- Hari Clan Rebellion Part Three: What's Done Cannot Be Undone -"I said NO! If anyone's going to be dying today, it's going to be me!... I'm going to save her, even if that means I won't be able to save myse-" Fumio threw his body towards Souta, placing a hand on his arm and squeezing it gently before looking up at the fruity top.
"Souta" Fumio began gritting his teeth, looking angrily at the guy.
"Just Fucking Kill Me!" Souta looked back with a stern expression, ripping his arm out of Fumio's grip.
"Fuck yourself Kazuhiko. Why the fuck would I do that? Why would I kill the person I care about the most? Ever fucking ask me to do that ever again and I'll beat you so near death that you'll think you're dying but you won't be. You're not dying on my watch asshole." Souta spoke with a calm but deadly serious tone; a seriousness that Fumio had never heard come from him before... Watching as Souta began pushing himself off of the ground, turning his will-power into strength to force himself up, Fumio sighed before turning his face sharply towards Ursula and Rio.
"As you wish then asshole." With little to say, Fumio stayed quiet,not happy at all... He thought at that moment that Souta was truly an idiot.... still trying to keep Fumio alive despite everything he had done, despite all of the people he had killed and all of the stuff he tried to make Souta do... He couldn't understand why Souta was like this, surely any other sane person would of taken Fumio's life without a second thought if they had the chance... However, this wasn't the time to procrastinate, this was the time for actio-
"Are you two finished? Ready to watch the death of Umeko?~" Ursula spoke up, the other two momentarily paralysed by the sound of her voice. Ursula smirked at their reaction, swinging her blade back before the blade headed for Rio. Souta inched forward but it was already too late.
"HUERONA!!!" "N-NO!! HUERONA!" The two yelled, wide-eyed as the blade was practically a centimetre away...
... Within less than a second it would of been all over for Rio... Would of been...."UNN!" Ursula's blade stopped moving, mainly because of the hands that suddenly caught it before it could reach her face; Rio's hands.
"I... will n-not.... Give UP!" Rio yelled, pushing the blade back as much as she could, buying herself a little more time. Her hands were getting severely cut since she grabbed the cutting edge but that didn't bother her...
She refused to accept this as her fate.
"I will... NOT let you... WIN!" She grit her teeth, raising whatever little spiritual energy she had left to continue to stop the blade from reaching her eyes, wrestling with the Ursula's sword.
Ursula looked down at the girl before abruptly bursting into a fit of laughter. "I SEE THE GIRL HAS A LITTLE MORE FIGHT LEFT IN HER!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! GIVE UP!" The woman yelled, equally pushing her sword towards Rio. It didn't take long before Ursula's sword began closing in on Rio once more, getting too close for comfort...
'No.... I have so much to live for now.... Kaizo, Sho..... Kenta, Captain Kuchiki..... The whole of Squad two... Everyone who'll ever need me! I can't let them down!!! I WILL NOT!' Despite her utmost effort being sliced through little by little, Rio still never gave up... The last time she had given up, ready to be killed and have her life taken from her, she regretted it instantly.... She was lucky that time, however she knew it was only a matter of time before her luck would run out, but until then, she'd keep fighting.... Not for herself, but for the ones she loved.
Even more of Rio's blood added to the gathering puddle beneath her. The puddle soon grew to surround Ursula's feet, however the woman didn't care for that, still trying to push her sword towards Rio, when a strong force relieved it from her hand....
Ursula's blade flew through the air, spinning before landing in a large, upright stone, seemingly a part of a wall from a building that used to stand there before Ursula destroyed it. The sword's impact caused cracks to spread almost instantaneously to the outer edges of the wall before suddenly smashing and burying the sword within a stone tomb.
Rio's eyes were wide, her crystal eye showing much more now, utterly confused. Ursula simply looked at her hand, a raised eyebrow in confusion until a certain smell of apple-wood drifted throughout the air, catching Rio's attention.
"Confused?... Ursula." A new voice was added to the scene, one with a mature, female tone. A smirk hopped onto Ursula lips but just as she was about to turn her head towards the cloaked figure, a punch was sent straight to her face, one which force carried Ursula through the air, causing her to unintentionally let go of Rio as she flew to the right. Just as Rio was released from Ursula's grip, she was caught again but by the cloaked figure. They had both of their arms out in which Rio laid across them.
"H-huh?..." Rio breathed out, unable to really say much. The figure flicked their hood back, revealing flowing, long black hair tied up in a pony and purpley-plum eyes, a little darker than Rio's own.
"I'm proud of you Huerona... Or should I say Rio" Rio's eyes couldn't get any wider, which made the woman smile, the first proper smile she gave in near enough 100 years.
