Finally, I have 1 review for this fic! I said in certain channels that I would be using a deux ex machina to advance this slow-as-sloth fic-I've changed my mind. After deciding against a side arc, I realized that the climax isn't too far away! So don't worry: the fic shall go on!
They Call It A Menos
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the stuff not shown in the show.
As the 3rd seat of Squad 11 stared down the Menos, he felt strangely relaxed.
"I've taken down loads of these", he reasoned, "No hole just means that there's more for me to hit."
With that thought in mind, Ikkaku rushed to kill the hollow. As it charged a cero, he jumped to its neck and decapitated it. Energy spewed out of the wound and reconnected the head long enough for it to regenerate. Obviously, this hollow wasn't average. Undaunted, he split his staff and used it like a whip, spinning it around and causing quite a bit of damage.
"Its no use!" his Captain yelled, "It's a Gillian, but that crap inside of it makes it an adjuchas-class threat!"
"Go on without me! We're wasting time!"
As the group scarpered, Zaraki wondered whether his admirer had a chance. If a Gillian was a level higher than usual, and it called reinforcements...But they couldn't help. Because those hollows were being controlled, only Quincy arrows would have any effect. And they were forbidden to have Uryu engage in combat with any Menos-class hollow.
(Flashback)
"Then why is he even coming? There's no point in a warrior who can't kill."
"Silence, Zaraki! The orders have been given by the Commander-General and cannot be overturned." The speaker was a high-ranked Soul Reaper in the Special Forces 1st division, who went by the name "Trick." Being part of the Executive Militia, he was supposed to have accompanied Ichigo's ad-hoc squad into Hueco Mundo. But with the abundance of Captain-class warriors taking the trip and the destruction of the stable Garganta after the last venture into the hollow's realm, Soul Society decided that he would be backup. He, along with another, would be sent in an emergency.
"Do you not remember the Quincy scourge? When they strike, they destroy souls. It puts the balance of life and death in disarray. One or two is acceptable. The hundreds, no thousands that make up Menos is unacceptable. The boy is only going because of his power to destroy the power manipulating these hollows. And once R&D completes Project Zarathos, he will be...disposed of. A Quincy is too dangerous to keep alive."
"What?" Kenpachi yelled furiously. "We're going to just use him? Don't you have any honor in that soulless wreck you call a body? If you want to kill him, at least make it an execution!"
"That might be considered...if he behaves. So keep him under control."
"What'd he ever do t'you?"
Trick wavered for a minute before saying "You may not believe this, but I don't like what I do. There is talk of training the boy after his execution, to make him a Soul Reaper. He has the potential." The ninja-masked sentinel wisely chose to conceal the fact that Uryu's soul was probably going to be used to advance Project Zarathos. Deception came easily to him, as did a neutral demeanor. For a previously battle-happy soldier, his lack of emotion nowadays was disturbing.
"Go, find the threat. You can argue later, Captain of the 11th Division, Kenpachi Zaraki." As the man disappeared by use of flash steps, the disgruntled Captain felt an urge of rebellion. Even if it was just to spite the Covert Ops, the Quincy would survive.
So Uryu wouldn't be doing any heavy damage today. But, thanks to testimony from the battle with Thunderwitch, Uryu was authorized to kill Arrancar, as they were considered too dangerous to survive. Unluckily for him, there wouldn't be any arrancar where they were going.
"Bring it!" yelled Ikkaku. "Bankai!"
The Menos, along with the other 2 approaching slowly, watched as the man's split-staff changed. He grabbed two of the separated pieces of wood, which promptly grew and gained giant blades on their tips. The first weapon is commonly known as a Monk's Spade, and can be used peacefully and nonviolently. Of course, this is Ikkaku we're talking about, so that's never going to happen. The second blade was a Chinese Dadao, which was meant for use by violent morons. Perfect for Ikkaku, as the spirit of his zanpakuto had once said.
The weapons were connected by chains to what can only be described as a cross between a giant halberd blade and an axehead. The crest of a dragon was imprinted on one side, and the final piece of the original shikai was the handle on the blunt end of the blade. The tip of the dragon's snout was red. By the time he was done, the whole thing would be blood-red.
"Bring it, you soul-eating surrender monkeys!", Madarame roared, holding a weapon in each hand and letting the sharp piece of connecting metal trail behind him. He flew up to the first Gillian's face and slashed the hell out of it. As it tried to regenerate, he kept on purifying the Hollow with his giant weapons. You can't regenerate from nothing, and soon only the mysterious energy was left. As it tried to move away, Ikkaku slashed it. Surprisingly, it felt familiar.
"I remember! This is like cutting, what's it called? Cero, that's it! It's like that, but it's not flowing like that. That means...this is spirit energy? But there's something controlling it. Like..."
"A zanpakuto?"
"Hozukimaru? Heh, you finally woke up."
"Shut it. I'm serious, I can feel a zanpakuto spirit in this energy."
"So its controlling the energy?"
"No, it is the energy"
"Impossi-"
He was cut from his dialogue by the approach of the second Gillian. This one had apparently achieved free will, as it had a unique mask. It also had a special ability, as Ikkaku had just felt. The energy within it was rising, then falling, then rising higher. It signified the building of a blast. But this one was different. It built the energy in the core of the hollow, then suppressed it until the pressure was impossible to contain. It was a textbook move called a "suicide bomb", and only minor hollows used it. But this one had the ability, and it had much more spiritual pressure than a minor hollow. Ikkaku quickly flicked his wrists, putting the dangling chains into his hands. He then swung the crested blade above his head and slammed his fists downwards, hoping to use the blade as a shield. Just as it started to fall, the Gillian self-destructed, sending a shockwave of spiritual energy in all directions.
"Mothe-" yelled Ikkaku, but he didn't have time to finish his expletive. The blast sent a shockwave powerful enough to destroy the average hollow across a large stretch of Hueco Mundo. Even the Arrancar, in the large Las Noches palace, could sense the blast, and they knew that it wasn't your normal hollow attack.
Ichigo's group felt the blast. It was so powerful that, even at their distance from the blast, Ichigo still had to shield Nel from the shockwave. They knew almost nothing would have survived that at close range, and they just hoped that Ikkaku had gotten away in time.
Man, that was one heck of a blast. We know Ikkaku was there, but he may have survived. Or he may have not. Don't you just hate those ambiguous deaths? Anyways, we're almost at the level end boss...I mean Gaijuta. Although he is not in any way turned on by Ichigo (sorry Trick), he does have have one heck of a backstory. Which I'll have to slap somewhere in Chapter 5. Speaking of which, did you notice that my first two chapters had a sum total of exactly 1,500 words? Pretty low for me. Now that I'm writing the way I usually do, this chapter has over 1,500 words in it, 1565, to be precise. And it's only going up from here!
Just a side note: Trick isn't a Gary Stu, nor is he even my character. He's just making a cameo here (actually, I've extended him to supporting character status. He'll probably come back in the sequel.) Depending on when the RL Trick gives me a bio, he should make another appearance somewhere in the climax. Considering my horrible updating speed though, he'll probably give me the info before I finish chapter 4. Heh, but summer's approaching, and with it comes more time for me to curl up in a dark closet and update (I hope to be done this before August and finish the sequel this year.)
Well, I'm off to write chapter 4. See that review thing to your right? Yeah, press "Go" and leave me a comment or fifty. Please?
