Here's chapter twenty-nine, it's a bit longer than usual, but I'm sure you guys will be fine with that. Enjoy!

Poll: Of the four leaders introduced so far, which is your favorite? I'll do this later on once the other two leaders have been introduced, but I'd like to know who your current favorite is as well.

Warning: This story contains some explicit language and violence. Viewer discretion is advised.

Disclaimer: I, in no way, intend to infringe upon any copyrights. The idea of zanpakuto is not mine but the creator of Bleach's. All other ideas in this story are originally mine. (If you find any that you believe to be not mine then tell me and will change this statement.)

Note: This is not the world of Bleach, but instead takes place in a world where zanpakuto coexist with the Bleach franchise.

For those of you who have not read the last story, here is a link to my showcase: Twenty Zanpakuto Showcase

For those of you who have not read the past chapters of this story, here's the link to the showcase: The Six Swords Showcase

Chapter Twenty-Nine: One-Two Punch
Regina fell to her knees, pain shooting along her spine. She had managed to use her Z energy to guard just in time(she heard the telltale whump of the cannon firing and reacted instantly), and so her back was not broken, but she still took a hit. The blades that were attacking Jet fell to the ground; for the moment, Regina’s concentration had faltered.

“Finally,” Jet said. “Now I can really join this fight.”

Regina got to her feet and jumped to a position where she could see both of her enemies. she did not want to try to take on Jet while Asari was yet behind her. For his part, Asari wasn’t in the best shape anyways. Being slammed into the ground at high speeds will really do a number on you, Z energy or no Z energy. Had he been a regular person, he’d have been flattened.

“Alright Jet, let’s get serious. This bitch is better than we thought,” Asari practically growled.

“Right.” Jet held his katana out in front of him and it began to glow. As the transformation neared completion, he slashed back behind him and the glow was dispelled in a crescent of energy that flew a short distance and sliced through a rock like it was butter. “Nisemono Tsuki,” he said. The blade was completely black and longer than a katana. The edges were straight save for a spot just above the hilt where the metal spiked out and then back in, making that one area wider than the rest of the sword.

“Now, who makes the first move?” Asari wondered aloud.

And for a while, no one did. The squared off, a real Mexican showdown. But eventually, such face-offs have to end. Jet lifted his blade to the sky and a black, reddish energy began to form around the blade.

“Is he doing what I think he’s doing?” Seth asked, worried.

“Looks like it,” Jake replied.

“Getsuga...Tenshō!” he cried, slashing down and unleashing the energy in a crescent-shaped wave of energy that cut through the ground on its way to Regina. Regina jumped aside and let it pass, but found that Jet was rushing in after it.

“You’re weakness, Regina, is close combat,” Jet announced as he closed in. He slashed at Regina’s head and she ducked the attack, getting some of her hair cut off in the process. “You fight with ranged attacks, but you have no way to defend yourself from attack like this. Dodge all you want, but make on mistake and you’re mine!” As he made this little speech, he continued to slash away at Regina. She dodged every attack, but she knew he was right: she couldn’t keep this up forever.

Fortunately, Jet had forgotten all about the two blades that had previously been keeping him busy. Regina used those to launch an attack from behind. Jet heard the blades coming and managed to turn around and launch a Getsuga Tenshō at them, but they cut right through it. Jet again found himself in a position where he had to fight off these blades by knocking them away with his blades.

When Jet turned around, Regina leaped into a backwards handspring, pulling her whip out as she did so. She lashed out with it, striking Jet in the thigh and causing him to drop to one knee. This in turned meant one of the blades had an opening, and one sliced open his shoulder. He dived to one side and rolled to his fight to avoid taking a hit from the other blade, then danced back as the blades came at him again.

Meanwhile, Asari had used a stream of water from his cannons to take to the air yet again, and now hovered unnoticed above Regina by negating gravity in that area. He lined up his shot and prepared to fire when a giant metal saw blade sliced across in front of his face. It took him a moment to notice his right arm, cannon still attached, floating in the air before him. Then, the pain hit. He howled and his spell broke. He plunged to the ground, his arm just seconds behind him. For the second time that day, he crashed into the ground and lay still.

“Dammit Asari, I can’t do this by myself!” Jet yelled. “Not with these damn blades on my ass! You seriously need to start pulling your weight!”

“As if you’ve managed to accomplish very much,” Asari muttered. He gritted his teeth and tried to push himself up, but only one arm responded because there was only one arm there. Both the cannons had disappeared now. “Ugh, this isn’t worth it anymore. Let’s show our hand, shall we Jet?”