"M-mom" Was all Rio could push out, feeling as though their was a knot in her throat, not to mention the pain that lingered from Ursula's crushing grip.
Ronda hummed a chuckle as she carried Rio over to where Fumio and Souta were.
"I'm sorry I didn't join in sooner... I wanted to see whether or not you three were strong enough to finish Ursula without my help... I was wrong, my apologies..." Rio continued to stare up at Ronda before looking down while she was sat down near the other two but not exactly next to them.
"I'm going to take over for a little bit sweetie, however be prepared to end this Okay? Use this time to gather your strength... And... I want you to remember.... Your mother and father love you so much and always will" Ronda kissed Rio on the forehead before standing. Rio kept quiet, not really knowing what she should say at this point... She would of tried to stop Ronda, but clearly they needed as much help as they could get if they planned on surviving this battle.... Ronda looked down at Rio, noticing her saddened expression.
"Don't worry Huerona, Rio... Everything will be fine... Me and your father are ever so proud of you honey.... so don't let us down and don't ever give up no matter what..." Ronda's eyebrows screwed together as she tried to prevent herself from getting upset but the reality was... she already knew how this was going to end, she just hoped Rio would be able to handle it...
Souta and Fumio were both flabbergasted... Souta was glad though, however Fumio didn't know whether or not to be happy.... He was happy that Rio was still alive... but Ronda and him weren't exactly on good terms, due to what she did years ago that resulted in the deaths of his parents.... Ronda turned towards the two of them, her face reverting back to it's usual straight expression.
The resemblance between her and Rio was truly uncanny. Ronda then turned towards the spot Ursula crashed into, taking a step forward before Souta suddenly shouted towards her.
"I'll Help Yo-" As Souta spoke, Ronda lifted her left hand and shook her head, signalling for him to stay put.
"No. Both of you should use this time to gather your energy also..." She dropped her hand before just looking over at the both of them, noticing Souta's reluctant expression before she began speaking once more.
"Also... Thank you both for protecting my daughter.... But, this threat isn't dead yet. Gather your energy and don't let your guards down.... Rio may need your help later, but after that, she'll take care of the rest." Souta stood straight, however was confused at the last part of what Ronda had said, but before he could question it, Ronda had already began making her way towards the enemy.
Ronda took a few more steps forward before coming to a stop. Ursula had already gotten up and was currently stood with her arms crossed, however amusement was certainly evident in her face. Ronda kept quiet, watching her with a stern stare.
"Hmhmhm, look who we have here~ What a pleasant surprise to see you again Ronda~" Ursula smirked whereas Ronda just continued to look at her with a face of stone.
"And how unpleasant it is to see you again Urochi." Ursula laughed in response to this, calming herself down before talking once more. "Oh how it's been so long since I heard my last name~ I almost feel honoured that you remembered Umeko~ However, it'd only make sense if you did, we were close back in the day, before I killed everyone but chose to keep you alive~" Ursula began grinning deviously while Ronda's expression never changed. "It's amusing at how close we were back then compared to now. Seeing Fushimaru and Kazuhiko together reminds me of us~ But what happened Ronda? What turned us into
this?" Ronda's expression still didn't change, however she did respond this time.
"How could you ask me such a question with an obvious answer. You know what happened.... Ursula. Today we both will die and with that will be an end to all of this. An end to everything you've caused." Ursula continued to grin throughout the whole of Ronda's speech however the three spectators were thoroughly shocked, unable to grasp what they were hearing.
"Heheh, Oh that's just like you, always making statements that never come true. Whatever happened to 'you will escape with Kazuhiko and his family' huh? If I recall, I killed them~ Therefore your statement that became invalid. You, your daughter and Fushimaru will be the ones dying today." Ronda clenched her hands into fists while gritting her teeth, a crystal-looking smoke began swirling around her hands.
"You're an idiot. A pathetic idiot." Ronda stated harshly. "Enough. Let's get this over with, shall we
Sister?~"[/b] Ursula straighten her right fingers and held them together. As she did this, crystal grew off the tips of her fingers and over her hand, creating a casing over her hand that moulded into the end of an extremely large Kunai with both sides sharp. While watching, Fumio glared daggers at Ursula, finding how she spoke infuriating since it sounded just like him...
"Very well Murderer." Ronda kept straight, watching as Ursula made a blade out of crystal covering her right hand before bending her knees a little to get into a stance. Meanwhile Ursula pointed the tip of her bladed hand downwards, much like Fumio would do with his sword.
