Notes: Not part of an actual fic as such. More like an excuse to train my writing in areas I am weak in, by describing a series of encounters between high ranking shinigami and arrancar during an alternate sequence of events.
Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. I make no claims of intellectual property over anything that rightfully belongs to somebody else.
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Seiretei had been invaded. Again. And, this time, it was not a ragtag group of misfits in a desperate attempt to rescue a friend.
Jushiro Ukitake had seen many terrible things in his dozens of centuries of service to Soul Society, but it seemed that this night was blackest than any other he remembered... Pyrrhic victory or utter defeat, those were the only possible scenarios now, since abandoning Seiretei to Aizen's creatures was unthinkable for a great many reasons.
How the defenses of the fortress had been breached (again) and how the invaders had penetrated so deeply before being detected were still unknowns. And, for the time being, less important than the ongoing combats for these invaders were monsters created with the sole purpose of destroying the enemies of their master. Already parts of the citadel were burning and the very air vibrated with the release of massive amounts of spiritual energy.
It seemed that some captains had already joined the fighting and even released their swords. It... didn't seem to be doing much good so far. Some of the large concentrations of tainted spirit energy that he could detect with his well honed senses had seemingly accepted this challenge and raised their own power levels, some matching and some even dwarfing his peers. He itched to run to their aid, but dared not abandon his position.
Vicecaptain Sasakibe, bless his soul, had been handed overall command of the thirteen divisions by the Captain Commander, when Yama-jiji had decided to personally enter the battle, and being his usual useful self, Sasakibe had quickly identified a number of key locations that might be the targets of the invaders and arranged for their defense with the forces that could be spared from the frontline.
And so it had been determined that Captain Ukitake was to protect a nondescript building within the complex of the twelfth division that contained some rather important electronic machinery. The computers stored the spiritual characteristics of a number of very dangerous individuals and used this information to create and maintain barriers of unmatched power and density that kept these selfsame individuals out of Soul Society.
Things were hairy enough already, without Aizen and his chief accomplices getting involved in the fighting.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi was also supposed to be here to help protect the facility, but the madman had apparently decided that the call of science took precedence over mere military needs and abandoned the premises along with his vicecaptain, just before Ukitake's arrival. No doubt, captain Kurotsuchi was more interested in collecting living Arrancar specimens to study and have a chance to outstrip Urahara. All in all, however, the absence might be for the better and, at least, the insane scientist hadn't taken with him any of his underlings to use as bait. Probably Unohana-sempai's rather incensed reaction after hearing a story of shinigami turned into living bombs by their commanding officer had something to do with that.
Much like Shunsui or Yama-jiji, the captain of the thirteenth had a bankai dangerous to both friend and foe. And while the seated officers of the thirteenth weren't exactly powerhouses nor all that sane by most standards, they had been thoroughly cowed into obeying orders quickly, efficiently and to the letter. After he had... persuaded them to disregard the orders of their commander to ready the autopsy rooms, they had been quick to prepare for defense.
A particularly helpful young fellow called Nomura had even pointed that some of the experiments considered failures might be of some use in securing the facility. The head of the Shinigami Research Institute was a prideful man and the inventions that didn't satisfy his exalted standards simply weren't allowed to leave his domain, lest their very existence tarnish the reputation of his genius. Ukitake had known that much.
What he hadn't known was just how exalted those standards really were. Nomura and a few other members of the thirteenth had led him to a vast storehouse behind the main lab complex and revealed a startling array of vicious inventions that for one reason or another had been discarded. A gas designed to inhibit the regenerative abilities of Gillians? A breed of red hell butterflies capable of storing kido spells of up to level fourty and tracking their prey? An armor made of a synthetic material with enough spiritual density to withstand the blows of a bankai?
There wasn't nearly enough time to get ready for use even one tenth of the contents, but...
