I've put all my remaining fighting strength into this final chapter for you readers. I've also packed it in a double-length feature to make the final chapter that little bit more special (and epic!). It's been two long years waiting for this moment but please enjoy the Final Chapter of Death and the Dragon!-!-!
Chapter 20
Kanu continued cutting her Blue Dragon against the edge of Guan Yu's own blade, melting her eyes with the sparks of nearly two thousand years of war and bloodshed. She slashed down at his feet but he blocked again parrying her strike as he charged through with a twirling slash. But she held out her crescent blade, catching the spinning blade as she jabbed forward, the Green Tiger weaving his head to the right to avoid becoming a trophy himself. He swept his blade through as he advanced, but Kanu leapt into the air to evade the deadly sneak attack. Her youth and agility finally offering an advantage as she fell back to earth with her blade hammering down just as the Tiger of Shu lifted his Blue Dragon above his head to shield the death's reaper raining down upon him.
"I should commend you for challenging my blade up until now." Guan Yu commented as he pushed his blade against Kanu's, parrying her gravity strike as she leapt back. "But now we shall decide this with one final strike!" High voltage energy suddenly webbed itself around the bloodthirsty general as he held out his weapon. "The winner shall claim Blue Dragon and her power."
Kanu gripped her own blade tightly, preparing herself for the decisive blow. "I agree...Let's put all our strength into one last attack – there can only be one wielder of the Blue Dragon Crescent Blade!" And as flaring white energy coated the Seito stalwart, the combatants were set for their final test.
As the earth shattered and chunks of rock slowly lifted off the ground, the two warriors from two completely different eras focused their gazes upon each other. Not even the glistening of their blades could ward off their gazes now...
There was only one path ahead for the two of them.
Death...
or Victory...
"HYAAAAAAH!"
CLASH.
BOOOOM.
…
"Hakufu...?" Koukin was surprised to finally see his cousin again in such a long time. "Hakufu! You're here! But-"
"Oooof!" Toutaku suddenly found himself flying backwards after meeting Hakufu's right hook to the jaw. "The Legendary Shou-Haou can still match my power...What a-"
"CAN IT WIERDO!" Hakufu interrupted him with a rocket powered uppercut to his chin. The masochistic Arrancar must have been having a field day as his lower jaw suddenly buckled. He recovered mid flight to meet another flurry of Hakufu's fists; crossing his arms in an X as she pummelled her fists through his defences. "GRRAAAAGGHH!"
"HAKUFU!" Koukin called out from his helpless position on the ground below. Watching her in her unleashed form was a true spectacle for even the mightiest Toushi. When she kicked his side, thunder erupted; when she cracked another bone, lightning struck the earth. When she roared, flames scorched the battlefield.
"Sonsaku Hakufu..." Rukia looked on in sheer amazement. "She is just a human yet makes easy work of that Arrancar."
"She ain't no human." Koukin and Rukia looked back to the blonde manipulator, slicking back his hair as he gazed at the intense battle occurring above. "She harbours the Dragon of Sun Ce...She's a truly scary Fighter..."
…
"HAH! HAH! HAAARRGH!" Hakufu's eyes were glowing with sparks of passion and rage as she kept throwing her insane amount of strength into the Arrancar Toutaku. His crude smile of arrogance was gradually becoming inverted with frustration. As he felt the bones in his forearms turning into power his face contorted into a scowl as he summoned several cero on his fingertips.
"LEGIONARIOS CERO."
SSHHWOOO!-!-!-!
…
"Saji what are you doing here?" Koukin cursed his name. "You were working for Toutaku weren't you? Why else would you betray us and Ryomou?"
"Saji pulled out another cigarette and flicked his lighter, speaking as he held the roll of tobacco between his teeth. "When did I ever say that?"
"But you-" Koukin stammered. "Wait, weren't you just fighting Ryofu a second ago?"
…
"Hah...Hah...Seems I underestimated the Little Conqueror of Nanyo..." As Toutaku caught his breath, he hoped his ten cero would be enough to at least seriously wound the Shou-Haou – it was very effective against the Substitute Shinigami so it was only logical, he thought...