Ursula made the first move, speeding towards Ronda with a grin unlike one she had shown so far. This one was like a sadistic-looking mask shielding something underneath, however as she had gotten closer to Ronda, her grin slowly began dropping to a look of intense anger... Ronda just stood still, no more emotion displayed on her face as she waited for Ursula to get closer. Ursula lifted her bladed right hand, swinging at Ronda once she was close enough, however the woman side-stepped it. Ursula then swung at her again, with more force this time, but Ronda once again side-stepped and dodged it. The woman then swung around five more times, Ronda dodging each one but with a sixth swing, the black-haired woman had gotten cut deeply along her upper left arm. Immediately jumping back, Ronda grabbed under the cut with her right hand, gritting her teeth a little in annoyance. Letting go of herself, Ronda brought her fists up. Just as Ursula tried to swing the flat side of her make-shift blade towards the woman, Ronda turned towards the crystal blade and punched it dead-on which caused the blade to shatter completely, leaving only her hand.
Ursula gave a look of shock at first but before she could retaliate, Ronda landed a punch in her stomach. The force was enough to actually make Ursula double-over before Ronda sent multiple punches to the woman's gut, growing faster while gaining power the more she landed hits. A crack soon appeared on Ursula's torso, causing concern for Ursula which then made her grab both of Ronda's wrists in an instant, pulling the woman towards her before kneeing Ronda in the gut. The latter's eyes widened as she was kneed, doubling-over herself before Ursula let her go and gave her a vicious kick in the chest, making the woman fly and crash into the Clan Leader's building.
"Well... That was disappointingly short.... Now back t-"
"I don't think so." Ronda was stood behind Ursula, bending down a little before sending a bone-crushing punch to the middle of Ursula's spine, causing the woman to fly forward, skidding across the floor as she swung her body around to face Ronda before eventually stopping, dust lining her path. "My my, someone's improved their speed~ But you're still not fast enough." Ursula sprinted towards Ronda once more, aiming to punch Ronda in the face with her left hand, however Ronda merely moved her head to the left so Ursula's fist moved passed her face. While it did, Ronda kneed Ursula hard in the stomach, hard enough for Ursula to almost choke on air.
"I'm fast enough to fight you." Ronda looked down at Ursula blankly while the woman looked up at Ronda with severe hatred. Ursula then lifted her left hand and grabbed Ronda by the throat. Ronda could of easily dodged, however she didn't for some reason...
Rio, Souta and Fumio watched on, doing as Ronda had told them to by using the time to gather their energy however the three was almost certain that Ronda would finish Ursula off... That was until she let Ursula grab her...
"Mother!" Rio leaned forward, about to shunpo and get Ursula off of Ronda but the woman turned her head towards Rio and simply shook it, signalling to Rio to still stay put while smiling at her concerned look.
"Why are you so happy Ronda? Do you not realise that I'm going to kill you!!" Ursula had stood up, staring at Ronda hatefully while the other just hummed a chuckle before looking back into Ursula's eyes.
"I'm happy because now I'm certain that you will die, I don't have to worry about my daughter anymore. This Clan tradition will end with the both of us and you don't even realise... it." Ursula began squeezing her hand tighter while Ronda spoke. "Heh, again with this bullshit. It's not happening! And now that I've got you, no one can stop me!" Ursula grinned devilishly before looking back to the group of spectators. "Looks like Ronda will be the first to die!" Ursula began chuckling madly as Fumio, Rio and Souta took a step forward, glaring at the woman and preparing themselves to fight, however Ronda
still just shook her head, looking around to the three, then to Rio.
"Rio... Don't worry ho-ney... I'm... so proud of you... I know... you... won't... let me down..." Ronda continued to speak even as Ursula attempted to make the woman stop talking by squeezing harder on her windpipe. "Shut Up." Ursula commanded, however Ronda didn't listen.
"I... and your dad..... will always... love you.... whether you're Rio... or Huerona..." Rio watched on, her widened eyes shaking as she heard her own staggered breathing... She wanted to stop this! She wanted to do something! But... that wasn't what Ronda wanted her to do....
"B-but... M-Mother!" Rio yelled, unsheathing both of her Zanpakutos with her teeth grit and eyes narrowed, focused on Ursula.
"Just... let it happen Ri-HU-N!....... o....." Rio froze instantly.... Her eyes widened dramatically once more, along with Fumio's and Souta's.... Ursula had shoved her newly made right hand crystal blade through Ronda's stomach and out of her back.... Ronda's blood dripped off of the tip of Ursula's weapon and onto the floor before the latter slowly pulled it out and threw Ronda over to Rio. "Now you finally shut up trash... Time to deal with the offspring." Fumio and Souta had both stood up at this point, the rest helped them gain back most of their energy.
"The only piece of fucking trash I see here is you." Fumio cut in, shunpo'ing over to the other side of Ursula and grabbing his Zanpakuto that had been thrown by Ursula not too long ago.
