Author Notes: After that startling statement from Ichigo to his son, the fight finally begins- and it will go completely insane as the fight goes on. Let's say that Chapter 8 foreshadowed how the fight would go and Kazui might in for a surprise.
As for Kazui's relationship for his Zanpakuto- think of Ichigo with Hollow Ichigo/Zangetsu and Shuhei Hiragi with Kazeshini- only infinitely more hostile on both sides.
I based Kazui's Bankai design on Kurama the Kyuubi from Naruto and Hakumen non Mono from Ushio to Tora. He's far less aggressive in his Shikai state by the way, being a lot more playful. The Bankai state goes through a great deal of character development in this arc. Kazui/Tsuki's merged form is based on Tsunayoshi Sawada's Hyper Dying Will Form. And the Grim Reaper with the Moon Face Scythe is Kazui's version of the Getsuga Tensho, it originated from the Hollow Spiritual Energy traces from Barragan and its weapon is based on common medieval images of the human faced crescent moon.
Also more world building in a section of this chapter on the Six Realms.
As a final disclaimer and preliminary warning to readers who will be reading this fanfic from now on-
The following chapter and the remaining chapters of the ß mini arc contain disturbing themes and content that will become more prevalent in succeeding chapters. This includes the following: physical abuse, nightmarish descriptions of imagery, graphic violence in the form of no holds barred beatdowns at several points, torture, trauma and finally murder inflicted on a family member. The tone of the story, while having some lighter parts, will attempt to continue this perpetual dark tone until the very end of the fanfic.
Reader discretion is advised.
Chapter 11: ß- the Final Letter- Ü-Ö-Ä
(Bleach Soundtrack: Creeping Shadows plays in the background)
"Full -Bring: Clad of Black-Vollständig: Gehenna- Schatten Gottes (Shadow of God)-Visored Mask- Risen From Hell: Fuerza Negra (Devil)-Bankai: Tensa Zangetsu: Eien Mugetsu (Eternal Moonless Sky)." Ichigo declared as his form became shrouded in a shadowy mass.
What are you saying daddy...I don't understand..., thought Kazui as he was completely scared not of the form hidden in the darkness, but of the implications of his words. He manifested his Soul Reaper form as an instinctive response.
Thoughts of his father while grouchy at times, he would always be there when he went home feeling miserable about being too exceptional for anyone to handle at school.
"Why do I have to do this?," Kazui asked his father, wanting more clarification.
"When a Quincy Leader is born, the predecessor goes into battle to die in order for the successor to possess their parent's power, it's an instinctive reaction. The time of decision depends how long they live is the time they decide to have an heir, my mother delayed that choice for long as possible. My case was different, the only way to obtain the other powers was to kill Yhwach and his reincarnations in reverse alphabetical order, starting with my mom. Once I did that, I got all of my predecessors' abilities along with that of the Soul King when your 28x generations ago ancestor, Yhwach killed him 10 years ago- it's also kinda of annoying when they take turns being the dominant host of the body at times. Since there can't be two Head Quincy Leaders at the same time unless they're manifested as a whole group by their own special power, there's always going to be a negative influx of your inherent powers because I'm still here controlling the power for the majority of the time while you just get flashes of that Spiritual Power. The reason you're just strong with your durability and Zanpakuto, yet no other abilties is because I'm the one that's taking the lion's share of the power," the father explained to his son about the legacy of his heritage from the black shroud.
"He was my most oldest grandpa ancestor , you're his latest grand descendent and I'm your son...," Kazui examined the words as he slowly came to realize what that meant.
"It's better this way, if I died against the Dioses Huecos- you'd spend the rest of your life in revenge then cold satisfaction once you did it. I don't want you to be like that...," Ichigo said with lament as he himself was always driven by revenge on some level by his current enemy for taking his mother away from him until he had lost the reason to fight more battles after defeating Yhwach. He didn't want his son to follow the same path as he did.
"Isn't there another way...," Kazui asked hopefully in denial of the inevitable.
"I'm going to tell you this in advance, in about 9 months, you'll be a protector. Make sure to be there for that person- whether its a boy or a girl," Ichigo told Kazui to his amazed shock.
(Bleach Soundtrack- Going Home plays in the background)
Kazui then sighed as he realized that there was no other option much to his deep regret, but smiled because at least something good would come from this.
"I'm going to be a big brother wow...I'm still not taking over the clinic," he said initially with joy, only to end with a flat tone and deadpan face.
"Huh?," Ichigo said with a comically confused tone from the dark shroud now surrounding him.
"I'm not actually sure of what I want to do when I grow up. I do know that I want to be Number 1- the strongest Soul Reaper Badass that ever was...and to see everything- Hueco Mundo, Soul Society, maybe other worlds when I get strong enough to go to those places!,"Kazui said with more enthusiasm before returning to a solemn expression.
Did Ichika teach you that language...so you're more ambitious than I am...and You'll keep on soaring higher long after I'm gone., Ichigo thought initially with shock to the "badass" terminology, but then had more pride in his son for being what he considered a stronger man than he was.
Kazui then prepared his Bankai stance, doing a choreographed dance in the shapes of the nine faces of the moon.
(Bleach Soundtrack- "On the Precipice of Defeat plays in background)
"Shikai-," Kazui recited before being cut off by Ichigo's next words.
