

She gritted her teeth.

‘Come on… come on…! Just a little longer…!’

The tendril around her neck tightened, and her vision began to blur, blackness creeping in from the edges as she struggled furiously. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes.

‘I can’t… die now…’

The hydra’s laughter echoed in her ears. 

“Just stop fighting, little one. You shall feel no pain or sorrow in death. Only oblivion. Close your eyes, and accept it.”

Fire swelled in the creature’s throat as it gazed up at her, preparing to strike. As the tendril tightened harder, Nel squeezed her eyes shut, her consciousness fading fast.

…

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHH!!”

Her eyes snapped open as the loud bellow split the air. Through the bindings wrapped around her, a massive burst of sheer Hollow power tore through, and their grip on her slackened, and she could breathe again.

A massive hand closed around her, and dragged her back, out of harm’s way, as Yammy swung his arm forward and clocked the hydra across the side of the head, sending it sprawling again. 

In Yammy’s hand, which clutched her surprisingly loosely by the standards of the normally-excessive Arrancar, Nel craned her neck to look up at Yammy, who wore a self-satisfied grin.

“Hope you didn’t forget about us, chica!”

Above his head, Ulquiorra flew, Lanza in hand, and he hurled it down toward the Akatsuki on the ground. Midair, it split apart, and a hail of lances blasted into the earth, sending the enemy scattering.

“Yammy!” Ulquiorra shouted sharply. “Do it now!”

“Aye!”

Yammy’s mouth opened wide, and below them, the Akatsuki’s chakra flared sharply, blue energy rippling out from their bodies as they froze in place and cried out. Some of them, like Deidara and Kakuzu, reacted with anger and alarm. Others, like Obito or Nagato, looked down at their bodies in something that resembled a more mild surprise. Far from them, where he lay cratered into the ground, Hidan’s eyes fluttered open as blue energy fled from him.

“Wuzzgoinon…?” he slurred, delirious. “Jashin? ‘zat you?”

Then, abruptly, the energy surged upward, the souls bound to their forms ripped from their bodies, which cracked, their already-pale skin becoming even more ashen. The energy funneled upward, flowing down Yammy’s throat in a continued stream.

Nel felt a surge of relief. The hydra’s eyes bulged and he howled in fury.

“No! NO!”

Far away, Itachi’s Susanoo began to dissolve, the chakra comprising it becoming weakened, as Itachi’s soul poured out of his body like fluid. He looked down at his arms, as across from him Law lowered his cutlass in surprise.

‘What’s happening?’ Zetsu asked sharply, from within Law’s mind. ‘The Reanimation Jutsu was stopped?’

“Law.” Itachi called, and Law met his gaze for the first time. For a moment, he felt a flare of panic, fearful that he had made a mistake and would be placed under Genjutsu… but there was no aggression in Itachi’s eyes; only tired resignation. “…Finish this up for me, will you?”

As the Susanoo crumbled away, its skeletal arm hurled the Totsuka Blade through the air, and Law reached up and caught it by the hilt. The shimmering, spiritual weapon shrank in his grasp, until it was the size and length of a normal sword, but still just as ethereal.

“…Yeah.”

Itachi smiled, and closed his eyes, the last of his soul ripping free from his body as his flesh cracked and crumbled into dust.

Yammy’s mouth slammed closed, the souls of the Akatsuki sliding down his throat with a final gulp, absorbed by the power of his Gonzui. Trembling furiously, the hydra let out a roar and lunged to its feet, pink and green fire surging from its mouth.

“Yoooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!”

It spewed a storm of fire, but as Yammy staggered backward, his massive frame seared by the flames, Nel leapt from his hand and spun Gamuza, hurling it through the air and spearing down through the hydra’s midsection. Energy blasted out at the horrifically-wounded creature as it cratered down into the ground. Nel could feel its bones cracking under the force of her attack, as Gamuza shot back up through the air and returned to her hand.

A massive, spiked tail swung around toward her, but Ulquiorra materialized in front of her, and the tail slammed into him instead. He went hurtling into the ground and skidded, kicking up a massive amount of dust.

Nel threw Gamuza again, and then again, and then again. Each hit drove the hydra further down into the ground, further away from her, from the battlefield, from the Espada. Pain surged from her chest like lightning, out through her limbs to the tips of her fingers and toes, and she coughed, and blood came up.

She didn’t know if Yammy or Ulquiorra had been killed by the attacks that had hit them. She had no time to confirm. She needed to kill Orochimaru now, or she wouldn’t be able to.

The swirling flames in the hydra’s mouth turned pure pink, a burst of Mero Mero energy rippling out toward Nel, but she shot down like a rocket, twisting around the flames again and thrusting Gamuza like a sword, driving its serrated point up and across the hydra’s body, a spray of green blood erupting as Orochimaru’s howl split the air. The already-ruined flesh of the hydra rippled and bubbled as she forced her Reiatsu up through it.

‘Tear it apart… destroy it… all of it… as much as possible…’

Static filled Nel’s head as she reached the base of the hydra’s neck, and with a final roar, she carved through its flesh. The head went flying. Its roar of rage was cut off, its tongue lolling out and the fury leaving its eyes as the head toppled to the ground… and then the body followed, crashing to the earth behind it, upheaving the land.

The battle wasn’t over. Nel could sense that just as easily as she could hear her own heart pounding in her ears. From the gaping maw of the final, severed hydra head, a human body dragged itself. Coated in fluid, Orochimaru pulled herself out from the massive corpse, unharmed.

In an instant, Nel was on her. She slammed down into the ground, cratering the earth and swinging Gamuza out in a wide arc. Orochimaru raised her arm to block, and the limb was sheared off above the elbow. The woman howled in rage and agony, spinning around and scrambling away, heeled shoes scraping across the ground as she struggled to run.

‘No you don’t,’ Nel’s legs moved without conscious thought as she pursued her fleeing opponent. A Cero took off Orochimaru’s right leg below the knee, and she went sprawling. Again she screamed, and again her mouth opened wide and a new body began to drag itself out. But before she could even pull herself free fully, a Bala slammed into her lower back, and the bottom half of her new body was torn off and she collapsed again.

“Stopppppp itttttttttt!” Orochimaru sobbed, clawed hands dragging her severed torso across the ground, desperately trying to drag herself away from Nel as fast as she could. The natural energy that was still flowing through and around her warbled violently as the scales on her face began to flake off.

Still, Nel advanced, raising Gamuza for the finishing blow. Orochimaru turned to face her, and then…!

Nel froze in her tracks, her bloodlust slammed to a halt as though it had struck an unbreakable wall. Staring up at her, fear in his eyes, was the face of Ichigo Kurosaki.

“P-Please, Nel, don’t…”

As she stood frozen, Ichigo’s fearful expression contorted into a wicked grin and his hand shot out, long clawed fingers aimed toward Nel’s throat…!

SCHLOCK!

Green blood exploded out of his chest, and the Genjutsu shattered. Orochimaru crumpled backward to the ground, howling in agony from the long gash that had opened across her torso. Nel stared down at her quivering form with wide, empty eyes, her entire body trembling. Gamuza shook, clenched tight in her grip, Orochimaru’s blood dripping down its length, sizzling faintly.

“Don’t… you… dare…”

Orochimaru whimpered, propping herself up and dragging herself backward with her hands as her lower body slowly began to regenerate. Fear filled her expression as she looked up at the Espada standing over her. Slowly, her terror twisted into rage.

“You… Youuuuuu…!”

