As usual, I neither own Bleach, nor it's characters; Kubo does.
######
4. Hopes Gone Awry
Tier Halibel stood on the sands of Hueco Mundo, Las Noches in the distance. Sung-sun and Mila Rose stood in sullen silence behind her. They weren't too happy that Apacci had been the one trusted with the mission.
"Lady Halibel. Surely it would be best if we accom…"
"Enough, Mila Rose. I have made my decision!" Halibel interrupted.
"Yes, Lady Halibel. I apologize."
Suddenly, Garganta opened a little to her left, and the horned Fraccion walked through, followed by the sandy haired scientist. The man often reminded her of Aizen: a genius, scary powerful, and a former Taichou of the Gotei 13. Yet, he was different in a very important way: he was humble.
Oh, there was a certain arrogant pride about him, as you would find with any man of skill. Yet, there was a lack of the over-reaching ambition that Aizen radiated as surely as he did Reiatsu.
"Good evening Halibel-hime~." He said to her, a rather ridiculous smile on his face.
"He was located several Giga-meters south of Los Noches. Follow me." She said, skipping all the formalities. She hated wasting time.
"Lead the way~" He said, covering his face with a fan.
Turning south, she began to Sonido quickly, expecting that he would be able to keep up. He kept to her left, only a few inches behind her, keeping up with her every move. Her Fracciones staid behind, sullen at not being able to back up their mistress, but they would never be able to keep up.
After a few hours of this, she slowed to a simple sprint of about 60 km/h. After about five minutes of this, they were joined by Numero 65, who sonidoed over to run on her right side.
"Report." She said, brusquely.
"He is just over that dune in the distance." He said. "Are you sure we have enough people? It's always harder to take someone alive then kill them, and this guy seems scary powerful."
"We're Arrancar, I'm more powerful now then even Stark was before breaking his mask. This shouldn't be a problem." She reassured the Arrancar.
As soon as they reached the top of the Dune, she paused. He stood at about six foot, covered in white armor plates, had a thin, whip-like tail, and claws. He had fur at his collar, wrists, and ankles, and stripes across his chest, around his hole, and up his neck. His mask was similar to a human skull, with slits for eye sockets, and horns. The horns curves forward, in front of its head.
He truly was intimidating. Not just his appearance, but also his powerful and violent Reiatsu.
The moment he saw them, he howled and beg to charge a huge Cero between his horns. Halibel immediately began charging a Cero to counter his. It took all of her power to keep from being overwhelmed, but it still blew across her.
The moment it cleared, he appeared in front of her, claws raised to strike. His Sonido was one of the fastest she had ever seen.
"Hado Number One, Sho*!" Urahara shouted from her left, and the Vasto Lorde was thrown to the side violently. Halibel glanced at the Shinigami and saw him standing with a look in his eye that chilled her to her hole.
The Vasto Lorde was on his feat immediately, but before he could do anything, Urahara shouted again.
"Bakudo Number Sixty-One, Rikujokorou*!" Six bars of golden light slammed into the horned Hollow from all side, holding him in place.
Howling, the creature began to push at them, cracking the Bakudo spell.
His eyes widening, Urahara began to chant. "Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six!" With those words the spell flashed, and grew larger and, apparently, stronger. But, the Vasto Lorde still fought the Kido. "Bakudo Number 63, Sajou Sabaku***!" A glowing chain of gold shot out of Urahara's fingers, wrapping around the arms and upper torso of the Hollow.
With a howl, the creature spiked its Reiatsu, straining against the chains. They began to stretch as he warped the links with the sheer power of his arms.
"That wont hold for long." Halibel shouted at the Shinigami, stunned both by the power of the former Taichou, and that of the Menos Grande before her.
"Bakudo Number Seventy-Nine, Kuyou Shibari****!" Urahara shouted and a sphere of black energy bloomed into existence above the straining Hollow's head. It was followed, in a clock wards direction, by seven others forming circle surrounding the Vasto Lorde, and another one blooming against his chest; nine spheres in all.
"That should hold him for a little bit." Urahara said, pulling out a small device. It looked like a syringe mounted with a flashlight's bulb where the needle should be. The filament inside formed a thirteen-pointed star.
