Frozen Savior

by That Crazy Guy

The Boy had been deemed a child prodigy. But unjust forces victimized him in the cruelest way imaginable. What does the young genuis do from there on out? And what effect will it have on his present and the future of both our world and the Soul Society?

26. Frozen Savior

Author's notes: howdy everyone, you all doing alright? Sorry this took so long but I had final exams and I just got back from my vacation to Washington D.C. great city just so you know. Anyway while I'm sorry about the weight I have some good news…I believe this is the largest chapter I've ever written so go nuts

Please enjoy and don't forget to review

And remember if you think I own Bleach or Devil May Cry then you're ******* nuts

Ch. 26 Frozen Savior

"So that's what you were planning all along Gin…to kill me?" Aizen thought in disbelief as he parried a strike from Shunsui and glared towards the fallen body of the boy whom he had believed to be his faithful servant "how pathetic" he attempted to stab Shunsui but the eighth squad's captain was able leap back in time to avoid it.

"AIZEN!" Shinji shouted as he leapt towards his former lieutenant with his mask dawned and unleashed a barrage of attacks forcing Aizen to leap back.

"And you did it all for the sake of a single woman?" Aizen continued in his mind as he smirked beneath his mask "very well then, I'll just be sure to erase what you fought for" he pointed his left hand towards the ground where Rangiku was kneeling over Gin's body "a fitting punishment" his hand began to glow white.

"Damn it" Ichigo swore as he swung his Tensa Zangetsu down on Aizen only for him to block it with his sword.

"If only you were here to see how worthless all your efforts were Gin" Aizen smirked as he fired a snow white cero straight towards the ground towards Rangiku.

A large mushroom cloud over forty stories in height erupted from the explosion throwing debris everywhere and causing nearby buildings to collapse from the force. Aizen's eyes drifted from the sight of the explosion to another location several miles away with a look of frustration evident in his eyes as he forced Ichigo back with a swipe of his sword.

*With Retsu and the healers*

"Incredible" Retsu thought in disbelief after Toushirou suddenly appeared in front of her holding Rangiku bridal style "he was able to get his lieutenant out of the way from a location several miles away from him, and then bring her here in the blink of an eye" her shock turned to concern as Toushirou collapsed on the ground "don't tell me he's!"

"Captain Unohana, what's wrong with him?" Rangiku asked in concern as she crawled over to him, her legs had long since given out on her "please be alright, I can't lose anyone else!" she thought as Retsu began to examine him.

"I was afraid of this" Retsu stated she engulfed her hands in a soft green light and placed them over Toushirou's body.

"What's wrong with him? Will he okay?" Rangiku asked pleadingly.

Retsu looked towards the younger woman who on her hands and knees "she can't even mover her legs because of the burns from Lieutenant Hinamori…she's clearly devoted" she thought before saying "all that time he spent being tortured by the Fukahana spell effectively wrecked his spiritual network, the system which regulates the flow of a person's spiritual powers, to be honest it's a miracle he was able to perform that shunpo."

"Can you help him?" Rangiku asked.

"Yes, but it'll take time" Retsu answered causing Rangiku to look down "don't worry, he'll be fine, in the meantime why don't you ask Isane or Orihime to help you?"

"Right…" Rangiku replied as she gripped the cloth covering her motionless legs with her hands and Orihime rushed towards her "…Gin…Toushirou…I'm so sorry…"

*The Skies Above*

"Looks like the kid's been taken out" Shinji sighed "it would've been nice to have him help us out, that spiritual pressure was something out."

"Don't worry about it Shinji" Alexander stated calmly "Retsu's a good doctor, he'll be on his feet in no time."

"Calling Captain Unohana by her first name?" Shinji thought in disbelief at his phrase "you've come a long way since leaving us" he watched as his comrade rushed towards his former lieutenant "the Fifth Squad seems to attract so interesting individuals" he followed after Alexander.

"Now this is amusing" Aizen stated as Alexander swung down with Nehan forcing Aizen to block by holding his sword horizontally "both my predecessor and successor attacking me at once" Alexander thrust Kokuhyou towards him from beneath his sword forcing Aizen to sidestep in order to avoid having a blade driven through his heart, Aizen was about to follow it up with a swipe of his own but Shinji swung his sword down forcing him to retreat backwards "and you've both gained such powers because of me" Aizen smirked "perhaps you should be thanking me?"

