Hello my readers, it is I! Hypn0s, giving you the last chapters of Ichigo the Inferno.
for over a year and a half, I have been working on this story, my longest story to date, and officially finished, this chapter in particular came as an inspiration during a stressing weekend, it hit me, hard, before I had envisioned a big ass fight where Ichigo owns everyone, then I thought, nah, its already done, so i tried somehting else, this is the result.
Fair warning, this chapter has badass Ichigo, badass Rukia, lots of blood, gore, and perhaps my greatest WTF moment ever made, you're not going to believe how the hell I came with this one.
so sit back, read and enjoy the last chapter and the next chapter, the epilogue.
read along.
CHAPTER 13: DEATH GOD'S GONNA CUT YOU DOWN
Opening tears on the veil that separated the living world with the dead world was something only shinigami and hollows had mastered, one because of curiosity, the other out of necessity, hollows needed periodically to venture to the living world to feed, either from living human flesh or wandering souls of whatever was around, let it be human or animal, thus why most hollows had different humanoid/animal mixed bodies, it was the amount of souls consumed in them that allowed them that strange individuality from one another.
Hueco Mundo of course was a vast dimension of its own, as big as the very realm of the dead in the universe, but cut from most of it, it's only visible entrances and exits were Ichigo's own world and Crystalia, reason why the shinigami were outnumbered 1000 to 1, they had to deal with the combined hollows of their own world and Crystalia own, who never ventured beyond Hueco Mundo.
These hollows were smarter than the rest of hollows, even more than a fully evolved Vasto Lorde, the so far last know evolution of a hollow, crystalian hollows tend to avoid and be avoided, they are 'born' strong and intelligent, a deadly combination, this intelligence allow them to use their power with a level head, usually Adjuchas class hollows tend to die by the dozens when a crystalian hollow decides to cut loose, only stupid or desperate hollows tend to attack 'em.
So it was quite a surprise when every crystalian hollow went into overdrive and a frenzy of trying to get the hell out of Hueco Mundo when a tear in the sky was seen and an all too familiar presence to them was felt.
The regular hollows of all kind immediately perked up at this presence, the lesser hollows immediately turned tail and ran as fast as their legs, or for some, wings could carry them, Gillians didn't do much, mainly because half of them were forever stuck in that state, and their minds were a mess to begin with, only when Adjuchas herders began to guide them they actually moved, the other half, the one that had a chance of passing to the next stage simply went onward, this was the chance to advance, as for the Vasto Lorde, they didn't care, they looked at this with curiosity, really wanting to know what might have caused such stirring in Hueco Mundo.
As the tear closed, and whatever had come out of the tear landed, it seemed like the sand of Hueco Mundo was flattened up to the point of compression to glass, many hollows wanting to take a free snack of the newcomer simply froze or were crushed, and those crushed being the ones moving under the sand.
This was Ichigo wanted, when unleashing your reiatsu, it was like showing off, to spirit sensitive feeling something big meant being frozen on the spot, either by awe or utter fear.
But one thing is showing off your power, other is enforcing your presence.
Yamamoto knew it, Unohana knew it, and now Ichigo knew it, and thanks to his status as human/shinigami/hollow/Rayearth, he was able to do something simply unthinkable, willing the hollows to stand down or be decimated by just stepping into their home.
As he advanced, he noted that the tear he had come from had not closed, turning around he was surprised when a familiar presence made itself know out of the tear, it was not as overwhelming as his, but he recognized it easily.
"…Rukia?" Ichigo said, clearly surprised when he saw the petit shinigami land near him, a scowl on her face.
"You have some nerve Ichigo" Rukia began, advancing towards him and suddenly jabbing a finger to his chest.
"You think you can just waltz into Hueco Mundo, all alone on a suicide mission against Aizen and his army, hoping to place a displacer right in the middle of a warzone, all alone, leaving your family and friends worried sick!" she snapped, this time punching his chest, it was not hard, it was more like a finger jab, to make a point, to get his attention.
"You think I'm going to leave you go on this alone?" she asked, Ichigo bit the sarcastic answer back, he knew Rukia wouldn't, just like he was unable to leave her to her so called fate.
"You are my responsibility" Rukia began, earning herself an outraged look of Ichigo, "Had I had killed that hollow as usual, you wouldn't be here" she added; "Besides" she suddenly went to his side, looking him up.
"How I would be able to look myself in the mirror if I knew the man who saved me…twice already was marching to war, all on his own, without back-up or some sort of support, and actually win" she said with a smirk, one that turned serious in a second.
"We started this together Ichigo, I think is fitting we end it together, don't you think the same?" she asked, her hand on Sode No Shirayuki grip.
Ichigo simply shook his head; he was just two seconds from screaming at her, but just stopped, then reached for Zangetsu, Ignis materializing on his other hand, then looked at the horizon, seeing just sand, dark sky, and even beyond he saw something white, a cube of some sort, pocking out.
"There" Ichigo said, "You see it?" he pointed at the horizon with Zangetsu, "There is where we have to go"
"Two shinigami against the unknown, it seems something out of Ukitake-taichou stories" Rukia pointed out, getting ready to dash.
"Your captain writes stories?" Ichigo asked, somewhat intrigued by that.
"Oh yeah, he always post stories in the shinigami post, they are quite popular" Rukia added with a smirk.
"…Ichigo?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't you dare to die on me you heard?"
"Likewise midget"
Then without any word left to say, both shinigami flickered away, only to reappear at least five kilometers away of their landing zone, and dashing at a great speed.
"I have been training with nii-sama while you were back on your home, I am as ready as I can be against anything Aizen might have!" Rukia exclaimed.
"Your brother…I still want to run Zangetsu up to his heart" Ichigo retorted.
"I can't blame you for that, he did some hasty promises, it nearly cost him a lot, he is not bad Ichigo, he is just…too protective of his family, ever since sister died and I enlisted to become a shinigami, coupled with his role as clan head and captain, well you can't blame him"
Even if Rukia was vouching for her brother, Ichigo couldn't forgive him for what he had done, for what he nearly did, hell to be honest Byakuya was just one of the many shinigami he wanted to kill for the stun back in Seireitei with his sisters.
Before he could say anything else both saw it and felt it, it was unmistakable for Rukia who found the feeling overwhelming, she had dealt with hollows of all sizes and numbers, but not of this sheer number, she could not distinguish who was the strongest or the weakest.
Ichigo found the conglomeration…amusing.
"Looks like the welcoming committee" Ichigo said with some amusement.
"I'm glad an army can put a smile on your face" Rukia said with sarcasm, Ichigo simply rolled his eyes.
"Seems to me that is not Aizen's army" he added, seeing the rampant number of hollows approaching them.
"Still" Rukia said with a small smile, "Slaying and purifying this amount of hollows is not only guaranteed to bring a lot of souls to Soul Society, but to balance, I have heard some startling rumors" Rukia said with a frown.
"Then…let's start with it!" Ichigo shouted, Rukia was, of course unprepared when his hollow mask materialized on his face and his already impressive spiritual energy doubled to exponential levels, and began to speed before her, taking the lead in no time and leaving her to the dust.
"He surely has grown ever since I have seen him…but I will not be left behind again, I haven't trained this much to be left behind again!"
Rukia could feel Sode no Shirayuki acknowledge his, after all most of Ichigo powers branched of their own, they could do a lot more, Ichigo was a living testament of the level Rukia would reach if she tapped her potential to the fullest.
If Rukia was unprepared for Ichigo's sudden spike of power, so were the hollows, especially the Gillians, being beings with too much minds and souls in one sole body hindered them, in combat they could be terrible opponents to face, but when taking decisions they were the worse.
So it was not a surprise to Rukia when three Gillians who were vanguards of the mob were now lacking their heads when they couldn't make up their mind to either cero Ichigo or run like hell, this cost them as they fragmented into spiritual particles and vanished of Hueco Mundo.
That was the cue for every Gillian and Adjuchas hollow to attack Ichigo; anyone looking at the scene would think that it was a replay of the time Uryuu and Ichigo fought back to back in Karakura park when Uryuu broke that hollow bait, in fact it was a replay of that particular battle.
