So I wrote this a couple of months ago for my friend, since we both love Bleach. This story is about two OC's, Hyoto Mikadame and Dolemar Vandator. They are supposedly the strongest beings in the universe and this story centres around their 'adventures'.
My friend eventually persuaded me to upload this, so I did.
Don't expect great quality just yet, it will grow better eventually. I already have th first 5 chapters, so this first one is just a test, or prototype. Upload rates won't be constant, so you'll probably wait a lot. Review if you like, tell me what's good and what isn't. It'll be a long story, so sit tight and enjoy… I guess.
I don't own bleach
The moon shone brightly. It's soft, white light shining down on the recovering Soul Society. The white buildings seemed to glow a brilliant white. Casting an white glow around the horizon. The stars were sparkling and a gentle breeze was blowing. The trees swaying peacefully in the night.
The Captain, who was walking in one of the many open hallways in Seireitei, sighed contently. Breathing in the fresh air, he could feel a change coming to the Soul Society, a good change, that would make things alright again. 'This feels nice.' He thought with a small smile on his face. 'It's peaceful again. No more fighting, no more war, just peace.'
He made his way across the hallway, listening to the beautiful silence that ruled the night. His black Shinigami robes waving softly on the small breeze, his Captain-haori was left in his personal quarters.
Drinking in the sight of a nation at peace. The repaired buildings shining in all their glory again. The sight was beautiful, and it reassured him that they survived another calamity, another threat and became even stronger. The thought however, was enjoyed shortly, for the faces of those who lost their lives to protect this haven of serenity resurfaced. Brothers, sisters, friends, even enemies.
'So many lives lost. For what?' He balled his fists. A side coming forth, few ever got to see and live to tell about. His dark side, his killing side. 'I wish I had the chance to drive my blade through his heart and shred his corrupted body! I would've crushed his rotten mind!' He shut his eyes, getting angry was no use now. The war was won and that bastard Aizen was dead. His scowl never left, however.
He sighed. His beautiful night ruined by the traitorous captain of division five. His feet were echoing on the wooden planks that made up the floor. With his eyes glued to the floor, he kept a steady pace and quickly made his way around the corner of the hallway. Not noticing the other captain, until he walked straight into him, falling on his butt.
"Ow, what the- Oh, it's you Juushiro. I'm sorry." The Captain said while rubbing his bum. Jushiro Ukitake, Captain of the 13th division, merely smiled. "None of that. I wasn't paying attention either. It's fine." He said with a smile. "What are you doing up so late, Captain-Hyoto?" Ukitake asked. The man, now identified as Hyoto Mikadame, the Captain of the 14th division, smiled in return. "I thought I told you to drop the Captain, Hyoto is just fine." Ukitake chuckled, "Right, sorry." Hyoto could tell that he wasn't going to, so he just shook his head. "I was enjoying the sight of our home being repaired and that it has survived, again." He said, while looking outwards, over the vast reaches of the Soul Society. "And I was remembering all those lost to one man's ambitions. At least, until I ran into you." Hyoto said, a little downcast. Ukitake looked sadly at his long-time friend. "You shouldn't feel sorry for those who didn't make it. I'm sure that they are looking from wherever they are and can see that we have prevailed. You should not linger on the past, but focus on the future. Remembering them will only lead you to despair." Ukitake spoke, trying to ease his friend. It worked, as Hyoto looked him in the eye, smiled and nodded.
The two Captains made small talk while traversing through the many hallways and corridors. Sharing opinions and talking about how to improve the Soul Society. Who would make the best Head-Captain and other stuff. "How's Rukia Kuchiki by the way? I heard she got hurt pretty badly in Hueco Mundo." Ukitake stared to the ground, before finding a reassuring voice. "She's recovering, not out of the danger zone yet, but recovering. She was nearly dead when Captain-Byakuya found her. She had lost a lot of blood and her right lung had been damaged. Captain-Unohana and the human girl, Orihime Inoue, are doing what they can for her." Ukitake said with a solemn look on his face, clearly worried for his subordinate. Hyoto put a hand on the white-haired captain's shoulder. "She'll pull through, Juushiro. That girl has been through worse many times over." Ukitake turned to face him. "It's not the physical wounds I'm worried about. I can tell by just looking at her face. Something traumatical happened to her, but she refuses to tell anyone, not even Ichigo or Renji. Not even her brother." Ukitake said with a sad and concerned voice. "She has yet to smile since the end of the war." Hyoto was silent. For once he didn't know how to comfort his friend. So he just let his hand drop and said nothing.
The two captains continued to walk in silence. Contemplating what they could do for their injured friends. Juushiro suddenly perked up. "Oh, that's right, I should probably tell you this before I forget again. Head-Captain Yamamoto wants to speak to you. He approached me yesterday, but wouldn't tell me anything else other than that. Do you have any idea why?" Ukitake asked with a curious glint in his eyes. However, his gaze was met with one of confusion. "I have no idea why. Oh god, I hope Shintarou hasn't picked a fight with Ikkaku again." Hyoto groaned exasperatedly. His black-haired Lieutenant had a weird sort of rivalry with the 11th division's third seat. Whenever they could, they would fight and cause tremendous amounts of damage to their immediate area. All of which he had to take responsibility for.
Ukitake chuckled. "Yes, they certainly are a rowdy bunch. You should wear your Captain's haori this time though when you visit him, you know how much Head-Captain Yamamoto cares about punctuality." Hyoto sighed, remembering last time when he didn't wear it. Yamamoto had nearly given him the belt. "Yeah, yeah, I'll wear it." Ukitake chuckled again. "I do hope nothing is wrong. Well, I have to check on Captain-Kyoraku, he's probably passed out from sake again. See you again sometime, Captain-Hyoto." Ukitake said with a wave of his hand.
"Drop the Captain damnit!" Hyoto said with a fake angry voice. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Geez, that illness of him is affecting his brain." He muttered with a small grin. 'Still, I wonder what the Old man wants to talk about.' He thought, as a contemplative look crossed his face. He made his way to the 14th division barracks, ready for some sleep. He also needed to check up on some of his squad members.
He was walking towards the door of his private quarters, deciding to do all that stuff in the morning. He found that his stress levels were already high enough, and his bum hurt. When he was almost at his door, he caught a figure walking in the hallway to his right, it was Shintarou, his Lieutenant. His back was facing Hyoto. Hyoto called after him. "Oi! Shintarou!" The black haired Lieutenant turned around with a bored expression, his punk hair lightly sweeping around. The sides of his head were shaven. It showed a scar, three gashes on the left side of his head. "What?" He called back in slight irritation. His ebony eyes showing little to no emotion, except annoyance and boredom.
Hyoto caught up with him and started walking next to him. "Captain-Ukitake told me that Head-Captain Yamamoto wanted to talk to me. Do you have any idea why?" Shintarou rolled his eyes and looked ahead. "I didn't start a fight with Ikkaku again, if that's what you're getting at." He said with a slight accusing tone. Hyoto laughed sheepishly and put a hand behind his head. "No, no of course not! That's not what I meant at all. I would never think that. I was just curious, that's all." Shintarou gave him a look that said he clearly didn't believe him, but continued to walk and remained silent.
They kept silent for a couple of minutes, quietly walking through the empty hallway. Shintarou not saying a word and Hyoto patiently waiting for Shintarou to speak. After another quiet minute, Shintarou finally spoke.
"I don't know anything about that. But Rangiku told me that Toshiro-" He was cut off by a cough from Hyoto. "Pardon, Captain-Hitsugaya." Shintarou said with an annoyed tone and a mild glare. "Anyway, she said that he was called to the Old man's office for a private meeting. She couldn't get him to say anything else than that. But you might be better of asking him about it." Hyoto sighed at the rude way of speaking of his lieutenant. "Then I might as well wait until tomorrow when I have the meeting with the Head-Captain. Captain-Hitsugaya just left a few hours ago for a mission. He's probably away for a couple of days." Shintarou merely shrugged. "Tough luck."
The Captain and lieutenant kept walking, eventually reaching a balcony that overlooked a garden. The garden stood full of cherry blossom trees and in the middle was a pond dug out, filled with sparkling blue water that shone underneath the night sky. White dots reflecting the countless stars.
"Wish we got to go on a mission." Shintarou began. "It's been so boring lately. Everyone is too busy to go exploring with me." He said with a sigh.
"We've just fought a war. We're recovering and rebuilding our home right now. Of course people are busy. And what you call exploring, others call a suicide mission to Hueco Mundo."
"But even Zaraki is busy. He's never busy. All he does is fight people. What could he possibly be doing?" Shintarou complained.
Hyoto groaned, tired of this argument. He had to hear it for over three months. "Captain-Kenpachi is on a mission in the world of the living. And the rest of 11th division is either with him or in the 4th division's barracks." Hyoto looked at Shintarou's sad expression and sighed. "Look, if you want to go on a mission, you can go to the Rukongai and see if there's anyone interesting."
"Fine. There's nothing else to do anyway. It's better than nothing." Shintarou complained, walking away. "I'll leave tomorrow morning."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Go have fun." Hyoto said exhausted. 'That kid would fight the entire Gotei 13 out of boredom.' He thought. He turned around to face the garden again. Thinking about how hot-tempered his lieutenant was.
"How long are you going to hide, Dolemar?" Hyoto said with a stoic expression.
"Aww, come on man, that's no fun. Why did you call me out, I was gonna scare you." The Ultima Espada whined like a little kid. He jumped down from the roof and landed right beside Hyoto with an amused expression.
"The only thing 'fun' about that, is that you actually thought you could scare me. Or sneak up on me for that matter."
Dolemar tch-ed him and too rested his gaze upon the garden. "My, my, Soul Society sure is beautiful. I enjoy this much better than that endless white desert of Hueco Mundo. And the sand gets in literally everywhere. Do you know how annoying it is to have sand in your mask? It fucking hurts." Dolemar said, while pointing at the hollow mask fragment that covered the lower-half of his face.
Hyoto chuckled, not flinching at the foul language. He looked at Dolemar. He was wearing his usual Arrancar outfit, a white blouse with one short sleeve and one long sleeve, both outlined in black. His white hakama pants were also donned. His facial mask shone a bright white, hiding his challenging grin from sight and accentuating his crimson eyes. It covered the lower half of his face and was decorated by two rows of vicious looking canine-teeth. His jet-black hair was spiked as normally, but a lot longer now. "So, I suppose you're the reason the Head-Captain wants to talk to me?" Hyoto asked.
"Maybe, maybe not. Who knows, perhaps that scientist freak has blown up some other soul reaper and he wants you to clean up the mess. Should be expected from the Old man's lapdog." Dolemar finished with a challenging smirk.
Hyoto sighed at the attempt to lure a fight out of him. "Don't even bother, I'm not interested. How did you even get here?"
Dolemar grinned at his rival. "Oh please, don't be surprised. Your security is nothing for me. Besides, it's not as if you're able to stop me, let alone sense me. Getting here was easy." Dolemar said, while crossing his arms and leaning against the balcony.
"How do you know I won't try to stop you?" Hyoto questioned.
"Because that would mean fighting me. And I don't see you destroying the place you were dying for to protect just a couple of months ago. Not to discourage you to fight me of course, please do feel free to challenge me." He responded with a challenging grin.
Hyoto sighed, something he did too much today for his liking. He too started to lean against the balcony. "so, why are you here?" He asked with genuine curiosity.
Dolemar grinned at him. "Why, to see my favourite rival of course! I need to make sure no one else kills him besides me." He answered in a voice with mock care.
"Dolemar, we are the strongest beings in this existence. No one can kills us besides ourselves. Now drop the act and tell me the actual reason." Hyoto responded harshly.
Dolemar deflated for a bit. Sadness creeping into his eyes. "That will be explained when the Old man talks to you tomorrow." He said with a sad voice.
"So you were the reason. What, is something wrong?" Hyoto inquired.
