14. Flashback
100 pages!!! I finally passed 100!! I know you can't actually tell...but I can.
Anyway, this chapter focuses more on the past of some of the characters, such as the main Espada. Please review!
LAS NOCHES
Ichigo weaved through the sea of red pillars and finally came to a large empty space. He could hear something banging around high up on a platform which acted as a partial roof. Someone was speaking in a cold emotionless tone...it could only be one person, Ulquiorra. Ichigo listened to the words, but he could barely make anything out. Just when he was about to leave, he heard one name.
Renji.
Ichigo froze.
Renji? Why did he come in here? I told him to stay away from Ulquiorra! I need to get there fast!
He set off to the next room, hoping it was just a large staircase leading up. Unfortunately, it was a small dark room littered with tables and trays, all holding medical equipment. A group of hideously mutilated corpses lay on metal slabs. Their bodies were swollen and ripped open. Organs spilled out onto the floor giving off a horrid smell. Ichigo had to clench his nose shut as he waded through the sticky mess on the floor.
Thankfully, he found the stairs at the end of a short corridor. Without a moments hesitation, he ascended the stairs...to his fate!
*****
Rukia's eyes burst open and all she could see was white light.
I really must be dead! This is the light that I read about...
"Rukia!!!"
Who is yelling? Where am I?
"Rukia!! Answer me!! Rukia!!"
Stop shouting. I thought death would be peaceful.
"Please?! Please answer me!!!" The person stopped yelling and began to sob. The noise was drowned out by gunfire.
Am I still here? Why? And who is that?
The white light faltered for a moment and a blurry shape crossed her vision. It was a human, no doubt. A human with black hair.
Is it raining?
Small droplets splashed across her nose and made her shudder. They were falling all over her face...but only her face, she noted.
What is happening? The afterlife is strange!
Rukia felt something grabbing her by the waist. She was being lifted by an unseen force. She could only see white again. She soared through the white emptiness. She was a small bird flying through a great white sky. The sound of gunshots echoed in her ears. Even in death, it seemed she could not drown out the awful sound.
All of a sudden, she was dropped hard. She would have seen herself wince if she could actually see anything, but that was not the case. The drop was apparently too much for her and her world went black again...
*****
Meanwhile amidst the fighting, Soi Fon led her men upstairs. She had lost the three left behind in the first building. They were distracted by Rukia's fall and were ambushed. This battle was quickly going downhill. They only had ten of her covert unit left, plus Stark and herself. That was only twelve fighters. The others only ran, hid or screamed...not much use.
Soi Fon cursed. The Exequias still had at least seventy men left. They outnumbered her group seven to one! Only a miracle could save them now.
The Exequias split up. Half remained by the few buildings, the others had bunched off and were leaving, accompanied by the strange commander with bull-horns.
"What the..." Soi Fon watched the army disperse. "They are breaking up..."
"Could it be a trap?" Stark asked as he fired into the still existing crowd below. "Fight or flight?"
"I'm, not sure...fight for now" Soi Fon loaded fresh magazines into both of her rifles and then unleashed a twin spray into the Exequias. The move worked to devastating effect. The two whole magazines managed to mow down at least a third of the Exequias present. Soi Fon dropped one rifle and reloaded. "I've only got one clip left. I'm sure everyone else is running low. We need to conserve ammo." She ducked as a burst of return fire ensued.
Two of her men cried out as they were claimed by the enemy. One had lost his leg and hopped pathetically before being shot down. The other was hit in the neck with a bullet and staggered around for several seconds before dying.
"Alright...We will hold out for another minute or so, then we run!" Soi Fon decided.
"Well, why don't we take care of these guys first. There's only..." Stark peered out at the enemy forces for a quick moment before ducking back inside. He then repeated the movement twice more. "There's maybe twenty at the most out there. We might as well finish them."
"Alright then." Soi Fon leaned out and released a burst of automatic fire, drawing her rifle in a horizontal line. She took down six skull-faced soldiers.
Stark stared in awe at her battle prowess. "Wow. You're one hell of a warrior!"
"I'm not the head of the punishment squad and the covert unit for nothing you know." Soi Fon replied with a slight grin.
"The what?" Stark cocked his head.
"Never mind, just shoot!" Soi Fon took down three more foes.
A group of five white clad men gathered on the lower floor, escaping the massacre at the front door. They could be heard running up the stairs to Soi Fon's position. She and her army of eight squad members all trained their sights on the currently empty doorway. Seconds later, the Exequias charged in, only to be cut down instantly.
The small group of survivors let out a cheer.
"Yes!! We did it!!"
"We won!!"
"We beat 'em!"
Soi Fon turned to her men with a frown. "We have not won yet! There are still a large portion of hostile forces in Karakura. We have no reinforcements, no more spare ammunition, no rescue or evac. We are on our own for now!"
Her men all averted their gazes and frowned.
"We are still outnumbered three to one, so don't get too cocky. We move now. We'll find a new spot and then we rest. Got it?" All nodded in agreement. Stark carried Lilynette on his shoulders and Neliel tagged along beside him. Soi Fon and her troops followed.
