Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Hidden leaf Ravine.
November, x784.
While Yoruichi fought Ulquiorra and Marin faced off against Nemu, Alfonzo walked through the remaining corridors of the enemy hideout with slow and measured steps. As he travelled, he would send currents of his electricity through any room he found, destroying any of the equipment he came across. And although he knew it would be smarter to check each room before destroying everything inside first, his anger had consumed him to the point that he no longer cared.
Eventually, Alfonzo reached what he remembered to be the deepest room in the hideout after his initial investigation. And what he saw was exactly what he expected to see. Standing in the middle of the room were Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Orochimaru.
"Just as expected, you came alone." Mayuri said with is ever-present, creepy smile. "The thought of us escaping made you split up, just as we hypothesized.
"Cucucu… Indeed." Orochimaru said before licking his lips. "And from what I can see, this wizard's body will be the perfect research specimen. Not only is the amount of magic power it holds immense, but he also has one of the strongest physical bodies I've ever seen. Perhaps, I could use it as my new vessel."
"Are you done yet?" Alfonzo asked, not interested in engaging in a war of words with the mad scientists in front of him. "Because I've got a question to ask before ai start fucking the two of you up."
Hearing Alfonzo underestimating them, both Mayuri and Orochimaru could not help but frown. Still, Alfonzo ignored their discontent expressions as he continued.
"What the fuck were you hoping to accomplish by putting those people through what you did?" Alfonzo asked, anger seeping into every word.
"Not that you could ever appreciate my genius." Mayuri replied arrogantly. "But I wish to create the perfect living being. The honor this would bring me as a researcher would be immense. And as an added benefit, I would gain so much knowledge about the physiques of so many creatures. Just imagine everything I could do with all that information."
"And I assisted him with his research to gain the perfect vessel for myself." Orochimaru added with just as much fervor. "I believe that would be my first step to immortality. And with the ability to create vessels of such a level, I would no longer need to worry about the confines of age in my search to learn all the magic this world has to offer."
'They're both just as delusional as they were in the source material.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'But since they don't have some noble goal for committing these kind of atrocities, I won't feel any level of guilt for kicking the shit outta them.'
"Good." Alfonzo replied with a nod, though his tone was just as cold as before. "All that shit I just heard only translates to one thing."
As Alfonzo spoke, a pair of electrified rails appeared on either side of him. In the next instant, a spinning, circular saw materialized between each of the rails.
"I don't need to hold back when I kick your asses." Alfonzo continued. "[Electromagnetism Magic: Supersonic Dismemberment]."
Before either Mayuri or Orochimaru could react, the sound barrier broke, and the entire hideout shook as the spinning saws buried themselves into the wall behind the two mad scientists.
"Hmph!" Mayuri snorted in disdain as he reached for the hilt of his sword that was sheathed between his legs, rather than on his hip, with is right hand. "All that talk, and you couldn't even hit a stationary target."
"Indeed, the S-Class wizard with the epitaph of Master of Metals is so easily influenced by his rage." Orochimaru added as he raised his arms to perform a series of hand signs. "It would seem your reputation was inflated by those fools from the kingdom and the Magic Council."
Instead of replying, however, Alfonzo only stood in place while staring at the two, rather talkative, mad scientists as though they were clowns.
A moment later, however, both Mayuri and Orochimaru felt that something was wrong. Looking down, Mayuri noticed that his sword was still sheathed despite the fact that he had reached for it already while Orochimaru could not feel his magic power being kneaded inside of his body.
Eventually, both men realized what the issue was. Mayuri's right arm and Orochimaru's left were missing, the clothing around the stumps was disintegrated, and the wounds were cauterized from the friction. Yet, because of the speed of Alfonzo's attacks, they did not even notice how badly they were injured.
In fact, the only reason they were still alive was due to the passive defenses their thick magic power afforded them. Otherwise, they would have lost much more than just their arms, as the wind pressure alone would have more than likely destroyed the majority of their chests.
"Ahh~~~~~! Damn you!" Mayuri bellowed with a mixture of pain and anger as he reached into one of his pockets and withdrew a syringe. "I'll make you pay for that!"
As he spoke his threat, Mayuri plunged the syringe into his burned stump. Then, under Alfonzo's cold, unchanging glare, the burnt flesh began to wriggle as a new arm was regrown at high speed. All the while, Mayuri clenched his teeth, as the pain from instantly regrowing a limb was immense.
Meanwhile, instead of speaking any words of threat, Orochimaru tilted his head back. Then, like the unhinged jaws of a snake, he opened his mouth wider than should be possible for a human. A moment later, a pair of pale hands reached out of his wide open mouth and pulled a new, uninjured Orochimaru out from the old one, leaving a shed skin on the floor beneath him.
