Should I add humor as a genre? I'm not very good at telling what's appropriate.
Chapter 7
Starrk laid on his stomach and watched through binoculars as various low level Arrancars moved throughout the desert. All of them wore white clothing and had swords at their waists. It wasn't hard to figure out that they were in the service of this Aizen that had fled to Hueco Mundo and that the entrance to wherever they were hiding was close by.
To be more precise, the entrance to the Menos Forest was close by.
Not that this was news.
They'd known for a while that he was hidden in the Forest of Menos, but Kyouya could be surprisingly patient when it came to things he wanted. Not that that could be confused with not wanting to fight, but rather, sometimes he preferred the chase. And it was apparently fun, to see the despair and terror in the prey's eyes as it was hunted without pause. Or so he claimed.
To be honest, Starrk was just doing this because it was on the way to another territory.
At his side, Lilynette was watching through a pair of bright pink binoculars as well. Starrk had no idea where she got them.
"So..." she started. "You think Kyouya is going to fight this Shinigami?"
Starrk half-heartedly shook his shoulder. "Probably."
She continued as if she hadn't heard him. "You know, I heard Kyouya pissed Ashido off so badly that Ashido refused to speak with him for a week after he left like that."
"Hmm. If you say so." Starrk answered and observed in boredom as the Hollows conversed with each other.
There was a feeling as if she was glaring at him. "And Grimmjow apparently tried to legitimately kill him."
"Interesting."
The feeling of hostility increased. "I found a pink elephant in the desert yesterday."
"Great."
A murderous feeling was emitted from right next to him. He wondered how he'd pissed her off now. "Kyouya is getting married to me."
"Mhm. Good for you."
Silence.
"I'm going to kill you Starrk! Listen to me when I'm speaking to you!" Lilynette erupted like a volcano.
— —
Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends landed in Hueco Mundo after a couple of weeks of hard, difficult and dedicated training. They were ready to take on whatever horrors Aizen had unleashed and fight until their last breath to save Inoue. They were joined by Abarai Renji and Kuchiki Rukia, two Shinigami's that could also be counted as Ichigo's friends. There was only one problem.
They had no idea where Aizen was.
Seriously. They didn't even have the slightest clue.
Simply put, they were lost.
In the desert.
Of Hueco Mundo, where Hollows lived and thrived.
So, so, so lost.
Ishida Uryuu, a Quincy, let out a breath where he was sitting on the sand and said, "Just pick a direction and start walking. We have to run into someone eventually and with any luck, they'll be willing to talk."
Ichigo threw him a look of hesitation. "What if they won't?"
Ishida raised his eyebrow and his glasses glinted maliciously in the pale moonlight. "Then we make them."
Ichigo turned his gaze towards his hands in his lap and frowned in contemplation. Truly, finding some Hollow to get directions from were probably their only options, but he had the feeling that to get anything from them, they would need to you use excessive violence. He wasn't sure he was comfortable with that. Sure, Hollows were monsters and inhuman and soul eating nightmares, but they were still souls, if corrupted ones. They still held emotions, were still capable of thought and still fought for their own goals, even if more often than not, that goal was to eat human souls. And while Ichigo could kill them when they were threatening the people he cared about and he was the only one present at the scene anyways, that was always done for a reason. Now, they were traveling to save Inoue, yes, but they're still basically invading the place. He didn't think they really had the right to ask for anything.
On the other hand, he'd made a promise, a promise to save Inoue, a promise he intended to keep.
And he wasn't going to let anything stop him.
He rose to his feet. "Alright, let's get started."
— —
Once again, the shogi board was upended in a fit of rage as Grimmjow lost to Kyouya once more. Kyouya watched, indulgently, as Grimmjow proceeded to vent his anger by letting out a few cero's to destroy the room around them. If anyone else had done so in his presence, they would have been promptly bitten to death and then eaten, but as Grimmjow was his pet, he was afforded certain privileges. One of which was to be himself and let his emotions be seen, which was a good thing because he couldn't hide what he was feeling if he tried.
