I stretched, yawning as I lay on my bunk. I looked outside, and the light honestly wasn't welcome. "It's the Weekend..." I groaned, "Fine, Diaval, it's your time." I never liked weekends, ever since Diaval got to use those as days to "Stretch his legs" as he puts it.

'Finally!' Diaval groaned as my appearance changed drastically. My skin turned white, my eyes were now black with yellow pupils, my teeth sharpened and there was a hole through my chest. I was no longer in control of my body. Now, I resided in my own mental space, a strange white room where I found myself accompanied by Kat and Nano as Diaval took control of my body.

'How many times do you think Diaval's gonna strike out with Yang this time?' Nano asked.

'Well, last time he was turned down six times in a row, so...' Kat began, 'I'd say, sky's the limit.'

'Oh, right,' I grinned, 'He's been turned down by the same girl 37 times. That's gotta be a record or something.'

"You guys can go to Hell." Diaval hissed, getting a tick mark, "I'll have you know, THIS time, Yang will be mine!" As he said this, he held up his fist confidently with a twinkle in his eyes.

'That's... creepy.' I sweat dropped. Diaval then briskly walked out of the cabin.

It had been nearly a week since Gabriel and Aurora had arrived at camp, and although Aurora was still new, she was fitting in quite nicely. I found it funny that she fit in so well, while just about everyone in camp still had trouble trusting Diaval, who'd had several weekends of experience so far. Anyway, Diaval's first stop was the Mess Hall for breakfast. As he entered, I wondered, what exactly DOES a Hollow-Kishin eat for breakfast?

Diaval scanned the Mess Hall, searching for Yang, who was nowhere to be seen. But he did spot her sister, Ruby, who was sitting at a table with, Weiss, Blake, Naruto, Erza, and Brian. He went over and took a seat by Ruby, though she immediately scooted a few inches away.

"Ouch." Diaval sighed, "Hey, little red, have you seen your lovely sister lately?"

"No." Ruby said, an unusually cold tone in her voice, "Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you!"

"Why you...!" Diaval began, violent, but paused and let out a deep sigh, "Fine... I can tell I'm not wanted." He then got up and left, everyone else glaring at him.

'I'll give you this, your self-control is impressive.' I said, admittedly feeling a bit sorry for Diaval.

"I don't get it," Diaval began, kicking the ground, "What does she have against me?"

'Well...' Nano began, 'You DID punch her in the face when she first met you, you're the reason that one of her friends, Nathan, disappeared for several months, and you're pretty creepy in general.'

"Thanks, Nano," Diaval groaned, sarcasm lingering in his voice, "Your kind words inspire us all."

'I'm just saying,' Nano began defensively, 'People in this camp don't exactly have the highest opinions on Hollow-Kishin.'

"Friggin' racist." Diaval sighed as he began to take a walk through a forest. As he walked, he held his hand over his eyes to shade them from the sun. "Damn sun..." he complained, "Why does there have to be so much damned light this time of year?!"

'He always gets like this, every weekend.' Kat stated, 'Maybe Yang would like you more if you weren't such a pessimist.'

"Oh, shut up." Diaval groaned, "Damn, now I wanna kill something!" As he said this, a large black beast with a white bone like mask, a Grimm, suddenly lunged at him. "Right on cue!" Diaval grinned, tightening his fist as he pulled out my zanpakuto. In an instant, the Grimm fell on the ground in three pieces.

'He's fast...' Nano breathed, 'Sometimes I forget just how powerful Diaval really is...'

"Heh," Diaval grinned, "I'll take that." Suddenly, a black energy ball rose from the beast's corpse.

'What's that?' Kat asked.

'That's the Grimm's soul.' Nano answered.

'The Grimm have souls?' I asked.

'Of course.' Nano explained, 'All living creatures have some kind of soul, even monsters.'

Diaval took hold of the energy ball and put it in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed the soul.

'H-Hey!' I yelled, 'Watch what you're putting in my body! Who KNOWS how fattening that is?!'

'Take it easy,' Nano began, 'Remember, Diaval's a hybrid of Hollow and Kishin. If you'll remember, both Hollows and Kishin eat souls to survive.' I froze at that instant. 'In fact,' Nano continued, 'I imagine that, as a hybrid of the two, his urge to devour souls is much stronger than your typical Hollow...'

"Ponytail's right." Diaval nodded, "I get real hungry sometimes..."

'DON'T call me "Ponytail"!' Nano growled.

"I try not to eat too many souls." Diaval continued, ignoring Nano, "If I do, I'll get addicted, and I'll be more like a monster, always craving souls. It sucks having to hold back like this, but I really do want to fit in here."