“Oh, I suppose,” Jet responded. That was when both of them faded from view. Asari appeared a few feet away, looking perfectly healthy with both arms intact. At the same time, a sheet of ice covered the ground between Asari’s feet and Regina’s. The ice moved up her legs as well, freezing her in place.

“What the-?” Regina gasped.

“A buddy of ours has a signature spell called Power Projection,” Asari explained. “It allows him to take a fraction of a person’s power and manifest it in the form of a clone. That clone has all the abilities of the actual person, but is limited by the amount of power it is given. Also, us Z magics can bend light to our will to make ourselves and others invisible. This combo makes the perfect way to wear an opponent out and completely change the flow of the battle just when she thinks she’s winning.” Asari laughed, a cold, harsh sound that grated on Regina’s nerves. “This is over, bitch. Good try, but you lose.”

In the air behind Regina, Jet appeared, his sword high above his head. “Getsuga...” he began. The energy began to form around the blade, much bigger than when his clone had used it before. His power had increased threefold at least. This attack would wipe Regina out if it hit. “...Tensh--” Just before the last part of the word left Jet’s mouth, he was cut off as blood rose up from his throat and choked him off. He made a pathetic gurgling sound, and then both parts of him fell to the ground.

His zanpakuto sealed itself on the way down. There was sickening splat as his torso hit the ground, his blood and guts spilling out behind it, and a soft thump as his legs hit. The man known as Jet was dead. Asari was stunned.

“You take me for an idiot, don’t you Asari?” Regina asked. “I could tell from the start that the people I was fighting were not the real deal. Only problem was, I didn’t know where the real ones were. I’ve been waiting for you to show yourselves this whole time. So, do you concede defeat? I’ll even let you leave here alive if you do.”

Much as Asari hated to admit it, he had lost. Using only her shikai, she had outsmarted them and killed Jet. How had they ever thought they could defeat her? What if she had used her bankai? Or her hollow mask? Had the leader really had faith in them, had he really thought they’d have a chance?

“Fine, I will leave with my life; I know when I am beaten. But hear this, Regina, leader of the Australian Sword: Your members may not have fared so well. My men are strong, and yours will have to be extremely skilled if they have any hope of winning. And mark my words, you may have won this battle, but this is only the beginning of the war.” And with those grim words, Asari disappeared.


Slowly, Jack got to his feet. Beneath his clothes, bruises covered his chest. Beneath his skin there was a dull undercurrent of pain; every movement exacerbated this and sent shock waves of agony through his whole body. Fortunately, he had faced this kind of pain before, had fought battles where they key to victory was shrugging off pain and fighting on despite it.

“Impressive,” Cassius said. “You took the full force of my Griffith Barrage and managed to get back up. It doesn’t really matter though, ‘cuz this battle is over. You didn’t stand a chance against me from the start, and in that sorry state I’ll end this before you can even launch a single attack.”

Rather than respond, Jack chose not to waste energy unnecessarily by talking and instead charged at Cassius, his arms out to either side, his boy low to the ground. Cassius punched at him, but Jack nimbly dodged the attack and continued towards Cassius. He slashed out at Cassius’ feet, but Cassius sprang into the air, flipping over Jack and twisting around to punch at him from behind. Jack rolled forward and turned back to face his opponent. He slashed out again and forced Cassius, who had been about to launch another attack, into a hasty retreat.

The two squared off again, Cassius warily eyeing Jack with a new sense of respect. he had not expected this kind of strength from his opponent, especially not after having hit him with one of his strongest attacks. If Jack hadn’t taken that hit, how much more difficult would this battle be? As it was, he was certain he could win, but if Jack had been prepared for Cassius’ techniques? Then, this would be a whole different ballgame.

Cassius was the one who started the next round. He punched at Jack’s gut, but Jack spun out of the way and slashed down at Cassius’ exposed back. Cassius managed to escape the attack, but not without receiving a small cut in his side. He launched a powerful shock wave at Jack’s head, but Jack ducked it and came in again with a flurry of quick slashes that would be nearly impossible for anyone else to pull of with those gauntlets. Jack truly was a master of his weapon.

Cassius managed to dodge most of the blows, but his dodging technique was not designed to avoid every blow, only the heaviest ones. He covered his face with arms, and Jack scored a number of hits on them, as well as on his chest and stomach. No wound was fatal on its own, but if he didn’t get back on the offensive as soon as possible, those cuts would really start to add up.

