The Final Act

by Azure-Exile

Aizen had planned out his ascension to the throne quite thoroughly. The one thing he hadn't planned for, however, was that someone smarter than him had been pulling his strings from the very start. One, Urahara Kisuke. No pairings. One-shot.

The Final Act
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By: Bloodmist-Exile
Rating: Teen for Language, Violence, and Safety
Misc: General/ Drama/ Sorta-Horror
Pairings: None
Warning: Erm... lots of character death and fairly descriptive violence. Please do not continue if violence/death offends you.
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Bleach, but I don't. The odds of me owning it later are, admittedly, also not very good.

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Arisawa Tatsuki ran from the horrifying blue light. Her body ached as she forced her burning legs to move faster. She had to get away from the light; it was all that mattered at the moment. She gasped, as the blue light seemed to squeeze the air from her lungs.

She couldn't see. She couldn't breathe. She stumbled, though it was equally possible that her legs had simply given out, and skidded several feet on her stomach. Wincing from the deep scrapes, she desperately began to crawl. She had to get to him. He would know what was wrong. To tell the truth, she didn't really know why she was going to go see him, as she didn't even know him that well. He had appeared at every odd occurrence and, at least in her mind, was linked to each. He was the only one who could save her.

The hellish blue light inched closer and a man crashed to the ground next to her, his empty black eyes staring hauntingly into the distance. Her strength ebbed further, but she hadn't trained all of those years to let it end so simply. With her final burst of strength, she crawled forward.

There he was, standing a mere twenty feet away from her, his back in her direction. Unable to do more, she lifted her arm and let out a weak moan. It was enough, however, and the man turned. Tatsuki's vision was too blurry to make out the man, but she could see his wooden sandals. "Hey, Ururu, Jinta, Tessai," he said, "It seems they've started already. We should get out of here."

"Of course, Tenchou."

Tatsuki's heart sank as the man glanced at her one last time, "Don't believe for an instant that you're dying in vain." With that, Urahara Kisuke strode back into his store. Her vision dimmed and an odd though flickered through her mind. How strange it was to see him without his hat. Seconds later, her soul was violently stripped from her body and she slumped face-down on the ground, a lifeless shell.

-

Aizen grinned widely as the azure light disappeared, leaving a large, oddly-shaped, golden key in his hand. It had taken about ten minutes and two-hundred thousand ninety-three enriched souls, but he finally had it. He finally possessed the oken.

The bloody heap on the ground shuddered once and stood, Kurosaki Ichigo gripping his Zanpakuto firmly. Zangetsu had not only retreated from his Bankai form, he had also shrunk to a fifth of his normal size. "You... bastard..." he whispered, a terrible, tortured look in his eyes, "All of those people..." His left leg absolutely refused to hold him and he shifted his balance defiantly, "I'm going to kill you."

Aizen simply lifted an eyebrow, "Persistent bug." he spat. He didn't let it show, of course; but, frankly, he was amazed that the teen even had the ability to move.

"I'll kill you." Ichigo repeated as the tears started to flow. The long gash on his chest began to bleed profusely again as he lifted his Zanpakuto over his head, "Bankai!" he yelled. There was no explosion of reiatsu, no boost of energy, no visible change whatsoever. The defiant look returned and he straighted up a little more. "BANKAI!" he screamed again. As his Bankai once again completely failed to appear, Ichigo slumped to his knees, a broken look on his face.

Aizen chuckled, basking in the helpless anguish of his enemy, "Your Zanpakuto has abandoned you." he said flatly, "I'm sure you know what that means."

As Ichigo knelt, his hand reached slowly inside his shihakusho and thousands of thoughts sped through his mind. His family, his friends, everyone he knew, they were all dead. He had failed them all. At that moment, nothing seemed important, not the gash on his chest, not his lack of a bankai, not even the ridiculously powerful Shinigami that was stalking slowly toward him. He had failed.

He glared back into his enemy's eyes, wanting nothing less than to stab them over and over again with his Zanpakuto, and his fingers gently scraped the ivory of the hollow mask hidden inside his shihakusho. As he firmly grasped the mask, he smiled. He refused to die without taking this bastard with him.

Aizen froze as the boy suddenly pulled out a white mask. He understood what was happening but was too slow and far too far away to stop him. The boy was activating his hollow form. Aizen had barely drawn Kyoka Suigetsu again when the boy's Zanpakuto collided with it.