"There is some trouble back in Hueco Mundo. Something I or any of the other Espada can't solve. And I'd rather not have to deal with it the hard way, like before."
"Man, that seems like an eternity ago. Brings back memories." Hyoto said, with a small smile creeping up his face.
"Sure does." Dolemar agreed with a matching smile.
(100 years ago)
It was chaos in Soul Society. Just three hours ago, the 12th division detected an enormous amount of reiatsu in Hueco Mundo. The largest ever recorded, assuming it was coming from a hollow. The reiatsu they detected surpassed that of the Captains, even rivalling that of the Head-Captain. Panic had struck the captains when this was announced and they immediately constructed an emergency response squad, consisting out of Hyoto himself, his Lieutenant Harasaki Iroto and a few more squad members. They were to immediately depart to Hueco Mundo, find the source of the reiatsu and if need be, destroy it. The only people strong enough to fight it, were Hyoto and the Head-Captain, the choice was obvious.
Hyoto stood before the Senkeimon, ready to leave and waiting for his lieutenant. His third-seat, Byakuya Kuchiki, grandson of Ginrei Kuchiki; a noble who had taken over the 6th division after Hyoto's father had died, stood beside him. "This is why you should make me Lieutenant, Captain-Hyoto. Harasaki is always late." Byakuya said with a frown. He had a clear distaste for the lieutenant. He thought he was lousy, lazy and noisy. While Hyoto could relate to the lazy, he knew that Harasaki was very kind and helpful towards others, even Byakuya.
"Lieutenant-Harasaki is not late, he is rounding up all those who are going with us. And that is exactly the reason why you aren't Lieutenant, you are to rash. Have patience." Hyoto said amused. "And what I want you to do is very important, something I would entrust to my Lieutenant, but can't since he is coming with me. I want you to look after the division. Would you not say, that that is a Lieutenant's task?"
Byakuya huffed, but said nothing in return. Clearly out of arguments. Hyoto looked back towards the entrance of the gigantic coliseum-like building that housed the Senkeimon, and saw his lieutenant approaching with four other Shinigami. Once they made their way over to the duo, they quickly stood in line. "I'm sorry it took so long Captain, it took a while to find them all." Harasaki said with a bow of his head. Byakuya tch-ed and shook his head disapprovingly. "That's fine Harasaki. It doesn't matter."
Harasaki looked up and smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Captain. I have brought Gyura Hasuke, fifth-seat, Lin Rinjin, seventh-seat, Chisuru Marisaki, fourth-seat and Izaho Kaseta, sixth-seat." The men nodded their heads when their respective names were called. "They are willing to put their lives on the line for this mission, just as you requested." Harasaki finished. This surprised Hyoto. He had always thought he had a good relationship with his subordinates. He had once asked for volunteers for a mission and got well over twenty volunteers. "And they are all who volunteered?" Hyoto asked astonished. Harasaki looked startled for a moment. "No, Captain. There were fifty-seven volunteers, but I thought that a small group would be more efficient for this mission. It is basically a recon mission, so I figured we would want to move fast and light. If we had too much people with us, we would be more easily detected and ambushed. I also thought it would be best to have small numbers so we wouldn't emit too much reiatsu. So I picked the most members possible, with the highest amount of battle power, without losing stealth." Harasaki explained.
Hyoto stood with his mouth agape. He hadn't even thought of that. "W-well good th-thinking, I guess. Although I would've preferred to have at least six volunteers, I agree with your theory about a stealth approach." Hyoto said to Harasaki. He turned to the volunteers. "I thank you for coming with me and risking your lives. This might be the last mission you will ever have. The danger level is maximum. I will give you one chance to leave with your lives. After this, you're in it to the end. Are you still willing to participate in this mission?" Hyoto asked with an authorative voice. He looked everyone in the eye, looking for doubt. He was met with determined looks. Chisuru stepped forth and spoke. "I think I speak for everyone here, that we're willing to die for you and the Soul Society, Captain. You'll have no hesitation or cowardice from us."
Hyoto looked in pride at his subordinates. This is what true leadership entails. A leader who thinks of his men as brothers, and men who follow their leader through the depths of hell and to death itself if needed. "Thank you, brothers. We will come back to the Soul Society. Now, we're going to go through the Senkeimon and land in Hueco Mundo. Once there we will quickly move out. Captain-Urahara has made it so that we will land 10 miles south of the area where the reiatsu was detected. We'll need to head towards the detection zone immediately, for the Senkeimon will attract unnecessary attention. Once we're at the detection zone, we'll locate and eliminate the target. Refrain from killing it the second we find it, Captain-Urahara would like to examine it. After that we'll contact the Soul Society and they'll bring us back. Is everything understood?" Hyoto looked at everyone present. He was met with a chorus of 'Yes captain' or 'Yes sir'. He looked at Byakuya again. "Will you look after our division, Byakuya. Can I count on you?" Byakuya looked at him with a determined face. "Of course, Captain." He said with a nod. Hyoto smiled. "Okay everyone, move out!"
They moved through the Senkeimon, quickly finding themselves on a path of blue reishi established by Hyoto's reiatsu. Around them was a pitch-black darkness, that ended in complete nothingness. They were walking for what seemed like ages.
"I thought the Principe World was disturbing enough. This is even worse." Lin said. They were all looking around, in astonishment as well as in disgust.
"Keep in line. From what I understand from Captain-Urahara, you will be caught in eternal nothingness if you fall of the path." Hyoto warned the others. They continued to run on the light blue path, Hyoto leading the way. Harasaki following directly after him. Chisuru was next, then Lin and after him Gyura. And as last was Izaho. They had a good pace going and everything was going smoothly so far, until Gyura slipped and almost fell into the nothingness, if Izaho didn't catch him. "Careful Gyura, this thing is very tricky if you don't watch your step. Everyone, pay attention to the others, as well as your own feet. Let's get at our destination in one piece." Hyoto said to them. "Let's go, were almost there."
They were running again, the reiatsu path leading them on. At the end of the path a light appeared, ripping open the black nothingness. Hyoto's eyes widened. "There it is! Hurry up before it closes!" He said as he started sprinting, the others following in his footstep. They were getting closer and closer, until they burst through and found themselves on the other side. Except they were fifty feet above the ground. They all tumbled down to the ground and formed an undignified heap on the sandy ground of Hueco Mundo.
"Ow, damn that blonde idiot." Izaho grumbled, earning several agreements from his teammates and a grunt from Hyoto. Once they were all standing and had dusted off their clothes, they started to look around. They had not been given a description of what Hueco Mundo looked like. So they were all quite surprised with what they saw, even Hyoto.
"Wow, looks really, really… peaceful." Gyura mused. "I expected it to look more like hell, flames and that sort of stuff. Mountains of skeletons and forests of obsidian. Not a desert."
Indeed, as far as they could look was desert. Dunes of white sand stretched far beyond the horizon. Little glass trees sprouted out of the sand every now and then. A half-full moon shone in the sky. The stars however, were absent. A chilly breeze enveloped them, sending shills down their spines. "This feels… inhumane. Only monsters would be able to survive here." Harasaki said. "Don't be too quick in your judgement. Soul Society also has a lot of flaws that could be considered inhumane. Take the Rukongai for example. You should know that better than anyone." Hyoto scolded Harasaki. Harasaki looked down.
Harasaki was born in the Rukongai. For the first half of his life he had no home. He lived on the streets and survived on trash. Every day he spent begging for money or food. His parents had abandoned him. He was alone.
Until Hyoto found him, when he was wondering through the Rukongai. He was recently appointed Captain of the 6th Division. The division Hyoto's father proudly led. Hyoto had taken over from Ginrei Kuchiki, who had volunteered to lead the division after Hyoto's father was killed and he was still too young.
Hyoto took him in and raised him. Although Harasaki began as a thirteenth-seat, he showed quickly that he had potential to be a higher ranked Shinigami and rapidly rose through the ranks. Now he was the lieutenant.
"I know, sorry Captain." Harasaki muttered. Hyoto looked at him with a proud smile. Harasaki had achieved so much. He started from nothing and fought his way to the title of lieutenant. Hyoto was proud.
Hyoto was about to say something, when he was cut off by a loud hollow scream. They all immediately turned towards the direction the sound came from. "Crap, they found us." Chisuru exclaimed. Hyoto went into Captain-mode, as his subordinates called it. "Stay calm, Captain-Urahara made it so that we would land south of where the reiatsu was first detected. The north is… that way! Quickly, let's go." They shunpo-ed away. Hearing the hollow screams become fainter and fainter. Lin looked back, seeing nothing but sensing the hollows were now at where they were just a minute ago. "That was fast. We haven't even been here for five minutes." Lin commented. "Aye, Hueco Mundo is filled with reishi, maybe even more than Soul Society. Hollows will be stronger here." Hyoto explained. "But so will we."
They shunpo-ed further for a little while, before coming to a halt once they could no longer sense any hollows. They landed on a large dune, that gave them a good view of their surroundings. "I think we lost them. We should be safe here, so let's discuss our plan of action." Harasaki proposed. "What do you mean plan of action? Did you not already discuss that?" Gyura asked astonished. "We don't need a plan. Our goal is to find the source of reiatsu and kill it." Lin said, while overlooking the vast desert that was Hueco Mundo. "Did it ever occur to you we might not be able to kill something with that amount of reiatsu?" Chisuru groaned at the dumb comment from Lin. "That's why we need a plan of action. We need to form a strategy." Harasaki said.
"Everyone, Shut up!" Hyoto yelled. Quelling the arising argument. "What we need to focus on now is how to find that reiatsu without alerting it of our presence." He silenced them. No one spoke a word, because they all noticed something. A low rumbling sound resonated throughout the ground. The sand started to shift and churn. "Uhm… Is it just me, or is the sand sinking?" Izaho asked with a slight fearful expression as the sand started to sink. A whirlpool started to form and the rumbling got louder. "What the-AAAAAHHHHH" Harasaki muttered, before the sand came down and took them all below, screaming all the way down.
Hyoto looked around him as he fell. Strange rock formations, as high as the towers of the Soul Society, sprouted from the ground. They were carrying, what he now realised as the desert. The fall down was long, at least three-hundred feet deep. They crashed into the ground, hard and heavy. A dust cloud shrouded them for a moment before dissipating and revealing six dishevelled Shinigami.
Hyoto was the first to his feet. He grunted. "Everyone okay?" All he heard were moans of pain. "alright, what the hell! What in the living hell happened!?" Lin exclaimed, slowly getting on his feet again. Gyura was also getting up. "Now this is what I pictured Hueco Mundo would look like. Dark and creepy." The rest were all on their feet now and staring up.
"Man, that was a long fall. How high up is that?" Harasaki mused. They were so deep down that they couldn't even see the top of the weird rock structures, nor the hole from which they came. Hyoto looked astonished at the darkened sky above them. "There's a desert above a forest of… stone or, whatever. Who would've known…" Hyoto mused to himself.
They were suddenly alerted by a flare of reiatsu. It was large, but not as massive as the one detected by the 12th division and not nearly as dense. It startled the group. They all turned the same direction while gripping their sword handles tightly. "What the hell was that?" Chisuru asked.
Hyoto's mind raced. 'It was not the one we were looking for, it was not strong enough. It is not one of normal hollows either. Menos Grande? No, it was too large for that. Vasto Lorde? No, it was not dense enough.' Hyoto faced his comrades. "Prepare yourself, it's probably an Adjuchas. We can handle one of them, but be aware of any tricks it might have." He said. The others nodded and drew their weapons. The sound of swords leaving their sheaths was heard for a brief moment.
"Steady, keep your guard up." Gyura said. He was nervously looking around just like the others. They didn't know what to expect. The reiatsu flare had been fluctuating, but was getting closer now. "I can't sense where it's coming from." Harasaki said. "It's everywhere around us." He said with a slight panicking tone.
