They stand assembled, the entire Gotei 13, awaiting final orders before they ship out to war.
Yamamoto-soutaicho stands in silence as specialist teams scramble to open a portal to Hueco Mundo, as close to the fortress of Las Noches as they safely can.
The differences between the divisions has never been more so emphasized then now.
The 1st is ready and willing do do the bidding of their taicho and leader, never questioning, always loyal.
The 2nd is there, but they will not be joining the fight. They are to stay behind and defend the home front.
The 3rd stands tall and proud, lead by one who was once called a traitor, and who still carries the burden of that guilt. He is comforted however, by the knowledge that he is about to undertake the mission to save the one who saved him. He can finally repay the debt he never asked for, but has been happy to carry for all these long months.
The 4th is ready to fight and to heal, lead by their ever vigilant taicho. She stands in front of them all, smiling sadly, wishing there was another way, but understanding the need for the bloodshed all the same. The division was fragmented, squads having been attached all across the assembled army, only a small fragment of them staying together to man the field hospital or to remain behind to treat those who were unable to fight or who were sent back with the most grievous injuries.
The 5th, out of all the divisions, stands the most prepared and eager to go. They do not wish to fight, nor they wish to meet the enemy's of Soul Society on unfamiliar terrain. What motivates them is the desire to retrieve one of their own, a dear friend thought lost.
The 6th stands proud and stoic, lead by the nobleman who does not so much care about the fight as destroying the last traitor that nearly destroyed the Soul Society.
The 7th is much the same, lead by the fox spirit who wishes to avenge the memory of his lost friend against the insane traitor that warped and ultimately killed him.
The 8th is relaxed, on guard, and wary. Just like their taicho.
The 9th is ready and eager, much as the 5th. They stand silent, hands on their swords, waiting for the signal from their taicho, all knowing that at the end of the battle, they will have helped rescue one of their greatest allies and destroyed he who took their once beloved ex-taicho away from them.
The 10th stands strong and seemingly uninterested, much like their young taicho. They couldn't really care either way, as long as they are able to do their part to ensure the success of the mission.
The entire 11th division, along with their taicho and fukutaicho, are fighting the urge to charge through the portal without so much as a glance to the other divisions. All they know or care about is that there's some good fighting ahead, and that's all they need to be happy.
The 12th is there, although not the entire division. The fukutaicho stands alone, her taicho not even bothering to show up for this meeting. No, he is a scientist, and could not be bothered to attend such a useless and barbaric event.
The wise 13th is there as well, assembled but not prepared to set out. The division has been broken apart so that they might help fill in for the other's who are understaffed. Those being left behind offer prayers to those going, yet are still proud to stay behind to defend their home.
The soutaicho clears his throat, and all semblance of noise seems to vanish from the world. Even the ever present sounds of nature, so much a part of the background of normal life, cease as well. "You all know why you are here. I expect you to preform to the best of your abilities, to represent yourselves and your divisions with pride and honor. This is the largest force ever assembled in the history of the Gotei 13, and as such I expect great things from all of you. I fully expect you to be victorious in your conquests!"
Cheering from several divisions went on for several minutes before the soutaicho lifted a hand to ask for silence. "The upcoming battles will be difficult, and many of you will be injured, maybe even killed. Do not despair, for you will be considered heroes among all Soul Society! We shall defeat the traitor Aizen Sosuke and destroy his vile creations once and for all !!"
It seemed as though the entire Sereitei was cheering at that declaration, and Yamamoto made no effort to quell the enthusiasm for several minutes. "The portal is nearly ready, so now is the time to make final preparations. I shall open the floor to the Taicho of the Gotei 13, if any wish to address the army."
They glanced along the line, waiting to see if any would step forward.
It was Ukitake that first came forward. Covering his mouth as he coughed, he addressed the crowd, "Believe me when I say that I wish I was going with you. But I am happy to stay behind in defense of this, our home, and the last beacon of hope in these dark times. Know that while you are there, those that remain behind will pray for your safety and well being. No matter what happens out there remember, you are not alone." He nodded to his Sensei and went to rejoin his division.
Komomura, to the astonishment of many, next came to address them. "I shant take up much time, as I know there are others who wish to address you. I speak more to those like myself that have been personally affect by the bastard Aizen and his evil. Although I do not condone revenge, I am more then ready to see that evil traitor brought to justice. This battle is about more then our forces versus his. This is about returning the world to its proper balance, and restoring the peace and prosperity we have fought so hard to protect. That is what we should be fighting for, and that is what I will fight for until I take my final breath." He returned to his division, the sounds of cheering and clapping following him all the way.
There was a pause before anyone else came forward. It took one final push from his fukutaicho, but finally he went forward to speak to them all.
His red-hair blazing as fiery as his eyes, Renji Abarai looked fiercer then Komomura ever could. "Alright, I ain't got much ta say, an' I won't repeat myself. That bat-shit-insane-Hallow-loving-jackass took someone very precious to me away, juss like he did ta a lot of ya. I'm more 'en ready ta pay 'em back, an' with plenty of interest. This time it's personal, and I refuse to fail. How many a ya are with me!?"
There was a deafening roar as nearly every shinigami present applauded and cheered in approval of Renji's speech.
"Tha's exactly wha' I was hopin' ta hear!!" he bellowed, just as excited as everyone else. "Let's go get this bastard!!"
Whether it was fate or just really good timing, the second he finished the final syllable of the word 'bastard', the portal to Las Noches opened and stabilized.
The entire army took it as a positive sign.
Renji scrambled to rejoin his division as Yamamoto-soutaicho came forward to address them once again. "The portal is open and ready. Taicho's! The time has come!"
Kira called out firmly, "3rd division, move out!" He ran through the portal, followed closely by his division, ready for anything they found on the other side.
Just as the final squad of the 3rd entered the portal, Renji called out, "5th division, let's go!"
On the heels of the 5th, Byakuya merely motioned forward and called out in his calm monotone, "6th division, forward!"
Komomura waited until the last of Byakuya's division was through before raising his sword and calling out with a feral growl, "7th division! Onward to the final battle!"
"8th division, let's go..." Kyouraku sighed in a bored voice and urged his division onward on the tail of the 7th.
Shyuuhei, with much the same enthusiasm as Renji had, roared loudly, "9th division, it's time for some payback!" and charged forward.
"Move out!" was all the 10th division got from Hitsugaya-taicho, who still had his usual bored expression plastered on his face.
Zaraki only had to yell for joy at it finally being his turn and was already dashing through the gate before all of Hitsugaya's men had passed through. Of course, his division was hot on his tail.
Those left behind could only stand and stare at the portal that their comrades had just left through. Stand, stare, and pray.
--
"It's time." They all stand in front of the gate in the basement of Urahara's shop, nervous and slightly twitchy. "The gate on their end has been activated, and I'm working on the targeting lock right now." Urahara and Tessai both kneel on one side of the gate, working furiously. They can't afford a major delay between when they arrive and when the shinigami army does.
"This is your last chance to back out."
"Do you really think any of us would back out?"
"No, not really."
"We're ready Urahara-san," says Orihime confidently.
Sado only stood and watched.
Isshin was the picture of seriousness, something that unnerved Ichigo's friends, who where much more accustomed to the insane/goofy father they'd known for so long. "Still not sure they should be coming along Kisuke. I know they're battle tested, but this is way bigger then anything any of us have ever seen before."
"Would you really try and stop them?"
Isshin sighed, "No, I guess I wouldn't."
"You guys know what to do right?" asked Yuroichi for what to have been the thirtieth time that day alone.
"Yes Yuroichi, we know where to go."
"We're meeting Kukkaku there, right?"
"Yes, she's going to sneak through the portal in Soul Society, so she'll be there to meet us."
"Targeting lock confirmed," said Urahara. "Portal is stable."
"Okay kids, let's get going."
"You guys remember the instructions, right?"
"Yeah, run for all your worth cause we've only got four minutes before the portal closes. We've been doing this for years Urahara-san, so by now we'd better know."
"Well then, you've got all your gear, we've covered the rules of the portal, any one else have something to say?" He waited a full minute before saying, "No? Well then off you go."
Three humans and two ex-shinigami ran for all they're worth through the portal and off to Las Noches to join their comrades in battle.
--
"Spread out and secure the gate!!" roared Kira as his division finished their travel through the portal between the world. "Let's make sure everyone gets through safely!!" His division was already dug in and ready to defend to the death by the time that Renji and Komomura's divisions had finished their trip.
With a nod to Kira, Renji called for Rikichi and Sentarou, "Ya know what ta do! Find them an' make sure they get here safe!" He turned back to the rest of the division, "Clear the gate! Tha rest of um need room ta get through!"
"Abarai! Get these men out of the way!" called Hitsugaya as his division exited the gate. "Move them back!"
"Already on it!" he called back, using shunpo to herd the confused shinigami out of the way and back into their divisions. "Come on people!! Get organized already!"
"Renji! Have you found them yet!?"
"Rikichi and Sentarou are on it Senpai!"
"That's it! Everyone's through!" yelled Kira as the last of Zaraki's men came barreling out.
"Which way's the best fightin, yeah!?"
"Calm down Zaraki! We need ta get the division's reorganized first!"
"Sirs! I have multiple hits on the scanner! Range... 0.6 miles. They do not appear to be Hallows or Arrancar!"
"Do ya have Rikichi or Sentarou on tha' thing yet?"
"Yes sir! It appears as though they are running to intercept!"
"Tha's great!" He shunpo-ed off to spread the word. The allies of Soul Society had arrived.
--
"Kurosaki-san!!" called Rikichi as he and Sentarou approached the group. "Hey!! This way!!"
They turned and ran to where the two shinigami stood. "How far out are we?"
"Only about a half mile taicho."
"Been awhile since anyone called me taicho..." he grinned. "Right then, let's get to them as fast as we can!"
--
Renji, scanner in hand, watched as they got closer and closer. He darted to Shyuuhei and showed him, "Should be able ta see 'um in about a minute."
