Disclaimer: I do not own the anime Bleach or anything affiliated with it. Anything not from Bleach, rights go to the designated owners. As I've said, I only own the Black Hollow, it's 'abilities' and the OC.
I got the idea when I was walking to school a while back, but I've finally formed a story about it. Hope you enjoy!
Brief: Karakura's had some strange things happen to it before now, but nothing on this scale. How will Ichigo and Rukia defeat the menace when their very allies could be against them?
Warning(s): Swearing and cursing throughout, unsure how frequently.
Additional: Thanks for all the support everyone has given me during this, the Fanfic is coming to an end though. I'd estimate there are one or two chapters left until the end.
Little something though; at the end of the last chapter, there will be a look ahead to what's to come in my After the Winter War Fanfic, which is sort of the follow-up of this one.
14: One Last Fight
Kai looked in awe as the new-comer appeared before him. Had he not witnessed the fusion himself, he would not have believed it possible for Ichigo and Rukia to be that being. It was near impossible to comprehend, yet it was true and real. Looking at the hollow, he saw a look of equal confusion and disbelief, but he didn't have time to worry about the black-masked fiend, he had a bone to pick with JX They locked blades again, fire pouring out of the dragon's plumage of Kai's Bankai.
"What the hell have they done to themselves?" JX asked darkly, gripping Kai's blade in an attempt to immobilise him, but it didn't work as he was kicked away.
"Synchronised Bankai." Kai replied as if it were obvious. "They've become one person with far more power than you'll ever know."
"Is that a fact? You know that if I defeat you, I'll become more powerful, and with two hollows at my disposal, I shall rule the world!"
"Dream on! You aren't getting Rertyan!"
"Oh yes, there's that flare I've been waiting for! Release your hollow and we'll see which is stronger!"
Kai glared daggers.
"That would throw the place out of balance, you idiot!"
"Fine then, prepare to die!"
JX donned his mask and ran his left index finger down the forehead to the jaws, allowing Depsigh to rise into control his full form taking shape. Kai sighed and donned his mask, glaring at the hollow.
We'll defeat him in Vizard-state, alright, Rertyan?
"Of course, I just want to slice into him for those scars from last time."
Alright, let's do this!
Karakura Park
The hollow stared at the being before him as he... er, she... they stretched their shoulders and cracked their neck.
"Ichi...ruki?" he questioned. "What the hell did you do to yourselves?"
"We've surpassed the level of our component selves and reached a new tier of strength." Ichiruki said, the voice more Ichigo's although there was an undertone of Rukia's in it too. "We'll destroy you, hollow."
"Pah, I see you're also more cocky than the sum of your parts. Let's see how you fair against this!" The hollow focussed, his hands gripping the Shikai blade tightly as the reiatsu level in the blade rose. "Getsuga-" He rose his blade and swung it in a downward arc, loosing the red energy wave. "-Tenshou!"
The red lunar fang bore down on Ichiruki, but they raised their blade above their head, white energy with a black tint surging around it.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" they yelled back, a huge lunar fang of black-tinted white energy smashing through the red one and bearing down on the hollow, who barely dodged it, eyes wide.
"How..." he started, amazed at the power they possessed. "How the hell did you do that with one hand?"
"We told you, we have surpassed ourselves." The gauntlet-clad left hand rose to their face and tried to summon the hollow mask, but it refused to form. They frowned. "What the-"
"Ha! It seems you've over-estimated yourselves, punks!"
I don't understand, Ichigo thought. How could it not work?
"Ichigo! Rukia!" Urahara yelled up to them. "You can't hollowfy and you must stay united in drive or the whole thing won't work."
"You could have told us that before now, Hat-'n'-Clogs!" Ichiruki bellowed.
The hollow flung itself at them while their back was turned and sliced into their right side. He wrenched his sword free of them retreated a little, glaring all the while.
"So, you're not as indestructible as you seem." he sneered, gripping his blade tighter. "Bankai!"
The hollow disappeared for a few moments, but when they next saw him, the white and black blade in their right hand was ploughed into the thick armour on the hollow.
"Tch, it'll take more than that to stop me." he snarled, kicking them away.
Ichigo, have an idea, Rukia thought-spoke to her fused partner.
Go ahead, the orange-haired man replied.
If we can use your Getsuga like this, perhaps we can use my dances.
It's worth a shot.
"Here goes," they said, pointing the tip of the blade at the hollow as he charged at them once more. "Tsugi no mai, hakuren!"
Instantly, a blast of ice shot forth from the blade and froze the hollow to the ground.
I knew it, Rukia thought. And there was so much power in it too.
Hey, midget, let's not get carried away here, Ichigo replied to her. We don't know how long this thing can last and I sure as hell don't want to fight him separately.
Then let's do this, 'berry.
The ice cracked and the hollow broke free in it's Bankai state, the tethered blade hurtling towards the heroes but they blocked with the gauntlet on their left arm, the device unfurling into a shield. As the blade was dragged back to it's master, they counter-attacked with a pair of Getsugas aimed at the hollow on alternate sides and a swift hakuren attack that temporarily held the hollow and allowed them to summarise the damage dealt and work out a new way of combating the maniacal creature.