'Diaval...' I began, surprised.

"I see the way people treat you, and the way they treat me." Diaval continued, looking down, "I want what you have. I want people to like me... especially Yang."

'Diaval...' I sighed, 'You know, you're not such a bad guy after all...'

Suddenly, we heard a loud, bone-rattling howl, one that made Diaval stop completely.

"A Hollow..." Diaval, Nano, Kat, and I all said at once.

"And a powerful one, judging by this spirit energy." Diaval added.

'Yeah, I can sense it clear as day.' I agreed, 'And I'm picking up another spirit energy clashing with the Hollow. We'd better check it out. No one can die here, so it's not any huge threat, but it's always a good idea to help out.'

"Yeah, I guess." Diaval nodded, following the howl.

As Diaval made it to the area, we noticed a large, fat Hollow swinging its bulbous fists at Yang, who was dodging with complete ease.

"Ah, there she is!" Diaval began, "Wow, she's even more beautiful than I remember..."

'Is it possible to throw up while I'm in my mind?' I gagged.

'I think we're about to find out.' Nano replied. Suddenly, the Hollow landed a hit, sending Yang back.

"Hey!" Diaval yelled, his eyes narrowing into slits. He charged forward to the Hollow. The Hollow threw a fist, but Diaval jumped up, drew my sword, and dug the blade deep into the Hollow's head. He then back-flipped off the now-dead beast, yanking the sword free as the Hollow turned to black dust in the wind.

"Nathan...?" Yang began from behind. Diaval turned around, a big grin on his face as he suddenly tackle-hugged Yang, burying his face in her chest.

"I've wanted to do this for SO long!!!" He exclaimed as Yang's eyes became white circles and she sweat dropped.

"You're... Diaval, right?!" Yang questioned, trying to force Diaval off her. She grabbed hold of his arms to keep him from grabbing her and put her foot to his face, trying to kick him off.

'Ah, young love.' I said sarcastically.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you pale creep?!" Yang hissed, getting tick marks. The two of them struggled for a moment.

"Comedy routines so early in the morning?" A new voice caught our attention. Yang and Diaval looked to see Erza.

"Erza?" Yang asked.

"Hello, Yang," Erza began, "I thought you should know, your sister's been looking for you."

"Oh, Ruby?" Yang inquired, "'Kay, I'll be there in no time."

'Are they ignoring me?' Diaval thought, sweat dropping. Suddenly, Yang kicked him in the face, knocking him back as she got up and left with Erza.

'That could have gone better...' Nano sighed.

'Are you kidding?' Kat argued, 'That's the best Diaval's ever done so far, she didn't immediately hit him. You're making progress!'

"I hate you guys..." Diaval groaned, rubbing his face as he got up and continued to walk.

'Y'know, maybe you should just stop trying to get with Yang.' I began, 'Every time you do, You get punched.'

'Or kicked.' Nano added.

'Or shot.' Kat agreed.

"You guys don't get it," Diaval began, "Yang and I are in love, and it's gonna be awesome when she realizes it!"

'That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.' I sweat dropped.

"Shut up." Diaval groaned as he walked on.

'I noticed Alex is also absent today.' Nano said, to begin conversation.

'Yeah, weird.' Kat agreed. Diaval then paused as a resounding noise could be heard. We listened carefully to make out the noise.

"I'm not the bad guy, I'm just a bit surprising. It's not worth losing sleep. It's not worth analyzing..." a female singing voice caught our attention.

'Someone singing in the middle of the forest?' Nano asked, suspicious.

"Might as well check it out." Diaval shrugged, following the voice. As we progressed, it got louder.

"There was a time, not so long ago at all, I was just like you, can you hear my call?!" The singing continued, "Now I'm popping in, over here, over there, I'll be checking in, but you'll never be aware. In the beginning I kept a keen eye on the state of affairs with the new guy. Now I got a new gig, lemme know if ya dig, ain't goin' home so I better go big. Just get a glance at cam 2B, then you'll get a little surprise, it's me!" Finally, we found the source of the singing. It was someone in a tree, wearing earbuds as she listened to, and sang along with, the song.

"Hey!" Diaval called, "What's up?" The girl stopped singing at his words, then took out her earbuds and hopped out of the tree. She landed in front of Diaval and we got a good look at her. She had long black hair with red highlights and demonic red eyes. She wore black leggings under red jeans, a black tank top with a white frowning masquerade mask design, a black bracelet, silver cat ear cuffs, and dark brown boots with white laces. I immediately recognized her.