"You son of a…" Shinji hissed but was cut off when he saw Alexander's Nehan flying towards Aizen who had to swing his own blade upwards to deflect the sword into the air, his eyes shrank when Alexander appeared in front of him with Kokuhyou raised up prepared to strike with both hands wrapped around the blade.

"Kendo?" Aizen thought in alarm as he tried to prepare a block but couldn't as Alexander swung Kokuhyou down on him with every last ounce of strength he could muster resulting in a large explosion which sent Aizen flying backwards.

"Limit of the thousand hands, respectful hands, unable to touch the darkness" Alexander began to chant as he caught Nehan with his left hand and crossed his blades "shooting hands unable to reflect the blue sky" he continued as Aizen crashed through a replica sky scraper causing it to collapse "the road that basks in light, the wind that ignites the embers, time that gathers when both are together" Aizen crashed through a second towering structure and it too began to collapse "there is no need to be hesitant, obey my orders. Light bullets, eight bodies" Aizen crashed through a third sky scraper and like the two before it they began to collapse from the impact "nine items, book of heaven, diseased treasure, great wheel, grey fortress tower. Aim far away, scatter brightly and cleanly when fired" Aizen crashed into the streets below and kicked up a large amount of dust and debris which quickly formed into a mushroom cloud about thirty stories in height as Alexander's hands began to glow with an intense white light "Hadou 91: Senju Koten Taiho" several spears of light appeared and in an instant struck Aizen at the bottom of the crater he had just made resulting in an even huger explosion which put the previous one to shame.

"Damn, you're a scary guy" Shinji stated "last time we met the highest you could go was sixty three, and now you're using ninety one…" the dust cloud reached into the sky and began to block out the sun causing the entire city to darken tremendously "…what's the matter, cat got your tongue?"

"Thank God this isn't the real Karakura town or the Seireitei…there's no way I could have used number ninety one in either case" Alexander thought as every building within a ten block radius collapsed due to the shock wave and he focused his eyes towards the epicenter of the explosion without lowering his guard or even thinking about removing his mask.

"Did you get him?" Shunsui asked as he and Ichigo appeared next to them.

"Damn it" Alexander swore "he's still alive!"

"Are you kidding?" Ichigo asked in disbelief as he pointed towards the cloud "I saw him take a direct hit, how the hell can he be alive?"

"He's right" Shinji stated "you and Ichigo aren't fooled by his illusions and I can assure you there's nothing that can survive that, not even a vizard or an arrancar!" Shinji froze as the sound of a soft clap filled the air "impossible!"

"Bankai" Alexander chanted as his kimono changed to a black wizard's cloak, his hair turned a light blonde, a pair of angel wings formed over his haori, and his swords melded into a single large crescent blade the size of his body "Hakumeitenshi Kokuhyou and Nehan!"

"Most astounding" Aizen's voice echoed from within the fog of smoke and dust "I see why you were chosen as my successor" a small human sized tunnel formed within the cloud and on the other side was Sousuke Aizen "a year ago that most certainly would have killed me."

Aizen began to approach them and though he was still breathing his mask had vanished, his left arm appeared to have been shattered in at least three different spots, his back was exposed and covered in cuts due the impacts he had just experienced, his right foot was gone from about half way before the knee, a large gash on his forehead was pouring blood over his face; but worst of all for Aizen was his torso. Aizen's torso was literally punched full of holes the largest ones were over his right pectoral and his left side, all of which were bleeding heavily.

"You're a stubborn one Sousuke" Shunsui sighed as his limbs began to regenerate.

"You sound distraught Captain Kyouraku" Aizen chuckled as several pieces of shrapnel were expelled from his body and he turned his gaze towards Alexander "I must say getting cut by your Kokuhyou is as painful as all the stories claim…" the holes in his torso began to close "…even though the impact from those buildings and the ground tore my body to shreds and your kidou spell had enough force to level a small town behind it all I feel is the pain as if my entire nervous system was set on fire…" the holes sealed themselves and Aizen raised his left arm to wipe the blood off his face "…you're a frightening man, Captain Dark-Heart."

"Wait it a minute" Ichigo began in confusion as he looked at Aizen's rejuvenated body "high speed regeneration doesn't work on a person's internal organs, Ulquiorra told me!"

