The Sequel to the third ep! This time around we see more of the characters of Bleach and their surprise from the new hollows that have been spreading around...(Also, minor note: Thank god to the 350 manga on website for givin me a peak of Ichigo's new transformation! It'll be useful later in the chapters.......) Sorry bout the posting mistake, was posting 3 different things at once and got mixed up :P
Episode 4: Grim's Request and Demand P2
"King..." a voice spoke out. Ichigo groaned a bit as he heard the voice. He finally awoke from the darkness that enveloped him, but felt paralyzed from his arms and legs. "King..." The voice spoke out again. Ichigo opened his eyes a bit before closing up again. "Wake up, King..." Ichigo opened his eyes wider this time, but still only half opened. He slowly lifted his head. Everything seemed to be moving hazily, but Ichigo could tell soemeone, or something, was standing right in front of him. All Ichigo did know for a fact was that everything around him black, except for the figure in front of him, himself (technically he still was since his kimono is black), and something that was holding his arm in place. As his vision became clear, Ichigo's looked surprised, but still half opened, as he saw his hollow self standing right in front of him, grinning a bit.
"H-H-Hollow..." Ichigo murmurred, struggling to just keep his head up. As it began to dwindle down, the hollow grabbed him by his hair, raising his head up.
"Aww, you remembered. I'm touched." The hollow said, sarcastically. Ichigo gritted his teeth as the hollow pulled his hair harder.
"Where are we?" Ichigo asked. He looked confused as he just heard the hollow chuckling to himself.
"Look around the vast darkness, King. THIS is your mind!" The hollow replied. Ichigo's eyes finally widened as he looked around him. His arms were wrapped in chains, both reaching out towards the cieling. He attempted to pull the chains and break free, but moaned a bit in pain as he felt his chest burning in pain.
"W-What's...going on..." Ichigo asked, exhaustedly.
"You're going to fight for me." A voice relpied, echoing throughout the darkness. Ichigo looked straight ahead of him as he suddenly recognized the voice, seeing the dark figure walking towards the two of them. Hollow bowed in respect until Grim was finally next to them.
"Greetings, King." The hollow said, respectfully. Ichigo just glared at Grim, angry for all he's done.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Ichigo shouted. Ichigo gasped as the air was pushed out of him from his hollow's punch to his gut. He tilted his head down, trying to breathe in air again, and from the pain of his chest.
"You will show respect when speaking to the new King!" The hollow shouted. Ichigo, still breathing heavily, tilted his head up as he looked at the hollow confused.
"New...King?" Ichigo asked. Grim just chuckled to himself.
"I was quite surprised you survived, after having a scythe stabbed into you. And for that reason, I have decided to have you working for me." Grim statted, causing Ichigo's eyes to go wide in anger.
"What? What the hell makes you think I'll ever work for you?!" Ichigo stammered.
"Oh, I don't plan on having you cooperate with me." Grim replied, growing a confused look on Ichigo's face. Suddenly, a strange symbol grew on the floor they were standing on. The circular outside of it was at least seven feet long and wide. Inside of the circle, there were two scythes that intersected with each other. Ichigo's eyes grew surprised as he recognized the symbol of the strange symbol: It was the same one that Orihime found on the medallion the other day. A bright blue light resonated from it as sparks began to grow around the ground. Ichigo suddenly screamed in pain as strokes of lightning struck both the chains, electrifying Ichigo in the process. He grunted a bit as he tried shrugging off the pain, but to no use. He looked back at Grim, one eye glaring at him.
"Y-You plan to...torture me until I cooperate?!" Ichigo shouted, grunting and gritting his teeth as the pain continued.
"Wrong, I plan on merging the stronger half with you." Grim replied. Ichigo looked at him somewhat questionabbly.
"Stronger...H..."Ichigo started, before widening his eyes at the realization as he saw his hollow smirking. He knew what he was planning on doing. He was going to try to merge his hollow with Ichigo, except this time Ichigo won't be able to fight back, because of the pain, and the chains.
"You bastard! Make it a fair fight and release me!" Ichigo demanded. He began to scream louder as the pain grew worse.
