Bleach Family Ties
Chapter Seven
By Cindra
A/N: I did a little revision just to clear up anymore questions like the one asked in Eradona's review...hope it helps clear things up.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and this story is just for fun.
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"This is a new one." Ichigo and the others stood in what appeared to be a cavernous area illuminated by luminescent crystals.
"No sand is fine by me." Renji growled.
"Hueco Mundo at least had allies; this place is a total mystery." Rukia could feel eyes watching their every move.
"This was obviously a ploy to lure us here so all of need to be on our guard." Uryū had a bad feeling about who was up to no good. Urahara had provided all of them with a barrage of vaccinations after they had returned from Hueco Mundo to guard against any poisons or viruses that his former protégé could devise against them. He also negated the psycho's access to his person, but he could still sense the bastard if he was around.
"What's wrong, Uryū? Ya, getting bad vibes?" Ichigo asked.
"We're being watched." Rukia took out her phone to contact the Sereitei. "Damn it, it's being jammed. I've got no signal…"
"The crystals must be blocking the signal." Kirio made her presence known.
"Rio. What's going on?" Ichigo scowled. "Where the hell are we?"
"Somewhere I haven't been in over two millennia. King Getsu had these caverns sealed off and for good reason. This used to be the main source of spiritual stone, until it was discovered that what was buried underneath the stone was depleting to those possessing spiritual energy. The stones seemed harmless at first. Many royals coveted them as things of great power or beauty. Then those who coveted such rare and glorious gems began to grow old. Their very essence drained away by the Soul Gems…more like Soul Stealers." Kiri shivered as this was not a happy memory.
"Rio, what's wrong?" Ichigo eyed her worriedly.
"Just remembering one of my not so nice adventures with your Uncle Koji. We were just out of the Academy and determined to prove ourselves to Shin and the others by solving the mystery behind the deaths and illness plaguing the very elite of our kind. The trail led us to the Senkei mines…" Kiri answered softly.
"But everything is built out of reishi or positive spiritual energy." Uryū frowned puzzled by what she was telling them.
"Yes, the essence of everything is created from reishi, but that is merely a building block by which all of our materials are derived from." Kiri nodded.
"Like how living beings are created from DNA?" Ichigo forced himself to focus on what she was saying, but it was difficult as his head was pounding.
"Reishi is no different. Objects that are created by reishi can create negative byproducts, such as this beautiful but deadly gemstone."
"Do these stones have an instantaneous effect or is it gradual depending on how long one is exposed?" Uryū inquired.
"Depending on the size of the stone its effects can be gradual or otherwise." Kiri narrowed her eyes at her former charge. There was a very different energy about him and it worried her.
"What? Is my mask forming again?" Ichigo scowled. "Give me a break, Rio! I'm having a bad day, alright!"
"No one faults you for your darker half so focus on the now." Renji growled.
"Ichigo, only a handful of Soul Reapers are immune to the Soul Stealers effects. All but a few of them are from your bloodline." Kiri spoke in a soothing tone as if dealing with a cranky toddler.
"Yeah, well, that's good for him, but still leaves us vulnerable." Renji sneered.
"Soul Stealers take time to drain energy and these are all but dormant." Kiri explained patiently.
"Then we need to keep moving and focus on finding a way out of these caverns." Rukia was also worried about the energy that she was feeling around Ichigo.
"There's something different about the cavern. It's not possible that we've been transported to the ancient Senkei mines, yet those are Soul Stealer gemstones all around us. Crystals that should have rendered us all powerless… Yet here we are still very much unaffected…Something is very off about this whole situation…" Kiri brainstormed the situation trying to put the pieces together in her mind.
"That's a good thing right?" Renji hated closed in spaces.
"Renji, if these stones have been tweaked by Captain Kurotsuchi then no it's not a good thing in the least." Rukia rolled her eyes at him.
"The fissure closed as soon as Ichigo entered it, so this was a trap set for him. We're just an added bonus." Uryū fired a series of arrows at the crystals that were instantly absorbed into them. "That answers that question. These crystals still feed off of or absorb spiritual energy."
"Uryū, lets not try and activate Soul Stealing gemstones if they happen to be currently dormant, alright!" Ichigo narrowed his eyes at his cousin. "Now let's get out of here before Doc Psycho comes to check on his trap."
"Uh, Ichigo, your eyes are that creepy gold again…"
"Yeah, so what Renji! My head is coming off and this whole situation has me on edge!"
"I'm used to the other, but now your eyes are reminding me of a reptile, cuz they're getting almond shaped..."
"I'm me, alright! Now let's get the hell out of this place!" Ichigo stalked off towards what he hoped was the exit to their crystal prison.
"Renji, the last thing we need is for Ichigo to lose it, so enough with the critiques!" Uryū hissed.
"He's already gone off twice, but this is something different I tell ya! There is something off about his Reiatsu!" Renji hissed back.
"His Hollow side is feeding off of the Soul Stealers energy." Kiri observed quietly.
"Captain…"
"Call me Kiri, Rukia. I'm not stuffy like your brother. Kiri is fine."
"Kiri, do you think that Captian Kurotsuchi enhanced the Soul Stealers effects to draw out Hichigo?"
"Mayuri never got to witness any of his and Aizen's creations transformations, so yes, Rukia. That is a very definite possibility." Kiri nodded.
Uryū's eyes widened as something hit him that few knew about Ichigo's Vizard side. "Then we're not talking Hichigo here at all. This will be far more extensive of a change than just his eyes, voice, and mask."
"We're not talkin full-blown Hollow here are we?" Renji eyed Ichigo's now exceedingly pale complexion alarmingly.
