Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks for all the great reviews. I'll respond to them at the bottom of the page if you want to see.
Summary: The Final Getsuga Tensho was not enough to stop Aizen. With the last of his strength, he captured Ichigo and retreated to Hueco Mundo. Three months later, the Soul Society comes under attack by Aizen again, and this time they must cross blades with an opponent they never expected to fight.
Pairings: Ichigo x Orihime | Rukia x Renji | (Possibly) Grimmjow x Nel
Disclaimer: I don't own bleach or any of it's characters.
Warning: This story includes graphic violence, character death, and strong language.
Special Thanks: Lady Serai, co-writer of this story and who is and will be responsible for most of the battle scenes in this story. ;)
Enjoy!
Lucifer looked at Hanataro in glee as the healer slowly died on his horn. He could just barely see the meek Soul Reaper out of the corner of his eye but still caught the look of horror on his face.
"You know personally, I've never understood this whole 'self sacrifice' thing." Lucifer said with a grin on his blood-stained face. "This is really what you deserve for caring abut someone else more than yourself. Show weakness on the battlefield and you're dead."
Hanataro, who was still hanging off Lucifer's horn, looked down at the former protector with shock clear on his face. Despite the horrible pain he was in, he still spoke. "P-Please Ichigo." Hanataro said weakly as he coughed up some blood. "Please remember. We're friends. Have mercy." He pleaded, but he was so weak his words were little more than whispers. Yet Lucifer heard them all.
Lucifer let out an evil chuckle. "What's mercy?" He said as he whipped his head to the side, causing Hanataro to be thrown off his horn. The moment he was off it, a cero formed on the tip. Everyone looked on in horror as the cero was discharged, enveloping Hanataro in it's red light. It tore right through the meek Soul Reaper's chest and nearly split him in two.
As the light left his eyes, Hanataro fell to the ground with a giant hole situated in his chest. Because of the cold winter air, Orihime was able to see one small breathe leave Hanataro's mouth before he went slack on the ground.
Orihime just looked up and fell to her knees. How? How was this happening? How was it even possible that Ichigo just killed someone? She had already known that he killed those two lieutenants, as well as two Espada. But this whole time a small part of her thought they were all lying. That Ichigo hadn't hurt a soul.
But the truth was now staring her down. This wasn't Ichigo in front of her. This person...this stranger had no conscious. No remorse.
And now, staring at the young Soul Reaper's disfigured corpse, Orihime couldn't help herself. She screamed. She screamed for the loss of Hanataro. She screamed for the horror of watching him die. And she screamed for the realization that Ichigo had become a monster.
Everyone else was completely stiff. They too could not comprehend what had just taken place. There was one simple fact that they couldn't deny.
Ichigo and Lucifer looked alike. That was where the similarities ended. If his appearance had been altered as much as his personality was, and someone told them that this was Ichigo Kurosaki in front of them, they would call that person out as a filthy liar.
But then, something began to overlap Orihime's screams. Was that...laughter? Cackling would be more accurate. Everyone turned slowly to see Lucifer having a laughing fit over their collective horror.
It was one thing to kill someone so callously. But to actually laugh over the grief of their comrades. That was inhuman. It was...hollow.
Rukia looked at the man that was far different from her friend with stray tears in her eyes. "I-Ichigo." She stuttered out. "Yo-You're a m-mo-monster."
Despite his loud laughter, Lucifer managed to hear what Rukia had said. He managed to calm down enough to look her in the eye with a sly smile. "You have no idea."
Lucifer then sonidoed in front of Rukia. She was still so shocked by Hanataro's death that she couldn't react. Lucifer swung his sword with what must have been incredible speed, but to everyone it seemed to go in slow motion. It was as though time itself was taunting them. But when his blade was mere inches from her throat, a sudden gust of wind in the form of slashes cam out of nowhere and struck Lucifer, knocking him into the building below.
