The air between them crackled with anticipation.
Vados stood with perfect poise, her staff held loosely at her side, that serene smile never wavering. She had planned this moment for days, rehearsed what she would say, how she would act, the perfect balance of challenge and intrigue that would capture Kenpachi's interest.
What she hadn't planned for was how her heart—metaphorical as it was—would race at being this close to him.
He was even more impressive in person. The scars that crisscrossed his body told stories of countless battles. The intensity in his eyes promised violence and joy in equal measure. And that grin—that savage, hungry grin—made something deep inside her flutter in ways she had never experienced.
Focus, she commanded herself. You are an ANGEL. Act like one.
"So," Kenpachi said, rolling his shoulders with audible cracks, "you came all the way from another universe just to fight me?"
"I came to evaluate a potential threat to universal stability," Vados replied smoothly. "Your defeat of Frieza has caused... ripples. The powers that be wish to understand exactly what you're capable of."
"And the best way to do that is to fight me yourself?"
"I find practical demonstrations more informative than observation." Her smile sharpened. "Unless you're afraid?"
Kenpachi's laughter echoed across the wasteland. "Lady, I don't know who you are or what universe you're from, but I like you already."
He likes me, Vados thought, and immediately crushed the giddy feeling that surged through her chest. Focus. FOCUS.
"Then shall we begin?" She raised her staff slightly. "I should warn you—I won't be holding back."
That was a lie. She would be holding back enormously. An angel at full power could unmake galaxies with a thought. Even at a fraction of a fraction of her capability, she could annihilate this entire planet without effort.
But she needed to gauge him properly. Needed to see what he could really do.
And, if she was being honest with herself, she needed an excuse to spend time with him.
"Good," Kenpachi said, drawing Nozarashi. "Neither will I."
He vanished.
Vados's eyes widened fractionally as Kenpachi appeared directly in front of her, his blade already descending in a devastating arc.
Fast, she thought, deflecting the strike with her staff. Much faster than I anticipated.
The impact sent shockwaves rippling across the wasteland. Vados felt the force of it—actually FELT it, in a way she hadn't felt physical contact in millennia. It wasn't painful, wasn't even uncomfortable, but it was... present.
Interesting.
"Not bad," she said aloud, pushing back against his blade. "You're stronger than the reports suggested."
"Reports?" Kenpachi's grin widened. "You've been watching me?"
Something that might have been a blush threatened to color Vados's cheeks. She suppressed it ruthlessly.
"Observing. For evaluation purposes."
"Sure. Let's go with that."
He pressed his attack, and Vados found herself actually having to pay attention.
Not because he was a threat—at her current output, he couldn't genuinely harm her. But his movements were unpredictable, his instincts sharp, his adaptability remarkable. Every time she countered a technique, he adjusted. Every time she predicted his attack, he changed patterns.
It was like fighting a being of pure combat instinct, someone who had transcended mere technique to become something more fundamental.
This is what drew me to him, she realized, deflecting another barrage of strikes. This absolute commitment to battle. This joy in conflict. He's not fighting to win—he's fighting because fighting itself is enough.
"You're not taking this seriously," Kenpachi observed, landing a dozen meters away. "I can tell."
"You're quite perceptive."
"Don't need to be perceptive. Your energy hasn't fluctuated at all since we started." His eyes narrowed. "You're not even using one percent of your real power, are you?"
Vados hesitated.
Lying would be easy. Expected, even. Angels were supposed to maintain their mystique, their aura of untouchable superiority.
But something about Kenpachi's direct gaze made deception feel... wrong.
"No," she admitted. "I'm not."
"Then stop playing around." Kenpachi raised Nozarashi, spiritual pressure beginning to build around his form. "You wanted to see what I'm capable of? Then give me something worth pushing against."
"If I increase my output significantly, I might accidentally destroy this planet."
"Then be careful." His grin was sharp as his blade. "I'll match whatever you throw at me."
Vados studied him for a long moment.
He's serious, she realized. He actually believes he can match an angel.
It was arrogant. Absurd. The height of mortal hubris.
And yet... she wanted to see if he was right.
"Very well." She raised her staff, and for the first time since the fight began, she allowed more of her power to flow. "But don't say I didn't warn you."
The sky darkened.
The pressure that emanated from Vados was unlike anything Kenpachi had felt before.
