Track 21: Excuse Me While I Kill Myself

At this point in the story several angles presented themselves as to how this chapter would be played out. I have decided upon this one and I hope you are pleased with the result.

The air in the eighth circle was a welcome relief from the previous few. There was no suffocating darkness, no perpetual night and dancing shadows. There were no mushroom clouds or the scent of death and gunpowder. It was peaceful here...

Was...

Already a surge of bloodlust had consumed the people and the members of Soul reaper had been reduced to fighting with what could very well be their clones (Except for Grimmjow). The brief peace had been shattered the moment Grimmjow's face was slammed through the table near the bar. The instant Renji spear tackled his younger counterpart and buried his fist in his jaw. A brawl had ensued, reluctant at first, but with the realisation of the threat at hand both parties threw themselves into the maelstrom of violence.

Nnoitra grabbed at Tesla's throat and threw him into the wall. "You copy-cat son of a bitch! How dare you! I'll fucking kill you!"

"Why? I never meant you any harm! I swear we were only doing this because Stan told us to!" Tesla argued feebly, holding his hands up to his face in a simplistic defence.

"Oh yeah?" Nnoitra cocked his head to one side, "Well guess what! Your uncle Stan told us you were out to slit our throats in our sleep and take over our places. We know you want to bump us off and seize the glory for yourself! He also told us we had better stop you fast before our necks are on the chopping board! So take this!" The lanky drummed drove his knee deep into Tesla's gut, following up with a skull-shattering head-butt which knocked the younger man to the floor.

"Please?" Rikichi cried as Renji hovered over him, a broken bottle in his hand. "Please don't! You've got it all wrong!" Renji did not falter, using his superior strength to overpower his imposter. Rikichi panicked and kicked out, striking him in the stomach and sending the red-haired guitarist stumbling backwards into the giant fox-man Kommamura. Before he could even spin around the behemoth swung his huge fist around, back-handing him and knocking him to the floor.

"Fight on!" Kommamura roared. "They are just a test! We must defeat them!"

"B-but-" Rikichi stammered.

"Fight!" The giant cried. "Do you want to die?"

The young boy looked down to the floor. "Well..." He did not finish, letting out a shrill scream when Renji was dropped at his feet. The fox-man stared down at him, looking like a god with his room-filling frame.

"Live on Rikichi. You heard Stan. Soul Reaper was killed. These are merely imposters. Kill them and achieve glory. Soar so high that you cannot see the depths of madness you had once lived. Make the real Soul Reaper proud." The mammoth dropped the broken bottle beside the boy. He looked at him knowingly and nodded towards Renji's body. His lupine eyes said it all.

Rikichi grappled morally, staring at the man he had idolised- No the man who looked like the one he idolised! Or...was Kommamura wrong? Was this the real band? What was he supposed to do? He found himself staring at his terrified expression in the green glass of the bottle. He didn't want to become a murderer, even if his life was at stake. Surely there was a better way of dealing with them? Right?

Renji stirred, grasping his sore head and looking up dazedly at his foe. He spotted the broken glass hovering over his throat and he reacted accordingly. With a fierce snarl, he lunged at the young boy, knocking the bottle from his hands and snatching it up for himself. Before the boy could react his trachea was sliced open by broken glass. He gurgled pitifully while Renji hacked away, desperate to finish the job quickly.

Other members of the supposedly rival bands watched on in horror. Their jaws agape and eyes wide. Fury and adrenaline surged through them and they entered the fray at once to defend their comrades.

Kaien hefted a bar stool and struck Renji over the back of the head, knocking him flat on his face. He then proceeded to break the wooden stool against the guitarist's spine, striking repeatedly until he was taken down by a drop-kick from his look-alike, Ichigo Kurosaki.

Kaien wiped blood from his nose and snarled, "Your friend just killed Rikichi! I will never forgive you! I don't care if you are the real Soul Reaper...Now, you must die!" He charged, swinging one bent leg of the stool in his white-knuckled hands. Ichigo ducked under the over-head swing and brought his shoulder into his opponent's centre mass, lifting him off his feet. He then pushed all of his body weight into his upper body and slammed Kaien into the floor with enough force to break through it.

Meanwhile Hisana and Rukia stood their ground against one another, not daring to make a move. They knew they had to fight, but both women were so terribly afraid of death. The violence around them was like a nightmare that could not be woken from. They were trapped amongst it all, helpless and afraid. Hisana saw her partner fall out of the corner of her eye and she dashed from her stand-off to defend him. Rukia saw her head towards Ichigo and she panicked. She looked around and found a knife on a chopping board. The barman had been slicing limes to place in someone's drink before he had been forced to flee. In his haste to escape he had left everything out in the open. Rukia took up the sharp blade and followed in close pursuit.