Luckily, Kyouya was fond of both his pets and destruction, so there was no problem.
A string of curses left Grimmjow's mouth and ended with, "And this isn't training you damn bastard!"
Kyouya picked up his cup of tea that had somehow managed to emerge victorious against Grimmjow's rage and took a sip. He then put it back on the partly destroyed table and asked, "Can you win against Ashido yet?"
Grimmjow huffed and his eyes drifted to the side. "Most of the time." he muttered in response.
Kyouya took another sip from the cup. "Once you can defeat Ashido more times than you are defeated by him, I will start your personal training. So the harder you train, the faster that will happen."
"How long are you planning to wait before you make your move on Aizen?!" Grimmjow lost his patience and growled out what he'd been thinking about for days.
Kyouya's eyes lit up with an unholy inner purple fire. "Hn. I like giving my prey a false sense of security. It makes it much sweeter when I kill them."
Grimmjow sat down and huffed again. "You know, sometimes I think you're fucking crazy."
— —
Shinji sped through the desert towards the location of Kurosaki—who was letting so much of his reiatsu out it was a miracle he hadn't been attacked yet—with the device built by Kisuke in his hands. It would locate Aizen's reiatsu to give them a location and Kisuke had had to use blackmail in order to get him to follow after them as he forgot to give it to them. Shinji didn't believe a word out of his mouth, but he wouldn't say no to a chance to kill Aizen. A hundred years of waiting meant that he wasn't blinded by rage, he couldn't go attacking on his own, but the hatred had never disappeared. While he was content, even happy sometimes, with the life he had now, it didn't change the fact that Aizen had ruined a life that he had loved.
(Aizen had ruined their lives and had the gall to laugh at them about it. To go on as if nothing had happened. To take his place as Captain of the Fifth as if he deserved it. Shinji might not be able to kill him, but he was going to drown him in pain for that alone if he could. The wounds he'd caused them had never healed, but they had been able to move on, if in a limited fashion. Aizen wasn't going to ruin their lives a second time.)
(Not if he could help it.)
He stopped running when he caught sight of the very people he had come looking for. They were in the company of two Shinigami's, luckily not some that he recognized. He still harbored enough rage and hatred for Soul Society, that if he had known them, he wasn't sure he would have been able to control himself. Aizen might have torn down their very nature, torn them apart and put them back together with the wrong puzzle pieces, but it was Central 46 and the Gotei 13 that had driven them to the brink of insanity. They could have held on, could have fought to be good, could have tried to control themselves more, but they were ordered to be executed for something that wasn't their fault.
Whatever happened in this war against Aizen, that kind of thing could never be forgiven nor forgotten. They weren't about to ask for forgiveness or beg to taken back by people that despised their nature, their very souls.
(Once upon a time, they had wanted to go back. Once upon a time, they had longed for their families, their friends, their homes. Then they had run into a bunch of Shinigami in the Living World and almost gotten killed. They were called traitors and abominations and monsters. It had broken something in them, something that had kept them tethered to their Shinigami nature. Without it... well let's just say that if Soul Society burned to the ground, there would be no love lost.)
Shinji stopped in front of Kurosaki.
"Yo!"
Their startled yelps and shrieks were music to his soul. It was always nice to know he could still get one over people.
Kurosaki collected himself first. "What are you doing here, Hirako?!"
Shinji smiled and tried to hide the rage behind his eyes at the sight of the two Shinigami coming to Kurosaki's side. They could be loyal. So why couldn't his friends have been? What was so different between them?
"Urahara made this. It will track Aizen's location and lead us right to him." he explained.
Kurosaki frowned. "Why didn't he give us this when we left? We've been walking around for days with no idea where to go."
Shinji's grin stretched across his face and if there was some spiteful glee at hearing that they had spent days doing nothing, then that was no-one's business but his own. "He forgot."
By the way Kurosaki's frown only deepened, he could tell he wasn't buying it either. Well, there was nothing to be done now. They should just be grateful he had given it to them at all. Shinji was sure it was only due to feelings of guilt, though what he was feeling so guilty of, he wasn't sure. Urahara didn't exactly have a lot of morals.