A sudden burst of tainted reiatsu -close and as powerful as one of the younger captains- appeared in Ukitake's mind's eye, revealing that there was no time left at all. It wasn't nearly powerful enough to weaken him, but it forced him to raise his own spirit pressure. This, combined with the intruder's own presence, was enough to floor Nomura and the others. Whether they were unconscious or simply too weak to move when crushed by the power of an enemy of this stature was unimportant. Either way, they were in no condition to offer any help.
No matter. The white haired shinigami launched himself towards the location of his enemy at the speed of flash. After crossing the threshold of the storehouse, he located his target and readied his sword for the first blow. Though he crossed the distance between them both in less than a heartbeat, the battle instincts developed over many lifetimes of combat started to pick apart his opponent looking for some weakness.
Fairly human looking and human sized, but with a strange, elongated mask hiding both face and head. According to Urahara, shinigamification tended to leave deformities from the original hollow form in the lesser types of Menos. That meant that he was probably facing a former Adjuchas, although there was a possibility of the creature being an unusually strong Gillian. If it was the later, then the Arrancar might have regeneration. Ukitake decided to try to cut a shallow gash across the chest of his foe with the first blow, to gauge the density of the hierro and ascertain whether the enemy had the ability. An instant before contact, the captain filled his blade with his spirit energy, increasing the sharpness of the weapon and...
... failed to land a blow.
In the last possible moment, the arrancar whirled to the right like a dervish, dodging the attack entirely. The captain recovered quickly and continued his attack, but he had lost his momentum and the white garbed creature used its own sword to parry the next strikes. And then, before he could decide a new tactic, the Arrancar raised his hand.
"Bakudo 56: Yamatate," it said and a barrier of golden energy appeared between both combatants.
Ukitake stopped. Not because of the unexpected kido shield (which he could tear down by punching hard), but because of the voice. He recognized it. And he recognized the smiling face that was revealed when his enemy removed his strange mask. Old pain, never truly healed and great, impossible hope blossomed anew in his heart.
"Whoa! You are in rare form tonight, sir! Glad to see your health has improved!"
"Kaien!?"
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Feel free to rip this to pieces, ignore it or suggest possible fights. I have some interesting possibilities considered, but there is nothing set in stone.
That's all.
Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. I make no claims of intellectual property over anything that rightfully belongs to somebody else.
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Seiretei had been invaded. Again. And, this time, it was not a ragtag group of misfits in a desperate attempt to rescue a friend.
Jushiro Ukitake had seen many terrible things in his dozens of centuries of service to Soul Society, but it seemed that this night was blackest than any other he remembered... Pyrrhic victory or utter defeat, those were the only possible scenarios now, since abandoning Seiretei to Aizen's creatures was unthinkable for a great many reasons.
How the defenses of the fortress had been breached (again) and how the invaders had penetrated so deeply before being detected were still unknowns. And, for the time being, less important than the ongoing combats for these invaders were monsters created with the sole purpose of destroying the enemies of their master. Already parts of the citadel were burning and the very air vibrated with the release of massive amounts of spiritual energy.
It seemed that some captains had already joined the fighting and even released their swords. It... didn't seem to be doing much good so far. Some of the large concentrations of tainted spirit energy that he could detect with his well honed senses had seemingly accepted this challenge and raised their own power levels, some matching and some even dwarfing his peers. He itched to run to their aid, but dared not abandon his position.
Vicecaptain Sasakibe, bless his soul, had been handed overall command of the thirteen divisions by the Captain Commander, when Yama-jiji had decided to personally enter the battle, and being his usual useful self, Sasakibe had quickly identified a number of key locations that might be the targets of the invaders and arranged for their defense with the forces that could be spared from the frontline.
And so it had been determined that Captain Ukitake was to protect a nondescript building within the complex of the twelfth division that contained some rather important electronic machinery. The computers stored the spiritual characteristics of a number of very dangerous individuals and used this information to create and maintain barriers of unmatched power and density that kept these selfsame individuals out of Soul Society.