But as two yellow beams of light and a dark crescent moon grin appeared from the swirling mass of dust...Toutaku suddenly realised the sheer power of the Dragon. "Impossible! She's barely scratched! I have to-"
By the time he blinked, Hakufu was already onto him, gliding towards him as she held Zeus'' lightning in her palm. "Shit I can't-"
ZZZZZERRRRRCCCHHHHH!
"RYOFU!" Toutaku was saved by a slither of luck thanks to his trusty bodyguard. She struggled as she held the intense Chi in her hands, pushing back the furious Dragon. "That's it Ryofu, tame that wretched beast for me!"
…
"Oh no! She's now up against the two of them!" Rukia expressed her concern down below.
"Then why did Ryomou have to be sacrificed like that?" Koukin continued as he argued with Nanyo's leader. "If you're not on Toutaku's side then just what are you plotting, Saji Genpou?"
Koukin's boiling anger would not be helped with Sousou's arrival either. "And what about you Sousou Moutoku? Did you betray your own loyal comrades so you two could team up in this conspiracy?"
Koukin noticed something different about the Kyosho leader. His body was now emitting a huge amount of energy as his eyes began glowing red. His expression remained quite neutral, however, when he looked down at the Nanyo Fighter. "Haven't you explained it to the kid yet Saji?" He said with a soft growling tone. "Why do you always have to keep your comrades in the dark on these things?"
"Huh?" Koukin gasped when he suddenly noticed something else out of the corner of his eye. "Where's Ryomou? What happened to her?"
Saji and Sousou simply answered with the raise of their heads, pointing their eyes up to the battle in the sky.
…
"GAAAAAGGH!" Hakufu grew more aggressive as she felt herself fighting against a brick-wall, swiping and kicking the bodyguard of Toutaku as she blocked and counterattacked her strikes. "DAMMIT AAAGGGH!" She threw another energy fist towards her but her opponent caught it in her palm, staring down the Dragon as she protected her lord from both the previous life and the next.
"Tch. That's right Ryofu...Finish the Shou-Haou off so we can plan our next move." But just as the wretched dark lord was enjoying his breather he quickly needed to dodge an incoming wave of spiritual energy. "What in the-"
When he noticed the black robes and katana hanging by her side, Toutaku's arrogant grin suddenly muddle into one of fear and confusion. "Don't tell me you're one of them now?"
…
"Impossible!" Koukin's jaw dropped in awe at the person he was seeing up in the heavens. Now wielding the robes and blade of a Death God, he gulped as he tried to confirm who he was now seeing very much alive in the heavens itself.
…
"Ryomou Shimei."
"I have no time to explain this too you, but I'm finishing your worthless life now Toutaku!" The Shinigami Ryomou declared as she charged towards him with her Zanpakuto raised. "HUUAARGH!"
…
"She came back to life...As a Shinigami?" Koukin still believed he was dreaming. He had never heard of Shinigami or the afterlife before now.
"So you gave a human Shinigami powers?" Rukia inquired with the blonde blade wielder.
"Yeah." Saji answered bluntly between puffs of smoke. "It was a gamble but it paid off eh?"
"A gamble?" Koukin suddenly guffawed. "So you mean it might not have worked and she would've just died?"
"Yeah." Saji seemed indifferent to his answer.
"BUT YOU NEARLY FRIGGING KILLED HER!" Koukin protested loudly. "Then what would we do?"
"It was necessary in order to awaken Sonsaku's Dragon." Sousou explained as he continued pouring energy from his veins. "Sonsaku sensed her danger and came rushing here in order to save her...So it was for both their and our sake as well."
"Huh?" Koukin was still completely in the dark with their plan. "So by nearly killing Ryomou, you brought Hakufu into the battle and gave Ryomou some super powers of her own?"
"Well I better pitch in too." Sousou added lightly as he launched himself up towards the storming battlefield above.
"HAAAHH!" Hakufu continued throwing her fists into the martially capable Ryofu, still not finishing an opening in this Arrancar, Hakufu screeched out a high pitch roar as she threw more energy against her arms and legs. "WHY...DOESN'T...IT...WORK!"