"Ronda was right, you WILL Die TODAY! You Fucking Bitch!!" Souta added, lifting his spiked hammer.
Just as the two darted for Ursula from both sides, Zanpakuto's released and ready to fight, Rio sat in a dreadful silence... She couldn't take her eyes off of the woman laying on the floor in front of her, unable to even blink... She just couldn't stop her tears from breaking free, flowing down her face until her eyebrows shot up in shock... Ronda's body twitched a little before she dragged her fists across the floor, using her strength to try and push the top part of her body up but ended up collapsing back onto the floor. Urgently, Rio darted closer to her mother, dropping to her knees in front of her body.
"H-Hue... rona" Ronda moved her head to look straight and then up to find her daughter's teary and bloody face.
"M-Mother.... I... You should of let me do something!" Rio started to sob but closed her eyes to try not to cry too much.
"Y-you saved me... th-thank you.... Wh-... Why di-didn't you want m-me to save y-you?" She asked, confused and distraught... Her mother may of not been there for the life she remembered, but Ronda was still her mother.... Dragging her hand over to Rio, Ronda placed it on Rio's leg before giving her a sad smile.
"Eheh.... d-don't... worry... This.... h-had to happen...." "No! I can still get you help! I-I need to take to you to Squad Four right n- "No honey." Ronda raised her voice to stop Rio from talking further...
"N-no?...." Rio looked down, biting her bottom lip to stop it from shaking. Ronda gently shook her head before making a short chuckle noise, continuing to speak after a small silence.
"I'm... so lucky.... to of had you.... N-now.... quickly.... L.... look into my eyes... with your right eye... w-with your power...." Rio was taken by surprise by this request... however she just nodded before focusing her right eye, leaning closer...
Once Rio's crystal eye made full eye-contact with Ronda's eyes, Rio let Ronda's memories flow into her. Flashing images scattered throughout Rio's mind, along with memories, voices, names, faces, everything.... The longer Rio had held eye-contact for, the more her mind absorbed... until there was nothing more... Rio sat there with both of her eyes wide, but still held eye-contact with Ronda while the woman smiled, however Rio then heard her voice without the woman opening her mouth.
'"Honey, can you hear me?"' Ronda continued to smile while Rio gasped lightly.
'Yes I can....' She responded in thought, which then the sound of Ronda chuckling was heard. Within Rio's mind, Ronda's voice sounded as though it echoed which must of been an effect of the power...
'"Heh, good, I'm glad I was right. So, you know everything now, don't you Rio?"' Rio's eyelids moved down a little over her eyes, however her crystal eye still kept eye-contact with Ronda's eyes.
'.... Yes.... I do mom..... but w-why?.... Why do you have to do this?!' Her tears returned with a vengeance, reeking havoc as they spilled out of her eyes, down her cheeks and dripped off of her chin onto her legs and Ronda's hand. Ronda silently pulled her body closer to Rio's, making sure to keep eye-contact as she used her other hand to wipe some of Rio's tears away.
'"You know why honey... I want a safe future for you, Kazuhiko, Souta and every other one of us that is still alive... I failed to stop Ursula even though I tried my best... I couldn't save your father or Kazuhiko and his parents.... so I had to leave with you.... I miss your father so much Rio, and now I get to finally be with him knowing that you're safe and strong enough to fend for yourself"' Ronda's smile grew a little more while Rio only sniffed, continuing to sob silently.
'B-But mother... I-I need you!... PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!!' Rio grabbed both of Ronda's hands, quietly sobbing hysterically as the only words exchanged between the two were the ones in their minds. Ronda lightly shook her head. '
"You don't need me honey, you've already proven that. But, I will still always be with you, my spirit will live on in your heart my beautiful daughter~ If only your father could see you now, so big and strong, not to mention a Lieutenant within the Gotei Thirteen~ He'd just be over the moon"'[/i] Tears started to slip out of Ronda's eyes as she thought about the three of them during the times when they were able to be a family... She cried with Rio, wishing this wouldn't of been such a sad goodbye but that was something that couldn't be prevented.
'But... mother... just because I learned to live without you... d-doesn't m-mean....' Rio took a deep breath, unable to even think anymore... she just didn't want her mother to die....
'[/b]"I know honey but don't be scared.... Everything that me and your father have done is for you... We want you to be able to live your life without all of this... We want you to be free to find yourself instead of be constrained to this Clan... You've done this and much much more, which is why we're so proud of you Rio~ Heh, Rio suits you better than Huerona~ I really like the name. Now we don't have much time left... you know what I'd like for you to do next... Goodbye daughter, I wish you the best and will always be with you, inside here"[/b]' Ronda finally broke eye-contact, dragging her body to an upright position before looking back at Rio, placing a hand over Rio's heart. Ronda's wound was worse than Rio had thought... It bled profusely however Rio tried her best not to look at it.