"Oh don't worry. We simply need finish it up. It'll be all over soon..." His hollow statted, grabbing Ichigo's throat. Ichigo gasped for air as his entire body began to change to a form of white, originating from the neck. As he looked back, he saw parts of his hollow disappearing, and knew he was merging into Ichigo's body. Ichigo struggled with his bonds as he attempted to resist the merging between the two continued, but to no success. The merging eventually enveloped everything rising down to his neck, then started creeping up his neck. He glared at Grim, and what was left of hollow as he swore he would get them back for this.
"Welcome to darkness..." Were the last things Ichigo could hear Grim say before darkness engulfed every part of his soul.......
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At the same time, Orihime felt the tears rolling down from her eyes as she attempted to break free. All she wanted was to tell Ichigo something important, and she would never get to get that chance again. Her feelings were too wound up for her to even care about the fact she may or may not be killed now by the hollow. It's as if Ichigo's leaving ended the world around her, no matter how much she tried to shrug it off. Her eyes suddenly opened when she heard the hollow's scream in pain. She dropped to the ground as the hollow's arm was shot off, although it quickly regenerated within seconds. As Orihime and the hollow looked, they saw Ishida standing half way across the street, ready with another arrow.
"Let go of her!" Ishida shouted, firing another arrow striahgt at the hollow's head. Even as it's head burst from the arrow, it quickly grew right back together, catching Ishida by surprise. The hollow roared in anger as it began to charge straight towards Ishida at full force, ready to run him down. Ishida just smirked as he quickly jumped into the air, causing the target to miss by a long shot. As the hollow looked back in the sky, he saw an array of almost hundreds of different arrows all falling down towards it. The hollows screaming could be heard as limb after limb could be heard getting torn apart from the hollow, only leaving bits and pieces of it scattered within the end. Ishida quickly ran back over to Orihime as soon as he landed, helping her to her feet.
"Are you alright?" Ishida asked. Orihime just looked down, not even able to talk after what just happened. "Orihime, what's wrong?" Ishida asked. He could see tears in her eyes as she looked back at him. She opened her mouth to reply, before the two of them looked back as they heard the sound of scruffling. Ishida's eyes widened as the bits left over from the hollow all started to merge into a black glob. How can something come back together even when it's completely shreaded?! Ishida thought to himself. His eyes widened as he realized there was an attack coming from behind him. As he looked, he saw the severed arm of the hollow ready to pierce right through them, while the hollow itself was charging right towards them from the front. Ishida and Orihime nodded to each other as they both knew what to do. Orihime concentrated as she summoned a triangular yellow shield, blocking them from the arm's strike. At the same time, Ishida shot a massive burst from his arrows towards the hollow's legs, causing him to collapse on the ground, screaming in pain.
"Let's go!" Ishida commanded, grabbing Orihime's hand as the two of them ran from the quickly regenerating hollow. They ran for a few minutes, making sure they would at least get away from the hollow before they stopped. Whatever that thing was, it wouldn't just go down and die, and wouldn't simply give up and stop. It was just a killing machine with only one objective: destroy anything that poses as a threat.....
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Yamamoto starred out to the vast city of the entire Soul Society, and everything it stretched out too. To him, it was a marvolously big city, and quite the view from his window. To have discovered this thing nearly 2000 years ago, and being one of the oldest living spirits in all of Soul Society was quite a remarkable accomplishment. And yet, even with these vast goals and achievements, there was one thing that loomed over him, haunting him in a daunting past that wouldn't go away. Each time he saw a reflection of his scars, it brought pain to his heart, knowing that it was his own fault for the fact he had such injuries, many many years ago. It was a permanant scar of his deeds in the old times, and one he could simply not forget. He lost his sudden train of thought as he heard the doors slidding open. It was Kurostchi, walking into the room, seeming to be panting a bit out of breath.
"What seems to be the trouble, Kurostchi?" Yamamoto asked, curiously.
"Y-You have got to come...see this..." Kurostchi replied. Yamamoto usually wouldn't even partake in these investigations of Kurostchi, but whenever he was out of breath and panting, it was usually because he had something important to show the commander. Without any hesitation, Yamamoto quickly followed Kurostchi to the 12th division labs. What he saw in the testing chambers shocked him: With it's arm wrapped in chains, a hollow, with a mask that resembled much like the one that currently resided in the world of the living, was bound up as it roared in anger. Yamamoto's surprisement quickly switched to anger as he shot a death glare back at Kurostchi, which surprised the 12th division captain himself.