"This isn't high speed regeneration" Aizen stated in amusement "shall I explain it to you Ichigo Kurosaki?"

"I never thought I'd say this to another man" Alexander cut in "but why don't you let us take a look at that chest of yours?" Aizen smirked as he turned his gaze towards his successor "in particular that region over the cavity where your heart is supposed to be."

"You have very good eyes" Aizen replied in amusement as he discarded his jacket "and here I was hoping to reveal it my own pace" just over his heart shined the black light of the Hogyoku.

"What the hell have you done?" Shinji asked in disbelief.

"From the moment he arrived his spiritual energy from within his body seemed off" Alexander explained "it wasn't like a shinigami or a hollow, nor was it anything like a vizard or arrancar; I suspected that at some point Aizen must have fused with the Hogyoku, which explains where all his energy is coming from despite having fought against Head Captain Yamamoto and so many other powerful warriors."

"He's insane" Shinji stated at a loss for any other words "he's absolutely insane, how could someone merge with something like that?"

"You said it yourself Captain Hirako, not even a vizard or an arrancar could have survived that last barrage" Aizen began as the glow from the Hogyoku intensified "by merging with the Hogyoku I have become a God!" Shunsui appeared next to him and swung his swords in a spinning motion but Aizen leapt out of the way at the last second "that was very rude of you Captain Kyouraku."

"Sorry, but I find it so hard to listen when it's a man talking" Shunsui sighed as a strange white material similar in appearance to the masks Ichigo and Alexander were wearing spewed forth from the Hogyoku and began to encase his body "I have such a short attention span when the speaker isn't an attractive lady."

"You should so more respect for your God" Aizen replied but froze when a familiar form appeared right behind him.

"How ironic" Elaina stated as her limbs began to glow from the power of her bankai "vanity might just be the ugliest sin in the human heart" she gazed at him through her slited irises before slamming into his jaw with a right hook which sent him wheeling back.

As Aizen recovered Elaina appeared in front of him and unleashed a barrage of punches on his face sending waves of blood splashing off in various directions before she grabbed him by the back of his head and alternated between slamming his face into her left and right kneecaps.

"Now die already!" Elaina hissed as black energy began to shoot out from his limbs and she readied her right arm "Oninakigoe!" she slammed her fist into Aizen's stomach sending Aizen flying backwards.

"Is that all?" Aizen chuckled but froze when Alexander appeared behind him and slashed him across his back with the crescent blade leaving a large gash across Aizen's body.

"I'm not done yet" Alexander declared before unleashing a fury of swipes on the man he had replaced as Captain of Squad Five "you've grown careless Aizen" several more swings of his sword dug into Aizen's flesh "no matter what kind of powers you may gain, what you seek is beyond your reach" the attacks continued "the role of God…" he slammed his blade through Aizen's left shoulder "…cannot be filled by any man…" he withdrew his blade "…may you rot in Hell."

"Don't you know?" Aizen asked as his wounds began to heal and his body began to encase itself in a white plaster like material causing both Dark-Hearts to jump back "I thought you of all people would understand that Hell is something you carry on inside your own heart and soul" his body was immediately encased in the strange white material giving him the appearance of a phantom like being wearing a white cloak split into four sections where the Hogyoku rested over his chest, even his face was now covered in the white material "though I must say the two of you are something else; father and daughter, angel and demon, fighting side by side in a futile attempt to dethrone the new God of the world."

"You truly are a fool Aizen" Elaina spat "you're so blinded by your arrogance that you fail to see the truth" she smirked devilishly as she focused her gaze on Aizen's chest "right now all that twisted energy from the Hogyoku is invading your body "keep this up and sooner or later it'll destroy you from the inside out" Aizen let off a wave of spirit energy so strong it put all of his past displays to shame.

"Your concern is flattering but entirely misplaced, Elaina Dark-Heart" Aizen replied calmly.

"Damn it" Alexander swore in his mind "Hadou 91 didn't have enough firepower to finish him off, to make matters worse he quickly regenerated all the damage I managed to inflict on him…there's no other option, we have to remove the Hogyoku from his chest or he'll never go down…" the Hogyoku began to sink beneath the white plates of armor "…at this range there's no way I can hope to hit with another Hadou 91 and there's simply no way my cero has the kind of firepower we need…" he glanced at the crescent blade in his hand before deciding "…that leaves me with only one option…" he turned his gaze towards his allies "Elaina, Ichigo, Shinji, Captain Kyouraku please keep him busy for as long as you can!"