'Night.' I sighed.

'Huh?' Kat asked.

'That's Night.' Nano explained, 'Spirit of fear, terror, darkness, etcetera etcetera. She's a celestial spirit bound to Alex, and every week, there is a single day where Night takes over. It's how Diaval and Nathan decided to take turns using this body in the first place.'

'That reminds me,' Kat began, 'Why don't WE get turns using this body too? Why should they get all the fun?'

'Because we're weapons.' Nano answered plainly, 'Besides, do you REALLY want to be included in the kind of drama those two cause every day?'

'Good point.' Kat sweat dropped, 'Forget I asked.'

"You're Diaval, right?" Night asked, "I've heard a few things about you."

"Heh, all good things, I hope." Diaval chuckled nervously.

"Everyone hates you." Night said simply.

"Oh..." Diaval sweat dropped.

"That's... kind of why I wanted to meet you." Night began, "They all hate me too."

"Sorry to hear that." Diaval sighed.

"Ah, screw them." Night growled, "If they hate me so much, they can fight me. I'll kick their asses any time!"

"I bet you will." Diaval grinned, then groaned as the sun shone bright throughout the trees. Both Diaval and Night groaned in frustration.

"Stupid light...!" Night hissed.

"How about we take this conversation to a nicer scenery?" Diaval suggested.

"As in...?" Night inquired.

'No.' Nano began, 'No, no, no! You don't mean...!'

'Oh but I do.' Diaval thought.

"Let's head over to the Dark Forest." Diaval grinned, "There's not so much of that pesky light in there."

"Sounds good to me." Night groaned. The two of them began to walk in the direction of the Dark Forest.

'Come now, Diaval.' Nano began, 'You KNOW it's against the rules to go into the Dark Forest.'

'So?' Diaval thought, practically ignoring Nano. Diaval and Night made it to the Dark Forest, sneaking in with ease.

"Much better." Night sighed with relief as they walked through the dimly lit series of trees and wild plants. Nothing seemed good in this forest. The trees were old and rotten, their long, vein-like branches tangled up in such a way that it looked like a thick, black, rotten spider web. Any plants that grew were deceptively beautiful. Their beauty faded, however, when we noticed one of them swallowed a passing by Grimm whole. "I could get used to this!" Night grinned, her hands on the back of her head."

"Me too." Diaval agreed, "So, what happened? Last I checked, your day wasn't on weekends."

"There's been a change in the schedule." Night answered, "Any time I come out, that Death Meister brat has a real stick up his ass."

'I do NOT!' I yelled.

"So, I figured I'd have Alex rearrange our days, so I'd come out on Saturdays. I figured you were less of a tool."

"You're right." Diaval smiled.

'Oh, screw you guys!' I groaned.

"So, where are you from?" Diaval asked.

"I don't have to tell you." Night said coldly.

"Oookay, so much for that..." Diaval sweat dropped, "Well, have you ever-"

"Shh!" Night interrupted.

"Hey!" Diaval hissed, "Don't shush m-"

"SHH!!" Night said louder. She then suddenly grabbed hold of Diaval's arm, dragging him with her as she hid behind a tree.

"What do you see?" Diaval asked. Then Night suddenly hit him in the head.

"I said SHH!!!" She hissed, looking down a small clearing in the forest. Diaval followed her gaze to see a group of seven black beasts with masks on their faces and holes through their chests, Hollows, and seven seemingly normal people with sharp teeth, Kishin.

"Hollows and Kishin." Diaval whispered.

"Yeah." Night began, "Wonder what they're up to." The two of them snuck closer, eavesdropping on the meeting between Hollows and Kishin. A larger Hollow, clearly the leader of that Hollow group, was talking with a Kishin in a black suit and a hat, clearly the Kishin leader.

"You have the amount that we agreed on?" The Hollow leader questioned, licking the lips of its mask.

"Hmph! 'Course!" The Kishin leader grinned, snapping his fingers. Another Kishin walked up with a suitcase. As he walked away, the Kishin leader opened it, revealing a bunch of floating orbs of light. "37 Soul Reaper souls." The Kishin leader began, "Need I remind you how many of our boys got killed to get this many Soul Reaper souls?"

"Yes..." The Hollow moaned with delight as thick, disgusting saliva dribbled out of its mouth. It began to eat the souls. "This haul is... satisfactory." The Hollow panted in between mouthfuls of souls, "We shall hold up to our end of the deal..."

