Zaraki Kenpachi and the Devil

The 80th district of North Rukongai is the worst place imaginable. Even compared with the other three 80th districts, it's a living hell. They say even the seated officers of the notorious 11th squad don't go there alone and without direct orders by the captain. In the 80th district of North Rukongai, named Zaraki, there's nothing but darkness and death. Once there lived, as far you can live there, a man with no name. The only thing he had was his sword and his life. The sword was the most valuable. Until he went to the 79th district.

He sat down in the forest in the company of corpses, his sword covered in their blood, and a little girl.

"Where have you come from, little one?" the nameless man asked the giggling little girl.

"Why are you looking at my sword? This is no toy; it's a tool I use for killing people."

The little girl touched his sword, the blood getting on her little hand. She showed no fear for neither him nor his sword.

"What is your name, little one?" the man asked.

"Huh?" was the reply.

"You don't have one, huh? Neither do I," he said.

"It's pronounced Yachiru, this is how it's written," The nameless man told the little girl as he wrote it down in the earth with his sword.

"It's the name of the only one I ever admired," he continued.

"I give you this name now. And I shall claim, from this day forward, the fearsome name of Kenpachi. The tile given to the mightiest shimigami."

"Oh really now? That means you just obligated yourself to become the mightiest shimigami of your generation. Otherwise such a name wouldn't mean anything," a deep hoarse voice, corroded by tobacco and liquor, spoke.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Kenpachi asked with no sign of fear.

"Straight to the point, aren't we? I like that." The Voice said. A gentleman in the finest clothes stepped out of the shadows; his face remained dark due to his hat. He smoked a pipe and wore several rings.

"I am the Devil and I want to offer you my serves," the Devil said with his deep and hoarse voice.

"The Devil? And I am supposed to believe that?" Kenpachi asked in a mocking tone.

"Just think about it. I am well-dressed, wearing jewels and carrying a well-filled wallet and I am not dead. I alone and unarmed, this is the 79th district."

"You sure have a good point there. I go along with you for now, what did you say about offering services?" Kenpachi asked.

"Do you not fear me?" inquired the Devil in his deep hoarse voice.

"Why would I? I'm from the 80th district," Kenpachi spoke, "Already tell me what you want."

"I have been watching you closely for quite some time. And by giving yourself the name of Kenpachi, my expectations are confirmed. You're a peculiar man. Like I said before, you obligated yourself to become the mightiest shimigami of this generation," The Devil said.

"What about it?"

"It's far from the 79th district to the court of pure souls. You will need a lot of power. I can lend you a part of my power," the Devil offered.

"That sounds too good to be free. What is the prize of that?" Kenpachi asked.

"Your soul. I cannot just make you strong, I can only give you the potential, and it's entirely up to you how it will develop," the Devil answered.

"Who much time will I have?" Kenpachi asked.

"Centuries to reach your goal, decades to enjoy truly being Kenpachi," the Devil replied.

"Fine, hand it over already," Kenpachi said as he raise his open hand.

The Devil laughed softly.

"Not so fast, you need to sign a contract first, in your own blood," the Devil said as he took a piece of paper out of his inside pocket of his coat.

"In addition you need a surname. I need a complete name, or the contract is useless. How about Zaraki? As a reference to where you come from?" the Devil asked.

"Zaraki Kenpachi, I like the ring of it. We have a deal." Kenpachi said, a fire had awakened in his eyes.

The Devil laid the contract on the ground in front of Kenpachi.

"Write here your name and sign there,' the Devil pointed.

"Here you have a clean knife. All that blood of others on your sword would ruin the entire contract if you used that to cut your finger," he Devil said as he gave Kenpachi a knife.

It was a new knife, never used before. Kenpachi took it a cut the index finger of his right hand and did what the Devil said. The Devil took the contract and inspected it.

"Good. It's a pleasure to do business with you," the Devil said and offered Kenpachi his hand.

"When do I get my power?" Kenpachi asked, ignoring the hand.

"Shake my hand and the power will be transferred," the Devil said patiently.

Kenpachi took the Devil's hand; he could feel a little electric shock as they shook hands.

"That's it?" asked Kenpachi disappointed.

"Yes," the Devil said, "I can only give you the potential. You must get stronger yourself. You'll notice it goes faster than ever before. Now we say goodbye until I come to collect."