"What the Hell did you just say?" Ichigo asked at his sudden request.

"Just keep him off me for a minute or two, then when I give the command get as far away from Aizen as you possibly can" Alexander replied through gritted teeth.

"Dad are you planning to use?" Elaina asked in disbelief and her father nodded "understood."

"We need to remove the Hogyoku from his body or this will go on forever" Alexander stated.

"Can this trick of yours work?" Shinji asked and Alexander nodded "fine then, we'll play along, just make sure it does work."

"You won't have any hard feelings if one of us cuts the Hogyoku out of his chest I hope" Shunsui replied.

"To be honest I'd be relieved" Alexander stated "I'm not certain but in my current state using this could very well cause a cataclysm" with a flap of his wings Alexander flew back as he began his preparations.

"A cataclysm huh?" Shunsui sighed as he and his three comrades turned their gazes on Aizen who was waiting patiently with an air of amusement about him "you really are too much" they leapt upon their opponent hoping to end the war once and for all.

"I had hoped that I would never have to use this, it's simply too much power to entrusted to a creature like me who's killed so many innocent people" Alexander thought as his spiritual pressure began to rise and he grabbed the handle of his sword with both hands "but to protect many more innocent lives I have no choice…"

"Yahoo! It's about damn time" his inner hollow echoed from within his mind "First you let me loose for the first time in decades and now you're going to use it, this day just can't get any…"

"Shut up, providing sadistic lines is my job you pale faced freak!" Kokuhyou declared as she and Nehan pinned him to the ground "let her rip kid!"

"We've got your back master" Nehan assured him.

"…Alright then, let's do this" Alexander focused his gaze on Aizen "the last and mightiest of the Seven Spells of Sin and Virtue, the spell that corresponds to my sin…the spell of Wrath and…"

"You're not getting past me Aizen!" Ichigo stated as he swung his sword down on Aizen digging into his left shoulder "damn it this is stuff is solid!"

"Move Ichigo" Shunsui commanded as he leapt in front of Aizen and crossed his arms before calmly saying "white" Ichigo leapt out of the way as Shunsui swung his blades across Aizen's chest cutting into his chest shooting out a stream of blood "how annoying, too shallow…"

"Black" Aizen replied in amusement as the cuts on his shoulder and chest healed almost instantaneously before swinging his sword horizontally, Shunsui leapt back as quickly as he could however the blade swept across Shunsui's chest causing a large amount of blood to spill from the wound "that's an amusing Zanpakutou Captain Kyouraku, amusing but dangerous."

"If I hadn't initiated Irooni this would only have been a rather large paper cut" Shunsui thought in frustration "you really love to jerk me around Katen Kyoukotsu."

Elaina rushed towards Aizen and aimed both her feet towards his face, Aizen raised his sword to block her assault but was suddenly struck in the back of the head by the young woman's attack. Aizen peaked out of the cornor of his eye to see Shinji spinning his Sakenade around as Elaina slammed into him repeatedly.

"This isn't working, my Bankai's no good at cutting" Elaina thought in frustration as she continued to pound into Aizen's body but she felt as if she was punching lead with her bare hands "not sure how much longer I can keep this up."

"Is that all?" Aizen asked in a mocking tone.

"Screw you!" Elaina hissed as she landed a punch into his jaw, Aizen swung his blade vertically cutting into her stomach forcing her back "asshole!"

Ichigo dashed towards Aizen and unleashed a fury of strikes which Aizen blocked with his own blade before deflecting a final thrust from Ichigo and unleashing a barrage of his own. Ichigo had to take several steps back to avoid being run through however Aizen wasn't going to allow him any openings to escape.

"It's okay" Ichigo thought as he dodged one thrust after another "just stay calm, look for an opening, and then" he saw his opportunity and grabbed Aizen's right wrist with his left hand, Ichigo held out his sword which was immediately engulfed in black energy "take him down!" he thrust his Tensa Zangetsu into Aizen's chest causing the white plates covering the Hogyoku to begin to crack as the black energy began to drill into Aizen's armor.