Above Karakura Park
JX's eyes dulled briefly before snapping open, a pair of brilliant blue eyes glaring from the dark visor-like eye-slit in his mask. A burst blue energy poured over the fiend, flowing over his entire body, starting from the neck and flowing downward to his feet, hollowfying the man in moments. Kai's glare widened into a look of pure fear and worry.
"Wha-What the hell is that?" he gasped.
Before the Vizard stood a hollow with four large arms, each with a spike on the elbow. The upper arms had three large phalanges jutting out of the forearms and the lower pair had a bladed edge to the arms. The upper shoulders housed two large, spiky-armoured shoulder pads and the chest exhibited what looked like a suit of armour's chest plate, in which had several blue tribal tattoos scrawled over it, sprouting from the hollow hole in his chest. The demonic creature chuckled darkly.
"You seem surprised to see me, Kai Friel!" it growled, willing the bladed edge in it's arms to swivel outward, revealing them to be a pair of arm-mounted swords in essence. "Surely you haven't forgotten me? I'm shocked and appalled."
"What are you talking about?" Kai returned. "I recognise the mask and most of the spiritual pressure, but that is a new form. How did you evolve in such a short time?"
"I didn't 'evolve', idiot. How could anything evolve so easily? I was rebuilt!"
Kai's red irises widened again.
"What?"
"Lord JX resurrected me in his inner world and then rebuilt me to this form! Now my power rivals that of an arrancar!"
"It's also very similar to them." he noted quietly then turned his attention to the hollow again. "I see, so that's what happened; you were made into a Resurreccion of Hellraiser, weren't you?"
"Clever boy. Now, release Rertyan and let us decide which is more powerful!"
Kai glared at Depsigh and was about to free Rertyan, when his hollow echoed in his head;
"Kai, don't fall for it!" he growled. "I can sense his reiatsu from in here, and there is no way you can let one of us fight alone against him!"
Then what do we do? Kai thought-spoke.
"Isn't it obvious, we fight together! I taught you my abilities for a reason, didn't I?"
Kai nodded and lunged at the hollow as it charged a small Cero.
"Twisted Cero!" Depsigh yelled, loosing a narrow beam that bore down on Kai, when he countered with his own.
A huge explosion tore over the skies and the pair were flung a few feet apart. Kai frowned beneath his mask, forgetting how powerful the pin-point Cero was, but snapped out of it when the blades came slicing through the air and into the space the teen had occupied moments before, but he dodged and aimed his skeletal right index finger at his hollow adversary.
"Masked Hado #4, Fluxing Thunder!" he yelled, a beam of blue lightning wreathed in a spiralling red energy tearing through the air and into the right blade of Depsigh and it burnt out in an electrical crackle. The hollow laughed.
"Pah, that's what you're level four kido can do?" it cackled. "How many of these do you have?"
"Last guess, about four Bakudo and 7 Hado spells."
"Well, I am, quite frankly, disappointed by that."
"Oh really?" Kai grinned beneath his mask and aimed his palms at the hollow. "Masked Hado #2, Shadow Meteor!"
"If your fourth didn't work, you really expect the second Hado to work?"
Abruptly, a huge reiatsu ball of black and red energy shrouded in black and blue flames shot out of Kai's hands and exploded against the hollow, kicking up a cloud of smoke and dust. When it cleared, Depsigh's lower right arm was bleeding and the blade cracked and broken, along with the chest being scorched and right horn broken in half.
"How?" he snarled, his blade rebuilding slowly.
"I don't rank my kido on power or speed or anything like that," Kai explained, observing the rebuilding blade. "Hell, the number is a record of when it was made compared to the others. That aside, you don't seem to have a certain something from last time."
"Ah, yes, this power came at a price and my instant regeneration is limited to a slower rate repair on only my weaponry."
"Another thing though, what's with the phalanges? It's not like you've got wings on them."
"Well, after my defeat at Rertyan's hands, my lord tried to make me in his image, but there was insufficient data about how the reiatsu held onto the phalanges and these were all that remained afterward."
"Shame really, they could have been good weapons or defensive techniques."
"Enough with the conversation, let's resume our fight!"
Karakura Park
Blood seeped from the various wounds over the two combatants as they both gave it their all, but neither was giving the other any ground either way. A pair of explosions shook the fighters and allowed for a brief break from the fight.
Damn, this is harder than I thought! Ichigo fumed beneath the fused exterior.
We have to beat him somehow though, Rukia replied.
I know, dammit! There must be something we're overlooking.
"Urahara!" Ichiruki yelled to the shop-keeper. "Isn't there something you can do?"
"I'm afraid not." the blond-man replied. "However, I have noticed there is a weak-point on him!"
"Where?"
The question went unanswered as the hollow crossed blades with them again and ripped the words apart.