"Okay, that was seriously disgusting." Alfonzo said as he furrowed his eyebrows.
"Cucucu… Indeed, you will make the perfect vessel." Orochimaru said before licking his lips once again.
"Only if there is enough left to inhabit." Mayuri said angrily as he finally drew his sword.
In the next instant, Mayuri disappeared from where he stood in a burst of speed. Then, with his blade held high, he reappeared in front of Alfonzo, ready to cut off his arm in retaliation.
At the same time, Orochimaru ran through a series of hand signs. Then, once his final hand sign was made, he held up his hands in Alfonzo's direction.
"[Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands]." Orochimaru chanted as the sleeves on his outfit expanded.
A moment later, nearly two dozen snakes burst from Orochimaru's sleeves and shot forward towards Alfonzo in an attempt to bind him. At the same time, some of them had the mission to bite into him and inject him with a paralysis poison.
In the end, both Mayuri's slash and Orochimaru's snakes arrived at the same moment. Yet, Alfonzo did not move in the slightest to evade.
"Ha! It would seem you're all talk!" Mayuri shouted as his blade was about to cleave into Alfonzo's right shoulder.
*Zap!*
To Mayuri's surprise, however, just before he could cut Alfonzo, his sword came to a complete and utter stop. At the same time, Alfonzo's body lit up with sparks of electricity, paralyzing all the snakes before they could even make contact with his body.
"What is the meaning of this?" Mayuri asked in disbelief as he tried to force his sword downward.
"For such a genius, you're quite the dumb mother fucker, aren't you?" Alfonzo asked as he slowly raised his right hand, which was still sparking with electricity. "You already knew they called me the master of Metal, right? Then why the hell would you attack me with a metal sword?"
Just as Alfonzo finished asking his question, he took hold of Mayuri's sword, which conducted the electric current to Mayuri.
"Ahh~~~!" Mayuri shouted involuntarily as he was electrocuted.
A similar outcome was happening to Orochimaru. However, since the snakes conducting the electricity were much longer than Mayuri's sword and did not conduct electricity as well, Orochimaru was able to unsummon the snakes he used to attack before he was electrocuted, as well.
"Tch!" Alfonzo clicked his tongue at the fact that he could only electrocute one of the two foes he was facing. "Oh well, can't win 'em all, I guess."
With that said, Alfonzo threw a front kick that landed on Mayuri's sternum.
*Crack!*
With the sound of breaking bones, Mayuri was shot backward at high speed before crashing into the wall behind him. To Alfonzo's surprise, however, the wall neither cracked nor cratered when Mayuri slammed into it.
The reason for that was simple, because this was the deepest and most secure chamber in the hideout, Mayuri and Orochimaru put a significant amount of effort into strengthening the walls, ceiling, and floor in case of an attack.
"Damn you!" Mayuri growled as he picked himself up from the floor, once again stabbing a syringe into himself to heal his injuries. Then, he raised his sword in Alfonzo's direction with the flames of rage burning in his eyes. "[Soul Sword Magic: Rip, Ashisogi Jizō]."
'So, he managed to create a version of a Zanpakuto in this world.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he felt Mayuri's magic power spike by a few times while occasionally glancing at Orochimaru who was running through a series of hand signs. 'I hope his notes on Zanpakuto creation weren't in those rooms I destroyed without checking them. That would have probably been an awesome gift for Erza."
Meanwhile, the blade of Mayuri's sword began to glow in a yellow color. As the light shined, the shape of his blade could be seen changing.
"Earth Magic: Earth Flow River]." Orochimaru chanted before he immediately ran through another set of hand signs. "[Earth Magic: Earth Dragon Bullets]."
Immediately after Orochimaru's first spell was cast, most of the floor in the chamber turned into a muddy river that flowed towards Orochimaru. Naturally, the part of the floor where Alfonzo stood was no exception.
Noticing his now unstable footing, Alfonzo used his [Electromagnetism Magic] to levitate slightly above the flowing mud while keeping an eye on the transformation Mayuri's sword was going through. Meanwhile, a dragon head-shaped mass of mud rose from the mud river not far behind him.
A moment later, the dragon head opened its mouth and fired a compressed ball of mud in Alfonzo's direction.
With his [Magic Power Detection] active, Alfonzo sensed the incoming projectile. Floating to the side, he was able to avoid the mud bullet, yet that was far from the end.
Instead of firing just one earth bullet, the dragon head continued to fire at Alfonzo with little pause between shots. Apparently, Orochimaru had pumped enough magic power into the spell to turn it into a multi-shot spell.
Meanwhile, as Alfonzo dodged the incoming earth bullets, Mayuri's sword had long finished its transformation. Now, instead of a common katana, Mayuri held a golden trident with curved and distorted blades, the center blade being the longest and the straightest. Also, its guard had changed into the head of a baby with small hands held in a praying position while the hilt remained unchanged.