Rukia side stepped at the lunge of a snake hollow, bringing her zanpakutou down and decapitating the beast with one swift move, not wasting any second she took her zanpakutou with both hands, ramming it upwards, just above the head of a hollow that tried to blindside her, then bringing it down, alongside with the head of the beast, pulling her zanpakutou down she jumped out of the maws of a hollow that tried to bite her legs, only to miss half of his head from its jaw down thanks to Rukia Zanpakutou.
"Sankaho!" she screamed, letting out a red ball of pure spiritual energy at the nearby hollow, basically shoving the red ball of destruction up to its mouth and causing it's torso to blow up, alongside with the rest of the thing.
As she slew three low level hollows, she risked a glance at Ichigo, when she saw him she simply chuckled and continued to kill her marks.
Ichigo by his part dared to do the one plan he had thought long ago when dealing with Gillians, cutting them to human height.
It was an interesting thing to see a shinigami with two swords chop a Gillian, a hollow of at least fifteen stories high, up to the height of a normal person, of course this was fruitless because the Gillians Ichigo kept chopping ended up turning into spiritual particles when they reached the three-floor stature, meaning the limit of their 'bodies' to their 'necks'
With the Adjuchas it was another matter entirely, this were the next phase of hollow evolution, meaning these were smarter than a Gillian, but the reiatsu Ichigo was letting out, both shinigami and hollow basically had them on a frenzy, they wanted to feed, feed on Ichigo, a single bite on Ichigo will make them grow to the next stage of hollow evolution.
So they were leaving huge opening on their guards, openings the petit shinigami was using and abusing at her heart's content, true she was using Ichigo to gain the upper hand, but against creatures that were just steps away of turning into Vasto Lordes, all was fair play.
The battle lasted over ten minutes, ten minutes in which the smarter hollows decided that it was better flee while the shinigami were too occupied with the other hollows and live another day, by the time Ichigo and Rukia were done, there was just splashes of hollow blood all around them, some even on them, maybe hollows dissipated when slain, but their blood is another matter.
Without giving a second glance at the carnage they caused, Ichigo and Rukia sped up once again towards the structure that poked the horizon, all while lesser hollows steered clear of their way, less they want to be slaying and purified.
"You improved" Ichigo said, keeping the speed they had before, the fortress looked far, really far, but they were cutting some terrain now.
"I trained all I could after I recovered; Nii-sama drove me harder than ever in the training, not to mention Ukitake-Taichou, they wanted me to be on par with you at least, I mean you are being trained by legends of their own" Rukia stated.
Ichigo simply pursed his lips, true Yoruichi and Urahara were more that they seemed, behind the lazy look of Urahara and the flirtatious one of Yoruichi, hid two really powerful shinigami, not to mention his dad and mom, those two really stepped up on his training so much that well…he had such a nice surprise for Aizen.
As the duo kept their speed and began to cut distance between them and their target, both felt, but not voiced it out loud, that this was the last time they would see each other for some time.
"…Looks like Kurosaki-san has arrived"
No one wanted to admit it, but they had been waiting this moment with eagerness, the ultimate test of their powers was not against Aizen, or Gin or Tousen, no, it was against a Rayearth, a living one, one that not even the Tercera was able to kill when he was still low on his powers, now with a month to hone his skills, this was to be their ultimate adversary, and enemy that simply refused to bow.
Grimmjow, being one of the few Espada who had directly confronted Ichigo was beyond excited, the knight deifying a kingdom, the knight fighting the king, this was simply…classic brutally beauty.
"I'm going out now!" Grimmjow exclaimed loudly, a grin nearly ripping his face in two.
"No" was all Aizen said, standing up, "You alone won't have a chance against him, besides it is inevitable that he will come through, regardless of the defense put against him" Aizen summarized.
"I can take him all by myself!" Grimmjow snarled, clearly offended by Aizen's deduction.
"Don't think you're all powerful, that is a mistake, one Yammi paid in full" Nell snapped crisply.
"Enough" Aizen said, it was soft, but at the same time the undertone of 'shut the hell up' was there, no one dared to talk after Aizen says enough.
"I already send the exequias and the remaining hollows, with the exception of the Numeros and your fraccions against Ichigo; they will serve their original purpose"
The gathered Espada there knew what Aizen, only the strongest joined the Espada and gained a number, fraccions were hand-picked by the Espada to serve under them and Numeros where former Espada deposed by the new ones, they were valuable to Aizen.
The others weren't.
There it was, the wall of Las Noches, not that they knew the name of Aizen's fortress anyway, the only thing they cared was to make their way inside.
To Rukia it had felt like two days since she and Ichigo began their long walk towards the fortress, no hollow had attacked them, surely by Ichigo's unnatural presence scaring them away, and they hand stopped to rest, she can attribute her sudden rise of stamina to the training she underwent with her brother and several shinigami of the 11th division, Ichigo had been battling non-stop when he stormed Seireitei to rescue her and despite nearly crippling blows he was still standing and as strong as he was before.
If she wanted to help him she had to make sure to keep up the pace he imposed, which was a task of its own, at least she had some nice toys that the 12th R&D division had given her, surely half of them rigged to transmit data of what was happening now.
Speeding up, at last they reached the white wall of Las Noches, the massive wall was easily the biggest Rukia had seen in her life, including the wall that surrounded Seireitei.
"Okay, any idea how to get in?" Ichigo asked, looking around for some sort of door nearby, finding none.
"R&D gave me some toys for this mission, is not much since their labs were blown sky-high" Rukia said, eyeing Ichigo, "You might not know who did it, didn't you?" Ichigo shook his head.
"I just know that you guys have scientists" Ichigo confessed, making Rukia sigh, Ichigo might be the spirit prince, but that didn't meant he was no longer the same Ichigo.
"Well, they thought this might happen, and they gave me some things to help me level the field, especially with you as my partner" Rukia said, digging through the pockets inside her clothes, then pulling out what seemed a mate-black square shaped piece of paper.
With a sigh he stamped the paper on the wall, then motioned Ichigo to take several steps back with her, "Freshly delivered from R&D labs, let me give you the reitou shino bakudan, the frozen paper bomb" Rukia presented, unsheathing her zanpakutou, "Watch and learn Ichigo, we get the nice toys" she gloated, "According to the R&R guys this thing is able to bring the biggest of walls with ease, we just have to stick one to a wall, and then ignite it, hence you being the trigger" Rukia explained.
"How big the explosion will be?" Ichigo asked, Rukia noted that his left hand now held a small fireball, it surprised her how advanced Ichigo had come regarding his powers, to her it was just yesterday when Ichigo had emerged out of a column of reiatsu, slicing the arm of that hollow with an oversized zanpakutou and with ease.
"I think you got how it will work, send that fireball to the paper, it will unleash all the stored energy within, creating a controlled, but powerful implosion towards the wall, shattering it, according to the R&R guys, it has enough power to shatter the atoms that compose the wall itself" Rukia said, Ichigo noted how tense she looked.
"You're tense" he stated as an afterthought.
"…No…I'm excited…do it" Rukia said, a grin slowly slipping on her face, Ichigo looked at her oddly, then shook his head, not even the shinigami knew it, but their race, including those who joined had that eagerness to fight, no matter how layback they acted, how lazy they were, shinigami yearned for combat, he noted it on his sisters, he noted it on his mother, on his father, on every shinigami he knew, the only exceptions being the vizards, himself included due to their hybrid nature, the lust of battle was not as visible as the one of a pure blooded shinigami, it was there, but it didn't manifest so strongly as in shinigami.
They were meant to fight, fight, fight, in a way Kenpachi was right, without hollows to fight in this world, shinigami were nigh useless, only to guide the souls of the departed, eventually the balance would be broken with the immense amount of energy on one side, ironically, hollows existed as the counter-balance for that, shinigami existed to purify hollows, their essence didn't immediately went to Soul Society, instead it was fragmented down to their original components, the former souls that composed the hollow, and slowly made their way back there, until they 'died' thus reincarnating, and the cycle would repeat itself again and again and again.
He was looking forward to spend his afterlife on the other massive holding of souls, taking his family alongside, this was not the kind of life he wanted for his sisters, or his possible children.
With a sigh, he lobed the fireball to the paper, the result was as Rukia predicted, the first thing that happened was that the paper, upon explosion caused a section of the massive wall to freeze instantly, a thin wall of ice formed, at least as big as the door of a garage, then the ice cracked, imploding inward, taking the wall alongside, shards of sharp ice tearing a neat made hole with ease.