Summoning up all the power in his legs(and a little bit extra from his Z energy), Cassius leaped backwards so fast that he could not be seen by the untrained eye. He landed a few yards away from Jack, and the two regrouped yet again. Jack knew that he had won this round, but he wasn’t sure how long he could keep this up. His Z energy reserves were running low; his energy blast attack was out of the question because it would sap to much power. He needed a way to end this before Cassius could wear down what was left of his energy supply, but he could see no way to do that. He needed to keep up the pressure, to keep scoring minor hits like he had been, but he didn’t think that would get the job done quick enough. He needed to get a big hit, and he needed to do it fast.

Cassius knew exactly what he needed to do: keep Jack at long range. He couldn’t afford much more close quarters combat, as that would only wear him out and allow Jack the chance he needed to take him down. No, Cassius needed to wait Jack out. If he could turn this into a ranged engagement, he’d be all set. Unfortunately, Jack was fast and could close the gap between them in no time flat. Cassius would have time for one, maybe two shots before Jack was on him. If he could move first, however, that number might increase...

Cassius punched the air, blasting a large shock wave at Jack. Jack dived forward and to the side, rolled, and used that momentum to start his run at Cassius. Cassius punched out again, Jack jumped into the air to avoid the low blow, and Cassius smiled.

“Gotcha,” he whispered, pulling back his fist for the knockout punch. He sent out a powerful wave of energy at the airborne Jack, believing himself to be the victor. Jack, however, managed to twist himself around just enough to avoid the attack. In so doing, he lost his forward momentum and hit the ground shoulder first, sliding a little ways before coming to a stop at Cassius’ feet. Jack stood up, and Cassius jumped back to give himself some room for his next attack.

“It was a good fight, Jackie, but this the end,” Cassius said. Jack Lurched to one side, then righted himself. He swayed unsteadily on his feet. Blood dripped from his nose and mouth, his eyes were beginning to swell shut. All in all, he didn’t look good. “Foreman Uppercut!’” Cassius yelled, swinging his fist upwards. Some unseen force launched Jack into the air. Cassius pulled back his other arm, then yelled “Griffith Flurry!” His one arm punched out again and again like a piston that had gone out of control. Once again, Jack’s body was bombarded by invisible fists. When it stopped, he seemed to just hang there for a moment before Cassius jumped forward and slammed his fist into Jack’s stomach.

Blood and spit flew from his mouth, the air abandoned his lungs, he was sent flying and landed hard on his back; a cloud of dust kicked up around his prone form. Somehow, he had remained conscious, but barely so. Through eyes that were nothing more than slits on his purple face, Jack saw Cassius approach, towering over his body, katana in hand. He felt the cold steel press into the flesh beneath his chin and knew that it was over. After couple seconds, Cassius removed the sword.

“I could finish you here,” Cassius announced, bending over Jack. Jack was in that place between consciousness and blackness, the place where real world sounds and sights seem so far away. And yet, at the same time, the darkness is equally far away, the peaceful land that is unconsciousness taunts with its seeming closeness and laughs from a great distance away as we foolish humans reach out to it, hoping to drift away.

“Hey, Jack, stay with me,” Cassius said, snapping his fingers to get Jack’s attention.

Go away! Jack tried to say but couldn’t. Let me sleep. Let me black out. Let me die.

“Jack, listen up. I’m going to leave you alive because you got short-changed in this battle. I hit with my Griffith Barrage by surprise early on, and that caused your loss. I want a rematch. I want to know which of us is truly the more powerful. There is no fight better to watch in boxing than the epic fight between two bitter rivals where everything is on the line. That’s the kind of fight I want from you next time, and you better deliver. If you dare die on me, I swear I will track you down in the afterlife and make you pay, even if you end up in Heaven and I in Hell. Sleep now, recover your strength, and when he meet again, be ready for the fight of your life.”

When Jack woke up much, much later, those last words were engraved in his memory, and a fire burned within him. Yes, when he and Cassius met again, one of them would not leave the battle alive.

“I think it’s about time we cut the chitchat and got to battling, don’t you Maria? I’m going to show why they call me the Demon of the Red Earth,” Bakool said as he picked himself up off the ground. He pulled out his zanpakuto and held it out in front of him. “Break Apart, Sekishokudo Hanmā!” Bakool’s katana morphed into a short battle hammer. The hilt was pure red and a ruby sparkled in the pommel.

The ground around Bakool began to shake, and large chunks began to break off and float into the air around him. He smiled wickedly and sent one chunk flying at Maria. Maria’s face remained impassive as she punched the small boulder and shattered into a hundred little pieces. Bakool launched more boulders, but achieved similar results.

“Well, looks like that tactic isn’t going to work,” Bakool said.

“Stop toying with me and get serious,” Maria said. “If you don’t, you’ll wind up regretting it. After all, you’ve already made one crucial mistake.”

“Oh, and what’s that?”

