Diosa Arc: The Kurosakis Strike Back!

Battle Plan
Ahatake was groaning. Even though it had been two days since their last battle, he was still aching all over, though the minor cuts he had received had healed, the larger wounds merely disinfected and bandaged. Megami, Rukia, and the Major had gotten similar first-aid. He sighed. Today was the day they were going to plan their counterattack on the Arrancar.

The ones who were able to move quite easily were the ones speaking about it. Ginji was among them - he was a leader, after all.

"All right." He spoke calmly, his arms folded across his chest, and his gaze stern. "I want an overview of our enemies and their abilities so far, just to keep everyone's memory in check. If anything, we want every advantage possible in this."

"Alita practically told us her abilities." Daiyaku said, coughing for a moment. "Her abilities lie in the creation and manipulation of water and lightning. All attacks based on these elements are useless against her. Her Cero is also not something to be underestimated."

"And this blue-haired male Arrancar. What about him?"

"Completely brute force." Midoriko spoke up. "His Cero is powerful, and he uses darts, but has no special abilities aside from those."

"And then there's the white-haired woman....." Ginji finished, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Clearly, she's the leader in the way she carries herself. At the very least, she's some sort of commander for their forces. Whether or not there's another leader, we have yet to see....but has she revealed her abilities?"

"Aside from the fact that she could keep them both silent, no." Daiyaku replied sadly.

"All right, then. For Alita, it's all a matter of avoiding the use of attacks that have those elements with them. As for Grimmjow, it's all a matter of weakening all of that brute force he has. You all have your ways of utilizing those weaknesses, so it's best if we all fought in our element."

"You make it sound easy." Daiyaku replied. "Nearly my entire arsenal is lightning."

Ginji smiled wryly. "Then you won't be fighing Alita, eh?"

"Oh no I'm definitely fighting her." Daiyaku said quickly. "Lighting-based techniques aren't stopping me from doing that."

"This isn't a game here, boy." Ginji reprimanded. "In order for this attack to work, everything has to be at maximum efficiency. Therefore, you'll be needed where you'll be needed, and that's not where Alita is."

Daiyaku looked over at him. "I'm fighting who I choose Ginji. You're not going to stop me."

A small chuckle came from the door as Ahatake walked in. "He getting on your nerves as well?"

"Just starting to."

Ginji's lip curled slightly in annoyance, and he raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Fine. I see where I stand. What's the point of making a plan if you people aren't going to follow it?" He said irritably. "Let's hear your idea, shall we?" If Daiyaku wanted to divert away from his own strategy, then perhaps he already had his own.

"I have no idea." Daiyaku replied. "When I fought Alita, I realized she and I are about even, so long as I use the Ōnaminagare at the third level. I figure it'd be better to let me--"

"No idea." Ginji promptly interrupted him, fixing him with a glare. "And yet, you're wanting to go your own way. I think we all want this to go smoothly as possible, and that's not going to work if everyone does whatever they wish!"

"If I can't fight the opponent I want, my heart won't be in it." Daiyaku replied airily. "What if I happen to let my "designated" opponent get away? Wouldn't that mess things up even more than me doing what I want?"

This caused Ginji's lip to curl even more, head tilted to the side slightly. "Oh.... really?" He asked, what seemed like a smug tone in his voice. Slowly, he allowed himself to step towards the boy. "You know, I had that exact same feeling when I was a recruit. If I encountered a situation in which there was seemingly no solution, I wouldn't be able to find the spirit to find it. But overtime, I began to learn that maybe some things are just not what you want in life. Get over yourself, Itonami. If you can only bring yourself to fight one of your enemy, then you're just as pitiful as those Arrancar pawns."

Daiyaku hissed, but Ahatake put a hand on his shoulder. "For the moment, let's do as the Major suggests." He knew if these two argued, no one would win, and he wanted to get back on the front lines as quickly as possible. "Ginji, would you like me to tell you the powers of the enemy Rukia and I faced?"

Ginji refolded his arms across his chest, the smug look fading. "Information about every enemy is essential. Go ahead and enlighten us."

"Aaroniero Arruruerie was the former Novena Espada. Aside from standard Arrancar powers, he has the powers of a Shinigami. His Zanpakutō, Nejibana, uses powerful water-based abilities. His real Zanpakutō however, is Glotoneria, which allows him to devour beings and absorb their powers." However, it wasn't Ahatake who had gotten to say this. Rukia was standing in doorway, a grim look on her face. She had explained it all.

"A Number 9 cannibal." Ginji summarized, nodding his head. "Are there any conditions that he releases this real Zanpakutō under?"

"Only when he wants to destroy you completely. During our first encounter, he stated that he's absorbed an approximate number of 33,650 beings, mainly Hollows. It's been centuries since then, so his powers have most likely grown. When released, he can use every power he's ever absorbed."

"So we need a force to counter 33,650+ souls...." Ginji muttered, a little bit of irritability in his voice. "Terrific. Anyone happen to have that sort of power on their hands?"

"If it's not a problem with you Ginji, I'd like to team up with Rukia again and take on Aaroniero." Ahatake suggested lightly. "With his power, two is better than one. I have power enough to take him, and, on top of knowing what makes Aaroniero tick, Rukia's not too shabby."

This caused Ginji to look up at the sky for a moment, thinking about what he had just said. Daiyaku acted more like a reckless man who based his actions on desire and emotions. With him, there was little fore planning in his mind which was concerned with only the present and not the future. However, Rukia was a different story. She thought tactically in her battles and fought with skill, as well as a Lieutenant should. At least... a former Lieutenant. "All right. It's your call on that." He relented.

"Then I'll fight Alita."

The former male Lieutenant's voice spoke up, his figure appearing right beside Rukia. He leaned his arm against the doorway. "I think it'd be best for me to fight her alone. Chance is, we're going to need all the fighters we get against Diosa. If she's the leader, she's going to be exceptionally strong." He supplied, placing a hand onto his chest for emphasis. "Her spiritual energy was enough to cause some collateral damage, mental or otherwise. Since Ahatake's going to be busy with Aaroniero, I'm pretty much one of the two choices here."