With a quick Shunpo Urahara appeared right in front of the monstrous Menos Grande, pointed the device at it's face, And began chanting. "Wind carries the smell of a moth in the fires of hell. Binding thought and sneering lord, piercing weight and an omniscient fool. Hirameki no Hogyoku*****!" He pressed down the plunger.
A flash of violet light, followed first by the sound of glass breaking, then the sound of a mask cracking.
With an explosion of powerful Reiatsu, most of the mask and all of the armor was blown off the hollow. Suddenly the Reiatsu dropped back down to a more stable, yet still large, level. And Ichigo Kurosaki fell, eyes rolling into the back of his head.
Halibel walked up to him and looked down. He was paler then he had been as a Shinigami, and his hair was more of a platinum blond then the orange-ish strawberry-blond he had been. His hair was longer, falling over his eyes and ears, curling around the nape of his neck.
The mask was broken down the center, both vertically and horizontally, leaving only the top, left quarter. It stopped above his eyebrow and ear, with one horn protruding forward. He had a single teal stripe running along the horn and cap, and one tattoo like teal mark running from his left eye, across his mouth, and down to his jaw line, just to the left of his chin.
He was also completely naked.
Halibel found herself blushing. It wasn't the first time she had seen a man naked, but it had been many years.
"Huh, never thought of clothing." Urahara said, looking down at the Arrancar, a half Hollow, and half Shinigami hybrid. He pulled of his Haori, wrapped it around the blond, and threw him over his shoulder. "Shall we return to Los Noches?"
* Shō: (衝) Thrust
** Rikujokorou: (六杖光牢) Six-Staff Light Prison
*** Sajou Sabaku (鎖条鎖縛) Chainlink Chain Bond(s)
**** Kuyou Shibari (九曜縛) Nine-Daylight Bonds
***** Hirameki no Hogyoku (閃の崩玉) Hogyoku Flash
######
Dena knocked on Rex's office door and entered before he could say anything. Well, they called it an office, but it was more of a private training room. It was mostly a large, empty space with some workout equipment and meditation area. There was also a table that could be used as a desk, though it was so high you could only stand at it, or sit on a barstool stool.
"Olla, César*!" She called out, interrupting his workout. He was performing a full-planche, and based off the digital timer, he had been at it for three hours strait.
"Do not call me that, Sebte**." He said, without expression.
As usual, Dena's heart was pounding far harder then it should. She never got used to being around him, feeling his powerful Reiatsu around her made her feel more comfortable, and incredibly nervous.
Though she was a beautiful woman, August Rex had never looked at her as a woman. She was a Spaniard with a black hair, dark brown eyes, and a flamenco dancer's build. She wore black, hip-hugger slacks, high healed, platform boots, and a ruffled, scarlet, silk shirt. Her hair was pulled up into ponytail and she was wearing large, looped earrings.
No mater how hard she tried, the frustrating blond would never look at her as anything but a former student.
"Si. I'll call you "Rey***" then!" She said. "So, you wanted to see me? Um… how long are you planning on doing that?" She asked, looking at his awkward position. He was standing on his hands, but instead of being vertical, in a typical handstand, he was horizontal. The full-planche was an extremely hard position, as it required great strength, balance, and endurance.
"I plan on breaking my last record of five hours, forty-three minutes, seventeen seconds, and sixty-three milliseconds."
"Rey, your crazy! What's the point of that?"
"Don't give me names, call me Rex; and I have to challenge myself, or I will go stagnant. This is the only way we old people can keep young."
Dena blinked. She always forgot just how old he was, because he looked to be in his late twenties, or early thirties. "Riiiight… So, again, why am I here?"
"I want you to go to Hueco Mundo for a deeper recon. I think we need a look inside Los Noches. Take whichever team you prefer."
"Mannschaft-Sechs**** should work, Nanami's Fullbring is perfect for recon, and Katrina's is perfect to get us out."
"Huh, I tell you to go into the heart of enemy territory, and you want to take the weakest team of the Zwölf-Gottheiten? Your crazy."
"It's about the quality of the power, not the size. You should know that better then anyone, August." She said, amused.
"What is with you and names? Didn't I tell you to use my surname?"
"If I can't give you a nickname, at least let me use your given name."
"Just go."
"Fine!" She said, and left in a huff. "Katrina! Nanami! Get your buts out here." She screamed dawn the hall. "We've got a mission!"
