Ch 24
"I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise anything Ichigo." Those were the final words Ichigo had heard from Rukia before she went back to Soul Society. It had been just a little while before Ichigo and Kenpachi had gone to get dinner.
Ichigo featured his usual scowl as he sat on the throne in Las Noches. On his sides Grimmjow and Ulquiorra sat in their respective chairs, while the rest of the Espada plus Kenpachi and Karin sat around the table. Ichigo had called for a meeting, and he was going to go through the invasion plans. Ichigo sighed heavily before he clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.
"As you all probably know, I have decided to go to war against the Seiretei," he began receiving nods from everyone in the room. "I did not wish for this to happen, but they came here and attacked all of us. As your leader I cannot allow it to pass, and I know several of you want revenge. Several of your fraccion died, and I know that means a lot to you. All of you probably want to rip every shinigami you see to pieces," he finished taking a breath.
Several grunts of confirmation could be heard through the room and Ichigo sighed, knowing the next words would probably stir them up.
"Not all of the shinigami inside the Seiretei are guilty," Ichigo said. "Shinigami are shinigami, and they killed many of our comrades," The 6th snarled.
"I believe you are wrong. One of my closest friends will find a way of marking those squads that refrained from joining the attack on Las Noches, and I expect all of you to recognize that mark and either fight alongside those shinigami or leave them alone," Ichigo continued.
"Give us a reason why," they snarled.
"You might think that they want to slaughter you all, but those squads and the people within them are my friends. That's the reason why they are rebelling against their own," Ichigo explained.
"Still, we can't promise anything," they grunted. Ichigo frowned, and took every Espada, Karin, Grimmjow and Ulquiorra by surprise when he snarled loudly.
"As you're respective King I demand that you follow my orders. If not I can promise you a cruel death that even the devil himself wouldn't handle," Ichigo's voice rang through the room, his reiatsu sky rocketing bringing his seriousness to the surface. The walls were cracking and trembling in the after waves of Ichigo's voice and all the Espada's eyes were turned down at the table in shame.
"Hai, Ichigo-sama," they said. Karin and Kenpachi looked at the Espada in awe; they were literally trembling under the fury of their leader. They would have never thought that their cute Ichigo could be so intimidating, and looked over to Ulquiorra and Grimmjow.
Grimmjow's face had a shit eating grin on it, while Ulquiorra's face was the same as ever. They both strode forward to stand on their brother's side and Grimmjow began laughing in his characteristic maniac like way.
He rose his fist up in the air and roared "Are we ready to fight?" "Yes!" The Espada called. "Are we going to win?" He continued. "Yes!" The Espada shouted, "Well then my friends, let's kick some shinigami butt's," Grimmjow ended with a feral roar before marching out of the throne room followed by the Espada.
Once outside Ichigo took over and shouted "Gather up your fraccion and brief them on the plan. We meet back up here in ten!" With that he turned around and faced Kenpachi and Karin. "This is war!"
Inside the Seiretei the walls were cracking up, the ground was trembling and everything was in turmoil. The inhabitants could feel it coming, could feel the wrath that was surging their way.
Inside the 11th squad barracks the hall was packed full of people. In addition to the 11th squad, the 13th, the 10th, the 9th, the 6th, and the 5th were there. They were all waiting for the 1st squad to arrive.
Some of them still found it hard to believe that Byakuya would side with the former substitute shinigami. Byakuya had always stated the perfect example and followed the rules of the Central 46, yet he had decided to protect his little sister's friend.
Once Rukia had arrived back in Soul Society she had immediately informed her brother of Ichigo's wishes. While she had been gone Byakuya had been going through the old archives with the help of Genryusai's lieutenant, and he had soon found what he had been looking for.
Inside the book he drew from the shelf there was a record of every single Kurosaki that had been reported killed, and the name of the assassin had been written behind.
There had been no explanation for why the 5th noble clan had been vaporized, the mission text only stated that the Kurosaki were to be disposed of.