"Where did you find this hollow?!" The Yamamoto stammered, looking back at the roaring hollow. Kurostchi gulped a bit, not knowing he had angered the Commander so much.
"These different hollows have been appearing all around the living world. They've been killing vast numbers of our Shimigamis, and we don't even know how to kill them." Kurostchi replied. Yamamoto's gaze just stayed on the hollow. He knew to himself the only man capable of this type of power, yet he wasn't sure if 'he' was really back or not. Kurostchi jumped a bit as Yamamoto suddenly appeared inside the glass chamber, his Zanpakto unsheathed. In one quick burst of energy, Yamamoto released a humongous blast of spiritual flame from his Zanpakto, incincerating the entire hollow, and part of the room itself, into a firey blaze. Yamamoto suddenly appeared right in front of Kurostchi, causing him to jump again, with his sword sheathed.
"Tell every single Shimigami, Captain, Vice Captain, everybody to obliterate the hollow until there is nothing left! That is the only way to kill it!" Yamamoto said, quickly vanishing from the room. Kurostchi just blinked a bit, looking around and trying to figure out where the Commander would have gotten to. He sighed, however, deciding not to dwell on the subject, or face Yamamoto's anger...
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Nel's sadness echoed throughout the household. It was finally night and Ichigo wasn't home yet. The entire residence felt Ichigo's spiritual pressure diminish greatly, before mysteriously disappearing. Nel was usually more hopeful when it came to waiting for Ichigo to return, but it had been nearly four hours since then, and if he had to go to the Soul Society, he would've just called the home by then. Yuzu and Karin did their best to calm the sad Nel down, but the best results it brought was only sniffles with still a bit of tears.
"Nel, don't worry. Everything will be ok." Yuzu cooed, stroking Nel's hair gently as she sat on the couch with Karin right next to her.
"She's right. You know how Ichigo always comes back on top of things after all, don't you?" Karin replied, rubbing her head as well. Nel just sniffled as she held onto Yuzu's chest, sitting in her lap.
"But Itzy-Itzy-Itzygo's pwobably dead!" Nel cried. Yuzu and Karin felt worried about Ichigo as well, but were more worried about how they were going to calm down Nel. Usually in most cases, Kon would be in Ichigo's body and pretend to be him, and Nel was the only one at the time who thought it was still Ichigo, not really able to understand the whole Gikongai thing. It worked for practically a year until Nel accidently knocked the Gigai out of Ichigo's body, and cried through the entire night until Ichigo returned, thinking that she accidently killed him. Karin looked back at her father who just kept looking out the window to the outside. He's been standing there for almost an hour straight, as if he's starrin off into space.
"Hey dad, something wrong?" Karin asked. She waited for a few seconds for a reply before asking again, not getting one. "Dad!" Karin said louder, causing him to a jump a bit as he looked back.
"You say something?" Isshin asked.
"What are you starring off into? Ichigo will be fine, right?" Karin asked, trying to get a yes out of him as a way to help calm Nel down. Isshin grinned as he knew what she was trying to do.
"Of course he is." Isshin replied, putting on his jacket. Yuzu and Karin looked curiously as he opened the door.
"Hey dad, where you going?" Yuzu asked.
"Just to get a little fresh air." Isshin replied. Nel sniffled a bit as she climbed up to Yuzu's shoulder, laying her head down on it.
"W-W-Will you pwease...Make suwe Itzugo is f-f-fine..." Nel said, crying in between. Isshin just chuckled a bit to himself.
"Don't worry. I'll drag him home alive if I have too." Isshin joked, closing the door. Yuzu and Karin looked at the door , knowing that he was really going to go looking for Ichigo out in the city to see if he was alright. They looked back down at Nel as she yawned through her crying.
"Are you sleepy Nel?" Yuzu asked. Nel nodded a bit as she rubbed her eyes.
"Do you want to go to bed?" Karin asked. Nel's eyes opened wide as she through her tiny arms around Yuzu's neck.
"No no no! Pwease, don't make me sweep awone! I...I..." Nel cried, trying to finish her sentence. "I hate being awone!" Nel cried. Yuzu gently held her as she rubbed the back of her head gently. She looked back at Karin, wondering if they were thinking the same thing. As expected, Karin nodded back to Yuzu, who smiled a bit down at Nel.
