Hey this is meme12 here, this is the next chapter of Picking up the Pieces (many apologies for it being so late). Well about the metaphor on the Wolf and the Little Red Riding Hood, it will be explained in further chapters but it was inspired by a Vocaloid song which I don't own obviously. Well enough with the rambling let's continue on to the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach and their characters.
Warning: Yaoi
Picking up the Pieces: Truth to light
Previously: The Captains figure out the plot while the creature went into a crazed frenzy and Shiro takes the fall for Ichigo.
Mayuri's grin fell as he watched his creature missed his mark. His face contorted with rage as he gritted his teeth. Once again, that irritating Hollow has gotten in the way of his plans. He was so close in taking over Soul Society and the irritating orange head is in the way of his plans. All he needed was Ichigo Kurosaki to fall to his pet and then he can start taking out everyone else one at a time. Mayuri groans when he senses the reiatsu of the other captains but then brightens at the thought of it. "Oh well, we do need witnesses to see the great Ichigo Kurosaki fall…" The mad scientist resumes watching the show as he watches the Captains gather.
With the Captains
"No!" Toushiro had screamed as he and the other captains and their fukutaicho rushed to the scene. The Shinigami captains had immediately rushed to find Ichigo after their realisation. However they were one step too late as they see the creature stabbing Shiro and Ichigo's Zangetsu running through said albino. The captains watched as the creature shrieks and flings Shiro off his claws resulting in Ichigo crashing into the walls. "Shiro! Damn this thing!" Howl Haineko!" "Matsumoto stand down!" Toushiro shouts as he watched his angered vice-captain charges towards the creature. The creature roars as it easily raised his claws and knocks the busty woman back. Rangiku finds herself being knocked backwards into the wall. "Matsumoto!" Toushiro exclaims as Rangiku manages to catch herself before she slammed into the wall. "I'm alright!" "Get away from there!" "What…" The strawberry blond gasped as she finds the creature right behind her. The Vice captain braced for impact only to find that there was no pain. "You alright?" the girl looks up to see Kensei in his hollowfied form. "Yeah thanks." "What's the plan!?" Shuuhei hollers as the creature fixed its sights on them, snarling while it flexed its claws. "We fight and try not to die." Shunsui states as the other captains position themselves just as the creature roared and charges towards them.
With Mayuri
The scientist watched with sickly glee as his prized experiments begin attacking the captains. His grin widens as he realises that the captains were slowly and steadily being pushed back by his soldier. "Soon…it will end soon and I will reign over the entire Seireitei!" The scientist laughed evilly just as a presence made herself known. Mayuri stops his laughter and sighs knowing fully who was behind him. "You have an early death wish don't you…Nemu?" "Stop this madness Kurotsuchi taicho. We have nothing to gain from this." Gold eyes flared. "Nothing to gain…? Are you that stupid girl!? Then again when I created you I didn't give you much of my intelligence…" Nemu flinched at the line inwardly while Mayuri smirked. "On the contrary, I have so much to gain…once I have the Soutaicho eating out of my palm I can finally get my hands on all of those Vizards and experiment on them to create another masterpiece since you can see that the one over there has gone insane…" Mayuri added casually as he points to the creature creating havoc behind him.
Nemu bit her lip, her hands forming fists as her anger boils over. "That is my brother father. Please treat him with respect." Mayuri cocks his head at her. "Brother? Seriously? Don't make me laugh stupid girl! That thing will always be a tool for my usage and nothing not even you can change this fact." Nemu is silent and Mayuri grins knowing he has the advantage over the girl. "Maybe..." "What?" Nemu stares at Mayuri defiantly. "True, he will always be in your control but you can't when he is dead." "What!?" The girl holds out a syringe filled with purple liquid and Mayuri's eyes narrow in suspicion. "You…" "This is a toxin specifically created to destroy Vizards." Mayuri laughs. "Have you forgotten that my little soldier here is immune to any poison!?" Nemu smirks. "This toxin works fast; it breaks down the body by the amount of reiatsu within the host. Your little soldier has a lot of reiatsu doesn't it?" Mayuri's eyes widen in realisation. "You wouldn't…" "I will. If it can free him from your grasp, I will do it!"
With those words Nemu shun po off towards the battle. "I won't let you get in my way you meddling girl!" Nemu narrowly dodges the strikes from Mayuri as she races towards the creature, determination in her eyes as she lunches towards it. "Do not think you can get away that easily girl!" The scientist exclaims as he releases a blast of Hado straight at Nemu but she immediately defends by summoning a defensive bakudo. Mayuri's eyes widen in surprise while Nemu smirked a little. "What's wrong father? Cat caught your tongue?" Mayuri's eyes flashed in anger and his reiatsu immediately spiked as he draws his sword. "You will die here…if that is the last thing that happens! Rip Ashisogi Jizo!"
