Battle of the Zombies

The Battle of the Zombies is a battle taking place during the Quincy Blood War. It consists of three Shinigami and four resurrected Arrancar facing off against Sternritter "Z" Giselle Gewelle and her army of zombified Shinigami and Quincy.

Prelude
When Yhwach, Jugram Haschwalth, and Uryū Ishida depart for the Soul King Palace, a huge explosion scatters all the active combatants in the Seireitei. Soon afterward, 11th Division 3rd Seat Ikkaku Madarame and 5th Seat Yumichika Ayasegawa confront Giselle.

Giselle attempts to goad Ikkaku into attacking her with Hōzukimaru by claiming men should not attack unarmed girls, but Yumichika sees through this and tells Ikkaku that attacking her will likely work to Giselle's advantage in some way, such as her blood being dangerous to them. When Yumichika claims she is actually a man because she stinks of semen, an enraged Giselle summons a zombified Bambietta Basterbine, who blasts Ikkaku and Yumichika away with The Explode, and proclaims they will smash the Shinigami into pieces.

Battle
Soon after, as he and Yumichika dodge several large explosions, Ikkaku wonders how Bambietta has been throwing an endless stream of bombs at them, only for Yumichika to point out that the Reishi spheres are causing whatever they touch to explode rather than exploding themselves. When Ikkaku decides to attack Bambietta head-on upon learning that Hōzukimaru cannot deflect the spheres, Yumichika backs him up by using '''Hadō #57. Daichi Tenyō''' to intercept the spheres.

Ikkaku reaches Bambietta and impales her through the chest with Hōzukimaru, only for Bambietta to grab his head and prepare to blow it off. However, Yumichika appears and cuts off Bambietta's arm, which falls to the ground as the Reishi bomb detonates nearby. Picking up Bambietta's arm, Giselle reveals attacking Bambietta is pointless because she is already dead, prompting Bambietta to blast Ikkaku and Yumichika away. As Ikkaku and Yumichika fall to the ground, Giselle explains how she had to kill Bambietta before zombifying her and how this aroused her.

Yumichika once again insinuates that Giselle is a man, prompting Giselle to bite her finger while noting that it is much simpler to zombify Shinigami because she can do so while they are alive. However, she is interrupted by the arrival of Mayuri, who notes her ability is quite interesting. When Giselle asks him who he is, Mayuri states all great men are surrounded by a blaze of light, prompting Giselle to point out how no one asked him why he is shining as Yumichika and Ikkaku note they can tell who Mayuri is because of his voice and clothing. Bambietta moves in front of Giselle and asks for something of hers while salivating, only for Giselle to slap her away and state Bambietta cannot control her desire before promising to reward Bambietta after this is over. As a tearful Bambietta begs Giselle to not punish her, Mayuri states the two of them are an exquisite sight as Giselle notices he is not shining anymore.

When Mayuri explains how he has reduced the brightness so that "common folk" like Giselle can see him and states everyone else is "common folk" compared to him, an annoyed Giselle has Bambietta unleash a barrage of bombs at him. As the bombs collide with the building Mayuri was standing on, Nemu Kurotsuchi pulls him away as Mayuri notes the bombs travel at a uniform speed before ordering Nemu to prepare the devices. Doing so, Nemu asks Mayuri what setting she should input, prompting Mayuri to decide three seconds is enough. Several more Reishi bombs hurtle toward Mayuri, only for him to intercept them with several spherical devices.

As a confused Giselle wonders why the devices have not exploded yet, the devices surround her and Bambietta before exploding. The smoke clears to reveal Giselle standing behind a badly wounded Bambietta while wondering why the devices took so long to turn into bombs. Landing on another building, Mayuri reveals the devices are called Reishi Kotei Sōti and can deactivate Reishi for a set period of time, which is why they did not explode for three seconds after coming into contact with the Reishi bombs. When Mayuri states it is time for the two of them to give up and become his experimental subjects, Giselle asks him which two people he is referring to. As several zombified Shinigami appear behind her, Giselle reveals she has been building up an army of zombies ever since she arrived.