*****
LAS NOCHES
The staircase was agonisingly long. Ichigo's legs ached when he reached the top. He found himself on the huge platform he had seen below. Sure enough, a pale white figure still stood opposite him, his back turned. Something was slumped over against a railing in front of Ulquiorra. Whatever it was, it was completely red, as if it had fallen in a bucket of paint.
Ichigo crept up to his nemesis slowly. So far, he seemed to have gone unnoticed. On closer inspection, he found Ulquiorra's arm was stained crimson as well.
"I...Ich...Ichigo..." Someone whispered. His voice was raspy and pained. It was not Ulquiorra. The red object shifted. It flopped down and attempted to crawl to Ichigo. "Ru...run..." Two wide eyes stared at him. Ichigo couldn't recognise the person through the mask of blood. "Get...help...run!"
By now Ulquiorra had noticed. He did not move, only sigh, still facing away from them both. His hands moved together quickly striking each other. It was a clap.
Ichigo never took his gaze off of the bloodied man who stretched his hands out, pleading with him. This person somehow knew him, but his face was barely visible.
"Please...Ichi...go...run...get...help..."
"Who are you?" Ichigo asked. The brown eyes of the victim narrowed and focused on something behind Ichigo's shoulder. "What?"
"Hi, king Ichigo." A deeply distorted voice rasped.
Ichigo turned slowly to face a pale skinned replica of himself. His twin had glowing yellow eyes and a black-toothed grin. A blue tongue snaked out from his lips and lapped up at the saliva which gathered in the corners of his mouth.
"At last, we meet. It has been too long."
"What do you mean?! Who are you? Why do you look like me?!" Ichigo screamed hysterically.
"Didn't your father ever tell you about me? That hurts!"
"What?! You know my father?"
"He is our father! You mean he never told you about his long lost son?" The pale clone hissed.
"You can't mean that?!" Ichigo felt his knee's tremble.
"It is true." Ulquiorra stated. He spun on his heels and moved over to stand beside Ichigo's clone. "Ogichi here...is your brother."
"No! I never had a brother!! I won't fall for this bullshit trick!!" Ichigo bunched his fists.
"Everybody has known, but none ever told you the truth. Even your friend Urahara knew." Ulquiorra said without blinking.
"Urahara...why didn't he tell me?"
"He believed that if you found out, it could damage you mentally. That is why he hid it. But now...there is no use holding it back." Ulquiorra looked over to Ogichi. "When your mother fell pregnant, she was expecting twins. When the day of birth arrived, a...complication occurred."
"What do you mean? How do you know this?!" Ichigo roared.
Ulquiorra ignored him and continued on. "Ogichi was diagnosed with a strange illness while still in the womb. The disease not only affected his immune system, but also defected his physical appearance. His melanin levels depleted to a point where his skin turned fully white. The doctors barely thought he would survive longer than a day." Ulquiorra closed his eyes. "Your parents decided to get rid of him. They gave Ogichi to the doctors and told them to cure him or just euthanize him. I was an intern at the hospital back then."
"What?! You went from a doctor to a terrorist?!" Ichigo blurted out.
Ulquiorra coughed and then went on. "I took Ogichi and sent him to a friend of mine. He was a fully qualified doctor and a professor at a local medical school. His name was Szayel Apporo Grantz. He took in your brother and managed to find a way to cure his internal problems. His physical appearance could not be fixed though, so he remained so for all these years."
"He...is my...brother?" Ichigo dropped to his knees. It felt as if he had been gutted.
"Yes...and in a way, I was his carer."
"Why? Why me?! Why did this all have to happen to me?!" Ichigo stared at his estranged brother. His glowing eyes flickered.
"It's a family reunion...brother!" Ogichi licked his black teeth.
"You aren't my brother! Even if we came out of the same mother...we are not Brothers!" Ichigo growled.
"That's not fair! The king should treat his subjects with care." Ogichi hissed.
"What is it with you and this king and horses crap?!" Ichigo shouted. He was feeling a mixture of rage, fear and shock.
"You were treated like a king, you were raised properly. I was passed around to many places like a horse to different stables. But the one thing which kept me alive was knowing that one day, I would claim the throne! Today is that day!" Ogichi snarled.
"Calm down. He is mine. Go busy yourself with the others." Ulquiorra pushed his subordinate back. Ogichi grunted and tried to push past him.
"No! I want to kill him!!"
"Shut up!" Ulquiorra snapped. Ogichi immediately retreated to a safe distance and watched. "If you must, you can pick at his remains when I am done." The pale demon switched his attention back to Ichigo, his arch rival. "This is our last round Kurosaki. We shall draw the blood-red curtain on this war. The winner takes all."
"Sounds fine by me! I'll make you pay for doing what you did to my family!" Ichigo scowled. Ulquiorra's face twitched when that was said, but Ichigo ignored it. Instead, he charged, despite the bloodied and beaten man beneath him screaming in protest.
Ichigo thrust a fist into Ulquiorra's chest, but a white hand caught it just in time. Ulquiorra's emotionless eyes glared at him. "Unlike your friend Renji over there, I shall not be merciful to you!"
