Hey guys, sorry for being so late... *laughs nervously* Anyway, I've been busy lately, so I barely get time to write! And as far as that new story I started, I have been watching whole Anime in single weekends, and High School DxD just so happened to be one of them. Plus, Koneko deserves someone better than Issei, even if he is an OC based off of me. ANYWHORE! ON WITH THE STORY!
Disclaimer: Bleach, It ain't mine. Otherwise Senna would've turned around in that diner and seen Ichigo and feel-good times would ensue. I do not own Skillet or the song Monster.
NO! NO NO NO! This can't be happening! Ichigo thinks furiously. He can't be taking over!
"Too bad King, 'cause here I am. And I'm here to stay!"
On the outside, Rukia is slowly and cautiously approaching a trembling Ichigo. Well, shaking and thrashing violently would be closer to the truth, but you get the point. She is scared of what is about to happen, and angry that Ichigo hadn't seen it coming.
This secret side of me,
I never let you see,
I keep it caged but I can't control it!
So stay away from me,
The beast is ugly,
I feel the rage and I just can't hold it!
Suddenly, the shaking stops. Ichigo just stands there, his spiritual pressure all but disappearing completely. Then, a different, and yet slightly similar one skyrockets, causing a pillar of red-tinted black spirit energy to erupt from his body, wrapping him in a transformation that had only been shown once, 4 years ago when the Fourth Espada, Ulqiorra Schiffer had died.
As Rukia stares in horror at Ichigo's completely transformed body, she notices two things. The first is that the mask is pointed downwards, its horns at her. The second is the red ball of energy collecting at their tips. However, she doesn't have time to contemplate this, seeing as it only takes a second of the cero to charge and then fire, its range so wide that even Yoruichi Shihoin would have a hard time dodging it.
Somehow, Rukia comes away unscathed, though she doesn't have much time to regain her composure before another cero is fired, this time from her side. She doesn't have any time to dodge, so she tries blocking instead.
"Some no mai, Hakuren!" she yells, the ground beneath her lighting up and a pillar of ice forming just in time to catch the approaching wave of death. However, much to Rukia's horror, it passes through almost completely unhindered, as it melts a tunnel straight through. Her eyes widen, and time seems to slow down for her. She has heard of Captain Kurotsuchi talking about this, her mind slowing things down seconds before an attack. She watches as her life flashes before her eyes, the cero heading straight for her face.
Suddenly, her point of view is changed, and she is viewing the cero from the side, watching as it hits a nearby construction site. She then notices a hand on her shoulder and looks to the owner, the familiar dark-skinned face smiling down at her.
"Need some help?" the purple haired woman asks, still flashing her mischievous smile.
"Y-Yoruichi!" Rukia cries in surprise. "Th-thank you for saving me," she adds, bowing her head.
"Don't mention it. Now, let's get out of the way before another cero hits us," she says Flash Stepping once more out of the way of another blast.
"Yoruichi! Take her into the shop and have Hachi put up some barriers!" A familiar voice sounds from behind a green and white striped hat.
"Around the shop?" Yoruichi asks, dodging another cero and allowing another conveniently placed abandoned warehouse to be destroyed.
"No. Around us," Urahara finishes, Flash Stepping towards the rampaging Ichigo. Yoruichi does as she is told, and soon there are multiple barriers erected around the area, shielding any and all passerby and buildings.
"Ichigo! You need to calm down!" Urahara raises his voice to what could barely be considered a yell, as per usual in these situations. In response, the beast in Ichigo's body charges Urahara, sonidoing away at the last second and reappearing behind the tall man, poised to pierce him with the horns on its mask. Urahara Flash Steps to the transformed Ichigo's side, barely dodging the attack. He swings down with his cane, hoping to catch the monster behind its mask and pry it off, but to no avail as the strike is dodged and returned tenfold, directly to the stomach via kick. This attack sends the green-cloaked shop owner flying into the first barrier, which just barely manages to stay intact. However, it is shattered when the hollowfied Ichigo picks Urahara up by the throat and slams through it, straight into the next. As the life slowly leaves Urahara's body, he sees a small opening.
