"…Bankai."
As he uttered these words, the three katanas around his hips evaporated in black streams of smoke. Golden eyes of murderous intent met the eyes of a devil that lost his wings long ago. Neither hollow nor Shinigami, this entity was a nemesis to everything within Seireitei. Wrapped in a cape of pure white, he regarded the Gotei 13 captain with a smile that mocked all that the 13 Protection Squads stood for. He needed to be defeated. In order to pull Soul Society from the depths of Hades, this blight of white wings had to fall back into the hellish pit he crawled out from.
But this Captain thought to himself if he truly stood a chance. As the crimson summoning circles appeared behind him in the blackened skies, the red-haired Captain felt death brushing against his body and whispering in his ears words of desolation.
However, not even the words of the Grim Reaper fazed this Shinigami. How could they? He was regarded as death itself in ways, but it wasn't even that fact that bothered him. No, better yet…it made him smile.
The devil of Seireitei grinned, flicking strands of his white hair out his sight as a dangerous gust began to run its course. "A Shinigami running to his death," he ridiculed, "the irony in it all is amusing."
The yellow-eyed Captain closed his eyes, the restoration of his zanpakuto nearly completed. Three dragon heads expanded the summoning circle as they extended their elongated heads out into the Soul Society world. They growled lowly in their throats, looking down upon the reason why they were released in the first place.
"Ryuujin Matsuro—Dragon God of the End," the Captain uttered as his released zanpakuto loomed over him. Folding his arms within the sleeves of his haori, the power of his Bankai strained the limits of his mind. Just their mere presence made the veins inside of his head appear on his forehead.
The white-haired villain clapped his hands. "Very impressive, Shinigami!" he patronized. "With such a powerful Bankai by your side, I'm surprised you haven't released it earlier." He raised his finger, laughing to himself. "Oh wait…I know why."
The gale sweeping his bangs and hair back, the Captain narrowed his gaze into thin slits listening to the antagonist's words.
"It's because its power is far too great for you to bear," he guessed, meeting the six golden glares coming from Ryuujin Matsuro with a smirk. "But how could a Shinigami have a zanpakuto whose powers surpass what he's capable of?"
"Enough talk!" the Captain shouted, eyes opening wide as Ryuujin roared. "Even for a being such as yourself, Ryuujin Matsuro's abilities shall overwhelm you! Even if its power consumes me, I shall take you down with me!"
"To avenge your subordinates' deaths…Or to upload the law of Soul Society?"
He wondered that in the back of his mind too many times. Why did he confront this man? He failed his squad, watching them die within the black flames of abomination, ceasing to exist. Because of his decisions as a leader, he was now the sole survivor of his squad. Against Captain-Commander Yamamoto's wishes, he has confronted the source of Seireitei's crisis, but for what reason and at what cost?
He had long ago cried all of his tears. Nothing remained inside of his soul but self-hatred and rage. He despised himself for ever becoming a Captain of the Protection Squads and for letting her down. The one person he said he would always protect he watched her die…for him. A pathetic shell unworthy of the title Captain in his own mind, but a proud warrior in everyone else's…
'Why?' he inquired in his mind. 'Why did they see me for something I never was?'
Raising his arms to his sides, the Captain screamed from the top of his lungs, using all of his energy to bring forth Ryuujin Matsuro. The beast burst from the summoning circle, flying about with massive wings of black and white and wrapping its serpent-like body around its master. The Captain dropped to one knee, gasping for air as sweat poured from his pores.
'Why did you continue to believe in me, Yoruichi?'
He quickly snapped up with a forceful yell, every ounce of energy he possessed dedicated to surviving long enough to defeat this man.
'I'm sorry, Unohana-sama…,' tears rolled down his cheeks as he locked onto the eyes of his adversary one final time. 'But in the end…'
"Ryuujin Matsuro--Sofu-Paradokkusu!"
"Can't be…," shuddered the white-haired fiend, white eyes wide as Ryuujin Matsuro's roar shook the world of Seireitei as well its spiritual pressure. "You can't do this! If you do, you'll…"
"Better for this," said the weary Captain, streams of black smoke eating away at his body as the world around them shattered, piece by piece, "than for you to have your way. I won't allow Soul Society to become puppets of Gods such as you!"
"Don't you understand that you'll be pawns no matter what?" he hissed. "Puppets can never take hold of their own strings! I won't let you do this!"
"It's too late," the Captain sighed, the streams making their way to his head as he uttered his final words, "Ryuujin Matsuro…let the gods lament…"
Minding the final words of their master, Ryuujin's last roar smashed the remnants of a present never meant to be…
And then there was nothing. Time began anew.
***
"To rewrite history…that is beyond the abilities of a Shinigami, is it not?"
A heartbeat.
"And as such, there is a heavy price for utilizing our abilities, young Captain."
A breath of life.
"Can you bear the consequences of your actions, Shinigami? No pawn is meant to become a king…nor player."
One eye opened, and the crimson eye shaped its pupil into the silhouette of a bird. Another breath and the entity awakened in absolute darkness. Unable to see his own two feet, he looked over his shoulder in the direction of the voices. The bitter cold of obscurity pierced his clammy, pale skin.
"You have awakened, Jouten Fenikkusu…"
Turning to the voice, the unknown being vanished as the darkness swallowed him whole.
Crisis Report: The Precursor Chronicles
A/N: "Ryuujin Matsuro" means "Dragon God of the End (Fate or End Days)"
"Sofu-Paradokkusu" means "Grandfather Paradox"
"Jouten Fenikkusu" means "Supreme Being of Phoenix"
Sorry but I wanted to rewrite this. _;
