Chapter Twenty-one: Escape from Death's Tower part two

Disclaimer: Bleach and Final Fantasy VIII and other related entities are owned, (TM) and © by Tite Kubo and Square Enix respectively.

A/N-

Whhhat an update, why yes it is. I kind of wanted to get this out by Suì's birthday so yay!

"We've been waiting for thirty minutes, where are they?" Hitsugaya asked agitated while pacing the spacious garage next to the two hummers they had at the ready. The soldiers who had been guarding the area now stood as frozen statues thanks to Hyorimaru.

"We should give them a bit more time before worrying. This place is huge after all and there are obstacles at every turn." Rukia spoke up from her spot on the passenger's seat of the first hummer

"I agree we should give them at least twenty minutes before we attempt another rescue in the mad house." Ichigo said in agreement with Rukia.

Renji let out a growl from the driver's seat of the same hummer, jealousy reining its ugly head. He was supposed to take care of her, Byakuya had asked him to. He had failed once already. He wouldn't fail twice and let that orange headed upstart show him up.

Hitsugaya turned his head to the doors when they started to open. He thought it was the others finally showing up, but his happiness was short lived once he saw the white of Las Noches and the face of evil incarnate.

"How?" Hitsugaya exclaimed in shock. The man standing in the open doorway cackled madly.

"Did you really think you could beat me?" He strode forward and lifted a familiar looking sword.

"This was a bitch to get out, but now that it is I figured that since you skewered me I would return the favor… Resurrección!" A powerful maelstrom of wind shot out from Nnoitra's body and across the garage. When it settled the group looked on in shock as the dirt began to settle.

Nnoitra stood before them with four arms, each of which was holding a large deadly looking scythe.

"Che, I don't know how you survived last time, but I'll make sure you stay down this time!" Renji shouted and drew Zabimaru from it sheath.

"Growl Zabimaru!" Renji exclaimed as he lunged at Nnoitra. He ignored Hitsugaya's order to stop and Rukia's worried voice telling him not to do it.

Renji threw his sword arm forward and Zabimaru disconnected and elongated heading straight for Nnoitra.

The monster of a man just grinned and swiped at Zabimaru once it got close enough, changing its trajectory and hitting the ground away from him.

Nnoitra then launched himself at Renji and brought two of his massive blades down on him. Renji didn't have enough time to retract Zabimaru. He watched helplessly as the weapons came down upon him. He closed his eyes and prepared for the inevitable.

There was the sound of blade meeting blade.

Renji opened one eye and gapped.

Ichigo stood in front of him, his huge sword keeping both of Nnoitra's blades at bay.

"Next time don't go rushing off like that you moron!" Ichigo shouted over his shoulder as he pushed Nnoitra's weapons away. Hitsugaya jumped over their shoulders, his sword held high over his head. He swung it forward and large ice shards flew at the four armed man.

Nnoitra didn't even bother moving as the ice hit him head on and just shattered once they made contact with his skin.

"My turn!" He said then laughed sadistically.

"Wrong it's mine!" Said a voice from behind him, he turned to face his challenger but didn't get farther than that when a large ash storm surrounded him. The three males watched as Matsumoto reigned down retribution on the one eyed man. Haineko's attack was so fierce that they were certain that there would be nothing left of Nnoitra once the dust settled.

After about a minute of the onslaught she recalled her attack, and as the thousands of ash particles moved away from the spot the group was shocked to see that Nnoitra was still standing.

Not only was he still standing they realized that there was no damage done to him, though his cloths were in shreds meaning he had not moved from that spot.

"Is that it?" Nnoitra asked bored. When no one answered he chuckled darkly. "Alright then let me show you what true power is." He lifted all four arms into an attack stance and charged the SeeD's.

'Damn it!' Hitsugaya thought darkly as he blocked the first two strikes while Ichigo took care of the other two. Renji went in for the attack. Zabimaru distended and struck home at the center of Nnoitra's chest. He growled in frustration as there was no effect on the man.

'What do we do if we can't even land a proper hit on him?' Hitsugaya ducked under another blade swing, and Matsumoto struck from behind and concentrated the attack at the center of Nnoitra's back.

Nothing, not even a scratch, just a hole in the fabric of his cloths.

'How were you able to defeat him last time my master?' Hyorimaru's voice whispered through Hitsugaya's consciousness.

'No that won't work' Hitsugaya thought as he remembered the last time they had put Nnoitra down.

The SeeDs regrouped near the first hummer once they realized their attacks had absolutely no effect against their enemy.

"How the hell are we supposed to beat him when none of our attacks can cut through his hierro." Ichigo growled in frustration as he watched Nnoitra make his way over to them at a leisurely pace.

The man was in no hurry to stop his fun, and they would be dead soon enough.

"We need to go for his eyes." Renji offered while gripping the handle of his sword a bit harder turning his knuckles white.

"That won't work, we tried that already and it didn't work. We even used his own sword…" Hitsugaya reasoned tensing farther once Nnoitra was only five feet away from them.

"Ready to die!" Nnoitra's sadistic smile grew tenfold as he prepared to rush the group.

"Kamisori, Benihime."

A crimson slash tore through the room, cutting everything in its path including the protected flesh of Nnoitra's back.

The one eyed man gasped in shocked pain, and rigidly turned his head towards the source of the powerful attack.

He was greeted with the solemn look of gray eyes. Nnoitra fell forward and landed face down. Once again surrounded by a pool of his own blood.