"Hahaha! So you're a Shinigami now? What a cute little way to put up a fight against me?" Toutaku seemed to have more fun handling Ryomou as he dodged each of her heavy swings.
"Dammit! I've never used a sword before." Ryomou bit her thumbnail as she talked to herself. "I'm not wounded anymore but I wish I knew how to use this strange power inside me."
"You should know how I treat my Shinigami dear Ryomou...If you need a reminder, take a look at the boy down there." Toutaku pointed down at Ichigo who had nearly half of his guts spilling out onto the concrete as he lay down on his stomach. "So this was Saji's trump card? To make you into a Shinigami and fight me huh?"
"Saji...made me into this?"
"I'm sorry...Ryomou"
"That he did. But it was all false hope in the end for you my dear Shimei." Toutaku Sonidoed towards her as he grinded his claws down against her blade. "I'll put another hole in that heart of yours." He declared just as he began charging another round of ceros on his fingertips.
"No! She'll die!" Koukin cried out from below.
"And now..." Saji murmured with his cigarette still in his mouth. "The final actor has entered the play."
"Legionarios ce-"
SLITCH.
"Gack. What now?" As Toutaku felt a hand suddenly impale through his back he turned his neck to discover another bestial Dragon facing him with an insatiable bloodlust in her golden eyes. "You- too- eh?"
The awakened Dragon of Ryuubi Gentoku licked its lips as it showed off a fanged smile. "HEHEHEEGH!"
…
"DAMMMIIIT!" As Hakufu kept her flurry going, Ryuubi finally broke the fist machine, snagging one of her arms as she twisted it behind her back. "GRAAAAGH!"
Ryofu now had her in virtual submission. A tiny red glow forming in her right eye as she continued aiming her gaze at the Dragon of Nanyo.
"TCH." Hakufu, even in her awakened state, struggled to escape from this immortal warriors grasp. She would be vaporised before she could even do anything worthwhile in this battle (let alone in this entire story!).
Just as the orb of destruction grew to swallow her entire eye socket, Ryofu was suddenly taken off aim as a wave of red energy pushed her off the Dragon of Nanyo.
"What?" Hakufu looked around before she noticed the familiar Dragon standing before her.
"I'll take care of her...You better go and help your friend." The Dragon of Kyosho advised as he jetted down towards Toutaku's bodyguard.
…
"It's insane! All three leaders of Kanto and Ryomou are fighting Toutaku and Ryofu!" Koukin watched on as the sky was being illuminated with fireworks of red, yellow and blue energy.
"Gee they really put our boy Ichigo to shame those Fighters." A man in hat and clogs suddenly arrived as he carried Chad and Uryu over each shoulder.
"Urahara." Rukia gasped as she continued holding her scraps of cloth together.
"Looks like I could rely on you afterall Mr. Genpou." Urahara looked over at the smoking Nanyo leader.
"Did you plan this all along Urahara?' Rukia wondered still desperately hiding her shame as Urahara set down the two casualties.
"Kinda..." He scratched his nose as he laughed nervously. "We both stumbled upon each other just the other day. But it seems he knew a lot more about the world of Hollows and Shinigami than myself."
"Saji." Koukin was speechless. "Is that with you let Hakufu and Ryomou leave Nanyo?"
"Yeah." He smiled in his sense of accomplishment as he squashed on his cigarette butt. "Heard about this old dude at Karakura and figured they'd be far more useful over there than just fighting amongst thugs in our region."
"But how do you know all this stuff about Shinigami and Hollows or whatever they're called?"
Saji sighed as he looked back up at the decisive battle unfolding above. "Let's just say I had a very insightful experience with a female Shinigami once."
…
"Let go of me you damn BITCH!" Toutaku swung the awakened Ryuubi around until he managed to send her plummeting towards a large building. "Now that that pesky girl is out of our way let's"
"HAAAAAGGGH!" Hakufu suddenly came charging in with another firing hot fist waiting to meet Toutaku's jaw.
