It was only three hours later when the demons came for them; the lithe leader and four heavily muscled demons. It was just as well, because as soon as they released the cuffs on Ichigo's wrists and ankles from the bedposts, he started fighting. Ducking under one of the burly demon's arms, he dashed to the corner of the room, where Zangetsu had been laid after they had taken it from him.
Two of the demons fell under the first attack, but the third one used his arm to block the worst of the damage, losing it but keeping his life, while their leader cast some sort of demonic spell that paralyzed Ichigo from the shoulders down. Snarling as his zanpakuto fell from nerveless fingers, Ichigo watched in impotent fury as the fourth demon racked claws down Renji's chest, digging deep enough to remove four strips of skin and make Renji cry out, trying to move even though there was no room to give.
"Now, now, there's no need to kill him," the slender demon stopped his underling with a cold smile, and then turned those sharp eyes to Ichigo. "I would suggest that you refrain from doing anything else that foolish. Once you've given us what we want, we'll let you go. Both of you," he clarified. "But if you continue to fight us, then I'm afraid that neither of you will make it out of here alive."
His eyes were deadly serious, and Ichigo scowled, but relaxed his body in the spell, bowing his head slightly in acknowledgment of the threat. Renji, having recovered from the surprise and initial pain of the sudden attack, was busy snarling imprecations at the demons in the room, and Ichigo listened with mild amusement. It seemed like he had learned quite a lot during his younger years in Rukongai.
The demons themselves, however, were not amused, and with a snap of his fingers, Renji was gagged, his voice muffled behind the thick cloth, his eyes still pissed. Ichigo was released from the spell with a pointed warning to not go for Zangetsu, and then he was led from the room, a different chain put on the shackles that allowed the demons to pull him wherever they pleased, as if they were using a leash.
Snorting, Ichigo wondered if they realized that they were trying to leash two wild dogs. Perhaps they didn't know how the scout had been defeated, even with the pack mind? After all, he certainly hadn't been defeated by an external source, but rather by a Hollow and the shinigami whose body he had hijacked.
Behind him, two more demons had appeared, releasing Renji and dragging him to his feet, snapping the chain onto his wrist cuffs and following Ichigo's guards. Behind them, two glowing stones floated in mid-air, a black mist swirling around them, and Ichigo stopped where he was and stared. That was a demon's true form? I mean, sure, he had seen the shattered stones by the human bodies back in his hometown, but he hadn't realized that those were the actual demons.
Which meant, Ichigo thought in disgust, that he had missed killing the demons, and only destroyed their host bodies. Great.
A sharp tug, and Ichigo stumbled forward, scowling at the heavy-set demon that had yanked on the chain. The demon just smiled, baring his teeth, and Ichigo growled back. These guys were seriously starting to piss him off, and he still didn't know what they wanted from him, which was worrying.
They moved down several twisting hallways, so many that Ichigo was sure he'd get lost if he ever tried to escape this way on his own. Which, Ichigo realized, was no doubt what the demons had intended. As they moved further down the corridors, and closer to their destination, a feeling of unease began to creep up Ichigo's spine, and he shifted restlessly, his feet slowing without thought. A chuckle and a sharp yank, and he was dragged forward, the demon holding the chain picking up his pace just to spite the shinigami.
Demons and prisoners approached a huge wooden door, decorated with horrible images of demons torturing the humans that tried to flee from underneath of them. Ichigo shuddered, the images bringing back memories that he would have rather forgotten entirely.
The doors opened of their own accord, and the two shinigami were dragged into a gladiator's hall. That was the best description Ichigo could give. The central part of the room was a wide space, with no furniture except for a simple throne sitting on top of a dais at the very back of the room. But up higher, there were rows of rows of seats lining the perimeter, and every last one of them was full of demons in human guise, the whole lot of them clamoring to get a look at the two shinigami men.
Around them floated more of those black gems, for those demons who had no body to possess, or simply chose to forgo them in order to have a spot. Ichigo wondered how they could see and hear, possessing no eyes or ears, but then realized that it really didn't matter, and his thoughts were scattering. Whatever they wanted from him, they had brought an audience to witness it. Shit.
They were brought to a stop in front of the dais, and Ichigo scowled, wondering if they were going to try and make him kneel, too. He soon realized that there was no need to make him do anything when a wash of power crushed him, bowing his knees as it caught him completely by surprise. The other demons were already on their knees, so they remained below the flux of power.
With a grunt, Ichigo's knees hit the stone floor and he winced. That would probably bruise. With an effort, he raised his head towards the throne, determined to see the lord of these demons.
What he saw surprised him. Apparently, their lord and king was a lady. A very, very, powerful lady, Ichigo amended abruptly. Her face was pale, and as smooth as glass. Her eyes had probably once been a friendly, deep blue, but time and age had lightened them, so that her eyes shone cold and cruel like frozen icicles.
Her body was slightly taller than an average woman's, reaching just under six feet, and her dark hair flowed down her back, coming to rest just below the small of her back. Her dress was a brilliant white, offsetting her hair and eyes, and contrasting sharply with the ruby teardrop that rested atop her breasts.
Ichigo would have made a sarcastic comment about a blood-stained white dress if he had been able to talk around the pressure sliding down his throat and cutting off his breath. Damn, but this one was powerful! She reminded him eerily of Kenpachi without his eye patch on, when his power ran rampant and uncontrolled.
Once she was seated, the power around her settled down, and Ichigo could breathe again, but he remained kneeling, seeing no point in making such an obvious act of defiance that would do him no good. While it might soothe his pride a bit, it wouldn't be worth the retribution he'd face for the trouble.