"Luring me into attacking so you could grab my wrist and keep me from swinging my sword" Aizen began in amusement as Ichigo continued to thrust his sword trying carve out the Hogyoku "however you've left yourself open" he thrust his left hand towards Ichigo's face who bent his neck just in time as Aizen's fingers tore off the top right section of his mask "in this form my hands are daggers" Shunsui immediately appeared in front of him and slashed at the crack in Aizen's chest trying to keep it from healing "that's right your game is still in effect" he swung his sword towards Shunsui who blocked it just in time with his short-sword before thrusting his katana into the opening and leaping back before Aizen could over power him.

"Damn, too shallow" Shunsui cursed calmly as the wind generated by the force of Aizen's swing blew in his face just before one of his allies rushed passed him and towards Aizen "I leave it to you young lady."

"Thanks for giving me something to work with" Elaina replied as she grabbed Aizen's wrist with her right hand so tightly it would have been snapped from his arm if he had still been a shinigami and raised her left hand with the palm open "let's see what happens when I put my force behind that blade in your chest!" she slammed her left palm into the bottom of Shunsui's sword as hard as she could causing Aizen to cough up blood as the blade ran straight through his torso, Elaina smirked when out of the corner of her eye she saw a black light shining from inside the wound "you're dead Aizen" she thought as she was about to make a grab for it but was forced to stopped when Aizen raised his left hand with a small white orb at the tip of his fingers, Elaina let go of his wrist and descended just in time to avoid being obliterated by a snow white cero.

"I've…been playing around too much with them" Aizen thought angrily.

"He's open, finish him off you freak!" Elaina called out causing Aizen to gasp in surprise as his former Captain planted his shins on top of his shoulders and wedged his katana right above Aizen's precious stone.

"Tch, calling me a freak when you have those crazy tattoos and those scary eyes…how big of hypocrite are you?" Shinji replied as he began to pry the Hogyoku from its improvised resting place "but I can't complain" he grabbed the handle with both hands before pushing on it even harder "I'll see you in hell Aizen."

"It would seem that play time has come to end" Aizen stated as he swung his sword upward in an attempt to sever Shinji's arms from his body forcing the blonde to perform a front flip and fall back removing his sword from Aizen's chest in the process "I'll admit, the four of you are extraordinary" he pulled Shunsui's sword from his chest with his left hand resulting in a large spray of blood just before the wound began to close and he threw it to the ground creating a shock wave which shattered all the windows in every building in five block radius "to think that two lowly shinigami and a pair of shoddy arrancar wannabes nearly toppled the new God of this world, truly commendable!" suddenly Aizen froze as the skies which had been clear and a normal shade of blue had changed to a shade of red which most closely resembled blood and the clouds had turned black as volcanic ash "what, what is this?" Aizen asked in disbelief when suddenly his sight locked in on his successor who's spiritual pressure was climbing off the charts "of course they were only meant to stall me so that he could…"

"The most destructive of the Seven Deadly Sins, Wrath" Elaina chuckled "how poetic, you seem to be getting your first true taste of it right before my dad incinerates you with it."

Aizen thought back to Alexander's use of kendo and his follow up spell from earlier "in the past whenever a shinigami used Hadou 91 he'd be subject to a hearing in front of the entire Central Forty Six in order to prove it was necessary and justified due to the sheer danger involved in casting it and large scale destruction it can cause, and if a shinigami was unable to convince them he was to be executed immediately…"

"…in my current state this could very well cause a cataclysm" Alexander's voice ringed in Aizen's memory.

"Too want to avoid using this spell when he used Hadou 91 so willingly…it must be truly destructive, I can't afford to get hit by it!" Aizen continued his thought as he focused on Alexander but saw his four enemies standing between him and his goal "there's no way I can get past them in time, I have no choice!" Aizen positioned his body sideways with his left shoulder facing his opponents as he raised his sword with both hands, the blade pointing directly towards the new Captain of Squad Five "how ironic that after receiving the power of a god from the Hogyoku, I'm forced to use the power of a lowly shinigami."

"Get ready" Shunsui commanded as he switched his short-sword to his right hand and the other three took their stances "I've got a bad feeling about this…"

"Bankai Kontangoumon (Soul Torture) Kyouka Suigetsu!" Aizen chanted with a smile behind the mask "though I'll admit this power is one that I thoroughly enjoy."

