Chapter 7: Confrontation
After some dinner and a good nights sleep, we went to Lahara's place to check up on her and think things through before finding Milton to give him a whooping. Mikey's girl Isa and Charlie's girl Mia were there, but Zile wasn't. The girls told us that she had gone out to clear her mind, or so they read on a note she left. So we sat at the table and began talking out the plan.
"So… I guess today is it?" Charlie said
"Yeah" Mikey said
"What now?" I asked
"Take him down, I suppose." Mikey said
"We're not gonna hurt him though right?" Charlie asked
"I'm not sure; I just know we have to stop him before he hurts anybody else." I said
"I just hope you guys can turn him back to normal." Lahara said
"Yeah; it would be so sad if he stayed that way." Mia said
"Of course we can turn him back! Or at least knock some sense into him, right?" Charlie asked
"I don't know how you guys can handle this. If it were me in your place, I'd probably just freeze." Isa said
"It's not easy for us either; but we have to do something." I said
"But don't worry; when this is all over you get to heal our battle wounds." Charlie said
"I hope we don't get too many." Mikey said
"What? Big buff guy is afraid of pain?" I said
"Oh please, I laugh in the face of pain! Ha ha ha ha! " Mikey said
"Cant you guys find a way to negate his powers, or at least make them weaker?" Lahara asked
"DUDE, you're a genius!" Mikey said
"Umm, explain much?" Charlie said
"Milton's been eating souls remember? If we can find a way to unlock those souls and free them, his reiatsu has to decrease, right?" Mikey explained
"That's right! But how do we do that?" Charlie asked
"I think I know how. It's risky but I can manage." I said
I told them what I had in mind, and they agreed, still worried about the upcoming fight. There was a bit of a romance scene before we left. Charlie tangled his hands around Mia's long brown hair; his pale nose touching against her light pink cheeks. They hugged for like five minutes. Mikey and Isa played around with each others curly hair and whispered all kinds of things to each other… nothing gross though, they were kinda loud about it.
I took Lahara up to her roof, where there was the most beautiful view of the far away ocean. The breeze fizzled around with her long black hair and the sun's light made her brown eyes seem like 24 karat gold droplets. She was truly, the most beautiful thing I have, and will ever see. Her small, rosy hand wrapped itself in mine, and made it seem awkwardly bulky and rough. She rested her head on my shoulders and sighed.
"You know I love you right?" I asked her
"You tell me everyday." She answered
"I want you to stay hidden. I know you're going to feel most of the battle, but whatever happens, no matter what you sense, promise me you'll stay put."
"I promise."
"I'm not sure if ill come back in one piece… so be ready to expect anything."
"Ok… just be careful out there."
"I promise."
I went in for a kiss of inspiration. As soon as our lips met, a current of reiatsu flowed out of me like electricity and passed on to her, making her hair stand up for a second. It never gets old really, she actually enjoys it. After that, I put on Tennotsukai's cape like shirt and we headed out and made our way to the junkyard. It was the best place for a big fight, since it was far away from everything else. The rest was now up to us.
B-side
We drew out our Zanpaktou and released our Shikai, hoping the reiatsu elevation was enough to call Milton's attention. We felt a strong reiatsu signature appear in the place. Milton stood atop the abandoned building right next to the junkyard. He dropped down to where the ground level was higher that the rest, looking down at us with a serious look on his face. He knew what we were there for, and I could feel it.
He snapped his fingers summoning the strange masked creatures we saw before. They covered everything. I looked at the guys and nodded, signaling them to take the plan into action. They began battle with the creatures. I jumped out of the way, towards Milton. I landed far from him, but away from the creatures. He did exactly what I was expecting him to do. Lowering his hand he sent the Desgarron at me; I countered with the silver Getsuga Tenshou.
They collided causing an explosion. I took the chance and flew straight towards him in between the dust. He tried to block me, but there was nothing to block; I wielded my blade backwards, hiding it behind my arm. I landed right in front of him. He drew out his Zanpaktou and swung it forward at me; I dodged to the right. He swung at me again; I jumped over him.