"Calm down everyone, this is what we were trained to do." Hyoto tried to reassure them. He was going to say something else, but was interrupted when something shiny caught his eye. A red light was shining somewhere in between the rocky trees. His eyes widened in realisation.
"Cero! Everyone get away!" Hyoto screamed. They whipped their heads towards him, before following his words and dashing of in some direction. Hyoto landed about a hundred meters away, right next to Harasaki, when the cero hit the ground on which they stood just a second ago. It exploded and filled the air with fire and smoke.
The others landed next to them as well. They all perked up when they heard a taunting laugh. A figure came forth from the shadows of the tall rocky trees.
"Hehehe, looks like our trap didn't work." The figure chuckled. "What a bummer, I was hoping you would die. Then it would be much easier to eat you." The figure walked into the light, revealing a hollow. It was at least eight feet tall and wore a terrifying hollow mask. It had forward pointing teeth and small slits for eyes. Four horns protruded from the edges of the mask, giving him a devil-like appearance. His glowing red eyes were fixated on the six Shinigami.
"Not that you escaping that cero mattered, you're still going to die." The hollow growled with malice. Hyoto looked him right in the eye. "Who are you?" He asked with anger. The hollow just merely laughed at him. "I see no obligation to tell you, you are dead anyway." It said. "Come forth Menos and slay these pitiful Shinigami!" It yelled.
The shadows between the trees started to move, revealing thirty Menos Grande, all roaring. They were closing in on them. Hyoto turned towards his companions. "I'll take on the Adjuchas, you guys focus on stopping those Menos." He ordered. The rest all nodded and charged the Menos.
Hyoto looked back to the Adjuchas and drew his sword. "You're going to regret this, hollow." He said menacingly. Hyoto got in a fighting stance, pointing his sword straight at the hollow. He could hear his comrades clashing with the Menos. 'If I was alone, I could deal with these pests by myself, but I can't hurt the others.' He thought. "Now stand still, I will make this quick." He said before he lunged at the hollow, bringing his sword in a downward arc. It was met however, with the right arm of the hollow. Some sort of white armor had formed on the arm. It denied his sword the flesh of the hollow.
The Adjuchas chuckled. "Not so fast, Shinigami. Don't think that you're going to kill me so easily." He said, while pushing Hyoto away with his arm. Hyoto looked at the hollow. "What is that armor? It was not there before." The hollow chuckled again. "This is my armor. My reiatsu forms it. I can use it to stop any attack." It boasted.
Hyoto took his chance and used shunpo to get behind the hollow, right after he finished explaining. He turned his sword so that he was holding it in an ice-pick grip and thrusted backwards, attempting to pierce the hollow from behind. He was surprised however, when his sword just bounced of the hollow. "My hierro is quite strong too, Shinigami." It chuckled, before swinging it's arm around and swatting Hyoto away.
Hyoto crashed into one of the trees, forming a body-sized crater and numerous cracks. He slowly fell from the crater and landed on the ground, his knees buckling as soon as he hit the sand. The tree was bending sideways, the impact had weakened it. It slowly fell to the side, landing with a loud crash.
'Damnit, I underestimated him. He is strong. I didn't use enough force.' Hyoto though as he got to his feet and readied his zanpakuto. 'But that won't happen again. This time I'll kill him.'
The hollow laughed. "Was that it, Shinigami? That was not impressive at all. I'm the strongest Adjuchas in the Forest of Menos. No one has cut me since I became an Adjuchas. Just give up and die, it's useless." It growled in his deep, hollow voice. "Face your death, Shinigami!" It yelled. The Adjuchas started charging up a cero in his mouth, failing to notice the small smirk Hyoto had on his face.
Hyoto saw the cero building up. 'He is right, he might be the strongest Adjuchas I have ever faced off against. That's why I can't underestimate him.' Hyoto thought. He started to smirk. The cero was now growing rapidly in size, almost as big as the hollow's head. 'But I'm a Captain. He shouldn't underestimate Captains, especially me.'
The cero fired, and Hyoto didn't move. He took the hit full on. The hollow smirked. The cero had completely engulfed the Captain. The ground exploded where the cero hit. Smoke rose up high after the explosion and fire vanished. The hollow started laughing. "So much for a Captain's strength! You disappoint me, Shinigami!" It yelled tauntingly. He kept laughing, harder and harder.
"What are you laughing for, hollow?" A voice snapped. The hollow stopped laughing instantly and abruptly whipped it's head towards the crater of the cero. The smoke dissipated, revealing Hyoto with an outstretched arm and a cocky smirk on his face.
"Impossible…" The hollow muttered. The Captain was completely unharmed. The cero hadn't even singed him. His clothes, his flesh, everything was completely fine. The ground beneath him was still standing, while everything else around it had gotten hit with the cero.
"Surprised, hollow? What did you think would happen, you are facing a Captain of the Soul Society. Some of the strongest Shinigami that have walked through the halls of the Seireitei. Did you actually think a mere Adjuchas could defeat us?" Hyoto taunted with a antagonizing grin. He suddenly dashed forwards, appearing in front of the hollow's face before the hollow could realize he had moved.
"Did you really think a mere Adjuchas could hurt me? I'm the strongest Captain to have ever been born in Soul Society." Hyoto smiled a menacing smile. "You are nothing compared to me. The only reason you stopped my blade twice, was because I underestimated you and didn't use enough force." He said. The hollow started shaking, his eyes betraying his fear.
Hyoto suddenly disappeared again, this time standing on the ground instead of in front of the hollows face, the movement of his action created a shockwave that lifted small rocks and dust in the air. He spun his leg upwards and kicked the Adjuchas in the head, sending him flying into the sky. He shunpo-ed above him and kicked him down again. The hollow landed with a loud crash, a crater formed beneath him.
The Adjuchas was in pain. His body was nearly shattered with the second hit. His head nearly crumbled from the first one. The Shinigami Captain landed twenty feet in front of him. The Adjuchas was startled and in fear shot another cero. The red beam of energy shooting forward towards the Captain. Hyoto merely twisted his body to the side, narrowly avoiding the cero that now exploded somewhere behind him.
He shunpo-ed again, appearing right in front of the Adjuchas, his arm already up for an attack. "Now die, hollow." Hyoto growled. He brought his zanpakuto down in a downward arc, trying to cleave it in half. The hollow tried in vain to stop the strike by bringing his armored arms up to block it. He screamed in pain when the blade cut right through it and severed his arms.
The hollow fell to the ground, staring in shock at the severed arms in front of him, blood spilling onto the ground. He looked up to see Hyoto in another attack position. It had no chance to react to the sight, as the Captain's blade cut its head clean of its shoulders. The hollow dissipated in small, black ash-particles, it's soul send to the cycle of reincarnation.
"Foolish hollow, to think he could beat a Captain." Hyoto said. He looked around for his companions. They had all gone off somewhere to fight the Menos, leaving only trails of destruction behind. Hyoto could tell that multiple cero's were fired. Some trees were cut in half, there were numerous craters and holes in the sandy ground. "Be careful guys, I'm coming." He muttered to himself.
Although he knew they could take care of themselves, he was still a little worried. They didn't know if there were more Adjuchas, or even a Vasto Lorde. And some hollows had the ability to hide their reiatsu.
He caught a flare of reiatsu from Izaho. He immediately shunpo-ed towards it. "Be careful guys."
.o0x0o.
Chisuru had face off against Menos many times before. He was quite strong despite of being a fourth-seat. He could easily be a higher rank, but couldn't because everyone else in the 6th division was strong as well. But Chisuru didn't care about ranks. He felt at home in the barracks, and with the people of the 6th division, the people there made him feel welcome and protected. The cero of a Menos soared past his head and ignited the ground behind him.
Now however, he wasn't feeling very protected. They had somehow been forced to split up by the Menos. The Menos had surrounded them and were threatening to overwhelm them. Harasaki had made the decision to 'divide and conquer' as he called it. They had made a portion of the Menos Grande follow them by emitting reiatsu and dashing off in some direction.
Chisuru dodged another cero. 'Damn these giants, give me a damn break.' Chisuru thought angrily. They had been firing cero's non-stop. He was able to dodge them, but couldn't launch any counterattacks. 'Sometimes I think these Menos aren't as stupid as everyone says they are.' He thought.
He had to dodge another cero. He gritted his teeth. These cero's were getting closer and he was starting to loose speed due to tiredness. He decided to attack. He stretched his arm and hand and pointed towards a random Menos which was charging up a cero in its mouth. "Hado #31, Shakkahō!" He exclaimed. A red beam of energy shot from his hand and soared towards the Menos. The beam collided with the cero that was charging up and exploded in the Menos' face. The creature howled in pain.
Chisuru quickly followed up, not missing his chance. He shunpo-ed to the Menos' head and swung his zanpakuto downwards, cleaving it's head in two. The Menos dissipated in black particles.
He had no time to rest, as another cero was shot at him. He quickly shunpo-ed away. There were still five Menos left. 'Damn, these do not go down easily.' He thought. He looked around him. 'And the others are nowhere near me. So teaming up is no-go.' He sighed. It seemed he might have to use his shikai. 'Damn, I didn't want to use this so early on, but it seems I have no choice.'
He raised his zanpakuto. "Shred, Sharikahan!" Chisuru yelled. His zanpakuto transformed into a large shuriken. It started to glow in a faint yellowish aura. Chisuru held his weapon in front of him and started to spin it. "Look what you made me do, stupid mindless hollows." Chisuru said angrily. " Might as well finish this immediately." He muttered. "Divided strike!" He yelled. The shuriken glowed a bright yellow now. And with the spinning motion made it look like a large yellow circle. He threw it straight at a Menos, however, in the middle of its flight it multiplied. Four identical shuriken formed from the original, each flying at a different Menos. They pierced their heads, each slicing through like a knife through butter.
Chisuru sighed, he had killed them. The Menos slowly fell to the ground, dissipating in black-particles while falling. The four mimic shuriken disappeared while the original flew back into Chisuru's hand. He undid his shikai and went to sheath his zanpakuto. That mistake nearly cost him his life. A sixth Menos had been hiding behind the others and had fired a cero. The red beam was aimed straight at Chisuru. He couldn't block it since he had undone his shikai. He tried to dodge, but couldn't get out of the way completely. His left arm was caught by the cero, singing it a bright red.
'Crap!' Chisuru thought, while gritting his teeth in pain. 'Damn Menos'. His sword arm was now incapacitated. He didn't know any healing kido, not that he had any time to cast a kido. He grunted as he grasped his burnt arm. The Menos was approaching the incapacitated Shinigami, closing in for the kill. But Chisuru wouldn't be killed so easily.
'Time to resort to hado.' He raised his unburnt arm and pointed his hand to the Menos. "Hado #58, Tenran!" He yelled. Wind started to flow from his hand, rapidly growing into a full-blown tornado and shot towards the Menos. It made the creature stagger, giving Chisuru enough time to use shunpo and appear behind the Menos. "Hado #33, Sōkatsui!" He yelled. A bolt of blue energy shot from his hand and hit the Menos straight in the back of the head. It did not kill it however. The Menos toppled forward for a bit, but quickly rose up again and turned around, a cero already charged in his mouth. The moment it found Chisuru, it released the cero. The red beam shot towards Chisuru, who narrowly avoided it.
'Damnit, I need to get closer. Otherwise my attacks won't do anything!' Chisuru thought as he yet again dodged a cero. 'The tactic with Tenran seemed to work. Now I just need to get closer and use a more powerful hado.' He strategized. He quickly put his plan to action, shunpo-ing in front of the Menos. "Hado #58, Tenran!" He yelled again, as yet again a tornado shot from his outstretched hand. The creature was again staggered. 'Okay, so that works, but it is not enough!' Chisuru thought. "Hado #58, Tenran!" He kept screaming, releasing one Tenran after another. So much, it eventually made the Menos fall over and land on his back on the ground. 'Now's my chance!' Chisuru thought, as he began chanting the incantation he had been preparing. "Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man!..." The Menos was slowly getting back up. "On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens!" The Menos was now standing up. It had noticed Chisuru standing awfully close with blue energy forming in between his hands. It began charging up a cero. "Hado #73, Sōren Sōkatsui!" Chisuru yelled.