"No, you already have it don't you- Bankai I mean," Ichigo said with a serious tone from the black shroud towards his son.
"How do you-," Kazui inquired with surprise, his father knew his secret power that he was hiding from everyone.
"Your mother and I are always watching you when you think you're training by yourself. You're strong enough, but you still want to be stronger...you're definitely more qualified for fighting the next enemies than me. There's no meaning in defeating me with a sheathed sword," Ichigo said with a somber tone.
"B-but, I could really hurt you bad-," Kazui begged, trying to avoid what could happen.
"I know that, what I'm asking is to go beyond that. Abandon your fear! Look forward! Move forward and never stop! You'll age if you pull back! You'll die if you hesitate- that's what the old man Zangetsu told me and now I'm telling you," Ichigo demanded with the eye shade of Ichigo's Hollow Mask eyeholes.
"...," Kazui then closed his eyes as he went to contact his Zanpakuto spirit.
(Bleach Soundtrack- BL_13 plays in the background)
"Kazui...," said a deep voice that had a mix of a whispering, eerie infant tone with a low raspy roar.
Kazui reopened his eyes. He was in a black void staring at a cage. Within it, chains chinked subtly as a massive eye with a deep ocean colored sclera- sapphire iris eye with a cerulean crescent pupil looked downwards at the orange haired boy.
"We haven't met again since you learned Bankai...why not closer?," said the eye as it looked down at the boy, trying to manipulate the boy into doing what it desired.
"We both know what would happened. You'd kill me and become the ruler of my mind.," Kazui responded with a closed eyed smile of self inflicted humor towards himself.
Suddenly, a row of abyssal blue sharp teeth appeared where the eye initially was, positioned in a way that was a demented smile.
"A shame, I would've been free if you were a little more accepting.," said the teeth with a chuckle that was malign in intent.
"Well, today...I'm facing my Daddy...and he wants me to go all out...," Kazui explained as he emitted a blue energy from his right hand.
"...So I'll be out...to fight someone strong," said the row of blue teeth.
"Yes...Tengoku Hachi Gao...," Kazui as he raised the blue aura surrounding hand towards the key of the cage.
"You know that's not true...say my true name." the row of blue teeth insisting on a more clear answer.
"Yes...Lord Tsuki No Hyaku Hachi Tengoku Gin Jū no Ryoshu...," Kazui clarified as he shot out the energy.
The eye reappeared with an upturned crescent angle as the energy was inserted into the cage.
The door opened as a gigantic silver monster began to exit the cage and expand in form as it did so.
(One Piece Movie 7 Soundtrack- Karakuri Defense System, Activate plays in the background)
"Bankai...Tsuki no Hyaku Hachi Tengoku Gin-Jū No Ryoshu (108 Heaven Silver Beast Lord of the Moon)," Kazui declared as his Spiritual Pressure suddenly went quiet.
After a moment of silence, a phenomena that could be described something beyond comprehension, Kisuke in the background looked on with awe-
A small blue sphere appeared in front of Kazui expanded until it engulfed the room- and repeated this for 107 more times, each time, it somehow expanded the space until the room was turned into a dark blue outer space sky surrounding all was once the Canyon with several 20 story tall planets hovering around. Ichigo's dark shroud form stepped on one of the planets and continued his own transformation.
"All that work, and he changes the environment," Kisuke said with a humorous joke to himself as he sat on a planet next to Ichigo's.
Slight rumbles were felt everywhere, even outside the room, surprising the bucket hat wearing man as he began to see the shadow of a massive multi-tailed beast began to emerge from behind Kazui.
All Over the Globe in the World of the Living
(Bleach Soundtrack- BL_29 plays in the background)
Electronic technology was going into loud static, clouds darkened over the continents as people were confused of the phenomena occurring in all corners of the planet.
"Is that Kazui?," Yuzu said to herself as she washed the dishes with a tone of worry.
"Kazui...," said Karin as she continued on her next project with a tone of uncertainty.
"Emergency, powerful spiritual readings from the source from last night has drastically increased power," said Supernatural detection offices around the world.
"What's going on?!," said Keigo while working on his grandfather's farm. A few eggs hit his face due to the rumbling from the ground.
Unknown Realm of Animals
(Bleach Soundtrack- BL_73 plays in the background)
Animals ranging from simple creatures to mythological beasts of lore felt a powerful force with their instincts as they heard the rumbles in their realm of flora of varying environments.
A massive wolf with a scar under one of his eyes said with a mysterious tone, "What is happening in the Realm of Men?"
"Hello Canis Lupis!," said a purple jinn with a single eye, wearing a bowler hat and wielding a cane coming out from an Arabian themed golden door that manifested out of thin air of the realm. His tone was cheerful and surprised at seeing the dog.
"...it couldn't be.," said the wolf as he observed the purple entity with awe.
Unknown Realm of Divine Entities
(Bleach Soundtrack- BL_56 plays in the background)
Various obscured entities in a variety of noble, divine clothing based on various cultures sensed a strong power in their meditation room that was dimly lit.