"Yeah, I'll make sure they get to Komomura and Kira undetected."
With a nod, he ran back to his division to finish final preparations.
--
Byakuya, who was the field general of the army, called the Taicho's to a quick meeting. "You all know your duties, so I won't waste time with them. I'll only give the signal to move out once, and if you miss it then that is your problem. Do not break formation for anything less then an army of Menos or Arrancar."
"We know this already Kuchiki."
"That may be Hitsugaya, but some of us," he said with the barest flick of a glance to Zaraki, "Tend to forget these things in the heat of battle."
"Feh, quit stallin' an' give the signal already. I'm sick a waiting!"
"Zaraki, calm yourself. We have a fairly large amount of ground to cover before we even get to the gates. There is no reason to doubt that he has detected our incursion, so it is safe to assume he has dispatched his forces to intercept."
"All tha more reason to get goin now, yeah!"
"Zaraki, you are a fool, ad bet a strong fool. Do not deploy your division until my signal, do you understand?"
"Feh, whatever." He turned his back to Byakuya and walked back to his division, Yachiru already back on his shoulder.
"Renji, what word of our allies?"
"Should be here any second now," he replied. "They were only 'bout a half mile out when they got here."
"Well, some of us where closer."
Byakuya turned to the intruder, "Ah Kukkaku Shiba, so good of you to join us. I see you made it through the portal unharmed."
"Yeah, thanks to Ukitake and an invisibility cloak I got from Yuroichi years and years ago."
"Good, now if they would just arrive quickly, we can set out."
The 5th seat from the 9th appeared behind Shyuuhei and whispered in his ear. "Good, dismissed." The messenger ran back to the division and Shyuuhei said, "They're here. Yumichika's escorting them now."
"Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii !!" shouted Isshin as they approached.
"Kurosaki-san! Thank Kami ya made it so fast!"
Isshin and Yuroichi arrived before Ichigo's friends did. "Aren't you guys a sight for sore eyes."
"Kurosaki Isshin, I am pleased you agreed to assist us."
"Couldn't let that bastard get away with kidnapping my son, now could I?"
"Renji!" waved Orihime happily as they finally got there.
"Hey Orihime, Sado, Ishida," he smiled. "Glad ya guys made it okay."
Sado nodded at Renji, and Ishida offered in his usual annoyed voice, "Yes well, the only reason I am here is because Ryuuken wants Aizen dead as much as the rest of us do."
"Right..."
"Enough pleasantries," snapped Hitsugaya, patience already wanning, "We need to get back to business."
"Anything from Ichigo yet, Renji?"
"Nothin," he replied. "He's either already busy fightin' er somethin's gone wrong with tha link. I can't even get Zangetsu er Shirosaki ta respond."
"Well Byakuya, time to head out or what?"
"Get the humans to their posts and return to your divisions."
"Right, Ishida and Sado, go with Komomura. Orihime, find Isane."
"Yes Kurosaki-san," said Orihime and Ishida, while Sado nodded quietly.
"Dismissed," said Byakuya as he turned to rejoin his division.
"Yuroichi, you ken go with Senpai," said Renji as they dispersed. "Kurosaki-san, you ken come with me if ya'd like."
"This ought to be interesting," grinned Yuroichi as she left with a slightly blushing Shyuuhei
"Who in their right mind would put Byakuya in charge of an army..." mused Isshin as they walked to the where the 5th stood waiting. "Sure, he's got skill, but that stick up his ass makes it hard for him to bend."
Renji fought hard not to laugh.
"Rukiaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!" called Isshin happily when he spotted her walking around speaking to the squad leaders. She turned and called back, "Kurosaki-san!!" and ran to hug him warmly. "You made it safely!"
"It would have taken more then just an army of Menos and Arrancar to keep me away."
"Battalion!!" called Byakuya loudly. "Be prepared to move out in just a few moments!"
"No warning my ass..." muttered Renji as he called his division to attention. "Most a ya have never met this man," he called, gesturing to Isshin, who was standing on the opposite side of him as Rukia. "But ya'll know his son very well. Isshin Kurosaki will be joinin' our division durin' this battle, an' I expect all a ya ta do exactly what he tells ya ta. Understand?"
"Yes Taicho!"
"Good!"
"Battalion! Move out!"
"Ya know what ta do! Let's go kick some Hallow ass!!"
--
"Hisagi-taicho!! The Menos are coming!!"
Shyuuhei turned around and stared at the top of the hill his 7th seat was pointing to. There was a single Menos, obviously one that Aizen had tampered with since not a single one of them had noticed it before, was standing at the top. "Would you like the honor's Yumi?"
"I believe the honor of the first kill belongs to my taicho," he returned elegantly.
"Suit yourself," he called back as he charged the Hallow.
--
"Renji, three Menos just over the ridge!" yelled Rikichi from the higher ground of the hill top.
"Here we go people!" called Rukia as she crested the ridge a split second before Renji.
"Howl Zabimaru!" called Renji as he ran his hand over the face of his blade. With an impressive leap, he launched himself at the closest Menos, slashing viciously at it's mask.
"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" said Rukia as she swung her sword in a graceful circular arc in front of her. "First Dance: Tsukishiro!" The second Menos was caught in the giant glacier that rose from the ground, and was swallowed whole by it. Seconds later the glacier shattered, along with almost half of the Menos' body. Rikichi darted in and shattered the howling Hallow's mask with no difficulty at all.
No one even saw Isshin move, but the Menos he was standing in front of suddenly fell apart, sliced in half diagonally through the hole where it's heart should be.
Cheers erupt from the division members who'd seen what had to the be shortest fight against a group of Menos Grande in history.
"Nice one Isshin," called Yuroichi as she and the rest of the 9th crossed the ridge they'd been using for cover.
"Did you guys sense those Menos at all?" queried Shuu, a disconcerted look on his face.
"Naw, we only had warnin' cause Rikichi was runnin' on the ridge-top."
"That's just great. The scanners aren't picking them up either. We're going to have to send scouts out at this rate."
Seriously intensification of spiritual pressure from behind them and off to the right.
"There goes Byakuya's cover. Must have hit a big group of 'um ta need his Shikai."
"Or else the Arrancar are already here."
"Don't jinx it Senpai."
"Taicho's! Nine Menos approaching fast! It looks like there's a good sized group of lower grade Hallows behind them as well. Estimate at least thirty!"
Isshin whistled, "Nine Menos... This ought a be fun."
"Got tha' right... Juss hope Ichigo's okay."
"I'm thinking Bankai would be good at this point Renji," said Rukia.
"Tch... I'd hold off on Bankai as long as possible. Too much of an energy drain at this point. Shikai's enough to take these guys out."
"Fine by me," called Shyuuhei as motioned for Yumi to get their men in position. "Yumi and I'll take the three on the right."
"Yuroichi and I can take the three on the left," said Isshin with a nod at her before they both shunpo-ed off to destroy them.
"Which leave the middle three for us," nodded Rukia.
Renji turned to the 5th and 9th divisions. "You guys hang back 'till we get them dealt with. Second we're done, go after tha little guys behind. Got it?"
"Yes Taicho!" they all called out.
"Let's go Zabimaru," said Renji as he ran to meet the Menos on the right of the little line of opposition.
Rukia ran to the halfway point before stopping and repeating her earlier movement, "First Dance, Tsukishiro!" The Menos in the middle was swallowed by the glacier that Shirayuki created and shattered in half. "Shakkahou!" she called and crushed it's mask easily.
Renji leaped over the remains of the middle Menos and slashed at the third. It turned just soon enough to not be decapitated, but still suffered a very severe gash to the neck. Howling in fury, it fired a blast of Cero at him. He dodged easily and sliced in an horizontal arc at the Menos' legs. Severing one and causing the great beast to waiver dangerously, he reversed the direction of the swing and lopped off an arm.
"Quit playing with it and just kill it Renji!" called Isshin, who'd already finished off two of the three he'd been fighting.
"Sorry!" He split the Menos' mask cleanly in half and landed cleanly next to Rukia just as it finished howling it's last cry and disintegrated.
"Go help Shyuuhei!" called Yuroichi as she and Isshin started on the Hallows that were still approaching them.
"Get the squads out there Rukia," said Renji as he ran to help his friends.
"Squads three through eight, take the left. Nine through the 9th's five, take the middle. Rest of the 9th, take the right when the Taicho's are finished!"
"What's takin' ya so long Senpai?" asked Renji as he joined the battle with the final of the nine Menos.
"Yumi's having a field day with it. Won't stop goofing off," he growled as he dodged to avoid a Cero blast.
"Quit screwin' around Yumi! If yer gunna Bankai, then do it!"
"Sorry Renji. I had forgotten how much fun it was to fight like this," he apologized and ceased toying with the enraged Menos.
"Fer tha love a..." growled Renji as he whipped Zabimaru in a tight arc across the Menos' mask. It didn't shatter, but was cracked nearly all the way through.
Shuu stabbed the Menos in the face and the mask finally broke apart. It screamed in pain and fury as it dissapeared.
--
Three minutes and thirty Hallows later, "Think we should check on Byakuya an' his group. They've been at it fer a while now."
"I guess. We need to head more in that direction anyway."
"Right then," he motioned for the group to follow him and they all climbed the ridge.
"Holy fuck..." blinked Shyuuhei when they reached the top.
"Got that right," nodded Isshin.
Hundreds of Menos and Hallows flooded the valley below them, engaged in battle with the 6th and 10th divisions.
"Well then, what's say we lend everyone a hand?"
Renji turned to his division, "Stay clear of Kuchiki-taicho's Shikai! Last thin' we need is a friendly fire accident."
"That goes for you too," added Shyuuhei to his division.
"Stop standing and get out there already," said Isshin as he and Yuroichi picked individual targets and joined the fight.
Yumi and Rukia where already half way down the hill, and the two divisions where spilling over the top of the ridge. Those already fighting yelled for joy at the sight of reinforcements
Renji picked the closest Menos and went to town on it.