Her hand came up, and pink energy flowed into it, a heart made of energy forming in her palm as she prepared a last-ditch attack. Nel shifted backward in alarm, raising Gamuza to counterattack, and then… the attack shattered in Orochimaru’s palm. Her angry expression froze, melting away into confusion. 

Slowly, starting from the tips of her fingers, a grey coloration began to seep into her hand. The Mero Mero power she had mustered had backfired, and she was turning to stone.

“What?!”

Orochimaru raised her other hand, ready to cut off the hand that was being petrified, but Gamuza drove down through her chest, pinning her down to the ground, and she howled, the strength leaving her limbs.

‘I… Impossible… how… that can’t…’

She strained to move, to rip herself away from the spear, but the Senjutsu chakra faded from her hair and body. Though the scales remained, she had dropped out of Sage Mode at last. The stone had reached her forearm, and was quickly spreading farther and farther up her arm. She struggled harder. For Boa Hancock’s power to backfire on her own body… that should have been truly impossible.

“Oh, but it’s not.”

Orochimaru froze, because it was not Nel who spoke. It was a voice that reverberated from the deepest recesses of her psyche. A voice that she had heard before, but had never expected to hear again.

—

Deep within Orochimaru’s mind, his eyes shot open wide. He was on his hands and knees, the fleshy matter of his mental universe slowly growing up his arms and legs, binding them in place, holding them down. He craned his neck up, his lips peeled back and his teeth gritted, an expression of fury as he was greeted by a truly impossible sight.

In front of him, morphed from the flesh of his mindscape, a makeshift throne had formed, towering over the many motionless corpses of his former bodies. And lounging atop it, her chin resting on her hand…

“Well, well, well…” Boa Hancock glared down at him with narrowed eyes and a smug smile. “It seems you’re having trouble with my power, Orochimaru.”

“You…” Orochimaru hissed, straining against the cold flesh that climbed up his skin, ripping his arms free as he struggled to force himself up and forward. “You should be dead. Your soul consumed, obliterated! What on earth… is the meaning of this…?!”

Boa laughed haughtily, throwing her head back. “You thought you could keep me suppressed forever? How truly foolish. I am the Pirate Empress of Amazon Lily. No man, woman, or would-be god can chain me down.”

As she spoke, pink Mero Mero energy seemed to seep from her, flowing through the throne of flesh and turning it to solid stone. Orochimaru jerked backward as it spread further and further, toward his location.

“That… That’s not possible…!” He hissed in fury and disbelief. “I already consumed you! Those who are defeated ought to know their place, and stay dead…!”

“I have always known my place, Orochimaru.” Boa replied silkily, glowering down at him reproachfully as the Mero Mero effect sped up and he backed away, glancing side to side with growing fear. “It is above you.”

“I am on the brink of death!” Orochimaru cried, his anger giving way to fear once again. “If you choose to resist me now, we will both die! Let me go and we can both live!”

Boa chuckled, crossing her legs and leaning back in her throne, allowing her eyes to slide closed.

“I think I’d rather see you die.”

“No!” Orochimaru howled as the Mero Mero effect reached him, and began to spread up his legs. “I can give you anything! I-I’ll give you your body back! I’ll let you have my wish at the end of the war! Wealth! Fame! Power! The world to command, anything! Whatever you want, just let me go! Please!”

“I won’t.” She spoke commandingly, and her lips curled up into a satisfied smile. “That is what I have decided. As revenge for the humiliation you have put me through, stealing my body, you will die a pathetic death, here and now.”

As she waved her hand, as though swatting a fly, the mental world shattered, and Orochimaru’s scream was the last thing that echoed through it.

—

“I won’t!”

Orochimaru howled out loud, pinned to the ground by Gamuza, the stone spreading across her chest and up toward her head. Before it could reach, though, her mouth opened wide and from it, a new body tore itself free. A grotesque, reptilian shape ripped itself out from its host, and as it wrenched itself fully out of Boa’s mouth, her body crumpled to the ground limp, a snake skin left empty.

Nel wrenched Gamuza up out of the body, her gaze following Orochimaru. The snake shrieked and slithered away, desperate to live, but as its flesh rippled, Senjutsu chakra surged up from it, and its movements slowed sharply. Its skin burned and cracked, and a wail of pain split the air as a stone-like effect again began to engulf him.

Orochimaru had, after all, stolen Boa Hancock’s body so that he could resist the effect that Senjutsu chakra had on the body. Now that he had left that body behind… he once again found himself, really and truly, turning to stone.

Slowly, though pain flashed through her with every step, Nel forced herself forward, after him. It didn’t take long to catch up, as the snake wailed and shrieked and sobbed, desperately trying to force itself forward, away from her, in spite of how its own power was rebelling against it.

“Noooooooooooooo!” Orochimaru shrieked as she raised Gamuza, its point angled downward toward him. The stone effect had reached his diamond-shaped head, and was spreading up his cheeks. “Please, dooooooooon’t!!”

Nel didn’t hesitate. She brought Gamuza’s point down as hard as she could onto the top of the snake’s skull, and it drove clean into the ground beneath it.

A moment of silence.

Then another.

Then…

“ATTENTION ALL PARTICIPANTS! ONE OF THE WARLORDS OF THE SEA HAVE DIED! TWO REMAIN! AND, ONE OF THE AKATSUKI HAVE DIED! ONE REMAINS!”

Nel let out a breath that she didn’t know she had been holding. Relief crashed down on her shoulders. She felt a twinge of sorrow for Hancock, but it was thoroughly overshadowed by the fact that Orochimaru was finally defeated. One Akatsuki left… she couldn’t remember who it was, but once they were gone…

Her thoughts were cut off abruptly as pain spiked through her chest, and she staggered. Her vision blurred, and for a moment the pain was so intense that she thought she had been attacked. But then another wave of pain shot through her, and she remembered the poison.

‘A…Ah…’

Her Reiatsu swirled around her and then dissipated, and a moment later she had dropped out of Segunda Etapa, and took several unsteady, wobbly steps. Waves of pain, nausea and exhaustion rolled over her, and she struggled to hold herself upright.

‘C…Come on… Can’t… die… now…’

She stumbled forward, her unfocused eyes landing on where Ulquiorra lay motionless in the distance. Dead or unconscious, she couldn’t tell. Some distance behind him, Yammy was sprawled, twitching slightly, severe burns and patches of stone covering his body. Both down for the count.

She cast her senses out further. Over the ridge, she could feel Starrk, and Luppi, and Baraggan, still locked in battle. For a moment, she was confused, as Yammy’s Gonzui should have gotten rid of the Edo Akatsuki, but then she understood. Blackbeard’s zombie Warlords had arrived to continue the battle. 

Nnoitra and Zommari were both down, the latter’s body draped over Harribel’s, protecting it from harm. Aaroniero’s massive, tentacled frame had been torn apart, and the Noventa Espada lay in a pool of his own blood at the center of his own flesh, unmoving. The other three, though seemingly largely okay, didn’t seem to be making any headway as Kuma, Jinbe, and Mihawk raged against them.

Nel could tell one thing immediately: they weren’t winning.

She had to keep going. She had to get to Grimmjow. Help him defeat Blackbeard and Law, secure victory, use her wish to bring Harribel and the others back… Only then could she die.

Her body didn’t match her mind’s resolve. She took another step and then crumpled to her knees, as the strength left her limbs. The burning in her chest had become searing, and beads of sweat dripped down her forehead. Slowly, she toppled forward and landed face down on the sand. The grains grated her, and yet…

Vague memories flooded her. Years spent dashing across the sand, playing tag with Pesche and Dondachakka… for a long time, the sand had been hot and rough and desolate. But she had come to find familiarity in it. It was soft. Comforting. Home.