Ichigo winced when he saw several humanoid hollows there, being shredded by the sharp ice, their screams being drowned as they vanished in spiritual particles.
"Let's do this!" Rukia screamed, rushing inside the hole, instantly lashing at the nearest Arrancar that remained alive and decapitating him with ease, Ichigo simply sighed dramatically and followed suit, cutting two more hollows with Ignis and Zangetsu in the same fashion as Rukia.
He had assumed that Aizen would send an army to stop them.
He was correct, an army was waiting for them, and army of disposable meat shields and speed stoppers.
It didn't mattered; the so called winter war would end today, one way or another.
Rushing with Rukia, he let himself go loose, just like he did when he fought Ururu, when he fought Kenpachi and Yamamoto, he got wild.
He threw his head upwards, his mask forming on his face, his hollow wanted to fight as well, who was he to deny him that, Zangetsu was going to fight, his hollows was going to fight, Fira was going to fight, everyone was happy.
With a roar he launched himself at the closest hollow, he noted how similar the hollows was dressed to a Espada, beyond that the differences ended, some were twice taller than him, some were wider, bulkier, males and females, but one fact remained, they all had humanoid shapes.
He swung Zangetsu at the nearest Arrancar, easily decapitating the cat like Arrancar, side-stepping out of a slash and then retaliating with Ignis, bisecting two Arrancars from the waist up, the three Arrancars he killed banishing in a cloud of spiritual particles, just like every hollow that was killed with a zanpakutou or in this case a Rayearth blade.
Rising his leg he launched an Arrancar out of his feet up into the air, hard, then swung Zangetsu hard to the Arrancars in front of him, the Arrancars rose their own swords to act as some sort of shield, but did little to stop the sudden energy like blade that emanated out of Ichigo's zanpakutou, easily decimating the Arrancars and everything behind them for over 50 meters long in front of him.
With a roar Ichigo turned to his left, opening his masked mouth and letting out a long tongue of flame, like a flamethrower the attack burned first the feet of the Arrancars, making them fall in pain, this left them open for Rukia to simply swing her zanpakutou and decapitate them while on the ground, without mercy.
The Arrancars kept throwing themselves at the duo, but they kept dying in horrible ways, kido spells fired point-blank, duo of Arrancars cut down at the same time, impaled, dismembered, Rukia and Ichigo didn't care, they were on a frenzy, Sode and Zangetsu were really focused, just like their wielders, they were cutting that dared to even approach them, Hollow Ichigo was having a blast, so much blood, gore and violence, at the order of day, and he had the beast seats on the house, better yet, he was actually helping, the king wasn't hindering him, instead he was allowing him to fight, to let loose, how could he say no to that generous offer of his king?
It seemed like hours after the 'battle' ended, by the end only Ichigo and Rukia remained, back to back, slightly panting, covered head to toe in hollow blood, and so were the ground and their zanpakutous.
"Glad that was over" Ichigo said, his hollow mask vanishing, revealing his spotless face, only his eyelids spotted blood from hollows, Rukia on the other hand just sputtered blood, reaching with her hand and trying to remove the blood from her hair, so far no success.
"How are you holding Rukia?" Ichigo asked, seeing his midget of a parent struggling with the blood on her.
"I got hollow blood on my face, on my hair, on my hands, on my robes, on Sode No Shirayuki, on my sandals…I dare say I even have hollow blood in my underwear…god this is disgusting" Rukia gagged, cleaning Sode No Shirayuki with a small portion of clean robes she had on.
"You'll shower in my home, I doubt there is something more efficient that warm water in Seireitei" Ichigo stated.
"Well yes, I DO have a bathtub to myself in my room in the mansion, but I rarely use it" Rukia said, "But after today" She mussed, looking at Ichigo, noting how the shinigami/Rayearth looked to his right, slightly narrowing his eyes.
"Ichigo?" she asked.
"Don't look back, we are being followed" he said, Rukia heeded his warning and didn't looked back, and with Ichigo at her side it was nigh impossible to try feel something, let alone someone, his presence simply drowned her feelings unless something more powerful than Ichigo manifested itself.
"Friend of foe? And how can you feel anything with your uncontrolled reiatsu anyway?" Rukia asked.
"I don't know if its friend or foe, I don't feel bloodlust of it, but it definitely hate us"
"But not enough to attack us" Rukia summarized, seeing how Ichigo nodded.
"Yeah, as for how I can feel is or her presence, well it's a Rayearth thing I guess, something all Rayearth share, my guess, the Rayearth of wind can feel someone when the wind shifts around, the water Rayearth can feel anything within water range, including rain, and the earth Rayearth, well I guess simply standing means she can feel you, me? I guess I feel anything alive, their souls, their life force, is like a flame, unique, in families it shares some similarities, but is unique"
Rukia nodded at this, digesting this information with eagerness, surely the guys in R&D as well, she didn't have illusions nothing they gave her was rigged to expose her current conversation with Ichigo and monitor his level of power.
In truth she would be disappointed if they didn't.
"Can you feel anyone else?" he nodded, his eyes narrowing.
"Several life signatures that feel similar to the Arrancar that attacked me in the construction site, ten of them obviously more powerful that the one I killed there, or the ones here, surely captain-level, but they seemed like holding, also I feel several Arrancar presences, lieutenant to unseated level reiatsu…I also feel alongside three shinigami signatures something else…something powerful, definitely condensed and wanting to be used…also I feel…I don't know, something is there, but at the same time is not…I don't get it, is like if it exists but at the same time it does not"
Rukia at this point didn't knew what to think, as a sensor on the field Ichigo easily surpassed anyone, but since his reiatsu basically drowned her senses and broadcasted their location to anyone like a human world neon sign, she couldn't corroborate if what he was telling was in fact true.
There was only one way to find out.
"The presence you felt…the one following us…it resembles anything you have ever felt before?" Rukia asked, it was a valid question, so far Ichigo had more interaction with several beings during his life, hollow, shinigami, Quincy, if he can actually feel and individualize that familiar signature, it can give him a great advantage over sneaking opponents trying to get the jump on him.
Ichigo closed his eyes for a whole second, then opened them again, a troubled expression on his face, "Yeah, it just left, but I could get a good sample of its energy, Quincy" was all he said, worrying Rukia.
The way he said it meant that Ishida hadn't followed him into another suicidal charge against another enemy, but rather a Quincy had been around Hueco Mundo for who knows how long, which meant that Ishida and his father weren't the only quincies around, which was both good and bad, in a sense.
It brought a lot of questions, questions that would have to wait until they had dealt with Aizen, he was the main menace, he had to be dealt with swiftly before he became more of a problem.
If anyone had been there, they would have seen them blur out of sight, moving onwards towards Aizen castle, Las Noches.
"Shhiiiittt" Grimmjow swore with a chuckle, his blood was pumping; he was more than ready to face the Rayearth and the shinigami that was with him.
The hollows slew in battle didn't faze him a little, it just helped him realize the massive gap that natural Arrancar and Hōgyoku Arrancar had in power, all those Arrancar the Rayearth and his companion had killed were natural Arrancars, who had ripped their mask off during their Adjuchas state, Vasto Lorde Arrancars, natural born were rare because there is no hollow stupid enough to tangle with a Lorde.
At his side Nell looked ill of the stomach, and he couldn't blame her, the average shinigami would be a stain on the ground against such numbers, those two had cut the entire force like nothing, indicating a high level of skill and power, well skill for the shinigami, pure raw power for the Rayearth.
Combine those two and you have a pretty much guarantee slaughter, and this was what Grimmjow lived for, the battle, the thrill, the dominance of the field, he is the goddamn panther king, and as a king, he has to assert dominance.
"So, Nell, want to go and say hello to our visitors?" Grimmjow said with a grin, Nell simply narrowed her eyes at the panther king, but said nothing, after all this was that Aizen had tasked them to, to stall or stop the Rayearth knight and anyone with him, well not exactly the last part, but one can't be picky when Aizen relay orders.
"Very well, as long we keep our fraccions out of the battle, they will get slaughtered" Grimmjow simply snorted at her concern, he didn't care much, if his fraccions were weak enough to not survive an encounter with those two, then they were not fit to face the lower echelons of the shinigami.
Hueco Mundo was fit only to the strongest, and he was among those.