"You again? I thought Ryofu was taking care of you!" When the tyrant noticed Ryofu barely hanging on against the awakened Sousou. He grit his teeth in added frustration. "Why didn't I calculate that all three of you would awaken like this?"
"Hakufu." Ryomou turned to her more foolhardy classmate and friend.
"Oh hey it's you Mou-chan! You're okay!" The Dragon of Nanyo suddenly seemed a bit more like her usual self as she came rushing over to give the Shinigami substitute a bug swooning hug.
"Gah! Let go of me Hakufu!" Ryomou tried to push the Dragon off her as they now faced their final opponent. "Let's just hurry up and send this loser packing."
Hakufu revealed a sharp cat tooth as she gave her trusted one-eyed companion the thumbs up. "You got it Mou-chan!"
"GEGEGEHEGEHEHEGEHEGEGEHE..." Toutaku's shoulders rocked as he began convulsing in laughter. "You think you pair can stop the great Toutaku, leader of Darkness and Despair!-? Let me teach you insolent children a lesson of reality." His body suddenly became coated in dark purple energy as he dug his nails over one side of his face, slowly raking across as he literally peeled away all of the skin. In one deep voice, he boomed. "GNAW...LA GARRA DEL GUSANO!"
As a shockwave of dark energy swept both Death and the Dragon backwards, they faced their opponent through the fog of darkness. His silhouette alone revealed a terrifying transformation: his arms extending down into two giant sickle shaped limbs;his knees jutting out in one long thin bony spike and with feet and shins covered in thick ivory armour; a chest that bulged out five times as wide as a normal humans, before squeezing into a narrow stomach and wafer thin abdomen which was a thick as a normal human's arm. His head was adorned with numerous branching horns as his face revealed half rotting flesh with maggots wriggling all across his body. "Now that you have seen this form, there is no time left to even pray to your pathetic gods. I will slaughter you and devour every last scrap of your flesh!"
"I always knew you were a sicko Toutaku but this has gone too far." Ryomou gripped her blade as she prepared herself.
"The strong feed on the weak! That is the law of nature! That is the law of battle!" Toutaku declared as giant worms kept entering and exiting his mouth. "Now just stand there and let your bodies decompose..." He held his two sickle shaped hands together as he summoned a swirling mass of dark putrid smelling mass. "Putrefacción!"
"Come on Hakufu! Let's finish this!" Ryomou urged on her best friend as she tightly gripped her sword.
"Yeah! I can't wait to kick his arse!" Hakufu sniggered as she formed two balls of energy in her arms.
Death and the Dragon would unite in one splendid force against the Dark Tyrant.
"HAAARRRGGHH!"
"HhhHhhHoOooHhHaaAgHhHH!-!-!-!-!"
KABOOOOMMMM!-!-!-!-!-!-!
…
…
…
"Oh my...What just happened?" Ryuubi asked herself as she felt herself slowly descending to the ground.
"You're safe Ryuubi-sama, that's all that matters." The Seito bookworm looked up at that familiar voice as she felt herself being carried bridal-style in her arms.
"Kan-san!" She began weeping in joy. "I was so worried about you!" She soaked Kanu's exposed chest with her crybaby tears.
"There there..." Kanu nursed the passive-willed Seito leader. "I promised that I would stay alive for you didn't I?"
"That's nice, Kan-san..." And as the meganneko fell asleep in her arms, Kanu cast her gaze down at the broken piece of staff that was left of her famed Blue Dragon. It seems she could not choose between the two of us in the end...
…
Guan Yu took one last glance of the modern city horizon, capturing its mysteriousness and power before entering the Garganta, back to the world he had known as his home for the last few hundred years. As he entered the dark realm, he noticed the large gash left on his right side after the two Blue Dragon's clashed. "I was wrong about you Kanu Unchou...It seems I can entrust my blade to you, at least until we meet again sometime."
…
"KUROSAKI-KUUUN!" Orihime rushed over to the fiery haired boy's side as soon as she could, whipping out her (no not that!) healing sprites as they began repatching his open stomach wound.
