Chapter Ten: Godfall

Sosuke Aizen was on a power trip. Though Gin had indeed almost succeeded in slaying him, his fear of death had awakened his full power. Now he was a god among gods. He was invulnerable, invincible. He was an omnipotent deity.

Storm clouds gathered around him as the light of his immortal presence shot upwards. Down below, in the streets of Karakura, he could see Gin looking up. Fear was on the face of the white-haired man.

It was the sort of moment Aizen lived for. Thunder roared above him, and it began to rain. As if to welcome the god of the world coming into his own.

"Very clever Gin." he said, his voice smug. "But the Hogyoku is mine, and removing it physically from my being does not change that. And now I have trans-"

That was as far as he got before a bolt of lightning came down from the sky and incinerated him.

"…Huh." said Gin after a moment as he saw Aizen's burned corpse land with a thud. He half expected him to regenerate, but he didn't. He did, however, smoke.

"What the hell just happened?" came a girls voice from behind him, and Gin turned to see the group of Kurosaki's friends who Aizen had been chasing.

The one who had spoken was a wiry black haired girl, who Gin remembered seeing in a report from Ulquiorra.

"…I have no idea." said Gin after a moment. To his annoyance, he realized that he really didn't. It was so annoying that he wasn't even smiling, and that was saying something. "I mean, I suppose that Ichigo might have been able to gain enough power to one shot Aizen with a surprise attack. Assuming that he had enough time. But that could take years of training and… well…"

"I'm guessing that Ichigo doesn't have the ability to control the weather." surmised the girl.

"Well, I was going to say that he's too obsessed with dynamic entries. He'd never manage a proper backstab." said Gin. "But what you said also is quite true also."

There was a long pause.

"Well if that's the case…" said Tatsuki after a moment. "Then who killed him?"

"I don't know." said Gin, his tone thoughtful. "Even Yamamoto couldn't have done this, and he's the most powerful Shinigami ever to live. Maybe… maybe Soul Society has thus far been completely wrong about how the universe works. Maybe we are just another step in the cycle of life. May there is a loving God who could no longer abide Aizen's vicious evil and intervened. There could be hope for…"

"Hi Gin." said Chojiro Sasakibe. He walked up behind Gin, twirling his rapier. His white haori blowing in the wind as he walked up the wreckage. "Sorry I'm late, it took me a while to charge up that attack. But I'm glad to see it worked."

Gin turned around his mouth agape. "Chojiro! But… how!"

The white-haired Captain shrugged. "I'm the lieutenant of the 1st division. You didn't think that I didn't have any special powers of my own did you?"

"Well… I… Uh…" Gin paused. "I just didn't think they were on the level of killing Aizen."

"Please," said Chokiro, "when I first got my Bankai I managed scar Yamamoto's face. And I've been his lieutenant since before the Gotei 13 have even existed. I'm pretty sure I can zap some megalomaniac with a god complex."

"Then why didn't you do that to begin with?!" asked Gin, not able to believe what had happened.

"You spent a hundred years portraying yourself as Aizen's loyal lieutenant, didn't you?" replied Chojiro. "Trying pretending to be something your not for thousands of years. Trust me, any masquerades you have left right now are amateur hour compared to mine."

"So… you let the Captain all get beaten to a pulp, so you didn't have to tell them about your hidden competence?" asked Gin, raising an eyebrow "Isn't that kind of… irresponsible."

"Actually no." said Chojiro. "The fact is that Yamamoto and I figured out a way to break a Gillian's Nagacion years ago. We could have wiped you out at any time. We chose not to because the Captains had gotten complacent. They weren't living up to their potential at all. With the threat of the Arrancar, they got serious about their training. Soul Society is more secure than it ever has been. Aizen presented what appeared as a legitimate threat. The only part of our plan that didn't go off without a hitch was that Mayuri Kuroschuchi didn't go with you. He's a bit too genre savvy for even us."

Gin stood there, dumbstruck. "You mean… you mean that… that everything we've been doing up to this point… has… has…"

"Gone according to our plans." said Chojiro with a smile, before glancing over to where Ichigo had arrived.

"Alright Aizen!" said Ichigo. "Let's finish-" he paused "Where the hell is Aizen?"

"Oh, I killed him." said Chojiro with a shrug.

"…Seriously?" asked Ichigo, looking to Gin for confirmation.

"Yup."

"But if that's the case, then how did I one shot you with a single punch before?" asked Ichigo. "You know, back when I was rescuing Rukia."

"Well there's actually an amusing story behind that." said Chojiro. "See, it all started when an army of eldritch abominations tried to seize control of the universe. Captain Yamamoto sent me to stop them…"

Authors Note:

Looking back this series isn't as good as I remember it. I guess people enjoyed it, but it doesn't have the same quality as some of my later fics.