…
"What the hell is going on!? Who are all of you!?" Rukia asks in righteous indignation. Currently, they are all in the training grounds under Urahara Shop, they being the Vizards, Yoruichi, and Rukia herself.
"If you just calm down, we can explain-" the tall, lanky blonde man starts, interrupted mid-sentence by a yellow sandal. The offender is an equally blonde but significantly shorter girl, who looks to be a teenager.
"Don't go talking for us, dumbass!" she yells, her anger quickly rising for no reason at all.
"Hiyori, please quit hitting Shinji, it's really quite unnecessary," the large, pink haired man says in a kind voice.
"Just leave her be, Hachi. You know she's never going to quit," the only serious looking female intervenes, brushing her dark hair out from in front of her glasses.
"Lisa's right, you shouldn't get involved in a lover's quarrel," the dark skinned man with the afro adds in a completely straight face, helped considerably by the shades on his face. However, the silver haired man next to him can't keep the same poker face and bursts out laughing.
"What's so funny, Kensei?" the green haired girl asks him, obviously confused.
"Nothing, Mashiro, it's just that Love's about to get his ass beat," Kensei replies.
"Well, I think he's dead on. Those two just need to see it for themselves," the only remaining unannounced person says, brushing his blonde hair out of his face dramatically.
"Shut up, Rose! Nobody asked you!" Hiyori yells, throwing her sandal at him. It hits him square in the face, causing him the slowly fall backwards and Kensei to laugh even more.
"… Anyway, as you can see, these guys are a very close-knit group. They are known as the Vizards. It's a long and complicated story, but the important thing is that they're on our side," Yoruichi assures Rukia.
"But why are they here?" the dark haired girl asks.
"We're here to help Ichigo. We kinda assumed that he wouldn't be able to contain his hollow when he was first getting his powers back, and it seems we were right," Shinji says, taking a break from fighting with Hiyori.
"How? There's no way you all can stop him. Not even the Fourth Espada could beat him like this!" Rukia cries her hope slipping away by the second.
"We've all got a bit in common that most don't," Love says, standing up with his sheathed zanpakuto in hand.
"Haven't you wondered how we know Ichigo by now?" Rose says, following Love's actions.
"It's actually kinda funny!" Mashiro giggles as she bends over next to them.
"…Not really, but it is a little weird," Kensei says, continuing the line.
"Let's just say that we've done this before," Lisa vaguely explains as she moves beside Kensei.
"What do you mean, 'done this before'?" Rukia starts to ask. Then, her eyes widen with the realization of what they were all saying hits her.
"Wow, you really are a dumbass, huh?" Hiyori asks, standing on the opposite side of Shinji as the rest. "Then let me spell out for ya," she finishes, her hollow mask appearing out of thin air. The other's do the same, all performing their own little rituals for summoning their masks.
"Are you about done, Hachi?" Yoruichi asks, getting in line next to the others.
"Yes, I am," Hachi replies. It is then that Rukia notices that Hachi is the only one not in line, but is instead sitting down, his hands twisted in a very complicated kido sign. Then, a flash of green light occurs, revealing the orange barriers and the two fighting figures inside. The Vizards then charge in and begin systematically attacking, each taking a strike and then backing off, just trying to keep Ichigo occupied.
"What the…?" Rukia gapes, unsure of what just happened.
"I used a forbidden kido, the Teleportation kido," Hachi explains.
"What!? What the hell, Yoruichi!? You can't just go around having people cast forbidden kidos all over the place!" Rukia yells.
"Calm down, Rukia. Or would you have rather had me leave Ichigo to break free around rampage through Karakura Town?" Yoruichi replies evenly. Rukia then takes a look at the barriers, and notices that there is actually only one left, and that it is very nearly destroyed. She then promptly shuts up, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.
"Now, Rukia, we need to go and get him out of this state. But, we're gonna need your help," the older woman says.
"W-what? But how!? I'm no match for him, not like this!" Rukia protests.
"Physically, no. But you know how to get into his head better than anyone else. If we can put your consciousness into his, then maybe you can calm him down."