Still, an ungagged Ichigo was a mouthy Ichigo, and he really couldn't help what came out of his mouth next. "Do you do that on purpose? Or do you just not have enough control yet?" he asked impudently. The demon lord just smiled at him, and a flux of power crushed him, pushing him flat to the floor. It slid back down his throat and crushed the breath from him, leaving him gasping. His limbs felt heavy and lethargic, and he wondered if he had pissed her off enough to kill him already.
After several agonizing moments, where Ichigo wondered if he were going to die from asphyxiation, the power leveled off and then lifted from him altogether. Gasping, and gulping in breath after breath, Ichigo remained silent while he waited for his strength to return, aware of the demons watching him and of Renji trying to call his name through the gag that was still in his mouth.
Pushing himself painfully into a sitting position, Ichigo managed to mutter, "I'm fine, Renji. She doesn't want me dead…yet," he added as an afterthought. He got another smile for his trouble.
"No, we do not want you dead…yet," she agreed, and Ichigo noticed that her voice was pleasant, almost soothing. "We want your rather…unique ability to adapt." When Ichigo stared back at her, confused, she smiled. "We do not yet have an…avatar, shall we say? We can possess bodies and reside in them, but we are unable to create bodies of our own."
She met his eyes, and Ichigo swallowed, seeing the calculation in those icy eyes. "You, however, can manage to be human, shinigami, and Hollow all at the same time. And those who are bound to you grow in power. Oh? You didn't notice?" she asked at his frown, obviously amused. "Ask your companion there. I'm certain he's noticed."
With a nod, a demon came forth and removed Renji's gag. The redhead met Ichigo's eyes and frowned, keeping his mouth shut. Ichigo realized that even if the demons knew that those around him got stronger, they didn't know how much. Then again, he hadn't even realized it himself, which was probably for the best. No need to give the demons more ammunition than they already had.
Ichigo filed the information away for later, when he'd probably be pissed and yell at somebody, but for now, it really wasn't important, except in whatever way it pertained to what this demon wanted from him. "So? What does that have to do with anything? Are you going to try and grow stronger by using me? Personally, though, I would think it would work the other way around," he muttered.
The lady laughed at him, the sound not an unpleasant one. Ichigo shivered regardless, wary and on high alert. "It probably would work the other way, if I intended to fight you. After all, you only seem to grow stronger with every fight," she noted. Ichigo scowled; he had been hoping the demon wouldn't catch on to that.
"No, what I want is the exact opposite of what you're thinking. I want to know if you can become a demon," she said, her face utterly serious. Ichigo blinked, not certain he had heard that correctly. Him, become a demon? Was she serious?
Apparently, Renji thought the same thing, because it was his voice that spoke next. "Are you crazy, lady? It's not possible for a human to become a demon!"
The demon lord looked at him, pinning him with her gaze, but there was no wash of power this time. "What makes you say that, shinigami? After all, a human became a shinigami by stabbing himself through the heart with a zanpakuto. And then he became a Hollow while trying to increase his power over his zanpakuto, correct? And now, he is both, while he still lives and is human. If he cannot become demon kind, then he should not have been able to become a shinigami either. Logically, it makes no sense, yet he does it, repeatedly."
Renji snarled back, "Yes, but it's been proven that humans become Hollows, and that humans can become shinigami. We've had temporary shinigami before, although it's a highly rare occurrence."
The demon lady smiled at him. "True, but he did not lose the power after a while. Instead, he kept it. Why is that, do you think? Because that shinigami Urahara intervened? Or perhaps simply because Kurosaki Ichigo is that powerful?" She turned her gaze on to him, and Ichigo swallowed. He didn't like where there was heading. How did one become a demon, anyway?
Her smile widened as she found the fear in his eyes that he was trying, and failing, to suppress. "Don't worry. It won't hurt, maybe," she offered, and Ichigo chuckled wryly, not believing a word of it. Still, though, that didn't explain why there were so many demons here, if they were performing an experiment. Wouldn't they want to keep it a secret, in case it didn't work?
As if she was reading his mind, the demon lord answered his questions. "This is hardly an audience," she spoke, and at her words, the demons began to move, leaping from their perches on the balconies. "They're part of the experiment as well. You're going to fight them…without your sword."
Ichigo tensed, his mind refusing to make sense of her words. He was supposed to fight all of these guys? By himself, and without his zanpakuto? What was she thinking? There was no way he was going to play her game.
Suddenly, Renji was thrown at the demon lady's feet, and Ichigo startled, jumping to his feet. Placing one dainty heeled foot on Renji's chest, the demon pushed down, the stiletto heel pushing into one of the claw wounds.
Renji's eyes widened, and he screamed, his hands trying to reach for his chest, and the demon's ankle, but just as Ichigo's chains had adjusted at the demon's will in that abandoned building, they had been altered now, so that the wrists were chained to the ankle cuffs, which were now bolted to the floor. The shinigami couldn't even protect himself.
"Okay, okay!" Ichigo cried, desperate. "I'll kick all their asses for you, if that's what you want. But leave him alone! Don't touch him!"
The demon lord smiled at him, her foot still resting on Renji's chest, precariously close to a second claw mark. "You'll have to fight them regardless, you know. But if it will make you put forth more effort, then I will refrain from harming him. However," she warned, her eyes cold and deadly, "should you fail to produce the results I want, I will start tearing strips off of him. We will see how long he can survive our torture."
Ichigo swallowed, but turned back to face the approaching hoard. Take on these demons, and become one himself. Right. He just hoped that the demon lady knew what she was talking about, because he certainly didn't know how to go about this, and Renji's life was on the line. If it had been torture for the both of them, or if she had asked him to deliver any of his friends, or the shinigami, to her, he would have refused, consequences be damned.
But this…this, he could do. After all, fighting was what he did best. Wasn't it?