Finding the perfect opportunity to strike, Mayuri, using a movement spell that was remarkably similar to the [Flash Step], though at a much slower speed than Yoruichi, appeared in front of Alfonzo while stabbing his weapon at Alfonzo's legs.
"Now, how will you run when you can't' move your legs?" Mayuri asked as his blades neared their target.
'So, after it's been released, I can't control it with my [Metal Magic], huh?' Alfonzo mused. 'Yeah, Erza would definitely love to have one of those.'
*Clang!*
As Mayuri's Zanpakuto drew near, Alfonzo created a pair of Eskrima sticks in his hands. Then, with a pair of accurate thrusts, he stopped Mayuri's stab by placing the two metal rods between the three curved blades.
"And just why would I have to run from someone like you?" Alfonzo asked as he used his rods to twist the trident away from himself before roundhouse kicking Mayuri into the mud river.
A moment later, Alfonzo turned around, swinging his Eskrima sticks at an incoming earth bullet.
"Splat!*
Continuing his turn, Alfonzo released the Eskrima stick in his right hand, throwing it in Orochimaru's direction.
Reacting quickly, Orochimaru evaded the incoming metal rod with minimal movements. Before he could start casting his next spell, however, the rod returned along the same trajectory, its end striking Orochimaru in the back of his neck.
As Orochimaru, who seemed to lose consciousness from the sneak attack, fell forward, his body turned into a number of snakes that scattered around the room. At the same time, the real Orochimaru slowly rose from the mud river with his mouth open and bearing a long, sharp pair of fangs he intended to sink into Alfonzo's neck from behind.
"I will have you as my next vessel.' Orochimaru thought as his fangs drew closer to Alfonzo's neck.
"Sorry, dude… You are a dude, right?" Alfonzo said as he jammed the Eskrima stick in his left hand over his shoulder, straight into Orochimaru's open mouth. "Well, that doesn't matter. But you're not my type either way. Besides, the only ones allowed to bite me on the neck are my girls. So, keep your fangs to yourself. [Electromagnetism Magic: Stun Baton]."
Realizing the danger position he was in, Orochimaru kicked towards Alfonzo's back before he could even finish chanting his spell. Then, just in the nick of time, he managed to push himself away from the Eskrima stick that had lodged itself in his mouth.
*Zap!*
And Orochimaru's instincts were enough to save his life, this time as Alfonzo had put enough voltage int that spell to blow his head clean off his shoulders had it connected.
"I've had enough of this!" Mayuri shouted as he burst from beneath the mud river. "[Kyōdo Yon]!"
As he shouted his spell, Mayuri jammed the index finger of his left hand into one of the baby's eyes that acted as his trident's handguard. As he did, a thick purple liquid began flowing out of the baby's eye while it opened its mouth and started screaming.
"Kurotsuchi, what are you doing?" Orochimaru questioned after seeing Mayuri's actions. "That attack doesn't discriminate between friend and foe."
"I don't care!" Mayuri shouted. "If we don't stop him by any means, everything we've worked for will be lost!"
The sound of the baby's cries were gut wrenching, making anyone who heard them uncomfortable. Naturally, this technique was much more dangerous than that. In fact, should anyone not carrying Mayuri's blood, meaning himself or Nemu, they would end up completely paralyzed after hearing it for only four seconds.
Luckily, Alfonzo knew the secret behind this technique thanks to his meta knowledge. So, instead of letting Mayuri act as he pleased, he decided to stop him before it was too late.
"It doesn't matter." Alfonzo said, using his speed to appear in front of Mayuri after only one second of the baby screaming. "I'll just put an end to whatever it is you're planning with that. [Electromagnetism Magic: Chidori]."
With that, Alfonzo's left hand was engulfed in sparking blue lightning before he stabbed it into and threw Mayuri's left shoulder, severing it at the base. At the same time, he grabbed the mad scientists left arm and pulled it away from the baby-shaped guard, ending the screaming in only two seconds.
"Damn it!" Mayuri shouted, angered at how easily he was being outplayed. "Even if I have to destroy this entire base and all our research, I'm going to kill you! [Soul Sword Magic: Bankai! Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō]!"
Once again, Mayuri's magic power spiked as his baby's head on his trident opened its mouth and spewed forth a purple mist that grew into the form of a giant caterpillar with a grotesque baby head and arms, as well as a silver halo floating above its head and wearing a red cape. Also, Mayuri's weapon returned to its original form of a katana once the creature fully manifested.
Noticing that Mayuri had thrown caution to the wind, Orochimaru ran through a series of five hand signs before slamming his palms onto the floor.