Not a bad place to die, she had to admit silently.

Slowly, she pushed, rolling herself over onto her back, and then reached up with her only remaining hand, and found the band on her arm that Urahara had given her to regulate her Reiatsu. With the little strength she had left, she tugged it off, and let it fall away.

The Reiatsu drained from her like water from a sink, and she felt herself shrinking, reverting to the form she had spent so many years in. As her brain became foggy, she realized she wasn’t quite sure why she had done it… but it felt right, she supposed.

Her unfocused eyes found the moon overhead, and her mouth curled up into a faint, content smile.

‘I… did my part… nothing to be ashamed of… or feel sorrow for…’

Slowly, her eyes slid closed.

‘It’s up to you now… Grimmjow…’

—

“ATTENTION ALL PARTICIPANTS! ONE OF THE ESPADA HAVE DIED! JUST ONE REMAINS!”

The announcer’s voice echoed across the sand, and the raging battle at the arena’s center stalled, the two fighters separating. Grimmjow slid back, his eyes to the sky, sharp teeth clenched tightly together. His clawed fingers twitched, flashes of anger and dismay flickering in his chest at the sudden confirmation.

‘Nel too…? So it’s just…’

“Ohoho!” Blackbeard chortled, rolling his shoulder. “Just you left, chum! How’s it feel, not being able to protect a single one of your little weaklings?”

Grimmjow’s eyes narrowed at him and he crouched down, every muscle in his body tensing, like a predator prepared to pounce.

“You’d better shut the hell up.” He spat, baring his fangs. “You won’t be laughing when I kill you.”

“Try it then! Let’s settle this like kings!”

Blackbeard lunged first, hand drawn back to deliver a quake punch, and Grimmjow’s powerful muscles hurled him forward in response, claws shimmering as he reared back a Desgarron. The two clashed in the middle, a quake shockwave slamming outward, and shearing wind pressure from the Desgarron carving into Blackbeard’s fist. They drew back, and then clashed again, and again, and again.

Swipe, jab, backslash, kick. Grimmjow dashed and leapt around Blackbeard, using his smaller size and greater agility to his advantage, but quake punches and quake kicks met his every attack, his rotund foe having lost none of his spryness since the fight had begun.

As the two separated from a clash, the ground around them tearing apart, Blackbeard drew his hand back again, darkness swirling into the quake bubble he formed, Conqueror’s Haki oozing from his body as he prepared to strike.

“Show some spirit, Grimmjow!” He roared. “Your friend just died! Get angry!”

Grimmjow spat, drawing back both hands, Desgarron blades extending from all ten of his fingers.

“Don’t ask for shit you can’t handle!”

SHINK!

Blood spurted from Blackbeard’s chest, and his eyes went wide. Grimmjow flinched, startled himself. From the front of the Emperor’s chest, a long, shimmering blade protruded, having been driven up through his back from behind. Blackbeard looked down at it, confusion and disbelief in his gaze, and then slowly struggled to turn in place, craning his neck back over his shoulder.

Standing behind him, both hands gripping the hilt of the Totsuka Blade, Law stared up at the Emperor coldly, with one eye grey and the other yellow. When he spoke, his normal tone was overlaid with Black Zetsu’s deep rasp.

“Sorry, your majesty. But I’ll take it from here.”

He pressed his palm up against the back of the Totsuka Blade’s hilt, driving the sword up further through Blackbeard’s back and eliciting a gurgling groan of pain. Though Law didn’t possess the gourd that came with the sword, and thus couldn’t seal Blackbeard away, the unblockable spiritual weapon could still pierce cleanly through the soul.

“Ahaha…” Blackbeard chuckled weakly, blood dripping from his lips. “W-What do you think you’re doing, Zetsu…? Weren’t you going to see me to the top?”

“Isn’t it presumptuous, Blackbeard? To think that you alone deserve to stand atop everyone else? That you alone are different?” Zetsu drove the sword in further, Law’s mouth spreading into a grin. “Your will is not my will. My will is Kaguya’s!”

He pulled on the sword, intent upon ripping it out and finishing the job, but Blackbeard’s hand shot up and clenched around the blade, Conqueror’s Haki crackling out from the spot he seized, locking the sword in place. Zetsu’s smile wavered.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Zetsu,” Blackbeard sneered. “But if this is a betrayal, then I will treat it as such!”

He whirled around, the force of his movement tearing the sword from Law’s hands, and slammed a kick into the other Warlord’s gut, knocking Law away from him and sending him skidding back across the ground. Zetsu let out a loud grunt of pain at the impact, Haki sparking across his stomach as he doubled over.

Blackbeard’s hand clenched around the Totsuka Blade, and it snapped in half and dissolved, crushed into nothing under the weight of Blackbeard’s Haki. He turned all the way around and faced Zetsu, no longer smiling, his face contorted into a condescending sneer. Behind him, Grimmjow watched things unfold, a cautious, wary expression on his face. He doubted Law could defeat Blackbeard, given what he knew of him from Nel’s intel, but he didn’t see a reason to intervene in the Warlords’ fight regardless.

“I hope you didn’t think you were going to be some kind of great hero, Law,” Blackbeard sneered. “Don’t forget, we had this fight before. I won. And I’ve only gotten stronger since then.” He splayed his arms out, his eyes gleaming red as he towered over Law. “I have transcended the title of Emperor! I am closer than anyone has ever come to the Pirate King! You’re just a Warlord! Don’t get any big ideas!”

Law’s eye seemed to sharpen, his vision coming into focus as Zetsu ceded control back to him.

“Maybe that’s true, Blackbeard,” he spat, eyes narrowed in defiance. “Maybe you are the strongest. But you’re still human. Which means I can kill you.”

Blackbeard scoffed, raising both arms in challenge.

“Try it, then!”

Law lunged, dashing forward. The Totsuka Blade may have failed to kill Blackbeard, but it had gotten him what he wanted. The gaping wound in the man’s chest, a weak spot that no amount of Haki could reinforce. As Law dove at him, hand drawn back, Blackbeard swung a quake punch, and Law ducked under it and slammed his palm forward, striking the weak spot head-on and willing his Ope Ope power to push through Blackbeard. To reach his core, and…

“Mes!!”

Instantly, he could tell it worked. From Blackbeard’s back, a cube of flesh shot out, pushed from the center of his chest out through the gaping wound. The Emperor gagged, his eyes going wide with surprise, before…

“Takt!!”

Law leapt back, putting distance between himself and his foe once again. Simultaneously, he flicked his fingers, willing the cube of flesh to zoom through the air, and in one fluid movement his hand shot up and caught it. Skidding backward, he came to a halt, with Blackbeard’s heart clenched firmly in his fist.

Blackbeard coughed and went down to one knee. His eyes flickered from the cube to Law’s face, for the first time appearing slightly afraid.

“H-Hold on, Law…” he coughed, weakly. “Let’s talk about this.”

Law smirked at him, satisfaction filling him.

“No.”

He crushed the heart in his grip, willing as much Haki as he could into the action. Blood sprayed out, trickling down his arm, and Blackbeard let out a sputtering gasp, before crumpling to his knees and then toppling forward, laid flat on the ground. He twitched, and gasped, and then lay still.

Law let out the breath he had been holding, and tossed the crushed remains of the heart aside. Blackbeard probably wouldn’t die instantly, but within moments he would be gone, and the war would be over. He allowed his gaze to shift off of the prone Warlord, and back over to Grimmjow, who stood watching with wide eyes.