Ichigo hurled another heavy punch, slamming his fist hard against Kaien's face, grating against bone and forcing blood out of his nose and mouth. Bruises were already appearing around his eyes were he had been struck repeatedly, but just as Ichigo raised his hand to strike again he saw delicate little fingers float before his eyes. He did not interpret them as a threat...Not until he felt the girl's nails digging into his face, clawing at his eyes and drawing blood. He cried out in agony and tried desperately to fight back but by then Kaien had managed to sit up and threw a sluggish punch just under his ribs. Ichigo felt waves of pain course through him and for a moment everything was flashing red. He coughed violently and doubled over, only assisting Hisana's raking nails tear through his face.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGH!"

Hisana laughed manically as she drew her nails through Ichigo's cheek. She could feel his skin give way and her fingers were washed in warm blood. She licked her lips and wrenched her hands backwards, ripping into him and causing the boy to scream like she had never heard a man scream before. She wanted desperately to laugh, but all the air was knocked out of her lungs suddenly. She rocked forward and tried to roll out of harm's way but she was overcome with pain. She craned her neck and stared at a black piece of plastic. It wasn't until her assailant pulled the object out that she realised it was a knife. She stared at the long piece of steel and immediately she threw up. The entire blade had been lodged inside her back and only now was it starting to sink in.

Rukia kneeled over her, staring at the blade in her hands and then to her foe. "Don't...Don't you ever touch my husband!"

Hisana gritted her teeth and cursed, "You...B-b-bitch! I'll-" She was cut off, her words replaced by a long low groan as the knife once again sailed through her flesh as if it were butter. She sank to the floor and lay there helplessly as Rukia stabbed her relentlessly, soaking them both in death's elixir. She continued to drive the blade into her corpse long after Hisana's heart was perforated like Swiss cheese and her face hidden in a thick congealing pool of gore. Rukia continued hacking away...unable to stop until the nightmare released her.

That release came from the arms of her lover, Ichigo. He placed a hand on her rigid shoulders and in an instant she relaxed, dropping the blade and weeping into his chest. He cradled her with one hand and kept the other over his ravaged face.

Nnoitra crushed Tesla's head against the corner of the bar, fracturing his skull and rendering him a lifeless corpse. He threw the limp body across the bar and cursed, rage boiling over within him. He scanned the room and saw nothing but red.

Rukia and Ichigo were cowering in the corner, Renji was knocked out, face down on the floor and Grimmjow...He was struggling. His opponent was far too large and far too strong to be taken down easily and each hit he managed to score upon the behemoth was practically harmless. On the other hand each hit Kommamura dealt to the tinier bass player were approaching fatal.

Grimmjow was a bloodied mess and he could barely stand, but still he charged towards him, determined until the end. He swung his arm sluggishly in what was most likely a punch but looked like nothing more than a muscle spasm. He came within striking distance when Kommamura swung his own arm in a wide arc. Just as his hand crashed against him, Kommamura was knocked down. He collided with the floor with an earth-shattering thud.

Nnoitra stood over the giant with a frown on his face. "Hey big man, pick on someone your own size!"

Grimmjow seemed barely aware of the situation but he took advantage of it and threw weak, exhausted punches into Kommamura's side. They had little or no effect on his foe but he did not care, it felt good to finally be landing hits on the huge bastard.

Nnoitra rolled his eyes and executed a monstrous axe-kick, burying his heel into the giant's stomach. Kommamura's eyes widened and he spat out a thick splattering of bloody saliva. He groaned in a mixture of fury and pain and desperately tried to roll over and fight back; however Nnoitra had the upper hand. Stuck on a dual high of both adrenaline and the cure, Nnoitra was invincible. With a blindingly fast volley of punches Nnoitra smashed through the beast's rib cage, breaking bones (not just those of the fox-man, but even his own. His right hand became dislocated, hanging awkwardly from his wrist in a disgustingly wrong position.

Nnoitra overlooked it and sat down, watching the monster struggling for breath. Even if he managed to stand up again the sheer effort of fighting would cause him to break down and be rendered incapacitated. The drummer turned to his damaged hand and prodded it curiously, wincing from the excruciating results of his stupid idea.

Kommamura pushed himself up, only to fall back down on his injured side and with that, he was down and out, unable to stand and unable to fight. He had failed to avenge his wounded pride and he had failed the trial. Not only would he fail to attain the ultimate power of a god...Now he couldn't even manage to stand up. He was trapped in place like a pathetic turtle. He cursed his failures and slammed his fist into the floor.

"Damn...Damn...Damn!"

The wounded members of Soul Reaper, the real Soul Reaper, crowded around him. Rukia was crying, Renji and Grimmjow both looked dazed and confused and Ichigo looked infuriated.

"You were behind this weren't you?" Ichigo asked, his no-nonsense tone demanding a response.

Kommamura averted his gaze, glancing over at his fallen comrades...Or had they been pawns? IT was his request to do this mission for Stan. He had almost begged like the dog he was...