"Summoning Magic]." Orochimaru chanted as he was engulfed by a large cloud of smoke.
"For what reason have you summoned me, Orochimaru?" A creepy male voice said from inside the smoke cloud. "And you had better have prepared the proper number of sacrifices."
"You can have all the sacrifices you want, later, Manda." Orochimaru replied. "but for now, we must dispose of this wizard."
With that, the cloud of smoke dissipated as a purple tail swung from inside it to reveal a purple snake of colossal size with green eyes and four horns growing from the back of its head coiled behind Orochimaru.
"You require my aid to deal with just---" Manda said, beginning to mock Orochimaru for his weakness.
Before he could finish, however, Manda felt the presence of Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō. And when the saw the mist it was breathing out, the giant snake shuddered in terror.
"Are you trying to set me up?" Manda asked as his head snapped back towards Orochimaru. "That poisonous gas is enough to fatally poison even me."
"Well, I guess it's a good thing you won't have to worry about that then." Alfonzo said, cutting into the conversation.
Alfonzo's comment drew Orochimaru and Manda's attention away from Konjiki Ashisogi' Jizō's threat. And when their eyes landed on Alfonzo, who's hands were cupped together next to his left hip with an orb of purple energy held between them, they were astonished.
As soon as Alfonzo heard Mayuri chant his spell to release his Bankai, he took his distance, placing himself against the furthest wall from the abomination Mayuri would summon. At the same time, he started gathering his own magic power for his next attack.
But when he saw Orochimaru summon Manda, his plans changed slightly. Instead of only launching his attack at Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō, he decided that he would deal with both together. So, he shifted his position so that both the snake and the abomination would be in the line of fire when he cast his spell.
The light Alfonzo held between his palms was one he vary rarely utilized in battle, ultraviolet radiation. And the reason behind that was simple, he often forgot it was part of the EM spectrum.
"[Electromagnetic Magic: Galick Gun]." Alfonzo chanted as he pushed his hands, along with the purple orb of UV radiation, forward.
In the next instant, a condensed ray of UV Radiation was fired forward from Alfonzo's hands with both Manda and Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō in its firing line.
"No amount of sacrifices are worth dealing with this." Manda muttered.
*Poof!*
Manda, having no delusions that he could take that attack and live through it, Immediately unsummoned himself without concern for his summoner, Orochimaru. Meanwhile, Mayuri ordered Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō to counterattack.
"Now, destroy that insolent fool!" Mayuri shouted as the chamber filled with a poisonous fog.
Following its master's command, an orb of red magic power condensed in the baby's mouth before it was fired to meet with Alfonzo's [Galick Gun]. Fortunately for Orochimaru, Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō's attack was far too weak to contend with Alfonzo's spell. Otherwise, the clashing energies would have been more than enough to vaporize him on the spot.
Meanwhile, the [Galick Gun] cut cleanly through not only Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō's counterattack, but the rest of the abomination, as well. In fact, the spell was so powerful that even after piercing through its target, it pierced through the reinforced ceiling of the chamber,as well.
"How is this possible!" Mayuri shouted in disbelief.
"The answer to that question is simple." Alfonzo replied, his right hand wrapping around Mayuri's neck as he charged forward.
*Boom!*
At the end of Alfonzo's charge, he slammed Mayuri into the wall hard enough to create a Mayuri-shaped indent in the wall.
"Because you're outclassed." Alfonzo continued as he slammed his free hand onto Mayuri's chest, creating an anti-magic harness that wrapped Mayuri's arms and secured them to his torso. Then, Alfonzo looked back over his shoulder at a small, white snake slithering out of the chamber through the entrance Alfonzo used earlier. "And I'd suggest you don't try to escape little pedo-snake. Or I can't guarantee your life."
In the next instant, several metal spikes materialized around the little, white snake, Orochimaru had [Transformed] into. Stopping in place, Orochimaru simply coiled his serpentine body. With that display, it was clear that Orochimaru would rather live and have a chance to restart his research at a later date than to lose his life.
Seeing how Orochimaru had come to a stop, Alfonzo willed the spikes to jam themselves into the ground around him. Then, using his [Metal Magic], he transfigured them into a box with a few small openings to allow in breathable air. On top of that, both the inside and the outside of the box were inscribed with a massive number of anti-magic sigils, all except a small area around the coiled Orochimaru.
"Now, as long as you don't' touch any of those sigils, you'll be fine. But if you do, that [Transformation] will probably be cancelled. And I don't think that will feel all that fucking great. I mean unless you're into that kinda shit." Alfonzo said as he flung Mayuri on the floor next to the little snake in a box. "Hopefully everyone else is done fighting, too. I guess I'll make my way out to the shelte to check. After that, we can call the knights and do another thorough search of this base before heading back to get some rest."