"Do you want to sleep with us in our room Nel?" Yuzu asked. Nel sniffled a bit as she tried to keep herself from crying, with little success, but nodded yes. "Kay, let's go. You should've been in bed an hour ago anyway." Yuzu commented, as the two of them walked upstairs. Karin just smiled as she watched the two leaving before looking back outside worriedly. She knew that something happened to Ichigo as well, but as to what it was or if he's ok remained the question...
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Ishida checked the corner of the street, trying to make sure the coast was clear. The hollow had been on their tail for a long time, and it didn't even seem to be getting exhausted. They were the ones getting exhausted from the continuous fighting, while the hollow only seemed to keep fighting, no matter how many pieces it was blown into. Ishida pressed against the wall as he saw the hollow walking down the street. The hollow looked in both directions before turning in the opposite direction, trying to figure out where the two went. After seeing the hollow left, Ishida sighed as he looked back at Orihime, who seemed to be slouched down against the wall, still with the same worried look as before.
"I think we lost him for the time being." Ishida said, kneeling. Orihime looked at him with a bit of concern.
"We have to get going though. I need to find Ichigo." Orihime replied.
"Look, whatever happened to Ichigo, he'll be fine. You know how he's always lived through his challenges, even if he was killed." Ishida said, trying to make Orihime feel better. Orihime gave off a slight smile as a sign of thanks, but went back to a frown as she looked down. Whoever it was that fought Ichigo was powerful, and even with Ichigo's abilities they seemed to have no affect on Grim whatsoever. The silence was broken however as the wall near them came crashing down. Ishida grabbed Orihime and ducked out of the way in time before the two were flattened by the debris. In the wall's place, the giant hollow was glaring down at them, roaring in rage.
"Damn it! Doesn't that thing ever take a break?" Ishida yelled, aiming his bow towards the hollow. Before he could fire, the hollow smashed his massive hand against Ishida, flailing him back against the wall.
"Ishida!" Orihime yelled worriedly, before the hollow's roaring caught her attention. Orihime shrugged off her feelings for the time being, knowing that she needed to focus on the problem at hand. She focused her thoughts the best she could as she aimed with her hands to focus her attack. "Koten Zanshun (Single Heavenly Cutting Shield)-I reject!" Orihime shouted, firing Tsubaki straight towards the hollow. The hollow roared as it was cut in half by Tsubaki, flying back to Orihime's braid soon after. Ishida rubbed his head as he looked back at the hollow, noticing how she cut it in half. It was to no use though as the hollow simply pulled itself back together, seeming to have no affect.
Damnit! No matter what we do it won't die! Ishida thought to himself.
"Sing, Benihime!" A voice shouted out, catching Orihime's and Ishida's attention. Orihime quickly ran out of the way as a red beam of energy was slashed straight towards the hollow, splitting it in two sideways. Orihime breathed heavily a bit from nearly escaping the explosion. As they looked back at the source of the red beam, they weren't surprised when they saw Urahara standing on a lightpost above them.
"Well Orihime and Ishida, what's u...AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Urahara yelled, slipping on the lightpost and landing face first onto the cement pavement. Ishida and Orihime felt a sweat drop as they knew only someone this ridiculous would be their savior... "Oww...ok, that hurt." Urahara commented, as he rubbed his somewhat bleeding nose.
"Well...uhh...thanks Urahara." Orihime nervously said, still somewhat curious how someone so ridiculous saved them.
"Ahh, it was nothing. To be honest, I'm quite surprised you lived for as long as you did." Urahara replied, growing confused looks on Orihime and Ishida's face.
"What do you mean?" Ishida asked. Urahara tilted his hat up a bit as he looked at the two a bit more seriously.
"You haven't heard? Those hollows aren't regular hollows."
"We kinda figured that when they kept regenerating..." Ishida replied, mentally rolling his eyes as he remembered the fact he shot them over hundreds of times, yet they still didn't die.