--
"Scatter, Senbonzakura." Byakuya's blade seemed to dissolve into thousands of tiny sakura petals. The three Menos in front of him merely screeched and continued to charge at him. Then, faster then you could blink, all three where covered in slash marks and their masks were crumbling to dust as they too dissapeared.
"Nice one!" congratulated Renji as the two Menos' he fought fell over, missing legs but not defeated. Two more slashes with Zabimaru and they too were gone, nothing but a bad and fading memory.
"If you have time to talk...," said Byakuya calmly, "...then you have time to fight."
Renji sliced Zabimaru in a long, wide arc and destroyed six Hallows, injuring five more enough for the others to defeat easily. "Some a us ken multi task pretty well !"
Byakuya didn't respond, opting instead to turn several dozen Hallows into mincemeat with one flick of his Shikai.
"Renji! There's a really big one about a hundred yards behind you!" called Rikichi as he darted around the tentacle of one very large and nasty looking Hallow.
Renji turned around and swore, "Shit! Tha' really is big!" He dodged a barrage of needles from a Hallow off to his right and nearly missed being speared by the claws of another. "Kami, there's so many..."
Off in the distance, you could hear someone, probably Yumichika, shout "Bankai!"
"Well, he's got tha right idea..." said Renji as he slashed at the needle-throwing Hallow, severing it's legs and leaving it for one of the random shinigami that fought around them. "Bankai! Hihiou Zabimaru!" The sand around him exploded upwards and shrouded him from view as Zabimaru's now skeletal form flew towards the giant Menos. It struck soundly, causing serous damage to it's body, but not close enough to the mask to kill it. Renji flicked the hilt of the giant sword and Zabimaru's head abruptly flew upwards. Another flick made it encircle the Menos with it's body and with a final downward slash, it's open-mawed form tore the head off the body and crushed it into powder.
"Renji, there's a herd of ice-breathers heading for you!"
"I see 'um!" He maneuvered Zabimaru so that it was moving parallel to the ground once more, rushing to meet the pack of Hallow. Jaw's wide open, it roared angrily and with a flick of it's head, threw the entire pack of Hallows five hundred feet in the air. There was a call of, "Bankai! Daiguren Hyourinmaru!" and a blast of icy spears from Hitsugaya finished them off as he rose into the air on the wings of his Bankai
"Next Dance: Hakuren!" called Rukia as she faced down her own Menos and pack of Hallows. A giant wave of ice rippled through the sandy valley, freezing and destroying all the hallows in it's path.
Yuroichi, arms and leg's glowing with the power of her Shunka, cracked the mask of the Menos she was facing with an almighty kick.
Yumi was sucking the energy from all the Hallows around him, his Bankai glowing a bright green, as members of the 5th and 6th crushed them into powder.
Shyuuhei was just visible, slashing and running around three large Hallows, a Menos still disintegrating just behind him.
"Scatter, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi. Senkei." Byakuya seemed to disappear, along with a single Gillian, five Menos, and ten large not-quiet-Menos level Hallows. When he reappeared several second later, every one but the shrieking Gillian was gone. With a flick of his wrist, two columns of blades converged on said Gillian, engulfing it in an undulating mass of razor sharp blades. His attention turned elsewhere, guiding the blades to another target, leaving the mutilated Gillian to writhe in agony before finally fading from existence.
"Where tha hell are they all commin' from!" called Renji as he felled ten Hallows and another Menos. "There's no end ta 'um!"
"I don't know!" called back Shuu, "But we can't keep this up much longer! We've got to get to the castle!" He was forced to duck or lose his head to the claws of a particularly fast Hallow. He was just about to circle around it when the Hallows mask was split in half. "The fuck!? Where'd Hotsukimaru come from!?" He turned around quickly and saw Ikkaku running to retrieve his zanpakto. "Where'd you come from Ikkaku?!"
"Snuck through tha gate and had Orihime heal me. Ya didn't think I'd skip out on a battle like this, did ya?"
"Not really, and thank Kami for your timing. You see Zaraki or Kyouraku yet?"
"Yeah, saw taicho on the way here. He's got another good sized army ta worry about, but he's handlin' it pretty well apparently. Told me ta come help ya guys."
"What about the gate? Is it still safe?"
"There's been a couple a little buggers that've gotten through, Kira and Komomura got it covered. Hell, we're keeping so many of them back that they're sending us reinforcements now."
"Good. We've got to get this group under control before we break off and storm the castle."
"Well then, stop chattin' and let's get ta fightin'!" He ran into the fray, Hotsukimaru held aloft like the spear that it's current form was.
"Was tha' Ikkaku I juss saw!?"
"Yeah Renji!" replied Shuu as they worked on a pack of fire-breathers together. "He snuck through the gate and got Orihime to heal him."
"Good, we ken use his help."
"Got that right," he nodded before stabbing through the mask of the Hallow that dared to get close enough to him to reach. "Is it just me, or do they just keep getting stupider?"
Renji laughed and swung Zabimaru's huge bulk around in a wide arc to scatter and crush as many of the smaller Hallows surrounding them as he could. "Yeah, they're gettin' stupider all tha time." He positioned Zabimaru so that it faced a large group of ice-breathers that was running to meet with a group of younger foot soldiers. He had the only clear shot and took it. "Hikotsu Taiho!" Zabimaru roared and a blast of pure red energy exploded forth from the gaping maw, obliterating the entire pack in the blink of an eye.
"Renji!" called Hitsugaya as he soared over them, the icy wings of his Bankai spread wide. "Gather your men and get out of here! Zaraki's on his way to join us! We can handle these peons without you!"
"What's Byakuya say 'bout tha'?!"
"He's already told Rukia and Kurosaki-san to get going!"
"Right, thanks Toushiro!"
"I'll get Yumi and Ikkaku," said Shuu as he shunpo-ed to find them.
Renji shunpo-ed to where Rukia was standing with Rikichi, Isshin, and Yuroichi. "Come on, we're grabbin' Yumi and Ikkaku an headin' fer the gates."
"We'll go ahead and take out the guards," said Isshin with a nod to Yuroichi.
"Come on, let's clear a path for the others."
Renji nodded and sent Zabimaru flying ahead of them, partially clearing the path ahead. Rikichi stabbed and slashed at the Hallows that didn't immediately fall, and Rukia used a combination of kidou and Shirayuki to finish everything left over or that Rikichi wasn't able to destroy himself.
Giant spears of ice, launched by Hitsugaya, impacted all around them, destroying everything they touched. Streaks of pink swirled around Byakuya as he guided Senbonzakura through the masses of Hallows. The manic laugh of Zaraki joined the background noise of the battle as his group joined the fight. Kyouraku was darting around, the fastest of all of them, Hallows seeming to dissolve whenever he got near them.
Shyuuhei and the boys joined them about a half mile from the gates of Las Noches, just as they came into view.
"Where are Kurosaki-san and Yuroichi?" asked Yumichika when they noticed the lack of guards at the gates. "Have they already gone inside?"
"I hope not..." said Shuu, lashing out at a Hallow that appeared to his right. "They'd ruin the plan if they went ahead without us."
"I see 'em," said Renji. He pointed just off the the left of the gate. He could just make out Isshin and Yuroichi standing there half hidden by a sand dune.
"What kind of guard where they?" asked Shuu when they finally got to them.
"Some kind failed experiments I think. Definitively not at the level of the arrancar. Not even really worth the Hallow parts they were made out of."
"The hell... where are the real Arrancar? I know we haven't destroyed them all."
"Waiting inside most likely. You know Aizen, he likes to have his strongest pets around to do his dirty work."
"Or made they've already joined the fight and we just can't tell."
"Yeah, what the hell is up with that? I can't feel any of the Hallow's here."
"I don't know, but it cannot be a good thing."
"Well, we ken stand out here an talk, or we ken get in there an rescue Ichigo," he said as Zabimaru returned to it's sealed form.
"Have you managed to regain contact with him at all?"
"No, still dead. 'm startin' ta worry too. I have no clue if he's okay, an' we could really use some info on wha' it's like inside. An' where the hell in the castle he is fer tha matter."
"It's not the first time we have gone in blind," said Yumi. "It can not be all that bad."
"This is Aizen we're talkin' 'bout Yumi. It's gunna be bad."
"Enough talking," said Isshin. "Let's just hurry up and get in there."
"Works fer me," shrugged Ikkaku.
--
"Where the bloody hell are all these damn things coming from!!"
"Taicho!! The top of the hill !!"
Toshiro's eye's flicked up from the ground below him to the hills ahead and he sighed.
Three Arrancar stood a top them, watching the carnage without much interest.
"Get the squads back Rangiku! I want anyone below 4th seat at least 300 yards away from here! Now!"
"Yes Taicho!" she called back, dispatching the cat-like hallow she'd been fighting and spreading the word to the squads on the group.
Toushiro banked and flew to where Byakuya was quickly decimating the ranks of the enemy with precise blows form his incredible Bankai. "Byakuya! The Arrancar are here! Three at the top of the hill 50 yards back!"
Byakuya turned to see, "Order the squads back. You and I shall take care of them."
"We should find Kyouraku! We need all the fire power we've got!"
"Agreed." He motioned for his 6th seat to approach. "Inform him that he is needed here."
"Yes Taicho!" saluted the weary officer as he shunpo-ed off in search of the other taicho.
"You," he called to one of his runners, "Get back to the gate and inform them of the fighting. Tell them that there are small packs escaping to them." Byakuya turned and with a single step, shunpo-ed to the base of the hill. "Arrancar. Your fight is with me."
One of the Arrancar stepped forward, "Sou ka shinigami? Well then, what's say you and I dance, neh?"
"What about your little friend up there shinigami? Is little Shiro-chan gunna play too?" asked another in a taunting sing-song voice.