“Well,” Law said, tiredly as he walked toward the last Espada, whose hackles raised defensively. “That’s that, let’s finish-”

He never got a chance to finish his sentence. As he moved to step past Blackbeard, the massive, seemingly-unconscious Warlord’s hand shot out and clenched around his ankle, tightly. Law’s senses flared sharply as he flinched away, but found himself held tight in Blackbeard’s grip.

“What?!”

‘That’s impo-’

Blackbeard’s body surged up, his mouth open wide with laughter as he lifted Law up into the air by the leg, and then slammed him down with so much force that the ground ruptured violently. Mountains in the distance shook with the force of the hit, and blood spewed from Law’s mouth, every single one of his ribs cracking in half from the impact.

Blackbeard laughed, lifted Law up again, and then slammed him down again. Law could sense with his Fruit that the jagged edges of his broken bones were pressing outward against his own skin. His organs had ruptured, and blood was spilling into his lungs.

Instantly, as he lay in the crater, his body went into automatic repair mode. His Fruit stitched muscles back together, realigned bones, sealed up organs that had been split open… faintly, Law was cognizant of Zetsu’s voice in his head, the creature shouting urgently as it worked to keep him alive and conscious. In spite of that, though, Law knew that he wasn’t going to be able to outpace the damage. If Blackbeard kept slamming him…

But it seemed that wasn’t the other man’s plan. Blackbeard released Law’s leg and seized him by the throat, shadows surging down into him, pushing and burrowing into his skin, reaching for something at the core of his being… and latched themselves around Black Zetsu.

“W-Woooooahhhhhh-!”

Zetsu let out a cry as Blackbeard seized him, every cell of him that was bound to Law’s body, and pulled violently, intent on ripping him clean free from his host. Within his mindscape, Law cried out and abandoned his efforts to repair his own body. He lunged through the mist of his mindscape and seized on the quickly-departing Zetsu with his hands, clinging onto the creature in a desperate attempt to hold him back, to prevent him from being ripped out. Zetsu’s giant face was stretched wide as Blackbeard pulled on him, and he let out a wail.

“Don’t let go!!”

“I’m trying not to, damn it! He’s really strong!”

How the hell was Blackbeard alive?! Law thought wildly. For him to survive his heart being crushed, even taking into account the immortality operation… that was more than just strength. That was something inhuman.

Blackbeard let out a roar of effort, and with a surge of Conqueror’s Haki, he ripped Zetsu up and out of Law. The black sludge that made up the creature’s body tore free of Law’s flesh, and within Law’s mindscape, he cried out as darkness surged through the whole place in Zetsu’s absence.

As his consciousness rapidly faded, Law felt nothing but a dull, miserable sense of defeat.

He had failed.

In the real world, Blackbeard clenched Zetsu in his grip, the creature’s furious wails ringing out as he struggled to escape, but Blackbeard’s attention was not on him. His gaze was on the now-motionless Law, lying cratered into the ground at his feet.

Blackbeard raised his foot, a quake bubble forming around it, bloodlust gleaming from his eyes and blood spewing from his mouth.

“You think you can kill me, Law?!” He howled, and brought his foot down, intent on crushing the man’s head beneath his heel.

WHAAMMMMMMM!

His foot slammed down to a halt as Grimmjow materialized beneath it, arm raised, and the quake exploded against the Arrancar’s rock hard skin. The shockwave exploded outward, but was blunted as Grimmjow endured the hit, and Blackbeard was left straining to push his foot down against his foe’s arm.

“Ha!”

Grimmjow thrust his arm out, and hurled Blackbeard away. The Emperor leapt back through the air and landed some distance away. Grimmjow stood crouched, panting, over Law’s prone form.

“Can’t you see he’s already dying, dumbass?!” Grimmjow roared.

Silence passed between the two for a few moments, both panting slightly. Blackbeard grunted and raised an arm, wiping the blood from his mouth. Then…

“ATTENTION ALL PARTICIPANTS! ONE OF THE WARLORDS OF THE SEA HAS DIED! JUST ONE REMAINS!”

Blackbeard was silent for a moment, his gaze moving down toward Law’s still body. Then he chuckled. And then he laughed, long and loud, throwing his head back. In his grip, Black Zetsu whimpered, trembling.

The creature was incapable of feeling grief, or happiness, or even sadness. He had not been created for that purpose, after all. He had spent a thousand years wandering the world alone, with only one sole purpose, a sole obsession, a sole need, to return to the side of the one person who had ever loved him. He had stood by Indra, by Madara, by Obito, and by a hundred more in between. When they had died, he had never despaired either.

Now, though, as his hopes of bringing his mother back withered away before his eyes, Zetsu found that he despaired. For mother. For the thousands of years of torment and loneliness, wasted.

It had all amounted to nothing, in the end.

Conqueror’s Haki crackled in Blackbeard’s hand, and then coursed down through the mass of kama in his grip. With a clench of his fingers, Blackbeard crushed Zetsu in his claws, and he let out a final wail of agony as he exploded out, dissipating into black smoke.

The last lingering remnants of Kaguya’s will, fading into the wind. Immediately, with greater energy than any of the prior times, the announcer’s voice boomed through the arena.

“ATTENTION ALL PARTICIPANTS! THE FINAL MEMBER OF THE AKATSUKI HAS DIED! NONE REMAIN!”

For several seconds, the declaration echoed over the barren sand, and then there was silence.

In the far distance, the last few Espada and Warlords had frozen mid-combat. As they turned to look toward where Grimmjow and Blackbeard had been fighting in the distance, none of them said a word, understanding the gravity of the fight to come. Even the sound of zombies and Hollows tearing each other apart in the distance had abated, and now the arena was overtaken by deathly quiet.

One Espada. One Warlord. Each of them was the only thing standing between the other and total victory.

It was Grimmjow who broke the silence. He let out a soft, humorless chuckle.

“So it’s down to us, then?” He stood up straight, not sparing another glance toward Law’s body. He didn’t matter now. None of them did. The only person he needed to concern himself with was the man in front of him.

Blackbeard only smiled in return, though for once the merriment didn’t quite reach his eyes. He raised a hand and thumped his chest several times with the side of his fist, striking right against his wound and drawing out a hacking cough, flecks of blood spitting from his mouth.

“…If you could give me a moment, Grimmjow.” He managed to rasp. Grimmjow tilted his head. If he were anyone else, he might have pressed his advantage, struck his foe while he was injured… but Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez was not so cowardly.

“Yeah. Get on with it.”

Shadows swirled out from Blackbeard’s fist, and when he drummed it against his chest again, they seeped in, filling the bloodied hole that the Totsuka Blade had pierced through him, sealing it up like putty. It didn’t heal the wound, not really, but when Blackbeard pulled his hand away, the bleeding had stopped.

“Much better,” he chuckled, with more strength in his voice now. “I wouldn’t have expected Law to be able to deal me such a wound. Still… it won’t slow me down!”

He wiped the blood from his mouth again and regarded Grimmjow evenly.

“Now then… you ready to do this thing, partner?” He raised one foot and then slammed it down, taking a wide stance with planted feet as he raised both hands into a fighting position. A quake bubble shimmered around one, and deep, bone-chilling darkness surrounded the other. “Winner takes all, no excuses, no regrets?”

Grimmjow grinned and sank into a crouch, his fingers splaying wide, razor sharp claws reading to bury themselves in Blackbeard’s flesh. His fangs seemed to sharpen and his pupils shrank into slits, eyes gleaming in the moonlight.