Ichigo prodded him with his foot. "Hey! I asked you a question! Were you behind all of this?" The fiery-haired boy's scowl was made all the more fearsome from the jagged scars across his face and the grotesque bloody paint which was smeared all over.

The beast had been subdued. Soul Reaper had bested him...Yet again. The least he could do would be to answer them.

With a submissive sigh, Kommamura nodded, "Yes...I planned this with Stan. I begged him to let me have my vengeance upon the bastards who robbed me of my pride and shattered my dreams..." He received stunned glares after that. He did not know whether they were an acknowledgement of what they had done, or mere revulsion at his stubbornness. Either way, the giant continued with his story, ignoring them for the most part.

"At first I only wanted to go after your bass player. It was he who had destroyed my passion and shamed me for the rest of my days. I wanted nothing more than to kill that fucking bastard...But Stan saw this as a game." He sighed again before moving on. "Stan decided to find a group of look-alikes and offered them a free place up here in the eighth circle. Of course everyone accepted without any questions. Most of them had only just entered the town and hadn't even started their trials."

"Stan brought us all together and told us we would become a replacement for Soul Reaper. The others were reluctant to interfere with the work of a band that they idolised. Stan already predicted that and so he told us you had all been killed in a terrorist attack. He even made us watch the town below as it was decimated by your battle against the protesters."

The others all looked stunned.

"Seeing the flames and the smoke and hearing the deafening explosions as they tore apart the town...It was convincing enough for the others. Only I knew you had survived. Stan kept me updated on the situation, knowing full well I would only go through with the plan if you were still alive. The others were quite the opposite, only prone to go ahead with the plan knowing that their heroes were gone. They played along as a tribute band, not knowing the true purpose behind our gathering or the performances."

"Were they ever ordered to hunt us down?" Ichigo asked, dreading the answer.

Kommamura stared straight at him and shook his head. He said nothing, watching on as the already weakened spirit of the band suddenly sank to nothing. He watched them all break, their resolve dissolving at the news.

Ichigo stared down at his hands and whispered in a trembling voice, far different from the deep, authoritive tone form before, "My god...We...They...They were innocent?"

Kommamura grinned, revealing his fangs which had been caked in dried blood. "Stan was right...He...He told me you would interpret your orders that way. But...He never...Ever told you we were out to kill you."

It seemed almost worth the agony to see the revulsion on all their faces. To see them sinking so low was vengeance enough. He would have laughed then and there, but he couldn't. He just smirked arrogantly and watched them fall apart. The band that had been glorified as unstoppable, determined, courageous and above all, the greatest had now become this, a sad, sobbing wreck...

Now...Now they understand the pain of a shattered dream! Ha ha ha!

Ichigo collapsed to his knees. Looking around at the destruction he had caused. How? How could they have misread Stan's intentions so badly? The conversation they had was now replaying over and over in his mind, each time revealing the horrible truth...

"Stan must be laughing now..." Kommamura rasped, "You are all fools...You heard him order you to kill and so you immediately assumed they were a threat to you...How pathetic. Your stupidity is remarkable...You sicken me! How I wish I could move right now...I would destroy you all."

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Ichigo screamed. He grasped the sides of his head and stared at the floor. He was rocking back and forth, odd little whimpers escaping him. The others all wore empty expressions, devoid of the passion they once had. Stan's little game had succeeded. "I...I...I didn't..."

"You are a bloodthirsty demon." Kommamura snarled, "You are a depraved creature of the night. You delude yourself with your ideals of innocence! Innocence is just a dream for the ignorant. In this world you must fight or you will die. You must not look back or you will stray off the path. You have failed. You have all failed. You came so far and now you have fallen."

Ichigo was sobbing hysterically now. He could not control the rampant flood of tears that flooded from his eyes. He was shaking fervently as well, his heart seizing up, lungs shrivelling, airways tightening. He was cold, far too cold. He couldn't see straight...What was happening?

Kommamura relished in the young man's inner torment and at last he was able to laugh, bellowing out loud, further damaging the fragile hearts of the band members. He continued to laugh until he felt a sudden convulsive attack and all breath was sucked out of his body. He gasped for air and found none to draw in for breath. He gasped one last time before his body went rigid. He wished desperately to curse the name of his sworn rivals, but death was impatient. Death claimed him, but he did not care...

Soul Reaper would be joining him soon enough...

Well, Stan's deception has been revealed. The last nail in the coffin now! How much longer can Soul Reaper endure this madness? Will they succeed in defeating Stan and rescuing not only themselves, but Ichigo's family and indeed the world? Yeah I bet you didn't expect that from a crack fic huh? You thought it would be jokes and retardedness 100% but there is a serious side too. Seriously brutal! YEAH! WE'RE GONNA FUCK UP SOME SHIT!