Ronda smiled at her daughter before holding both of her hands out, palms facing upwards. Rio looked down as she lifted both of her own hands, holding her Zanpakutos before placing the hilts in Ronda's hands.
"Th-thank... y-you...." Leaning closer to Rio, Ronda kissed her one last time on the forehead before pulling back while Rio's eyes were still looking downwards.
"I-It's all... going to be Okay.... Good bye now, my beautiful d-daughter~" With that, Ronda stabbed herself with both of Rio's blades, raising her spiritual energy as high as possible which was incredibly high. Rio winced as she heard her blades go through before looking up at her mother, even more tears streaming out of her eyes, however she didn't expect to see what came out of the other side of Ronda.... The crystal that came out the other side absorbed every bit of energy Ronda was putting out, she was giving it everything she had and more.... The crystal then turned a thick maroon colour mixed with violet swirls as that was the colour of Ronda's spiritual energy.
Rio could sense her mother's energy quickly depleting at a fast rate, unable to prevent the excessive amount of tears pouring out her eyes at this point.... Crawling forward, she wrapped her arms around her mother, hugging her tightly while squeezing her eyes closed.
"I'm sorry mother... I'll always love you too... so... s-so m-much" Rio refused to let her mother go, even after all of the woman's energy had been absorbed by Rio's crystal. With one last breath, loud enough for Rio to hear, Ronda's body fell completely limp on Rio's shoulder...
After a silent moment of just hugging her mother, Rio pulled back, finally out of tears while the crystal retracted back through Ronda's body and into Rio's Zanpakutos.... Wrapping her hands around the hilts of her swords, Rio gently pulled them out before lying her mother down, closing her eyelids softly to hide her lifeless violet irises....
Rio didn't want to think anymore... she didn't want to cry either, she just wanted to finish what her mother had planned... All of this was planned from the start, but that was a story for another time... Right now there was a task at hand and Rio was determined to complete it for her family and all of the other families Ursula had ruined.
Rio looked up at Ursula, void of emotion. She found that Souta had been thrown into a wall, hardly able to move his body however he was still awake while Fumio was once again caught by his neck in Ursula's grip. She was just laughing at him, head-butting him while she spoke. Her words didn't reach Rio anymore... All that Rio could hear was a shattering sound....
"U-ULGH!" Fumio's body shook, his arms were dangling by his sides while his eyes were half open. His face was practically smothered in his own blood as it poured down his forehead.
"UG-AHH!" Ursula's hand continued to tighten, dangerously close to snapping Fumio's neck while chocking the life out of him, literally... "You brought this on yourself Kazuhiko~ Stop trying to protect your friend! Fushimaru is going to die no matter what you do so stay out of it! I will deal with you when I'm done with him and that little brat!" Ursula grinned sadistically as she watched Fumio quiver and listened to him choke while trying to scream.
"NO! Le...Le...Lea....ve.... S.... S-S...Sou...Souta!!" He tried to talk but obviously he had an issue with doing so.
Rio looked at the scene, watching blankly while something stirred inside her... She let go of both of her Zanpakutos, letting them drop to the floor as she took a step forward, sea-foam green spiritual energy bursting out of her body as she did... She then took another step forward, her Zanpakutos beginning to move, sliding towards her as if they were attracted to a magnet in Rio's lower back... Rio continued to take steps forward, calm and emotionless as she made her way towards Ursula and Fumio. Her Zanpakutos then lifted off of the ground, seemingly going to stab Rio's lower back but instead ending up sinking into it, disappearing without a trace....
"AHAHAHHAHHAH!!" Ursula laughed while Fumio sensed something odd, his eyes following the odd energy that he didn't recognise. It seemed Souta sensed it too since his eyes drifted straight to Rio, watching her walk.... Something was different, but he didn't know what... or more didn't expect it to be what happened next.
"What are you looking at?!" Ursula yelled at Fumio before following his eyes. Since she couldn't sense energy, she didn't think anything changed and so just smirked. "Oh? Is the little girl upset that I murdered her mother? Does she want to hurt me?~" Ursula spoke in a patronising tone of voice, watching Rio. The latter didn't respond at all, she just kept her eyes on Ursula but then something started changing. Rio's usual plum eye started to turn a cloudy colour... a cloudy silver colour....
Fumio's and Souta's eyes widened when they saw this.
"I-Is that?..." Souta murmured.