Vein throbbing and the twitch in his jaw in overdrive Toushiro bellowed, "DO NOT CALL ME SHIRO-CHAN!!" He whipped Hyourinmaru through the air at the Arrancar and stabbed it cleanly in the chest with a bellowed battle-cry of, "RYUSENKA!!"
The taunting Arrancar just manged to grin before being enveloped in a prison of ice. With a barely audible chuckle, the ice shattered and the Arrancar yawned, "That all you got, Shiro-chan?"
"Oi, Byakuya. What's with Toushiro?" asked Kyouraku as he shunpo-ed up next to the nobleman.
"He called him Shiro-chan," came the simple reply.
"Hehehe," chuckled at taicho dryly. "You're in trouble now my friend."
"Oi! We gunna dance or not?"
"I take it that one is yours?"
"Unfortunately."
He patted the nobleman's shoulder, "Well, I guess I can take the quiet one then."
"As you wish," he said and walked off towards the east (or whatever the Hueco Mundo equivalent is).
"Come on Shiro-chan," taunted the one with the sing-song voice, "Let's get this party started." With that, it used sonido to disappear over the hill.
Toushiro followed, vein's in his neck and forehead throbbing, the ticks in his eye and jaw taken to new levels of insanity.
"So I guess you and I can go at it here," said Kyouraku to the remaining Arrancar, who'd been completely silent up to this point.
No response.
"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"
The Arrancar looked down at him.
That's when the taicho noticed something interesting.
"Ahhhh, I see now."
Obviously, Aizen didn't think to much of them if he was sending his failed Arrancar after them. The reason why that one had remained silent for so long was obvious once you got a look at it's face without the partial mask blocking your view. He didn't have a mouth.
"Well, you must have been pretty damn pissed to have gone through all the trouble to become an Arrancar only to lose your ability to eat and talk. Can't last too long like that, eh?"
Death glare and a raised hand.
Kyouraku blinked and ducked out of the way as a blast of Cero nailed the spot he'd just been standing in. He picked his head up from the sand and stared, "That's new."
It wasn't missing a mouth. It's mouth had just moved.
--
"Kira-taicho!" called the breathless 6th division runner as she leaped over the ridge behind the gate. "The Hallows are here! The army has engaged them, but the numbers are greater then we anticipated."
"That explains all the Bankai's," he nodded. "I'm guessing the sensors are useless."
"Yes sir, unfortunately."
"Right, get back to your divisions. We can take care of anything that makes it this far."
"Yes Taicho!"
Kira jogged over to where Komomura had set up, "We have a problem. The sensors are useless for detecting the Hallows."
"Yes," agreed the fox spirit. "I gathered that about the time that Byakuya released his Bankai."
"3 scout teams should be enough?"
"It will have to be. We cannot afford to be any more shorthanded if multiple Menos appears. Heaven forbid if a Gillian or Adjucar comes."
"I doubt that they will let anything that powerful pass. It's not that difficult to spot one on the field."
"I hope you are correct, Kira."
"So do I," he sighed. "I'll inform the humans."
"I shall organize the scouts then."
--
"Gunna have to do better then that Shiro-chan!" laughed the black-haired Arrancar as he dodged every attack that Toushiro launched.
"Oh trust me you filthy-piece-of-leftover-parts, I haven't even begun to fight yet."
"Sure seems like it kid. Whadda ya call all those ice spears you've been launching for the last five minutes?"
Toushiro swooped low and landed lightly, "That? I call it a distraction."
The Arrancar blinked.
Toushiro focused and released a huge amount of freezing reiatsu. The ground all around him froze solid, and a thick layer of frost appeared on the Arrancar. "You're in my world now scum." Wings flared behind him as stabilizers, the master of ice skated on the frozen ground, Hyourinmaru held up over one shoulder like a whip. "You seriously underestimated me, and that is never a good idea." He skated right up to the Arrancar and glared at it, "10th Division Taicho, Hitsugaya Toushiro. Master of ice and the undisputed genius of the Gotei 13. You picked the wrong person to play with." He raised a hand and blasted the Arrancar with even more frozen reiatsu, encasing it with even more ice.
The Arrancar glared, "Feh, don't you go thinking that you've got a shot at beating me Shiro-chan." He struggled for a moment and shattered the ice that encased his arms and upper body. "It's just too bad for you that I ain't got a name ta give you. Kinda defeats the purpose of tellin' some tha' name of his executioner, don't it?"
"He's not even bothering to name his pets anymore? Well, that's got to be encouraging for your side." He leaped back into the air to avoid the blast of Cero his nameless advisary lunched at him.
"Feh, can't blame Aizen-sama. A God doesn't have time to deal with waste of time like naming his creations."
"Interesting. Too bad Aizen's not a god." He leveled Hyourinmaru at the creature and yelled, "Sennen Hyoro!" Pillars of ice grow with startling speed from the ground around the Arrancar, encasing him in a fresh prison of ice. "Ryusenka!" He stabbed through the single opening in the prison and right into the Arrancar's left eye.
Blood spewed from the wound for the split second it took for more ice to encase him. The entire prison shattered and the Arrancar fell to a knee, clutching at it's now useless eye. "You bastard..." he growled. "You're gunna pay for that."
"You wish," said the taicho as he wrapped the Arrancar with Hyorinmaru's tail turned the creature into a solid block of ice from the inside. He circled for a minute, waiting to see if the Arrancar would break this newest prison. Satisfied, he banked and landed in front of him, rapping at the ice with a knuckle.
Nothing.
"Told you so," he said and shattered the ice with a swift punch.
--
A blazing blue arrow pierce the gloom of the perpetual night-scape desert.
"Che, mindless beast," stated Uryuu calmly as the Hallow dissolved. Another from off to his left screamed and he turned. Another arrow pierced it's mask before the thing had enough time to start towards the Quincy. "Are you sure they really needed us here?"
"Hmm," was the only reply he got from Sado. The tall man pulled his arm back and punched hard, sending a blast of energy at the lightning-blasting Hallow he was facing.
"I Reject!" called Orihime as she used her powers to remove the arm of a large Hallow with multiple heads and fiercely snapping jaws.
Two arrows rapid-fired from Uryuu's bow sliced cleanly through it's mask and it shrieked one last defiance before returning to the nothingness it came from.
"I almost wish we had gone with Ichigo."
"We're of more use here Ishida-kun," said Orihime as she rushed to help a shinigami from the 7th that had a badly gashed arm.
His only response to her statement was five arrows fired to pierce the air as he obliterated a trio of fire-breathers trying to attack a squad of already engaged shinigami.
--
"Yanno, for a taicho you're pretty damn slow!" taunted the purple-haired Arrancar that was the current focus of Byakuya Kuchiki.
"Would it interest you to know that I've only been fighting at Shikai?"
"Eh?" He chuckled and grinned, "Yer lying through yer teeth shinigami. I saw you Bankai a while ago."
"True, I did Bankai to fight the Gillian before, but, unlike some, I choose to conserve my energy for when I really need it." The tiny blades of Senbonzakura condensed back into a single blade upon the hilt of his sword. He inverted the blade and dropped it point first to the ground, "Scatter, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." The blade dissapeared into the ground and a massive formless lump of tiny pink blades appeared at his feet.
"Feh, so you got more blades. Big deal."
The bored looking nobleman just watched him.
"Well, if you're just gunna stand there..." he used sonido to get behind Byakuya and sent a massive blast of Cero at him.
The blades formed a barrier between the blast and Byakuya, who acted as if he hadn't even noticed.
The Arrancar continued using sonido, trying to get around the defensive capabilities of Senbonzakura, but failed miserably.
"Well, I see we have a bit of a stale-mate going on here."
"Stalemate?" Byakuya blinked serenely, not at all amused. "You are mistaken Arrancar. There is no stalemate. As you have just seen, you cannot injure me. From where I stand, you have already lost."
The finally syllable of the statement hadn't even hit the Arrancar's ears and Byakuya had already Shunpo-ed in front of it, hand extended and chanted, "Hado #1 :Kai !"
The Arrancar's arms where pinned to his side's as the binding spell took affect. Byakuya stared right into the eyes of the Arrancar and said, "Kuchiki Byakuya, Taicho of the 6th division and leader of the Kuchiki clan." The Arrancar managed to break the bind just as Byakuya moved back to a safe distance.
"Well, lucky me. I get the famous Byakuya-fucking-Kuchiki as my playmate. Aizen-sama will be pleased when I bring your bloody head in on a pike."
"How very crude and vulgar," he commented with a shake of his head. He gathered the blades of his Bankai around him and said, "Senkei."
The innumerable blades dissapeared and four rows of blades appeared around himself and his quarry as the sky around them darkened even further then the normal state of Hueco Mundo.
"Neat trick. Does it do anything?"
"Such arrogance." The nobleman gestured toward the Arrancar and several of the swords rose form the ground to attack him.
He dodged, missing receiving a fatal blow, but still sustaining a painful gash to the shoulder. "I see now. You can control them at will. Effective, but not enough to stop me fro..." He stopped mid sentence when he realized that he couldn't move anything below the waist. "...the hell?"
"Gokei." Every single sword rose from the ground and attacked from all possible angles, skewering the Arrancar.
The Arrancar would have pitched forward onto a knee if not for the fact that the swords still embedded with in his body and the binds holding him prevented it.
"Bas...tard..." he hacked.
Byakuya called back all the swords, "Before I kill you, I am curious as to your name."
He chuckled as he slumped forward against the binds, "Feh, ain't got one. My brothers and I haven't earned one yet."
"Unfortunate." He walked forward until he was directly in front of him. Raising a hand over the slumping Arrancar's head, "Shukei: Hakuteiken." Everyone of Byakuya's blades dissapeared and in his hand appeared a single glowing sword. A pair of elegant white wings appeared on the taicho's back and he asked, "Do you have anything you wish to say?"
"Yeah, I do actually." He coughed harshly, blood flecking the ground in front of them. "Go to Hell."
Sighing, "Such vulgarity. Aizen would do well to teach your kind some manners." He raised the sword further and slashed down quickly, ending the fight and the life of the nameless Arrancar in one fell swoop.
