Shinigami ½
-Chiba Hiro
(I do not own Ranma ½ or Bleach, all credit shall go to their respected creators.)
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Chapter 9: Aizen's Return!
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As soon as Ranma was taken to the prison, the guards poured hot water on him, thus dissolving the Soul Reaper Shihakusho on him, and his zanpakuto. All that was left was his white karate gi. Ranma was thrust in jail, and the door shut behind him.
The door was made of iron, and the walls built around him was made of a rock called sekkiseki rock, and once you had been contained in it, you could not generate any reiatsu no matter how powerful you were. The only light that poured in was the light slipping through the barred window.
"I guess this is going to be my prison until someone can figure out how to get me out, huh?" he told himself, then he went to lie down on the comfortable bunk bed that had been prepared for him. The bunk bed seemed even more comfortable than the futon he had to sleep on at Division 13's barracks.
All the while, he was thinking of what Yamamoto said. He said that he had power to destroy the Seireitei if he wanted to. But, he never felt any of his power. He didn't generate reiatsu like Yamamoto, or anyone else for that matter. He searched through his thoughts until he fell asleep.
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In his dream, Ranma stood on that familiar ocean that seemed like a huge puddle instead of an immense body of water. The sky looked different this time. The sky had clouds in it this time, and there was a sun in it when he looked up. Then, it hit him! Since he was here, he should call upon Mizuryuu.
"Mizuryuu! Are you here?" he shouted out. Instead of receiving a reply, he heard a dragon's roar in the distance. Follow my voicer! It said as though Ranma could understand the dragon.
Ranma walked in the direction the dragon was calling from. He had a feeling that he would meet something different. The feeling was unbelievably powerful, and it stirred the waves beneath him in large ripples.
As Ranma got closer and closer, he could feel the power rising. It seemed intense and spiritually rose to a high level. In the distance, Ranma saw a giant sapphire, the size of a three-story building. He walked up to it, and put a hand to it. The power seeping from the sapphire was pouring out like a wave.
Then, he heard Mizuryuu! Even though it was her voice, he heard something that had the distinct sound of a dragon. Ranma called to Mizuryuu once more, and he saw a silhouette inside the sapphire.
Ranma examined the silhouette even further, and it took on the form of a dragon curled upside down. The dragon was sleeping by the looks of it, or going through a drastic change. The feeling was great, and the power he could feel was comforting.
"Mizuryuu." He called to the dragon.
"You must come to me! I cannot handle the power alone!"
"Mizuryuu! What power?"
"I have suddenly undergone a change, and the power I contain within me is threatening to seep out, and I'm afraid I cannot control it!"
"How do I go to you?"
"Break the sapphire that contains my body, and free me before the power consumes me!"
"Okay!"
Immediately, Ranma reaches down to his side, but the sword was missing. He was still dressed in the Chinese-styled shirt and pants, but his sword did not appear. Maybe it was because Mizuryuu was here in this world that he had no control over his sword. After all, zanpakuto spirits have wills of their own too.
"I don't have my sword! What should I do?" Ranma asked the crystallized dragon.
"Hurry! Use the water!"
"Water? But how?" Ranma asked, and looked down below him.
The water was converging around him, and Ranma waved his hand in a series of figure eights. The water beneath him jumped up at his will, and danced around in between his figure eight like eels. Then, he threw the water down at a slash at the sapphire, but it did nothing.
"Nothing happened!" Ranma shouted.
Then, he gathered more powerful streams of water, and struck down repeatedly on the crystal. Each time he did, the crystal developed scratches, but they would dissipate as soon as he hit it!
But still he didn't give up. Ranma slashed and slashed at the crystal. Each time his slashes made a scratch, he would retaliate with another until it developed into a crack. The crack began to dissipate, but Ranma kept hitting it with as much force as he dared.
Then, he got tired. Ranma put his hands on his knees, and looked back up at the crystal. The crystal was completely whole again, and he had not made any progress whatsoever. Sweat dripped from his forehead, and he proceeded to wipe them off of his face.