"I mean really unregular. Everywhere, hollows have been showing up turning into these unstoppable killing machines. Soul Societies in disoray because these hollows regenerate even from the smallest of remains. If you blow off one chunk, cut it in half, or smash it to the ground, they'll keep coming back and fighting. And the worst part is, these hollows never run out of energy. They just keep coming back until the targets dead." Urahara replied. Ishida and Orihime grew quite surprised at the given information. They had no idea there was more than one of these types of hollows appearing around the world, and the fact Soul Society were having a problem as well was another problem. Thier conversation was cut short though as a Senkaimon gate appeared near them. Urahara grinned as he pressed his hat against his head a bit tighter as the portal opened. Orihime's and Ishida's eyes widened as they saw Yamamoto walking out of the portal. A hell butterfly flew out of the portal shortly right behind him as the portal closed.
"Well, what do I owe the honor of this, Commander?" Urahara asked. He noticed how Yamamoto's eyes suddenly widened as he looked at the three.
"Move!" He shouted, slashing his blade right towards Ishida and Orihime. They quickly ducked out of the way as they saw the burning flame of energy being blasted towards them. To their surprised, Yamamoto blasted at the hollow that lunged towards them as they were distracted by Yamamoto's appearance.
"Wow, thanks." Ishida said, surprised that he didn't even sense the hollow's attacking them.
"I take it you're here because of the hollows?" Urahara asked.
"I came here to speak with the one that released Grim from his imprisonment." Yamamoto replied, coughing a bit as he did. Orihime looked worriedly at him as he did, noticing how loud he was when he did.
"Are you ok?" Orihime asked. Yamamoto let out a sigh of relief after he finished coughing.
"Apparently my age is catching up to me." Yamamoto replied. As Ishida turned back around, expecting to see the hollows burning remains, his eyes widened at what was in it's place instead: swirling in a purple-like vortex, a strange light began eminating from it, catching the attention of the others.
"What is that thing?" Orihime asked, confused. As if to answer her question, the strange light grew a bit brighter before an image began to grow from it. Everyone gasped as they saw Grim through the image, smirking as he looked back at them.
"So, my guess was correct." Yamamoto statted, stepping closer to the screen. Grim just chuckled to himself before replying again.
"Ah Yamamoto, it's been awhile hasn't it?" Grim asked. "I'm quite surprised you actually figured out how to kill this hollow, then again I was hoping you would've done so sooner." Grim commented, quickly changing glances towards Orihime. "Hello Kassandra." Orihime could feel tears welling up inside of her, knowing that whatever it was that Grim was doing, he was also the one who took Ichigo. She has been so worried about Ichigo the entire time, even when she did her best not to show it.
"I'm not Kassandra, and where's Ichigo?" Orihime yelled, both angry and sad at the current predicament.
"Oh, do you wish to see him?" Grim asked sarcastically.
"Yes!" Orihime shouted. Ishida was quite surprised by her anger, never seeing this side of her before.
"Very well..." Grim replied, snapping his fingers. The screen moved until it showed Ichigo, who was tied up in the chains in his arms. Orihime's eyes widened at the sight.
"Ichigo!" Orihime shouted. A small smile grew on her sadened experession as the four of them saw Ichigo's head starting to lift up. Her happiness was cut short though at Ichigo's face, who looked just like his hollow side. She stood there, shocked in fear, at the sight of Ichigo like this. Ichigo chuckled mischeviously as he pulled the chains off with a large crackle of the chains breaking off. The hollow walked right next up to Grim, still smirking at the sight. "What have you done to Ichigo?" Orihime asked, dropping to her knees. Grim just chuckled a bit before he replied again.
"Oh, I don't know what you mean. You simply asked for Ichigo, all I did was simply give his dominant personality more power." Grim replied.
"What is it you ask for, Grim?" Yamamoto yelled.
"I have a fairly simple proposition: Simply surrender Kassandra and the world will be fine. But, if you try to refuse, I'll simply have to make an appearance, along with my...special guest." Grim replied as Ichigo took out his Zanpakto. In one burst of energy, Ichigo destroyed the communication between them and Yamamoto and the others. The others looked as they heard Orhime sniffling, tears rolling down her face and falling down her face.
"I...Need to tell him." Orihime stuttered. "I need to tell him...Something important." Ishida glared back at Urahara and Yamamoto.
"You both have explaining to do."
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And....I think I'll stop there for the moment. Next Chapter, we learn Grim's secret past, and this mysterious Kassandra. A large battle will be taking place in a few chapters, so stay tuned till then. Also like to note, I'm going to try to add every single idea from other fanfics into this one. You'll see what I mean by that later in the chapters as well. For now though, read and review!