With a snarl he jumped out of the ledge right above of the entrance to Las Noches, Nell simply sighed, following Grimmjow reckless action.
Ichigo and Rukia were close enough of the central structure, according to Ichigo the place where several high-level presence could be felt, when they saw two figures suddenly jump from an alcove at least twenty stories above the only visible entrance, then landing swiftly on the sand.
Immediately Rukia and Ichigo began to slow down, their full own sprint becoming more like a jog.
"Rukia" Ichigo began seeing the two Arrancar in between them and their objective.
"You deal with the woman, I will deal with Grimmjow" Ichigo said.
"Are you sure, even at first glance I can see she is strong" Rukia said, yet Ichigo didn't detect any kind of hesitation from her.
"She is strong true, but you got stronger ever since" Ichigo admitted, "I hope you have something more substantial than kido, or you won't beat her"
"Have some faith Ichigo" Rukia began, "I might not be able to fire Ceros, breathe fire or carve the land with a swing of my zanpakutou, but not all is power, you have to have skill, and I have plenty of it"
"Arrogant aren't you?"
"Just stating a fact" Rukia said.
Ichigo simply grinded, eyeing at the two Arrancars in front of them.
"Don't let her breathe, keep attacking, no chance or releasing her zanpakutou, release yours now and let's charge" Ichigo said.
This tactic was against everything she was taught to do, a frontal assault against a superior foe, suicide, releasing her zanpakutou before battle, utter madness, keep attacking until your enemy is dead, only the 11th endorse this tactic.
"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"
It was perfect.
A perfect lair of mist emerged out of Rukia as her zanpakutou was released, it was the first time she ever released her zanpakutou without the normal steps she took, basically just shouting the command phrase, this was kinda forced, and caused her to waste energy, but the side-effect, a thick mist, was needed to allow her and Ichigo to launch the first attack.
Which they did simultaneously, both Arrancars tensed up upon seeing the dual charge and were ill prepared to the sudden blow, not expecting the female shinigami to release her zanpakutou, or such bold charge.
Grimmjow and Nell had little time to raise their own zanpakutous as Ichigo and Rukia brought their own to face them off, the impeding impact caused Nell to be slammed to a wall all while holding out Rukia, while Grimmjow was pushed down to a wall, breaking such wall away as Ichigo advanced towards the fallen Espada.
"Remember Rukia, if you attack you strike your enemy down, that is the key, resolve!" Ichigo snapped, flash-stepping to the hole he had made with Grimmjow as the unwilling hammer.
"If he really expects your victory over me he is sorely mistaken" Nell said, easily pushing Rukia away, so said shinigami landed smoothly on the sand.
"Victory? Nah, he and I both know you are on a league of your own, but guess what, so is he, you can defeat me, but I'll make your victory so damn hard that when Ichigo gets you he will only have to breathe and you will burn" Rukia hissed, suddenly flickering away, Nell narrowed her eyes, raising her zanpakutou to her left, blocking the blow Rukia aimed to her unprotected flank.
"You are sorely mistaken if you think I am a mere berserker like Grimmjow or those bellow my rank"
Rukia simply smirked, suddenly flickering just like before, Nell sighed as she blocked the frontal slash, then her eyes widened when she saw a hand in front of her, crackling with spiritual energy.
"Sankaho" Rukia whispered, letting out the red ball of destruction point-blank at Nell.
BOOM
The explosion pushed Rukia and Nell away, the female Arrancar sporting some a spilt lip, all while Rukia had the edge of her left cuff of her robes burned by the close proximity of the explosion, all while her left hand looked raw red.
"…I see…you ARE aiming for the kill on the get-go" Nell declared.
"This is war Arrancar, there is no time for formalities, its do or die" Rukia declared, bringing her zanpakutou in front of her, then suddenly stabbing the ground in front of her.
"Juhaku!" Nell eyes widened again as a fine trail of ice suddenly emanated from the very zanpakutou, freezing the sand in front of her, and heading towards her at an alarming rate.
Out of instinct Nell jumped away, seeing how the ice trail hit the wall, and such wall began to freeze, the trail going upwards, and not stopping at all, Nell noted that it surely reached the top of Las Noches.
Still in air she turned to face Rukia, seeing her how the shinigami removed her zanpakutou out of the frozen sand, then Nell blinked.
She can swear she just saw some sort of ethereal outline behind Rukia, with green eyes, glaring straight at her.
That moment of distraction was costly as she lost track of Rukia for a sole second, "Some no Mai, Tsukishiro!"
Nell felt cold on her back, then saw bidets of blood on her vision.
"Shit" Grimmjow swore loudly as he slowly recovered, dusting himself off slightly, then glaring at the slowly approaching Rayearth, both blades grinding the concrete floor and leaving a neat gash on the ground.
"This time there will not be another Espada saving your ass Grimmjow" Ichigo declared, stopping just meters of Grimmjow.
The sexta snarled loudly at that, launching himself at Ichigo, the shinigami/Rayearth simply blocked with Ignis, then reared his head back, and then up front.
Grimmjow felt his entire body seize up after such unnatural head butt, he felt his bones basically rattle with the blow, not to mention his back, which met once again the walls and the floor.
Snarling again, Grimmjow rolled up hastily, just in time to move away of a slash that would have split him in two had it met him, instead it split the ground in two.
Standing up, the panther king fired a hasty made cero at Ichigo, just for the orange-haired Vizard to deflect it with Zangetsu, sending the red beam up to the ceiling.
"Bastard!" Grimmjow snarled, launching himself at Ichigo, bringing his blade down, hard, Ichigo blocked the blow with both his blades, then punted Grimmjow away, sending the Espada to a wall, but this wasn't enough, instead it irked the Espada more, flickering away.
Ichigo narrowed his eyes, flash-stepping also, meeting Grimmjow in mid-air, Zangetsu grinding against Grimmjow's own, setting sparks away, then both began to flicker away all while slamming blades, to the untrained eye it would be just sparks flying randomly in the air.
But to the trained eyes it was different, while Ichigo was letting Grimmjow set the pace of the battle, a true no-no for combatants, it was Ichigo who was holding the upper hand, when it came to deal with the sexta Espada, pure raw strength was more than enough to deal with such enemy.
Landing on the ground, Grimmjow roared, launching himself towards Ichigo, the Vizard simply side-stepped then rammed his feet to Grimmjow's unprotected stomach, again.
"Dammit!" Grimmjow roared, glaring daggers at Ichigo who simply stared at the Espada with a bored expression.
With a roar Grimmjow brought his sword to him, his left hand like scratching the blade which began to glow blue, Ichigo eyes widened, feeling the amount of reiatsu that was suddenly poured out.
Without thinking it twice Ichigo dashed at Grimmjow…
"Grind"
Ichigo was close enough of Grimmjow to swing an decapitate him when a blade blocked his own, glaring at the owner of the blade, Ichigo swore that after Grimmjow, Ulquiorra would follow.
"PANTERA!"
Ichigo grunted as a wave of pure reiatsu hit him, yet it affected him little, what shocked him was what emerged after that blast.
It was Grimmjow alright, but more feral, his body was covered in some sort of white segmented armor, while his stomach still retained his hollow hole, both his forearms and calves were flanked by two vicious blades, while his hands and feet were black, looking almost feline in appereance, his hair had grown long, almost to his waist, there he noted a slender, long tail moving lazily, Grimmjow's face was also altered, he looked more feral, more predatory, and his hollow mask remnants were replaced by some sort of crown of some sort on his forehead.
"…So…this is their version of Bankai" Ichigo mussed, comparing the former Grimmjow to the current one, the difference of power was vast, he smiled, he did well in telling Rukia to deal with her opponent without mercy and letting her no time to do nothing but dodge.
"You better prepare yourself Kurosaki, I will kill you!" Grimmjow snarled, launching himself at Ichigo.
Ichigo narrowed his eyes, giving just one glance to Ulquiorra, now this was a two on one fight, and Ulquiorra was obviously more powerful than Grimmjow, even in that state.
Grunting Ichigo rose Zangetsu, blocking the claw of Grimmjow, noting how sharp the claw was, then started to block with both blades when Grimmjow began to press him, his speed enhanced by the release of his true form.
Soon the battle began to escalate as Ichigo and Grimmjow began to jump wall to wall, all while colliding blade against claws, Ichigo hissed every time a claw met his skin, leaving small bloody lines on his arms and back.