* César: Caesar (Sp)
** Sebta: 7th (Gr)
*** Rey: King (Sp)
**** Mannschaft-Sechs: Team-7 (Gr)
######
"He's waking up." The short, blond Vizard said, looking into the shield. Urahara had called in Hachi, the former second in command of the Kido corps, to assist; and he had taken Hiyori along. The massive, soft looking Vizzard had set up a huge, multi-layered barrier the size of four football fields, the newest Arrancar resting in the center.
"You ready?" Urahara asked Halibel.
"Of course I am." She said, rolling her eyes at the annoying ex-Taichou.
"Hachi." He said, and the huge Vizard slapped his hands together, then he slammed them into the ground, opening a door in the barrier.
Halibel stepped into the huge space, the hole in the barrier sealing behind her, and headed over to the Arrancar, as he slowly sat up.
"Hey, who are you?" He asked, in a bored voice.
"That suggests that you haven't regained your memories." She said, matter of factly. "What do you remember from before?"
"Huh? Answer my fucking question before you go asking your own." He said, standing and glairing at her. He was wearing a traditional white Hakama of Los Noches, with a strange Kimono. It looked more like a western duster then anything. Like was often the case, it changed its shape to match the person. Actually, now that she thought back, it looked like his Bankai's Shihakushou; except, it was white with a teal lining rather then black and red.
"I am Tier Halibel, former Trecero Espada, present ruler of Hueco Mundo."
"Huh. Not a bell ringin' here." He said, shrugging. "Well, I remember roaming Hueco Mundo. I remember being trapped in this palace while I was an Adjucha, and I remember escaping. Then I became a Vasto Lorde, fought you and some crazy guy, and now… what the heck did you do to me?"
"He broke the barrier between Hollow and Shinigami, making you an Arrancar."
"Okay… Not completely following, but that can wait. Now the question is, why am I inside this cage thing?" He asked, looking around.
"So you don't remember anything from before you became a Hollow?"
"First, I don't remember anything from before I became a Gillian, and even that's hazy; and second, answer my fucking question."
"You are inside this barrier because we can't be sure that we can trust you, as of yet."
"Fuck you, bitch. Let me out, and I promise not to tear you limb from limb." He said, standing and picking up his Zanpakutou. The weapon looked like his Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu, except it was white, and the eel-skin under the silk cord on the grip was teal instead of red.
In answer, she simply drew her Zanpakutou.
He was on her in an instant, the speed and power behind his attacks surprising her. He kept on her, a barrage of fast, powerful attacks that she could barely block. She quickly Sonidoed out of the way, but he was suddenly behind her. Damn, he's fast.
Charging her sword with blue Reiryoku, she avoided his attack and swung, shouting: "Ola Azul*!"
He smashed the wave of energy apart with his Zanpakutou and vanished, appearing a few yards behind her, and formed a teal Cero in his hand.
Fuck! She formed a yellow Cero in her own hand and released it at the same time he did. He's so fucking powerful!
With a quick Sonido, she appeared behind him and sent a Bala at his back. But, he was gone, appearing from the end of a Sonido above her and sending over a dozen Bala flying at her, from both hands and feet, spinning around in a chaotic, acrobatic move allowing him to keep punching and kicking the Hollow attacks at her.
With an instinctual Sonido, she dodged the Balas and raised her Zanpakutou. "Ute, Tiburon**!" She shouted, and was engulfed in a sudden rush of salt water. With a swing of her Zanpakutou, she dispersed the water. The part of her mask that had covered her face was gone, but the part on her shoulders and grown shark-fin shaped spikes; and from the bottom of her breasts down was a line of bone-like plates, looking almost like a spine, running the centerline of her abdomen. She wore a mini-skirt of bones slats, and her forearms and lower legs were covered in white armor. Two long strips of white cloth hung from her pauldrons.
And Tiburon had become a huge, shark-tooth shaped, gill slitted sword.
"Cascada***!" She shouted, sending a rushing surge of water at the Arrancar, enough to crush him and the ground he stood on. This was one of her most powerful attacks.
The thump of a Sonido sounded behind her, and she turned to see Ichigo pointing his Zanpakutou at her, his left hand gripping his right for-arm.
"Decapitar, Psicópata****!" He screamed. With a flash of teal-rimmed, white Reiryoku, he stood before her, radiating incredible Reiatsu. He's already figured out Resoreccion? Did he learn simply from watching me?