"It seems Universe 996 Googolplexian 108 Centillion, 999 Vigintillion, 501 Novemdecillion, 678 Octodecillion, 234 Septendecillion, 250 Sexdecillion, 822 Quindecillion, 705 Quattuordecillion, 444 Tredecillion, 534 Ducdecillion, 222 Undecillion, 110 Decillion, 345 Nonillion, 492 Octillion, 742 Septillion, 378 Sextillion, 815 Quintillion, 333 Quadrirllion, 756 Trillion, 789 Billion, 467 Million, 139 Thousand and 101 Hundred, Galaxy Cluster 666, Galaxy 100, Star System 72, Planet 3 is manifesting a powerful presence," said a stoic divine voice noticing the power from the lower realm.
"It seems that they have someone capable after all of being looked at.," said an indifferent divine voice as a reply to the previous speaker.
A goatee bearded man accompanied by a small girl with light green hair with another man with long white hair beside them.
Unknown Realm of Ashura Beings
(Bleach Soundtrack- BL_86 plays in the background)
Six armed beings with three faces battled each other in an eon long battle of blissful blood-lust finally halted their routine of dueling to notice the rumbles to their realm of a war-torn battle field.
One of them smiled with a grin with a smile that revealed only the upper teeth.
Hueco Mundo
(JJBA Battle Tendency Soundtrack- Ancientry plays in background)
The Dio Hueco suddenly felt a rumble beneath their feet of the grassy terrain. Grimmjow and the captured Arrancar back in the basement of the Dio Hueco base woke up after feeling the rumble.
"Huitzilopochtli, I want you to see what is occurring in the land where I met the orange haired man. It seems he's going for a strategy to defeat us," Tezacatilpoca requested the Dio Hueco of War.
"Why not me?," Xiutecuhtli asked his superior as he kneeled before him.
"Because he is the most likely to make sure whatever is occurring will not be interfered, he is the most honorable of us. But, first- I guess we do need some attire. The humans would probably be vexed about us being in the natural state," replied the Dio Hueco
"Yay! Accessorizing!," Tonatiuh cried with childish mirth to the Dio Hueco of night's annoyance.
Hell
(Berserk Soundtrack- Monster plays in background)
Demonic shadows in a cavern all had exaggerated reactions- some of absolute terror, some of indifference and others of euphoria from feeling the rumble of the cavern ceiling above.
"Amusing, a challenge to us. Amusing," said a deep sinister voice that caused most of the shadows to be silent and bow to its owner.
A few eyes glowed in the stalagmite/stalactite jail cell- a four eye pair with one vertically above the other, a leering golden gaze, a cold yellow stare, a green slit glare of nihilism, two beady eyes and two red dots in the eye holes of a skull shining in the dark.
Soul Society
(Bleach Soundtrack- BL_93 plays in background)
All the Captains, Lieutenants, Rukon Denizens, arriving Visored and Full Bringers stationed in Soul Society felt the rumble coming from the World of the Living.
"All Captains, Lieutenants and Visored. The Full-Bringers and remaining seat officers will handle matters here. Head to the Karakura Town's shop of Former 12th Captain Kisuke Urahara and head for his basement area. Ichigo and what we've confirmed to be his son will be there," ordered Shunsui Kyoraku as each captain went into their separate Senkaimon.
Former Soul Palace
(Bleach Soundtrack- Destiny Awaits plays in the background)
The Royal Guard suddenly stopped what they were doing to pay attention to what was occurring.
"Hohoho, I think as the receptor of the Soul King's power- we should all see what is about to occur to Ichigo.," said Ichibe as he opened a Senkaimon for the group to enter.
United States- World Match
(Bleach Soundtrack- On The Precipe Of Defeat plays in the background)
Chad managed to defeat his opponent due to the rumbling distracting the latter. Instead of feeling victory, he felt more concerned.
"That feels like Kazui...," Chad said to himself as he felt the rumble as the referee declared him the winner.
Karakura Town
(On The Precipe Of Defeat continues to play in the background)
Everyone felt the rumbles and stopped what they were doing.
"Ichigo, I didn't think you'd go through with this?!," Uryu said as he decided to leave his room to head to go to the Urahara Shop.
"Kazui...I'm sorry, Ichigo, I'm not going to sit here and wait. I need to see you till the end of what you need to do.," Orihime said as she prepared to go to the Urahara Shop from her home.
Aside from Reiichi was busy being a prime minister away in the capital of Japan, the Karakura students from Ichigo's class, Yoruichi, Tessai and some of the stationed Full-Bringers headed to the Urahara Shop.
(Music Ends)
(A slower paced version of News from the Front" by Bad Religion plays in the background)
As the dark shroud cleared, Ichigo stood in the form at his highest pinnacle. It was an amalgamation of all of his powers- his hair became waist-length with orange/black coloring, light bluish-gray bandages formed around his body, tightly wrapped around his torso, right arm, and masked face, ending just beneath his eyes; blackish-gray skeletal armor of his Clad-type Full-Bring worn over his bandaged body; his forward pointed horned Hollow Mask worn over his face; a shadowy open worn overcoat draped over his back with large bat wing extensions and finally his eyes had the four pupil eye similar to Yhwach's The Almighty, only his pupils were reddish brown, orange, yellow and red colored respectively. His sword became a cross between a western Zweihänder blade, manji shaped cross guard, and handle with a pommel ending ing a flickering cloth- all black covered.
"I'm not one to hold back, so I'm coming at you at full force. Your Bankai release was flashy and emitted more Spiritual Power than even Barragan and Yhwach including the Sternritters, I hope that it was worth the-," said Ichigo with a voice distorted by the combination of his powers.
