Blood Stains a Red Moon

By: Chris Harrington

Chapter Ten: Death Will Claim us all

I can't die and that is the most painful thing about immortality. Never again will I see my loved ones; never again will I feel the love and passion of others around me let alone give it to someone else. So I replace that happiness with hatred and disgust for those who end such feelings for others who sought only the life they disserved as it was ripped from them with cold bloody hands. Die murderers for I am the noose around your neck all you have is time and I have already concurred it.

The mouth of this hollow was large with jagged teeth that deemed to sharpen each other as he grinded them against each tooth the size of a zanpakuto.

"Hahahahahahahahahaaaaaa! That's all…that's all that hellion was just a bite size snack!" the hollow said as he took its bright blue eyes and starred at Yamamoto and Ichigo both next to the other, "Well I guess that you'll have to do for an appetizer." It said as it lifted it giant spiky club and tail in the air and slammed it to the ground flinging dust in the air with a massive explosion.

When the smoke cleared his tail was being held up by two swords, one was Ryujin Jakka and the other was Tensa Zangetsu.

"Very Impressive Ichigo Kurosaki it seems that your speed has still improved."

"Same to you age hasn't dulled your skills either Captain." Ichigo said as they both used all their strength to throw the tail back in the air.

The tail then came down again hitting no target at all as it looked behind him and noticed Kenpachi lunging at him and he launched a cero at Kenpachi who had to block with his sword. But, when Kenpachi looked where once was a hollow there was nothing as Ichigo yelled for Kenpachi to move but it was too late as a large claw from behind as Kenpachi was slammed into a stone wall.

"Soul Reapers attack!" Yamamoto yelled as thousands of Soul Reapers flash stepped around this gigantic hollow and they each began to attack it with mixed success.

Yamamoto, Isshin, and Ichigo stood back and watched the slaughter of hundreds of Soul Reapers. Some were eaten others were demolished by the tails and limbs of this hollow until the hollow unleashed a sound wave sending all the remaining Soul Reapers flying though the air away from the sight. The hollow began to laugh in an evil tone when all of a sudden its eyes shrank and it fell silent for a while until shrieks came from its mouth.

"What's happening?!" yelled Yamamoto as he too began to attack it using flames to slice off its front limbs as it fell to the ground still shrieking.

All of a sudden two arms of armored stone the size of buildings appeared from the sides of the hollows head and they grasped its mouth and opened it forcefully and from the darkness Ken jumped forth his hands still mimicking the stone ones holding the hollow. He then took his hands and forced them apart and the hands did the same only they ripped the jaw from the hollows face until finally breaking into hundreds of stones that shattered as they fell to the ground now stained with blood.

Ken looked up at the moon and smiled at its crimson beauty, "Did you really think that it would be over that easily hollow?"

The hollow soon regained the limbs it lost and its jaw as it jumped away from his opponents, "So you are as good as I heard, you already dispatched with Dragon Head with relative ease and also confronted Skull even though he got away you still revealed much strength to him without waiver. But I Jack Knife won't be taken into the gates so easily!" he yelled as he lunged towards Ken but soon noticed that he had appeared at his right foot and released enough spiritual pressure to make the hollow's body go limp as well as his Soul Reaper comrades.

"I'm not done with you yet hollow so stop with these poor excuses for attacks and let me show you an attack." Ken clapped his hands together and drew in black spiritual energy that looked almost like lightning, "Strike down the enemies that sully your name in blood," the clouds in the sky began to swirl around in many different funnels all over the sky and blue lightning swirled among the black clouds tinted red from the moon, "Denkou Ninjou!" then the blue lightning turned black and fired a large bolt at the hollow leaving nothing but burned hollow and a crater.

The hollow just stood there charred and flinching as blood oozed from the burns.

"Bastard why revert to such techniques your better than this Hellion." The hollow said as the gates of hell opened up in front of the hollow and it laughed as it coughed up blood, "So that's the end ha and I thought I would last longer than that,"

"Sorry Jack Knife I really am." Ken said as he took out his staff and turned it into Honehaiken, "If it makes any constellation I know how you feel." Ken said as one of the hollows claws hit him and flung him far away and he landed on his feet.

"You have no idea what I'm going through Hellion you are a servant of hell not a prisoner like me you don't suffer for every breath you make or every step you take. Only I know what the suffering is like and you have no right to take me back to my cell!" Jack Knife yelled as he launched a very large cero at Ken.

Ken closed his eyes and nothing happened he looked and saw Ichigo holding back the cero with his Bankai and his mask on. The Cero disappeared very quickly after a blast of Getsuga Tensho.

Ken leapt forward and grabbed the hollows mask at the top and used his Honehaiken to wrap its long chain around it. With a quick tug the mask shattered to show the face of this man but his face was burned badly and most of the facial features couldn't be seen. The gates of hell came up from the ground again and this time the bastard went in full force.

"My brother will finish what I started." Were the last words that Jack Knife said before the gates closed.

"Get me a medic quickly!" yelled Yamamoto as Kenpachi was pulled out of a building by three Soul Reapers.

Ichigo went over to him and asked if he would be okay to which he was slightly relieved to hear the chuckle from Kenpachi but mostly scarred.

The Soul Reapers left and all that remained was Ichigo and Isshin, "Ichigo you do realize that you didn't have to block that Cero I am an immortal being so why did you do it?" Ken asked as Isshin and Ichigo turned to face Ken walking behind them.

"Not sure it just felt like I needed to, I would call it instincts but that's why." He said almost jokingly but it was sincere enough.

They kept walking until they reached home and Isshin bowed to Ken as he did the same back and Ichigo finally went to bed. Ken didn't go back to Orihime's house that night he just wandered around lost in thought over why Ichigo would save a Hellion. To Ken it made no sense to save an immortal from nothing the immortal couldn't handle and soon the sun rose and people began to exit their houses to begin their short meaningless lives and do as they were told to do like all humans were made to do.

END OF DEATH WILL CLAIM US ALL