Rio's eye was identical to that of Souta's and Fumio's when they Crystallised, a few more steps further, Five Giant Crystal Fox-tails tore out of her lower back, the ends close together while the five tails fanned out, the tips of them a little bloody, since they tore from Rio's skin, as they all gently swayed in the air, moving in different directions. The feeling of them tearing her skin was painful at first but soon the feeling subsided.
~ Five Giant Crystal Foxtails ~
~ Thought they look pretty Blue, but they are Silver~
"Wha... What the fuck is that?" Ursula whispered while Fumio faintly smirked, Ursula's grip on him loosening as she was more interested what the hell Rio was doing at the moment and how she achieved such a form. Souta continued to watch, shaking a little... The power Rio was exerting was higher than Fumio's when he was at his peak! How could she get so much power from an incomplete Crystallisation?! Souta's thoughts were scattered with that question.
Rio continued to walk but soon came to a stop, not too close but near Ursula. She silently looked at the woman before her eyes scrolled to Fumio. She had more control of her right eye's power due to her training and work with Keisa so she was able to choose who's mind she'd invade instead of worrying about doing it on accident. However, Rio wouldn't use her power unless she was requested to.
"You want him?" Ursula suddenly spoke up which caused Rio's eyes to return to her. Ursula's grin was wide and toothy while she barked a short laugh. "AHAHA! WELL TOO BAD! DEATH HAS COME KAZUHIKO!" She lifted Fumio higher into the air with her arm, just about to re-tighten her grip and snap Fumio's neck when Rio jumped, sending a flying kick to her stomach while landing immediately afterwards. Ursula let go of Fumio as she was catapulted back, however she was soon stopped in the air by Rio's furthest-right giant crystal foxtail being wrapped around her left ankle. Rio also caught Fumio by gently wrapping her furthest-left tail around his torso. She then shunpo'ed. The wall Souta was resting in collapsed, however Souta was no where to be found, until Rio reappeared.
She softly placed both Fumio and Souta on the ground, unwrapping her tails from around them while tightening the one she had around Ursula's ankle as she held the woman upside-down.
Fumio coughed up blood before rubbing his neck again while Souta just looked up at Rio in shock. Rio looked at them with her crystal and silver eyes, not saying a word before looking back at Ursula. "LET ME GO YOU FILTH!" The woman shouted, bending her body up to try and pull Rio's tail off of her with all of her might. However, Ursula wasn't even able to scratch it. Rio watched her before throwing Ursula high in the air, doing as the woman wished before shunpo'ing and reappearing in the air below Ursula.
Once Ursula began falling, Rio waited for a certain moment before whipping her body and tails around so that all of them would impact with Ursula's body, knocking the woman off course so that she'd fly directly into her own building, destroying it completely. Rio then shunpo'ed once more, landing back onto the ground with her tails swaying in the air calmly again, crossing her arms while waiting for Ursula to reappear.
"Shit..." After a little bit of time had passed, Ursula finally dragged herself out of a pile of rubble, stepping out of the crater she created. Once out, she stared at Rio with rage, cracks all over her crystal body. "THAT WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH TO DEFEAT ME! NOW PREPARE TO DIE!" Ursula yelled from the top of her lungs while Rio just stood still, unaffected by the woman's words.
Ursula then broke into a sprint towards Rio, looking ready to tear Rio's eyes out. The latter watched for a moment before uncrossing her arms and balling both hands into fists, a crystal-looking smoke began swirling around her hands before she bent a little down, bursting into a spring herself. Rio darted towards Ursula, her tails swaying behind her while both herself and Ursula lifted their fist.
Within the next few seconds, the sound of a thunder clap rattled the area, but it wasn't from actual thunder, it was from Rio's and Ursula's fists smashing into each-other. Ursula glared at Rio as she pushed her fist against the girl's whereas Rio kept a calm, straight face.
Both women pulled their fists back before going in for a punch again and again, alternating fists with each meeting hit, causing more sounds of thunder claps to blast through the area. After three more clashing hits, Rio ducked as Ursula threw another fist towards Rio's face, falling forward a little due to the amount of force she had put into the attack. Rio used this opening to uppercut Ursula square in the gut, sending her flying up in the air once again before the girl jumped and shunpo'ed after her. This time, Ursula stopped herself while in the air, throwing more punches at Rio when she approached, however Rio dodged each and every one Ursula threw.
"What
Are You?!" Ursula yelled, momentarily loosing focus which was her downfall as Rio landed a hefty punch to her face. However, before Ursula could start flying back, Rio grabbed her neck with her middle-right foxtail, pulling Ursula back before letting her go, only to punch her in her gut with so much force it smashed through a good amount of Ursula's layers, creating a dent in Ursula's crystallised stomach. This made Ursula double-over, coughing as Rio's five tails wrapped around each-other to form one
Huge tail. Rio then turned again in the air, whacking Ursula's right shoulder to cause her to crash into the floor once more.