Rukia shook her head as what just happened finally caught up to her. She looked to the side and saw who had just saved her life, and like everyone else there, her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets from widening so much.
Meanwhile, Lucifer dug his way out of the rubble of the building he had been thrown into. He glared fiercely at the newcomers that had injured him.
The leader of the newcomers winced under his glare. "Jeez Ichigo. Even as an Espada you always have such a sour look on your face." The blond said.
Now that Lucifer got a better look at them, he recognized them from Aizen's files. He described these particular individuals as his 'Mach Arrancars'. Shinji Hirako. Hiyori Sarugaki, Love Aikawa, Kensei Muguruma, Mashiro Kuna, Rōjūrō Otoribashi, Hachigen Ushōda, and Lisa Yadōmaru. Among them, Kensei was the only one who has already unleashed shikai, as his was the one that saved Rukia.
Lucifer mumbled a few unintelligible things as he leapt up to the roof of the building and stared them down. "Just what I needed. Mongrel Soul Reapers."
As if he knew exactly what would happen next, Shinji reached out to grab Hiyori by the back of her Shihakushō as she tried to run towards Lucifer with an angry expression on her face. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING 'MONGREL' YA BASTARD!"
Lucifer just rolled his eyes. "Who do you think, pipsqueak?"
There was a flash of red in Hiyori's eyes when she heard the word 'pipsqueak'. It took Kensei helping out Shinji to hold her back as she grabbed her Zankpakuto and tried to get at Lucifer to gut him. Rukia and the others couldn't help but sweat drop at their antics.
Meanwhile, even though he was holding Hiyori back, Shinji gave Lucifer a studying look. He hadn't seen him when he was last in the Soul Society. This was their first encounter as enemies. Luckily, he had some experience when it came to helping people overcome their inner hollows, and he was willing to bet that Ichigo's hollow was somehow the cause of this.
"Okay, listen to me carefully." Shinji said cautiously as he let Hiyori go and stepped towards Lucifer. Hiyori stopped struggling when she saw what Shinji was doing.
"This isn't you." The Squad Five Captain continued. "This is Aizen. He's done something to you but I know you're still in there. Try to remember, we're your friends."
Lucifer squinted at Shinji. His words were probably nonsense, but he couldn't deny there was something familiar about these people. Something that went deeper than just seeing their pictures and reading up on them.
Shinji saw the familiarity in Lucifer's eyes and kept going. "You're a Soul Reaper, not an arrancar. Come back to us Ichigo, we can-"
Shinji was cut off when Lucifer suddenly dashed towards him with his sword in hand. Shinji instinctively blocked it with his own but was pushed back by the sheer force of the attack, only for Kensei to catch him. He couldn't understand. He thought he was getting somewhere. Shinji looked back up and flinched when he saw the unrestrained fury in the Primera's eyes.
"The next person who calls me 'Ichigo' is going to get their tongue cut out!" He screamed with an inhuman anger present in his voice.
Kensei helped Shinji get to his feet, then leaned in to whisper to him. "I tried to tell you that this wouldn't work. Whatever Aizen did to him can't be undone just by talking to him. We need to beat him and once he's weakened we can take him back and work from there."
Shinji glanced back at the silver haired man and nodded his head. He had been hoping he could solve this without having to fight Ichigo, but he left them with no choice. Shinji drew Sakanade and the rest of the Vizards did the same with their own Zanpakuto. Even Hachi summoned the barrier which he used to house his Zanpakuto inside. His was particularly large to accommodate his big frame.
"Smash, Haguro Tonbo!"
"Butcher him, Kubikiri Orochi!"
"Play, Kinshara!"
"Slam, Tengumaru!"
"Knock 'im out, Chō Tekkō Sōkō!" (1)
"Illuminate, Mugen no Hikari!" (2)
All of the Vizards, save Shinji, unleashed their shikai one by one. Mashiro's shikai was very unusual. It turned into light and enveloped her arms and legs with a pair of armored boots and gauntlets. But odder still was Hachi's shikai. After releasing, it became light and simply faded away, leaving no material form.