Giselle points out how Mayuri should know this if he has been observing her abilities as Yumichika notes he recognizes some of the zombies. However, Mayuri claims he cannot fight his former comrades-in-arms and decides to leave it to someone without those emotional ties before bringing out four resurrected Arrancar - Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio, Cirucci Sanderwicci, Luppi Antenor, and Charlotte Chuhlhourne. As Ikkaku and Yumichika recognize their former opponents, Dordoni and Cirucci demand to know where Ichigo Kurosaki and Uryū are, only for Mayuri to deliver an electric shock to their brains for talking too much. After shocking the Arrancar again, Mayuri notes it was worth stealing them from Szayelaporro Granz's laboratory because they have retained their personalities and memories.

Noting Mayuri has his own zombies, Giselle asks him if he believes they can defeat her zombie army, prompting Mayuri to tell the Arrancar that Giselle believes they cannot win. Enraged by this, Dordoni tells Giselle to not say anything she will regret while Cirucci and Luppi proclaim they will not lose to mere Shinigami. As the Arrancar rush forward, a startled Yumichika points out how most of the zombies are from the 11th Division, only for Mayuri to state he is not intending to show pity before pointing out how Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto said that Shinigami who go against the Seireitei must die. Meanwhile, Dordoni kicks a zombified Shinigami in the face.

Luppi pops up behind Dordoni and notes the latter has been dodging the blood of his opponents before pointing out how there is no need to do so, as Ikkaku was hit by Bambietta's blood and experienced no side-effects. Cirucci appears nearby and states that zombifying blood would likely not have an effect on corpses before cutting a Shinigami in half with Golondrina. Stating he understands, Dordoni proclaims he will no longer hold back. Nearby, Giselle notes they are making a ruckus while reattaching Bambietta's severed arm before being interrupted by the appearance of Charlotte on top of some rubble. When Giselle asks him if he is going to face her instead of Mayuri, Charlotte confirms this and states he must do so because he and Giselle are very alike.

Vehemently denying this, Giselle has Bambietta fire several Reishi bombs at Charlotte, who effortlessly dodges them before grabbing Bambietta by the head. Charlotte states he sees no reason to draw his sword against a child like Bambietta before throwing her into a building near the one which Mayuri is standing on, prompting Mayuri to ask him if he is disappointed about missing. As Charlotte claims his hand slipped, Giselle emerges from the building and rushes toward him. Seeing this, Charlotte notes zombies might not die unless they are crushed into pieces before blasting Bambietta away with a Cero. Giselle notes Charlotte is strong and states Bambietta did not stand a chance before summoning a zombified Tōshirō Hitsugaya, which Mayuri notes is bothersome. As the various combatants react to his arrival, Hitsugaya prepares to attack.

Seeing this, Yumichika attempts to use a Bakudō spell, but Ikkaku proclaims he cannot stop this with Kidō before sending Yumichika flying back with a blow from Hōzukimaru. As Hitsugaya unleashes an enormous wave of ice, Yumichika lands on a building and coughs up blood before seeing Ikkaku's right leg has been frozen. Ikkaku notes this is a small price to pay for surviving that attack, only to be interrupted by Hitsugaya stabbing him through the chest. As Ikkaku curses, Hitsugaya pulls his sword out and slashes Ikkaku across the back before attacking again, only for Yumichika to block his slash. Yumichika attempts to release Ruri'iro Kujaku, only for Hitsugaya to stab him in the abdomen with an icicle on his kneecap and headbutt him before slashing Yumichika across the chest.

When Mayuri appears behind him and notes his body moves exactly as it did when he was alive, Hitsugaya slashes at him, only for Mayuri to dodge with Shunpo while deducing that Hitsugaya was turned into a zombie before he died because he does not have a consciousness like Bambietta does. Giselle confirms this and lands behind Mayuri before explaining how those turned into zombies before death possess fresher cells and thus have better movement and reaction speeds in addition to a lack of free will, prompting Mayuri to ask her what fun there is in controlling someone with no free will. As Giselle states she does not have an answer because she is not a sadist, Charlotte appears before Hitsugaya and attacks him, only for Hitsugaya to slash him across the chest and cut off his hand. Mayuri blocks Hitsugaya's subsequent attack with a Kidō barrier and leaves Charlotte on the verge of death while proclaiming Hitsugaya shall become the test subject for a variety of new drugs.