Landing and standing still, Rio's tails separated themselves. The girl then shunpo'ed to the floor, looking back at Souta and Fumio to check up on them.
"Ka-Ka-Kazuhiko... Sh-She's.... She's winning!!" Souta grinned, his eyes glued on Rio and her new form. Fumio blinked, speechless at Rio's power, he never expected anything like this to happen... But he was extremely grateful. Rio continued to look at them, silent before hearing rustling from where Ursula had crashed.
"You.... You th-think you've won?" Ursula lifted out of the pile of stones, once again stepping out of a crater with her vengeful eyes on Rio. Her crystallised form had cracks everywhere, not to mention the large, jagged dent where her stomach was. Rio once again didn't speech, only watched. "YOU THINK YOU CAN BEAT ME?!" Jumping up in the air all of a sudden, Ursula held both of her palms close together so they faced each-other. "LET'S SEE HOW YOU FAIR AGAINST MY ULTIMATE ATTACK!!!" Clearly getting desperate now, the crystal that originally covered Ursula's hands began stretching forward, meeting in the middle. At this point, her entire crystal form began peeling off of her body, exposing skin underneath. The layers of crystal continued to peel and add to the ball of crystal being made in the middle of her hands. Ursula than began moving her hands apart as the ball grew larger and larger. "AHAHAHAHAHA!!! THIS BALL IS INDESTRUCTIBLE!! NO ONE CAN PIERCE OR BREAK IT! ESPECIALLY NOT YOU TRASH!" Ursula's grin was wide and cocky while she laughed and continued to until her ball was complete."Hehehe~ Kurisutaru no bōru~"
Ursula's eyes were on Rio at first, seeming as though she was going to use her attack on her but... they abruptly looked directly at Souta and Fumio. "HERE! THIS IS FOR YOU TWO!" She threw the giant ball as both Fumio's and Souta's eyes widened.
"SHIT!" Souta yelled before he prepared himself, Fumio following suit but seconds before the ball could hit, Rio appeared, all tails bent in front of her as the two on both sides caught the ball. She used her middle tail to scoop up Fumio and Souta, wrapping it around them tight enough for them to be secure but not get crushed. Meanwhile, Rio skid back as she tried to slow the ball down, her legs growing a crystal cover to help slow herself down.
Ursula watched from the air, laughing madly as all she could see was her ball moving but then it abruptly stopped. "Huh?" Raising an eyebrow, Ursula watched the ball while the dust around it settle before it was suddenly split in two, straight down the middle. Ursula's eyes widened dramatically as she watched both halves of the ball fall apart before shattering into thousands of millions of shards. Standing on the other side was Rio, her middle Tail raised and pointed at Ursula while Souta and Fumio stood behind her, amazed.
"N-No! This Cannot be!! HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU THIS POWERFUL?!" Panic began setting in Ursula's mind before she blinked, however as she blinked and opened her eyes, Rio appeared right in front of her. Shaking, Ursula leaned back, wanting to move back by was paralyse with fear, still standing in the air. Rio just looked at her, her facial expression had been the same throughout this whole fight; straight and emotionless. "Th-those e-eyes" Ursula looked into Rio's eyes, reminded of Fumio's and Souta's crystallisations, growing terrified.... But then Rio's furthest-left crystal tail pierced straight through Ursula's stomach. "Ulgg......" Ursula doubled over while her blood dripped onto the floor beneath them.
The woman grabbed Rio's thick tail with both hands, blood dripping down the sides of her mouth as she grit her teeth at Rio, glaring at her. "T-trash... I-I will n-not d-die f-from TRASH!" Rio leaned in closer towards Ursula, catching her eyes with her own crystal one.
'"I'm not trash Ursula."' Ronda's voice travelled into Ursula's mind, making the woman's eyes widen. "R-Ronda? I-I..."
'"I will never forgive you for what you did Ursula. You killed the one I loved and tore our Clan apart.... And for that, I will not forgive you. Like I said, today we both die. And with that, the end of the Clan's traditions. These kids will build the Clan back up and make it bigger, better and more stronger than ever before."' Ursula continued to grit her teeth at what Ronda was saying before tearing her eyes away from Rio and screaming. Eventually her screams died down, but just as it did, Rio's tail began absorbing bright blue energy. Seeing this, Rio used her middle and middle-left tails to snap off the one absorbing the power, wincing as they did. Not long after, Rio's furthest-left tail grew back as Ursula's body began dropping.