Ichigo stopped to see something titanic in size floating in the sky where he felt Kazui's Spiritual Pressure.
It dwarfed the planets by several meters in length, it was a silver furred mammalian beast, which Kazui sat on near the top of its head. It was the Bankai form of Kazui's Zanpakuto-
A droopy dog eared nine tailed kitsune with with rounded snot with no nostrils; had sharp eyes with deep ocean colored sclera, sapphire irises with cerulean crescent shaped pupils; had a row of abyssal blue teeth. On its front limb shoulders were the Vandenreich symbol ending in skeletal armor going from below the shoulder to the the long, narrow manlike fingers similar to Kugo Ginjo's Full-Bring armor, plated hind legs that were lion-like in design ending in feet with a hole in the center.
The tails ended in an extremely unusual collection of end tips- a grim reaper wielding a crescent scythe with a smiling human face, a monstrous cat with a grin shaped like a horizontal half moon, a gray beast with a buffalo skull with a nose horn curved like a crescent with a wolf's body, an elegant Chinese themed princess figure with blue water flowing behind her, a winged moose wielding an arched bow and arrow, a frightening looking rabbit hand puppet wielding a scimitar, a clock with an infinity sign with a gentleman's face wielding a blade hidden in a cane, a small cute human like witch with two large bangs framing her face along with ankle length hair tied with a bell with great grey owl wings wielding a magic staff and an androgynous boy around Kazui's age with back-length silver messy hair of waist length, blue eyes hidden by heavy lens glasses and a midriff exposing kunoichi outfit. For the moment, they seemed to be like empty dolls.
Kazui's Zanpakuto sword was still wielded in his hand, it had grown even larger, now completely silver in color, crowned with nine moon-skull heads joined together to form the cross guard and the handle had extended in length as well, ending it with a white fox tail attached to the pommel.
"So Kazui's Bankai is like Sajin. No, those dolls aren't be there for show and I feel somehow that the beast is more intelligent than I think it is. It's definitely capable of killing me with ease.," Ichigo said to himself while slightly alarmed on how unexpected the form was.
"Hahahaha! I am free in the physical realm- free to tear flesh from bone- to slaughter!," the silver beast boasted with a sinister smile and it clawed the sky.
Ichigo while definitely shocked not only by the gigantic size of the creature that was able to clench the planets with its claws, but also looked closer at the strange arrangement of figures that adorned the tips of its tail.
You definitely take after your mom in some areas, but right now I can't think about that. It's time to use it all, thought Ichigo initially with bewilderment, but then recollected his focus.
"I summon the dragons of the West, East, North and South to converse with the dragon of the center of the world. Coiling towards the heavens to devour a million suns, a thousand nights and a hundred worlds- Hadou#99: Goryūtenmetsu (Five Swirling Dragons of Destruction)," Ichigo recited, using the strongest offensive spell in the Soul Society.
A dark cloud covered part of the outer space like room, a golden orient dragon with five heads emerged from the cloud and rushed towards the silver beast. It coiled around Tsuki No Hyaku Hachi Tengoku Gin Jū no Ryoshu to restraint the massive beast to its quiet annoyance. Kazui fell off the beast's head.
Ichigo flapped the wing extensions and rushed towards Kazui. His Zanpakuto divided into two identical swords in each hands- one white and the other retaining its black color.
"The White Zangetsu side says that I enjoy fighting...he's right. But, Old Man Zangetsu says that I want to protect as well- so I'm coming at full force- Konton Shirokuro (Chaos White Black) Getsuga Tensho- I'm doing it so you can continue protecting where I left off...whatever you decide to do," Ichigo yelled dramatically as he swung his swords to release a powerful white/black Getsuga Tensho that blended into a stripped spiral that headed towards Kazui.
"Clad In Black- Black Bone.," Ichigo continued as the bony armor tore off to form a black skeleton that headed towards Kazui
"Cero Oscuras.," Ichigo continued once more, releasing a black Cero with red outlines from his horns as a large beam towards Kazui
"Ü- Ümbra: Dunkelheit (Darkness.)," Ichigo finished his speech as his overcoat generated a massive sword of darkness that launched towards Kazui
Kazui, despite being scared, he looked at his Zanpakuto beast with a look of trust in spite of addition of regret.
Tsuki No Hyaku Hachi Tengoku Gin Jū no Ryoshu looked down, broke free of the dragon and then pointed the tail end with the grim reaper with the crescent scythe with a smiling human face towards the boy to Ichigo's shock. The tail end emitted a gold light that zoomed towards Kazui's sword- causing it to glow a moonlight yellow. Kazui then raised his sword upwards.
"Kao Hachi: Mikadzuki No Sora no Migi Karitori Kama (Face Eight: Right Reaper Scythe of the Crescent Sky).," Kazui declared as he swung his sword downwards, releasing a golden crescent energy blast in the shape of a downward scythe towards the incoming objects. Each of them were obliterated by the incoming gold scythe to Ichigo's surprise.
Ichigo tried to block, but the blast managed to bifurcate him in half with his Zanpakuto shattering from the power as a fountain of blood showered from the separated torso pieces of the orange haired Soul Reaper before he could defend properly.