Then he actually seethed in rage when he felt a clean slash on his back, with a grunt he punched Grimmjow in the face, sending the transformed Espada to a wall, pushing to a hall filled with pillars, making his way there, then landing there, blocking another blade with Ignis and immediately head butting the owner of that blade.
Ulquiorra staggered, slightly stunned by that attack, honestly he didn't expected that from a Rayearth, but considering this was now a two on one fight…
"But this ends now" Ulquiorra suddenly declared, eyes focused on the destruction that the fight between Ichigo and an released Grimmjow was causing, he could feel the telltales of hollow reiatsu on Ichigo, which was not good at all.
Sonido-ing away, Ulquiorra landed behind Ichigo who had just slashed Grimmjow in the chest, leaving a deep gash, upon feeling Ulquiorra behind him, Ichigo turned fast, and slashed with Ignis, cutting, much to Ulquiorra's shock, his left arm up to the elbow with ease, yet Ichigo aimed wrong.
Ulquiorra suddenly slammed his right palm on Ichigo's forehead, there Ichigo stopped altogether, eyes wide, his eyes seemed to glaze as he slumped forward, but remained perfectly still, standing, holding both Zangetsu and Ignis, in his forehead some sort of oval shaped jewel that slowly pulsed each second.
Grimmjow took his time to take deep breaths, he didn't want to admit it, but this battle would have ended with him dead if Ulquiorra hadn't intervened and had given him time to use his resurrecion, he would be dead, simple as that, Ichigo had pressed him on, gave him no room of breathing.
Now it was payback time.
With a wide smirk, Grimmjow approached Ichigo, raising his arm to strike Ichigo down…
"Grimmjow no!" but the warning came too late, Grimmjow reflexes were the only thing that saved him, yet it did little in the end, Grimmjow growled in pain, his left arm, flying away as his right hand clutched the bloody stump that Ichigo's zanpakutou had made.
"The hell!" Grimmjow snarled, huffing as blood poured out of his wounds.
"…It seems that even if his mind and soul is detached of the body, his body still retains the will to fight, and actually kill without hesitation" Ulquiorra observed, his eyes focused on Ichigo, narrowing slightly, observing every twitch, every muscle movement…
There Ichigo dropped both Zangetsu and Ignis, and his fist met Ulquiorra's face, sending the Espada flying away, crashing onto several pillars headfirst.
Grimmjow looked at the flying Ulquiorra, then at the somewhat zombified Ichigo, he growled, baring his remaining arm, "I knew that thing would be trouble" he hissed, then launched himself to Ichigo, black reiatsu covering the body of the mentally detached Rayearth.
Ichigo exhaled loudly, eyes darting around in the middle of…nowhere to be honest, he was in the pitch black void, he could see his hands, his body, but beyond that nothing.
"Hello?" Ichigo called, "Old man? Hollow? Fira?"
Nothing, his voice didn't even echoed, it was startling.
"Anyone? What's going on!" he yelled, he reached for his zanpakutou, but there was nothing there, he then looked to his left hand, finally noting the lack of his Rayearth glove.
He clearly remembers that even in his inner world, he would always carry his Rayearth glove, he could not remove it, only Fira could, it was a symbol of his position as a knight, no one could remove it, they could chop his hand and burn the skin, but the glove would be still attached to the bones of his hand.
His eyes were narrowed at this, it was impossible that Aizen had found a way to remove the glove, he might be a death god with some sort of artifact that could create shinigami/hollow hybrids, and vice versa, but he really doubted he was able to create something to bypass Fira as a whole.
It's just a trick, break it!
Ichigo looked around, the somewhat childish voice hit him full force, reminding him that the last moment before his blackout was Ulquiorra's hitting him on the forehead, feeling something cold on his forehead which most definitely was not skin and then blackness, and then this.
Aren't you supposed to be the strong one of us!
This time it was a different voice, slightly more mature than the first, both were obviously male, children if he wagered, he was surely older than them.
Come on, you have to regain yourself!
Now this time he recognized the voice, it was the same voice of the girl who had punted Yamamoto away, the princess.
Come on, this is not the end, don't let it win!
The female voice mentioned, there Ichigo blinked, the female voice was referring to something inside him, and 'it' a…
"The thing" the very thing Ulquiorra had slammed in his forehead, whatever it was had send him here, 'it' seemed to have a will of its own.
Looking around he spotted 'it'
'It' was not the leech; 'it' was not the nemesis.
'It' was 'him'
A very skinny, creepy looking 'him'
'Him' to be exact was skinny, the mid-section was like a segmented looking spaghetti, with turfs of orange hair acting as elbows, connected to a pair of skeletical looking arms, the lower part was simply covered with what seemed to be shinigami robes, without sandals, the skin was black, a contrast to Hollow Ichigo's own skin, the head was the oddest thing, it was obvious Ichigo's own head, if he had lost several pounds, let his hair grow long, never washed it and combed it at all, covered by a single skull like mask in white.
A mask that had no visible eyes beyond the skeletal eye sockets.
'Him' stayed there, looking at Ichigo like an odd thing, tilting 'his' head to one side, like curious, then it screamed.
"Ugghh" her ears were ringing, her vision was blurry, and there was little she could see well, or hear well.
Soon she was able to stop the ringing of her ears, and was able to see something more than blurry images.
What she first saw was black marble of a floor; she could feel something dragging her on the marble floor, her ears caught up on two similar footsteps, and the feel of something holding her arms.
"Dammit, I lost" Rukia berated herself, the battle had been according to her plan, keep pressing and eventually go for the kill when Nell dropped her guard, the thing was that was her instead of Nell who dropped her guard, the female Arrancar, to be honest couldn't blame her, the sudden appearance of that reiatsu that simply oozed power made both combatants stop on their tracks, but on Rukia it had a different effect, after all she recognized the reiatsu as Ichigo's, which left her guard open for a couple seconds longer than Nell's.
Meaning that the next thing she knows is that Nell had slashed her on the chest, then punched her hard enough to knock her out, but not outright kill her.
Now, if she was correct, was a prisoner, dragged by two Arrancars, underlings of the Espada if their small reiatsu was of any indication.
"Do you have any idea what Aizen-sama wants with this shinigami?"
"Not a clue, not that I'm willing to ask, remember the last one that questioned Aizen-sama methods?"
"Ugh, that wall will always remain red"
Rukia paid that no mind, the only thing that stung in her mind was that Aizen wanted her for something in particular, "Surely to make Ichigo relent on his assault" she thought with a smirk, brute force would do little to stop Ichigo; she knew that, Aizen knew that, so he would play against Ichigo's soft side, his friends.
Of course this was a double-edge sword, last time someone tried that Ichigo had went bat-shit mad, and had tore shit up, he had been unstoppable, Aizen is strong, but not stupid he would not try that unless he has some way to stop Ichigo dead on his tracks.
"Here she is Aizen-sama" suddenly Rukia was tossed to the ground, her zanpakutou joining her afterwards.
"Thank you, assume your positions immediately, we leave in five"
"Hai, Aizen-sama"
Rukia didn't care of those two, they were weak, reaching for her sheathed zanpakutou she used Sode as a cane to stand up slowly, she was still sore after the battle.
"Rukia Kuchiki, welcome" the shinigami rose her head, spotting Aizen itself, the smug bastard was sitting on a throne, a throne! Overseeing a table where several Arrancars were seated, all of them of different powers, only three of them stand out of the bunch.
At Aizen's side were Tousen and Gin, the fox man looked as usual, the fox mocking smile on his lips while Tousen was stoic looking, as usual, you couldn't pry emotions of him even with a crowbar.
"Aizen" Rukia hissed, slowly standing up, noting that Nell was there, fresh out of battle, but two Espada were lacking, one was that blue one, Grimmjow, the other seat was right at the side of Harribel, the Espada who had slashed Ichigo from behind and got a full telekinetic blast to the face.
"I see you are lacking some Arrancars…I bet that blue haired one, Grimmjow was it? Must be dead" she noted how some of the Espada that were before Grimmjow's chair tensed up.
"And the blonde Arrancar…how's the face?" Harribel narrowed her eyes at Rukia, it was still a s ore subject to her, after all she attacked him and the only thing he needed to do was look at her, and she was flying away with a face full of hurt.