--
An unusually large Hallow stood howling, it's arm hanging heavy and useless, fists digging into the ground. Kira raised Wabisuke for another attack, leaping high and delivering three rapid hits to it's mask. Said Mask cracked slightly and the Hallows head drooped, now weighting 8x's what it previously had. Raising a hand he called out, "Shakkahou!" The blast hit the Hallow square in the center of it's mask, fracturing it more, but not destroying it completely.
A giant disembodied sword flew over his head and right into the mask, shattering it completely and killing the hallow.
"Thanks Komomura!" called Kira, already moving to intercept the next one.
"Be careful! That one is an energy-drainer!"
"Right!" He switched tactics, using kidou only to destroy it.
"Kira-fukutaicho! Komomura-taicho! Message from Matsumoto-fukutaicho!"
"What is it now?"
"Sirs, three Arrancar have appeared and are currently being engaged by Hitsugaya-taicho, Kuchiki-taicho, and Kyouraku-taicho."
"That's not good," said Kira, alarmed. "Where is Zaraki-taicho?"
"To the best of my knowledge he is currently battling several dozen Menos, aided only by Kusajishi-fukutaicho. He personally lured them away from the main battle in order to avoid injury to the rest of the army."
"So what you are saying is that the fukutaichos are running the army at the moment."
The messenger blinked, "You could interpret the situation like that, sir."
"Can you handle the fighting here Kira-fukutaicho?"
"As long as we don't encounter anything more powerful, yes, we should be fine here be ourselves. Why?"
"I'm going to join the rest of the army. I have a feeling I will be needed soon."
"Right. I'll tell Iba that you are going."
"Show me where The Arrancar are," he told the messenger as Kira shunpo-ed off to find Iba.
--
"So, we just going to stand here and stare at each other or are we going to fight?"
The horned Arrancar stood there, silent.
"Of course we are..." Kyouraku sighed. He raised the twin falchions that are Katen Kyokotsu's Shikai ready.
The Arrancar continued to stare, seemingly unconcerned.
"Tell me something before we start. You got a name?"
The Arrancar shook his head.
"What, he's not even giving you names anymore?"
Nod.
"Poor you. Can't talk and no name. That cannot be a fun life."
Glare.
"Feh..." he sighed and shook his head. "Might as well tell you mine anyway. Kyouraku Shunsui, 8th division Taicho."
The Arrancar nodded and raised his hand in a mock salute before firing a blast of Cero at him.
A tornado appeared in front of Kyouraku and the blast was deflected. He slashed with the left handed sword and a wave of wind whipped up the sand and rolled straight for the Arrancar.
It raised it arms to protect it's face, but did not move at all. Small cuts appeared along it's arms and his clothing was torn, but other wise he was unharmed.
"Hmmm... let's try that again..." He slashed with the right sword and hundred of wind shuriken flew at the horned-creature, slashing deeply at his unprotected arms, shoulders, and legs. "Better," he nodded.
The Arrancar's arms moved and it glanced down at the damage. He shrugged and went back to watching Shunsui.
"Patient one, aren'tcha?"
Nod.
"Ahhh..." Without another word, he Shunpo-ed forward and launched a brutal attack at the creature. Slashing and hacking without abandon, he managed to force the Arrancar back several feet with the sheer force of his strikes.
The Arrancar defended with his own sword, blocking many of the attacks, but Kyouraku, with his two swords, had the advantage.
Too bad he managed to get a foot trapped in the shifting sands and tripped.
Not waisting the opportunity, the Arrancar stabbed viciously at the vulnerable taicho. Kyouraku just managed to avoid a fatal hit, rolling just fast enough to deflect the strike from his heart and into the tissue of his left shoulder, outside his rib cage.
"That wasn't very nice buddy," he cringed as the sword was viciously torn from his chest.
The Arrancar gave him a moment to get to his feet.
Kyouraku stood, hand pressed firmly to the wound. "Eh, wasn't expecting that. You'd actually let me get to my feet then killing me where I lay?"
The Arrancar nodded and raised his sword in the warriors salute.
Kyouraku blinked, confused for a moment. Understanding dawning in his eyes, "Oh I get it. You won't kill attack a defensively man in battle. Is that it?"
A nod in response.
"Heh... you sure you work for Sosuke?"
All he got as an answer was a grin and the Arrancar disappearing from sight.
Shunsui flung the left blade behind his shoulder to block the strike. He ducked, whipping around while still blocking the blade, aiming an arcing slash with his right blade at the creature behind him. His blade met only air, and he was forced to reverse the strike in order to block another attack from just behind and to the right. He stabbed over his head, a move he knew probably wouldn't work, and manage to slice into the cheek of his opponent before it was gone.
A blast of Cero from a few feet away forced him to duck for cover or be obliterated.
"Having fun Kyouraku?"
"Actually, yeah. I am. You finished already Toushiro-kun?"
"Why yes, yes I am. What is taking you so long?"
The taicho stood up and brushed the sand from his shihaksho. "Nothing, really. Just enjoying the fight." He blocked the half-hearted Cero blast with the blunt side of his falchions before shunpo-ing behind the Arrancar and slashing through both it's shoulders. He shunpo-ed away before it had time to react and waited for the next attack.
"Would you like some help?"
"Naw, I'm good."
"You sure?"
"Course I am," he said as he ducked a blast and sent a tornado and several hundred wind shuriken at the Arrancar.
"Right then. I'll just take care of the ten Menos on their way and leave you to your fight."
"See you in a bit Toushiro-kun."
He had to leap high into the air to avoid the two separate Cero blasts of the the Arrancar's current volley.
"Interesting trick. How'd you do that?"
The Arrancar held up both hands.
"Oh wow. Two mouths. That makes this more interesting."
A nod and another volley of blasts.
"Yanno," he grunted as he landed and rolled. "I would have thought you'd have changed into your Hallow form by now."
The Arrancar waited until he'd stood up and faced him before shaking his head and shrugging.
"You can't transform?"
Head shake.
"What about the other two?"
Head shake.
"So you aren't true Arrancar."
Blink. Shrug and head tilt.
"Are you or aren't you Arrancar?"
He held up a single finger and nodded.
"Yes to being Arrancar?"
Nod. A second finger was raised and he shook his head.
"Yes to being Arrancar but a no to being able to transform?"
Nod.
"Huh... Something go wrong while you where being changed?"
Shrug.
"Figures he wouldn't tell you."
The Arrancar nodded and pointed to his sword.
"Resume the fight?"
Nod.
"Might as well." He resumed his battle ready stance and waited for the next attack...
...which never came.
The Arrancar dropped where he stood, a giant sword being weld by an ever larger disembodied arm sticking out of his back.
"Oi! What the hell Komomura! I had it under control!"
The fox spirit jogged up the hill to where Shunsui and the Arrancar had been fighting. "You where taking too long. I thought you required aide."
Kyouraku sighed, "I didn't, but don't worry about it. I would have finished him off in a minute or two anyway." He walked over to the fallen Arrancar, who had yet to die. It was watching him with a look that plainly said, "Well damn, that wasn't fair."
"Sorry about that. I guess we ran a bit too long for my comrade's taste."
The Arrancar managed to nod before it's eye's dimmed and became glassy. It's head fell forward and it began dissolving into dust.
The arm and sword dissapeared as Komomura walked up. "Any particular reason you were speaking to that Arrancar like that?"
He looked up at the fox, "Believe it or not Sajin, some of these Arrancar are decent fighters. He may have been the enemy, but anyone that fights with honor is worthy of respect. You of all people should understand that."
Sajin nodded and the two of them separated, Sajin going back the way he came and Shunsui heading off to help Toushiro.
--
"How're we gunna do this, King?"
"I don't know, but we're just going to have to improvise until we can regain contact. Should a known something like this was going to happen..."
: As much as I cannot believe I am saying this, we may well be better off blasting our way out of here and trying to meet them half way. It's obvious from the alarms that the army has arrived and the battle has begun. :
Ichigo knelt in front of the cell door, a small sliver of rock he'd dislodged from the walls in hand. He used it to lift the pins from the hinges of the small door that had once been used to shove his food and water through. He carefully lifted the small flap away noiselessly and looked out through the hole. Seeing nothing immediately in front of him, he risked sticking his head all the way out. The hall was deserted.
"No guards...?"
"Nows the time ta go aibou."
: Shirosaki is right Ichigo. If we are going to leave, now is the time. :
Ichigo pulled his head back into the room and sighed. "Alright... but I'm blaming the two of you if all hell breaks loose." He walked all the way to the other end of the cell, which was really only about ten paces deep anyway, and raised Zangetsu. With a call of, "Getsuga Tenshou!" he blasted the entire wall of the cell into oblivion. He didn't wait for the dust to settle, jumping over the rubble and running off down the hall to the right, away from where he remembered Aizen's throne room to be.
--
"Should we knock?"
"Don't be retarded Ikkaku. Just blast the damn thing down."
Rukia rolled her eyes and shoved at the door of the castle. It opened slowly and with an alarmingly loud creaking noise.
"Well, if they didn't already know we where here, I'd be worried about that."
"Come on, we need to hurry."
The ran inside quickly, but stopped not a hundred feet inside, confronted with three different passage ways.
"Of course there are..." grumbled Renji, face palming.
"You knew he was going to redecorate after the last time."
"Someone pick a tunnel already."
"Yuroichi an' Kurosaki-san take tha left. Ikkaku, Yumi, an' Rikichi take tha right. Senpai, Rukia, an' I'll take tha middle."
"If you hit a dead end, blast through it. Might as well do some damage while we're here."
"Stealth our friend is not."
"Got that right..."
"Juss get going already," called Renji as he stared down the middle corridor.
--
"Course, I've got no clue where I'm going..." grumbled Ichigo as he turned another corner into another identical looking hallway. "This place just had to be built like a maze with no windows or signs."
"Shaddap an just keep runnin. We've got ta be gettin close ta something by now."