Lucifer looked at the Vizards skeptically. He had most definitely faced stronger, but he had a feeling that there was more to them then met the eye.
Shinji was the first to go. He charged at Lucifer with his sword raised only for Lucifer to meet his attack without missing a beat. But then, Shinji raised a hand and dragged his fingers down his face, with black reishi following them. The reishi then condensed into his hollow mask.
Lucifer's eyes widened as the strength behind his attack increased and Shinji managed to push him back.
"His spiritual pressure just went through the roof." Lucifer thought when another spiritual pressure from above him caught his attention. He looked up and saw Mashiro with her mask on as well. She kicked out at him with her armored leg.
"MASHIRO SUPER KICK!" She screamed in her hollowfied voice as her foot clashed against Lucifer's reishi blade. The impact was so strong that the blade broke and Lucifer was pushed back once again.
Next was Rose. His golden whip lashed out at him, causing Lucifer to launch a grenada at it. The grenada went off when the two met, but the explosion covered the area in dust. To Lucifer's surprise, Kinshara emerged from the dust still on its' trajectory towards him. Lucifer just growled and caught it with his bare hands. He smirked only to see Rose also had his mask on, and had his fingers planted on the hilt of Kinshara. "Hadō number 63. Raikōhō!" A golden light emerged from the hilt and made its' way up the hilt until it reached the end. Once it did, the blast emerged from the head of the whip and hit Lucifer point blank.
This time not only was Lucifer pushed back, his jacket was torn and some burns appeared on his chest. When he halted himself in the air, the next two to clash against him were Lisa and Hiyori, each with their masks on. He quickly formed two reishi blades just strong enough to keep both of their blades at bay. While he was stuck between the two though, Love appeared above him and swung Tengumaru down at him. The giant mace struck him, slamming him down towards the ground.
Lucifer managed to stop himself again before he could get close to the ground when another attack came his way. This time it was Kensei, who sent more slashes of wind at him. Lucifer snarled and charged a cero on his horn and fired it. When they hit, the two attacks canceled each other out.
"Bakudo number 30. Shitotsu Sansen!" Lucifer looked towards the source of the voice only to find three large beams of light flying towards him. The beams caught him by his arms and both legs and pinned him to the wall of a building. Lucifer glared daggers at Hachi's masked face as he struggled and failed to get free.
"Damn you bastard! This isn't possible! I'm the Primera! No kido can hold me!" Lucifer screamed angrily, fighting still against his restraints.
Hachi simply nodded. "I'm sure that is the case most of the time, but do you remember earlier when I activated shikai. My Zanpakuto did not just disappear, it's what is holding you down right now." He explained, earning a confused look from Lucifer. "You see, my Zanpakuto is kido itself. And after I activate it, all the kido I cast is multiplied to a level where it could hold down even the Head Captain."
"Bastard!" Lucifer groaned out as he managed to break apart the pillar holding his left arm.
Seeing him beginning to break free, Shinji decided to act now. He quickly flash stepped towards him with Sakanade raised. Lucifer broke the pillar holding both legs as Shinji did so, and did his best to evade the attack. Shinji jabbed at him, but Lucifer narrowly moved his head out of the way just before then. With that done, Lucifer broke the last pillar and sonidoed away.
Hachi approached Shinji as the blond examined his blade. "I'm sorry Shinji. That was probably our best chance to hold him but my kido wasn't strong enough." The kido caster apologized.
Shinji then raised his blade. "No need to be sorry. I clearly got him." He said. As he did so, Hachi could see the blood trickling off his sword.
Lucifer then reappeared on the roof of the building across from them. "Not bad." He admitted as he moved his hand, revealing a small cut on his cheek. "But you have to admit, that was a whole lot of work for just a few drops of blood."
Static then sounded in the earpieces of all the Vizards, as well as Rukia and Renji. "Attention! Gentei Kaijo has been approved!"