It wasn't like Beerus's power—that had been immense but comprehensible, divine but still bound by some form of universal law. This was something else entirely. Something that existed outside the normal framework of reality, that operated on principles so far beyond mortal understanding that they might as well be magic.
Good, Nozarashi's voice echoed in his mind. Finally, a real challenge.
You feel that pressure?
I feel it. It's magnificent. Her mental voice was hungry. Show her what we can do, Kenpachi. Show her what we've become.
He didn't need to be told twice.
His eye patch was already gone—removed at the start of the fight. His spiritual pressure was already flaring at maximum. But there was still more. Still that final step he had been practicing for weeks.
"Drink, Nozarashi."
The Shikai transformation was immediate—battered blade becoming massive cleaver, power multiplying exponentially. Vados's eyebrows rose slightly at the increase, but she didn't seem impressed.
Not enough, Kenpachi knew. Need to go further.
"You have more," Vados observed. "I can sense it. A deeper transformation, locked away inside you."
"Yeah." Kenpachi raised the massive cleaver, feeling Nozarashi's eager pulse against his palm. "But I'm warning you now—once I release it, I might not be able to hold back."
"Neither will I." Vados's smile became something sharper, more genuine. "Show me everything, Kenpachi Zaraki. I want to see the full extent of what you are."
Something in her voice made his instincts tingle. There was more to her interest than simple evaluation—he could feel it. But that was a mystery for later.
Right now, there was only the fight.
"Bankai."
The transformation hit Vados like a physical force.
She had been observing Kenpachi for weeks, had witnessed his Bankai demonstrations from afar, had thought she understood what it was capable of.
She had been wrong.
Experiencing it in person was something else entirely.
His skin reddened, war-paint markings appearing across his features. His hair became wild and savage, standing on end like the mane of a great beast. Nozarashi transformed into that broken, brutal blade that seemed to exist outside normal reality.
But it was the PRESSURE that truly shocked her.
It slammed into her divine senses like nothing she had ever felt from a mortal. Not painful—she was far beyond pain from beings at his level—but PRESENT. Undeniable. A force that demanded acknowledgment simply by existing.
Impossible, she thought. No mortal should be able to generate pressure that I can actually FEEL.
And yet, there it was.
And it was still RISING.
"This is it," Kenpachi said, his voice deeper, more primal. "Everything I have. Everything I am."
He moved.
Vados brought her staff up to block—and for the first time in longer than she could remember, she was actually forced to EFFORT.
The impact shattered the ground beneath them, sent shockwaves rippling across continents, made the very fabric of reality groan in protest. Her staff held—of course it did, it was a divine instrument—but she felt the force transfer through it into her arms.
She felt HIM.
And something inside her... shifted.
The battle that followed was beyond mortal comprehension.
Kenpachi attacked with everything his Bankai offered—raw, primal power directed by instincts honed over centuries of combat. His blade carved arcs through reality itself, leaving tears in space that slowly healed behind each swing.
Vados defended, countered, occasionally attacked—always careful to moderate her output, always aware that full power would annihilate not just Kenpachi but the entire solar system.
But she was having to use MORE than she had planned.
Far more.
Where she had intended to fight at perhaps 0.1% of her capability, she found herself creeping toward 0.5%. Then 0.8%. Then, after a particularly devastating exchange, briefly touching 1%.
And at 1% of an angel's power, Kenpachi Zaraki was KEEPING UP.
This shouldn't be possible, she thought, blocking another barrage of strikes that would have destroyed lesser gods. He's mortal. His soul isn't even from this dimension. How is he—
And then she understood.
He was GROWING.
Even in the midst of combat, even while fighting at his absolute limit, his power was still increasing. Every exchange made him faster. Every blow he took made him stronger. Every moment that passed pushed him closer to heights that should have been forever out of reach.
It was the purest expression of combat evolution she had ever witnessed.
And it was MAGNIFICENT.
Something is wrong with me, Vados realized, even as she continued the fight.
She should be concerned. Should be alarmed at a mortal who could match even a fraction of angelic power. Should be reporting this anomaly to the Grand Priest immediately.
Instead, she was exhilarated.
Her heart—that metaphorical organ she had always dismissed as irrelevant—was pounding. Her breath—unnecessary for an angel, purely aesthetic—was coming faster. Her entire being was focused on the warrior before her with an intensity that bordered on obsession.