(Urahara had been the Captain of the Twelfth. He had been a member of the 2nd division. Calling him a sociopath would be generous.)
Kurosaki smoothed his face out and stretched out his hand. "Well, thank you for delivering it I suppose."
"Do you even know how to use it?" Shinji got a morbid pleasure from pulling his hands away with the device.
"Well, no but..." Kurosaki started.
"But what?" Shinji demanded. "You'll figure it out? Don't be ridiculous, you don't have time for it." he deadpanned.
"Then what use is it?" Kurosaki questioned.
Shinji grinned. "I'm coming with you."
The look on Ichigo and his friends' faces were hilarious.
— —
Ashido walked through the hallways of the fortress at a pleasant pace. Just as he was about to turn a corner, a loud boom! filled the air.
He sighed, turned around and made his way to scold and potentially threaten whoever had blown a hole through the wall again.
This wasn't really what he had pictured when Hibari had asked him to train his minions.
— —
Kyouya was sitting down on his very comfortable chair behind his stolen desk—which had been replaced because the last one broke when he tried to write with too much strength—when he read the report by Starrk. It revealed the location of the entrance to Aizen's lair and the pretty stone that radiated power that he was determined to get.
By his side, Grimmjow was complaining that the mask was uncomfortable against his tail as Kyouya cuddled it. This was a problem. Grimmjow was his pet and he was hellbent on cuddling him whenever he felt like it.
Starrk had also felt the presence of Shinigami's entering Hueco Mundo, which meant that they were making their move. And with all the fanfare Aizen had gone through to get the stone in the first place, they had to know what it could do. The power it contained. There was no way that Kyouya was letting them take it from right under his nose. He'd already claimed it as his, he just hadn't grabbed it yet.
"Grimmjow, step back." he ordered.
The blue panther Hollow complained about being ordered, but did it nonetheless. Kyouya felt a weird sense of pride.
He stood up from his chair and walked to the middle of the room. Without any fanfare, he grabbed a hold of his mask and tore it off.
The roof was promptly destroyed.
— —
Just as Ichigo and his friends were sneaking into Aizen's hideout, a massive amount of power flowed throughout the desert. It filled the air with a pressure so great that even he felt like he was drowning and he could see his friends (except Hirako who he wasn't really friends with) go down with it. They collapsed on the floor and fought to breathe. Ichigo had never felt anything like it before. Even with his inability to sense reiatsu, he could tell that whoever that came from was insanely strong. Maybe even stronger than Kenpachi.
Once the pressure had lessened and the feeling of drowning and being burned alive at the same time disappeared, Ichigo asked Hirako, "What the hell was that?!"
Hirako looked back to him, as he had been turned away with his face towards where the pressure was coming from, with an odd look in his eyes. "A Hollow just evolved into an Arrancar."
Ichigo frowned as he thought. "You mean like that Ulquiorra guy?"
Hirako's grim face didn't inspire a lot of hope. "Exactly like him."
— —
Ichimaru Gin turned back form where he had been looking at the minions to Aizen. Next to him was Tousen, a giant stick in the mud as always. The power surge had been felt by everyone in the hideout and Gin got quite a lot of gleeful joy out of knowing that someone had evolved into an Arrancar without Aizen's help. It took a chunk out of his ego, at least. Something that he sorely needed, what with all his delusions of grandeur.
Honestly, while Gin looked forward to the day he would have his revenge for what was done to Rangiku with a fervor that bordered on obsession, it was always amusing when things didn't go as Aizen planned. The Hollow that had intruded on Soul Society at his Big Reveal was one of those things.
He still laughed at his face at the time.
It was hilarious.
The sound of the intruder alarm going off made him refocus on reality and not his thoughts. The large image that was displayed on the screen showed Kurosaki and his friends, as planned. And an unexpected addition.
Hirako Shinji.
Frankly, it had been a long time since he'd thought about the Visored. They had gotten screwed over by Aizen though, and it made sense that they would be going off for revenge. They had just as much reason as he did to kill the evil bastard.