"About time." Shinji said as he turned to face Lucifer. But it wasn't panic or anger on Lucifer's face. Was that...a smile?
Toshiro breathed heavily as he narrowly avoided another one of Starrk's ceros. Since he didn't move a muscle while performing them, they were damn near impossible to predict. Meanwhile, Rangiku and Nemu were fighting Lilynette, which appeared to be evenly matched.
"Attention! Gentei Kaijo has been approved!" Hitsugaya and Kurotsuchi were revealed to hear that they would soon have all their power.
"They certainly took their time." Kurotsuchi said, annoyed.
Ayon exchanged another blow with Komomura's bankai. The giant took the full force of the attack and raised its' giant Zanpakuto, slashing Ayon down its' chest.
Hallibel looked at the battle between her fraccion's beast and the Seventh's Captain's bankai with disinterest. She could feel Soi Fon's gaze on the back of her neck. The Second's Captain had been observing her since she got there, looking for the slightest weakness.
Ayon finally gushed blood and feel back into the water, leaving the four arrancars to fight for themselves.
"Attention! Gentei Kaijo has been approved!" Sounded in their earpieces.
Byakuya waved his hand in the air to summon Senbonzakura Kageyoshi to block Ulquiorra's cero oscuras. It did just that, but it gave Ulquiorra the distraction he needed to sonido behind the noble and strike him.
"Kageoni." Shunsui said as he impaled Ulquiorra's shadow, causing an identical blade to burst forth from the ground and strike the pale Espada. Ulquiorra ground his teeth as the blade ripped through his torso, but was still able to get off of the blade and sonido some yards away.
"Attention! Gentei Kaijo has been approved!"
Grimmjow and Kenpachi shared identical grins as they clashed swords with each other. Kenpachi however, got the upper hand and Grimmjow was propelled into the air.
While he was up there, Grimmjow heard a strange noise and looked to the side to see a giant green manta about to devour him. Grimmjow sneered and spun around before kicking Minazuki to the ground.
Kenpachi glared daggers at Unohana. "What do you think you're doing?! This is my battle! Don't get involved!"
"Attention! Gentei Kaijo has been approved!"
As the Soul Reaper captains and lieutenants prepared to receive their full power, they all pulled at their clothes, revealing their seals in the form of tattoos on their shoulders.
But as they did so, almost in unison, the Espadas they were facing threw something that looked like a small golden box towards them.
"Sello Negación." (3)
All at once, light poured forth from these boxes and struck the captains and lieutenants on their tattooed seals. The Soul Reapers looked down at themselves and saw a golden circle mark appearing around their seals.
Then, another message was relayed to them. "There's something wrong! The connection has been lost! Gentei Kaijo isn't working!"
Rangiku looked up at her captain in shock over the latest message. "What's going on? What was that? And why isn't Gentei Kaijo working?"
Starrk looked at the captains and lieutenants with some semblance of pity. "That was one of Lord Aizen's latest inventions. The Sello Negación. You see, Lord Aizen isn't one to leave things to chance. So even though the Espada have become much stronger since our last encounter, Aizen made these to insure our victory. You see, the Sello Negación negates the power of Gentei Kaijo, and leaves you with your true power sealed."
The Vizards looked at Lucifer's grinning face in frustration. How were they supposed to fight with only a fifth of their power?
"Yeah, whatever!" Hiyori shouted, arrogantly as usual. "We've been kicking your ass since this started, this won't make a difference!"
Lucifer smirked confidently. "I'm sorry, but were you under the impression that I wasn't holding back?"
The Vizards were all stunned silent, and none made a move as Lucifer reached towards his head. Then, he swiped his fingers down, each pulling black reishi along them. The reishi settled, and then it materialized into an awful smiling mask, just like the one White had.
Hallibel examined the two captain's worried expressions as they realized the could not use all of their power. She reached behind her back and fingered the guard of her sword before quickly swiping it out and grabbing the hilt.