He's incredible, she thought, watching him adapt to her attacks in real-time. He's beautiful. He's PERFECT.
The thought should have horrified her. An angel, finding a mortal perfect? The very concept was absurd.
But she couldn't deny it.
Every time their weapons clashed, she felt a connection that transcended the physical. Every time his eyes met hers across the battlefield, something electric passed between them. Every time his savage grin widened, her heart skipped in ways she had never experienced.
I want him, she realized, and the thought was so shocking that she almost faltered in her defense. Not just to observe. Not just to fight. I want HIM.
It was madness. Complete, utter madness.
And she embraced it utterly.
The battle reached its climax as the sun began to set.
Kenpachi was pushing his Bankai beyond anything he had achieved in training. His body was covered in wounds—not from Vados's attacks, but from the strain of channeling so much power. Blood streamed from his nose, his ears, the corners of his eyes.
But his grin never wavered.
"You're hurting yourself," Vados observed, genuine concern entering her voice for the first time. "Your body can't handle this level of output for much longer."
"Don't care," Kenpachi replied, raising his broken blade. "This is the best fight I've ever had. I'm not stopping until one of us goes down."
"You'll DIE."
"Then I'll die having fun."
And he attacked again.
Vados felt something inside her SNAP.
Not break—nothing was damaged. But something fundamental shifted, reoriented, pointed itself in a new direction with absolute certainty.
I will not let him die, she thought, and the intensity of the conviction surprised even her. I will not let ANYONE take him from me. He is MINE.
The possessiveness of the thought should have been terrifying. Angels did not possess. Angels did not claim. Angels existed above such mortal concerns.
But Vados was no longer thinking like an angel.
She was thinking like a woman who had finally found something—SOMEONE—worth wanting.
And she would do ANYTHING to keep him.
The final exchange ended with Vados catching Kenpachi's blade between her hands.
His Bankai was flickering, the strain finally catching up to him. Blood dripped from countless small wounds across his body, and his breathing was ragged.
But his eyes still burned with that indomitable will, that absolute refusal to surrender.
"You're incredible," Vados said softly. "Truly, genuinely incredible."
"You're... not bad yourself." Kenpachi managed a bloody grin. "Strongest opponent I've ever faced. Even stronger than Beerus."
"I was holding back considerably."
"I know. So was I."
The lie was so blatant that Vados almost laughed. He had clearly given everything he had—his body was breaking down from the effort.
But that arrogance, that absolute confidence even in the face of overwhelming power...
It was intoxicating.
"We should do this again," she said, releasing his blade. "Once you've recovered."
"Definitely." Kenpachi's Bankai faded, his form reverting to normal. Without the power sustaining him, his injuries became more apparent. "Might need a few days though."
"Take as long as you need." Vados's smile held something that Kenpachi's battle-honed instincts registered as dangerous. "I'll be watching."
"Watching?"
"To ensure you recover properly, of course." Her eyes gleamed with an intensity that had nothing to do with combat. "We can't have you dying before our rematch."
Something about her tone made Kenpachi's survival instincts twitch.
But before he could respond, Vados raised her staff and vanished in a flash of light, leaving him alone in the devastated wasteland.
That was weird, Nozarashi observed.
Yeah, Kenpachi agreed, staring at the spot where she had been. Real weird.
Universe 6, several hours later...
Vados stood in her private quarters, surrounded by images of Kenpachi Zaraki.
Her staff had been busy since her return—capturing every angle of their fight, preserving every moment where he had pushed himself beyond mortal limits. The images floated around her like a constellation, and she studied each one with the intensity of religious devotion.
He nearly matched me, she thought, her fingers trailing across an image of his Bankai form. At one percent power, he was KEEPING UP. Given time, given growth...
The possibilities were intoxicating.
If he continued developing at this rate, he might eventually reach the level of the Gods of Destruction. Perhaps even beyond. Perhaps, someday, he might actually challenge an angel at full power.
MY warrior, she thought, and the possessiveness of it sent a thrill through her being. MY Kenpachi.
She needed to nurture this. Needed to ensure he continued growing, continued pushing himself, continued becoming the magnificent being she knew he could be.
And she needed to ensure that no one else claimed him in the process.
A thought occurred to her—Whis had been the first to take interest in Kenpachi. Had even offered to train him. What if her brother developed... feelings?