A brighter bolt of energy now shot from Chisuru's hand, one much bigger and stronger than before. It hit the Menos straight in the face. It exploded in a bright blue explosion. The Menos' head was flung backwards by the force of the impact. The cero had become unstable due to the explosion of the hado and too exploded, killing the Menos in an explosion of red and blue.
Chisuru was panting, that was the strongest hado he had ever cast. He slowly started to float down to the ground. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. 'Damn, that was tough.' He thought dryly. He grasped his burnt arm again. It was stinging, the pain almost unbearable. 'Crap, now I'm pretty much useless.' He thought sadly. He started getting angry. 'The hell am I going to do now. I can't do anything!'
He was brought out of his frustrated thoughts by a flare of reiatsu. 'That's Izaho.' He thought. He quickly shunpo-ed to his location. Something was wrong.
.o0x0o.
The six Menos that followed him were surrounding him, cutting him off from his teammates. Cero's were fired, but none reached him. A barrier of pure reiatsu stopped the many blasts. The figure dashed around the Menos, blocking attacks and dealing out his own. The Menos were slow, but certainly weren't unable to outmanoeuvre him. There were many times in which he had to quickly switch directions in order to avoid a Menos.
'Why were there so many? Ten we could've handled, twenty maybe. But there had to be thirty, thirty goddamn Menos.' Gyura thought annoyed. He had already been forced to use his shikai, almost right off the bat. He had hoped to take them out one by one, but that strategy proved to be a failure.
Gloves now covered his hands, leaving the finger tips bare. The gloves were a black colour, decorated with red swirls leading up his fingers. Metal plates covered the tops of his hands. He raised his hands and formed another orange colored reiatsu barrier as a cero was shot at him. He immediately followed up with a ball of reiatsu, which he shot at the nearest Menos. It exploded in impact, but did little damage.
'Crap.' Gyura thought. 'My shikai isn't doing much. And my reiatsu is draining. We shouldn't have split up.' He shunpo-ed away again to avoid another incoming attack. He turned around to launch an attack, when he was swatted away by another Menos. He crashed into one of the many rocky trees, leaving a body-sized crater behind. He fell on a tree branch once the force of the attack started to fade, making him come lose from the crater.
He coughed up a little blood. 'Damn, I need to watch my back.' He thought while gritting his teeth. 'Still… Something is off. They are way too much coordinated than they usually are.' He gazed at the Menos with an investigating look. He had been swatted away quite a distance, giving him some time to catch his breath and devise a strategy.
'I need to kill 'em one on one. So I must separate them, but how…?' He looked around, slowly forming a plan.
'If I can get them to follow me, then I can make them walk through those trees. Forcing them to lose their tight formation.' The Menos were now very close to him, in attacking range. One already started charging up a cero. Gyura dodged the red beam and shunpo-ed away to another tree branch.
'I can't afford to spent too much reiatsu to lure them. Otherwise I won't have enough to form attacks.' He stood crouched upon the tree branch, overlooking his incoming enemies. They were approaching slowly, but surely. He gritted his teeth in frustration. He shouldn't had taken on six Menos. He was only a fifth seat, there was no way he could defeat them all. He would be lucky if he even survived this encounter.
The Menos were in firing range yet again, forcing Gyura to shunpo to another tree. He landed on a low hanging tree branch, about half way the height of the Menos. They had tracked him however and had turned towards him. One of them started charging up a cero and pointed it straight at him.
The cero struck the tree and caused a large explosion, blasting through it and cutting it in half. The tree fell onto the ground with a loud crash. Gyura barely had any time to get out of the way and dodged just a second before the cero hit. He dashed to the nearest tree, simultaneously raising his hands while in the air. "Hado #31, Shakkahō!" He shouted. Red energy formed around his gloved hands. It shot out towards a Menos, resulting in a red explosion, much larger than normal. The blast was strong enough to crack the Menos' mask.
Gyura smirked at the effect his shikai had. It enhanced all of his kido and it also allowed him to form any sort of attack, as long as it consisted out of reiatsu. Basically, it allowed him to form weapons and attacks with pure reiatsu. He could also combine kido and attacks. Although, his shikai alone drained a lot of reiatsu. Combining kido and his attacks was even more draining. But this technique might just be what he needed.
He dodged another cero and dashed to another tree branch. Once he landed he formed a reiatsu ball and infused it with Hado #33, Sōkatsui, giving it an extra boost. The orange ball of reiatsu now crackled with blue lightning, signalling the fusion of the attack and the hado to be successful. He aimed it at the Menos standing closest. 'Now, to time this right…' He thought in concentration, planning his move.
And indeed, as he anticipated the Menos started to charge up a cero. When the cero was about to be fired, Gyura moved and shunpo-ed closer to the Menos, shooting the Sōkatsui infuse ball of reiatsu at the cero, making it blow up in the Menos' face. He immediately created a huge battle axe out of reiatsu and, just to be sure he got the kill, infused it with Hado #31, Shakkahō and flung through the dust cloud that originated with the explosion. He cleaved the head of the Menos' cleanly in half. It disappeared in black ash-particles.
'One down, five to go.' Gyura thought, as he shunpo-ed behind a Menos that had been disorientated by Gyura's attacks. It stumbled for a few steps, before finding it's foothold and straightening up. It never got the chance to turn towards Gyura, since said person drove a Sōkatsui infused reiatsu spear through the back of its head. This Menos too, dissolved in ash-like particles.
Gyura grinned. 'And that was number two. Now the other four.' He said in his mind. He went back to dashing from tree branch to tree branch, dodging cero's like he had before. Menos were, overall, considered to be non-thinking creatures. Going by pure instinct. So using the same tactic on them should work. But Gyura wasn't so sure that these Menos were only driven by instinct. They seemed too clever for his liking, too analysing. To prove his suspicions, he tried to repeat his tactic off waiting for a cero, attack with a reiatsu ball and finish it off by striking the head. He had to time his attacks perfectly.
He waited for a Menos to charge up a cero. Eventually he caught a glimpse of red from somewhere behind the other Menos. 'What? Is it going to blast right through?' Gyura asked himself astonished. To his surprise, the other Menos got out of the way of the cero, giving it a clear path.
Gyura's eyes widened in surprise. He had never seen this kind of behaviour before. It was truly mindboggling behaviour from simple Menos. They were supposed to be mindless and thoughtless. They had moved away from a fellow Menos' attack, not only giving it the space it needed, but also keeping him from getting close, since he would be trapped if he went to strike the Menos. But he couldn't let this chance slip to damage an enemy.
When the cero was about to be released, Gyura fired a blast of reiatsu, hitting the cero and making it explode. The Menos was not disintegrating, signalling it hadn't been killed yet. Gyura then got an idea. 'I could change my strategy and go long ranged.' He thought.
He formed a seven foot long reiatsu spear and infused it with Hado #33, Sōkatsui. He threw the spear as hard as he could. It went through the smoke, clearing it. He heard a hollow scream and once the smoke cleared, it was revealed that the Menos had been killed.
The other Menos let out their own hollow screams, enraged by the loss of their comrade. This event blew Gyura's mind. 'What the hell is going on!? Menos have started caring for eachother?' He thought, completely bewildered. He shook his head. 'Impossible!' He exclaimed inside his head.
The Menos charged up cero's all at the same time, narrowing in on him. It gave him almost no chance to escape. He couldn't get around, since the Menos had zeroed in on him. They would simply turn their heads and the cero would obliterate him. 'All those goddamn cero's! It's driving me crazy!' Gyura had had enough of those red beams of hollow energy.
The group of Menos was now too small to divide up in the trees. Only three were left from the original six. He quickly dashed upwards into the sky, right as the cero's fired, destroying some of the trees behind him.
Gyura was sweating profusely. His legs were shaking and he was panting. He didn't have much reiatsu left. If he couldn't take the remaining three Menos out, he would be killed. Either by the Menos or by consuming to much reiatsu. That was the cost of his zanpakuto's shikai ability, it drained a lot of reiatsu.
He shook his head, trying to shake the exhaustion from his body. He needed to concen- trate. One wrong move now could mean the end of him. He narrowed his eyes. These Menos were really getting on his nerve. He nodded his head in determination. 'I will finish this in one move.' He thought.
He started gathering as much reiatsu in his gloved hands as he could, while reciting the incantation for Sōren Sōkatsui. Sweat beads dripped down his forehead, shining slightly. He had his eyes closed in complete concentration. He could feel the reiatsu flow to his hands. He was getting really tired however, really fast.
"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens!" He opened his eyes and glared at the Menos. "Hado #73, Sōren Sōkatsui!" He shouted, while pointing his hands towards the Menos. His hands were now covered in a swirling mass of reiatsu, that crackled with deep, blue energy from the hado.
'This is it! This is my chance!' Gyura thought. He glared at the Menos with conviction and determination. 'I will kill them!' He yelled aggressively inside his own mind. He outstretched his hands, which had previously been balled into fists, and screamed; "Avenging Fire Shot!"
The reiatsu that had formed around his hands, shot forward at an incredible speed. From the reiatsu formed three, separate balls of reiatsu that each went towards a different Menos. Gyura was gritting his teeth. The amount of pressure it took for him to keep controlling his fusion attack of reiatsu and kido, while basically out of reiatsu, was immense. He nearly fainted from exhaustion and pain.
The Menos tried to intercept the incoming attack with their own, but it was fruitless. The attack shot right through the up charging cero's and killed them instantly. The resulting explosions ripped off the heads of the Menos.
Gyura was now gasping for breath. He was completely out of reiatsu. He collapsed on his knees, in immense pain from the pressure of that attack. He clutched his chest as pain flared through it.
"Dammit!" He exclaimed. It probably wasn't a very good idea to drain himself dry of reiatsu. Although now, he couldn't care less. He was distracted by his aching body. He collapsed on the tree branch, exhausted and unable to move.
'I'm sorry guys, you'll have to do it without me for now. Hang in there.' He thought as he slowly fell into unconsciousness. His eyes fluttering shot. The last sight for him to behold, was the sight of the dissipating hollow's and a flare of reiatsu belonging to Izaho, before he finally fell into the clutches of darkness, and his eyes shut.
.o0x0o.
To be completely honest, Harasaki was a little worried. It was his idea to split up and each draw a number of hollows after them, using their reiatsu as bait. He had called it 'Divide and Conquer'. At the moment it seemed like a good idea. But afterwards, it turned out to be a little troublesome and potentially dangerous. Although he was strong enough to take on the eight Menos that had gone after him, he was starting to doubt if the others could handle them. The main reason being, that the hollows seemed different. Their behaviour was slightly off. They acted more like a pack, instead of mindlessly attacking anything in their way like normally.
He glanced around him, his eyes scanning over his surroundings. He shunpo-ed away just in time for an incoming attack. He flashed towards a low-hanging branch on one of the rocky trees, the cero exploding on the ground where he was.
He shunpo-ed back towards the Menos, zanpakuto in hand, ready to strike the foe. He landed on the shoulder of the Menos and sliced at its head. He failed to kill it however, as the Menos shrugged his shoulder, causing Harasaki to lose his footing and thus failed to slice with precision. The attack made a cut on the Menos' mask and the creature screamed in pain, the familiar Hollow's Growl resounding through the Forest of Menos, as the Adjuchas had called it.
Harasaki didn't relent however. He was thrown off the Menos' shoulder and flung to the ground. He narrowed his eyes and glared at the Menos. 'I'm not done yet!' He thought viciously as he landed on his feet on the ground. "Hado #4, Byakurai!" He growled. A blue bolt of lightning shot from his hands, much more powerful than others could manage. It hit the Menos in the side of the head, killing it.