“You’re speakin’ my language! I’ll tear you apart, and then I’ll finally take my damn throne.”

“Throne?” Blackbeard’s eyes narrowed and his grin widened as he chuckled darkly. “What a coincidence. In that case, you can think of this as the battle to become king, eh? A fight for the crown.”

Grimmjow sneered, as Reiatsu surged from him, cracking the ground under his feet as he prepared to leap off.

“For the crown!”

It was Grimmjow who moved first. Sharper, faster, with Sonído his body exploded forward, a shockwave rupturing the ground for a mile behind him, the speed of sound left far behind. His clawed hand seized Blackbeard’s long, tangled beard, and the massive Warlord was dragged into the sky as though he weighed little more than a feather.

“Guh-!”

At blinding speed, they shot across the desert to the east, kilometers passing beneath them every second. The air pressure of their movement alone bowled sand dunes over, Grimmjow’s Reiatsu surging out as he hauled Blackbeard along.

On the ground below, the few Espada and Warlords that remained were nearly knocked off their feet by the wind, their battle interrupted. Luppi looked to the sky in anger, Starrk and Baraggan in surprise.

“Was that Grimmjow?” Baraggan asked, his eye following the two that had passed overhead, already far enough away to have become a speck in the distance. Across from them, Kuma and Jinbe exchanged silent looks as the wind buffeted them. 

The wind whipping his long hair backward, Grimmjow grinned, and with a heave of his arm, hurled Blackbeard downward into the sand below. An instant later, a massive Cero exploded out of his hand and slammed into Blackbeard’s chest, driving him down further into the sand and pushing him along, the ground ripping across his back as the Cero pushed him ahead of Grimmjow himself.

With a grunt, Grimmjow swung his arm upward and the Cero swept up with it, ripping Blackbeard up the edge of a massive dune and hurling him up into the sky again, still ahead of Grimmjow. The Espada’s momentum carried him forward, and forming a Bala in his palm…

WHAM!

Slammed into Blackbeard again. The force of the Bala exploded against the Warlord’s midsection. Blackbeard cried out as Grimmjow again propelled him back through the air, over the barren wasteland of Hueco Mundo, until Las Noches appeared on the horizon, growing larger and larger by the second.

“Let-me-go!” Blackbeard managed to snarl out over the sound of the wind in their ears, and with a backhand, a quake punch exploded across the side of Grimmjow’s face. He dropped Blackbeard, shaking his head, slightly stunned by the impact.

Like a stone, the Warlord plummeted, hurtling down toward the spires of Las Noches. He righted himself in midair, and as he slammed down into the top of the fortress, cratering the marble below, he managed to land on his feet.

His gaze snapped up, and found Grimmjow again. The Hollow wiped blood from the corner of his mouth, which twisted inward into a well of power in his hand, a mighty Gran Rey Cero charging up. From where he stood, Blackbeard grinned, and drew his fist back, another quake bubble forming. As he prepared the attack, the air ruptured, and the marble towers adorning the top of the fortress shattered behind him.

“Bring it on, Grimmy! Don’t disappoint me by half-assing things!!”

Grimmjow let out a howl, and thrust his hand out, the Gran Rey Cero exploding forward. The sand far below steamed sharply from the sudden heat, and space warped as the massive Cero crossed the distance between Grimmjow and Blackbeard instantly. In that tiny fraction of a second, though, Blackbeard let out a cry of his own and swung the quake punch forward, meeting the Gran Rey Cero head-on.

Space exploded where the attacks met. Cracks ripped outward through the air, and the Cero parted around Blackbeard’s fist, slamming down into the fortress upon which he stood and beginning to tear the whole place apart.

This was the final battle, after all, Grimmjow had reasoned. There was no need to worry about collateral.

Blackbeard groaned, his arm trembling furiously as he struggled under the force of the attack, but he held firm. Beneath his feet, the marble crumbled away, kilometers and kilometers of stone torn down by the excess energy. The foundations of Las Noches turned molten under the force of the hit. Massive bolts of lightning erupted, tearing through distant towers and searing the sand dunes. Even still, Blackbeard’s grin was wide, and he let out a belting laugh.

“Is that the best you can do, Grimmjow?!”

Blackbeard raised his other hand and a tower of darkness exploded into existence above his head, reaching up to the heavens as it unfolded. The sheer gravity of it ripped the Gran Rey Cero upward, its light bent and absorbed into the heart of the shadowy miasma.

Blackbeard crouched down against the rubble beneath his feet. The roof of Las Noches had begun to collapse as the building under it crumbled away, but using the huge chunks of debris as a springboard, he leapt into the sky. He drew a fist back as he soared up toward Grimmjow, his coat flapping heavily in the wind.

“I hope you didn’t think that would hurt!”

He swung his fist to the side and a wave of darkness rippled out, engulfing Grimmjow, who raised his hands, bracing for the attack, only for no impact to come. The darkness swallowed him, cold against his skin. A moment later, Blackbeard drew his fist up and the darkness went with it, its gravity dragging Grimmjow high into the sky as he let out a warbling yelp of surprise.

As Grimmjow tumbled up through the air, hurled head over heel, he managed to force himself to a halt. Looming far over him, the massive tower of darkness above the ruins of Las Noches filled his vision, pitch black and foreboding.

Below, Blackbeard grinned, and raised his hand.

“Liberation!!”

From the depths of the dark tower, the Gran Rey Cero exploded back outward, sucked in and then violently released, Blackbeard’s gravity ceasing to hold it all at once. Grimmjow’s eyes barely had time to widen before his own attack slammed directly back into his chest, the explosion catapulting him back through the sky to the west.

He forced his eyes open. The impact had knocked him unconscious momentarily, but only for a few seconds. The wind whipped against his back as he flew, the sand beneath him having given way to a ruined forest.

Back in Akatsuki territory, he realized.

He let out a roar and flipped over, bracing his legs and willing the Reishi in the air to condense. He slammed to a halt in midair. A shockwave spread out from his impact point, and a faint surge of pain shot through his legs from the strain of stopping himself. Panting slightly, his eyes rose back toward the horizon in the distance.

WHAM!

Sparks flashed violently in front of his eyes as a quake punch slammed across his defenseless cheek. Blackbeard’s body materialized from pure shadow, crossing the distance between himself and Grimmjow instantly, via the power of Moria’s Fruit. Cracks exploded through the air and the ground beneath ripped upward. Blackbeard twisted his body around, bringing Grimmjow up and around, before hurling him down into the devastated earth below.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Grimmjow’s impact tore the ground apart even further. Trees hurled into the sky and the ground bent upward, what was once horizontal becoming vertical.

Blackbeard started to laugh, and then pain exploded from his stomach. His eyes widened, his laugh cut off with a sputter, as he looked down to see a long, green spike protruding from his midsection. On the ground below, panting, bloodied, his hair wild, Grimmjow raised his elbow, aiming toward the sky. In spite of himself, his teeth were bared in a wide, savage grin.

“Yeah, that’s right! Fight back! Show me what you’re made of!”

More green spikes blasted from the end of his elbow, fired with the force of a missile as they raced through the air toward Blackbeard, who swung his hand, a veil of darkness sweeping two of them to the side. But, propelled and guided by Grimmjow’s Reiatsu, they arced around and made a beeline back for him.

Blackbeard leapt through the air, guided by his own gravity and propelled by quake punches, the rocket-like spikes chasing after him, twisting around his defenses, desperate to bury themselves in his flesh. In the distance ahead of him, he could see the forest give way to cloud-covered mountains; the Land of Lightning, at the northwest of the Akatsuki’s territory.