Even Byakuya had a sense of sympathy, guilt and shame and he truly despised the actions of the Central 46. Most of the shinigami that had been assigned the task of assassinating a Kurosaki were still alive, and the finest of Byakuya's squad had been sent out to kill them for their crime.
Byakuya's face held no emotions as the Seiretei fell into turmoil. Ichigo was coming and he wasn't even trying to hide it. All the other squad's had already spread out and were positioned along the thick walls surrounding the Seiretei, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.
Fool's as they were they thought it was probably a natural phenomenon or just your regular hollow attack.
At the south end the squad positioned there gasped, as several Garganta's opened in the sky and several of them relived horrible memories from the war against Aizen. As two figures appeared in separate Garganta's, one man gasped loudly gaining the other's attention.
The view of Grimmjow and Ulquiorra sent shivers down their spine, all of the squad members knew very well the strength hidden behind those Cyan and Jade eyes.
Ulquiorra and Grimmjow had launched a full frontal attack, and both of them were barging through the 3rd squad beating the shinigami down. During the time of 10 minutes nearly half of the squad was lying on the ground, unconscious. None of them were fatally injured, but they had been dealt enough damage to stay down for a good 4 or 5 hours.
Grimmjow slid into a stop in front of the pending shinigami and gave them a wide grin, which reflected the light on his sharp fangs. He gave off a feral snarl, and watched as several of the shinigami began trembling in fear as he licked the blood of their comrades off of his fingers. "You're next," he laughed before he vanished for a split second.
In the next half of the remaining force fell unconscious to the ground as their blood dyed the wall behind them crimson red.
"You bastard!" The remaining 50 shinigami shouted as they lunged for the blue haired man. Grimmjow snarled in excitement and met the small army head on, laughing as enemy after enemy fell victim to his Pantera's lethal blade. As there was only one left standing his cyan eyes pinned the shinigami to the wall.
"I can feel Pantera trembling, she's yearning for your blood," he growled lowly before stabbing the shinigami just beneath the joining of his ribcages sending the man unconscious to the ground. His keen ear twitched at the sound of feet hitting the ground in the distance.
The 4th squad had sent half of their force as soon as they got a request for assistance over the transmitter, not knowing they had just sent half of their squad into their death. The shinigami were running until they hit an invisible barrier. Grimmjow listened as the sound of steps stopped and a shit eating grin painted his face as he laughed loudly.
The thrill of the hunt, the fear of the fight, the adrenaline that came with winning. This was what he lived for, he lived to fight. He used his sonido and was quickly at the spot where the reinforcements had come to a halt. As they began getting back up, Ulquiorra appeared before them.
His presence alone sent shivers down their spines, and they knew they stood no chance against the former Quatro Espada, whom was now the Primera.
As they launched for the pale being, several of them believed they saw the shape of a giant black dragon behind the man. As they all fell victim to Murcielago's teeth Ulquiorra said Trash, before wiping off imaginary dirt from his jacket while joining up with his brother once more.
Grimmjow planted his knuckles into Ulquiorra's back in a good job manner, but was quickly shot the death glare and wisely retreated to his position behind Ulquiorra as they walked along the outside of the wall to their next victims.
At the east side of the Seiretei several shinigami found themselves high up in the air, as Karin's Tatsumaki sent it's furious winds at them. The large tornado let the blood of the ones caught in it dye the ones below red in their comrades blood. Having to knock all these shinigami out pained Karin, for even though they weren't Ichigo's friends they held no grudge and were only following orders.
She was alone on the east front, having told Ichigo she could deal with a squad alone. So far she was doing quite well, having only minor injuries. Though her reiatsu and power couldn't even begin to compare to Ichigo, Ulquiorra and Grimmjow's she was smart.
Using her brain in battle she gained a good advantage, even though several of her opponents could be considered stronger as well as being far more experienced. Originally the 4th squad had been stationed here, but since half of the squad had been taken out by Ulquiorra, the rest was ordered to retreat and be on standby to treat any casualties that came in.
Now the 7th squad had arrived, and Karin could feel the battle eating from her strength. She had already fought a good part of the 4th squad before they retreated, and now she had to deal with fully rested shinigami from the 7th. She was only 16 after all, and her body was not strong enough to gain more power at the moment.