Ichigo swung with all his strength, pouring out everything he had. For the first time ever, he saw fear in Aizen's eyes. He struck for Yuzu, for Karin, for his father. He struck for Keigo, and Tatsuki, and Mizuiro. He bashed Aizen's Zanpakuto over and over until his hands went numb, not even giving his enemy an inch. Zangetsu, having immediately returned to his normal size, shrieked for Aizen's blood. Ichigo could feel his body flagging from extreme blood loss but didn't let up his assault even an inch. Nothing mattered more than seeing his enemy die.

Aizen stumbled backwards, his hands aching from the repeated blows. He sorely needed to unseal his Zanpakuto, but didn't have anywhere near the time necessary. Noticing that he was being pressed against the wall, he made a desperate gamble. Lunging forward, he brought Kyoka Suigetsu down in a glittering arc.

Ichigo's tear-filled eyes widened as he saw his chance. He rolled under Aizen's strike and ended up on his opponent's left side. Aizen had nowhere to go, pressed against the wall as he was. The shocked, disbelieving look in his enemy's eyes showed that Aizen, too, realized that he had made a mistake. Ichigo roared in triumph and swung Zangetsu sideways with all his remaining might. "Die!"

There was a light ping as the cane tapped the side of Ichigo's head and he crashed into the wall as if shot from a cannon, his hollow mask completely broken off. Aizen stared at the newcomer in disbelief and fell over as he too was decked by the cane. Urahara Kisuke then tucked Benihime safely under his arm and drew his trademark fan, "So... been having fun, Kurosaki-san?"

Ichigo struggled back up to his knees, feeling every wound, and stared at the ex-Captain in horror. "Urahara?" he whispered, unable to do much more, "What... what the hell..."

"Oh..." Urahara said, flapping his fan softly, "I'm sorry to say this, Kurosaki-san... but I haven't been entirely honest with you." The ex-Captain twirled gracefully and deflected Aizen's strike with the metal base of the fan, "You either, Sosuke."

Aizen recovered quickly and fell into a defensive stance, a look of the deepest hatred stamped on his face, "What are you talking about, Urahara?"

"Aw," Urahara said lightly, acting as if there was nothing at all even passingly interesting about a Shinigami seriously attempting to kill him, "'Urahara'? I thought we were friends, Sosuke."

The disbelief in Sosuke's face was partially due to surprise and partially due to the fact that Urahara was making immature little pouting faces at him, "Friends?" he said, as he quickly activated the powers of his Zanpakuto, "We were never friends."

"Colleagues, then?" Urahara asked with a frown, "Acquaintances? Fight buddies?"

Aizen slowly dropped away, leaving a hallucination of himself still irrately talking to Urahara. He made absolutely sure he was using his most powerful version of Kyoka Suigetsu's Shikai, snuck up on the man's right, and thrusted his Zanpakuto toward his heart. Kyoka Suigetsu's Shikai had never, ever, failed on anyone, so it was completely understandable that Aizen's mind did backflips when Urahara simply stepped sideways, grabbed his sword arm, and slung him across the room. His brown eyes wide with shock, he scrambled back onto his feet. "H-How did you do that?" he stammered, "It is impossible to break Kyoka Suigetsu's shikai! Impossible!"

Urahara smiled dangerously and pointed at the small box on the back of his neck, "A new invention, just for you," he said calmly, "Are you excited?"

"Would it wound you terribly if I said no?"

Urahara chose to ignore the comment and shot his bewildered enemy a smile, "This is the Setsubi," he said, still pointing at the small box, "It disrupts foreign electrical signals going to my brain." Aizen still didn't appear to understand, so he continued, "For your Zanpakuto to cast complete illusions, it would have to affect how the neurons fire in the brain," he explained, "And there are only two ways that is possible. First, through creating new electrical impulses in the brain," Urahara's chuckled softly, "Which we both know is ridiculous, or it could simply piggy-back on the electrical impulses already being sent to the brain. Once I knew that, your shikai was useless." It was immediately obvious that Aizen still had not the faintest idea and Urahara scoffed irritatedly, "Really. If you're going to use your Zanpakuto's ability," he said, "At least know how it works. The fact that you didn't even do your research but still thought you could kill me is really hurtful."