Hitsugaya and the others turned away from their felled foe and looked towards where the attack had come from.

"Sorry we're late…our resident princess decided she wanted to play with her prey." Urahara said while pointing a thumb over his shoulder.

That was when the group noticed Yoruichi standing behind Urahara cradling the unconscious body of Suì-Fēng to herself.

"Stop kidding around. I only took so long so you could get Suì out of that infernal contraption." Yoruichi said aggravated and passed the hated man towards the first hummer. She gently placed Suifeng in the back.

The wounded woman let out a groan, but did not wake up. She brushed a stray strand of hair from the young woman's face and tenderly placed a kiss to her forehead.

"We need to get out of here; genius over there set this place to blow at any minute now." Yoruichi then took a seat and made sure to put Suì's head over her lap.

The others shook of their surprise and hurried into the hummers. Once everyone was strapped in the armored vehicles took off on screeching tires.

They were only half-a-mile away from the prison when an explosion rocked them forward in their seats.

Urahara fought the wheel of the first hummer trying to keep in control. The second hummer skid past them and almost went wheels over roof, but Renji was able to stabilize the vehicle and come to a stop.

Urahara let out a puff of breath and looked back to check on Yoruichi and Suì. He was happy to see that both women were still in their seats. Yoruichi had a protective hold of Suì's shoulders keeping the younger woman from flying off the seat and into farther injury. He noticed the stink-eye Yoruichi was giving him and smiled apologetically. He then turned to Rukia and let out a nervous laugh at her death grip on the dashboard.

'That was to close, next time I'll be sure to add a few extra seconds.'

'There wouldn't need to be a next time if you had taken care of that fool in the first place.' The silky voice of his familiar drifted across his conscious.

Urahara's expression darkened but shook it off quickly when he realized he needed to check on the others.

Renji was helping Rukia out of the back seat when Urahara hopped out of the first hummer and walked over to them. Ichigo was leaned over on the other side being violently sick, and Matsumoto was desperately trying to get a weeping Nel off her blessedly big breast.

Urahara heard the door to the second hummer open and then the stomping of feet.

Hitsugaya stopped a yard short of the blond man.

"Are you mad? We could have all been killed with that stunt you pulled!"

The others stopped what they were doing to listen.

"Releasing Hollows and activating bombs and…and…what the hell happened to you?" The irate young man asked when he noticed the deep laceration on Urahara's shoulder. Kisuke looked down at the wound and shrugged his good shoulder.

"I had a run in with a former student of mine…we had a chat and then a brawl. I would at this time like to make an announcement," there was a dramatic pause, "I am still better then Sosuke Aizen!" Urahara posed in a ridicules manner and grinned.

The others sighed at his antics. Hitsugaya turned to the first hummer and made his way over to the back seat.

"How is she?" He asked worriedly once he reached the door.

Yoruichi looked up from her task of wiping Suì's brow when the white haired youth spoke.

"She's alive, but badly hurt. The trap my fa- that Las Noches bastard set up cost Suì an arm and a gunshot wound to the back. It may be infected. We need to get her to a doctor soon." Yoruichi turned back to Suì and looked to the stump of her arm and felt a stab of guilt.

'This is all my fault. I should have known that man would do something like this. I'll never be able to make this up to you Suifeng but I swear I'll try to anyway.'

"Don't worry Yoruichi we'll head back to the Garden and have Dr. Unohana take care of her." Hitsugaya turned to give out the orders to move out, but an explosion of sound halted him.

He watched, along with the others, as several missiles were launched from over the mountain.

"Shit!" Urahara growled. He quickly turned for the first hummer and gave out orders.

"Shit, I should have seen this coming. SeeDs gather round we have a problem." The young SeeDs quickly gathered around their senior officer and the first hummer, a nervous energy running through them all.

"We got a problem. Those missiles were aimed toward the Northeast. The only point of interest is a Garden." Rukia let out a stunned gasp. If that was true then her old school had just been attacked.

"Aizen is declaring war, and I've no doubt that the next target is Seireitei Garden. We need to stop that from happening, but Suì-Fēng is severely injured and needs medical attention. We will need to split off into two teams."

He watched the serious looks on the young men and women faces and quickly made a decision on who would go where.

"Hitsugaya you will take Renji Rukia and Ichigo. You will take the hummer and infiltrate the next launch." Kisuke watched Hitsugaya nod and give out the order to move out. Without hesitation the four moved as one and headed for the second car.

Within seconds everyone was seated and driving away in the direction of the L.N. base, a cloud of dust billowing in their wake.

'Stay safe' Thought Urahara. He walked back to the first hummer and called over his shoulder.

"Come on Matsumoto we have to get home as soon as possible." He got in the driver's seat.

Matsumoto looked out at the open space where Hitsugaya's team had driven off and gave a small prayer.

"Come on Nel let's get out of here." She turned and walked over to the hummer. Nel offered her own prayer and followed after her new friend.

Once everyone was settled Urahara started the engine and drove off in the direction of District Seventy-eight and their train station.

They had a long way to go and a short time to get there.

So like usual this isn't beta-ed, so if there are any mistakes please, please let me know so that I can fix it. Next chapter will most likely focus on Hitsugaya's team, and after that we'll get to the explanation on how Yoruichi survived (though most of you probably could guess) and Urahara's confrontation with Aizen. So stay tuned.

Oh and a very heartfelt thank you to all those who have reviewed I love you guys.

-K