"Or else we're going in the completely wrong direction and are getting farther away from everyone."
"Well, if push comes ta shove, pick a direction and blast that way. Eventually you'll hit an outer wall."
"True enough." He turned another corner and groaned.
There was the rubble from the wall of his cell.
He was going in circles.
"Right, time to backtrack to the throne room..."
--
"How far does this hallway go...?" said Yuroichi after they'd been running in a straight line for nearly ten minutes.
"Somethings not right..." He looked behind him and saw nothing but the endless hallway, same as what was ahead. His eye brows knitted together and he slowed to a stop. "It's identical..."
"What?"
"Look both ways... the hallway's completely identical..."
Yuroichi studied the view form both directions and sighed, "It's an illusion..."
"Well then, what's say we blast out?"
"After you."
Isshin held out a hand and blasted the hallway behind them. The wall crumbled, the illusion masking the holding cell dissapeared. They stepped out over the rubble of the wall and into a large open chamber. There where two more doors against the wall, both closed and containing the others. Isshin shattered the door of the nearest cell while Yuroichi took the farthest.
--
"Oh fer fuck's sake..."
They stood in a large arena filled with all the crazy variations of Hallows they'd come to hate.
"Energy-suckers... Why did it have to be energy-suckers..." sighed Shuu.
"It's going to be a long day..." agreed Rukia as she raised Shirayuki and readied for the inevitable attack.
A single piercing wail was all the warning they got before the masses of hallow attacked!
Renji just managed to duck a bolt of lightning, rolled, and slashed with an already released Zabimaru. The hallows mask shattered easily and it dissapeared, only to have it's place taken almost immediately by a slightly smaller fire-breather. Renji rolled to his feet and shunpo-ed to avoid being roasted alive.
A blast of red energy hit the Hallow in the back of it's head, decapitating it. Shyuuhei dodged the slashing claws of his own opponent, getting under it's guard and stabbing upward with his sword.
"Next Dance: Hakuren!" called Rukia, sending a giant wave of ice into the pack of swarming hallows, destroying over a dozen.
Renji was up and slashing wildly, felling his fair share easily.
"Anyone think this is too easy?" called Shuu as he leaped over another hallow.
"Yeah..." agreed Renji as he slashed in an a long, wide arc with Zabimaru. "They've never been this easy before."
"Hang on a second," added Rukia. "First Dance: Tsukishiro!" she called and froze one of the lightning-throwers. "Renji, find one of the other lightning-throwers and hold it for me!"
" 'Kay!" he called back and crushed the fire-breather he was working on. Easily spotting another lightning-thrower, he ran to it and called out, "Hado #1: Kai!" freezing the thing in place.
Rukia shunpo-ed to him and stared intently at it. "No way..."
"What?"
She turned, shunpo-ed back to the one she had frozen, shattered it, and shunpo-ed back. "It might just be me, but they all look the same."
"Hallow's all look a like."
"No," she shook her head. "I mean they are identical to each other."
"She has a point Renji!" called Shuu as he stabbed yet another ice-breather that got in his way. "They all do look a lot a like."
"Ya think maybe...?"
"Wouldn't surprise me."
Rukia and Renji turned, faced the hallway they'd come out of and called, "Shakkahou!"
The twin blasts of energy impacted the solid wall of the room and blasted through the illusion. Roughly hewn rock walls greeted them as the images of the Hallows dissapeared.
"Well, that was totally expected."
"Got tha' righ'," nodded Renji. He was just about to destroy the wall when a blast from behind it did the job for him.
"And tha' will be Kurosaki-san and Yuroichi."
--
"I really hate Aizen right now..." grumbled Shyuuhei as he climbed over the remnants of the wall.
"Never-ending tunnel?"
"Never-ending swarm of Hallows."
Seeing the paleness in his friends face he asked, "What was yours Yumi?"
"I'd rather not talk about it," he replied as he helped a visibly shaken Rikichi out of the room.
"That bad, eh?"
"Ya have no idea," stumbled Ikkaku as leaned against a large chunk of rock for support. "I think 'm gunna hurl..." He scrambled over the rock and could be heard retching behind it. Wiping his mouth on his sleeve as he climbed back over, "Can we juss get outta here? I really don't wanna hang around anymore."
"Yeah, let's get moving before something comes and finds us."
--
"Did ya hear that?"
"I think so... Sounded like a wall getting blasted..."
"Think we should go that a way?"
"Tch... might not run into anyone friendly if we go that way."
"Sure as hell won't if we keep going this way."
"True enough..." he reached a junction and turned right, towards the sounds of walls being destroyed. He ran for all of five minutes before he came out into a large room, a single creature standing in the center.
"Hello Kurosaki-san," it greeted. "I am pleased you have made it this far."
"Here we go..." sighed Ichigo.
Hichigo squealed for glee, "Yay! Lemmie fight him!"
"Only if he's strong enough. I don't need you bringing the ceiling down on my head."
" Come onnnnnnnnnnnnnn King!"
"Tell you what, you can play with Aizen all you want, 'kay?"
"Fine."
"Thank you."
"If you are finished conversing with your Hallow, may we begin?"
"Don't really see the point. You're not an Arrancar, nor are you much of a Hallow anymore."
"True, I may not be a true Arrancar, but I still am just as powerful in this form as I was as a Gillian."
"Then this will be over soon."
"We shall see," it said and dissapeared.
"Sonido, eh? I keep telling you guys...," he said before disappearing. He reappeared, Zangetsu clanking against the armored arm of the creature, "...That's nothing but a cheap imitation." Putting his weight behind the blade, he shoved the creature backwards. He waited just long enough for it to hit the ground before calling out, "Getsuga Tenshou!" The blast engulfed the monster as Ichigo shunpo-ed back away from the flying shrapnel created by the attack. He waited for the dust to clear before asking, "Still confident you'll win?"
"Heheh. Not bad Ichigo." It stood up and patted the dust from it's torn clothing. A large burn covered it's arms and chest, evidence of the power behind the attack. "You'll still have to do better then that."
"Figured that out already," he said as he vanished.
The creature vanished as well.
There was a loud crash as the two reappeared, the creature blocking Zangetsu with it's armored arms yet again. "You will not win if you continue with such predictable attacks."
"Who said anything about predictable?" he asked as he flipped the blades edge and slashed downwards, freeing his blade. Quickly changing the arc, he slashed under the thing's guard, leaving a deep and bloody trail through it's vulnerable belly.
Slashing with strength born of anger and pain, the creature tore Ichigo's already battered sleeve and left an oozing trail of claw marks along the length of the vaizards upper arm. Rotating on one foot, Ichigo went for another arcing slash, this time lower, aiming for the legs. It jumped, clearing the blade easily, landing behind him. Ichigo, using a trick he'd picked up from a kid in Renji's division once when he sat in on a training session, fell backwards, the razor sharp blade pointed up, using his weight and the enemies confusion to his advantage. He caught it just above it's left ear, Zangetsu's blade slicing easily through skin and breaking bone until it lodged deeply in the thing's left lung region. Howling in pain and fury, hacking up blood like it was nobodies business, the thing tried to punch Ichigo with it right hand, but the blade still embedded in it's body prevented that kind of movement. Rolling to the side and back to his feet, Ichigo wrenched Zangetsu out of the creature and lunged forward, spearing it through the heart. Forcing the blade to turn outward, he sliced cleanly through through it's rib cage and out the other side, taking a good chunk of lung tissue with it. "Didn't see that one coming, eh?"
Ichigo snapped his wrist, giving Zangetsu a quick flick, ridding it of most of the gore, but not the blood.
"Told you I didn't need you yet."
"Feh, whatever. Let's just get going, that thing reeks."
--
"Right or left?"
"Right."
"Left."
"Neither."
"Blast the wall down."
"Okaaaaaaay then..."
"Just go left," said Isshin as he and Yuroichi turned and started running down the corridor...
Only to re-appear three seconds later being chased by mutilated experiments.
"Right!" he called as he ran down the other corridor.
They all darted into the other corridor and Rukia collapsed the junction with a quick, "Shakkahou!"
--
"Well, we're definitely getting closer..."
"Yeah... kinda figured that out."
Ichigo ran through a junction quickly, not bothering to look down it at all. The roaring commotion that came a second later made him stop and rethink his 'blaze-through-all-junctions-without-looking' policy, however. A dozen or so of Aizen's pets came storming out of the other hallway and after him. "Course the halls are too narrow for Getsuga Tenshou..." he growled as he sped up.
A barrage of needles just missing his shoulder made him stop and turn around.
"So it's gunna be like that, eh!?" He used the broad side of Zangetsu as a partial shield from the roaring flames that threatened to roast him. "Screw tight spaces!" he roared as he raised Zangetsu. "Getsuga Tenshou!" He didn't stop to see the effect of the devastating attack, opting to shunpo away before the ceiling caved in.
--
"Tha hell was that!?" called Ikkaku as a giant explosion racked the castle.
"Thats Ichigo!!" yelled Isshin and Renji simultaneously.
"Which way did it come from?!"
Renji had stopped running and had his eye's closed. "It's too distorted in here... can't get a lock..."
Isshin's eyes were also closed, "It feels like it's coming from..." he raised and arm and turned until he stopped at the point where the reiatsu felt the strongest, "... that way."
He was pointing at the solid wall they where running along.
"Great..."
"There's another junction coming up, we can hang a right there and follow it as best we can."
"It'll hafta do," said Renji as he resumed running.
--
"Oh great..." grumbled Ichigo as he ran out of the corridor and into a very large hall. "Now what...?"
"So good of you to join me Kurosaki."
He turned and groaned, face palming hard.
Aizen was sitting in his throne, that benignly insane grin on his face. "I see you made it past my guards."
"You had guards?" blinked Ichigo. "You mean the thing I killed twenty minutes ago? Or the one I buried under half a ton of rock and mortar ten minutes after that?"