He resumed slashing at the crystal until he got two cracks in. The cracks healed themselves even faster, and he still got nowhere.
"How can I break this crystal?" Ranma asked himself. Then, he visualized something, What if he hit the sapphire with more force?
He concentrated his power and his reiatsu flowed out easily, like water. The water rippled, and converged beneath his feet until it became a whirlpool, and he was unaffected by it.
He gathered the whirlpool up in his hand, and stabbed clear through the crystal! The crystal developed more cracks, and it finally shattered. When Ranma approached the dragon, it had fallen on her belly. The dragon, which was Mizuryuu, was a deep ocean blue color. It could have been over fifty feet long, and possibly six feet wide. The scales even rippled like water.
"Mizuryuu." He called.
The dragon's eyes slowly opened, and she let out what seemed to be a yawn. Mizuryuu's eyes were emerald green like when she was in human form. Thank you, Ranma. Mizuryuu's human voice sounded in his head. Then, the dragon began to shrink and gain human features at the same time.
When the dragon had finally turned back into a woman, Ranma ran to her, and held her weak form in his lap. Mizuryuu's eyes were still nostalgic, and they would be enough to mesmerize and enchant any man that came to her.
"You saved me." She said weakly. "I thank you."
"I'll always come to save you." He replied. "You're my zanpakuto spirit after all." He smiled.
Mizuryuu stood up with some effort, and looked at him seriously in the eyes. He knew something was about to happen. Mizuryuu took Ranma's hand and put a small gemstone on it, and closed his fingers around it. The sound was leaking reiatsu like any Soul Reaper. Without warning, his Chinese clothes dissolved and changed into the standard Shihakusho.
"What's going on?" he asked, his sword suddenly appearing into is hand.
"You must prepare." Mizuryuu said, a stream of water enveloping her body like the water whip.
"What?"
"You have a powerful force residing in you, and you must prepare to protect it from getting into the wrong hands." Mizuryuu said, referring to the stone she gave him.
"How do I prepare?" Ranma asked.
"You must release Bankai." She said.
"Wait! Doesn't Bankai take more than ten years to release and control?" he asked.
"In here, we'll train for three days, and then you'll be able to gain Bankai." She said.
"What do I have to do?" Ranma asked.
Immediately, multiple copies of Mizuryuu appeared and surrounded him by the hundreds. But, each one held a different expression and personality, of which he had seen before; they all had swords made of water in their hands too.
"You must find the real me, and you must do it quickly before we kill you!" they all echoed at once.
"What? You want me to have a battle royal with you to discover my bankai?" Ranma asked.
The Mizuryuu behind him came at him with a water sword and attacked him. Ranma turned around quickly and parried the water sword. Mizuryuu's sword was thrust away from her, and Ranma stabbed through her, thus changing her into water.
Then, a Mizuryuu came in from in front and both sides at the same time. Ranma leaped up and watched as they clashed with each other, turning each other into water. Two of the clones leaped up and slashed from the front and back. Ranma maneuvered to the left and dispersed them. More clones rushed in and Ranma dispersed all of them. The same process repeated over forty-eight hours with attack and disperses.
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Three days later-
His energy had been spent, and he knew he was going to be finished, but when the third day was over, he'd be finished. But, there were only twenty Mizuryuus left and he had twelve hours to finish.
"You're running out of time, Ranma!" the clones echoed. "If you don't find the real me, then you will die before they come!"
"Who are they?" Ranma asked.
"The betrayer will arrive at midnight tonight, and you must prepare yourself before then." They echoed.
"How do I finish faster?" he asked.
"Find the real me now."
"In that case…" he said and settled into a stance with his wet sword out in front of him. His limbs hurt a lot, and he was exhausted beyond belief. If this was his dream world, then why did he feel so exhausted? "Mizuryuu!"
He gave a shout, and the atmosphere was filled with his reiatsu. His reiatsu exploded like a bomb, and it made the same effect that Mizuryuu's did when she was trapped in the sapphire.
His sword changed from its usual katana into the water whip and finally dispersing. Then he stood perfectly straight, and looked confidently.