"Crap! Ichigo got messed up!" Tatsuki observed not too far away, seemingly not squeamish at the sight of her classmate's organs reassembling themselves in his abdomen.
"I can't believe Ichigo lost so terribly like this." Rukia noted now that she had a student's blazer wrapped around her torn robes. "Normally he's the hero who saves the day for the rest of us...But instead it was him who needed to be saved."
"So who outshone Ichigo in this story?" Tatsuki asked, hoping no walls were crashing down nearby.
"Hey guys! How's everyone doing teehee." Hakufu cheered as she limped over, Ryomou supporting her arm as they slowly paced over.
"Hey it's the eye-patch girl." Tatsuki pointed out. "Is she like you and Ichigo too?" addressing Rukia.
"It appears so from now on." Ryomou added with a weak sigh just before she lurched forward. "Ungh." She clutched her stomach, noticing a large amount of blood on her hands. "Shit." She suddenly collapsed forward unconscious.
"Mou-chan?" Hakufu caught her as she slumped down. "Mou-chan what's wrong! MOU-CHAN!"
"My-my..." Urahara scratched his hair as he walked over towards the distraught Fighter. "Tessai's gonna be up all night with this lot."
…
SOME TIME LATER:
"Ugh...Where am I?" Ichigo rose from his long slumber, noting the vastly different surrounds of his battlefield. "Crap that Arrancar I need to-SSTTHH!" Ichigo sucked his teeth as he suddenly bolted up feeling a huge surge of pain in his abdomen.
"Please don't get up young Kurosaki." Tessai advised as he entered the room. "You ended up in the worst condition out of everyone here."
"Out of everyone?' Ichigo moaned confused. "Just how many injured are here?"
"You're finally awake Kurosaki." Uryu tipped his glasses as he had a book set down by the side of his mattress; bandages were dressed in a X across his chest. "I get stabbed in the chest yet I manage to recover quicker than the big-headed Shinigami...how odd?"
"Why you-ungh!" Typically, Ichigo went and injured himself again by trying to pick a fight with the Quincy in his current state.
"You really didn't feature prominently at all in the final battle." Chad's deep voice served as worthy retrospective analysis from the other side. He seemed to only have a few patches of his skin covered in bandages. Ichigo's entire stomach on the other hand was held together by mere tape and bandages.
"Yeah, you were quite a poor performer out there in the end." Rukia also added as she entered the room.
"Why the hell's everyone criticising me?" Ichigo fired up. "I can't help it if he's a strong opponent!"
"Now I think we should let our hopeless hero rest for a bit longer shouldn't we?' Urahara came bumbling in waving a fan in front of his face. "Why don't we all go out to the table and enjoy tea with the real heroes here?"
"That sounds great Urahara!" Rukia beamed as she suddenly zipped back out of the room.
"Count me in too." The Quincy added as he effortlessly got himself up off his mattress.
"Sorry Ichigo." Chad sent his regards as he also left for the tea room.
"What the hell guys?" Ichigo felt like he was being dumped at sea. "At least one of you guys could stay and keep me company for a while!"
"Please excuse me young Kurosaki." Tessai bowed as he also couldn't resist the opportunity of tea.
"What gives Urahara?" Ichigo stammered as he clutched his wound. "Who exactly stopped that Arrancar anyway? Did the Gotei 13 finally get involved or something?"
"Actually..." Urahara hid his hands in his green robe as as he leaned back against the doorway. "The Gotei 13 did not even remotely get involved with this matter."
"Hah?" Ichigo's jaw dropped as he showed an almost yokel appearance of dumbfounds. "Wait a minute...If it wasn't them who stopped him..." He averted his gaze before he looked back at the hat-n-clogs mystic. "Was it you or Yoruichi?"
"I was guarding the frozen space remember?" Urahara reminded him. "And I had specifically sent Yoruichi to the Soul Society to prevent them from intervening."
"But why didn't you let them get involved?" Ichigo suddenly felt quite angry. Gripping his sheets as he recalled the number of casualties on the battlefield. "So many innocent humans were injured or killed...If you knew, then why didn't you let them handle it?"