Things were hairy enough already, without Aizen and his chief accomplices getting involved in the fighting.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi was also supposed to be here to help protect the facility, but the madman had apparently decided that the call of science took precedence over mere military needs and abandoned the premises along with his vicecaptain, just before Ukitake's arrival. No doubt, captain Kurotsuchi was more interested in collecting living Arrancar specimens to study and have a chance to outstrip Urahara. All in all, however, the absence might be for the better and, at least, the insane scientist hadn't taken with him any of his underlings to use as bait. Probably Unohana-sempai's rather incensed reaction after hearing a story of shinigami turned into living bombs by their commanding officer had something to do with that.
Much like Shunsui or Yama-jiji, the captain of the thirteenth had a bankai dangerous to both friend and foe. And while the seated officers of the thirteenth weren't exactly powerhouses nor all that sane by most standards, they had been thoroughly cowed into obeying orders quickly, efficiently and to the letter. After he had... persuaded them to disregard the orders of their commander to ready the autopsy rooms, they had been quick to prepare for defense.
A particularly helpful young fellow called Nomura had even pointed that some of the experiments considered failures might be of some use in securing the facility. The head of the Shinigami Research Institute was a prideful man and the inventions that didn't satisfy his exalted standards simply weren't allowed to leave his domain, lest their very existence tarnish the reputation of his genius. Ukitake had known that much.
What he hadn't known was just how exalted those standards really were. Nomura and a few other members of the thirteenth had led him to a vast storehouse behind the main lab complex and revealed a startling array of vicious inventions that for one reason or another had been discarded. A gas designed to inhibit the regenerative abilities of Gillians? A breed of red hell butterflies capable of storing kido spells of up to level fourty and tracking their prey? An armor made of a synthetic material with enough spiritual density to withstand the blows of a bankai?
There wasn't nearly enough time to get ready for use even one tenth of the contents, but...
A sudden burst of tainted reiatsu -close and as powerful as one of the younger captains- appeared in Ukitake's mind's eye, revealing that there was no time left at all. It wasn't nearly powerful enough to weaken him, but it forced him to raise his own spirit pressure. This, combined with the intruder's own presence, was enough to floor Nomura and the others. Whether they were unconscious or simply too weak to move when crushed by the power of an enemy of this stature was unimportant. Either way, they were in no condition to offer any help.
No matter. The white haired shinigami launched himself towards the location of his enemy at the speed of flash. After crossing the threshold of the storehouse, he located his target and readied his sword for the first blow. Though he crossed the distance between them both in less than a heartbeat, the battle instincts developed over many lifetimes of combat started to pick apart his opponent looking for some weakness.
Fairly human looking and human sized, but with a strange, elongated mask hiding both face and head. According to Urahara, shinigamification tended to leave deformities from the original hollow form in the lesser types of Menos. That meant that he was probably facing a former Adjuchas, although there was a possibility of the creature being an unusually strong Gillian. If it was the later, then the Arrancar might have regeneration. Ukitake decided to try to cut a shallow gash across the chest of his foe with the first blow, to gauge the density of the hierro and ascertain whether the enemy had the ability. An instant before contact, the captain filled his blade with his spirit energy, increasing the sharpness of the weapon and...
... failed to land a blow.
In the last possible moment, the arrancar whirled to the right like a dervish, dodging the attack entirely. The captain recovered quickly and continued his attack, but he had lost his momentum and the white garbed creature used its own sword to parry the next strikes. And then, before he could decide a new tactic, the Arrancar raised his hand.
"Bakudo 56: Yamatate," it said and a barrier of golden energy appeared between both combatants.
Ukitake stopped. Not because of the unexpected kido shield (which he could tear down by punching hard), but because of the voice. He recognized it. And he recognized the smiling face that was revealed when his enemy removed his strange mask. Old pain, never truly healed and great, impossible hope blossomed anew in his heart.
"Whoa! You are in rare form tonight, sir! Glad to see your health has improved!"
"Kaien!?"
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Feel free to rip this to pieces, ignore it or suggest possible fights. I have some interesting possibilities considered, but there is nothing set in stone.
That's all.