Many, so many centuries later.

Kenpachi walked through the dark streets of the court of pure souls, with every step he took the bells in his hair jingled. An eye patch covered his right eye, he wore the coat of the 11th squad captain. It was getting dark; Yachiru was dozing on his shoulder. Then she noticed something.

"Look Ken-Chan! It's Lucy!" she shouted in glee. The Devil stood a few hundred meters in front of them.

"My name is Lucifer," the Devil said embarrassed by the pet name.

"Either way, what do you want?" asked Kenpachi indifferently.

"I'm here to collect my payment," said the Devil.

"Fine, come and get it," Kenpachi replied as he unsheathed his zanpaktõ.

"I thought we had an agreement," said the Devil motionless.

"And we do. I never said I would hand my soul over without a fight. Fight me, if you can defeat me, I'll come with you without further resistance. But if you loose, you head will be my trophy." Kenpachi smiled. He turned his head to his vice-captain.

"You be good and look from a distance, I'll go all out," he told her.

"Alright Ken-Chan! Have fun!" she said cheerfully.

The Devil didn't moved a muscle has he calmly watched the vice-captain of the 11th squad installing herself on a roof top nearby.

"Are you really going to fight the Devil himself, Zaraki Kenpachi?" the Devil asked calmly.

"Yes, this will be the ultimate proof of my strength," Kenpachi replied.

Kenpachi took off his eye patch, and explosion of spiritual energy lightened the alley.

'This monstrous strength, it's inhuman," the Devil whispered to himself in shock as his hat flew off due Kenpachi's spiritual energy.

"You better not hold back, Devil! Here I come!" screamed Kenpachi in joy.

In a split second Kenpachi covered the distance between him and the Devil. He stroke vertically, the Devil stepped aside to evade the attack. Halfway Kenpachi changed the course of his blade, intending to cut the Devil in half. The Devil dodged by squatting to his haunches. His eyes widened in astonishment when he felt Kenpachi's zanpaktõ cutting several hairs from his head. Just in time the Devil recovered from the shock to jump out of the way of the zanpaktõ who tried to pierce him while he was till surprised by Kenpachi's speed.

The Devil landed a few metres from Kenpachi and unsheathed his own sword. It had hardly left its scabbard when it had to block the next attack of Kenpachi. The Devil pumped as much spiritual energy in his sword as he could. Nevertheless a cracking sound appeared between the clashing swords.

"Whose sword is cracking like that? I can't wait to find out!" screamed the 11th squad captain happily with a maniacal smile and a fearsome glow in his eyes.

"You have passed the limits of humanity!" screamed the Devil with a tone of fear.

"Is that fear I hear in your voice? I hope that makes you fiercer in stead of running away!" yelled Kenpachi.

Then cracks stared to form on the blade of the Devil's sword, which he saw with frightened eyes. Suddenly the Devil's sword shattered and he jump out of the way of Kenpachi's zanpaktõ. He made a backward summersault, landed on his hands and pushing off to repeat the movement several times to create some distance. Then he turned around and started running.

"Is that all you got?! Come back here and fight!" screamed Kenpachi. But the Devil only speeded up.

"If you don't come to me, I'll have to come to you!" screamed Kenpachi and started the pursuit.

But the Devil ran fast, faster than any human could. His surroundings became a haze as he run trough the streets. He lost Kenpachi.

For about two and a half minutes.

The Devil felt Kenpachi's bloodlust burning in his back. The captain of the 11th squad was catching up with the fleeing Devil.

"Didn't you want my soul? Come back and fight me to the death!" screamed Kenpachi.

"Screw you! You can keep you soul!" the Devil screamed back in fear and frustration. A few metres in front of the Devil a black hole appeared. The Devil jumped into it and the hole closed right after the Devil disappeared. The next moment Kenpachi's zanpaktõ slammed into the ground, creating a crater in the empty street. But the Devil was gone.

Zaraki Kenpachi panted a minute to calm down of the adrenaline that was still present in his blood.

"That was fun as long as it lasted," he said to no one in particular.

He placed his zanpaktõ on his shoulder and turned around to go fetch his vice-captain.

"But it ended so suddenly. What a buzz kill."

And Zaraki Kenpachi has never seen the Devil ever again.