A/N: This chapter became kind of short... Sorry. The story is near the end now. I try to fit the rest of this story in two chapters. So it would be still two chapters after this. :)
Warnings: English is not my mother language, so try to forgive me if/when there's grammar mistakes or/and wrong/missing words. I still always do my best.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Bleach and the characters belongs to Tite Kubo. I got no money from this. This is just a pure fanfiction.
Hope you like this! :)
Chapter 9 - A Bubble
Ikkaku stared blankly up. Yachiru was still in his arms but he had totally forgotten her. He just stared at the enormous rip which had almost torn the whole sky apart. There was another howl again and Ikkaku winced.
"Baldie…" Yachiru whimpered. "What is that?"
"I… " Ikkaku opened his mouth when his brains tried to make some conclusion about what he saw. What was that? It was huge! Enormous! It looked somehow like Grand Menos: nose and face – but it had six arms and it looked somehow swollen.
Ikkaku also knew that normally Grand Menos had black eyes. This had yellow ones and they where glowing brightly. Ikkaku counted two plus two and made a conclusion in his mind. His legs were trembling and he felt suddenly very weak. That Grand Menos monster looked swollen and was glowing out something which looked very much like spiritual energy's glow…
"Is that thing sucking energy…?" Ikkaku frowned.
"Baldie!" Yachiru pointed with her finger. "What are those?"
At first Ikkaku did not know what Yachiru actually was pointing: he only saw that ridiculously big Grand Menos. But there was something else also. Some little creatures were crawling on it. They looked like ants or something.
"They look like small hollows, Baldie", Yachiru said. "We have to find Ichi!"
"What?" Ikkaku frowned. "Why?"
"He's in trouble!"
…
Ichigo was running and tried not to look behind. He did not want to see those disgusting creatures which were chasing him. He knew they were hollows of some kind: ugly, masked, ant like. And fast.
This had been a perfect moment for Ichigo to remember that he had left his blade at 6th Division's Barracks.
"Ichigo!" very familiar – and now welcomed voice shouted.
Ichigo saw how someone came trough some bushes and he almost ran on him: their arms touched each other when Ichigo passed that strange man. He heard how those little hollows screamed when his rescuer waved his blade.
Ichigo spotted running and turned around. He was out of breath.
"Thanks…" he panted.
His rescuer turned around. Ichigo had to blink. Surely he had recognized 11th Division's mark on his back and that jacket could not belong to anyone else than Kenpachi Zaraki himself. But it took Ichigo a moment to realize that it was Kenpachi.
"You look weird when your hair is down…" Ichigo could not think about anything else to say.
"Enough with the crap", Kenpachi waved his hand and grabbed Ichigo's wrist. "You have to come back Seireitei, now! Where the hell have you been, anyway? I've been searching for you for hours!"
"Huh?" Ichigo looked the taller man. "Really? Why?"
Both Kenpachi and Ichigo blinked and jolted when they heard some other voice: "Because you have just probably caused the worst catastrophe ever in the history of Soul Society! Dandelion head!"
"Dandelion…?" Kenpachi repeated, whispering, before he looked behind him.
Ichigo also looked, even he already knew that voice. Ganju and his one armed sister, Kuukaku.
"What?" Ichigo blinked.
Ganju opened his mouth, but shut it immediately when he saw how his sister looked him. Kuukaku turned her head towards Ichigo – and came slowly closer…
"You! You and your ridiculously large spiritual pressure! Do you even understand how easy it is for hollows to locate you because you're too stupid, imbecilic, boneheaded – " Kuukaku's eyes were full of fury and Ichigo did not even realize that he tried to hide himself behind Kenpachi.
Kenpachi just looked the angry woman curiously.
"– that you can't control your spiritual pressure and you just constantly leak – "
"Don say leak…" Ichigo murmured.
"–it out! That's why that gluttony Grand Menos has just broken the barriers! It's looking for you!"
…
If the situation looked bad from where Ikkaku and Yachiru were it was even worse at the Seireitei. Byuakuya supported Renji, who had difficulties to keep on his feet. Byuakuya also felt how something constantly sucked his spiritual energy – and knew they had no much time.
He looked up again. Huge Grand Menos howled and tried to push more arms trough the hole it had just made on the sky. It seemed to have six or more arms but it had managed to push only three trough the hole.
"I bet that thing sucked the power out from my machines, also."
Byuakuya blinked and looked behind. Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
"What are you doing here?" Byuakuya said.
"I thought you would be still on your feet", Mayuri smiled, even he obviously also had difficulties to stay up. "Almost every one else expect captains have lost their conscious."
"What you suggest we should do now?"
"You're really asking me? What a pain. We fight, of course. I just found out that Nemu is also unconscious. She might even be dead."
"My apo –"
"Well, I'll do a new one if she perish", Mayuri waved his hand. Byuakuya blinked. "Follow me then. Captains are gathering: we believe it would be wise to attack together. Captain Commander suggested that. Leave that useless lieutenant of yours and come!"
…
"So", Kenpachi looked at Ganju. "You're saying that that thing", he pointed towards the huge Grand Menos with his finger, "is sucking energy? Also electricity?"
"It seems so", Ganju nodded.
"But why it's only after Ichigo? There are also captains here with big spiritual energy."
"My sister said Ichigo's spiritual energy is different from yours, because he's only a substitute shinigami and human. My sister says his spiritual energy is – uh, well tastier."
Kenpachi thought it for a moment and nodded then. He looked behind him: Kuukaku and Ichigo had not been able to talk with them – or at least Ichigo was not: Kuukaku was now beating him up. Ichigo had screamed help first but Kenpachi would interrupt their fight only if Kuukaku would try to kill Ichigo. Ichigo was his to kill…
"Ken-chan!"
Kenpachi closed his eyes and growled.
"I thought I told you two to go home!" he said when Ikkaku and Yachiru came trough bushes. Ikkaku looked terrible: he was pale and sweaty and panted. But Kenpachi gave no compassion to him.
"But Ken-chan", Yachiru climb up to his shoulder: Kenpachi looked him. "That thing is at our home!" Yachiru pointed with her finger: the Grand Menos could easily be seen over the tree tops.
"Oh…" Kenpachi realized it was true. "Well then: stay here."
"Yay, Ken-chan, you're so smart!"
"We have to do something", Ganju spoke out. He was shaking. "That thing will destroy whole Soul Society if we don't stop him. Ichigo!"
Ichigo could not speak: Kuukaku's heel was on his throat.
And I came here for some training… Ichigo murmured inside his mind. How stupid I was…
Kenpachi walked towards, eyes on the big hollow. It seemed to look to their direction and Ganju shivered even more. Kenpachi smirked.
"So, that thing is the reason for this entire ruckus?" he asked from Kuukaku.
Kuukaku blinked when Kenpachi suddenly spoke to her.
"Yes. It sucked all the electricity away and now it's sucking spiritual energy also", she nodded, heel still on Ichigo's throat.
"What will happen if we break it?"
"Break…?" Kuukaku blinked.
"Well, it seems to be full of energy. It's only a big bubble", Kenpachi shrugged and drew his blade, grinning. "We just have to break it. Like a water balloon."
"Yay, Ken-chan!"
"This will never work…"