"Shinji and the other Vizards all took on Hollow like transformations when exposed to Mayuri and Aizen's experiment. It's one of the reasons why they were slated to be hunted down, but Kisuke thought otherwise knowing that they were all trapped inside their monstrous forms and used the Hougyoku to try to reverse the damage. His efforts failed to completely reverse the effects caused by Mayuri and Aizen's experiment and so he was framed and accused of causing the whole debacle. The Vizards were ordered executed as Hollows…so they all fled to your world fugitives by no fault of their own. Kisuke even perfected the process if in fact such drastic measures were ever needed…" Kiri explained.
"Ichigo would never hurt us." Rukia scowled.
"Of course, I would never hurt you guys. Why? What's got ya thinking that I would?" Ichigo turned around to growl at them, his voice had now changed as well. A fact that had him reaching up to feel his face for his mask. There was no mask as of yet, but his eyes did however take in his milky white complexion.
"Rio! What the hell is going on?! My…My…skin its like Hichigo's!"
"Mayuri modified the Soul Stealers to trigger your Hollowfication…"
Ichigo's eyes widened in alarm. "Hichigo or worse?"
"I'm leaning towards worse, seein as you're turning white and are growing talons…" Renji tried to act cool, but his face showed otherwise.
"Ichigo, you need to calm your mind. Remember your training with Shinji." Rukia walked up to him reaching up to touch his face.
"I caused them all extreme bodily harm during the training to rein in my Hollow side. They had so many Kidō locks on me and it was barely enough to contain it!" Ichigo had to get away from them. He never wanted Rukia to see what he was like in that form.
"Are ya Vasto lorde/Espada or a whole new level like that?" Renji arched a brow at him.
"You don't wanna know. I look something out of an alien movie as a Hollow. I mean really, freaky with a lizard head, tail, and the works…" He held his head in agony. "You…have…to…get out of here…while...I'm still me!"
"No!!" Rukia snapped.
"Rukia! I don't want you to…"
"See the beast side of the prince? Tough, we're not leaving you."
"I don't wanna hurt you…any of you…"
"You won't. I'm a Kidō master. Tessai was my sensei. I even surpassed Hachigen. I'm Unit Zero's Captain and can easily take on or best the current Gotei 13 elite." Kiri locked eyes with him. "I will get you out of here."
Ichigo focused everything he had on reversing his Hollowfication, only to fall to his knees nearly blacking out from the mind numbing pain searing through his head. "Bind me…" He panted out through teeth gritted in agony. "With the Six…rods…Prison…of…light!"
"Hollowfication or not you are still Ichigo inside. You will not harm us. You know us, care about us. We're your family. Shinji and the others were strangers to you! They weren't under your protection. Therefore, you weren't in control!" Rukia knelt down on her knees in front of him.
Ichigo looked into soulful blue eyes filled with loving concern and a fierce determination to protect him.
"It's not like Hichigo! I'm a monster that has off the charts reiatsu, strength, agility… the works! It fires cero with point blank accuracy! I go off on a spiritual walk just to rein it in again! We're talking going head to head with Hichigo not to mention have to chat with former big bads like Kariya, Kenpachi, and not with Great-Gramps either! So bind me damn it while you still can!" His voice echoed Hichigo's now; yet there was no mask!
"Serves you right! Ya brainless dumbass, for falling for Psycho Doc's trap! Now you've gone and let Berserker Freak come out and join the fucking party! Neither one of us can has control of him! Why is that you ask?! Cuz you had to go and rescue Bodacious Bosoms from Aizen before finishing your fucking training with Shinji and that whackjob psycho pigtailed brat of his, not ta mention the rest the Vizard clan! Now it'll take both of us combined to lock him back up in his cage again!" Hichigo sneered in his head.
"Renji…I can't…get Rukia away…"
*Finally! It took long enough for the gems to create the necessary effect! I shall finally see what the pinnacle results to an experiment centuries in the making!* Captain Kurotsuchi was fused into the wall so that he could see everything first hand a mistake that would cost him dearly.
Black energy radiated around him. His hair grew into a longer mane down to his waist. Bones protruded like spikes out of his shoulders. Black vein like stripes streaked up his arms, legs, and body. His Hollow mask formed over his face clear to the back of his skull with his mane of hair protruding wildly from it. His talon like hands were encased in gauntlets of protective bone and bone like armor protected his knees and shins. His now three toed feet still were shod in sandals. His torso area was also protected by bone armor. His whip like tail was the last to form and caused him agonizing pain, so much so that he threw his hands up in the air and cast cero up at the ceiling causing the whole area around them to shake violently around him, before springing back to his feet.
*NO!!! It can't be!! I won't be ended this way!!!* Captain Kurotsuchi screamed inwardly.
Ichigo's cero had canceled out Doc Psycho's cavernous façade. They were somewhere underneath in the Seireitei's ancient catacombs. It was fortunate for them that the Soul Stealers absorbed the cero blast before shattering to pieces, but for Captain Kurotsuchi it proved to be a potentially fatal mistake.
"That…was…so…not…fun…." Ichigo/Hichigo snarled darkly.
The four of them were stunned speechless.
"That freaky Psycho Doc is soooo gonna pay!" his eyes blazed with fury.
Rukia was the first to speak. "Ichigo, do you know us still?"
"He seems lucid and aware of his surroundings." Uryū frowned.
"He ain't attacking us, so let's not push our luck." Renji hissed.
"You merged with your darker half. Is it mutual or a temporary truce?" Kirio arched a brow at him her tone clearly showed how proud she was of his accomplishment.
"Neither of us wished for the Pixie there to get mangled or all of you either…seeing as ya come through in a fight. Rio kitty there saved his Ma and the other two have saved our asses more often than not, so we've forged a truce. This had better not be fucking permanent or we're gonna rip him to shreds!"
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Next
Chapter eight
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Cindra © 2008-2009