"Enough" Aizen spoke, his voice was soft, but the undertone was perceived by even Rukia, when he says stop you better stop.
"I am amazed that you have survived a fight against one of my Espada, quite a commendable feat, even for an unseated shinigami" Aizen began, "Then again, it was your power that awoke Kurosaki's own monstrous power" he added.
Rukia rose an eyebrow at that, "Maybe, but he took ALL my power, not a fraction like I wanted, but you already knew that, didn't you?" Aizen nodded.
"I admit that while he is of noble stock, we both know that being born out of nobles don't make you powerful, just look at you" Rukia rose an eyebrow.
"Arrived into the 78th sector with your sister, just two sectors away of the lowest area in Rukongai, abandoned as a baby, you grew to become member of the Kuchiki clan, then to become a shinigami strong enough to actually trigger the dormant power on a human whose power was dormant and would required the power of a lieutenant to awaken it" Aizen summarized.
"Then we have Ichigo, an average human, with a lingering spiritual power in him, as every single human born on Karakura"
"What? That's impossible! Karakura has only a dozen of spiritual sentient, not including Urahara and those in his shop and the Vizard!" Rukia snapped.
"If you truly believe that, then you are a naïve child just as the sotaichou, have you wondered what happened to the other spiritual rich plots in the world, besides Karakura Town?" Aizen asked, "I'll tell you, there had been no more spiritual rich plot lands, there has always been Karakura town, always has, always been, the oldest set of dirt predates Seireitei, the shinigami, the organization know as the Soul Reapers are predated by the land in which Karakura sits now, and do you know why?" Rukia slowly shook her head, it might be true, and it might not be true, but curiosity was a trait that shinigami, humans and hollows still share among each other.
"Because there, at least 5 millenniums ago, maybe seven millenniums, a great war was waged there, a battle of the which we will never seen, against opponents of the which only spoken in fairy tales, a war which aftermath is still felt in the ground of Karakura, and aftermath which gave birth to Soul Society and in turn to the shinigami, to Hueco Mundo and in turn to the hollows that exist today, to the Quincy as a whole, no one bothered to question how a clan of spiritual aware individuals came to be, even more how to gather reishi and fight to a level of seated shinigami" Aizen said there stood up, to Rukia he looked imposing, it was scary.
"The war greatest aftermath, however was that out of the many corpses, of the many beings that died there, something rose, blood condensed, flesh melted, thousand of consciences joined, the linchpin was born" Aizen said, slowly making his way down of his throne, making it to the table and slowly approaching Rukia.
"It sounds like a story to me" Rukia said.
"It is" Aizen riposted smoothly, "Crystalian in fact, Eurania told me so, a bedtime story she assures me, favored by her kind, a tale about a war in which the knights never participated because it did not endangered the safety of Crystalia, and hence not endangered the universe, but there, there they were wrong, this linchpin is in fact a danger, one I intent to remove" Aizen said, stopping not shy five meters of Rukia's effective killzone.
To Rukia this was something odd, Aizen was the good guy? Then it hit her, Aizen said he was going to remove the soul king, or queen in this case, to attain the throne above the heavens…
"You're not seeking Ichigo's mom" she gasped.
"Very astute, indeed, at first glance one would think I am aiming to kill Kurosaki Masaki and her entire family, the royal family" there an old man snorted angrily, Rukia glared at the old Arrancar who seemed to exuded petulance and arrogance.
"You would do well to hold your tongue Barragan, they are royalty, whenever you like it or not, besides Rukia here is the closest thing to a consort to Ichigo the Inferno" Aizen snapped curtly, Rukia obviously blushed, there had been talks and gossip about her true relation with Ichigo, not to mention that she was damn sure the elders of the clan were planning to marry her with the eldest of the royalty line.
Barragan seemed to growl, but remained quiet, which meant that Aizen was the most powerful person on the room, this made Rukia really uneasy.
"All this talk about a linchpin and Queen Masaki, and I still don't see the connection" Rukia snapped, "For what I can see the royal family is a smoke curtain to you, a cover to something bigger, this linchpin, what the hell is that thing anyway, even if it exists" Rukia stated.
"Indeed it does, the linchpin is as the rayearths, myths, but as we have seen, the myth of the Rayearth knights and their power is not so farfetched, a still developing Rayearth tore Seireitei down, nearly killed the sotaichou, destroyed the released form of the Sōkyoku, not to mention many more destructive acts during his stay, and that was only him, only undeveloped stage, tales tell of rayearths capable of call forth monstrous hurricanes capable of tearing a city out of its bases, of fires capable of burning the very fabric of reality, of tsunamis capable of covering continents or earthquakes that can swallow nations as a whole, as you could very well attest to, the myth is all but" Aizen smoothly replied.
Rukia obviously tensed up, she knew the legend, the myth, but obviously not the true capabilities of the knights, and she was not so looking forward seeing if Ichigo could actually burn the fabric of reality just for the kicks of it.
"As for the linchpin, you can say that the world has overgrown it" Aizen said, "For several millennia the linchpin has acted as a seal of sorts, a way to prevent the dimensions know as Soul Society, Hueco Mundo and the living plane collide, are you aware of the matter/anti-matter theory? It was made by a human no less, fascinating piece of lecture" Aizen said, upon meeting silence he continued.
"Your silence says much, you do not know, well let me illustrate you, the theory states that there are two energies in the known universe, matter and anti-matter, both forces are opposing to one another, separated, existing in different planes of existence, where they should touch even for a second, even a slight millisecond, well let's say that it was nice living in this universe" Aizen joked, much to the horror of Rukia and a loli looking Espada seated near a bored looking grown up Espada.
"It was pretty much the same for us, where our three dimensions were to collide, chaos would be a small word to describe the apocalyptic clash that would ensure" Aizen stated, "That of course changed over…200 years ago If I'm not mistaken, with the birth of Isshin, the next in line to the 'throne' with his birth it came a realization, alongside the genocide of the Quincy" Aizen pressed on.
"The Quincy began actively hunting hollows fifteen years before the war against Soul Society, given that time, the amount of hollows slain; shinigami had to eradicate souls within Rukongai to counter the sudden damage to the balance, if my calculations were correct, a Quincy was able to slain at least fifty hollows per day, alone, the average one, a superior Quincy could kill over one hundred and fifty per day, now add this numbers, multiply them for over a thousand quincies working in tandem, for over fifteen years, nonstop" Rukia eyes were wide, she didn't need to do the math to see where Aizen was going.
"Correct, the balance had to break at the year ten, yet it didn't, which brought me to the next conclusion, at year fifteen, the sotaichou, who was happily ignoring the happenings of the human realm, and seeing the lowest casualty rate on shinigami ever, suddenly declares war against the Quincy, hence the genocide, doesn't strike you as odd that one moment he is happy and the next he is leading the shinigami into an all out slaughter of every men, women and children of the Quincy line?" Rukia wordlessly nodded, horrified by what Aizen was suggesting.
"Correct again" as if sensing her thoughts he congratulate her again for the horrible thought she had, they were pawns, all of them, even the Kurosakis were pawns.
"Someone once said that life finds the way, it is the same in here, the universe somehow was able to stabilize the existence of three different dimensions in one single world, the linchpin has long outgrew its usefulness" Aizen finalized.
"But then why? Why this? Why the war? Why that declaration back at the hill?" Rukia snapped.
"You really think Yamamoto will take the news of being used by a sentient object well? He will ignore it, the only one who truly knows what has been going on, besides me and Masaki Kurosaki is Fira, mainly because she is a Guardian and as old as the universe itself, maybe she didn't tell because she thought the linchpin was nothing worth of the concern of her Rayearth" Aizen said, now fully approaching Rukia and standing right in front of her.
"But now things are different, way different, you really think that the linchpin will let Ichigo live, or his family for that matter, doubtful, it will order the death of everyone related to Ichigo, you included, then erase the memory of the months past, it is but a single thing to do for the linchpin" Aizen said.
"So this is your plan, you won't go to the royal dimension…you will use Ichigo to destroy the linchpin!" Aizen smiled, like a father proud of his daughter.
"Indeed, but I know that even with the sword of Damocles hanging over his family and friends, Ichigo would turn against me, after all my plans remain unchanged, I will become a god, set the wrongs right, but to do that war must happen, a war that will drag Karakura and its residents, blood will be spilled there, death will be unavoidable, and The Inferno won't stand for this, he will come after me next, but I have already planned for this eventuality" Aizen said, walking away, and towards a door.
