We limped down a dark alley, the battered Bone Circle dragging themselves along like the world's saddest parade of morons. Streetlights flickered overhead. Trash blew across the empty street. Somewhere in the distance, a vending machine beeped mournfully.
Yammy, his face still sporting a fresh shoeprint from Bald Guy's fist, groaned and rubbed his forehead.
"Damn… those guys hit harder than they look…"
I grunted, trying to pop my jaw back into place.
Baraggan floated past us, grumbling like a pissed-off old ghost.
"Idiots. All of you."
Edrad was nursing a bump the size of a melon. Nakeem had shoeprints on his back. And Yylfordt… well, Yylfordt was still lying in a trash can, occasionally twitching.
Kukkapūro rode on Aizen's head like nothing happened. Aizen (still a dog) tried to stay cool, limping with fake dignity.
Grimmjow hadn't even bothered helping. He just snorted, arms crossed, strutting ahead like it hadn't been his plan to come here in the first place.
"Tch. Next time we fight 'em, I'll crush 'em myself."
I grinned at him.
"GRUAAHH."
[Translation: Sure you will, kitty cat.]
That earned a snarl.
"SAY THAT AGAIN—"
Before Grimmjow could start something, Yammy—still wiping blood from his nose—looked back toward the store and shouted loud enough for half of Karakura Town to hear.
"HEY! YOU PUNKS ARE LUCKY SPIKE-O SENSEI DIDN'T COME WITH US!!"
We all froze.
The streets fell dead silent.
Even the wind stopped.
I grabbed Yammy by the collar.
"GRUAHH! GRUAH-GRAAAAH!!"
[Translation: YOU ABSOLUTE DUMBASS!]
Baraggan slapped a hand to his face.
"You wanna die twice in one night, idiot?"
A split-second later, we heard the front door of the shop ding-dong open again. The barrier flickered. A dark, dangerous spiritual pressure rippled out into the night air.
From way back at the store entrance, the bucket-hat man's voice called lazily:
"Spike-o Sensei, huh? Sounds like a fun guy. Bring him next time."
Even the cat gave a low, murderous meow.
Yammy's face turned pale.
**"Uh… b-but… I was just kiddin', yeah? No need to—"
"RUN, YOU IDIOTS!" I howled.
We bolted, the entire Bone Circle scrambling down the street in total panic. Aizen tripped over a trash can. Kukkapūro barked in excitement. Grimmjow launched himself into a rooftop, muttering curses. Even Baraggan, for all his grumpy dignity, floated faster.
We didn't stop running until we reached the nearest garganta.
Yammy wheezed.
**"O-okay… m-maybe… bad idea."
"GRUAHH."
[Translation: No maybe about it, genius.]
We piled through the garganta, Karakura Town fading behind us as the black void of Hueco Mundo swallowed us up again.
Safe. Sort of.
Aizen tried to act cool, brushing nonexistent dust off his fur, but his tail was between his legs.
**"Next time," Grimmjow growled, cracking his knuckles, "I'm leading the charge."
Baraggan groaned.
"Next time, I'm staying home."
Me? I just grinned.
"GRUAHAHAHA!"
[Translation: Totally worth it.]
+3,000 EP for narrowly escaping with your life
Current EP: 89,28,000 / 100,000,000
Somewhere out there, Spike-o Sensei was probably still napping.
But just in case… maybe we wouldn't mention this little trip.