He had little time to bask in the death of the Menos, as two Menos who had managed to sneak around him, fired cero's at him from the sides. Harasaki shunpo-ed away and landed safely away as the two cero's collided and caused a large explosion.
He narrowed his eyes. And stared at the two Menos. 'They attacked together and actually moved according to a tactic, outflank the enemy.' He analysed with furrowed eyebrows.
'That's highly unusual. Hollows, especially Menos, should only behave on instinct. They are not known to use tactics.' He thought 'Unless…'
He glowered at his opponents. He wanted nothing more than to just slaughter them. But he couldn't use his shikai, Captain-Hyoto told him not to in order to keep their stealth approach of the mission. He debated this argument in his head.
'It was an order, so I shouldn't use it. But I sensed Chisuru and Gyura already using their shikai's, so why shouldn't I?' He asked himself. He was speeding around the Menos, trying to find an opening. They proved to be more strategically advanced than they usually were.
'You know damn well why you shouldn't use it. It releases to much reiatsu and will blow your cover by drawing more hollows to you.' He answered himself. But he needed to end this quickly. The others were in danger.
He was brought out of his thoughts by a sight that left his jaw opened in shock. His eyes widened in disbelief and he momentarily forgot that he was dashing around, so he impacted against a tree and fell to the ground. He quickly got to his feet and continued to stare at the Menos, two specifically. 'Wh…What the hell? How is that possible…?' He thought astounded.
Two of the remaining seven Menos had somehow grown arms and had attached themselves to eachother. Their arms started to mold themselves together and they slowly sank into eachother. Harasaki watched in morbid fascination, as the sides of the hollow slowly melted together, until their faces were almost touching. They had composed themselves into one being. It now was twice as wide and had two heads between its massive shoulders. It had also sprouted several more white spikes.
Harasaki stood frozen, with wide eyes and mouth agape. He almost couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. This union of Menos was unheard off. Never had Harasaki witnessed or heard of this, this…monstrosity.
The two Menos heads looked straight at him and growled. A far more fiercer and terrifying scream emerged out of their throats. It pierced the silence that had engulfed the area after their union. Harasaki suddenly felt a spike in reiatsu from the two merged hollows. His eyes widened yet again. 'It's power level just increased! It is stronger now!' He thought a little panicked.
A massive orb of red, swirling energy assembled in front of the two faces on the merged Menos. It grew massive in size, almost covering both Menos heads. Harasaki could just feel the power rolling off the massive red orb.
Harasaki shakily raised his sword. He had no other choice now. He could not match this monsters strength without his shikai. He snapped his eyes away from the monster and glared at his arm. He would not show weakness, not now. Determination flowed back into him.
'I've stood against more dangerous hollows than this! I will not give in to fear!' He screamed at himself. He gripped his right arm, which held his sword and forced it to stop shaking. 'I will take them all down!' He gritted his teeth.
"Paralyze, Zariji Hijen." He growled. He started emitting a larger amount of reiatsu. His zanpakuto glowed for a moment and started to change shape. Once the glow had disappeared and the weapon was revealed, it showed that it had slightly grown. It was now about a foot longer and had gotten an extra inch in width. The blade now ended in a more pointy end. The hilt and hand guard remained the same.
The other six Menos had gathered behind the merged Menos, standing in a rough half-moon like circle. If he managed to get closer and behind the merged Menos, he could go in a Circle, kill the seven Menos and attack the merged one from the side. However, he didn't know the reaction speeds of the merged Menos. For all he knew, than thing was faster than him. But before he could do anything, he needed to escape that cero.
Harasaki readied himself for the impact, planning to dodge away at the last second. The red orb still grew in size. Then, faster than he ever could have anticipated, the cero was fired. The red beam travelling at insane speeds that were unheard off from Menos. He barely had any time to get away. He probably wouldn't if he wasn't as strong as he was now.
Although he managed to not get directly hit by the cero, and had managed to get a considerable distance between the impact zone and himself, the shockwave resulting from the explosion still knocked him off his feet.
He was blasted at least fifty feet away, before he rolled back unto his feet. His Shinigami garb was singed, some spots even burned off, revealing blackened skin.
'Damnit, that cero was more powerful than I had anticipated.' He though while he clasped his slightly burned left arm in pain. 'I need to avoid getting hit by another one, otherwise I might suffer worse wounds.' He looked up and his eyes widened in shock. 'Crap!'
The merged Menos had already charged up a cero in front of its two faces. This one however, was smaller than the previous one. It also seemed so glow less and had a slightly darker red colour, it was less bright.
Harasaki shunpo-ed to a protruding tree branch that pointed towards the Menos. Not a second to late, since the cero hit the ground he stood on, almost immediately after he had dashed away. It exploded, causing a crater to form where it hit.
'That one was even faster!' Harasaki thought in astonishment. 'How is that even possible! I barely dodged the last one.' He berated, then noticed the crater once the dust had settled. 'Although, it seems weaker than the last one. The damage is severely lessened. And I don't think I dodged any further away, and the shockwave didn't reach me.' He quickly analyzed, before an idea popped into his head.
'Could it be that he reduced the damage of the cero, in order to give it more speed?' He questioned. That idea seemed a little complicated, for a Menos that is. But these were not normal Menos, and Harasaki didn't even know how that merging had effected the combined creature. If had made him smarter, it might as well have given him the ability to think strategically.
'If it is able to change the damage and speed output of its cero, then I need to be careful when I get to close. I might not be able to dodge at that distance.' He looked at the six Menos that were standing behind the merged one.
'They don't seem to be merging. They have had enough time to do so. Are they unable to? Or is it they are waiting for the merged Menos to kill me.' He was in a very delicate situation.
The merged Menos was starting to charge up another cero. Harasaki watched carefully if the red orb grew more. The faster cero had not grown to be larger than the two heads. If he could see the tops of the heads, than it would be the fast cero.
Harasaki narrowed his eyes, the cero grew past the heads. 'Alright, a powerful one. Now it all comes down to timing.' He thought. He crouched slightly, ready to jump away and start his assault. 'Almost…'
The cero fired. Harasaki waited until the very last moment. The tree behind him exploded in a bright red explosion of fire. The tree crumbled and debris flew everywhere. The blast of the explosion had actually pushed Harasaki forward a little, causing him to land slightly away from the intended area. Although this didn't matter much. It actually gave him a better chance to hit the Menos head.
He glanced over his shoulder for a moment. The merged Menos still had his back turned towards him. He faced the other Menos again. He jumped up and shunpo-ed towards the nearest one. He had moved so fast, that the Menos still hadn't figured out that he was moving towards them.
He sliced his zanpakuto through the first Menos' head, killing it. He then jumped from the Menos' shoulder towards the next one. He stretched out his arm and pointed towards the Menos' head. "Hado #33, Sōkatsui!" He yelled. He used a more powerful hado, ensuring the kill. The other Menos now started to notice him killing their comrades and turned towards him.
Harasaki managed to slice through one more Menos' head, before he had to dodge a cero, fired by the Menos in the back row. He shunpo-ed towards the nearest tree branch and crouched on it when he reached it.
He gazed at the remaining Menos. There were now four Menos left, including the merged Menos, who had now noticed Harasaki and was preparing to fire another cero. The red orb slowly growing in front of its faces.
Harasaki was starting to get annoyed with the merged hollow. It was keeping him from finishing the other ones off. Harasaki waited a little bit, preparing to dodge when the cero was fired. Until he got an idea. He watched the cero grow and grow, until it was fired. He immediately retaliated by firing a hado at the orb.
"Hado #54, Haien!" He shouted. A purple blast of energy shot from his hand and collided with the cero, creating an explosion that would've knocked Harasaki back if he hadn't reinforced himself with reiatsu.
He dashed forwards through the smoke that had covered the area and attacked the merged hollow. He managed to land on its left shoulder, near its second head. He brought his zanpakuto down in diagonal slice, cutting through the head. The remaining head screamed in pain, releasing a monstrous howl that made Harasaki shiver.
To his surprise, the merged Menos did not dissipate. Instead, the remaining head snapped to the side and tried to swallow him. Harasaki however, snapped back to attention and shunpo-ed away, over the head, landing on the right shoulder. He raised his arm and pointed his hand towards the last head. "Hado #73, Sōren Sōkatsui!" The familiar large blue bolt of lightning emerged from his stretched hand, shooting forward and hit the Menos' head. The explosion that followed blew away the head and the merged hollow disappeared in black particles.
Harasaki had no time to rest however, as a cero was fired. He noticed just in time and managed to shunpo away. He landed on another tree branch.
'The merged Menos was easier to kill than I had initially thought.' Harasaki mused. 'Destroying one head however, was not enough' He directed his gaze towards the remaining three Menos. This battle was already decided. He could easily take the last three Menos down.
'That is, if they don't merge too.' He narrowed his eyes. 'Although, they have not shown any signs of merging whatsoever. Was it just an ability reserved for that Menos? Or is it something unlocked through evolution?' He wondered. The things he had seen these Menos do today, were astounding.
He chuckled for a minute. 'If Captain-Urahara was here, he would lose his mind.' He thought amused. He then got back into his serious mode. 'Still, I wonder what caused this. This has never been seen before.'
He slowly rose from his crouched position on the tree branch. The Menos were closing in. his mind thought rapidly, trying to figure out a strategy. 'Although they are just Menos, underestimating them would be most unwise.' He kept his gaze on the Menos. Using his shikai's ability, the poison it held, would be useless against the large bodies of the hollows. The poison was highly concentrated and was most effective against small sized opponents. It would only cause a slight tingling sensation for the Menos.
The best way to fight this battle would be to use the 'hit and run' tactic. Disorientate and distract them with kido and finish them off with a zanpakuto attack. Harasaki quickly scoured the battlefield. The trees on his right were mostly destroyed from the many cero's and were now out of reach.
The trees on his left all didn't have any branches for him to land on in case he needed to escape. That left one option. Go straight through the middle. He would need to use kido to block any potential cero's and slice right through them in one go. He could do that. Although that still left the possibility of them merging. 'Unlikely' He thought.
He got in a ready stance. Sword arm stretched, so that his zanpakuto was in a slight diagonal position in front of him, and the other arm bend, so that his hand was in front of his face. He waited for the Menos to get closer.
"Now!" He yelled, and took off. He shot from the tree branch at an amazing speed. The branch cracking from the force used. He out stretched his arm and pointed towards the first Menos. "Hado #31, Shakkahō!" The red blast hit the Menos in the face. It staggered backwards, bumping into the Menos behind him. Harasaki shot towards them and thrusted his zanpakuto forward, piercing the staggered Menos and killing it. As the hollow dissipated and disappeared, he kept his zanpakuto in the pierced position. As the black particles were gone and revealed the next Menos, he charged a hado through his sword, so that it amassed at its tip.
"Hado #73, Sōren Sōkatsui!" The blue bolt shot from his sword tip and travelled towards the still slightly dazed hollow. It exploded on impact and ignited the Menos' face in flames and killed it.
There was now only one Menos left. For a moment, both parties stared at eachother. The hollow was unmoving, and so was Harasaki. Neither moved a muscle, or prepared for an attack. They were both standing completely still. Harasaki could hear a breeze flowing through the rock tree forest. It made his brown hair swirl slightly.
The hollow slowly started to open his mouth. Harasaki saw it happen and immediately figured that a cero was being charged. But the speed at which the Menos did it didn't make any sense. He narrowed his eyes. The cero was growing in size slowly.
Almost in a lazy fashion, Harasaki raised his arm towards the Menos and pointed his index and middle finger at it. "Hado #31, Shakkahō." He mumbled, slightly wary of the Menos. The two red beams collided right in front of the Menos' face. The explosion lit the sky in a red light. A dust cloud settled, covering Harasaki's sight in a grey, ash-like colour.