To Kisuke's surprise, a group of humans opened the door to the room and several Senkaimon materialized- they were Ichigo's close friends, the Captains with their Lieutenants, the Visored, some Soul Society stationed Full Bringers and the Royal Guard had come to see what was going on with Ichigo.
Orihime was saddened, but was able to keep her head calm enough. Everyone else ranged from yelling at Ichigo for being a fool for his actions, remained silently solemn, cried deeply or looked shocked at the sudden turn of events.
So it was too much for me... I hope you get stronger from this, thought Ichigo as he hit downwards to the nearest planet object- then crashing it and 40 more until he landed on 41st planet finally. His upper and lower torso were a few feet away from one other with a massive bloodstain in the middle of the space.
Kazui vomited from the dark actions he just committed and looked both incredibly scared and tear-stricken. The Tsuki No Hyaku Hachi Tengoku Gin Jū no Ryoshu was far less empathetic and smirked a malign crescent closed mouth smile.
(Music Ends)
(Bleach Soundtrack: Will of the Heart plays in the background)
Kazui looked the fallen form of his father, completely blooded from the assault from the triple Mugetsu Cero/Bala Strike, eyes glazed and no breathing to be heard. Kazui stared down with a silent expression of immense remorse.
The silver beast then slammed Kazui's body to the ground with one of its front claws.
"I came out for this...infuriating," said Tsuki No Hyaku Hachi Tengoku Gin Jū no Ryoshu as he pressed harder, slowly cracking the boy's spine
"Argh!," Kazui groaned from the pain.
"They're not in harmony. Kazui's in agony...What a violent Zanpakuto.," A loud and eccentric man stated on the relationship of the two. He was referred as the God of the Sword at the moment.
I didn't sense this silver one's Spiritual Pressure until he released his Bankai despite being able to sense every Zanpakuto ever made by me. Did he use Sensei's method of creating it?," the God of the Sword thought in a serious tone.
"I see that there's some people who've come to watch this...as the vanquished- he shalt be consumed by his victor," the silver beast said as it came closer to Ichigo's fallen form with a lucid grin. The more restrained members like the Royal Guard, Mayuri, Shunsui, surprisingly Orihime and Kenpachi accepted it as a natural action for it to do. The others ranged from staring in horror or lunging in fury.
(Bleach Soundtrack: BL_13 plays in the background)
Suddenly, the body rose up, reformed itself back together and began to change in shape, much to the silver beast's surprise. It's Spiritual Pressure actually increased more than what Ichigo's pinnacle form was capable of. This stopped the others from moving in to stop the fight.
The form then solidified into the form of a woman of average height. She had fair skin and long, light, wavy brown hair down to her back, which she had tied in a knot in the back and bangs down to her chin in the front. Her outfit was a modified Vandenreich outfit only with Ichigo's black Soul Reaper uniform coloring- it had tight detached tight arm sleeves ending in fingerless glove ends, a chest length, double-breasted sleeveless military coat with shoulder straps and a button-down bib- the jacket exposed her midriff. She also wore baggy trouser pants held up with a black belt, which was further adorned with a decorative buckle of a range of flowers and ending in knee length high heeled trench boots. She wore a black cape behind her back, which reached to her waist. She had a sassy smile on her face as looked at Kazui.
The others were startled by this abrupt transformation- aside from a few people, they had no idea of the true power of the Head Quincy lineage.
"Is that...Ichigo's mother? Why did Ichigo turn into his own mother?!," Rukia said with a shocked expression.
Tsukishima was both extremely guilty and having to restrain from himself from lunging at him in rage. It was a complex feeling from the last time they met.
"It's been some time since the war 10 years ago...so you're Kazui...you're a nice grandson- I won't be as easy on you as Ichigo was.," she said in a sassy tone as she closed the distance between the silver beast's mouth and Kazui in an instant. She materialized a M9 Bayonet and stopped it short of the child's left temple- blocked by Kazui's Zanpakuto positioned to the blade's point.
He was able to read my movements even when pinned down, the woman smiled discreetly as she observed the child's actions.
"I'm Masaki Kurosaki, the Ö- The Ömnipresent. Let's continue your fight. Oh don't worry- me and dad never mastered Vollstandig-Finale before the war- it should be easy for you.," she said cheerfully as she stepped back and held her short bayonet vertically in front of her
(Bleach Soundtrack: BL_40 plays in the background)
The atmosphere turned casual and upbeat for a moment as the two relatives talked to each other to everyone's confusion.
"Grandma, you're one of the people in my head...I wonder if Daddy was ok with you guys being in his head too," Kazui asked in a spacey tone to his grandmother.
"Oh Ichigo, he's very conscious- So tell me, will you be shy around your little miss," Masaki asked whimsically to her grandson.
Ha! I bet Kazui doesn't have a girlfriend yey- well except for...it's not like it's me...and it's definitely not Nemu! Ichika thought. Appearance wise, she was a young girl with bright red hair inherited from her father, which was bound with a ribbon in a high spiky ponytail at the back. She smiled smugly as she looked at Nemu who looked cheerfully ignorant of her jealousy.
"I'm already thinking about a girl in class- and I've already decided to marry her one day...It's just that its hard to interact with my power so uncontrollable right now," Kazui said bashfully to his grandmother.
What?! Ichika thought with an extremely surprised expression of jealousy to which, caused Kazui to smile eerily.