Rukia goes wide-eyed once more, realizing what Yoruichi was intending. "But how are you-"
"You seem to forget; Urahara can create very complex kido, and Hachi here can use it. However, we need someone close to him to talk to him, someone he trusts."
Rukia feels a bit guilty at this. "I'm not sure he trusts me right now," she admits, looking away in shame.
"Listen, it's our only shot. Even, if you can't get him to trust you, maybe you'll find out who can," Yoruichi explains, to which Rukia nods.
"It's worth a try," she says, mentally preparing herself for the upcoming out-of-body experience.
…
"Ichigo," an old and familiar voice calls out to Ichigo in his subconscious. He then wakes up on the side of a skyscraper, gravity having been redirected. However, this does not feel unnatural to him in the slightest. In fact, it feels completely normal. Everything is just as he had last seen it, not including the time he had to learn the Final Getsuga.
"Ichigo, what are you waiting for?" the voice says again. Ichigo looks around for its owner, and his eyes rest on the welcome sight of the old man on a nearby pole.
"There you are, Zangetsu. I was afraid you'd stopped talking to me. Listen, I'm sorry about the last time we met. I had no right to make you-"
"This is not the time for that, Ichigo. Quit avoiding my question. What are you waiting for? Surely you don't think that allowing your hollow to rampage throughout the city which you worked so hard to protect would be a good idea, do you?" Zangetsu interrupts bluntly, as usual.
"What do you expect me to do? He's taken full control by now, and I can't do anything about it!" Ichigo yells back angrily.
"Seriously, Ichigo. Are you already giving up? I am truly disappointed. I thought better of you. You have no right to wield me if you are willing to give up that easily." And with that, Zangetsu is suddenly in front of Ichigo, his own blade thrusting deep into the substitute soul reaper's chest.
"Zangetsu… Why…?" Ichigo says, grasping at the sword's hilt. Then, the old man's face contorts, and his clothes are suddenly a stark white.
Scratching along the walls,
In the closet, in the halls,
It comes awake and I can't control it!
"Surprise!" Ichigo's hollow yells. The inverted Ichigo then places his foot right beside his black Zangetsu, on Ichigo's chest, and kicks off with enough force to break all the windows along the floor (side?) of the skyscraper.
Ichigo knows that without Zangetsu, he doesn't stand a chance with his meager spiritual pressure, so he jumps down one of the broken windows, a tactic that he's never even thought of before. As soon as he is through, gravity reverts, and he is standing on the actual floor. He starts running along the hallways, and he hears his hollow casually walk towards him, scratching the walls and calling out to him.
Noticing a door on his right, Ichigo rips the door open and dashes in. however, he isn't prepared for what he sees.
There, in the middle of the floor, is a pile. At first, he doesn't recognize what's in it, but then one of the objects moves, revealing a face. Is that…?
The face looks hurt. Its big, bright amber eyes that Ichigo remembers to be so filled with innocence and joy are instead consumed by fear and pain. The dark purple hair is messy and soaked in what is probably blood, considering the large amount of it coming out of the corner of her mouth. She calls out in a shaky voice, as if afraid of who she is speaking to. "I-Ichi…go?"
Ichigo wants to cry. The thought of seeing this girl, the one he loved, broken and dying on the ground is too much for him to bear. However, the sound of his hollow forces him into action once more, and he continues running down the hallway of the office building, slamming the door so hard that it rattles on its hinges.
…
"Ok, when Hachi casts the kido, your consciousness will be transferred from your body to Ichigo's. You'll be put into his inner world, and it will be your job to find him and get him to calm down. However, his hollow may be in there too, so you'll have to be careful," Yoruichi tells Rukia, who nods in understanding.
"We will give you 10 minutes. If you haven't managed to calm him down by then, you will need to return to your body so that you don't suffer any permanent damage to your mind. Stay in there too long and you may go crazy," Urahara says, earning another nod.
"I'm ready. Mr. Ushoda, please perform the kido," Rukia says, steeling her nerves.