'I don't believe it!' Nano began, 'They're reforming the old alliance between Hollows and Kishin. In that case, before long there will be an army of Hollow-Kishin, and with only three Death Meisters left in existence, this war will end differently from the last one.'

"We gotta kill those guys." Diaval said quickly, "All of 'em!"

"I like your thinking." Night grinned as a dark scythe appeared in her hands. Diaval and Night prepared to attack, but froze as three Hollows suddenly tackled the Kishin leader, devouring his soul as he screamed in agony.

"They're betraying him?!" Diaval questioned.

'No...' I breathed, 'They're Hollifying him!'

Suddenly, in a flash of light, the three Hollows were sent flying back. The Kishin leader stood again, with a much different appearance. His skin was pale, his eyes turned black with yellow pupils, he had long, flowing black hair and a hole through his chest where his heart should have been.

"He's become a Hollow-Kishin...!" Diaval growled.

"That's how Hollow-Kishin are born?" Night asked.

"That's the most common way." Diaval answered, "I'm different in the sense that I had a Hollow and a Kishin for parents. I'm a minority among Hollow-Kishin."

"Aaaahhh..." The new Hollow-Kishin moaned, a huge grin stretching from ear to ear as he looked at his hands, long black claws stretching out from his fingertips, "This... power... I'm invincible!" He then formed a ball of black fire in his hand and sent it at one of the Kishin. The fire obliterated the Kishin instantly, leaving only a floating ball of dark red light. "Heheheheheh..." The Hollow-Kishin laughed.

"I've had enough of this." Night groaned, charging forward. With her scythe, she decapitated three Kishin.

"I like her style." Diaval grinned, charging forward. His blade clashed with the Hollow-Kishin's gun. The Hollow-Kishin was wielding dual pistols as he looked into Diaval's eyes.

"Another...?!" The Hollow-Kishin breathed. Diaval jumped up, kicking the Hollow-Kishin in the face and knocking him back.

"This'll be easy!" Night grinned, digging her scythe blade into a Hollow's neck. She then narrowly dodged a shot from the Hollow-Kishin, who got up with a broken nose.

"You're gonna pay for that kick!" He groaned, snapping his nose back into place.

"Oh, am I?!" Diaval grinned, "Night, you take care of these ones. I got this guy."

"Fine by me!" Night laughed maniacally, slashing away at the Grimm and Kishin. The Hollow-Kishin shot at Diaval a few times. Diaval deflected the shots and aimed a swipe. The Hollow-Kishin dodged, then aimed a punch covered in dark energy as Diaval did the same. Their fists collided and they both flew back. Diaval backflipped, recovering as the Hollow-Kishin hit a tree hard and fell to his knees.

"How... I am invincible!" He shouted.

"You've only been a Hollow-Kishin five minutes." Diaval hissed, then ran up and brought his sword down, which dug into the Hollow-Kishin's head, "I've been at this for years." Diaval then yanked the blade out of the Hollow-Kishin's head. The Hollow-Kishin collapsed, dead. Diaval twirled his sword, then slowly put it back in its sheath.

'That was kind of badass.' Kat commented.

"Now, Night..." Diaval began, looking over at Night. Night had got done splitting the last Hollow up the middle. She then charged at the last four Kishin. Night slashed three of them at once, killing them. She then charged at the last one and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. As he laid back on the ground, Night then stomped on his face and used her scythe to cleave his head from his shoulders with an evil grin as blood spewed.

"Wow..." Diaval breathed, "That's actually kinda hot..."

'What was that?' Nano and I asked.

"N-Nothing!" Diaval blushed, "Nothing at all!"

"Ah, that felt great!" Night exclaimed, grinning. She came up to Diaval, several Kishin souls stuck on her scythe like a demonic shishkabob. "Here." She smiled, "You Hollow-Kishin eat these, right? You must be hungry."

"Yeah..." Diaval nodded, taking off one of the souls, "Thanks." He then began to eat. Diaval and Night continued to walk, talk and fight monsters. They seemed to get along rather well. When they eventually left the Dark Forest, it was dark out for real.

"We've been gone that long?" Night asked.

"I can never tell time in that forest." Diaval shrugged.

"Well, thanks for the fun." Night nodded, "Guess I'll see you around, Diaval." She then disappeared into the darkness.

'She was an interesting one.' Nano sighed.

'I'll say.' Kat agreed.

'Heheh...' I chuckled.

'What's so funny?' Kat asked.

'Our little Diaval's gotten himself an actual girlfriend.' I grinned.

"WHAT?!" Diaval yelled, blushing.

'Oh, c'mon, you two were made for each other!' I insisted.