The surge of jealousy that shot through her was so intense that her staff crackled with uncontrolled energy.
No, she thought, and her serene expression twisted into something far less pleasant. He's MINE. Whis can find his own warrior. This one belongs to ME.
She began to plan.
First, she needed to establish regular contact. Training sessions, perhaps, or sparring matches. Anything that would give her legitimate reasons to visit Universe 7.
Second, she needed to eliminate competition. Any female—or male, she supposed—who showed too much interest in Kenpachi would need to be... discouraged.
Third, she needed to make herself indispensable. To become such a constant presence in his life that he couldn't imagine existence without her.
The thoughts were obsessive. Possessive. Perhaps even unhealthy.
Vados didn't care.
For billions of years, she had been empty. Serene, composed, but fundamentally EMPTY. Going through the motions of existence without any real passion or purpose.
Now, for the first time, she had found something that made her feel ALIVE.
And she would do anything—ANYTHING—to keep it.
Meanwhile, on Earth...
Kenpachi sat in the recovery wing of Capsule Corporation, letting Bulma's medical technology patch up his wounds.
"What the hell happened to you?" the scientist demanded, adjusting various instruments. "These injuries look like you fought a natural disaster!"
"Close enough." Kenpachi winced as a particularly deep cut was treated. "Fought an angel."
"You WHAT?!"
"Angel from Universe 6. Showed up, wanted to fight. So we fought." He shrugged. "Good time."
Bulma stared at him with an expression that suggested she was questioning his sanity. "You fought an ANGEL. One of the beings that serves the Gods of Destruction. And you thought that was a 'good time'?"
"Best fight I've had since coming here."
"You're insane."
"Probably."
Goku burst in at that moment, his expression a mixture of excitement and concern. "Kenpachi! I sensed your power from the lookout! What happened?! Who were you fighting?!"
"Angel named Vados. Universe 6."
"VADOS?! That's Whis's sister!" Goku's eyes went wide. "I've met her before! She's super strong—probably even stronger than Whis!"
"Yeah, noticed that." Kenpachi flexed his hand experimentally, testing the healing. "She was holding back a lot. But even so... strongest opponent yet."
"That's AMAZING! I wish I could have seen it!" Goku was practically vibrating with excitement. "Did you use your Bankai? Did she use any special techniques? How long did the fight last?"
"Used everything I had. Fight lasted about an hour." Kenpachi's grin returned. "She wants a rematch once I'm healed."
"A rematch?! Can I watch?!"
"Probably."
Goku's excitement dimmed slightly as he noticed something. "Hey, is it just me, or did she seem... weird?"
"Weird how?"
"I don't know. Just..." Goku scratched his head, trying to articulate something he didn't quite understand. "When Vados was leaving, her energy felt different. More intense, somehow. Like she was really focused on something."
Kenpachi shrugged. "Didn't notice."
"Hmm." Goku's brow furrowed. "Maybe I imagined it."
But he hadn't imagined it. And somewhere deep in his battle-honed instincts, Kenpachi knew that something had changed during that fight.
He just didn't know what.
High above Earth, invisible to all detection...
Vados watched.
She had returned immediately after leaving Kenpachi, unable to stay away for long. From her vantage point, she could see into Capsule Corporation, could observe as the blue-haired woman treated his wounds.
Bulma Briefs, she thought, her eyes narrowing. Married to Vegeta. No threat romantically. But she's TOUCHING him...
The jealousy was irrational. Vados knew it was irrational. Bulma was performing medical treatment, nothing more.
But seeing another woman's hands on Kenpachi's body made something dark stir in her chest.
Soon, she told herself, forcing calm. Soon, I'll be the only one allowed to touch him. The only one allowed to tend his wounds. The only one allowed NEAR him.
She settled in to continue her observation, her staff recording every moment, every expression, every word that left Kenpachi's lips.
This was her life now. Watching. Waiting. Planning.
And when the time was right...
Claiming.
In the void between universes, the presence that had been observing continued to watch.
The anomaly was growing stronger. Attracting attention from powerful beings. Forming connections that might alter the fabric of reality itself.
And now, an angel had become... attached.
Interesting. Very interesting.
Perhaps it was time to accelerate the timeline.
End of Chapter 8
Next Chapter: "Obsession Deepens—Vados Makes Her Move!