"By this moment Grimmjow must have already been taught his lesson, I told him specifically not to engage Ichigo, he wanted a fight, now he is getting more than he bargained for" an effeminate Espada giggled maliciously at this.
"Shut up Luppi, or you might follow" the so called Luppi shut his mouth quicker than Rukia expected someone would do.
"Now, a quick riddle, how do you truly defeat your sworn enemy, you destroy them down to the last man?" Aizen asked, "No, you do not, for there will always be a survivor, you do not destroy your enemy" Aizen said, calmly walking towards a door, and opening, revealing Ichigo, standing there, like a zombie, some sort of jewel embed on his forehead.
"You do not destroy, you control"
Rukia stood there, speechless.
With a grunt Ichigo slammed his fist on the face of the thing, the thing simply swayed around, like an overcooked noodle, then straighten itself up, ramrod and launched itself at Ichigo once more.
With a curse the Rayearth brought his fist again to the thing, hitting the masked face if the thing, the mask cracked.
"…do…destroy…control"
Ichigo blinked at that, that voice sounded oddly familiar to Aizen's own voice.
"The heUUMMMP" Ichigo exclaimed as the thing punched him on the stomach, sending him away and crashing on the none-existent ground, skidding around and then stopping himself on the get-go.
The mask of the thing was still broken; it was not repairing itself, meaning that this thing was not like a hollow, in fact most of the wounds Ichigo had inflicted on the chitinous like body of the thing weren't healing at all, it was with the punch and crack on the face/mask that Ichigo heard something more than his fist meeting the chitin material.
Whatever Ulquiorra had slammed in his head had send him here, and was now at the mercy of Aizen.
"You…do…it's…how…you…know…will…cause…worlds…crash"
"Rukia" Ichigo gasped, easily blocking the thing's fist, catching the arm and flipping the thing over his shoulder, slamming it to the ground, there Ichigo hit the beast face two times, making the crack on the mask wider.
Now the voices were more defined, but the static between was still ever present.
Maybe he didn't had his Rayearth powers or his zanpakutou, but he still had his skills; he was glad to have trained with Tatsuki and had kept those skills sharp, even before his mother died.
Now he had the means to defend himself, and if his hunch was right, a way to get out of this void.
All he had to do was keep pounding until the walls fell down!
No one noted how a single digit of the zombie like Ichigo twitched, it was an unperceivable, thing, it was not a hostile thing, so no one in the room saw it or felt it, so attuned they were to violence that an involuntary twitch would go unnoticed.
"What have you done to him?" Rukia asked, horrified by the possible ramifications of what had transpired so far, and was unveiling in front of her now.
"Control is the means for victory, control the battlefield, and you have the battle won, control the fight, and you'll already won, control your enemies, and you'll have none to defy you" Aizen stated.
"You can't do this! It's wrong! How do you know this will not cause the worlds to crash?" Rukia exclaimed, to be honest all this seemed to farfetched, a too well developed plan of Aizen, one she was critical in it.
"5,475,000" Aizen said.
"What?"
"That's the number of hollows the Quincy slain in a year, all of them superior, capable of taking entire divisions" Aizen said, "Now, add that number, plus 5475 days, 15 years, the number is…"
"29,975,625,000…non-purified hollows" Rukia whispered, horrified.
"That amount of souls is the same to the numbers on whole districts, on all four directions, to counter that, shinigami have to kill human souls, that amount of lost souls would be monstrous, people would have noticed, entire blocks empty of people, footsteps leading to the outskirts of the sectors, suddenly clustering together and stopping there, that amount of souls easily overpass the current number of humans who inhabit the world, 200 years before it was less, you can imagine the possible outcome"
"The end of it all" Rukia said.
"Yes, not with a bang, not with a well placed 'fuck you' to the heavens and hell, but with a whimper, and then silence"
Rukia remained rooted on her spot, the implications of all this was too much for her to bear, humanity, hollows and shinigami were this close to extinction, no human souls coming in or out meant no shinigamis, which meant that the hollow population would grow out of control, at the same time the hollows, due to their cannibalistic nature would eat each other, no diversity on each side, given time just one hollow and one shinigami would remain, the last testament of humanity duality.
The realization of this horrible truth kept her quiet, Aizen kept a steady gaze on her; he looked both happy and sad.
"I see you saw the same I did, I was in your place, but unlike you, I had to deal with it alone, the truth…knowing it…it is brutal, it shapes you, changes you" Aizen said, "From that day onward I bowed I would end the cycle of the linchpin, I would forsake it all if needed, because as you see it, Seireitei needs to change, you were on the brunt of the harshest laws the linchpin has imposed using the king as a medium"
"You killed central 46 and took their place, send me to death row" Rukia snapped.
"They would have done the same, you did not communicated for over three months, gave your powers to a human and instead of taking them back, meaning killing the human, you aided him in doing your job, not to mention that you were supplied by a know exile and traitor at that moment…let's just say that my judgment was lenient compared to theirs, had they been in control instead of me, they would have ordered the shinigami there to kill you on the spot" Aizen added, Rukia felt a cold drop on her stomach at that implication, in some twisted way, Aizen had saved her.
She felt sick.
"…So…Ichigo is going to be your sword to cut down the linchpin, even if he doesn't want it…but what about me? What do you gain by basically shattering all I knew?" Rukia said.
"Rukia Kuchiki, you are to be my voice" Aizen said, "Do you actually believe someone will believe me?"
"You actually believe someone will believe ME what you just told me?" Rukia stated.
"True, but the evidence points to the right direction, to the only direction, truth its ugly and painful, no one wants to stare it, no one wants to bear it, and no one wants to handle it, but its absolute, and can't be denied, they will have to handle it because everything we have spoke, everything you have seen up to this point" he said, reaching towards Rukia, the petit shinigami eyes widened in utter fear, remembering that this man could easily kill her and leaver her into tiny little bits.
Her fears were not sated as Aizen reached for her robes and pulled the cell phone the R&D eggheads had given her, a prototype that would replace the current cell phones the shinigami used.
"Has already been heard by them" he said, holding the phone on one hand, Rukia could see on the display how one single, continuous call carried out without her knowing, but expecting it.
"They will try to stop Ichigo, you know it" Rukia hissed fearfully, not of Aizen, not of Ichigo or Soul Society, but of the aftermath if Aizen's current plan succeeded.
"They won't" Aizen said, "You see, I have been planning this for a long time, the chamber to the linchpin can only be opened by the queen, but there are ways to even lock her out of the chamber, and allow Ichigo free reign, even to transport him directly to the chamber, something unheard off, considering the nature of the artifact within" Rukia noted the distaste of how Aizen referred to the linchpin.
"Eurania may be dead, and you still bear the emotional scars of your time as a host of the Nemesis" Rukia flinched at that, Rukia would not admit it, but he was right, Eurania was, for the lack of better words, brutal on the extraction of the Hōgyoku and the implantation of the Nemesis crystal soul on her, and she still has nightmares of the memories of the Nemesis, the creature deserved the title of the Dark Lord's general, the beast was nothing but brutal, ruthless and bloodthirsty.
"Yet she left several things upon her passing, things I took upon myself to improve" he said, "The Hōgyoku is not a tool for merely creating Arrancars and vizards like if it was nothing, as long you have the will, the Hōgyoku can make it happen" he said, moving forward Ichigo, taking his hand and placing something in it.
"Now listen Ichigo, once you're in the chamber, place this object in the door, then seek the linchpin, kill it, destroy it, leave nothing behind" Aizen commanded, Ichigo nodded dumbly.
"That's all I ask" he added, motioning the pink haired Arrancar to him, "Szayel, guide our lance to the door, be kind to remove that bothersome jewel-bomb in him and provide him with his zanpakutou, then prepare our transport" the pink haired Espada nodded, clearly excited by this, guiding the zombie like Ichigo by the hand, like a child, "Oh and while you're at it, tell the nurse to pick Grimmjow…or what might be left of him" Aizen said with a smirk, one that Szayel mimicked.
"Go? Go where?" Rukia asked.
"It won't hurt to tell you, my goal still remains, create the Ōken, make it to the royal dimension, and sit upon the throne above heavens"
"You could use the same method which you will send Ichigo to the linchpin" Rukia countered.