As he landed on a mountain, the spikes shot toward him, and he leapt to the side, teleporting in a burst of shadow. The spikes slammed into the mountainside, and blasted massive holes through them, their impact force far greater than their small size would indicate.

As Blackbeard rematerialized, he turned back toward where he had last seen Grimmjow, his Observation Haki already warning him of the Hollow’s approach. Leaping off of the air, Grimmjow hurtled toward him on all fours, powerful muscles propelling him forth like an actual panther.

He was a predator, and he smelled blood.

In spite of himself, Blackbeard only kept laughing. Conqueror’s Haki surged through him, and he took a stance, ready to intercept Grimmjow as the Hollow’s claws became cloaked in blue. Desgarron.

“You want me to show you what I’m made of? Are you sure you want to see?!” Blackbeard belted out through his laughter. He felt his Haki climbing higher and higher, farther and greater than it ever had before. Swelling and reaching crescendo in the heat of battle. 

This was the kind of thing that Blackbeard lived for.

Grimmjow let out a howl, the roar of a panther mixing with the unearthly screech of a Hollow, and as he reached Blackbeard, he drew his claws back and brought them down with no hesitation. Blackbeard’s fist met his claws, and Haki met Reiatsu, and their power exploded out.

The mountains behind Blackbeard were sheared apart. Desgarron cut through them as easily as a knife through butter, millions of tons of stone hurled hundreds of meters skyward. Blackbeard’s skin only remained intact thanks to the powerful Armament Haki that reinforced it. Behind Grimmjow, the already-ruined forest exploded backward, the shockwave of Blackbeard’s Haki tearing up the soil. Grimmjow’s iron-hard Hierro weathered the force of the blast, but he was battered, nonetheless.

Quickly, it became clear that it was Blackbeard who was winning out. As Grimmjow’s strength flagged, and Blackbeard’s Haki-clad fist slowly pushed through, the Emperor let out a peel of laughter, his Haki blooming ever-higher.

“Amazing! This is amazing! Even with all your strength… I still have room to grow!!”

His Haki exploded past Grimmjow’s defenses and slammed full-force into his body. His armored white exoskeleton began to peel away, and Grimmjow let out a howling groan of pain as his skin began to crack under the sheer heat and force of Blackbeard’s aura.

With a final roar of triumph, Blackbeard’s power surged for a final time, and blasted the Arrancar far away from him, dragging him across the ground as a massive shockwave rippled outward across the arena. Far to the south, islands across the Warlords’ territory shuddered as the wave passed over them. The dunes of Hueco Mundo (those that had not already been flattened, that is) quivered, sand sliding downward.

Grimmjow slid to a halt, just north of the beach separating the Akatsuki’s territory from the Warlords’. His armor had been almost entirely torn away, and he breathed heavy, uneven gasps, his vision blurring heavily. Patches of skin on his face flaked off, flayed away by Blackbeard’s Haki, and blood oozed from underneath.

The Warlord in question materialized from the shadows, approaching him, rolling his shoulder as he gazed down at the downed Espada with smug glee. Slowly, Grimmjow forced himself to roll over onto his stomach, and then dragged himself up to his hands and knees, still sucking in puffs of air, raggedly.

“Need a minute to breathe?” Blackbeard taunted as he approached. “You won’t be breathing much longer than that, anyway.”

Grimmjow closed his eyes. His clawed hands clenched, digging into the sand beneath him. Reiatsu began to emanate from him, and the air shifted. The sand around him slowly began to float up, the grains quivering slightly as they were suspended by the power pouring slowly from him. His teeth ground together, great energy slowly boiling up in him.

Blackbeard raised an eyebrow, still smiling.

“Oh?” he asked, quietly. “Still have more to give?”

The cracks that had formed on Grimmjow’s skin didn’t heal as his power slowly climbed. They spread, from his cheek up across the bridge of his nose, to his brow and across his forehead. From within that crack, bright blue Reiryoku began to glow. Across his chest, and arms, and legs, more cracks opened, power pouring out, as though his body was unable to contain it.

He opened his eyes, and met Blackbeard’s gaze. Blackbeard’s smile faltered.

There was no anger in that gaze. No determination.

Only hunger.

The sound that came from Grimmjow’s mouth next defied description. It was something primal, unearthly, indescribable. The scream of a Hollow, but something more than that. A Hollow beyond a Hollow.

His skin ruptured. Power exploded out, tearing him apart violently from the inside, scorching the sand around him, and slamming into Blackbeard with such force that the Haki protecting him boiled away. Leeched from his skin like liquid squeezed from a sponge, and Blackbeard was driven backward across the ground, arms raised in front of his face, eyes wide.

As the torrent of power that had obscured Grimmjow from sight peeled away and the Hollow’s form became visible, for once, Blackbeard could not muster a laugh. All he felt was a sudden, terrible fear at the sight. Grimmjow was still on all fours, but his flesh and his armor had been burned off; his body was now a mass of tightly-coiled muscle and roiling azure energy.

Gleaming red eyes shone out from the blue, and his mouth opened, that unearthly howl ripping forth again as his fangs grew far longer than they had been before. Clawed hands and feet sheared into the ground beneath him, carving it away with the lightest touch.

Seething, searing agony coursed through every inch of the Hollow’s body, and at the hand of the sheer power he now emitted, Grimmjow’s mind had been thrown into disarray. No single coherent thought formed; only formless pain, and anger, and hunger as he stared at the man before him. Bloodlust seeped freely from his writhing, skinless body, bleaching into the ground beneath him and causing it to crumble away.

Ulquiorra’s Segunda Etapa had been achieved through the Emptiness he felt. Harribel’s through her willingness to Sacrifice herself. Nel’s through her Lamentation for her fallen comrade…

Grimmjow had become Destruction itself.

Blackbeard had no time to react. No time to defend, no time to even feel fear, as a second later, Grimmjow was on him. A swipe of the monster’s claws tore clean through Blackbeard’s Haki, and blood exploded from the gash that opened across his chest. Far behind him, the force of the slashes split the fog that encompassed the southeast side of the Akatsuki’s territory, and scored trenches that spanned all the way to the north end of the arena, up the center of the crater where the Rain Village had been.

Blackbeard staggered, pain flaring in his mind, drowning out his senses.

‘Desgarron… no… that was just his normal claw strike…?!’

As Grimmjow leapt backward, still on all fours, prepared to pounce again, Blackbeard regained his wits. His Haki surged once more, and a quake bubble formed around his fist, which he drew back. Grimmjow leapt at him, blindingly fast, and with a snarl the Emperor swung his fist to bat the Hollow to the side.

SCHLURK!

Long fangs of pure Reiatsu sank into Blackbeard’s fist, biting down through the quake bubble, popping it, its power dispersed harmlessly. Blackbeard howled as he felt the bones in his hand crunch, and all of a sudden they were skyward again, Grimmjow leaping through the air, dragging Blackbeard along, clenched tightly in his maw.

“Let me go, damn you!” Blackbeard bellowed, and willed darkness to surge through his remaining hand, and slammed it down into the creature’s burning flesh, intent on snuffing out its powerful energy. Reiatsu burned through the darkness, though, a wave of power rippling out and repelling Blackbeard’s attack, snuffing it out violently.

‘What?!’

Fear overtook Blackbeard once more as he willed shadows to engulf Grimmjow, but the Hollow’s power once again surged out and repelled it. They were climbing higher and higher into the sky now, every edge of the arena visible in the far distance as the wind whipped at them.