"What happened?"
"This happened!" he shouted. "Bankai! Tenka Mizuryuu! (Translation: Final Release: Descent from the Heavens, Water Dragon!)
"Nothing happened."
"Never underestimate what you can't see!" Ranma lectured, and then a whirlpool gathered around them, and it was all in Ranma's control.
Ranma gathered the whirlpool in his hands once again, and sent the stream at all twenty of the Mizuryuu clones. Then, there were no clones left.
"The real one was never mixed in with the clones." Ranma said.
"How did you know I wasn't among the mixed ones?" Mizuryuu's lone voice asked.
"Simple. All of the clones had different expressions on them, and each had different personalities too. But, they couldn't mimic your true expression, Mizuryuu."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"You have this majestic feeling about you, and if you had wanted me to find you, I would've sensed you immediately."
"When did you figure it out?" Mizuryuu asked.
"About five minutes ago actually." He deadpanned, and scratched the back of his head like it hadn't been easy.
"Your powers of observation are one to be feared." She said.
"I don't know whether you're complementing me, or not, but I want to know who is targeting me." Ranma said.
"Yes." Mizuryuu said, and stood next to him, which did not surprise him in the least.
"Come with me." She said, and the world of ocean had disappeared. There was only darkness, and he was standing above the Soul Society again.
"How did we get here?" he asked.
"We are here for you to see what events have transpired." She said, and took him down to Central 46.
"Is this Central 46?" Ranma asked.
"Ranma, this is where the betrayer first struck and accused you." She said, and looked toward the wreckage.
It was a complete mess. The front gate and door had been destroyed. The guards lay sprawled in a row, and blood littered around them. Ranma noted that this had occurred recently.
"This is the site where the massacre happened?" he asked.
"Yes, now come with me." She beckoned, and the scene changed.
Now they were standing on the Senzaikyu, looking up at Aizen hanging by the sword on the white walls.
"That is Aizen." Mizuryuu said.
"So, this is what Aizen looked like." Ranma commented, and looked to his left. She spotted Momo on her knees and crying.
"Wait! This happened like four days ago, so how are we here?" he asked.
"We are replaying events that have transpired." Mizuryuu explained, and the world of the Soul Society shattered, leaving them in the ocean world once again.
"These events happened for a reason," she went on. "And, this means that the perpetrator will come back."
Suddenly, they heard a creak from the outside world, and Ranma was pulled violently back into his jail cell.
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Ranma woke up with a start. It appeared to be nighttime, but he wasn't sure what day it was. He heard creaking of doors, slaughters of men and guards. Then, the screams stopped.
The door rattled with keys, and Ranma huddled even further into the shadows, not sure of what might happen.
Then, the door opened slowly, and when Ranma saw the figures, his eyes opened wide. Standing at the door were two men; one was the silver-haired Captain Ichimaru, the one that had a face that closely resembled a snake, and right next to him, stood a tall man with brown hair and glasses. That was Aizen!
"Wait! Aizen is supposed to be dead! How are you still alive?" he asked.
"My apologies for keeping you in the dark, young friend." Aizen spoke in a deceptively kind tone that didn't match his dark eyes.
"I believe we haven't properly introduced ourselves yet."
"I know enough of you to know that you were killed." Ranma said, and stood out in the shadows, shooting a glare at the two men. He wasn't sure what he could do to a captain without his Shinigami powers, but he could make a run for it if they caused anymore trouble than they did right now.
"As I was about to say…my name is Sosuke Aizen, or S.A." he said in a cold tone, despite his friendly smile. "And this is my right hand man, Gin Ichimaru."
"A pleasure to meet you." Ichimaru hissed like a snake, and opened his narrowed eyes. They were a piercing purple color, and it was enough to stare right through you. No wonder he always narrowed them.
"No need to be frightened…I just want to talk to you." Aizen said, his smile betraying his cold eyes.
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A/N: This is where the fun begins! So, here we figure that Aizen returns for Ranma! What does he want with him? Find out next time! Please rate and review!
Next time: Secret of the Hogyouku!