"True, but I can't, Ichigo, by all intents and purposes, regardless of his current status as a human with shinigami power who is part hollow, is a crystalian, not by birth, but by duty, the glove on his hand makes him a crystalian, the method I will use to send him to the chamber of the linchpin only will work on a crystalian, sadly I am not a crystalian, the process would tear me apart, beating the purpose of seating on a throne and orchestrating a war" Aizen smoothly said.
"Nevertheless there are other ways to make the Ōken, but to do that I need energy, energy the Hōgyoku doesn't have, for you see, in the creation of the gem that controls Ichigo, the apparatus that will send him to the chamber and the lock for the room, the Hōgyoku has drained itself, unfortunately I cannot find a suitable source of power here, considering I spend 100 years feeding mine, and Urahara spend more time working on his, I fused them both, but it was still lacking power, if I want to reach the throne, I need a bigger source of power, fast, and there is only one place that can provide it"
Rukia simply shook her head; she knew everyone on the other line didn't want to either, "C-c-cry…"
"Crystalia" Aizen said smoothly, suddenly taking Rukia by the shoulder and guiding her away of the chamber.
"For you Rukia I have something special" Aizen said, slowly taking Rukia away.
"I will give you a one way ticket to Seireitei, right where they are waiting for me in case Ichigo's plan had succeeded, I admit his plan was with flaws, but the flaws were overshadowed by the single fact it was something I wouldn't expect, he should had give it some extra thought, to prepare if I was ready for him" Aizen said, reaching a room, there he seemed to reach the air, and tear open the very fabric of the veil, opening a hole directly to Seireitei, right on top of a conglomeration of shinigami of all ranks.
All looking at him and Rukia, all hearing.
"I know your potential Rukia Kuchiki, Ichigo's own power is proof of it, if he can reach it, so can you, I know, sooner or later, our paths will cross again, alongside with Ichigo's own and his allies, till then, grow strong" he said, he seemed ready to push her to the hole with ease, then stopped and leaned close to her ear.
"By the way" he whispered, to Rukia it felt like the devil whispering forbidden temptations, "How Kaien behaved when MY hollow corrupted him?"
It was like a switch for Rukia, with a feral cry she turned to Aizen, ready to cut him down, then the next thing she knows is that her chest erupted in blood, and Aizen seemed to grow farther and farther, until she saw the blue sky and her back met the unforgiving ground, hard.
Aizen simply closed the garganta, exposing a black sun on a perfect blue sky.
The zombified Ichigo placed a single metal disk in the bronze door, a black energy of some sort making a thick door to never budge, no matter what hit it from both ends.
The zombie that was Ichigo kept walking, making his way towards a set of stairs, there he found his first resistance, a thick wall of pure reiatsu, and anyone who would cross it would surely die, crushed by the sheer pressure.
Ichigo's body simply rose his left arm, and waved, like brushing a fly away, the walls around him turned into dust and were grinded to a molecular level, the wall was reduced away.
The first and only defense for the linchpin was reduced to nothing with a brush of the hand of the unhinged Rayearth, without a mind to control it, Ichigo's power was unbound, he in all sense, could burn the world with a snap of his fingers, for his mind and soul knew control, knew restrain, his body didn't, without mind and soul, the body was free to do what its pleases.
The body kept advancing, moving onward, passing the stairs, reaching what seemed a platform of some sort; there it made it, far beyond where Masaki and Yoruichi had ever made it.
The linchpin was in sight, it was a single bronze orb of the size of a human fist, floating in the void.
YOU HAVE COME
Ichigo remained silent.
LIKE A CHILD COMES LOOKING FOR SHELTER IN A FAMILIAR PRESENCE, YOU, RAYEARTH OF FIRE, KNIGHT OF WAR, COMES SEEKING ME, A REMINDED OF A WAR FAR LONG GONE
Ichigo's bland stare remained.
DON'T ACT AS IF YOU CAN'T LISTEN TO ME, YOUR BODY IS LED, BUT YOUR MIND IS THERE
The crystal in Ichigo's forehead broke, and the empty gaze of Ichigo was replaced by anger, "Genocide…you got a lot to answer…you knew"
OF COURSE, WHAT AIZEN SPOKE IS THE TRUTH, PAINFUL AS IT IS, I HAVE DONE WHAT HAD TO BE DONE
"For what purpose, you reduced the Quincy to nomads, you have started wars just to suit your needs, who are you to decide our lives? Who are you!"
I AM POWER, I AM CONTROL, I AM THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING
"Everything? Everything what?"
CHAOS, DISORDER, ANARCHY
"Chaos? What kind of chaos, in case you haven't noticed, we are currently at war!"
I HAVE, AND THAT'S MY ANSWER, THE CHAOS OF WAR
"What?"
I AM A BEING BORN OUT OF WAR, MY MIND COMES WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF WAR ITSELF, I KNOW THE PAIN OF WAR, THE GLORY OF WAR, I KNOW WAR IN ITS PUREST FORM, I UNDERSTAND IT BETTER, SO I KNOW THE HORRIBLE OUTCOME, WITHOUT CONTROL, WAR WILL CONSUME US ALL.
"What are you talking about? You spout nonsense about control over war and yet we are at war, against Aizen, against hollows, against each other!" Ichigo exclaimed, "So far all you have done is pissing me off for causing the Quincy genocide, I heard all Aizen said, he is a bastard yes, but so far he has been straightforward enough to tell you when he is going to kill you and how, one thing is deceiving on the field, other is outright lie, and let me tell you, Aizen wasn't lying" Ichigo snarled, he hated to admit it, but he was right, Aizen was right, he wasn't lying, he was sure, he simply could feel it.
YOU UNDERSTAND LITTLE, AND I EXPECT NO LESS, I HAVE BEEN KEEPING PEACE FOR AS LONG AS YOU IMAGINE!
The next thing Ichigo knows is that the orb actually ignited itself, lighting the hall with an unholy bronze flame.
DO NOT THINK YOU CAN ACTUALLY WIN, I AM NEEDED, CHAOS WON'T REING!
Ichigo stared at the linchpin, looking at the flaming orb with something akin to pity, he stared at the thing, maybe Fira wasn't now with him, Zangetsu and his hollow were with him, both feeling the same for the orb.
Pity.
Pity for it never went beyond its allotted duty, even shinigami knew that being stuck on the same routine for too much time would drive them mad, and with their long lifespan, it was most assured that monotony would derail to madness.
Ichigo simply looked at the orb, then at the room, a little anticlimactic he admits, his last day in this world before he actually goes to Crystalia to do whatever he does, he said goodbye to his family, he somewhat did the same with his friends, he knew Karakura Town was in good hands, even if those hands were the one of Yamamoto.
His only regret was not saying goodbye to Rukia.
Summoning Ignis, Ichigo began to advance, several bronze like fire arrows began to fly at him, impacting him fully, yet he didn't relented, he pulled Zangetsu out, letting both blades scrape the ground.
"You know king, this isn't the way I envisioned how the war would end"
"This is not over, you know it"
"Ichigo is right, this is only the beginning"
"Well then…how about we officially start this war…WITH STYLE!"
"Yeah" Ichigo hissed, reiatsu pouring off him, enveloping his swords, his eyes taking a blue cobalt tint.
"Ban"
Ichigo jumped his hollow grinding as a maniac as Ichigo summoned his hollow mask, Zangetsu ever present behind Ichigo, his companions, his partners.
His friends.
"Kai!"
The room was enveloped in a bright light as Ichigo charged against the linchpin, then it was over, the massive room was melted beyond recognition, and the linchpin now lay broken, split in two, destroyed.
The world didn't end that day.
and there it is, the last chapter of ichigo the inferno, to those who have made it to this point, first of all, I wanted to make the reason as of why Aizen became who he is, after all you just don't wake up in the morning and decide to screw everyone in the brain while planning to overthrow the king and take over the universe, in this I gave Aizen somesort of past, a past that is hinted in hislast moments before he is sealed by Urahara, he hates the linchpin, he says it himself, so using that I gave a reason as of why Aizen wanted to do what he wanted to do.
Don't get me wrong, some might say I made Aizen as the good guy, the truth is he isn't, he admits it, he will get what he wants, even if he has to burn the world to get it.
so there it is, the last chapter before the epilogue, which i will upload now, so read and review.