"Personally, I think you should consider yourselves fortunate. It is me you have to deal with, not Lucifer."
Komamura's head shot up at the mention of that name. "Tell me, what have you done to Ichigo! And what do you mean we're fortunate?!"
Hallibel didn't react to the yells of the wild captain. "You shouldn't call him Ichigo. I can assure you they are two different people entirely. As for what was done, I can't attest to that. Lord Aizen has kept it hidden from even the Espada. But I will tell you why you are lucky."
Soi Fon and Komamura looked at her skeptically as she continued.
"You see, we have an Espada in our ranks known as Ulquiorra. He has an unusual habit of which he is not even aware. He kills his prey by putting a hole in their chest identical to his own. Lucifer also has an unconscious habit he uses for killing Soul Reapers." She explained. "You see, when he kills his target...he does it using their own Zanpakuto."
Lucifer, with his new mask enhancing his power, leapt into the air after Lisa. Lisa held out the shaft of her spear in defense, thinking he might try a strike with his sword. But instead, Lucifer grabbed a hold of her spear as well and pulled it forward, headbutting her as she neared. The impact itself shattered her mask and caused her to let go of her spear. Lucifer then yanked it away from her and spun around, using the momentum of the spin to smash the blade of the spear into her side.
As Lisa fell, Hiyori charged towards him with her giant sword in hand. However, Lucifer grabbed her sword by the hilt, overlapping her hand. Mashiro ran in to help, but when she raised an armored fist to strike, Lucifer used Hiyori's sword to slash her down her chest. He then flipped behind Hiyori and used her blade to impale her through the back.
Lastly, Lucifer flew towards Hachi with incredible speed. Hachi formed a clear barrier to protect himself but Lucifer just rammed through it, grabbing a piece of the shattered barrier as he did so. When he got to Hachi, he impaled him through the chest with the shard he had picked up. (5)
As four of the Vizards fell to the streets below, Lucifer waved his hand and caused his mask to evaporate, revealing a sick grin. Slowly, the Primera turned to face Kensei, Rose, Love, and Shinji, all clearly angry at the injuries their comrades just sustained.
"Something tells me you four won't be as easy." Lucifer said, his grin never falling.
Instead of a verbal response, Kensei, Rose, and Love held out their weapons. "BANKAI!"
All three released bankai at once. Kensei's arms became coated in metal, with brass knuckles at his fists. "Tekken Tachikaze!"
Rose's bankai created two rows of large beings with petal-like ornaments for heads. "Kinshara Butōdan!"
And Love's bankai took the form of a staff with a large spiked flail hanging off either side of it, each as big as Tengumaru. "Nijū ni tatakainokami!" (4)
Lucifer grinned widely at the bankai's before him. This was sure to be fun!
Author's Notes:
(1) Chō Tekkō Sōkō - Japanese for Ultra Steel Armor
(2) Mugen no Hikari - Japanese for Infinite Light
(3) Sello Negación - Spanish for Negation Seal
(4) Nijū ni tatakainokami - Japanese for Double God of War
(5) Stabbing Hachi with his barrier - in case you didn pickup on it, Hachi's zanpakuto is kido itself, so one could still make the arguement that Lucifer took him down with his own sword.
Lord Jaric - Well, here's your answer. :(
Black Bankai - Thanks!
Accountkilledxxx - Not dead yet ;)
Livelybliss - Ahhh, you're making me blush.
Guest - I very much appreciated your compliment.
Ichi Hime Ulqui Grimm - Yeah, sorry but I may be a seraph but most of the time I moonlight as a Devil 😈 LOL!
Sephy-Chan - Nice catch I totally based it off that DBZ scene!
Verazao - Stop with all the kisses, I mean I barely know you and my girlfriend might get jealous LOL!
Chardy-Hime18 - Yeah, I don't know what a stomach eating itself means. Author-sama? I could get used to that.
Follor fav and review and I'll publish soon. BYE!
