Self Insertion Story Arc
By:
maybeillbebaldo
Disclaimer: I, in no way, own any of the characters or ideas in Bleach and the original owner/creator is Tite Kubo. The only characters I own are Baldo Thompson, Garland, and Rotondo.
This story arc takes place in an alternate universe/separate timeline than the Bleach series. Please note the story is based on the anime series and will contain spoilers.
This story arc is currently intended for Teens due to mild violence but most likely will change as the story progresses.
Please enjoy and any feed back or comments are welcome.
Chapter 1: First Impressions
It all started as a seven year old boy, Baldo Thompson, a slender child with short hair wearing a maroon hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans ran through Ashdum Park. He passed a sign reading "Thompson Family Reunion" chasing a soccer ball.
Hundreds of people filled the park on that pleasantly crisp autumn day. It was October 6th, the same day as Baldo's birthday, and many of the men, women, and of course children laughed and played in the hues of the setting sun and changing autumn leaves.
His mother told Baldo that today was special because his whole family from his oldest and greatest grandparent to the newest member, his newborn cousin Gena, had arrived to celebrate altogether and see each other.
The ball descended a small hill passing through some bushes with Baldo chasing after it. When the boy bent to pick the ball, a tree branch snapped bouncing off Baldo's head before falling to the ground.
"Ow," a voice groaned.
"Are you okay," the boy asked from his butt. One of his hands pressed against the stick that ran a little longer than Baldo's body, while the other hand gently rubbed his head.
"Yes," the voice responded without hesitation.
"Oh good," he smiled leaning on the stick to stand, "I thought maybe you'd be hurt landing on your head. Squirrels are tough."
'Squirrels? He's talking to squirrels,' the voice thought, 'what about me?'
Sure enough the boy was speaking to two squirrels as the owner of the voice finally got a chance to look when Baldo hunched over them but there was something off about the little rodents. The voice thought to itself, 'Wait! There aren't two squirrels. It's the same one but it's in two places.'
"Why hasn't your friend moved," Baldo asked the standing squirrel still holding the stick.
'Can he see it? I know children are more adept at sensing spiritual beings and ghosts but normally it's refined to past loved ones not random dead animals,' the voice thought before speaking out loud, "Boy, can you see it?"
"That's a silly question for a squirrel," he chuckled.
'A silly question,' the voice thought, 'So he can see the squirrel spirit and can even hear my voice. This child's spirit prowess is much too strong for a human. Who is he?'
"Baldo," a woman called from the pavilion as if to answer the voice's question, "Baldo, it's time for dinner."
"Coming mom," the boy shouted back.
Suddenly, the pavilion exploded in a cloud of dirt and dust as screams of pain and terror flooded the park.
"Ma… Ma… Mommy," Baldo exclaimed full of fear and panic.
His rapidly beating heart, the shaking of his knees, and the developing cold sweat that forced its way over his skin like a wave, instructed the boy to runaway. Until, the boy swallowed tightening his grip over the stick.
With stick in hand, Baldo darted to the pavilion. His emotions fueling his adrenaline which in turned caused his spiritual energy to surge raw and unfocused into the stick.
Baldo arrived to find his family slain and slaughtered. With their bodies torn apart and all essence of their lives gone, shock settled upon the boy.
Muffled crying by his mother erased Baldo's paralysis returning him to his senses. It, also, drawn the attention of something semitransparent with glowing yellow eyes and it was closer.
A new surge of adrenaline sky rocketed Baldo's spiritual energy increasing his speed as he rushed to his mother. When the silhouette of the creature's hand stretched toward Baldo's mother, the boy swung the stick flowing with his spirit energy deflecting the arm skyward and making the creature stagger losing its balance.
Without hesitation, Baldo found the source of the crying. Cradled in her arms was newborn baby, Gena, shielded under his mother's bleeding torso.
"T-thank y-you, mom," Baldo's voiced filled with tears, "I'll p-protect Gena from h-here."
A roar signaled the creature's recovery. Carrying Gena in his left hand and the stick in his right, Baldo ran toward the center of the park. His adrenaline continued to pump but his breath was calm and collected.
"Move to the right," the voice from earlier shouted.
Baldo listened without question as the voice continued directing which path to take. Whatever the reason, Baldo trusted the voice despite the fact that its commands directed them into a brick wall too high for Baldo to climb and too wide for him to go around.
Facing the yellow eyes, Baldo lifted the stick while still holding the wailing baby. A fierce determination filled his eyes.
"Baldo concentrate. Try to focus on our enemy and I will help you protect your cousin," the voice said.
"I- I'll try," Baldo started repeating, "Protect Gena. Protect Gena."
His spiritual energy channeled into the stick. The cloudy creature's arm rose and crashed down upon them but Baldo used the stick to block the attack. The combined clashes of spiritual energy caused a shockwave that careened Baldo into the wall.
The stick landed against the leg of a slumping Baldo. However the child's resolve to fulfill the promise made with his mother to protect Gena remained firm as he continued holding his silent cousin.
Lifting his now bleeding forehead, Baldo smiled as a drop of blood hit Gena's cheek making her cry again.
"I'm sorry, Gena. I'm sorry I hurt you," Baldo apologized.
The creature roared drawing all attention to it. Baldo's teeth gritted as the monster rose both arms before him.
"I won't let you have her," Baldo yelled, "I WON'T!"
Crashing down with both arms, the creature's cry resonated with a tone of victory. Baldo raised his free hand somehow summoning a small amount of spiritual energy creating a shield that blocked the creature's assault.
However, the shield weakened with every subsequent blow as the creature's crashed down relentlessly.
"No," Baldo yelled when the shield shattered.
Raising his head, Baldo had to close one of his eyes due to the blood seeping down from his forehead. He watched the silhouette of the arm raise with the poise of old warriors. His gaze did not falter, or look away as the final blow began its descent.
In Baldo's eyes reflected, the once translucent silhouette solidifying into a twenty foot tall gorilla like monster with a white demon-like mask with a single white horn atop it. Instead of trembling in fear, Baldo did his best bracing for the impact.
As the hand inched closer and closer, Baldo squeezed Gena reassuringly. A sudden pulse of spiritual energy severed the attacking monster's arm destroying it. Never blinking Baldo's eyes imprinted the image of an imposing figure directly into his mind's eye.
"When will it be enough? When will your hunger cease," holding a katana sword, a male's voice growled full of power yet coated with sincerity imbedded Baldo's ears, "I won't allow you to harm this boy again, Hollow!"
Although only about half the size of the creature, he was a titan in his own rite. The figure with his back to Baldo facing the monster resembled a human wearing a white collared robe that hid the man's neck running down to his feet. Baldo wasn't even able to distinguish the man's hair color as something of a hat covered the back of his head.
The monster roared and attacked. In one sweep of his blade, the creature split in half dissipating into the air. The man turned halfway toward Baldo sheathing his sword.
His white robe extended around most of his torso exposing only the center section of a black kimono running the length of his body. The man's hands and feet were covered by heavy armor.
Baldo wanted a glimpse at his face but that too was shrouded in mystery because his hat wrapped completely around masking his face leaving only a heavily shadowed slit where his eyes would be. The man walked toward the wall which transformed into a sliding door.
Propping himself with the stick, Baldo smiled and said, "Thank you mister."
The figure passed unresponsive almost as if Baldo wasn't there. Although Baldo decided the man simply didn't hear him.
As the figure stepped into the doorway, Baldo yelled, "I like your hat." A light flickered from inside the figure's mask when his head turned to Baldo just before the door closed. When the door vanished Baldo whispered, "That eye."