(Bleach Soundtrack: BL_13 plays in the background)
"So the prey pulled out its fangs...truly euphoric- make sure you let me get the kill this time. I'll bite your head off if you don't!", said Tsuki No Hyaku Hachi Tengoku Gin Jū no Ryoshu as it slammed its claw on Kazui's back until he released it to let the boy stand on his feet. This caused Masaki to frown in disdain.
The atmosphere turned darker than what had happened in the tragic fight with Ichigo- it was very foreboding like a cat finally deciding to pounce on its prey.
"Hmm...you and your Zanpakuto are at odds with each other...don't you know that while you two are separate, you also apart of each other- a Soul Reapers needs to be able to work perfectly with their closest friend- if one dies, so does the other," She said in a calmer tone with a more subdued smile. This caused Tsuki's eyes to widen in shock, he never considered that fact until now.
She took a battle stance, released a powerful Spiritual Pressure and a blue torrent surrounded her form.
As the torrent vanished, she was in a different form- she wore melanistic leopard themed furred cat girl armor with four bird like wings emerging from the center of her back armor. It covered her arms until the base of her fingers, her pelvis, her feet, her legs below the thigh, and her entire upper torso expect her midriff, above the nose ridge and cleavage. She had a black, segmented tail sprouting from her tailbone. Her eyes were eerily similar to a panther- not in iris color-, but the eyes of a panther that looked off on a human's face.
"God damn, copycat...," Yoruichi silently complained about the women's new appearance mimicking her own ultimate Shunko form.
"Vollständig: Gertrude- Deva Ju Schwarze Katze Von Gott (Deja Vu Black Cat of God)...meow- beyond me are a bunch of traditionalists- really orthodox guys- little Ichigo and I were the ones that started going away from the path, so I don't have their special techniques. Dad wasn't strong enough to use the same techniques as the A-Z because his dad wasn't that competent a teacher- really favored Soken over him. Are you ready-," Masaki spoke with a tone of complaint in her words as she made flirtatious poses, much to Rangiku's annoyance due to the similarities between the two.
Tsuki without warning slammed the woman with its left front claw, squashing her to everyone's shock except Kazui, Kenpachi, Mayuri and Ichibe. Tsuki initially felt confident until he looked around it and Kazu, grimaced and then smiled again.
"Hahaha...most intriguing," Tsuki spoke to itself in an anticipating smug tone as it looked around to see the sudden appearance of an identical crowd.
"A clowder of cats. I...never liked cats- especially the dark colored ones.," Kazui continued with a deadpan expression to Yoruichi and Sui Feng's utter shock and disbelief.
A bunch of women identical to Masaki surrounded them- their numbers ranging in the thousands. The one that Tsuki had earlier smashed phased upwards to stand on the paw.
"Ever experience Deva Ju- it's French for "already seen", you know. It's the phenomena of having the suspicious feeling that a situation currently happening was experienced in the past. Like a black cat passing by twice. In my normal state, I can repeat an action that I did in order to fix an error. My Vollständig manifests it to a wider range, repeating an experienced phenomena like my existence to its upmost limits, repeat my life before death and repeat actions in the past...speaking of," Masaki explained with a dissonant calmness to her voice.
Kazui suddenly saw a copy of his father in midair, repeating what was his final attack towards the boy- only this time- it was more successful on contact. The Ichigo copy vanished after finishing its work. Kazui then stood up with a look that disturbed everyone present.
To everyone's horror, Kazui was badly injured to a gory degree- the left half of his face exposed the entire left side of his skull with his eye still attacked, his left arm was obliterated leaving a trail of blood, his left foot was mangled and he was missing a third of his torso.
Some of the viewers averted their eyes, others vomited from the extreme brutality, more were clenching in visible anger, another side was solemn and finally, a few cried profusely. Orihime looked on with an torn expression of holding back the tears.
"Einkreisung Zange (Encirclement Pincer)," said Masaki coldly as her copies all flew to gang up on Kazui- stabbing him with from all directions with her copies' M9 Bayonets and extended segmented tails. Kazui briefly faltered from the excessive impalement.
"This is what Ichigo had in mind- I thought he'd do something so sickening- I'm going to beat some sense into-," Renji shouted as he readied a leap towards the fight, only to have the right hand of Shunsui touch his left shoulder.
"Stop Renji, I think this is like how one masters Bankai- beating the Zanpakuto- or in this case, Quincy Ancestor power into submission. If we interfere, his hopes of mastering this power will be shattered. And we need all the help we need against the Dio Hueco. Even if the strategy is that a demon who think up.," Shunsui explained in a somber tone to reassure Renji of the meaning of the brutality. He was subtly angered by the fact that Ichigo had revealed himself to be the pure shining example of heroism he thought he was.
Ichigo, throwing your own son against his brutal ancestors and slaughtering them. I guess even the seemingly noble Soul Reapers have a dark side to them., thought Shunsui with a morbid sense of humor.
(Bleach Soundtrack: BL_92 plays in the background)
The main Masaki came forward from the crowd and looked down at the form of her badly beaten grandson with her weapon raised and a cold stare.
"This is mean, but you need to learn how to make some risks to achieve-," Masaki said in a serious tone as she prepared a finishing blow with her knife.