Still, it changed things.
Gin looked at Aizen with his eyes closed and his mouth grinning. "Not exactly as you planned, eh Aizen?"
Aizen threw him a condescending look. "Don't be stupid Gin. The addition of a single Visored changes nothing."
"See, that's what you think. But you don't have the Hollows you really wanted in your service." Gin mused.
"That's no concern of yours, Gin." Aizen stated. "The ones we have will do adequately."
"If you say so." Gin looked back at the screen that displayed Kurosaki and his friends bursting through doors and corridors. For once he didn't think Aizen's plan was going to go the way he expected it too. He looked forward to it.
— —
Starrk leaned against the wall. Lilynette was over the on the other side of the room, kicking the crap out of the low level Arrancars that had come to defend their base. It was, to be blunt, kind of morbidly sad. But on the other hand, he and Lilynette was an Arrancar as well, so maybe he wasn't being fair. He'd just gotten used to a certain standard by hanging around Kyouya.
Still, he hadn't even had to help out. It didn't say a lot of impressive things.
And Kyouya had a tendency to ignore things if he didn't find them interesting. So killing all these Hollows were basically a done deal. If they (Lilynette) didn't, they'd just end up getting killed later anyway. Kyouya had no patience for those who were weak.
He yawned and wondered when he would be able to take a nap again. Ever since Lilynette had caught him not listening, she'd forced him to do more work as a kind of punishment. But it just made him sleepier and now he was about ready to drop where he stood. It wasn't like they had anything important to get done anyway. Kyouya was about to make his move, so their presence in the base was basically useless.
But Lilynette looked to have fun where she was killing enemies, so Starrk figured he could let her have some more entertainment before he dragged her away.
Just this once.
And maybe he could take a nap while he waited.
— —
The day they set out on their mission was like any other day in Hueco Mundo. Dreary, cold and dark. It really put a damper on the mood.
If you were human, that was.
For the Hollows that made up the population of the Fortress of Awesomeness (it was a whim of Grimmjow's and Kyouya hadn't cared enough to argue) it was the ideal day to attack an enemy. The sky was cloudless, the moon was full and the few stars that dotted the heavens provided pretty much no light at all. The atmosphere was like a sign saying to attack now.
So the two hundred or so Hollows that had survived the various temper tantrums of Grimmjow, the sparring of Ashido, Kyouya and Starrk and occasional ridiculous missions of stealing supplies from the Living World which had Shinigami that hunted them down like rabid dogs patrolling it, were all on their way to Aizen's base in the Forest of Menos.
They were very much looking forwards to preying on someone else rather than being preyed on themselves. They were fully prepared to take out any issues they had with their bosses on the enemy, as Kyouya had suggested.
They may be a little too eager.
Maybe.
But it was understandable. They had to deal with the insanity of just being in Kyouya's presence and all his ridiculous ideas that always worked out somehow. It was like he had never even heard of the concept of logic.
Seriously, they couldn't even trick themselves into thinking there was some kind of sense involved in his thinking anymore. He was just insane. Or just really really powerful, whichever worked best. Regardless, they were about to get a chance to kick ass and take out their frustrations of someone else. They would get to share the suffering.
(There might have been some nervous breakdowns. Just might.)
So, it was a dreary, cold and dark day and they were going on the offensive. It would probably turn out well.
Probably.
— —
Grimmjow kept a watchful eye on Kyouya as they made their way through the Menos Forest. The bastard had evolved into an Arrancar just like that.
It wasn't fair, damnit!
He was still a freaking adjuchas and then the stupid fucking bastard that had promised to train him goes and evolves and for what?! Because he said the mask was uncomfortable! What kind of idiot fucking does that?!
Grimmjow was going to kill him just for his idiocy! He would save the damn world and people would be grateful and there would be freaking parades!
He felt like screaming. He would share this suffering. In fact, lately Ashido had given him a great way of doing so. Kyouya liked powerful things, so all he had to do was find someone powerful, interesting and pretty and present it like a gift. According to Kyouya's fucked up thought process, he wouldn't be able to refuse it.