He swung at me again, not noticing he had taken himself off balance. I took a step backwards, the blade crashed against the ground, and jumped right over him again. I pressed the end of my Zanpaktou's handle against his forehead. A strong current of reiatsu was released; I landed on the ground in front of him. He kicked me sending me flying backwards to where the guys were; he screamed from what seemed to be intense burning pain.
We saw a whole bunch of grey shadows escape him body, about 10 to be exact; they each entered a different masked creature. All of the other creatures vanished into dust, while the creatures that had been hit by the grey shadows took a human form. The masks they wore broke off and faded into dust as well. They got up from the floor, and seeing where they were ran out like lunatics. We had actually returned people back from the dead.
Milton got up, burning with rage. He picked up his Zanpaktou and smiled sadistically. It was then that we noticed something about his Zanpaktou. The handle was longer that it would normally be, and the actual blade was completely black. It divided into two separate blades about two inches from the handle, finishing with two sharp points.
"No way; he knows how to release his Zanpaktou?" Charlie asked
"Of course I know how to release my Zanpaktou. I've known for months." Milton answered
"Guys, he doesn't have the souls anymore, but his reiatsu is still at the same level." Mikey said
"That's because I'm so much more powerful than you could ever hope to be. Now it's my turn to continue cleansing the world." Milton said
"Why? Why did you do that? If the souls didn't give you any power why did you continue to kill people? You wanted to cleanse the world, but we had all been doing that for months." I said
"Wrong. The only way to bring peace is through violence, vengeance and death. Only then will the humans understand that their crimes don't pay." He answered
"Are you out of your friggin mind? You've become… you've become… I can't even describe what you've become." Mikey said
"I've become what I needed to become. Unlike you… you are just simple, worthless Hollows. I am what true power looks like." He said
"Its true, his power exceeds ours. Just what the hell are you?" Charlie asked
"You know what I am, don't you Chris? Say it. Say it loud enough for all of us to hear." He said… to which I could only respond one word
"Arrancar"
"What?" the guys said in unison
"But you still have a chance." I said
"Ha! This is the part where you tell me to give up what I do and go back so I can save myself, isn't it?" he said
"It's true Milton. We've all done bad things in our lives, but we all have a chance to fix them. Come back with us… we can still cleanse the world, but we'll do it another way." I said
"Oh shut your ass! Only pain can bring the world peace, only pain can cleanse, only pain brings power. So don't try to change my mind, cuz that aint gonna happen. He said
He waved his Zanpaktou in front if his face and let it go, it stayed floating and spinning in circles. I felt his reiatsu build up quickly. He spoke.
"Hirogari suru-yochi… Dolor" (Spread through the world… Pain)
The ground started shaking savagely. The large piles of cars crashed against one another and crumbled at the ground. Several parts of the ground rose upward as large spikes. A large cloud of dark smoke built up across the entire field. I could feel the inhuman levels of reiatsu all around us. It was as if we were being drowned in it. My heart beat increased, but I wasn't sure if it was courage, or fear; I felt both.
The ground continued shaking for about two minutes. Afterward is slowly begun to subside. The sky turned dark with heavy clouds as the cloud of darkness surrounding us slowly vanished. As we looked towards where Milton was, we were stunned by what we saw. What stood in his place can only be described as the figure of pain itself.
The mask that only covered half of his face now covered it whole, with the sole difference it now had a large horn that pointed upwards. From what I could remember about the actual anime, he had Murucierago's left bat wing and Gorondorina's right blade wings; Pantera's right claw, Tijereta's tail and Santa Teresa's left blade horn. His Zanpaktou became a black energy spear and merged with his left hand. Right in between his abdomen and his chest, a hole opened up, completing his transformation.
He looked down, straight at me. My reiatsu had formed a sort of sphere around me, making my hair and my cape flow upwards. I tightened my grip on my Zanpaktou.
"Any final words?" he asked me, to which I responded the most powerful four words that have ever come out of my mouth
"We're done talking… Ban-kai!"