Rio caught the falling woman by her limp chest, gently placing Ursula's body onto the floor as she landed herself.
Fumio and Souta ran towards Rio before looking at the glowing blue crystal that sucked all of the energy out of Ursula's body. Fumio glanced at Rio with a smile.
"You did it, you saved us~ Thank you Huerona" Rio looked at Fumio as the latter bowed.
"Yeah! Good Job Rio!!" Souta yelled with high spirits before patting Rio on the back. Rio still stayed silent, merely looking at the two before she smirked, her tails retracting into her body while splitting apart, dropping both of her sealed Zanpakutos. Once they had fully retracted, Rio turned around and picked up her Zanpakutos, sheathing them before finally talking.
"Eheh, don't thank me, thank my mother." She blushed a little while rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. Souta's and Fumio's faces then dropped as they looked over to Ronda's-
"... Where did Ronda's body go?" Souta asked, looking around. Fumio raised an eyebrow at this while Rio just shook her head.
"Don't worry about that. Now, what do we do with Ursula's power?" Rio nodded her head towards the glowing blue crystal lodged through Ursula's shell of a body.
"Well, you defeated her and saved us all so I think you rightfully deserve her powers~" Fumio voiced, while Rio chuckled a little.
"It was thanks to all of us, it wasn't just me. I wouldn't been able to kill her if you two didn't ware her down so much and protected me while I was talking to my mother so we defeated her together" Rio smiled at the both of them, feeling that she didn't deserve a reward for what they achieved together. Fumio just blinked before looking at Souta, clueless.
"Well Souta? I think you should take it then" Souta smirked before resting his Shikai on his right shoulder and Crystallising.
Fumio and Rio both looked at him with raised eyebrows, wondering what he was up to. Souta only grinned at the two of them before lifting his left arm across his chest, aiming his spikes at the glowing crystal before shooting it, smashing the crystal before the spikes shattered themselves.
A large, blue ring of energy stretched throughout the air, like a visual sonic boom. The rings of energy flew passed the three and continued to spread, however only those who where Hari's would benefit from this since this spread the Head of the Clan's power evenly throughout all of the surviving Hari's within the Soul Society, giving all of them a power boost.
Fumio looked over to Souta with a smirk.
"Ahh, so spread it out evenly between everyone~ Of course you'd think of that, heh" Rio turned and smiled at Souta as his spikes retracted and he sealed his Zanpakuto, returning to normal.
"Good idea Souta" Rio giggled a little before walking forward, stopping by Ursula's body and looking down. She had no more words left to say to this woman, but she learned alot about her from her mother's memories... Another thing her mother had told her was to make sure Souta and Kazuhiko never turn out like her and Ursula... Looking over to the two, Rio watched as they spoke happily, laughing a little together.
'I'm certain they won't turn out like you two' She smiled herself before looking around, sensing a few people coming.
"Souta, is it over?" A random girl began walking into the area, their eyes cautiously on Fumio despite talking to Souta. Seeing this woman, Souta ran to her and hugged her, which surprised them all at first, however the woman just smiled and hugged Souta back.
"Yes, it is over... I never thought I'd ever see you again..." "Yeah well, I'm a tough cookie, plus I chose not to get involved so I avoided everyone heheh. But, I felt Ursula's energy, as if some of it was being given to me? So I had to check it out" Not long after the woman spoke, more people started joining the three, all of them Hari's.
Souta explained what happened to everyone, all of them happy and relieved that Ursula was finally dead. This redeemed Fumio with the majority of the Hari's, but others still didn't like him, which he honestly didn't give a shit about. While Souta began socialising with the Clan members, happy to know that not everyone had been killed, Fumio and Rio waved goodbye and told him that they were going to return to the Seireitei. He was Okay with this and said that he'd visit them sooner of later. And with that, Rio and Fumio set foot back to the Seireitei.
"Why the sudden change of heart Kazuhiko? I thought you wanted to stay with the rest of the Clan?" Rio asked, a little confused.
"Heh, well what can I say? I've grown to like it within the Seireitei, plus it's exciting~ I just feel that I'd do better there than back with the Clan. I want to leave Souta in charge there and see how things would go, after all, he was the one who was home-sick. Me, one the other hand, I don't care where I am, as long as I'm enjoying myself~" Fumio chuckled as the two walked together, heading back towards the Seireitei.
"I see."- And thus, the death of the Hari Clan Leader Ursula lead to the beginning of the Clan's Rebirth.
The Vote for the new Leader was Unanimous; Souta Fushimaru Hari. However, even though the latter agreed to become the next leader, he made it clear that the traditional method of finding the new leader will never be used again. Instead, the next leader would be chosen by everyone within the Clan when the time comes for new Leadership. -