She could feel that dark part of her soul clawing at the barrier she had built inside, and if the strain of this battle kept on going she feared the hollow would break loose and take her over. If that happened she would probably go on a rampage, and kill everyone. If she wasn't able to take back control or defeat her hollow that was what would happen, that was what Ichigo had told her and she knew he was right.
She let out a feral growl, being around all the men in Las Noches had left some primitive traits with her, and she was now prone to growling and roaring like her brothers. She thought it funny, because she felt like an animal when she did. And her snarls and growls seemed to shock her enemies to the point where they got used to it.
She snarled viciously and her eyes flashed blue before she sent a chain of strong cutting gusts of wind at the squad in front of her. She grinned happily when at least ¼ of the squad fell unconscious with several blood draining cuts on their bodies.
The lieutenant of the squad was there and she frowned when she saw the power the young girl had. When another chain of gusts came surging through the air and doubled the number of the defeated, she didn't hesitate. Karin grinned as the furious lieutenant flew in for an attack, and evaded the blow.
They entered a dance of attacking and dodging, and soon enough Karin landed a shallow blow on the females shoulder. She winced by the pain, but quickly featured a determined look in her face. Using her more trained Shunpo she outmatched Karin's speed and grinned as what she thought would be a fatal blow hit Karin.
She flinched at the sound of metal hitting metal, and her eyes grew big with surprise as Karin's uniform was shredded when she drew back her blade. Beneath Karin's clothing numerous springs and leather straps were covering her body, as well as a couple of bandages here and there.
The girl was incredible, how was she able to fight so well when she was being restrained by the harness, as well as being wounded from something that she assumed must have been an earlier fight. Such skill at a young age, who in the world could be her sensei? The lieutenant thought.
Caught up in her own mind she failed to realize that Karin didn't wait for her opponents to gather themselves, and she shrieked as Karin's blade dug through her flesh. She looked down her chest and found her uniform torn to shreds, showing the path Tatsumaki had carved in her body. She took to her chest, and watched as the blood ran through her fingers and formed pools on the dusty ground below her.
She was paralyzed with fear, having been outdone by a girl that was hundreds of years younger than her. She coughed loudly as she collapsed onto her knees. She refused to give up though, and as she tilted her head upward she could see Karin putting the rest of the squad to sleep.
She noticed something; the girl seemed to be careful with delivering her blows. Then she realized; Karin was only dealing enough damage to make them fall unconscious. Why was that? She thought. As Karin sealed Tatsumaki she came back to the lieutenant as she noticed the woman was still awake and pointed her blade at her.
She was about to fire a kido, when a figure appeared out of nowhere behind her. The lieutenant that was still glued powerless to the ground looked at the young man behind the girl. She recognized him immediately; he was Ichigo Hitsugaya, the lieutenant of the 11th squad whom had been banished by the Central 46.
"Nii-sama," Karin called as she ran into the arms of her brother.
"You did well Karin. I'll show you to an entrance that our allies prepared for us, so that you can get inside the Seiretei and rest at my squad's barrack," Ichigo continued. Karin nodded and sheathed her Zanpakuto before she followed her brother.
The lieutenant watched as the reiatsu of the man formerly known as substitute shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo created ripples in the air, as he calmly walked off the now silent battlefield of the eastern borders of the Seiretei.
"Darn it, I want to go out there," an energetic Ikakku shouted while rubbing his bald head. He earned himself a good punch from Yumichika, as the feminine man said. "Have patience, rushing out to the battlefield with no grace is not beautiful." "Oh shut up Yumichika, I couldn't care less about your obsession with beauty right now," he shot back at the dark haired man.
"You know, I've always wondered what your hair color is. You've never bothered to grow your hair out," Yumichika said with a chuckle pretending to study Ikakku's bald head. "Yumichika!" Ikakku snarled.
Yumichika frowned at the man before reaching a hand up grabbing him by the ear.