There was soft laughter from the orange-haired teenager that was sitting and bleeding against the wall, and the other two Shinigami looked at him quizzically, "Hurtful..." he whispered, shaking his head, "I trusted you, Urahara..." He slid down a little further on the wall, leaving a dark-red streak, "Is Yoruichi in on this too?"

"No. She wouldn't understand, but I like to think that she'd be on my side."

Ichigo frowned, "I thought you were a good guy..."

"See?" Urahara said, frowning back, "See? This is exactly why I need to do this, Kurosaki-san. The throne in Soul Society is practically empty. There isn't a right anymore; there isn't a wrong. It's all relative." He stood a little taller, "None of us, on the grand scale, are very important. Change is. If it makes dying any easier, think of yourself as a martyr that gave his life, so I may rectify what is wrong with both worlds." Urahara's smile flickered slightly, but only for a second, "It was fun seeing how far you got, though."

"Fun?" Ichigo whispered, grabbing his now bladeless Zanpakuto, "I'll show you fun... you bastard." he forced himself to his feet and staggered toward the blond-haired man.

"Ururu? Genocide Mode. Anti-Shinigami Level Nineteen. Target: Kurosaki Ichigo. Activate."

Ichigo's vision was suddenly filled by a small girl that had leapt directly in front of him, her eyes blank. As her eyes met his, however, there was a flicker of recognition, "I'm sorry, Ichigo," she whispered meekly, "We really did like you." There was a crunch as the kick connected. Ichigo slammed back against the wall, and this time, he did not get back up.

Urahara drew Benihime and pointed her at Aizen, the smile completely wiped off his face, "Any final questions before I kill you?"

Aizen's Zanpakuto hung limply at his side as an altogether too-familiar dread crept over him. He, unfortunately, already knew what it meant. It signified that he, like so many others before him, had made the terrible, usually fatal, mistake of underestimating Urahara Kisuke. As his world crumbled around him, Aizen refused to just let it go, "You could not have possibly planned all of this out." he said, "That's impossible."

"You're just so amusingly predictable," Urahara said, shaking his head, "Who suggested to you that the throne of Soul Society needed to be filled? Me. Who told you the secret of creating the oken? Me, again. Who showed you the Hogyoku was in Rukia, taught you how to use the Negacion beam, and told you that an army of Arrancar would be practically invincible? Me, me, and me. Hell, if I had actually meant to stop you, I would have been my own worst enemy."

"You were wrong then!" Aizen snapped, "The Arrancar have failed me. My Espada are dead."

"Of course they are," Urahara said lightly, "I just told you they would be invincible. That isn't true, of course, an Arrancar is essentially a Hollow compression. You should have known that." He raised an eyebrow at the frozen-looking Aizen, "The Hogyoku I planted in Rukia was a decoy so you'd feel confident enough to begin creating the oken. You see, the original Hogyoku was never inside Rukia. I have it."

"You're lying." Aizen said, refusing to accept it as if he had a choice in the matter.

"I wouldn't put the most powerful item in the history of Soul Society into an unranked Shinigami," was the reply, "That's not only stupid; that's careless. I just wanted you to have that one. After I planted it in Rukia, all I had to do was get exiled from Soul Society and bide my time until you took it out of her. Then, I could wait in the mortal realm until you created the oken and take it from you." He smiled winningly, though he couldn't have been more intimidating if he tried, "That way I get to stay low and train while you take all the risks, yet still get the oken. Admit it. You were outsmarted, plain and simple."

"But Isshin's brat..."

"Just because I planned your demise hundreds of years ago doesn't mean I'm going to let you get too cocky. I really am glad that you'll die on my blade, though."

"I still have the added power of that Hogyoku," Aizen said, bringing his Zanpakuto back up, "And I still have my Bankai. I shall destroy you with it and take the throne myself. It doesn't matter how far you thought ahead."

"No one likes a sore loser, Sosuke." Urahara said seriously, "I think that version of the Hogyoku just turned you into an arrogant bastard." He snapped his fingers and Aizen immediately fell to one knee.

"What the hell have you done, Urahara?" Aizen spat, shivering, with all sorts of fear playing across his face. His reiatsu had dropped to where it had been before the Hogyoku had changed him, back to where it had been when he was merely a Shinigami Captain.