He could no longer sense the Menos, the blast had killed it. Harasaki waited for the dust cloud to disappear. His mind wandered over the actions of the last Menos. 'What the hell was it doing?' He asked himself. 'It just stood there, almost as if it was waiting for me to kill it. What the hell?' He looked at the dissipating dust cloud. It was almost gone and he could start to see through it. The Menos was gone, dead. 'Had it given up? Did it realise it was over and waited for the killing blow?' Harasaki mused. His eyes were a little downcast.
He shook his head, clearing his mind of the previous battle. 'I need to regroup with the others.' He undid his shikai and sheathed his zanpakuto. The burn wound on his left arm was stinging. He gritted his teeth as he put his hand over it and started to apply a little healing kido. 'Damn, that really hurts. That's what you get for not paying attention.' Harasaki berated himself.
He was barely done with the healing kido, before he was alerted by a spike of reiatsu. He snapped his head towards the direction it came from, his eyes widened in concern. "Izaho?" He gasped as he felt the flare disappear and he dashed towards it. 'That was definitely Izaho's reiatsu. What's going on?' He shunpo-ed past trees and branches, closing in on where he sensed the flare coming from. He could feel two other reiatsu signatures near the location. One he couldn't identify and the other seemed like it belonged to Lin.
A scream pierced the air, startling Harasaki. "IZAHO!" Harasaki's eyes widened in shock at the sight before him. "Oh no…"
.o0x0o.
"Hunt the prey, Shirojanin!" The situation had deteriorated right from the beginning. Lin Rinjin stood against four Menos. His shikai was already activated, the weapon now twirling around in his hand. The two blades that protruded from the with black thread encased spear shaft, shone with a dangerous glint. The blades were about as long as a hunting knife and stuck out the bottom and top of the handle, each bending slightly at the ends. Both blades were about two and a half inches wide. The weapon was just an inch taller than he was.
Lin kept twirling his zanpakuto in his hand, giving the approaching Menos a calculative glare. He had no idea how to win this battle. He was a seventh seat. He was not strong enough to take on four Menos at the same time. Sure, others had more opponents, hell Harasaki had eight! But they were all considerably stronger than he was. His reiatsu was meagre and weak. Although others told him that he was strong enough, that he had otherwise never could've attained a seated position. But Lin knew better, an officer's position is worthless if the battle prowess is a miserable as his.
But he was a prided member of the Gotei 13. He would not despair and forsake his comrades in the midst of battle. His pride would not allow him. Also he had his reputation as a total badass to uphold. So he steeled his nerves, readied his weapon, clear to strike at any time, and waited. He waited for an opening. One he did not receive.
He narrowed his eyes, watching carefully how the Menos moved. He gritted his teeth, the Menos were advancing in a tight formation. Two up front and one slightly behind on the sides. The only way he could get a hit in, would be to attack from behind, meaning he would have to out manoeuvre them. Should be simple enough. Although he wasn't the strongest in the division, he was one of the quickest, only behind Captain-Hyoto and Lieutenant Harasaki.
He crouched slightly, ready to jump. He counted the steps the Menos took to get forward. One, two, three… They were a couple of dozen yards away now. Surprisingly, they hadn't used any cero's. He heard many of them go off in the distance.
He jumped to his right, right past the Menos that was flanking the two in the middle. He smirked. His zanpakuto was a spear-type, but unlike most others he could conduct kido through his zanpakuto. Not only did this give him a longer reach and better accuracy, it also increased the power of the kido. So that was exactly what he did. "Hado 31, Shakkahō." He muttered. The back blade of his zanpakuto started glowing a fiery red.
He moved around so that he was now facing the neck of the Menos. The creature noticed that he was behind it, and started to turn around. Lin shunpo-ed accordingly with the Menos' movement and stayed behind it. He swiped his zanpakuto across the back of its head, leaving a wide gash. The Menos screamed in pain, but Lin was not done yet. He twirled his zanpakuto around so that the red glowing blade was now in the front, and jabbed it in the wound of his previous attack. With a yell he released the kido he had stored in the blade, a red beam of energy shooting through the Menos' head.
He immediately turned around to face the incoming cero that had been fired by another Menos. He pointed his zanpakuto forward and screamed, "Hado #33, Sōkatsui!" The blue lightning bolt collided with the cero and exploded in a shower of red and blue.
Lin shunpo-ed to safety after he sensed the other Menos surrounding him. 'Damn, they are more clever than I had anticipated.' He thought after landing on a tree branch. 'A lot faster too.' His eyes gazed upon his enemies. He had managed to take down one Menos. He then grunted in pain, as he noticed that his right leg was slightly burned.
'Crap, I was closer to that explosion than I thought I was. I didn't even noticed I got wounded.' He gritted his teeth. His leg was only burned around his shin and foot, and it hurt like hell to move. 'That gives me a handicap.' Lin thought in frustration.
He dodged an incoming cero and retaliated with Shakkahō when he was safely away, the red bolt exploding in the Menos' face, without dealing much damage. Lin cursed under his breath. His kido was not powerful enough to kill the Menos, and he did not have time to chant an incantation. His movements were restricted due to his burn wound, and if he wanted to apply some medical kido he would have to find a place to do it in peace, a place he could not find at the moment.
'Shit, this is not looking good. The only option I have left is running away!' He thought angrily. He snarled, "No way! I'm not gonna run from you!" He screamed at the approaching Menos. "Hado #31, Shakkahō!" He yelled. The blade that was in front now, started glowing a bright red, signalling it had been charged by the hado. He twirled the zanpakuto around, so that the blade that wasn't glowing now faced the front. "Hado #33, Sōkatsui!" The unlit blade now started glowing blue.
He charged forward with a loud battle cry, swinging his weapon in a wide arc while releasing the hado. He twirled it around and did the same with the other blade, producing two separate waves of energy that crashed into the face of the first Menos he encountered. It stumbled back slightly from the blow. But Lin was not done yet. He raised his weapon in a horizontal position in front of him, facing the stumbling Menos. "Hado #32, Ōkasen!" A yellow orb started to form in front of the weapon, slowly spreading along the length of it. He thrusted the weapon forward when the yellow orb had spread the entire length of the weapon. A yellow arc of energy formed and shot forward, slicing right through the head of the Menos.
It let out a shiver inducing howl of pain, before dissolving in black particles. Lin was panting, his foot was straining him. He gritted his teeth in agony. He had little time to rest however, as a large white hand, belonging to one of the two remaining Menos, came into vision and smacked him away. The force behind the hit was so large, that Lin smashed through one tree and crashed into the second, leaving a large crater.
He shakily got out if it and positioned himself on a tree branch. He shook his head to get rid of the dizziness. His vision was blurry and he started to cough up blood.
'Damn, my ribs are probably broken. Shit, this hurts like hell!' He drew ragged breaths, his arm was clasped tightly around his chest. He tried to stand up, but his knees were shaking and he nearly collapsed from the pain.
"Damnit!" He cursed. He looked up towards the Menos. The hit had blown him a good distance away. The tree which he had pierced collapsed and broke down, crashing hard into the ground. He eyed the Menos. With as much as his vision allowed him to see, he could make out two dark shapes.
His vision started to clear, giving him a better grasp of his surroundings. He could now see the two Menos much clearer. The white masks and long, black cloaks. He glared at them as if they were the sole reason for every bad thing that has ever happened to him.
'Damn Menos, I fucking hate them!' He screamed out in his mind. His legs were still shaking from the blow. It nearly made him fell off the branch. The pain from his ribs didn't help either. He coughed up a little more blood.
'I can't fight like this! Not in this state!' He grunted. This might very well be his final battle. The Menos were still standing there, looking at him as if he was their prey, and they had trapped him in a corner. He smirked. 'If this is the end…' He started in his mind. He looked up to the Menos, eyes full of determination. "then I better make sure I go out with a bang." He muttered with a slight insane grin. "You hear that, you goddamn broomsticks, I'm taking you with me!" He roared.
This seemed to bring the hollows back into movement, as each started to charge a cero. He gave a slight chuckle, as he too had started to charge an attack. Softly, he began to chant the incantation for a hado.
"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man!" The red orbs of the cero's were increasing in size. The Menos were preparing for a powerful attack. Lin pointed his zanpakuto towards them, the tip of the forward blade glowing an increasingly bright blue. "On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens!" The cero's were about to be fired. That particular portion of the Forest of Menos started to glow in an eerie red and blue.
"Hado #73, Sōren Sōkatsui!" He roared, a twin blue bolt of lightning shooting from the blade's tip. The cero's were fired, each screeching into existence and collided with the hado. A powerful explosion originated from the collision, blowing Lin of the tree branch. Dust was blown into the air, shrouding Lin and the Menos in a light brown cloud and obscuring their vision.
Lin got up with a groan. His ribs were aching as if someone was slamming a sledgehammer onto it. He was able to stand upon his feet, but nearly doubled over in agony. Although it did seem like the shockwave set a few ribs back into position.
"Kami, that hurt like hell!" He grunted. It was awfully quiet. He couldn't hear the Menos anymore. He knew they weren't dead, since he could still feel their presence. But they were unmoving. He awaited the settling dust cloud with anticipation and wariness.
Finally, when the dust started to dissipate, he could make out two figures. He squinted his eyes and subconsciously took a step back, the movement quickly ending in him falling to his knees in pain, having completely forgotten about his leg injury. He started to pant, exhaustion caught up with him. Sweat started to form on his forehead, his injuries were taking a lot out of him.
He glanced up at the Menos and his eyes widened in shock. The dust cloud had settled, revealing an almost entirely blown up Menos. The entire left side of his upper torso was completely blown away, they remnant of its Hollow hole barely visible. The bottom left side of its face was missing, as well as its left eye. How it had survived, Lin had no idea. The other Menos appeared mostly fine. Lin could only stare at it in bewildered way. 'Did it hide behind the other Menos? Or did the other guard it?' He questioned himself.
Then, something even crazier happened. Two long, black arms appeared out of the unharmed Menos' sides and slowly started to wrap around the damaged Hollow. The arms started pulling it closer to it.
Lin could only watch in shock and horror, as the unharmed Menos seemed to be trying to pull its comrade into himself. Lin's shock only grew greater as the damaged Menos slowly sank into the other. They were combining. Lin's jaw fell agape slightly, the pain from his injuries were forgotten.
Whatever that combining of bodies would result in, would surely be a negative impact on the outcome of this battle, as Lin could sense a sudden rise in the reiatsu level of the unharmed Menos. 'More like skyrocketed. It's reiatsu doubled!' Lin thought in astonishment.
Soon the damaged hollow had completely merged with the unharmed Menos, leaving no trace behind. Lin could only watch with wide eyes. The last remaining Menos slowly let it's gaze fall upon Lin. It's body started to change shape, a white substance started to spill from within its Hollow hole. It spread out over the Menos chest before hardening, creating a white bone-like chest plate. Armor also started to form on its sides, just above the hips and curved up to end just below its Hollow hole. Spikes jutted out of its head in a half-circle formation, going from ear to ear, or at least, where ears should be.
Lin couldn't help but think of it as badass. The extra spikes and armor gave it a much more thuggish and vicious look. What now stood before him was no longer a Menos, but an armored titan.
It released a massive hollow scream that resonated throughout the forest. Lin covered his ears as the scream nearly punctured his eardrums. The roar lasted for a good two minutes. Lin cursed heavily. "Holy mother of-! Kami, that was loud!" His ears were ringing and a little blood drippled down. Lin almost doubled over in pain, as a massive headache suddenly surfaced. It left him dizzy and wobbling on his feet. His hands clutched his head as his body shook and trembled.
'What the hell, my body… I feel so numb. I can't… even see… my surroundings!' The pain was almost too much. It left him disorientated and confused. The tree branch on which he stood was swirling left and right, up and down. He could not regain his balance and fell to the ground, a hundred feet below. He landed with a crash.