With the captains
Kensei growls as he felt the force of the creature before him. Currently, the silver haired captain was in his hollowfied form and was in a deadlock with the creature. Said male was trying his best to subdue the creature and now they are in a stalemate. Kensei knew that if he even loosens his grip for even a second, the creature will rip him to shreds without any mercy. The silver haired male couldn't help but wondered what on earth had happened when the creature had disappeared from view. "He wasn't…that blood thirsty at all… True, he was violent but I heard it…no I heard him… I heard him loud and clear… All he wanted is freedom but now…" The creature roared in his face but Kensei stood his ground as he resisted the force which resulted in the ground cracking below his feet. "Kensei!" "Taicho!" "I'm…fine… Get them…out of here…!" "I'm helping you Muguruma taicho!" "Stop!" Shuuhei pauses in his tracks at the fierce tone in his captain's voice. "You will…only get in the way… Get the others to the Fourth Division now!"
Shuuhei opens his mouth to retort but closes it in the end as he knew that his mentor was right. The creature had gone completely berserk and even the strongest bakudo spell had been broken by the creature that was now bent on just destroying everything and everyone. "Hisagi fukutaicho, go now." The scar faced male stare back at the straw hat Eighth Division Captain, the sickly Thirteen Division Captain and the icy Tenth Division Captain looking the worst for wear but were standing ready to strike the creature down if Kensei was thrown off. Shuhei shuts his eyes in anger at himself for having to leave his captain alone but swallows back his pride and grabs both the unconscious Nanao and Rangiku before he shun po off.
The creature roars and tries to chase after Shuhei but Kensei continues to trap him in their deadlock. "Don't even think about it…!" The creature just roars and Kensei grunts as the strength of the creature doubled and more cracks form on his already chipped Hollow mask. "Kensei!" Jushiro shouts but he was blocked by Shunsui who raised a hand to stop him from approaching. "We have to help him!" "We can't because if we interfere now; Kensei will be overwhelmed by the creature instead." Toushiro 'tch' and readies himself to help Kensei at any moment if the balance of power shifted. While the captains ready themselves; Kensei was trying to push back the creature. "What happened to you…? Why have you become this aggressive..!?" Kensei roared out only to have the creature roar back at him and the strength triple folded and the silver haired male winced as the muscles on his arms were further strained. "Kensei!" "Don't come closer!" The male roars as he felt the creature continue to push him down.
"My, my aren't you having fun?" The captains turn to find Mayuri staring at them with a crazed grin. "Mayuri…!" "Seems like you guys are in trouble right now." "Isn't…it…obvious!?" Kensei grunted out as Mayuri grinned crazily causing the silver hair male to feel a shiver up his spine. "Let me help you then." Before the captains could react; Mayuri stabs Kensei causing the male's grip to loosen. "W-What…?" Mayuri grins more and shun po away just as the creature took the moment to toss Kensei into the nearest building. "Kensei!" Jushiro shouts as he rushed over to check on the silver hair male who was out cold; the hollow mask shattered from his face. "What is the meaning of this Mayuri?" Shunsui questioned; turning a steely gaze on the crazed scientist while Toushiro growls at the male and points his sword. "Isn't it obvious…? I'm creating a new era for myself." "A new era?" The crazed grin on the scientist face widens. "An era where I rule and my little pet here…is going to help me do just that…" "Pet… You don't mean…?" Shunsui's eyes widen in realisation and Mayuri throws back his head in laughter.
"He's beautiful isn't he!? The strength and power of the Hollow condensed into this wonderful soldier… With his strength, removing the old fool of a Soutaicho would be so much easier…" "You are planning a revolt!?" Toushiro exclaims and the scientist scoffs. "A revolt!? Bah! I don't have time for that. I just want to prove to a certain predecessor of mine that my intellect is so much stronger and that I can take over whatever I want just by using the brain…" Mayuri emphasized by tapping the side of his head while the other captains flinch. "You are insane…" Mayuri laughs. "Say all you want but you can't stop my beautiful masterpiece am I right?" Toushiro tsk while Shunsui remains silent, the straw hat covering his eyes. "Mayuri…." "Hm?" Harden brown orbs stare straight at Mayuri. "Why does the creature have Shiro's reiatsu?" Mayuri stares at the male for a moment before he grins sickly. "Well now, we should start all the way at the beginning…. When I created my little pet, there were…complications and I just kept wondering what I should do to stabilize it…since my little pet couldn't hold his Hollow powers…" Mayuri states with a finger on his chin as he reminisces.