He was exactly like he had been as a Vasto Lorde, except he had no armor, the stripes which had been red were now teal, he no longer had a tail, and there was no longer any mask. Not even the half cap he had had earlier. The marks that had previously been on his mask were now on his face, and his platinum blond hair had grown to waist length.
The only remnants of his mask were two horns sprouting out of his head and arching forward.
A huge Cero began to form between the horns. Acting immediately, Halibel used Sonido to move out of the way, when she was certain he was about to fire. Yet, he simply turned his head, charging a little longer, and released it.
Charging her own Cero inside Tiburon, she swung her sword, sending out a Cero to block his. It didn't work. His Cero dominated hers with ease. And he was to her left, sending a bombardment of Balas at her.
She Sonidoed away, and swung her sword at him. "La Gota*****" She screamed, sending water that had formed around her blade flying at Ichigo.
Yet he was behind her, slamming her in the kidney. She Sonidoed away, holding her side in pain, and sent another La Gota at him. Yet he was right in front of her, within her guard, holding the tip of Tiburon with his left hand. Raising his right, he punched her sword, shattering it into two shards.
Using the two-foot end section, he slammed her to the ground. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He's way too strong.
He was standing before her when she stood up. With a punch to her gut, he sent her flying, and bouncing off the barrier. With a thudding sound, he was next to her, kicking her another hundred yards. As she got up, he was, once again, standing there. He struck her in the temple, and she dropped.
She had only felt this dominated once, and that was with Aizen. She felt her Resureccion fade, leaving her with the hilt of a Zanpakutou and nothing more.
Rearing back his fist, Ichigo struck her in the mask, shattering it. A flash of pain shocked Halibel, locking all her muscles. He then began to systematically rip away her mask, until there was nothing left.
Pain was all she knew for a moment. The strange, soul tearing pain of the masks absence, and the feeling of raw skin on her face, neck, shoulders, and, worst of all, her nipples.
Feeling a grip on the back of her neck, she looked up into Ichigo's shinning, golden eyes. He looked strangely intense for a moment, and then he leaned forward and kissed her on her bloodied lips.
Pain forgotten, Halibel was too stunned by the suddenness of the kiss, and her extremely positive reaction to it, to do anything but receive it.
He pulled away and looked down at her. "You look far better without the mask." He said, and crushed the bones of her neck with his left hand.
Everything went black.
* Ola Azul: Blue Wave (Sp)
** Ute, Tiburon: Destroy, Shark (Sp)
*** Cascada: Cascade (Sp)
**** Decapitar, Psicópata: Decapitate, Psychopath (Sp)
***** La Gota: The Drop (Sp)
######
Fuck! Did he kill her? Acting quickly Urahara turned towards the giant rosette. "Hachi, bind him!"
"Right!" The Vizzard said, and pointed his fingers at the Arrancar. "Bakudo Number Sixty-Three, Sajou Sabaku!" And a Kido chain flew from his fingers, passing through the barriers and wrapped around the Ichigo. Hachi was the only one that could send anything through his barriers.
Immediately, Ichigo began to stretch the chain. It wouldn't last much longer. "Bakudo Number Thirty-Five, Kuroi Hougou*!" Urahara's eyes widened, that was a forbidden Kido. He turned to see what it actually looked like, as he had never seen that particular one used.
Thousands of black wires tore into the skin of Ichigo's arm, came out the other side, went across (or through) his torso and repeated the same process on the other arm. Urahara shuddered, that was a fairly nasty Bakudo. And yet, Ichigo still fought it, tearing his own skin.
"Bakudo Number Ninety-Nine, Bankin**; First Song: Shiryuu***." Hachi slammed his hands into the ground, and, with a flash of white light, cloth shot out of the ground, through the barrier, and wrapped around Ichigo.
"Second song: Hyakurensan****!" And multiple metal bolts shot into Ichigo, nailing the cloth directly to his flesh.
"Third Song: Bankin Taihou*****!" Hachi slapped his hands together, forearms parallel to the ground. A huge, metal weight formed in the air above Ichigo and fell, pinning him to the ground.
"Well done, Hachi-dono." Urahara said, looking at the Vizzard's handiwork. "Now, open a…" He began, but stopped when he saw the weight shift.
Ichigo was trying to get up! "Hachi!"