For a long, agonizing time, he could not stand up. He was lying in a foetal position, clutching his head as he was left shuddering from the intense pain. He could not form any coherent thoughts, nor could he recognize his surroundings.
The Menos was unmoving, standing still and gazing at the tortured Lin, almost as if he was watching in amusement. It was just silently observing him. The pain started to recede, although he still in a state of disorientation. His vision was bouncing, but he managed to stand up. He slowly got up in a hunched over position, barely able to keep standing. Slowly, but steadily his thoughts came back to him.
'I see… that was a stun attack. The frequency and volume of the noise damaged my ears and thus also my balancing organs. Plus, the pain left me virtually paralyzed.' Lin deducted. He was still clutching his hands unto his head. His brain was throbbing against his skull. The loud pounding against the back of his eyes forced his to close them for a moment.
'Well, it certainly was effective… that was the most painful experience I've ever had.' He opened his eyes again and looked towards the Menos, who was now stalking towards him. Lin could only watch. His body was still numb from the 'torture' he had just received.
'Damn, my body won't respond.' Lin gritted his teeth as he tried to grab his zanpakuto, which he had dropped when the scream had effectively 'stunned'. The pain was still there, but started to fade away. He tried to move for the weapon again. His trembling arm barely moving an inch. He collapsed to his knees, the pain still too much to bare.
'Crap, I can't do anything. This is it.' Lin thought as he watched the Menos come to a halt. It had taken his sweet time. Lin gave a small smile, as he dropped his arms to his sides while slowly sitting back on his legs. He gave a slight chuckle. 'Tch, I'm so melodramatic.'
The Menos opened his mouth, a red orb forming before it. The red light casted an ominous glow around them.
Lin looked around him. He could see the many craters from the cero's, although the others probably had more. A flash of blue light caught his attention, followed by a loud bang. He traced the reiatsu signature and identified it as Harasaki's. He laughed a bit, "Show off." He muttered silently. He forced his attention back to the Menos. The cero was now the size of the Menos' head.
'At least I've lived a good life.' Lin thought. 'At least, I gave everyone something to remem- ber me by.' Lin looked the Menos straight in the eye. All he could see was a dark hole. 'Yeah… I'm ready.' He closed his eyes, waiting for the finishing blow.
Except it never came. Lin could hear a faint cry that sounded a little like Izaho and a loud crash, followed by an explosion. Lin snapped his eyes wide open and stared in shock at th Menos and the figure that now stood above it.
"Wha-wha… you…Izaho… what?" Lin managed to stutter. He could not believe his eyes. In front of him, stood sixth seat Izaho Kaseta with a cocky smirk on his face.
"Yo, Lin. How're you holding up?" He grinned. Lin could only stare with his mouth open. He shook his head and looked Izaho straight in the eye.
"Did you just crash into that Menos' face?" Lin asked astonished. Izaho chuckled.
"Sure did! Hit 'em right in the kisser, BAM!" He exclaimed, swinging his fist against the palm of his hand for emphasis.
Lin was about to respond, before he was interrupted by a massive white fist that swatted Izaho aside. He shot away and crashed against a tree, before falling down unto the rocky ground. Lin wasted no time and shunpo-ed towards him. When he got there, Izaho was already getting up with a pained groan.
"Are you alright, Izaho?" Lin asked worriedly.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I've been hit harder than that." He muttered while climbing to his feet. "It's gonna take more than that to keep me down!" Izaho boasted
Lin rolled his eyes at him. "You really should be more careful and less worried about your ego." Lin said while smacking him up the head. He glanced over towards the Menos, which had now managed to stand up and was walking towards them. "Especially against this one. He underwent some sort of transformation and gained more armor. He's a lot harder to wound now."
Izaho gained a professional look in his eyes and observed the Menos. "Now that you mention it, he does look a lot different." He thought aloud.
Lin resisted the urge to facepalm. "You noticed that now?"
"Hey, I came in flying at great speeds! I did not have time to take in my surroundings!"
"So it was unintentional to hit it in the face." Lin stated
Izaho spluttered and blushed a little from embarrassment. "Sh-shut up! Be thankful I saved your ass! Without my awesome entrance you would be a smoking pile of ash right about now!" Izaho snapped.
"Yeah well- Look out!" Lin shouted. Izaho turned his head towards the Menos and saw what Lin meant. They both jumped out of the way, just in time as a substantially larger cero was fired and exploded where they stood just moments ago. The resulting blast wave and dust forced them to cover their eyes.
Once the dust settled they opened their eyes again and looked at their previous location, which now had a rather large hole in the ground.
"Holy crap! That was a powerful cero." Izaho muttered impressed. Lin steadied his weapon in his hands. "See? Something happened to it and it got more powerful than it already was." Lin stated. He got in a crouched position, ready to jump up. "Now that we're with two people, one can distract it while the other gets a fee shot at its back. I'll distract it and you take it out. After that we'll regroup with the others." Lin ordered.
"Uhm… yeah, good plan and all, but…" Izaho began with a nervous voice.
Lin narrowed his eyes at him. "What, something you don't like?"
"Nah, it's a good plan… the thing is…" Izaho gave a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of his head. "…I, ah… I'm not sure if we'll get a free shot."
Lin squinted his eyes even further. "And why is that?" He questioned.
"Well, you see… I wasn't exactly… finished, with my opponents." Lin had pinched the bridge of his nose, already hearing the heavy thumps of foot steps behind him. "And because you were launched in my direction you led them straight to us." Lin finished for him. Izaho simply gave a sheepish look and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry?"
Lin turned around and watched their approaching enemies. He counted three of them. Lin sighed. "At least it's not all of them. Three more shouldn't be a problem." This actually seemed to surprise Izaho, since he snapped out of his sheepish behaviour and also looked back. "Three? I was pretty sure there were only two left."
Now it was Lin's turn to be surprised. "Well, either your eyes are failing or mine, because there's definitely three Menos approaching." Lin said with a slight mocking tone.
Izaho just continued to look sceptically. "No, I'm sure. I had five Menos follow me and I killed three of them." He stated, his voice holding nothing but truth.
"Well apparently you miscounted. If that ain't three Menos Grande walking towards us, then I'm Old-Man Yamamoto." Lin said agitated. Izaho's mistake could now potentially cost them their lives. Not that he would let it come to that.
Izaho just continued to stare at the Hollows that were closing in. He couldn't figure out for the life of him, why there were three Menos. He absolutely had killed three of them, meaning that out of the original five he had engaged, there should only be two remaining. He just didn't understand.
"Snap out of your daydreaming, dammit! They're closing in!" Lin's words brought Izaho out of his deep thinking. He saw that the four Menos were now almost on their position. They both shunpo-ed a good distance away from them, landing on an unscathed tree branch.
While they were flashing away, Izaho had a clear shot of one of the Menos' faces. There was a large crack on the right side of the white mask. Izaho's eyes widened in realization.
'That crack matches the wound I dealt to one of the Menos! Could it be…?' Izaho had a good guess on what probably has happened, especially if he took in consideration what Lin had told him minutes before. 'Something happened to it and it got more powerful than it already was.' He repeated Lin's words inside his head, before turning towards Lin.
"Lin! I think I know what happened!" He exclaimed. Lin turned to look at him with a questioning gaze. But before Izaho could explain, Lin had shoved them off the tree branch towards the ground, just as a cero exploded over head.
"Damn, they don't let up, do they?" Lin said. He quickly focused his attention back to Izaho. "So? What was it?"
Lin just grunted and rubbed his butt. The fall caused him to make a nasty fall and land where the moon don't shine. He looked at Lin. "Earlier you said that the Menos you were fighting underwent some sort of transformation right?" Izaho asked. Lin nodded in confirmation, beginning to understand where he was heading.
"And you said it got stronger, right?" Again Lin nodded. To which Izaho continued. "So, I think that the reason there are three Hollows instead of two, is because one of them may have gained a transformation." Izaho explained. Lin nodded, but then became a little confused.
"But what sort of ability could they have gained? You killed it, but it came back…" Lin started out before ending in a soft voice. His face contorted in a look that showed he was thinking. Suddenly, he gasped. "He was resurrected after you killed him!" Lin shouted almost a little fearfully.
Izaho merely shook his head. "No, it is not that. I don't think I killed it in the first place. It is most probably-"
"Instant regeneration." Lin finished for Izaho, to which Izaho nodded in confirmation.
"So unless we one-shot it, it will just keep coming back." Lin stated grimly. "And with a practical 'tank' with it. Let's just say it's gonna get really hard." Izaho commented. Lin gained a strategic look on his face.
"We should take out the two normal ones first, that way we can focus on the mutated ones." Lin said, more to himself than any other. "Izaho, can you take care of those? I'll distract the tank and the regenerator." Izaho chuckled at the nicknames Lin gave the transformed Hollows.
"That won't be necessary, Lin. I've recovered enough reiatsu to do, this!" Izaho swung his zanpakuto in front of him, holding it vertically. "Fire away, Akazimato!" Izaho shouted. His zanpakuto glowed and transformed into two separate weapons. They both had a handle that connected the blades on both ends. The blade part curled around the handle, forming a half moon-like circle round the handle.
They were identical to eachother, the only difference between them being that one blade sprouted seven, very sharp, needles. They were about six inched long and an inch wide.
The other blade also sprouted needles, the same length and width, except this one only had three and the needles were slightly curved, giving almost a boomerang look.
Izaho's eyes flooded with determination. "I will kill them in an instant." He declared proudly, pointing his weapons towards his assigned targets.
Lin was surprised. He had never really seen Izaho's sword release. In all the years they have spent in the 6th division, Izaho had never really used his zanpakuto's abilities.
"Flaming Arrow Shot!" Izaho screamed at the top of his lungs. The seven spikes that were on his left handed blade, were launched from it and shot towards one of the two Menos, a small trail of fire and smoke following them. They impacted in the Menos' face and impaled it so that they clung to it. Then, half a second later, they exploded, completely blowing away the head of the Menos.
Izaho turned his attention towards the remaining Menos, eyeing it with a cocky smirk. He raised his right handed weapon in a position that signalled a horizontal strike. He tensed his body, preparing to swing the weapon.
"Curling Spike Slinger!" He once again shouted with force. He swung his weapon in a horizontal arc, meanwhile releasing the curled boomerang spikes from their hold on the blade, shooting them forward. The spikes started to twirl at a high speed, creating little circles of fire that soared through the air.
Lin noticed that the trajectory of the projectiles was curved, and aimed at the head of the Menos. The twirling spikes cut through the left side of its neck, all the way through to the other side, before curving back towards Izaho, who caught them with his weapon. The head of the Menos fell to the ground, dissolving just before it made it all the way down.
Izaho was out of breath, the attack took more reiatsu out of him than he predicted. He slouched over slightly, leaning upon his weapons.
"You okay, Izaho?" Lin asked, worry lacing his voice. If Izaho gave out, he would have to fight the two mutated Hollows on his own. And that was something he couldn't do.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just need to… catch my… breath." He panted out. He had spent a lot of reiatsu, both in his previous fight and the attack he had used just now. 'Damn, I'm running low. I need to proportionate my reiatsu expenditure.'
"Well anyway, get ready. Those two Menos are about to fire an attack." Lin warned. Izaho noted that Lin's words were correct. The two Hollows now stood right next to eachother, the red orbs of cero's already forming. Except, there was something off about the cero. Instead of the typical red colour the Gillian class Hollows possessed, this one was a startling deep purple.
Izaho's and Lin's eyes widened at the sight. "Wha… What the hell!? What the fuck is that!?" Izaho exclaimed, slight fear lacing his voice. These Hollows were already stronger than what was considered the norm. And now with this attack, their strength seemed to be increasing by the minute.
"I-I don't know. From the feeling I'm getting it seems like… incredibly dense reiatsu. But… that is unnatural." The purple orb started to grow in size. It appeared in between the two Menos and now started to cover midway into their bodies.