On the ground below, the still-battling Espada and Warlords separated and looked up, stunned, at the distant sight of the two of them climbing higher into the sky. Even from a distance, they could feel Grimmjow’s surging energy all too strongly.

“What…” Luppi whispered, eyes wide. “What the hell is that?”

“Grimmjow…” Baraggan growled, looking equally shaken. “So this is how strong you’ve become…”

Starrk grinned. Within his mind, Lilynette let out a cry of excitement at the sight.

Though he couldn’t take action himself, Jinbe smiled grimly. ‘Blackbeard… it seems your time may have come.’ To his right, Kuma’s thoughts were of neither victory nor defeat. He couldn’t bring himself to care about the outcome of the war… not anymore.

Some distance away, the zombified Mihawk lay bruised and battered; without Yoru or any of his normal sword skills, he had been beaten down by Luppi. Though his eyes stared blankly upward, his face seemed to twitch, almost as though he was smiling.

Far above, clenching his fist, Blackbeard let out a bellow of anger and willed Conqueror’s Haki to flow through him once again, as much as Grimmjow’s overwhelming power tried to force it down.

“LET!”

He swung his fist down into Grimmjow’s head, and Haki exploded violently across it, dispersing into the wind.

“ME!”

He struck out again, and this time Grimmjow’s jaw jerked slightly, the blow loosening his vice-grip on Blackbeard’s arm, though pain spasmed through Blackbeard as well.

“GO!”

Blackbeard raised his fist above Grimmjow’s head, and a quake bubble formed, mixing with his Haki and swelling outward. He brought it down directly into Grimmjow’s skull, and finally the Hollow’s teeth came free and he separated from Blackbeard, a massive shockwave exploding outward and sending a shudder across the entire arena.

On the ground, the three Espada and two Warlords that remained were bowled off their feet, sent flying as a massive gust of wind ripped across the earth, upending everything for hundreds and hundreds of kilometers.

Twisting around in midair, Grimmjow’s claws elongated sharply, blue energy forming massive shears extending from each of his fingers, like Desgarron but so large they seemed to span the sky. Plummeting, Blackbeard quivered as he drew back one hand, then the other. Darkness and shadow mixed together as two quake bubbles materialized around his fists. Conqueror’s Haki surged through his body and outward, bleaching the sky blood red against Grimmjow’s blue.

In spite of everything, Blackbeard found his courage once again, and howled with laughter as the wind whipped him, and they both reared up to attack.

“Bring it on, Grimmjow! Everything you do only makes me stronger! I’ve transcended even the Pirate King, by now! Nothing you do will keep me down!!”

Grimmjow’s mouth opened wide, and he let out a snarling growl that echoed across the sky. The words hissed out, like the growl of a thousand animals mixed into one.

“DESSSSSSGARROOONNNNNNN… PEDAZOS!!!”

He swung his claws, and Blackbeard met them head on with both his fists, thrusting them forward with all the will he could muster.

The sky seemed to break.

The air itself split down the middle.

And the entire arena, from the far north all the way to the south, shattered. Land ripped clean in half, the desert sand surging into the sky, chasms ripping through the ground hundreds of miles long, massive tidal waves surging over every island.

The shockwave that rippled out slammed into the Espada and Warlords on the ground below, who had already been sent reeling by the prior clashes. All of them were hurled into the air. The Espada’s bodies were ransacked, the stitches holding them together dislodged. The zombie Warlords fared better, but they too struggled to endure the forces assailing them.

Then, the water came in. The massive trenches carved into the ground by the shearing power of Grimmjow’s attack stretched all the way to the ocean, and now millions of gallons of seawater flowed through, flooding across the land.

Kuma was hurled into the water first, and then Jinbe, and although the Fish-Man would normally have been able to handle the water just fine, the salt within was a natural counter to Moria’s power. Within moments, the shadows had fled both bodies, and the two of them disappeared beneath the waves.

In the air above, Blackbeard and Grimmjow’s blows struggled against one another, the razor sharp might of Grimmjow’s claws battling against Blackbeard’s sheer concussive force. Reiatsu against Haki. Darkness against Destruction. Would-be king against would-be king. But in the moments that followed, only one could emerge victorious.

…

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SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

Grimmjow’s claws won out. Carving clean through the quake bubbles, the darkness, the shadows, and the Haki empowering all of them, he let out a bloodcurdling roar as his talons scored into Blackbeard’s chest and tore all the way through, so deeply that the enormous man split nearly in half across the middle. Blood exploded out from the three long gashes that marked the end of the war.

For a moment, the cacophony of noise was replaced by silence. Blackbeard’s mouth, full of blood, gaped wide, incapable of producing a scream. Then, his power seemed to shatter. The energy that surrounded his body burst and dissipated, and all of a sudden, he was a mortally wounded man, falling to his death.

Marshall D. Teach plummeted, blood flowing into the air from his wounds. Somehow, his eyes were still open, and he was still conscious. A laugh tried to force its way up from his chest. But then he hit the water below, and every bone in his body cracked from the impact. As he plunged into the sea, ice cold liquid death flowed into his wounds and his lungs. Bubbles of air and blood gurgled from his mouth as he sank. His vision blurred, the strength fleeing his limbs, no Devil Fruit power coming forth even as he willed it to…

Even as despair and defeat filled him, and death drew so near he could practically feel its grip, Teach couldn’t help but want to laugh. To think, he had come so close to his great dream…

But as the sea pressed down on him, no laughter could escape Teach’s mouth. He could find no glee or pride or respite.

Only darkness.

—

Grimmjow touched down gently, his feet resting on the sand. It had taken some time for the arena to stop shaking, to stabilize itself enough for him to land, but at long last, he had found solid ground to stand on. Slowly, the pure energy that had engulfed his body was receding, and skin was growing back in its place. His heartbeat, so fast and thunderous it had been echoing in his ears ever since transforming, was slowly settling, and he found he could breathe normally again.

He closed his eyes. Took a deep breath in, and then out. And then opened his eyes again. He looked down at his arms. Though they steamed faintly, he had otherwise returned to normal. Slowly, his eyes rose. He scanned the ruined remains of the arena, looking for signs of life, and found none. A faint melancholy settled in his chest.

It was over.

As if on cue with his realization…

“ATTENTION ALL PARTICIPANTS! THE FINAL MEMBER OF THE WARLORDS OF THE SEA HAS DIED! NONE REMAIN!”

“WHICH MEANS…”

Triumphant music blared through the air, echoing across every corner of the arena, filling the sky with a powerful crescendo of sound.

“THE ESPADA WIN!”

Rays of auburn light bathed the ground as the sun broke over the horizon, to signify the morning. The music increased in volume, in a vibrant celebration of the great victory.

Grimmjow was silent.

He waited as the music played on, and then slowly died out, the sound diminishing until it was gone completely, and then silence filled the air again.

Still, he was silent.

Waiting.

“…YOU KNOW, GRIMMJOW, YOU COULD BE A LITTLE MORE EXCITED! YOU WON! CELEBRATE!”

Grimmjow scoffed softly.

“Not until you give me my prize.”

“HA! FINE, FINE, I GET YOU. YOU WON’T BE HAPPY UNTIL YOU’VE GOTTEN YOUR WISH. FINE! WHAT’S IT GONNA BE, THEN? ANYTHING YOU WANT, IT’S YOURS. OF COURSE, I’M SURE EVERYONE WHO’S BEEN PAYING ATTENTION ALREADY KNOWS, EH?”