After some complicated hand signs and incantations, Rukia feels a searing pain, as though her brain is being ripped though her skull, causing her to screw her eyes shut. The pain is so intense that her knees almost give out. When she opens her eyes, however, she notices that they already have, and that she is lying on the ground. But that isn't the weird thing. No, that would probably be the fact she is viewing it from a bystander's point of view, as though her spiritual body were nothing but a gigai.
But she doesn't have long to contemplate, because then she feels herself being pulled towards the transformed body of Ichigo, which is being held down by the Vizards. Then, her world goes black.
…
I'm pretty sure something isn't right here.
That is the first thing that Rukia thinks when she awakens on the side of one of the many skyscrapers cluttering what must be Ichigo's inner world. Then, she notices what it is, and nearly screams. GRAVITY, WHAT THE FUCK!?
However, the huge spiritual pressure that seems to be coming from the building she is currently on keeps her mouth shut. She hides her own spiritual pressure, and then looks for a way in. She sees some broken windows a ways away (up?) on the building. This looks bad…
When she hops through one of them, she is relieved that gravity is back to normal again. She hears the sound of drywall being ripped and tile being crushed down one of the hallways and, without the slightest hesitation, starts running lightly down it.
…
Hiding under the bed,
In my body, in my head,
As Ichigo runs down the hallways, he avoids any more doors, for fear of them turning out like the first one. However, with his hollow quickly gaining on him, he knows he'll have no choice but to try and hide. He hopes that with his still small spiritual pressure, he might be able to try and hide it from his hollow. He knows it's a long shot, considering how horrible he is at controlling his spiritual pressure, but figures it's worth a shot.
He sees a door on his left and opens it cautiously, peering in before entering. After assuring himself that there are no bodies of his loved ones lying around, he enters and quietly closes the door. Inside, he waits for his hollow to run past and, hopefully, not notice him.
However, he feels something on his back. He freezes, fearing the worst, but is pleasantly surprised to hear a familiar voice in his ear. However, the voice sounds a bit sultrier than he'd ever remembered hearing it before, and he recognizes the feeling on his back as fingers running slowly and seductively down his back, towards his…
"SENNA!" Ichigo whispers harshly, grabbing her wrist and turning around. However, as soon as he does, he wishes he hasn't, because right there in front of him is his lost love, in all her imaginary glory. He takes in what he assumes she would look like naked, and is instantly turned on. He tries turning back around, but he can't take his eyes off of her… assets.
She crawls on top of him, whispering his name seductively as she makes her way to his face, where she plants a long, sensual kiss on his lips, claiming them as her own.
"KNOCK KNOCK, KING!"
And the door to the room is launched off of its hinges, flying straight through Senna's image and making it dissipate. Ichigo gets up and is, quite predictably, angry. However, just as he is about to let his hollow know of his current emotions, he receives a quick and painful kick to the stomach from said being, causing him to drop to the ground.
Ichigo struggles to get up, but is held in place by the hollow's foot pressing down on his chest.
"Don't worry, King. I'm not gonna kill you. I'm just gonna torture you to the point of insanity!" the monster informs him plunging Zangetsu into his arm. It then proceeds to torture Ichigo endlessly.
Why won't somebody come and save me from this?
Make it end!
Suddenly, the pain stops, and the weight of his hollow is lifted from his chest. He slowly opens his eyes and sees Rukia pulling him to his feet, and he does as she motions him to do. They then hobble away before the monster can break free from all of the kido Rukia has placed on him.
…
After a while more of running, the pair stops and hides in another room. Ichigo pokes his head in and, after checking this time for body piles AND horny females, motions for Rukia to enter with him.
As soon as the door closes though, the scenery of the room changes from nothingness into a familiar looking execution grounds.
"This is Sokyoku Hill!" Rukia exclaims quietly, her eyes widening in confusion. Ichigo, however, knows what's about to happen. He's caught on to what each room means. He's noticed how all of them display one of his emotions, and the thing or things most connected to that emotion in his mind. The pile of his friends and family was fear, fear of hurting people. The last room was his love for Senna. This room, with the Soul Society being the object of emotion, can only be one thing.
Anger.