"Shut up!" Diaval growled, "I'm going to bed. My day's done!"

'Don't you have tomorrow too?' I asked.

"I'm not feeling it this weekend." Diaval shrugged, "I'm giving you control back a bit early."

'Huh...' I pondered. Diaval then went back to my and Natsu's cabin and crawled into bed.

'Guess we'll all take a rest too.' Nano sighed.

'Yeah.' I agreed. Nano, Kat, Diaval, and I all went to sleep at about the same time.

********

I woke up the next morning in my normal form, back in control, and with a splitting headache. It was a common side effect for me to get aches after Diaval's days, so this morning, it was a chore just to get out of bed. Still, I had to crawl out from under my sheets and make myself walk down to the Mess Hall. I walked with a very slight limp for a few minutes as a murderous backache developed, but by the time I got to the Mess Hall, most of the pain was gone.

I took a seat next to Alex, who was eating food by the platefuls. I was surprised she had such an easier time getting used to her body again than I did. Also at our table sat the likes of Naruto, Ichigo, Erza, Kaoru, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang, all eating their own food items as I had a simple stack of pancakes with a light maple syrup glaze.

"Hey," Yang began, "What happened to Diaval?"

"He decided that he wasn't gonna hang around today." I shrugged, "I guess he's just not in the mood."

"Really?" Yang asked, "Huh..."

"Whatever..." Weiss groaned, looking down at her food.

"What's got her all depressed?" I asked.

"She's just upset because she lost a fight with Neptune." Blake said casually, having fried fish.

"Nep-who?" I asked.

"Neptune." Erza answered, "She just started coming to camp this year. Apparently she's some kind of Goddess."

"Someone like that's been here and I haven't even noticed?" I sweat dropped.

"You never were very observant with new faces..." Kaoru sighed, taking a sip of coffee."

"Well, where is this Neptune person?" I asked, "If she's really as important as a Goddess, it's only fitting for the camp's Heir to meet and greet her."

"Well, she's over there," Weiss began, pointing at the table behind me, "But she's a bit..."

I turned around, and at the table, the most notable person was a girl with short, light purple hair and hairclips in the shape of a D-Pad on a game controller. She looked around 14, and she was wearing a kind of purple dress with a white jacket. She also wore stockings with vertical white and light blue stripes, and light purple shoes. She was most noticable because she was the loudest in her group, and seemed to be the most enthusiastic.

"Don't tell me..." I sweat dropped, pointing at the girl, "Is THAT, Neptune?"

"Don't underestimate her." Weiss stated, "She's strong."

'Weiss is right.' Nano agreed, 'Take a moment and actually sense that girl.'

'Yeah.' I thought, nodding, 'I can feel it. That spirit energy radiating from her, perhaps she really is some kind of Goddess.'

"Alright." I nodded, "I'll give her a proper greeting. I'll catch her after breakfast."

"Why does all the interesting stuff happen at Breakfast?" Alex asked. We all paused, pondering.

"I... don't know." I shrugged.

I finished my breakfast quickly and waited. After a bit, Neptune seemed to finish up and head out alone. I followed her for a bit as she went over by the sparring grounds. She then stopped.

"Will you quit following me and say something?!" She suddenly shouted, "It's creepy!"

"Guess I'm not as sneaky as I thought..." I chuckled nervously, scratching the back of my head as I walked up to her, "Sorry about that. You're Neptune, right?"

"How'd you know my name?" She asked.

"My name is Nathan Sekinin." I introduced myself, bowing, "I'm the heir to the Death Meisters and the next in line to run this camp, so I thought that if some kind of Goddess was attending, I should give her a proper welcome. I apologise for not doing so earlier."

"Um... it's okay...?" Neptune looked confused.

"Ah, let me start over." I began, standing upright and holding out my hand, "Welcome to Camp. My name is Nathan Sekinin, and it's an honor to meet a real Goddess in person."

"Oooh," Neptune seemed to understand my simpler introduction better, then shook my hand, "I guess, nice to meet ya too."

"Now," I began, "If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a few questions about where you come from."

"Ugh, Alright." Neptune groaned, "I don't see the point of going to a supposedly fun Camp if all we're gonna do is talk about home anyway...!" Regardless, we walked, I asked questions, and she provided decent enough answers.

"So, let me see if I got all this right." I began after several minutes of questions and answers, "So, you're something called a CPU, which is a Goddess that doesn't age and each CPU runs a certain country in your world. In your case, you run a place called Planeptune. Am I right so far?"

"Yup." Neptune nodded.