Grimmjow opened his mouth, and then closed it. His lips tightened, and he scoffed as he looked off to the side. He closed his eyes.

‘Make me king!’ He thought. ‘The king of Hueco Mundo!’

He could say the words, and he would have it, just what he’d always wanted, and yet…!

…And yet…

He let out an aggravated sigh. Slowly, he opened his eyes, and turned to look up at the sky. 

“Bring ‘em back.”

“HM? I DIDN’T QUITE CATCH THAT.”

“The other Espada. Bring ‘em back, all of them. For real, not like Szayel did.”

The voice above was silent for several long moments, as if stunned by the answer.

“…HUHHHHHH?! WHAT THE HECK IS WITH THAT CLICHÉ WISH?! I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO BE-”

“I can wish for what I want, can’t I?!” Grimmjow snarled, pulling his hands out of his pocket and glowering up at the sky. “And I said I want you to bring ‘em back! What good is being king gonna do me, if I’m sitting on a damn throne alone, ruling over nobody?!”

His words lingered in the air and he scoffed, shoving his hands back in his pockets and looking down at the ground.

“A king without followers is just pretending. So… yeah, bring ‘em back. I’ll become king by my own damn self. I don’t need your stupid wish.”

The announcer was silent, and then a loud laugh echoed across the sky. Grimmjow bristled, looking up sharply in anger.

“ALRIGHT, THEN. I’LL ADMIT, I DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING. BUT I GUESS THAT MAKES IT INTERESTING, SO YOUR WISH IS MY COMMAND! SEE YA ROUND, GRIMMJOW.”

A blinding flash of light illuminated the sky. For a few long moments, nothing happened. Then, some distance away, a glowing mass pulled itself up from the sand. Starrk, eyes closed, floated up into the air, tugged free from where he was buried by some unearthly power. Before Grimmjow’s eyes, the stitches lining his body twisted free and his skin sealed back up, fully repaired, and his eyes shot open. Then he dropped like a stone, crumpling down to his knees. To his left, Lilynette materialized, unfusing from him and rubbing her head.

“Wha-? Where are we…?”

Starrk slowly pulled himself up. He looked around, and then his gaze landed on Grimmjow. They made eye contact, and after a moment’s pause, Starrk’s mouth dropped open, understanding registering on his face. Grimmjow looked away.

He couldn’t avoid eye contact for very long, though. All around him, Descorrers opened midair, and Espada members stepped out, no doubt returning to his side after having been revived from all across the arena. Luppi was first, but his shouts of anger and confusion were drowned out as Ulquiorra emerged behind him, followed closely by Yammy, who was now back to normal size. The much taller Hollow shoved Luppi out of the way.

“You brought us back?” Yammy asked, laughing in disbelief as he approached Grimmjow. “You, of all people?”

“…Yeah, yeah, don’t make a big deal out of it.” Grimmjow looked away, annoyed. Ulquiorra regarded him with curiosity.

“I’ll admit, I’m caught off-guard too. Unusually un-Hollow-like, by your standards.”

“Oh, I’d say it’s more Hollow-like than you’d think.” Szayel had arrived, pushing his glasses up with a smug expression on his face. “Grimmjow has never been the type to accept defeat… of course, his definition of defeat has changed, it seems. That is certainly curious.”

Aaroniero trailed behind him, hands clasped behind his back. Unlike the others, he didn’t speak, and his strange, skull-like faces betrayed no emotion. Nnoitra and Zommari emerged next, bickering about something or other… then Harribel made her appearance. As she exited her Descorrer, her gaze landed on Grimmjow, and he met her eyes steadily. She looked away.

Then, something collided with him, and he let out a grunt of surprise.

“The hell?!” He turned in indignation, glowering at Nel, who had jumped in to hug him. “Get offa me!”

“I knew you had a heart.” She grinned, hopping back from him, an annoyingly teasing expression on her face. “You’ve always been a big ol’ softie.”

“Shut the hell up!” Grimmjow snarled. “I only did it cuz it woulda been worthless to be king without anyone around to give orders to! You’d better not get any stupid fuckin’ ideas!”

“The Grimmjow of a few months ago would not have paid any heed to that notion.” A rumbling voice cut in, and Grimmjow turned to glower at Baraggan, who was watching him with crossed arms and an appraising expression on his face. “In the past, you would have made your wish hastily and only thought about it later, once you had already wasted it.”

Grimmjow was silent, and then looked away again.

“Yeah, well, whatever. I don’t need a wish to become king.” He repeated what he had said to the mysterious announcer before. “I’ll do that by myself.”

“I would say,” Harribel spoke up, softly, “that you have already done that.”

“Huh?” Grimmjow turned to look at her. She met his gaze with a soft smile.

“Of course, I won’t be letting you go unchecked… but if it’s a question of leadership, I’d say you’ve more than proven yourself.”

He stared blankly back at her, struggling to process what she was saying.

“H-Hold on!” Luppi stepped forward, indignant anger contorting his face. “Are you asking us all to defer to him?! I haven’t agreed to that!”

“Are you gonna challenge him for it?” Starrk asked, lips twitching upward into an amused smirk. Luppi opened his mouth, and then closed it again. A flicker of fear crossed his face. He had seen the fight with Blackbeard firsthand, after all. Slowly, he shook his head, an expression of bitter resentment replacing his anger, and he stepped backward.

Baraggan drew his axe, and stepped toward Grimmjow, and for a moment it seemed as though he was going to make a challenge of his own. But as he met Grimmjow’s gaze, there was no animosity in his expression, only begrudging acceptance.

“I’ll have my eye on you, boy. Don’t disappoint me.”

Grimmjow turned to look at the faces of all the Espada surrounding him, searching for some kind of objection, but found none. Slowly, his expression widened into a grin.

“Heh. I’ll make damn sure not to.”

Watching him, Starrk smiled and looked away, emotion welling up inside of him. For all of the Espada, who had never been able to stand each other, to unite under one leader, however begrudgingly it might have been for some of them… he had never thought that was possible. He felt Lilynette wrap her small arms around him from the side, and he reached out to ruffle her hair.

Suddenly, with a flash of light, all of the Espada were illuminated. Glowing yellow radiance emitted from all of their bodies, and they tensed up, ready for a fight. After a moment, though, it became clear they weren’t under attack.

“What’s going on?” Nel asked, looking down at her glowing body in surprise.

“If I had to guess,” Szayel responded slowly, “they’re sending us home.”

“To Hueco Mundo?”

No sooner had he finished his sentence, the Espada began to float upward, lifted off the ground into the air by whatever mystical power had gripped them. As they rose upward, Grimmjow in the center, he glanced around at each of them, and then grinned, turning his gaze upward.

“To Hueco Mundo.”

The light emitting from them grew brighter, and in a flash of light, the Espada departed the arena.

Freed. United. Victorious.

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Kilometers away, a cluster of boulders shifted. Disturbed by the battle, they had piled up, but now they were pushed aside, and a loud groan filled the air. Slowly, painfully, a figure pulled themself from the rubble. Somehow, they had remained unhurt from the battle.

The person rubbed their head, mumbling under their breath as they blinked, the sunlight assailing their eyes for the first time in hours. As they stepped out, their gaze scanned the ruined arena.

Silence hung in the air as they looked around for any sign of life at all.

“…H…Hello…?” Buggy the Clown called out, anxiously. “…Is anyone there?”

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“OHHH CRAP, I COUNTED CROCODILE TWICE! NO ONE LOOK AT ME, I’M A FRAUUU-HA-HAAAAUUUD…!!!”

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FIN

(1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10)