"Now listen up, we were given orders by so-taicho Kuchiki to stay here until our captain returns," Yumichika snarled. "Yeah yeah… We don't even know if he'll actually come. I can't stand sitting on my butt here when all the other squads on Ichigo's side are either preparing for battle or participating in it," Ikakku growled.
"Madarame Ikakku," Yumichika snarled warningly. "Screw you girly, I'm going out," Ikakku snarled dashing for the door. The entire squad had been watching the quarrel between the seated officers, and they couldn't help but laugh. Yumichika reached out after Ikakku in an attempt to stop him but failed.
He sighed as Ikakku reached the door, but froze in surprise as the bald man let out a not so manly scream.
"Ikakku, where the hell do you think you are going," a deep and baritone voice sounded, and Ikakku shivered at the breath tickling his ear. "Captain Zaraki," he whispered.
"That's right, now get your ass back in there and sit down by Yumichika," Kenpachi snarled. Yumichika laughed wholeheartedly as Ikakku came running back with his tail between his legs, and he quickly caught Ikakku's shiny head under his arm locking him in place.
"Captain Zaraki," the whole squad called out in excitement as they quickly split into their respective lines sorted by rank.
"Good day my loyal squad," Kenpachi grinned. As Kenpachi took his place on his stand that was slightly higher than the plateau that his squad was on, the squad could notice several large older injuries that were still healing, as well as fresh ones that were bandaged and patched.
"What happened to you captain," Yumichika asked curiously. Kenpachi snarled lowly at the question before sighing heavily. "I owe you an explanation for my absence," he said to the squad.
"As much as I hate to admit it I was beaten to the point that I was barely alive, and was brought as a hostage item under the attack on Las Noches. I don't remember anything from it since I was unconscious during the whole scheme. All I remember was waking up inside the walls of Las Noches, with Ichigo at my side. Ichigo had won and tended to me, and told me how the squads had used my beaten up and half dead body as a means to bring Ichigo down," Kenpachi continued.
The squad knew very well how much their lieutenant hated to see his fellow team mates or their captain hurt and used, and they easily understood that seeing Kenpachi beaten half to death could make him loose his mind, making him an easier target and opponent.
"Ichigo told me that captain Unohana was the last one standing, and that she had dragged me out on the battlefield with a rope around my neck ready to strangle me. Ichigo told me how the sight had filled him with extra strength, even though he was already exhausted from defeating several captains before her. And so he saved me and had me patched up," Kenpachi finished.
"What happened to her?" A member of the squad asked. "Ichigo ended her life," Kenpachi said in a casual tone as if it was nothing big. A loud gasp came from the entire squad, and they began chattering between them. That action would just add to Ichigo's sentence, all though it probably didn't matter since it was an all-out war at the moment.
On Kenpachi's right Ikakku had broken free from Yumichika and walked up to his captain. "Who was it that beat you up?" He asked with flames oozing of killing intent in his eyes.
"Huh?...Oh," Kenpachi said scratching his forehead.
"Mayuri, Unohana, Sui-Feng, Komamura, and Shunsui ganged up on me. I didn't go down without a fight, all but Shunsui and Unohana resorted to their Ban Kai's," Kenpachi chuckled. "How could they!" The whole squad shouted in anger at the statement.
"Tch… They were simply licking the boots of the Central 46, wagging their tails as they followed the old geezers' orders," Kenpachi snarled. Instantly the whole aura of the room changed, as dark shadows painted the face of every single member in the squad.
"The Central 46," they said in unison.
Yeah, so finally I completed a new chapter. Guy's I am really sorry for keeping you waiting like this. But right now my mind is shadowed by many things, and I find it difficult to write anything. I've been trying to fire up my inspiration lately by reading a crap load of fiction and manga, and it has helped a lot. It seems like I have gotten enough to at least continue writing, and I really hope this chapter lives up to your expectations.
Also I am opening up requests, so if you have one please PM me and I'll give you details on what I can do. I posted my request info as a story, but was told to take it down by the Mods since it wasn't a real story :/ So now I've got to do everything by Private Messaging..
Reviews are most welcome.
Thank you!