"You and the other Goddesses are always concerned over things called shares," I continued, "Which is basically how much faith the citizens have in their Goddess."

"Wow, you're really good at repeating things you hear." Neptune sighed, "Like a trained monkey or something."

"Uh, I think you mean parrot." I sweat dropped.

"Whatevs." She shrugged. I let out a deep sigh. She was seeming less and less like a Goddess with each word. "What about you?" She suddenly asked, which caught me off guard, "Just what the heck's a 'Death Meister' anyway."

I smiled, always happy to be able to answer such a question. "In some ways, us Death Meisters aren't too different from you Goddesses." I began, "We're a hybrid, made from breeding special humans called Meisters with Soul Reapers. Death Meisters have incredible power, natural combat talent, and I once heard that the very first Death Meisters were actually immortal, and they didn't age either. The very first Death Meister created this camp when it became normal to hunt Death Meisters for sport like some kind of deer. The first of our kind built this Camp as a safe haven for those who were being constantly hunted and pursued. However, it was a futile effort, and in the end, the Death Meisters died out. We've only just recently resurfaced with me, my brother, and my sister." I looked back at Neptune, to see she wasn't even paying attention. She was looking over at the Dark Forest. "Hey!" I exclaimed, waving my hand in front of her face, "Did you even hear a thing I said?!"

"Huh? Yeah, sure." Neptune said, ignoring me as she continued to stare at the Dark Forest, "Hey, I've been wondering what's up with that place?"

"It's forbidden to go in there." I explained, "All of the worst monsters imaginable are sealed in there. You enter, and even the air in there is venomous."

"You've been?" Neptune asked.

"Yeah." I nodded, "I barely made it out alive each time. My advice? Try to stay away from it at every chance you get. Horrible monsters lurk in and around it." Suddenly, I felt a presence behind me. I whipped around to face the challenger, but I saw no one. I then felt something on my leg and looked down. I saw a small, light blue, teardrop shaped creature with a dog-like face, ears, and tail. It was constantly licking my leg. "Okay..." I sweat dropped, reaching down and picking up the creature by the ear and held it up in front of me, "That's new."

"Uh, that's a monster, dude." Neptune began, "It's a Dogoo."

"Seriously?" I asked, surprised, "THIS is a monster?" Suddenly, three other Dogoos lunged at me from behind. In an instant, I whipped around, threw the first Dogoo to the side, drew my sword, and slashed through my three strange attackers. The Dogoos fell to the ground in pieces as a blue goo oozed all over my blade. "Aw, man, I hope this doesn't stain." I groaned. I swiped my sword at the air, spraying the goop in that direction and off my sword.

"Whoa, that was awesome!" Neptune cheered, "You killed 'em like they were nothing!"

"Compared to what I've dealt with in the past, they ARE nothing." I replied, grinning. I then froze, sweat dropping as I looked ahead. The field ahead that should've been green with grass was blue with an army of Dogoos. "Okay, what the actual hell?!" I groaned.

"They're real weak, but they got numbers." Neptune agreed as a sheathed katana appeared in her hands. She drew the sword, tossing the sheath to the side. "Let's go!" She exclaimed, charging ahead.

"Okay, NOW, I've seen everything." I shrugged, charging down. As I ran, a black and red energy coated my blade as my eyes turned black with yellow pupils. "I'll end this quickly!" I exclaimed, aiming a swipe at the army of Dogoos. I then slowly sheathed my zanpakuto. As I finished sheathing the blade, over half the Dogoos exploded in a mess of blue goo.

"Nice one!" Neptune nodded, dismembering several of the blue creatures at once with her sword. There were still a few left.

"Let's end this quickly," I began, drawing my sword again, "Then we can head back and pretend it never happened." Suddenly, an enormous white foot, as big as a house, stomped near us, crushing the Dogoos and sending Neptune and me flying back. We recovered, and I began to sweat as I looked at the new threat. It was a giant, dozens of stories tall, dressed in an enormous black cloak, with a huge hole through its chest and wearing a white mask with an extremely long and pointy nose. Neptune and I looked up at the monster.

"What the hell... is that thing?" Neptune breathed, "I've never seen anything like it..."

"That's a Hollow." I explained, "It's an evil spirit that eats souls. But this... this is an especially powerful kind of Hollow... Menos Grande."

"Mentos what-ay?" Neptune asked.

"Menos Grande." I repeated, "It's an extremely powerful Hollow. And just look at the size. It's enormous!"

"Heh," Neptune grinned, "doesn't matter how tall he is." She readied her sword, "We'll just have to chop at 'em a little more!"