She was cut off by the sight of Tsuki lunging its head towards her with a jaw wide out. As she was distracted, Kazui stabbed Masaki through the heart with his Zanpakuto. His will had hardened after defeating his father.
"Like that...I knew you could do it if you tried," Masaki said with a motherly tone of admiration as a trail of blood dripped from the left side of her mouth as Tsuki chomped on her form and spat her out blooded with teeth marks.
The clones dissipated and the woman began to fall as Kazui looked with somber regret as he stumbled to remain standing, this caused Tsuki to roll its eyes in annoyance as if it were thinking of something else that displeased him.
(Bleach Soundtrack: BL_75 - Crisis plays in the background)
After suffering defeat, the woman became black in form and changed again.
This time into a large, muscular man around Kenpachi's size with perpetually closed eyes, long silver combed back hair tied into a ponytail that reached his waist a strong jawline and several burn marks on his skin- one notable burn scar caused his nose/mouth area to be burnt to the point that the white nose/mouth skull pieces were exposed to most of the onlooker's horror and revulsion- they had been caused by Captain Yamamoto himself. For the sake of the people present, he pulled up his large shirt collar to cover his mouth. Kazui pouted because he liked the nightmarish appearance it gave him. His attire consisted of the traditional Vandenreich uniform now colored black, though his had a pitch-dark, large overcoat that draped over his shoulders.
A feeling of disgust and pity fell upon Byakuya, Rukia and Renji as they saw the man.
"I am Ä- The Äther- it allows me to use Quintessence- to be able to generate infinite amounts of Reishi (Spiritual Particles) from nothingness and also use it as an perpetually sustainable power source. my given name is Mawarini Ishida Kurosaki- I took my married name after my wife. I died fighting against Genryusei Shigekuni Yamamoto after entrusting my daughter to my naive younger brother's family to raise due to my Head Quincy duties. That makes me your maternal great grandfather through her," said the man in a serious and proud voice.
He manifested a massive Remington Model 870 Wingmaster Manually-Actuated, Pump-Action Slide Shotgun made of Reishi and had it rest horizontally on his shoulders.
"I demand that you take this seriously. Fight on your own- that is the path of self-reliance!," he said dramatically with a powerful presence that made Kazui fall on his back to the ground.
"Were two leaders enough to make you fall? how the Quincy future looks grim- how grim indeed.," said Mawarini as he raised his shotgun towards the fallen Kazui unable to move.
Everyone either gasped or looked stoic at the sight. Tsuki made an annoyed grimace as he looked at Kazui who turned his gaze upwards and looked shocked at the intent stare of the beast.
(Bleach Diamond Dust Rebellion Soundtrack: Showing Off plays in the background)
To the large man's surprise, Tsuki then began to forcibly inserted itself into Kazui's back until it was completely absorbed. An even larger Spiritual Pressure emitted from the body more powerful than both separately. Not wanting to hesitate, he shot a Heilig Pfeil (Holy Arrow) from the muzzle of the gun towards the boy. The body vanished before it could hit impact and reappeared just as quickly.
"Hirenkyaku (Flying Screen Step) it was known as Licht Nach Vorn (Light Forward) before it was renamed by the Soul Reapers and we kept their spelling out of amusement for their odd naming sense. So you have the potential for greatness after all...," said Mawanari impressed by the boy's sudden improvement with the same tone as before.
Kazui had changed drastically- going from a small boy around an elementary age to a preteen boy with silver hair that went down to his waist, his eyes had sapphire colored irises and nine tails supported from his tailbone. Nemuri and Ichika's hearts skipped a beat at the sight of the transformation, though they didn't know why. More importantly, Kenpachi observed that the impalement and brutally injuries from earlier had vanished completely.
"I don't like this, but the woman is right, I need you alive to stay alive myself. As of now, you're strong, but you lack the fighting experience to back it up when it's someone more skilled than you are now and I don't want to die because of that fact," said Kazui in a calm and mature voice that contrasted the boy's previous patterns- it even sounded different in pitch and tone. He stretched out his legs and arms as he said to himself, as conversing with another person that the others didn't see.
Everyone present was confused at the boy's sudden shift in the way he carried himself more confident and less childish.
"Um...what did you do?," said Kazui, only with his previous childlike tone, appearance and orange hair- causing even more confusion to the onlookers of the fight.
"We fused, it's easier to maintain power in this form since you don't have the power to use me in my true form yet. I'm not doing it for you- it's so I can fight this one and the next guys until I tap out and you get a turn. It'll be this way until you're able to use me right," said Kazui back in the mature tone and silver haired preteen form- the human manifestation of Tsuki No Hyaku Hachi Tengoku Gin Jū no Ryoshu that had fused with Kazui to become this form.
"Ok," said Kazui back in his normal tone/form and returned to the previous silver colored haired state.
Mawanari looked at the boy's new form and made a snide comment.
"You are like a werewolf, able to switch between man and...a dumb beast," Mawanari said coldly with some morbid tone of humor underneath.
This made Iba upset as he clenched his fists and caused the accompanying Sajin's eyes to narrow in disgust.
"Your Vollständig- activate it. Your Quincy Leader people won't last long if you don't," said the silver haired boy with an aloof tone of confidence towards the large man.
"For someone who tag teams to defeat an opponent, that is a hypocritical state.," said the silver haired man as he fired a barrage of a million Heilig Pfei at the boy, manifested from all directions even spatial coordinates deemed physically impossible.