Maria disappeared. Bakool sensed movement behind him and hit the deck. Maria’s fist hit only air, but she didn’t stop her assault there. With her other arm, she punched down at Bakool, shattering the ground where he had just been. He rose from the ground a few feet away, his face wary.

“You’re fast,” Bakool noted. “Faster than you should have a right to be.”

“Well of course, the Cheetah gives me superhuman speed. You see, you’re mistake was this: you assumed I had only one spirit animal, you assumed that each person had one spirit animal. It’s actually the reverse, each spirit animal has one human, and the less possible hosts there are, the more animals one person can have. Being that I’m the last living host...”

“...you have all the spirit animals,” Bakool finished. He felt a brief flash of fear, but pushed it away. She may have been more powerful than he originally expected, but he could not allow that to affect him. He was no lightweight himself, and he’d be damned if he was going to lose to some aborigine princess. If she wanted him to get serious, then serious he would get.

Two slabs of earth rose up on either side of Maria, but she was gone long before they crashed together. she appeared right in front of Bakool, making barely a sound(courtesy of the Panther), and struck out at him. He dodged by springing backwards and made the area that Maria was standing on lift off the ground. She dived off at him, but a chunk of rock blasted up from below and caught her in the chest, flipping her onto her back.

Maria managed to catch a large boulder that Bakool tried to bring down to crush her and threw it aside. She got back to her feet and jumped into the air, curling into a ball in the process. Yellow plate armor formed around her and she hit the ground rolling.

“This is the power of the Armadillo, I take it?” Bakool said.

Maria closed in on him, but he didn’t move. Instead, he covered his right leg in rocks and when Maria approached, he kicked her away. She landed on her feet and slid a little ways, but was unharmed. The armor on Bakool’s leg crumbled away.

“Come now, you must have more than this,” Bakool said. “With all those spirit animals, you have to possess plenty of powers you could break out right now. So why don’t you just use them all at once? With all those different powers, you should be able to overwhelm me in seconds.” Maria only stared back at him, stone faced. A knowing smile lit up Bakool’s face. “I get it now, you can only use a certain number of spirit animals at one time. If you use too many at a time, all that power must just be too much. So, how many is it: four, five? I’m guessing five, which means you have two more left that you can use.”

Maria flinched. He had uncovered her weakness and had even gotten the number right. She could only use five powers at a time; any more than that and it felt like her body was being torn apart. Now that Bakool knew her weakness, he could exploit it. Fortunately, he believed she had only used three powers so far; he didn’t know about the Panther. Maybe she could use that to her advantage. Even after she revealed another power, Bakool would be constantly on edge, just waiting for her to reveal another power.

“Not that it matters how many powers you bring to bear against me. I’m going to show you my real power now. My shikai is nothing compared to my bankai. Be prepared to face the full force of my wrath. Bankai, Sekishokudo Guntai!” His battle hammer grew and expanded into a much larger, double-headed war hammer. He hefted the hammer up over his head and slammed it down on the ground. The whole earth began to tremble, and behind Bakool, shapes began rose up from below.

“What the hell?” Maria said. Bakool laughed.

“Behold the might of the Red Earth Army!” Hundreds of stone warriors pulled hundreds of stone swords from hundreds of stone sheaths, and with a flick of his wrist, Bakool sent them charging at Maria.


Regina felt the ominous trembling in the ground and knew that one of her two remaining members was in trouble. She closed her eyes and focused on locating the Z energy signatures of Jack and Maria. She managed to locate Jack’s, but it was dangerously low. Maria’s opponent, whoever it was, seemed to be blocking her ability somehow. It appeared that there was a massive field of Z energy somewhere in the east, but Regina figured it must be some kind of interference. She never would have imagined it possible to create and army with Z energy alone.

Her more pressing concern was Jack. “Hey, you three head east and see what’s going on over there, I’ll go west. You may have a difficult time locating Maria, but don’t stop searching until you find her, got?”

“Sure thing,” Seth said. Regina nodded solemnly and then dashed off to rescue Jack. Seth, Brock, and Jake headed east as Regina instructed, unaware that they would soon find themselves fighting hundreds upon hundreds of stone soldiers.

Translations: Nisemono Tsuki: Imposter Moon; Sekishokudo Hanmā: Red Earth Hammer; Sekishokudo Guntai: Red Earth Army.

Next Time: Seth, Jake, Brock, and Maria struggle against Bakool's Red Earth Army. Weakened by the creation of such a massive force, Bakool should be an easy target, but his stone warriors don't go down easy and with only four people Seth and Co. are vastly outnumbered. Will they be able to pull through nonetheless? Find out next time in Chapter Thirty: The Red Earth Army!