Into the Fire: Tiffany's Resolve

This article, , occurs in the immediate aftermath of the Investigating Grat arc, dealing specifically with the Second Battle of Grat and the effects The Collapse have upon Grat. Tiffany Henderson serves as the primary POV character, with Gina as the primary antagonist.

Tiffany contented herself to rest for a moment as she surveyed events unfolding below. Grat had been rocked by earthquakes, fire had erupted from the heavens, and as if that wasn't enough Hollow had appeared in the immediate aftermath! Something definitely wasn't right here. Hadn't been for a while, if she was being honest. Something was happening in the spiritual realms to cause these disturbances. Grat's status as a spiritually enriched plot was working against the town.

She removed her phone from her pocket and dialled the contact who was still hilariously named Randy "Cracked Plate" Jones in her contact list.

"Randy, where are you?"

"The old factory district with Lloyd. We're hounding some thug called Hitoshi. I think he's responsible for the Hollow appearing."

"Really!? If that's the case then be careful."

"What about you?" Randy asked. "Is Garrett still with you?"

"I'm going to survey things a little longer, catch a breather. I've already sealed three of the breaches in the sky. As for Garrett I last saw him with May."

"Right, I'd best get back to it. Look after yourself!"

He wasn't a bad guy, not really. He was a womaniser and a flirt, and a bit of an ass, but he was a good man. Tiffany hadn't thought she'd bond with Garrett's friends -- her friends now too -- as much as she had. And she certainly didn't think she would come to trust Randy of all people. But she was getting lazy. It was time to get back to sealing those breaches, whatever they where.

"Kenji used nothing but spiritual pressure to close them before." She remembered. "Good thing I saw how he directed his power. It's what allowed me to mimic it."

From what she could see there where still four breaches left in the sky. There had originally been nine. Tiffany had seen to three whilst Ries had sealed the other two. She wished he was here with her now. Then they could share the burden. But as it stood she'd have to do it herself.

So she inhaled sharply and directed her reiatsu towards the closest breach and forced it to collapse upon itself. The effort was draining, to be sure, but it had to be done. They couldn't rely on Kenji to save them all the time.

"So you're the little bitch whose been fuckin' with our gates?"

Tiffany twisted in the air and parried a kick, before replying with a sweep aimed at her attacker's standing leg. The figure leapt up and then away as Tiffany directed a withering glare their way.

"And if I am?" Inside, however, Tiffany was filing that information away. "In what way are they gates? The Hollow came in through -like portals, not those breaches." She then grinned. "Would that upset you?"

Her attacker was a dark-skinned female with red-coloured hair, amber eyes, and a curvaceous figure. She wore a dark sleeveless dress-like top with black trousers and sandals. Sheathed horizontally across the small of her back was what Tiffany assumed was her Zanpakutō: it was sealed in the form of a with a circular guard and green hilt wrapping complete with a black sheath.

"Penetrate, Jadoku."

The woman's Zanpakutō disintegrated and in its place rose a purplish mist. Tiffany moved away immediately, holding her breathe, and silently analysed the situation. "Poison. Tch. I'll have to keep my distance."

"Holding your breathe? That's a waste of time. You have to breathe eventually, bitch, and when you do, my Jadoku will destroy you."

"She's right. Thankfully, though, I was trained by Kenji. All I need to do is trust to what he taught me."

Instead of fleeing, which would certainly be the expected course of action, Tiffany flash-stepped right into her opponent's face and punched her solidly in the chin! She then rained a continuous barrage of punches and kicks at her before spinning around her to elbow her in the back of the head. The woman went flying into a nearby building.

"Dokugedokuzai and Yōsai."

Both spells had apparently been developed by Kenji's son Kentaro and belonged to the Kiadō branch of Kidō. Tiffany had never had the pleasure of meeting Kentaro but by all accounts he was a genius when it came to spell creation. So far that seemed to be the case. Tiffany had been inhaling and exhaling throughout her recent attack and she felt no worse for it.

"Are you going to lie there? I guess that's fine too."

So she directed her reiatsu towards another of those so-called "gates" and promptly collapsed it before her opponent pulled herself from the rubble.

"Bitch!"

"Please, you're a member of the Kikkashō. Your network of agents should know my name already, so start using it. Or are you just cross because I kicked you into a building and resisted your oh-so-powerful Zanpakutō?"

"How did you-"

"Know you where one of the Kikkashō? I didn't. Your reaction just now confirms it though. So thank you, agent, for confirming my suspicions. I also know who you are. My teacher gave me and my companion detailed lists of all former Shinigami whom he thought was affiliated with the Kikkashō. Your name is Gina and your Zanpakutō, Jadoku, is a poison-type that makes its victims your unwitting thrall."

Gina's face was growing paler by the second.

"Am I in the ballpark? Your face says I am. Let Loose and Collapse All Creation, Raikōisan!"

What happened afterwards took place in mere heartbeats. It was like watching Kenji himself in his younger days wielding Aoi Inazuma in conjunction with Anika's hybrid style. One moment Tiffany was several feet from Gina. The next she was moving past Gina whose stomach suddenly exploded in a shower of blood as she ran Raikōisan through her!

"The cuts shallow enough that you'll survive but know that Raikōisan has paralyzed your limbs." Tiffany revealed. "I suggest you tell your superiors that neither myself nor Garrett are interested in joining your twisted cause."

She then bound Gina with Kidō just to make certain.

"Now... Time to see to these remaining gates."