"Bakudo Number Ninety-Nine, Kin******!" Hachi shouted, wrapping his middle fingers around his forefingers, and curling his ring and pinky fingers, he slapped his hands together. Two long, black straps fell out of the sky and crossed over the Bankin weight, and were then covered in a series of rectangular weights, holding them down.
"Quickly, open up a door!" Urahara yelled, ready to Shunpo. "Hiyori, get Tiburon, I'll get her."
The moment a rectangular opening appeared in the barriers, they flashed through, he grabbed Halibel and Hiyori got the Zanpakutou. He was about to leave when he heard a noise, he turned and saw that Ichigo had broken from the first two Kido's and was digging a howl in the ground, in front of his face.
In a flash, Urahara was out, dragging Hiyori by her Shihakushou, and shouting: "Close it!" It was almost too late, because Ichigo drove his horns down, into the hole, and pressed his hands flat against the ground, and begun to charge three Ceros. Red light exploded outward, just as the barrier slammed closed.
"That was close!" Hachi said, watching as the light faded, leaving a cloud of dust.
"Too close." Urahara said, looking at Tier Halibel. Suddenly, she retched, spewing out a white, dough-like substance, which began to form into a skeleton jaw-line on the left side of her face.
"Her mask is coming rather slow… is that all it's going to do?" Hiyori asked, looking down at the former Espada.
"Maybe her injury is slowing its formation." Urahara said, beginning to heal the crushed bones in her neck.
"Eeeh?" Urahara heard Hachi say, and turned to look. Ichigo stood in all his resurrected glory, surrounded by the shards of two level Ninety-Nine Bakudos.
"Let me out of this thing, fuckers!" He screamed at them.
"Fufufu… that kid is always surprising me!"
* Kuroi Hogou: (黒縫合) Black Suture
** Bankin: (卍禁) Great Seal
*** Shiryuu: (止繃) Halting Wrap
**** Hyakurensan: (百連閂) Hundred Serial Bolts
***** Bankin Taihou: (卍禁太封) Final Seal Great Mount
****** Kin: (禁) Seal
######
"Ready?" Dena asked the two girls in front of her.
"Nai, Almudena!" Katrina agreed. Like most of the Gottenheit, the Grecian chick liked to say simple words in her primary language.
"I hate my full name, call me Dena!" She snapped. "What about you, Nanami?"
"Hai, Capello-sama." The Japanese Fullbring said, ignoring Dena's complaint.
"Fine, lets go." Dena said, and reached out her hand.
With a few exceptions, all things in the world of the living have a Reishi counterpart, called a "soul" by some. The exceptions are rogue Reishi in the atmosphere, and the far more rare "dead particles". Dead particles are Kishi that have no Reishi counterpart. But they are rare.
The ability of the Fullbringer is to create a sympathetic link between their own soul and that Reishi, and to manipulate it. By doing so, they also manipulated the Kishi, as what happens to one, happens to the other.
Concentrating, she reached past the simple Reishi of the atoms that make up the air, and found the deeper truth of reality. The "Reishi" counterpart of the fabric of the universe.
The very Soul of the World of the Living.
Taking a deep breath, she tore a hole in it, and stepped through.
######
After putting a still unconscious Halibel in her room to recover from her ordeal, Urahara pulled out a Soulphone and pressed the first speed-dial.
"Ah, Hitsugaya-kun!"
"That's Hitsugaya-Taichou to you, ex-Taichou." The flat, deep voice on the other side said harshly.
"Hai, hai. Anyways, we found Ichigo." He said.
"Huh? How did it go?"
"Well, the Hirameki Hogyoku worked wonders. But it was as you feared, Ichigo makes everything more difficult then it needs to be."
"So, plan B, then?" Hitsugaya said, sighing.
"Yup!"
"How troublesome. I'll need to tell the Sou-Taichou*."
"Could you do me a favor?" Urahara asked.
"Huh?"
"Could you collect the people in the world of the living? I won't be able to return just yet."
* Sou-Taichou: (総隊長) Captain-General
(A/U) – Well, that took a heck of a lot longer then I thought it would. Writers block really sucks. I hope you like the footnotes I gave you, cause I wasted a little over an hour doing them. If writers block strikes again, I may do a fun Crossover I thought of as a way to get my brain working. If it works out at all, I might post that as well. Won't be as planned out as this one is.
Please, Read & Review!