And then people would see. They would realize what a complete psychopath he was!
Now all he had to do was find someone that fit that criteria.
— —
It had taken all (excluding Hirako who just watched on the sidelines) their combined power, but they had managed to bust through the various levels to get to the center of the base where Aizen would undoubtedly be. They were tired, exhausted and had done things they thought impossible, but they had succeeded. Inoue was almost saved.
There was just one last door between them and the finishing of their self-imposed mission.
Together, Renji and Chad opened the heavy doors and the large empty throne room was revealed to their disbelieving eyes. It was... gaudy. And exaggerated. And way too over the top.
Kind of tasteless, actually.
Ichigo rushed in without thinking in his determinedness to save his friend. His friends followed him.
In the center of the room were three figures. Aizen, Ichimaru and that blind guy.
"Where is Inoue?" Ichigo demanded and waved his sword threateningly.
Aizen smiled. It was sort of disgusting. "No need to worry. Inoue-san is perfectly safe."
Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "That's not what I asked. Where is she?"
"Not here." Aizen replied.
Ichigo didn't waste any time. He attacked straight on with his sword held high. He was already in bankai. Sparks flew as his swords met Aizen's. In the background, he was vaguely aware of his friends attacking as well, but he didn't have the time to think on it. If he let his concentration go for even a second, Aizen would kill him. And Ichigo had no desire to die.
So he fought, he attacked, let his mask form and gave it his all.
It wasn't enough.
Ichigo wasn't powerful enough to win.
It was like a kick in the teeth, that even after all that training, all that preparedness, it wasn't enough. He wasn't strong enough.
Just as he was about to fall, he was caught by Hirako. Hirako with his Hollow mask on. Ichigo watched with wide eyes as the pressure of power around Hirako that he had never actually felt before became so strong it was honestly visible.
Despite everything, it had somehow never occurred to Ichigo before that Hirako was actually dangerous. He wasn't sure why because now it was pretty damn obvious, but he'd just never been able to imagine it before. Hirako was just always so damn cheerful and over the top and grinning. It was hard to imagine him being able to kill anyone, much less Aizen. After all, the reason they were Visored was because they had lost to Aizen in the first place. And yet, as he stared at him now from where he stood alone on the floor, he couldn't recall what had made him think he wasn't absolutely deadly. As he fought Aizen, and unlike Ichigo every move he made was meant to kill, he looked glorious. He looked like Death.
It was breathtaking.
And a wake-up call in the worst of ways. Because, he realized it now, Ichigo hadn't fought to kill. Only subdue and defeat him and with an enemy like Aizen, the only defeat to be found was death.
If he had continued to fight him, he would have been the one to have died.
Just as Aizen revealed that the Hougyoku was in the middle of his chest and that he would soon be immortal, the doors that had closed after they entered were blown to pieces. A blue panther walked through the wreckage and stared at the image a tired but still fighting Hirako made. Then it said something Ichigo never would have expected.
"You'll do."
— —
Grimmjow blew the doors apart with a single cero in his rage. He needed to kill some stupid shit faces. The Hollows they had encountered on the way in had all been taken out by the minions because they were all disappointingly weak.
The sight he met was like an answer to his prayers. Except, you know, Grimmjow didn't pray to anybody. But the sentiment was the same.
There was a Hollow, only it wasn't a Hollow and sort of a Shinigami except it really wasn't, that was fighting the guy who he had briefly seen when he got Kyouya back from Soul Society. That Aizen guy. And they were powerful and interesting and apparently Grimmjow had disturbed its concentration because they jumped back from the fight and their mask disappeared to reveal a face that was pretty and handsome and other human words. Regardless, it fit his list.
If Grimmjow had been humanoid, he would have grinned in victory.
He'd found his gift.
Now someone else would feel the suffering!
(He might be laughing insanely in his head. Maybe.)
He just needed to catch the thing and then he was free.
Freedom, here he comes!