Urahara sighed as he tried explaining his ways to the naïve young teenager. "Ah Ichigo...Those people who fought alongside you that day were no ordinary humans..."
…
"Welcome back Master Ryuubi." The white haired Choun bowed before her leader as she entered the schools main shrine alongside her two sworn sisters and the other fighters who went with her to Karakura.
"Man...I can't believe I got knocked out before I could see Ryuubi in action." Chouhi blew out a huge sigh of regret as she slung a crutch under one arm.
"What's more important is that our lord Gentoku is back home and safe now." Kanu smiled as she looked down at her beloved leader.
"You mean my Gentoku." The tiny strategist Koumei mentioned as she suddenly appeared wrapping her tiny arms around Ryuubi's leg.
"Kyah...Hey Koumei let go of me!" Ryuubi helplessly protested as the tiny girl clung around her.
"I would let go of our Lord if I were you Koumei Shokatsuryo!" Kanu suddenly became a demon as she crouched down to Koumei's level.
"You don't scare me Kanu Unchou." The strategist taunted as she hid behind her master for safety. When she pulled down one eye and poked out her tongue, Kanu finally lost it, darting around Ryuubi's frame in order to snatch the deviant child.
"KYAH! What's the meaning of this?" Ryuubi cried as the two of them kept playing cat-and-mouse around her cute slender legs. "AGH NO~!"
…
"I am forever in your debt Sousou." Chuuko bowed before her leader as the strongest of Kyosho's Academy stood atop the school's highest roof.
"Who'd of thought that Toutaku dude would make another appearance eh Sousou bud?" Kakouton regarded as the two buds sat on the wall overlooking the school grounds. "And that arsehole messed up our tournament and everything too! He could've at least asked for an invite you know what a mean?"
Sousou just thought reflectively as he lied down along the narrow wall edge, gazing up at the clear sky. Why didn't I get to meet you?I still have something to settle with you...Cao Cao...
…
"Nine-thousand-nine hundred-and-ninety-seven... Nine-thousand-nine hundred-and-ninety-eight... Nine-thousand-nine hundred-and-ninety-nine...Ten-THOUSAND!" Gakushuu threw down his dumbbells as soon as he reached his favourite number and wiped the bucket-loads of sweat already dripping past the headband around his forehead.
"You think Ryomou will ever forgive you for all those things you did?" Koukin consulted his leader as he was busy stabbing the buttons in his phone for a change.
"Who knows." He seemed untethered by the possibility of Ryomou never forgiving him for making her believe she was a target for assassination and ultimately stabbing her in the heart. "Give it time and she might want a handsome guy's love again."
"That's surprisingly optimistic." Koukin sighed as he looked up at the peaceful sky. "I just hope Hakufu won't cause too much trouble in her new school..."
…
TWO MONTHS LATER:
"OI! OI! OI! This is Karakura High right?" A bunch of disgusting looking delinquents brandishing all sorts of improvised weapons including planks of wood and clubs with nails in them stood outside the high school gates, snorting and hollering or making any primal noise to gain the other student's attention. "We're from Miya-Kou and we here you've got some top-class fighters here! We ain't leaving until they come and 'ave a little chat with us ya 'ere?"
"Our lessons are about to start." A large chested girl with bob-cut blue hair and wielding blue gloves and an eyepatch emerged from the Karakura crowd alongside a much scrawnier boy with glasses and short black hair.
"Yes it seems these apes have no concept of the importance of education." The geeky teenager added as he tipped his glasses.
"HAHA! We didn't ask for the Class Reps to come out! We want to fight your strongest lot!" The chubby leader of Miya-Kou snorted as he gee-d up his gang of cronies.
"The two of us will be more than enough to sweep the vermin out of our school property." The boy added as he adjusted his specs once more.
"You wanna act smart guy huh dickhead!" One bulky thug rushed out of the crowd with his knuckleduster flying towards the scrawny teenager's temple. He barely shifted his expression as he swiftly caught the thugs arm, twisting it until it snapped in three places. "AARGH FUCK!"
"Son-of a bitch! Let's rush 'em boys!" The piggy leader commanded his forces to charge upon the boy and girl.