"Renji?!" Ichigo couldn't resist turning back to his friend. The mistake cost him dearly. Ulquiorra's fist crashed into his sternum with enough force to throw him off his feet. Ichigo slammed into the railing beside Renji.
"So...He really means business! Well...so do I!" Ichigo quickly got to his feet and charged again.
*****
URAHARA SHOTEN
A trembling Tessai wrapped bandages around the many bullet wounds on Jinta's small frame. The red haired boy had been caught by surprise and shot by a large number of soldiers. They all wore white uniforms and had face masks fashioned like skulls.
Urahara and Ururu stood near the door. Ururu handed her master a large weapon wrapped in cloth. It was a home made machine gun which he had made himself. It consisted of multiple barrels all capable of firing at the same time. Urahara had only tested it once and was still unsure of it's effectiveness. He pushed Ururu aside and ducked into a clear spot and pulled the trigger. The large spray of metal would have been devastating had it been aimed properly.
The Exequias managed to hide behind cars and other objects in the street.
Urahara tried to shoot again but the weapon just clicked uselessly. It was empty already! He cursed and threw the weapon aside. He turned to his co-workers and frowned.
"Will Jinta be okay?"
Tessai looked to the floor. "No sir, he would need much rest and extra supplies. We need to get to a hospital or-"
"Leave him."
"What?"
Urahara gritted his teeth. "I said to fucking leave him!! We need to go now!!"
"Go where, the store is surrounded." Tessai explained.
"We go down in the basement then. Now, go!" He wrenched the trap-door open and pushed Ururu to the ladder which led deep underground. Tessai frowned solemnly at his abandoned friend, then headed down.
Kisuke closed the lid of the trap-door and went into another room. When he came back, he held a large device with many wires. He slid it behind a bookcase and then hurried to the trap-door. Seconds later, he joined the others and waited. He stared at a small screen, set into the rocky area down there. It showed surveillance of the region.
Soon...
*****
Outside, Soi Fon and her army had reached an abandoned street. They could see a few Exequias who were spying on a run down shop nearby. Soi Fon decided to avoid an encounter for now. They climbed through a broken window and gathered inside a small house. The occupants lay dead on the floor, flies buzzing around them. The tiny group went to the bedrooms and fought over the comfortable mattresses. They had not slept in a while and it would be a nice luxury.
Soi Fon and Stark sat side by side against the wall.
"So, you used to be one of them, didn't you?" Soi Fon asked.
Stark nodded.
"So...why how did you get into such an evil organisation?"
"Well...About ten years ago, I met a guy named Ulquiorra. He acted sort of weird, but I thought he was a nice guy. He always complained about the world and it's problems, but many people did, so I took no notice of it...but then..." Stark closed his eyes and leaned his head back to touch the wall. He stared at the ceiling. "He met up with all sorts of strange people. There was a doctor who should have been locked up in an insane asylum, some old army veteran, A bunch of weird women who had escaped from prison for murder charges...the list goes on. Eventually, he formed a club. He called it the Espada...Spanish for blades or something. He promised to fix the world by erasing the problems."
"By erase...you mean..."
"Blow their brains out, yeah. All these ex-cons and veteran soldiers flocked to us and we had formed a huge group. He took us around the world, taking down drug rings, rebel fighters...actual bad people. But about three years ago, he just...kind of cracked. He just began to hate everything in life. He never expressed any emotions, or show us any care. He started leading us on missions against innocent people. They would overrun small towns and massacre the civilians." Stark wiped tears from his eyes.
"I told him that I wouldn't follow him if he would kill innocent people. He just stared at me without making a noise. He didn't even move. Just five whole minutes of complete silence. Then he smiled! He smiled for the first time in ages. He patted me on the shoulder and said 'that's fine. I'll buy you a house somewhere and you can just do what you want.' I was a fool to believe him."
Stark craned his neck and watched Lilynette rolling around on the bed, fighting with Neliel and one of the covert unit. "I met Lilynette about two months later. I had already started dealing drugs. It was nasty business, but it made me happy and so did she. We became best friends. We were inseparable, like family. It had been a year since Ulquiorra had last talked to me. I thought he had forgotten about me...I think I was glad about that."
"He didn't forget." Soi Fon finished for him. "He forced you to re-enter his Espada and that was when we encountered you."
"Pretty much yeah." Stark sighed. "Was my life story interesting enough?"
Soi Fon chuckled. "Better than mine."
"Might as well tell me...if we live to tell the tale." Stark watched Lilynette as he spoke.
"Stark," Soi Fon whispered. He turned to her. "I promise I will protect her." Soi Fon pointed to Lilynette. "If you ever fall, I will take care of her."
Stark smiled broadly. "Thanks. For a hard-ass commando, you're alright."
"That's the best compliment I've had in quite a while." Soi Fon muttered. "So, we leave soon."
"It's almost time..." Stark sighed.
The sun outside began to set and the sky went dark red. A sign of the violence to come...
Ichigo and Ogichi...Brothers?! Could it be?! And what has happened to Rukia? FInd out in the next chapter!
Now please review! I need some extra motivation for these final chapters.