"I won't let you find out that easily!" the demonic beast roared in fury, chain wrapped around the blade of Ichiruki's zanpakuto.
And then they saw it.
On the Black Hollow's left forearm was a small skull symbol that kept lighting up a red-orange colour. Thinking back, Ichigo remembered the first time he saw the Bankai it had been a light blue.
Rukia, that symbol on his gauntlet, you see it?
Of course I see it, idiot! What about it?
It's changed colours as the battle has progressed. Maybe if we destroyed it his Bankai would vanish.
It could work, but it might just make matters worse.
"We've got to try." Ichiruki said firmly. "Getsuga Tenshou!"
The lunar fang wreathed around the blade and the chain fell away under the burst of super-dense pressure. As he returned his blade to his hand, the hollow was taken by surprise by the fusion coming close, the lunar-fang-shrouded sword swooping downward towards the left arm. Desperately, he grabbed his weapon and thrust forward and into the oncomer's abdomen as the sword clanged into the skull-marking with a slight crunch of metal. The hollow grinned.
"I win, Shinigami!" he declared. "Any last words?"
The black-haired person looked up, shrouded in a blue aura as white and black energy swirled all around, and half-grinned.
"Getsuga..." they said, inhaling deeply before shouting out loud; "TENSHOU!"
A huge explosion of the dense pressure tore over the duo and a loud shattering sound followed by another loud explosion as a shockwave of red cancelled out the first explosion and revealed the pair. At first, nothing happened and it seemed that the hunch was wrong, when the wings and arms from the Hollow's Bankai began to turn to ash and Ichigo and Rukia separated, both covered in the same wounds. The three gazed at each other, each now normal, although the Hollow's zanpakuto was now disintegrating.
"Didn't think you'd have it in you, Ichigo Kurosaki." he managed as his mask cracked and the lower jaw fell away. "I suppose it is fitting that you see my true identity." The hollow reached up and pulled away his crumbling mask to reveal...
Above Karakura Park
Depsigh roared in pain as a Dark Fate Cero caught him unawares and damaged his already battered body further. Kai grunted as his side was ruptured by the counter-attack and sensed his Bankai was at it's limit.
"Damn, here we go again." he panted, the panels between the phalanges on his wings vanishing. "Deathly Supernova Dragon, Overdrive!"
Electricity crackled in the air as a blue aura surrounded the battle-worn Vizard, restoring his wings and a small portion of his mask, which now covered only the left eye and surrounding face with the left horn chipped. Depsigh panted but laughed.
"Prepare yourself, I'll only show you this once." he rasped, his upper left hand crackling. "Decimator!" A large blue spear of unstable crackling energy (reminiscent of Ulquiorra's Lanza Del Relampago) took shape. "This is my ultimate technique, so it will be an honour to die by it."
The spear was thrown at the teen but he blocked it with his right hand, flames still pouring from it, and crushed it, causing it to fizzle out.
"It's disappointing that your ultimate technique is dependant on you reiatsu level," Kai said, black flames surrounding his hand. "Here is my final attack too, so be ready. Infernal Dragon Strike!"
Kai's movements sped up and as he flew at the arrancar-like creature, his adversary lost sight of him for moments, before the fist crashed into his chest and a blast of dark flames erupting from the impact and surrounding the pair. When it subsided, the fiend known as JX stood before Kai, his clothes blood-soaked and his breathing heavy.
"Damn you!" he cursed. "This won't be the last you hear of me, boy! I'll return and I will destroy you!" He straightened up and raised a hand to his chest. "Temporal Rift, Discharge!"
The blue electricity that had brought the man to Karakura wreathed him again and he vanished. Kai grinned for a moment, then fell, his zanpakuto returned to it's Shikai state.
Until next time... he thought as he hit the ground.
Karakura Park
Ichigo's eyes widened as he saw the face before him. The face was one he saw so often and one Rukia held dear to herself, yet the look of shock on Ichigo's face was incomprehensible.
"You're..." he trailed off as the hollow half smiled as his body began to flake away.
"I'm you." he finished. "I was made with your DNA, hence why I look like this."
"How? I don't..."
"Do not worry, it was an experiment gone wrong into manipulative zanpakuto." the face began to crumble. "But now, I am freed. Thank you both... Goodbye."
As the hollow vanished into black dust, Ichigo and Rukia exchanged looks of bewilderment before the girl collapsed in her partner's arms.
"Rukia?" Ichigo said gently, shaking her. "Rukia!" He turned to the shop-keeper as Kai slammed down nearby. "Urahara! Rukia needs help!"
To be concluded next time...
Okay, second from last chapter, the next being an epilogue of sorts, and also my longest chapter to date.
Yes, the Black Hollow was, in a way, Ichigo! o_O
Work this out, Ichigo technically ran Rukia through twice and stabbed himself.
Okay, please tell me what you thought and ideas for the look ahead for After The Winter War.
I should point out, the After War Fanfic is a sequence of stories taking place after the Winter War and will be comprised of multiple fanfiction stories.
For now, goodbye and Merry Christmas!