"Oh yes, I forgot. I posted the bulk of the guards at the other entrance to this room." He gestured vaguely towards an opening on the other wall, directly across from where Ichigo stood. "Your friends should be arriving shortly, if you wish to wait."
"Do I have much of a choice?"
"You may attack now if you like, but I would advise against it. You are no match for me, as we have already established. You would be wise to wait for assistance."
"You do know you are going to die by the end of this battle, right?"
"We shall see Kurosaki. We shall see."
--
"Okay, does anyone else think that having two dozen guards lining one hallways is a good indication of which way to go?"
"When isn't havin' two dozen guards 'n a hallway a good sign?" came the sarcastic reply.
"Shut up Ikkaku..."
"We have to go that way to get to Ichigo."
"Good enough for me," shrugged Yuroichi. "Who's going to go first?"
"Close-quarters aren't my forte, at least if you want a way out when I'm done."
"I could Bankai and drain their energy, but you would also be affected."
"No good there... I guess us taicho's could take um alone."
"You're not leaving the rest of us out Renji," said Rikichi bravely.
"There's just not enough space for all of us to fight in kid. Sorry, but this is a job for the big dogs."
"Rikichi, let them do this alone," said Rukia calmly. "We can't afford to waste time with a big battle."
"Fine..." he sighed, stepping back away from the entrance to the corridor.
"On three..."
"One..."
"Two..."
"THREE!"
--
"I believe I hear your comrades," said Aizen calmly over the roar of the battle taking place just outside the room. "I daresay they took their sweet time getting here."
"Oh shut up already."
"Temper, temper Kurosaki."
"I'm getting really sick and tired of listening to you."
"Well, you shall have your chance to fight back soon. And I am so looking forward to it."
"Whatever you 'bat-shit-insane-Hallow-loving-dictator-with-a-god-complex'."
The Arrancar that had 'healed' him growled and lunged, "Insulting the master means death!"
Ichigo dodged the flying lunge and slashed with Zangetsu, nicking the creature's shoulder as it flew past him. "Getsuga Tenshou!" he called and and obliterated the mess of Hallow parts.
"Good show boy. I do so enjoy your displays of power."
"Pervert," he spat as he brushed the dust off his shihaksho.
"Tousche Kurosaki," he said, still grinning creepily. That he didn't deny it made Ichigo shudder.
There was a loud explosion from the corridor the others fought in and a cloud of dust and rock 'whooshed' out.
"That can't be good..."
--
"Come on guys! Get past while we can still hold them!"
"We're coming already! Just hold on a few seconds more!"
Renji crushed the mask of the guard he was holding back with his hand and it disintegrated. He was already moving to help Shyuuhei when there was a giant explosion far away. The roof, already unsteady from all the fighting, started collapsing. "RUN!!"
Creatures screamed as pieces of rock and mortar fell on them, crushing the life out of them.
A massive crack appeared, running haphazardly through the center of the ceiling faster then any of them could run.
"It's coming down! Get out of the way!!"
They all shunpo-ed as fast as they could out of the corridor, just managing to escape in a cloud of dust and rock as the entire corridor collapsed behind them, trapping the surviving guards and blocking their escape route.
--
"Welcome my friends! So good of you to finally join us!"
Ichigo's attention was focused on the slowly dispersing cloud of dust on the other end of the hall. Slowly, ever so slowly, he was able to discern the shapes of people, all holding their zanpakto out and ready to fight.
"Ichigo?"
"Renji !?"
"ICHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" yelled Isshin as he flying-tackled the boy to the ground.
"Get off me old man!" roared the now pissed teen as he shoved his father off of him. Jumping back to his feet he yelled, "Are you that insane Goat-face!? Why the hell did you tackle me when Aizen's sitting less then a hundred feet away!?"
"Because your papa's missed you!" he replied in his usual insane voice, manic grin firmly in place.
"Can't you ever take anything seriously!!"
All traces of the happy-go-lucky Isshin dissapeared faster then you can blink an eye. "Yes, but I thought you'd enjoy the familiarity of it."
"Maybe if we weren't being stared down by the fucking enemy then I might have," he conceded, much to his father's delight.
"Yes, well, as much as I enjoy watching old friends and family greet each other after such a long separation, I do have a schedule to keep, which means I must cut this reunion short." He leaned forward and with a mad twinkle in his eye said, "Shall we begin?"
"Bit cramped in here, dont'cha think?" asked Renji sarcastically.
"I agree," nodded Aizen. "It is a bit too cramped to fight properly." He waved vaguely and the floor began to vibrate.
"What tha hell !?"
"The floor's rising!"
"Yes," confirmed Aizen. "Do not worry," he said in what he must have thought was a reassuring manner. Course, reassuring for him was down right creepy to a normal person. "I am merely moving us to a venue more appropriate for our fight." The roof parted and they passed through the giant opening, emerging and stopping level with a large courtyard in the very center of the castle. "I believe this is large enough for our needs, don't you agree?"
"Well hell, if we'd know it was this easy ta get ta his throne room, we never would've bothered with trying ta go through tha castle like we did. Juss could a broken down a wall an collapsed tha ceiling over it."
Aizen, still grinning in his creepily calm manner, stood from his throne and stepped down onto the floor at it's base. "I shall allow you a moment to say your final goodbyes before I destroy you."
"Well aren't you just full of yourself," said Isshin. "But then again, you always were confident in your abilities."
"A God has a right to be," he said in his defense.
"And you," growled Renji as his reiatsu spiked, "are not a God." He nodded to Ichigo and called out, "Bankai!" The dust from the previous explosion, combined with the blowing sands of Hueco Mundo combined to hide him from view as Zabimaru grew into it's Bankai form and his shihaksho changed to accommodate the fur coat. "Hihiou Zabimaru!
"Bankai!" called Ichigo as he ran behind and towards Renji, coat already changed to match Zangetsu's and the chain-links at the hilt of his sword ringing, ready to assume his usual position in the tag-team battle style they'd developed over the years. "Tensa Zangetsu!"
Already changing to the purest white and a long ribbon extending from the hilt, "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"
"Bankai! Ryumon Hotsukimaru!" Hotsukimaru changing into an enormous monk's spade with an equally large dadao, both connected to an oversized Halberd blade with a parallel handle, a dragon crest on one side.
Yumichika called out elegantly, "Sake, Fuji Kujaku!" and his blade separated in to four curved scythe blades.
Yuroichi's arms, shoulders, and legs began to glow with the energy of her Shunka.
Isshin's zanpakto was out, but he'd yet to release it at all.
The same went for Rikichi, but his lack of Shikai was entirely due to the fact that he'd been reduced to kneeling and barely able to support himself with his shaky arms by the awesome amount of spiritual pressure in the room that was slowly crushing him.
Zabimaru reared up so that it's head was fifty feet above the courtyard, it's body having already encircled it several times. It roared in anticipation, ready for this battle. Ichigo stood on top of it's head, hair blanched to a pale yellow in the perpetual moonlight of Hueco Mundo.
"I see," nodded Aizen, drawing Kyoka Suigetsu. "Am I correct in assuming that you wish to begin?"
"Just shut up and die already!" roared Ichigo as he launched a full power Getsuga Tenshou at the crazed ex-taicho. Zabimaru roared and dived, following the path of the blast and blasting a full power Hikotsu Taiho. The two blast of energy met and mingled just before they would have hit Aizen, combining and amplifying their already awesome power.
Aizen deflected the blast with a flick of his suddenly released zanpakto. The burst of reiatsu that accompanied the the flick was enough to push Zabimaru off it's path and into a nearby wall.
"First Dance: Tsukishiro!" Aizen didn't even blink as he was swallowed by the giant glacier that Shirayuki created.
"Did you really think that would work?"
Rukia turned around quickly and came face to chest with Aizen.
"Not really," she said truthfully. "Just testing."
"Testing?"
"Yeah, testing," she nodded.
"Getsuga Tenshou!"
"Hikotsu Taiho!" called Renji, Zabimaru aiming for the same a stretch of empty wall as Ichigo had and Rukia shunpo-ed out of the way as fast as she could.
Aizen deflected the blast with a hand. "You can see through my Shikai, eh? Well, that certainly is interesting. Tell me, how long did it take Urahara to figure the out?"
"All of a week," answered Isshin just before he shunpo-ed to where Aizen was standing. Sword raised for an attack, "Kinda defeats the purpose of a hypnosis technique, doesn't it?"
Aizen chuckled and grabbed Isshin's zanpakto from behind, "True, but I don't really need my Shikai's hypnosis ability to defeat you, now do I Isshin?"
"Still as quick as ever," he laughed, ducking his head so that Yuroichi's kick would clear.
"Even quicker," he said, from the other end of the courtyard.
Zabimaru roared and Renji called out, "Now!"
Ichigo, Hallow mask fully over his face and grinning manically bellowed, "Getsuga Tenshou!"
Aizen deflected the blast, but nearly lost his hand in the process. "Curious," he said, examining the burn and nearly crushed bones of his left wrist. "That was an extraordinarily powerful blast Kurosaki. You have been training rather hard, haven't you? That's the only way an insolent little insect like you would be able to injure one such as me."
It was Hichigo that responded, "Like I been tellin' ya fer nearly a year now, dumbass: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but you'll never beat me!"
"What're ya all standing around fer!? Attack!!" yelled Renji at the stunned shinigami.
Ikkaku swung Ryumon Hotsukimaru rapidly around himself. He charged the insane man with a growl, lashing out with both the spade and dadao ends. Aizen raised Kyoka Suigetsu to parry the dadao and used a burst of reiatsu to stop the spade. Kyoka Suigetsu sang from the impact, blade vibrating visibly.
Yumichika was already behind Aizen. With a call of, "Sakikurue!" he began siphoning off Aizen's reiatsu as quickly as he could without affecting any of the others.
Isshin was using his speed to hide in plain sight, disappearing and reappearing in a random fashion, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Shyuuhei was also waiting for a chance to get in and attack, but he was using the undulating form of Zabimaru to hide instead of his speed.