"That power was a gift, Sosuke. I can take it back, just as easily as I gave it to you. Remember, the parent Hogyoku is still inside me." Urahara flicked Benihime to the side as she was unsealed. "Your entire life for the past two centuries has been a play." he said, in a maddeningly calm voice, "Written and directed by me. This is the final act, Sosuke."

Aizen gathered his reiatsu and forced it into his Zanpakuto, immediately finding it difficult. He had compressed his original reiatsu so much, when he had recieved the Hogyoku's power, that he was now finding it difficult to go back to such a comparatively small reserve. "Did you write my Bankai into your play, Urahara?" he whispered dangerously, "The only Bankai that you have never seen?"

"Interesting you would say that," Urahara replied, "Since you haven't seen mine either." He smiled and his eyes turned a terrifying shade of red, "Bankai." Suddenly, Urahara's ambient reiatsu quintupled and he was engulfed by a whirwind comprised of Benihime's ribbon. As the cloth settled, Urahara stepped into visibility. Benihime looked very similar to her Shikai form, with only a longer ribbon and a much more dangerous-looking blade to show for the change. Urahara, however, was now clad in a vibrantly-crimson haori that went all the way down to his feet. "Kijo Benihime."

"Excuse me if I'm not extremely impressed." Aizen spat, continuing to build up his reiatsu. He was getting close now.

"Remember that one time when I 'accidentally' nicked you with the tip of my blade during sparring, oh, about two-hundred and twelve years ago?" Urahara asked seriously.

"That was just practice!" Aizen roared, his stung pride causing him to lose focus momentarily, "I was holding back!"

Urahara smiled, "And I was thinking far, far ahead. That one cut will act as both the opening and the final scene of this play." Benihime flared crimson as Urahara leveled it toward himself, "Kijo Benihime has the ability to transfer my wounds, at will, to other people." he said, "Anyone that the blade has ever cut, in fact." Aizen stared in disbelief as Urahara suddenly plunged his Zanpakuto into his own stomach. "There's the final curtain, Sosuke."

Aizen let out a low grunt as, suddenly, an enormous gash appeared, almost as if an invisible blade had gone straight through his stomach. Urahara smiled knowingly and withdrew his Zanpakuto, seeming completely unharmed. Blood gushing from the terrible wound, Aizen collapsed. He looked up, just in time to see Urahara pick up the oken. His oken, damn it. "Damn you... Urahara..." he whispered. "You were years ahead the entire time..."

"No," Urahara professed, "I was centuries ahead. That is the reason only I deserve to be king." He poured his reiatsu into the key and turned it, blinding light pouring from the enormous golden doorway that appeared before him, "And that is why I must right the world." With just one deep breath, Urahara drew his red haori tighter around himself and stepped boldly into the light.

-

Tenchou: Shop owner/manager
oken: the royal key
Zangestu: Ichigo's Zanpakuto
Kyoka Suigetsu: Aizen's Zanpakuto
Benihime: Urahara's Zanpakuto
Kijo Benihime: Japanese for Demoness Benihime
Setsubi: Japanese for 'device'
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A/N: This was just kind-of a spur-of-the-moment oneshot fic that was inspired by looking up Urahara's name on an English-Japanese translator. Kisuke means "help" or "assistance", and Urahara means "reverse" or "opposite". Knowing that and remembering how intelligent Urahara really was, this fic just kinda grew with a mind of its own. I don't hate Tatsuki, Urahara, Ichigo, or Aizen at all, just in case you got that idea somehow. This is not a hate fic. This IS a one-shot; however, I will try to write following chapters if enough people ask. I'm a bit hesistant about this though because I don't know if the continuation would damage this fic in the long run.

At first, I wrote Urahara into this fic as an utter bad guy. I decided against it halfway through however, and decided to write Urahara as a sorta-hero whose goodness was debatable It's just my little attempt at an interesting and satisfying (yet unique) 'end of Bleach' fic. I hope you enjoyed the fic and I apologize if I offended anyone. This is just a fic, people. In a story, just like real life, sometimes things don't happen to people because they were good, bad, right, wrong, or justified.

So, what do you think? Was Urahara a moral villain, or an immoral hero? Why so? I know my opinion but I'd love to hear yours.

This is my second fic; however, that is no excuse for it to suck. If it does, please don't hesitate to tell me.
Please review, as all feedback is appreciated.

B-E: King of Annoyingly-long Author's Notes
(B-E: KA-AN)