The only sign they got that could possibly signal them of the release, was a bright purple flash that almost blinded them. Izaho reacted just in time to yell an almost indistinguishable "Dash!" that prompted Lin into action. They both managed to shunpo away in time. But the following explosion flung them away. Black smoke covered a twenty feet wide crater. The resulting shockwave that had flung Izaho and Lin, destroyed the surrounding rock trees and shattered the immediate area. Cracks the size of a person covered the ground around the still smoking crater.
Izaho and Lin picked themselves up, both slightly scorched. Dust and ash covered their clothes and limbs. Burn marks littered their arms. The intense heat from the cero drenched their forehead and neck in sweat. They were both shocked at the destruction caused by the deadly purple cero.
"Holy shit…" Was the only thing Izaho could force out of his mouth, his mind in overload to comprehend what had just occurred. Lin could only nod his head. "Holy shit indeed."
"How are we supposed to defeat those things? They are stronger than any Gillian I have ever fought before!" Izaho exclaimed. He was starting to panic. These things had a reiatsu level close to or equal to that of Lieutenant Harasaki.
"Get your act together, dammit! Panicking isn't gonna help us." Lin managed to maintain his cool. He was always the most level-headed one in these kinds of situations. But even he was not immune to the fear these two Hollows were inducing. Izaho didn't notice, but Lin's arms were slightly trembling.
"But, Lin-!"
"Shut it! It doesn't matter how strong those two are! Everybody, everything has a weakness. You have one, I have one, that means that those Hollows have one two. We just got to find it." Izaho straightened up, his composure returning. He nodded his head, causing Lin to smirk. "Besides, the bigger and stronger they are, the harder they fall, right?"
Lin looked at Izaho through the corner of his eyes. He saw the small smile that now adorned Izaho's face. 'Alright, now that he's back again, time to strategize.' His expression turned to one of extreme concentration, taking in every detail of the scene. The Hollows standing still next to eachother, their reiatsu levels. They weren't moving.
'So that means that an attack like that one uses up quite a bit of reiatsu. It also robs them of their ability to move, since they are remaining still.' Lin deducted that quite easily. Lin's eyes narrowed and he could feel Izaho tense up, he felt it too. "Lin, their reiatsu… It's rejuvenating." Izaho muttered. Lin nodded. "Yeah, I feel it to. They're getting it back."
'That means that they can pull of another cero like that again.' Lin started to form a basic idea. 'We can use their immobility to our advantage. They created an opening for us by revealing their attack.' Lin nodded to himself. This was how they were going to do it.
"Izaho, I got a plan." He spoke to his companion.
Izaho looked at him. "Well, let's hear it."
"We missed our shot this time, not using their lack of movement to our advantage. Meaning we have to make them use that purple cero again." Izaho nodded, indicating that he was still following.
"Once they have used that cero again and we have successfully evaded it, we're going to have to combine our attacks and strike at the back of their heads. Those spots guarantee an instant kill." Izaho narrowed his eyes a bit. "Wait… How do we know if they're gonna use that cero?" He asked. Lin shrugged. "Let's hope for it."
Izaho released a sigh, before glaring at Lin. "If I get blown up, it's your fault." He snapped. The current situation hadn't left him in a particular good mood. And he also had this pit feeling in his stomach. Almost as he was standing at the edge of the world and ready to jump off. He had a nasty feeling about this.
Lin was focused on the Menos, eyeing their every motion, if they made any. They seemed to slowly get their reiatsu back at the previous level. He nudged Izaho. "Prepare, they're gonna attack soon."
Izaho readied his zanpakuto's, holding them in front of his body. Lin also raised his spear-like zanpakuto, the blades already crackling with blue lightning from the hado he had prepared. They looked at eachother and nodded, they were ready.
The Menos steadily came out of their daze, their ability to move returning. Lin and Izaho felt the spikes of reiatsu coming from them. They started to walk forward, their empty gazes fixated on the two Shinigami. They were getting closer, walking at a steady pace, before they stopped. Lin and Izaho immediately recognised the familiar purple orb that nearly blew them to smithereens just minutes ago.
'Wow… didn't actually think they were going to use it again.' Lin thought dryly. The humour didn't fit the situation, but he couldn't help it. He was tense, sweat pouring down his neck and drenching his Shinigami garb. Izaho was feeling very much the same. They had to time it perfectly.
Lin looked at Izaho. "Remember, we need to combine our attacks. You make the first cut, and I'll push through it with Shirojanin. If we do this right, we'll separate their heads from their necks." Izaho nodded. "Roger that."
They orb was now about as large as the previous one. The purple light shining through the forest. The ominous light only grew brighter and brighter. The orb kept growing and growing, before it launched. The bright purple beam shooting towards Lin and Izaho, who avoided the large explosion by flash stepping away to the right. They shunpo-ed away just far enough for the shockwave to have almost no effect on them.
They were now standing forty feet away from the Menos, who were, just like Lin's prediction, immobilized.
"Now, Izaho!" Lin shouted.
"Okay!" Izaho responded. "Let's go, you white faced turds!" He yelled, before jumping forward, blades ready to slash at their necks. Lin was right behind him, zanpakuto crackling with blue lightning.
'I really hope it will be enough.' Lin thought worriedly. 'After all, neither Izaho or me, have any idea just how tough that armored Hollow is.'
The Hollows were immobilized, they couldn't even turn their heads. Lin however, never stopped watching them. Even as Izaho made to slash at their heads. 'It could just be faking it, pretending to be immobilized.' Lin thought as he drew back his arm, preparing to stab his hado enhanced zanpakuto through the wound Izaho would inflict.
"Take this!" Izaho exclaimed at the top of his lungs. He slashed both of his weapons at the nape of the armored Hollow's neck. The weapons pierced through the white armor and cut into flesh. With the force behind the blow, the Menos stumbled forward. The wound wasn't deep. Lin narrowed his eyes, and with a fierce battle cry, he shoved his weapon into the wound. The hado was released once the blade tip was completely inside, resulting in a bright blue explosion that completely obliterated the Hollow's head.
Lin was relieved. The armored titan stood no chance against an internal attack. He looked around for Izaho, whom had already finished off the other Menos. He had simply slashed away at its head until it dissolved.
They both landed on their feet on the ground, wiping the sweat of their brows. Lin undid his shikai and walked towards Izaho. "Are you alright?"
"Heh, that was nothing. A little armor isn't gonna stop me." Izaho too, undid his shikai. "And no matter how fast you regenerate, if ya' head's off, yer' dead!" Izaho was boasting a little, but Lin let it slide. They both just took down nine Menos.
"But man, that fight drained a lot of my reiatsu." Izaho stated, while stretching his arms. "You think the others are already done?" He asked.
"Captain Hyoto must be done already, there's no way he would lose against an Adjuchas. For the others however, I don't know. I can't sense anything coming from them." Lin's eyes narrowed. He couldn't sense anything other than Izaho's reiatsu signature, not even Captain Hyoto's. 'What the hell?'
"Hey Lin? I'm not sensing anything at the moment. Just you." Izaho said, worry lacing his voice.
"Yeah, me neither." Lin responded. Something was off. There shouldn't be any reason for him not to sense the others' reiatsu. Unless…
'No! That is impossible. I'm a fool for even considering that.' Lin scolded himself. There's no way that they all could've died. 'Captain Hyoto could never die, not from these opponents.'
But what then was causing this, what could possibly be stripping him of the ability to sense their reiatsu. Both Shinigami readied their weapons once again.
"Izaho, be careful. Something is watching us. We're not quite done yet." Lin warned. "Beware of any signs that could give away an attack." Lin said, right before a tremor shook the ground. It began as a soft vibration, before growing into an almost full size earthquake.
"You mean like that!?" Izaho yelled over the noise of the earthquake. Lin and Izaho nearly fell over from the quaking.
Lin frantically looked around for what was causing it. He noticed the trees weren't shaking whatsoever. 'So that means that the earthquake is restricted to our area.'
Lin's eyes widened in shock. "Izaho, get away! It's coming from beneath us!" Izaho looked at Lin is realization and they both shunpo-ed away, just in time to see the ground erupt below them.
A gigantic creature emerged from the shaking ground. Debris flew everywhere, covering the immediate area with rocks and boulders. A large hole now filled the spot where Lin and Izaho just stood.
Lin was paralyzed. He couldn't move, not because of some poison or technique, but from fear. He was afraid of the massive monster that now stood before him. It was huge, as tall as the trees, if not larger. The reiatsu it was emitting was terrifying, it was above captain level.
"What… what the hell is that…?" Lin heard Izaho mutter. Lin's knees were shaking, some debris had hit his shoulder and had dislocated it, his left arm was now useless.
The figure was squirming, it's hundreds of legs all moving, before it came crashing down. The figure that stood as tall as the trees, fell forward landing on his feet. Wind blew everything away as it landed, dust and rocks once again flew in the air. Lin could only stare in absolute disbelief and fear. "A… a centipede?"
The Hollow had hundreds, no thousands of appendages, al planted firmly in the ground. It's massive shell body was as thick as the rock trees, the armored plating without a doubt as hard as steel. It stood at least a hundred feet tall, a third of the height of the trees. The shells overlapped eachother, creating an almost impenetrable shield. The Hollow's mask appeared, as the creature turned on its many legs and faced the Shinigami. It's mask wasn't white, it was ash-grey, and had two large crescent shaped tusks that curved out of the corners of its mouth, before barely meeting eachother in front of its face. Two eye-sockets gazed at Lin. Pale yellow eyes that were glowering at them. It released a humongous Hollow scream, forcing Lin and Izaho to cover their ears from its intensity.
"What the fuck… What the fuck! What the fuck IS THAT THING!" Izaho screamed, fear was the only emotion he felt. The pressure of its reiatsu, its appearance, the scream, it was all too much for him. He was shaking, trembling. His feet wouldn't move, his body wouldn't react. He couldn't run.
The creature made its move. Lin couldn't react as the Hollow shot forward, faster than he could have ever imagined. The thousands of legs working in unison to propel the Hollow forward. Lin was frozen. It hadn't aimed at him. It shot past him, knocking him out of the way. He could hear a loud crashing sound as the Hollow came to a crashing stop. And once he looked at it, he felt empty.
"No… No… Why…" Lin truly felt fear. His eyes widened as far as humanly possible, his pupils contracted in a tiny dot amongst the whites of his eyes. "No!" Lin screamed at the Hollow. But no matter what, his feet wouldn't move. He raised his arm in a grasping manner, desperately trying to clutch whatever was in front of him.
"No! Izaho!" Tears now streamed down his face. The lifeless body of Izaho Kaseta hung from the Hollow's tusks, the bottom half slowly falling to the ground. His expression was one of shock. The Hollow dropped his upper half too, and it joined his bottom half on the ground, blood pooling around.
Lin couldn't believe his eyes. One of his best friends in the Gotei 13 now lay dead at his feet, blood and organs surrounding him. His body finally started to move, as Lin crawled towards Izaho's remains. Short ragged breaths tore through him, sobs pained his chest. His hand landed on something squishy, he stopped in his tracks and looked at his hand. Blood stained it, Izaho's blood, but his mind wouldn't register.
A shadow now fell over Lin, ominous and dangerous. Lin looked up, shocked and tear filled eyes looked up at the thing that caused the shadow. His pain filled eyes looking up at the monster that slaughtered Izaho.
Another terrifying Hollow scream pierced the now silent air, bursting Lin's eardrums. But Lin didn't notice. Al that his mind could comprehend, was the monstrous figure before him. Lin looked up, staring at the ash-grey mask, he was staring at the face of Death.
So that's the first chapter. Probably some incontinuities … or however you spell it. English is my second language after all. Techniques are suckish right now because I hadn't found a good translator yet, they will be good in the next chapter.
So what did you guys think? Good? Bad? Let me now.
See you next time
Darryl, The Son Of Perses