"So these are the brave defenders of Soul Society, eh? Too terrified to come out of hiding and fight me head-on."
"Black Sarcophagus!" called Isshin from ten feet to the right of Aizen, who was surrounded by a black cube of energy for nearly a minute before reappearing, robes torn to shreds and small gashes all over his arms and back.
"For someone that has renounced his shinigami abilities for as long as you have Isshin, that was a particularly powerful spell. I did not believe it possible to harness a full seventy-five percent of a level 90 kidou without chanting the full spell."
"You're not the only one in the room that's managed to master the four fighting styles of the shinigami," he retorted as he lunged at Aizen, zanpakto raised to chest level.
Aizen parried the attack with Kyoka Suigetsu. "Well then, that little tidbit of information has made this fight that much more interesting."
Zabimaru roared and reared up to it's fullest height. Aizen glanced up, expecting to see Ichigo standing on his usual perch, but the teen was nowhere to be seen. He glanced down, thinking he was going to attack from ground level, but was again disappointed. "And where is Ichigo? Has he abandoned you?"
"Black Sarcophagus!"
"First Dance: Tsukishiro!"
Two shouts of, "Shakkahou!"
"Getsuga Tenshou!"
"Hikotsu Taiho!"
Aizen was simultaneously surrounded by the powerfully destructive level 90 kidou, swallowed by a glacier, blasted by two glowing red balls of pure energy, and shattered by the most powerful combination of Getsuga Tenshou and Hikotsu Taiho that Ichigo and Renji could produce. Without Ichigo's Hallow helping, that is.
There was dead quiet as they waited for the dust and smoke to clear.
"Kukuku... I must congratulate you on such a powerful array of attacks," laughed Aizen as the smoke cleared and he returned to view. Blood flowed freely down his left arm, and Kyoka Suigetsu was still held limply in his right. "No one has ever been able to injury me to this degree. I must admit, there is a possibility that I could lose this fight."
"Yer damn right yer gunna lose!" called Renji from where he stood, Zabimaru roaring in agreement above him.
"That is assuming of course that I continue this fight on my own..." he continued calmly as he raised a hand and gestured to the sky.
"If you are calling for your Arrancar," came a calm voice from above them, "then you shall be waiting for a very long time."
They all looked up and grinned. Hitsugaya Toshiro was hovering thirty feet above the far wall, the icy wings of his Bankai spread so that they caught and reflected the weak moonlight of Hueco Mundo and glowered a brilliant silver. "We have dispatched with the last of them. It is over Aizen. You have lost."
"That is where you are wrong Toushiro. This battle is far from over. Have you forgotten about my other allies and their marvelous abilities?"
"Too bad for you, Sosuke; we've got eight division's surrounding the castle and your armies are completely decimated."
"Ahhhhh... I see we are to be joined by Kyouraku as well. This certainly is turning into an interesting battle."
"Oh just shut up and die already!" said Ichigo as he leaped up on Zabimaru's head.
Everyone moved to encircle the man, ensuring he could not escape the final blasts.
"Ganging up on little old me? That's not very nice," he chuckled, obviously amused by everything.
"Your over confidence will be your undoing, Sosuke!" called Isshin loudly.
"It's not overconfidence if you have the power to prove it," he answered calmly.
Ichigo leveled Zangetsu, pointing directly at Aizen's heart. "This is your last chance to surrender Aizen."
"Surrender?" he returned, laughing heartily. "You actually believe I would surrender?"
"Can't say I didn't warn you..."
Zabimaru roared, the signal everyone had been waiting for.
Yumichika resumed draining the rest of Aizen's power as fast as he possibly could.
"Senkei, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." Four rows of swords appeared around them as the second stage of Byakuya's Bankai was activated.
Hitsugaya called out "Sennen Hyoro!" and pillars of ice encased Aizen.
"First Dance: Tsukishiro!" A fresh glacier of ice enclosed Aizen, adding to Toushiro's own.
Yumichika, know exactly what was about to happen, got the hell away from Aizen before he was caught in the crossfire.
"Next Dance: Hakuren!"
Calls of, "Shakkahou!"
Yuroichi, having seen Sado's attacks so often, had actually managed to modify her Shunka to create a similar attack, and so instead of risking getting caught by the cross-fire, blasted Aizen from a distance.
Kyouraku slashed with Katen Kyokotsu, sending tornadoes and blades of wind at the ex-taicho.
The dragon crest on the side of Ryumon Hotsukimaru glowed bright red as it's full power finally awakened and Ikkaku dove into the fight, attacking wildly and without abandon, until the edges of his zanpakto, which were rendered brittle by the insane amount of power it was channeling, where reduced to dust. He pulled back to give the next attacker a clear shot at the insane madman.
Zaraki and Yachiru darted forward before anyone else had a chance to even prepare for an attack. The group stared at them as Zaraki cackled madly, surrounded by the dust, sand, and other junk in the air. They appeared from the smoke cloud a half a minute later, satisfied smirks on both their faces.
Two calls of, "Black Sarcophagus!"
Byakuya, seizing his chance yet again called out, "Gokei!" and every one of the blade that surrounded them rose into the air and fired at Aizen from ever possible angle.
Renji had to maneuver Zabimaru to avoid some of the blades, but he avoided any nasty friendly fire incidents.
Hitsugaya, not wanting to miss out, stabbed with Hyourinmaru and called, "Ryusenka!"
Ichigo, fully transformed into his Hallow form and Zabimaru roaring a counterpoint screeched out "Getsuga Zangetsu!"
Renji bellowed, "Hikotsu Taiho!"
The two blasts mingled into the most powerful attack the two shinigami could produce.
The explosion from the massive amount of energy mingling into what had to be the most devastating volley of attacks ever launched in the history of existence caused everyone to duck for cover from the dancing lightning and flying shrapnel.
Hitsugaya used his wings to fan away the dust. Just before the area cleared enough to be visible, there was a sickening crack! and a sharp thud!
Aizen still stood, barely, but the damage of the attack was horribly evident.
Missing an arm, the other torn wide open and bleeding profusely, Kyoka Suigetsu lay at his feet, still clutched tight by the severed stump. His face was ripped open, one eye closed tight from pain, the other glaring death. His legs where shaking so badly that even Hitsugaya, hovering so high above the arena of battle, could easily see it. His robes hung open, barely hanging on to his battered form. There was a long, deep gash across his chest, the skin surrounding it burned horribly. It was faint, but the sounds of his breath wheezing in his chest could be heard; the broken ribs and punctured lungs evident to one with a trained ear.
"Still standing, eh?" asked Ichigo as he landed lightly twenty feet in front of him, hallow form dissolving and returning him to his normal Bankai form. "Well then, I'll just have to fix that." Ichigo shimmered for a moment, his coat returning to normal and Zangetsu changing back to it permanent cleaver-formed Shikai. His mask was still visible, half covering his face, both eyes still black and gold. There was no way that Hichigo was going to be left out of this, and frankly Ichigo wanted him there.
"I'm not wheeze beaten yet wheeze Kurosaki wheeze. I will not wheeze lose!"
"Ya already did," said Renji calmly as he allowed Zabimaru to return to it's Shikai form.
Hitsugaya landed twenty feet away, his icy wings disintegrating as Hyourinmaru returned to it's fulled sealed state and he sheathed it. "Say your final goodbye's Aizen."
"I WILL NOT LOSE!!" he bellowed, raising his remaining hand jerkily and chanting the most powerful spell he could think of.
Renji slashed with Zabimaru, the blade lengthening and sliced Aizen in half.
"Getsuga Tenshou!!" bellowed Ichigo, finally ending the fight. Aizen dissapeared in a flash of light and when it faded, there was nothing left but the torn scraps of his robes and Kyoka Suigetsu, slowly dissolving along with the remains of it's master's right arm.
They stood in silence, no one believing it was finally over.
Then the castle began falling apart around them.
"Fer crying out loud...!! It's fucking deja vu all over again!"
"Everyone out!!" bellowed Isshin as they ran towards the outer wall.
"Getsuga Tenshou!!" called Ichigo as he blasted the wall apart so that they could escape.
Renji grabbed Rikichi, who'd recovered enough to help in the final attack but could not yet walk, and carried him as he ran for the exit.
They ran for all they were worth, too tired to even think of Shunpo anymore.
--
It wasn't until they'd cleared the ruins and met up with the army that any of them stopped to think again.
A resounding cry of "Ichigo!!" and "Kurosaki-kun!!" was what it took to get them to finally stop running.
"Did you do it!! Did we win!!" demanded Kira, still holding Wabisuke. Komomura was a few feet behind him, a few cuts and scratches on his arms and his armor cracked and broken, but otherwise okay.
Ichigo looked up at them, an oddly blank look on his face, "Yeah... It's over."
A deafening round of cheering exploded from the shinigami.
"Send word back to Yamamoto-soutaicho! The war's over! Aizen has fallen!!"
"Return to your divisions," said Byakuya, the note of pride and relief in his voice not completely hidden. "The sooner we finish here, the faster we can go home."
Of course, no one listened to him as shinigami from every division crowded around Ichigo, desperate to see him, hear him speak, make sure that he really was there, and that the war was really over at last.
"Back off!!" bellowed Renji as he, Shyuuhei, and Isshin shoved them away. "Give 'em some air!!"
"You heard Kuchiki-taicho!! Get back to your divisions and get organized so we can get the hell out of here!!"
Ichigo was being overwhelmed by the noise and attention he was getting. He felt light headed and nauseous, his legs where turning to lead, and it was becoming hard to balance.
"Ichigo?"
The orange-haired teen looked up and blinked, trying to clear his fuzzy vision. He kept trying to make all the extra Renji's dancing in front of him go away so he could focus on the one that was talking to him, but for some odd reason he couldn't. Then the world went black, and the last thing he could remember before he was completely unconscious was a strained shout of "Ichigo!!", the sensation falling, and the feeling of warm, strong arms around his chest.