"I...could do that in my sleep- I mean Kazui dodge them- they're dangerous!," said Uryu with a flustered expression as he observed the number of projectiles before screaming in panic
Surprisingly, the boy weaved around each of the incoming projectiles and closed in on the large man- his Zanpakuto at the latter's throat to the man's shock.
"This coming from a man who just switched from a woman and this boy's father," Tsuki said sarcastically to his adversary.
"Alright, to satisfy your bloodlust, I will comply- Vollständig: Michael-Regen von Gott (Rain of God)!" Mawanari declared as a blue torrent surrounded him.
As it cleared, out emerged an armored angel with a blue liquid halo hovering above it and wings made of flowing waves; he wielded a round blue shield with an infinite symbol and a more divine looking version of his shotgun. His face was covered by a blue plume feathered helmet with a visor with the Quincy symbol in the center of the piece. His armored form had large shoulder guards with an insignia of an infinity symbol with wings in the center of both guards, smooth armor on the arms/legs with chainmail where the joints were that ended with a rounded edge that showed the digits of each limb, triangular pelvis/thigh armor that ended in extended points shaped like rain drops, large breastplate with succeeding segmented stomach armor and finally an overcoat that was made of blue Reishi.
A mass of Reishi suddenly manifested above Tsuki-Kazui's head, causing him to dodge in the split second that it shot down as a blue shower of raining arrows like raindrops. As he did so, Mawanari had anticipated this move and thwacked the boy with the barrel of the head towards the right side of the chest.
The next sight caused the man's eyes to open into wide, narrow eyes with brown pupils- Tsuki-Kazui was manifesting Blut Vene (Blood Vein) with grid like patterns covering the boy's entire body.
"Impressive, but now you can't attack for you would need to switch to Blut Arterie (Blood Artery) the offensive form to-," said the man before he was cut off by a left kick to his left jaw that caused him to skid a few feet back in the distance. More importantly, his Blut Vene was still active at the same time as his Blut Arterie.
"So that's what it's called, before Kazui's Spiritual Pressure alone was enough to drive away enemies. To think there's a way to block and attack- Ewiger Blut (Perpetual Blood), Kazui studies languages...I didn't think they'd be useful in battle until now," said Tsuki-Kazui as he acknowledged his new power.
"To think you had the powers of the official 26- so there is some merit in you learning to depend on one another after all," said Mawanari as he dashed towards Kazui with his shotgun now used a blunt weapon similar to a club. Tsuki-Kazui grinned lucidly as he struck the barrel of the weapon.
(Bleach Soundtrack: Battle Ignition plays in the background)
The fight went on for several hours compared to the rather instantaneous victories of the first two opponents. Tsuki-Kazui would use the yellow scythe energy slashes to block the seemingly infinite Heilig Pfeil manifesting from out of thin air from all possible directions. When in close combat, it alternated from a clash of an energy blast from the muzzle of the shotgun colliding with an enlarged golden scythe projectile slash,Tsuki-Kazui striking his Zanpakuto against the shotgun used as a club/shield used as a ramming technique or simply punching each other when both had dropped their weapons in the middle of the clashes.
This caused Kenpachi and Ikkaku to grin at their anticipated future rival as they looked on, unnerving some of the people close to them.
"Kao Go: Mangetsu No Sora No Kinzoku-Jū (Face Five: Metal Beast of the Full Moon Sky)," Tsuki-Kazui said with a calm emphasis- his form turning into a anthropomorphic version of the gray beast with a buffalo skull with a nose horn curved like a crescent with a wolf's body that was one of Tsuki's tails in its true form, the form had long silver hair emerging from the back of the head and wore Kazui's Soul Reaper uniform.
Using herculean strength, he slashed at Mawanari- the man seemingly turning into photons to dodge the blow- making the sudden appearance of a large gap between the neck and left shoulder to open before he could zoom away even more impressive. The body began to fall to the ground as Tsuki-Kazui looked on from the now empty eyeholes of the skull he had. He smirked, for the first time aside from the Royal Guard and Kenpachi- he fought someone on equal footing.
(Kill La Kill Soundtrack: Nui Harime Theme plays in the background)
To Tsuki-Kazui's shock, the man stopped falling midway and transformed once more.
The third transformation as a preteen girl two feet higher than Kazui with eerie blue eyes and long, black hair extending down to her lower back, with two strands sticking up like antennae. She wore a black trench coat with long sleeves, black rain boots, and black leggings; a small black cap, which featured a white peak and the Vandenreich insignia emblazoned on its front, on the side of her head and a blue heart buckle around her waist.
She looked goofy, yet had a creepy air coming from her. For some reason, there were some modifications to her outfit that she noticed- her trench coat had a vertical opening that exposed her midriff.
Isane narrowed her eyes in disgust towards the woman.
"I'm Z- the Zombie- no more of those weird letter fellas. My name's Giselle Gewelle kid...would you like to be a zombie?," said the girl with a cheerful tone dissonant to the topic she uttered.
Suddenly, the hair turned from silver to orange and its demeanor became more childlike to Giselle's confusion.
"Ok...let's...no fair, you left...," said Kazui back in his original state, with his voice distorted with a deep tone.
Chapter 12: ß- the Final Letter-Z-Y-X1