"Then it dawn on me…! I just needed to infuse Hollow attributes into my dear pet and everything would be perfect…!" The crazed man exclaimed with a glazed look causing the other captains that were listening to him shiver in disgust and fear. "Of course, knowing those Vizards they will definitely not give me a sample so I settled down for the next best thing… Kurosaki's Hollow." The captains were stunned while Mayuri giggled happily as if all this while he had been saying a joke that was funny only to him. "Oh well, I 'borrowed' a few blood samples and my little soldier here managed to hold in the Hollow like powers but it wasn't enough…! I needed more samples…!" Mayuri paused dramatically as the cold sinking feeling of realisation settled into the captains' stomachs as they realised what Mayuri had done. "Well, I don't need to tell you the rest of the story but I shall for your pitiful minds. My little soldier here was the one in charge of the slaughtering. It was just an accident, after all…" Mayuri paused before grinned even more insanely. "All I needed was to plant some fake evidence and wah lah! I have a fool proof case and isn't it so hilarious that the Soutaicho couldn't even be bothered to investigate properly all because the one being trialled was a hollow…"
Stunned silence fell over the captains while Mayuri laughed crazily unaware about a certain orange head having over heard the whole thing.
With Ichigo
Numbness was all Ichigo felt as Mayuri's words reverberated in his mind. The orange head gazed down at the Hollow finally noticing all the wounds that had been inflicted on the pale being in his wounded form including his sword… Ichigo's eyes widen and his whole body begins to tremble. If it is all true… If Mayuri had did everything…then…then… "What…have I done…?" Ichigo murmured and he flinched when he sees Shiro stir. He watched himself locked eyes with the weakened, dull amber gaze. The albino despite his injuries and everything weakly lifted a hand to cup Ichigo's cheek before giving Ichigo a small, frail smile. It was at this moment... Ichigo felt a rare feeling of safety at the smile that translated into those same words he would always hear from the Hollow…no… Shiro… "I'm glad ya alright Ichi." Shiro coughed, his eyes slipping close and his hand slipped off Ichigo's cheek. As the hand fell, Ichigo fell something within him break and all he could remember was white.
Back with Mayuri and the Captains
"And now you all know about my little creature's humble beginnings so…" Mayuri pointed his sword at the captains. "I'm sure you all can go in peace n…"Mayuri was cut off abruptly when a massive reiatsu sends him flat down on the ground while the captains barely managed to stable themselves as they were forced down to their knees due to the force of the reiatsu. "W-What…!?" Mayuri gasped and he instantly froze when he realised the origin of the reiatsu. Said owner of the reiatsu was standing amidst the rubble of the building where he had been flung into; the ground and the surrounding buildings were cracking and breaking under the pressure of the reiatsu. "W-What's wrong now Kurosaki? Did that damn Hollow get aw…" Mayuri immediately pauses in his words when he sees the bloodied and battered albino cradled tenderly in Ichigo's arms.
"God…Shiro…." Ukitake murmured while Shunsui looked away to quell the anger boiling at his gut and Toushiro felt sick to the pit of his stomach. Mayuri just sneers. "So you did find out the truth after all didn't you? Oh well, it doesn't matter anyway. My precious soldier will get rid of you instead!" Mayuri exclaimed as his equally crazed creation dashes towards the orange head. "Ichigo! Get out of there!" Shunsui exclaims watching the creature shun po right before the orange head. "I win...!" Mayuri exclaims in glee but his expression soon morphs into one of shock as Ichigo's reiatsu increases and a bright light soon forms, engulfing everything in its process.
Creature's POV
Killkillkilllkillkill…kill…kill… That was all that I ever knew of… Programmed by that man… I don't remember much now…everything is just a blur and then I saw a bright colour…and now this light…I feel scared…but there's something else… What is that word…? Anticipation…? I guess all this time I've been wanting freedom but it is impossible wasn't it…? I've destroyed everything I've touch but now… I've found someone that I couldn't destroy…and possibly destroy me in the end…but it's fine now…this warm light engulfing me…somehow… I feel that with this light… I will find the freedom I've always wanted...
To be continued
Meme12: That's all folks.
Kaze: Woof (Yep)
Meme12: Kaze! (Hugs the giant wolf)
Yakumi: Shouldn't you hide now?
Meme12: Why?
BANG! MEME12!
Yakumi: That's why!
Meme12: My door! (mimics Screamer painting)
Shiro: I'm gonna slaughter you for making me this weak...! (Brandishing sword)
Meme12: Run guys! (Runs away)
Yakumi: Told you so! (Running away while dodging the sword)
Please read and review, this is Meme12 saying sayonara matta o!