"'Chop'?" I echoed, sweat dropping, "What do you...?" Suddenly, Neptune charged forward. "Hey, wait!" I called after her. She jumped up, and slashed at the Menos Grande's foot, but the Menos kicked her in the process, which sent her flying back in my direction. As she hit the ground head-first, she tumbled a bit, then lay still at my feet. "Neptune!" I exclaimed, checking her, "You okay?!" She got back up, and looked at me wide eyed, a bit of blood leaking down her head as she gave a nervous smile.

"Sure thing..." She said in an exhausted tone as she gave me a kind of salute, "I'm good as new..."

"That was the dumbest charge I've ever seen in my life!" I hissed, "What did you think that was going to accomplish?!"

"Well..." Neptune began, putting a finger to her chin, "I figured if I kept chopping at him like a giant tree, eventually, I'll get him down to the point where I could chop his head off!" I froze, sweat dropping.

"I can't believe an immortal Goddess is treating this like some kid's game." I sighed, "Look, we need to take this fight seriously, and hit this thing with our full power."

"Yeah, I guess so." Neptune began, getting up, "In that case...!" Suddenly, in a flash of light, her clothes disappeared. I blushed darkly, looking away.

"Hey, what the...?!" I began. I kept looking away for a bit.

"You can look now." A more mature female voice said. I looked at Neptune and saw, she looked very different. Her hair was a darker shade of purple, and it was much longer, done in two long braided ponytails (Or they might have been pigtails? I'm horrible with naming hairstyles!) She looked older, closer to my age than her previous form. Finally, she now had large breasts and wore a tight, rather revealing-looking black outfit.

"Uh... Neptune?" I asked.

"Well, like this, I am called, Purple Heart," Neptune began, more serious than earlier, "But yes, I am the same girl." She readied her sword.

"You're... different." I said.

"This is my HDD form." Neptune/Purple Heart explained, "It's a sort of Goddess mode. Each Goddess has a form like this."

"So, that form makes you stronger." I nodded, "Guess I should follow your lead." I pointed my sword forward, "Bankai!" I then transformed as well. My skin went pale, my eyes turned silver grey, I was barefoot, I wore a long black hooded cloak, and in my hands I held a scythe with the staff made from bones.

"Nathan, you have an HDD form too?" Neptune asked, surprised.

"Firstly, in this form, I'm called Shin No Shinigami, the True Reaper." I began, readying my scythe, "Secondly, this isn't an HDD form. It's a Bankai, which is rather similar to an HDD form. Third and finally," I then gripped my scythe tightly, "Let's slaughter this monster!"

"Right!" Neptune nodded, readying her sword. We both charged forward. The menos aimed a kick, but I summoned a wave of dark energy, blocking the attack. Neptune and I flew up, the Menos raised a giant hand, moving to knock me out of the air.

"Purple Heart!" I exclaimed as the hand came down on me. In an instant, the hand was missing its fingers as Neptune slashed through. "I had that." I said simply.

"Oh, I know, but, the hell you did." Neptune grinned. Suddenly, the Menos' other hand came down, knocking us both to the ground. We hit the ground hard, sending rubble and debris everywhere.

"Shit!" I swore, "That hurt!"

"Yeah..." Neptune groaned as we got up, "For such a big guy, he's got good reflexes."

"Well, I've got a crude, but hopefully effective plan." I began, "If you can buy me just a couple minutes, I can focus all my spirit energy into a single death spell that'll annihilate the Menos Grande."

"Okay." Neptune nodded as she flew up to the Menos again and began slashing at it. As she fought, I gripped my scythe with both hands, a black magic circle appearing beneath my feet.

'Interesting...' Nano began, 'By taking the time to focus all your power into a single Ripa No Ikari, you're guaranteed to deal massive damage if not instant death. However, if you miss, or if that Menos somehow survives, you'll be too weak from the attack to fight it off any longer. It's a high risk, high reward decision.'

'Well, you know me.' I thought as my scythe was coated in flames, 'What's life without risks?'

'Uh, safe?' Kat asked. Suddenly, the Menos landed another hit on Neptune, sending her back down.

"Damn!" She groaned, "He's tough."

"I'm almost done." I insisted, "I just need another few moments. Can you hold out a bit longer?"

"Heh, of course!" Neptune grinned, "I'm also pretty tough!" She readied herself to attack again, but suddenly, several Dogoos at once tackled her to the ground, licking her and going places they really shouldn't. Neptune struggled trying to knock them off, while also laughing uncontrollably. I looked up at the menos, sweating. The Menos was charging a ball of dark red energy in its mouth.