"Was I too harsh on him?" Uryu wondered as he turned his heel.
"Possibly, but I think these Neanderthals are about to receive a nastier lesson from me." Ryomou added as the two of them braced themselves for the onslaught of a delinquent horde.
…
"Hey I heard there was gonna be a fight out here..." Tatsuki and Hakufu both pushed in front of each other as they burst out of the school entry door towards the main courtyard. When they discovered a mountain of repulsive bodies at the school gate they both sighed. "Mou-chan why didn't you wait for me to come out before you beat them down?"
"Yeah Ishida-kun." Tatsuki pressed her hips. "Y'know how long I've been itching for another brawl."
"Shouldn't you be more concerned about the larger fry out there Hakufu Sonsaku." Ryomou reminded her old friend as two robed classmates suddenly darted out of the school.
"Hurry up Ichigo or they'll beat us to the hollow! Rukia was dragging the fiery haired teenager by the ear as they left a long trail of dust leading out of the school.
The four of them all stared at each other silently before they entered sprint, following the dust trail in search of the petty hollow. "This one isn't yours Kurosaki!"
"I'll prove my new Shinigami skills to you."
"Mou-chan wait for me!"
"Hehe! I've smashing this monster to pieces, watch out guys!"
…
"Ishida-kun...Ryomou-chan...Hakufu-chan...Tatsuki-chan..." Orihime sighed from her classroom window. "Why do they all love fighting so much?"
"Hmm." Chad mused as he was the only sensible one to stay behind and focus on his studies.
And as Ichigo broke ahead of the pack, unfurling his Moon Slicer. He recalled those words of Urahara's not so long ago...
"Those people who fought alongside you that day were no ordinary humans...
With the Giant Hollow in sight, Ichigo leapt forward with his sword raised, just as their others loaded their fists with energy, each one ready to claim another score on their hollow-hunting tally. "GETSUGA..."
"Those people who fought alongside you that day were no ordinary humans...
...Those people are Fighters..."
"HHOOOOAAARRGGGHH!"
…
MEANWHILE...
The dark warlords assembled in two columns facing each other along the long hall. Their silhouettes revealing a presence more terrifying than an entire army of hollows or demons alone.
The severely wounded Toutaku, with Ryofu giving him support, had finally made the long journey back to Las Noches. "Please forgive my late intrusion, but our forces we're overcome by the thee Dragons of Kanto."
"What a pathetic excuse you have come up with boy..." One of the warlords in blue garbs spat out.
"It seems we couldn't rely on him for slaughtering round-up cattle..." One of the other warlords draped entirely in green added.
"A true shame on my family indeed." The warlord of red lamented.
"I'm truly regretful that I let myself be defeated by those wretched Toushi...I swear I will not let them cut a single layer of my skin next time!"
"There's no need to offer us such pitiful promises..." The Lord of Las Noches responded in a very cold voice as he sat by his throne. "For we won't be needing you next time..."
"Please my Lord if you would just-AAAGGGGGGHHHH..." With a mere gaze of his profoundly demonic eyes, Toutaku cried out in agonising pain as his soul was ripped apart from his body, the former tyrant of Kanto now reduced to a mere pile of dust as Ryofu remained by her former leader's side, confused at what had just happened.
As the tyrant drank blood from what appeared to be a mug carved from a skull, he wiped his bushy beard with his grotesquely fat hand. "Let that be a warning for you young lady...After two-thousand years, we will reclaim those Toushi and the entire Earthrealm for ourselves...GWEHAMWUHUHAHA!"
The End?-?-?
Well it only took us 1092 days, but Death and the Dragon has finally been completed. And hey, it looks like there could still be potential for a sequel (if anyone's interested in taking over). I'm leaving it on this ambiguous note so I can hopefully start up another completely different Bleach X-over in the near future. Please tell me what you honestly thought of the entire story in your reviews...Any criticisms are good anyway, I need the feedback to know what I did well and where I might have fallen behind in. So please just give up a few minutes to do that for me, it's all I ask for in return for giving you this action-packed X-over to read...