"Neptune!" I yelled, "I need you to cover me!"

"Hold on!" Neptune cried in between laughs, fighting off the Dogoos.

'This is bad...!' Kat groaned.

"Soul Resonance!" I exclaimed. Suddenly, my scythe blade transformed into a large, menacing black blade with a jagged edge.

'Combining Soul Resonance with Ripa No Ikari...' Nano began, 'Interesting...'

Suddenly, an enormous dark red blast shot from the Menos' mouth down at me.

"RIPA NO IKARI!!!" I yelled, swiping forward with my scythe and sending a large black blast at the Menos. The two blasts collided, struggling for superiority. "DAMN YOU!!!" I screamed, fury in my voice as my blast went through. My blast went all the way to the Menos' face, obliterating its head completely. The Menos began to fall back as its body decomposed into nothing. I immediately went back into human form, panting hard and using my sword for support like a cane. "I did it..." I breathed, then coughed up blood.

'It seems that combining Soul Resonance with Ripa No Ikari worked,' Nano began, 'But it put a huge strain on your body. You'll have to be more careful next time you fight this kind of thing.' I was barely listening, I was too relieved. I looked over at Neptune. She'd killed the Dogoos, which now lay on the ground as splattered goo, as Neptune looked at me, wide eyed.

"What's wrong, impressed?" I grinned, then coughed up a bit more blood.

"Yeah..." Neptune began, then went back into human form, "But was all that screaming necessary, Gami?"

"Uh... 'Gami'?" I asked, sweat dropping.

"It's your new nickname!" Neptune smiled.

"Nickname?!" I sweat dropped.

"Yup, and coming up with a nickname for you wasn't easy, by the way." Neptune nodded, "But when you said people call you Shin No Shinigami, I decided to shorten it to Gami."

'That's the stupidest nickname I've ever heard in my life!' Diaval laughed, 'I gotta remember that one!'

"P-please, you don't need to give me a nickname!" I stuttered, sweat dropping, "I like being called Nathan, really!"

"Too late, you're Gami to me forever now!" Neptune grinned.

"I was afraid of that..." I groaned. Suddenly, I felt a wave of pain course through me, and I turned and coughed up a lot of blood.

"Whoa, hey, dude! You okay?!" Neptune asked, helping me to stay standing.

"Yeah..." I nodded, "But it'll take about an hour or so before I can regain my normal amount of spirit energy. Think you could help me get down to the Medical Ward?"

"Yeah." Neptune nodded as we began to walk, "Man, you really pushed yourself too far, huh Gami?"

"Heh," I grinned, "Trust me, when I push myself too far, you'll know. Cause I won't just be coughing up blood, I'll be drenched in it."

"That's... gross." Neptune sweat dropped. We eventually made it down to the Medical Ward. Rukia sweat dropped when she saw me.

"Again, Nathan?!" Rukia asked, "How many times have I used my Kido to heal you this summer alone?!"

"Heheh..." I laughed nervously.

"He gets beat up a lot?" Neptune inquired as I rested on one of the beds.

"You have no idea." Rukia sighed, looking me over, "Well, there's not a lot of damage to his body. What happened exactly?"

"We stopped a Menos Grande..." I breathed and Rukia froze, her eyes widening. She looked at Neptune, then back at me, then back at Neptune, then back at me. "Well, I did most of the work." I added. Rukia sighed.

"Well, you don't seem to be hurt so much," She began, "You're probably just exhausted from using so much spirit energy at once. Bad news, I can't heal you, good news, you'll be back up within an hour anyway." Rukia then went to Neptune and noticed several cuts, "You on the other hand, could use some actual treatment."

"Wha- no, I'm fine!" Neptune insisted, then suddenly made a pained expression, "Owwie... I'm actually kinda sore..."

"Have a seat." Rukia sighed, making Neptune sit down. Rukia began using her Kido to heal Neptune as I laid back, resting.

"Hey, Gami?" Neptune asked mid-treatment. I groaned, already annoyed with the nickname.

"Yes, Neptune?" I inquired.

"You're pretty strong." Neptune began, "After we get fixed up, let's have a match."

"Great..." I groaned, "I get healed just to find myself getting hurt all over again. Alright, Neptune. You impressed me too with your skills, I wouldn't mind sparring with you once or twice."

"Sweet..." Neptune began, lying down, "But I might get something to eat first. That was a tiring fight."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." I nodded, "I'm gonna take a nap for now. Later." I then laid back, closed my eyes, and went into a light sleep.