*With Alexander*

"I'm almost there!" Alexander thought as he continued to cite the incantation and his right arm began to glow with black energy "…my right arm is the undying Wrath which breeds hatred and ignorance, which in turn gives birth to war!" his left arm began to glow with an equally strong white light as he chanted "my left arm is the…" he was cut off when he was suddenly surrounded in a prism of mirrors and everything went black "what the hell is this?" suddenly the scene changed to a grassy field in the middle of a forest next to a set of railroad tracks on a dark and quite night "where's Aizen, where is Elaina and the others? Better yet where am I?" suddenly a loud whistle caught the Captain's attention "is that a train I'm hearing?"

*With Ichigo and the others*

"What the hell is that?" Ichigo asked in alarm before suddenly a loud scream filled the air from inside the mirrors.

"Dad?" Elaina replied in concern as the mirrors disappeared revealing her father to be standing with his torso leaning forward and though physically he appeared to be unharmed he was shaking furiously.

"I'm…sorry…" Alexander as he dropped his sword which quickly split into a pair of katana as his kimono returned to normal, his wings vanished, his hair and eyes returned to normal, and his mask vanished "…I…can…never…be…" the skies returned to normal and Alexander began to pass out as he plummeted to the city below "…forgiven…"

"What the hell did you do to him?" Shinji asked in a disgusted tone.

"There you go again using the word 'hell' so lightly" Aizen replied in amusement "don't worry, perhaps I'll show you once I can use that technique again, it shouldn't be too long especially since I've evolved, but still it takes up so much energy so I'd rather not use it in rapid succession if I can help it" Aizen chuckled beneath his new mask.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Elaina swore as she rushed towards Aizen with tears streaming from her eyes just before she grabbed Aizen's face with her left hand and his neck with her right "I'LL TEAR YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF!"

"Damn it" Shinji swore as Aizen slashed Elaina across her torso and sent her falling to the ground below right after her father.

"And that leaves three to go" Aizen stated as Kyouraku appeared behind him and swung down with his short-sword with his left hand forcing Aizen to raise his Zanpakutou to block it, Shunsui smirked as he lunged his long-sword through the partially opened wound in Aizen's chest from earlier causing Aizen to cough up blood from the impact "so you used the chaos from the Dark-Hearts' to retrieve your other sword?"

"What can I say?" Shunsui asked as he twisted his right wrist and his sword subsequently "I wanted to make sure I could hit you…"

Aizen smirked beneath his visor before chuckling "I'm glad I've decided to quit playing around."

"Playing around?" Shunsui thought in alarm.

"Captain Kyouraku what the hell are you doing?" Ichigo yelled out.

"Damn" Shunsui swore softly as the Aizen in front of him seemed to shatter and the real one appeared behind him and slashed him across his back "looks like I got careless myself" the eighth squad's captain fell to the Earth below.

"Indeed you did" Aizen replied just before Shinji appeared behind him with his blade raised prepared to slice Aizen's head off only to be stopped in its tracks when Aizen grabbed Shinji's wrist "why not? After all I showed it to my successor, it's only fair I let my predecessor see it as well" Shinji's eyes opened widely as Aizen pointed his blade right at Shinji's forehead and chanted "Bankai Kontangoumon Kyouka Suigetsu."

"What now?" Shinji wondered in alarm as Aizen vanished from his sight and several mirrors encased him before everything went black "am I dead? No, this is something else entirely" suddenly the pitch black turned into a forest in the middle of the night "where the hell am I?" suddenly several loud screams filled the air "wait a minute is that?"

Moments later the mirrors disappeared revealing a slouching and horror stricken Shinji who like Alexander before him was shaking uncontrollably with his eyes wide open in defeat.

"How fragile" Aizen commented as Shinji dropped his Zanpakutou and began his own fall.

"Bastard what did you do to him?" Ichigo asked in disgust.

"Would you care for a demonstration, Ichigo Kurosaki?" Aizen inquired in a mocking tone.

"Can't let him get to me" Ichigo thought as he focused on Aizen like a laser "this guy excels at playing mind games, if I let him in my head it's all over" suddenly Ichigo was struck by realization "can it be? Of course the spiritual pressure he and the rest of have been giving off must have scared away all the other hollows, which means…" he disappeared with a shunpo and reappeared over a dozen yards above Aizen with his sword swelling with energy "Getsuga Tenshou!" he swung his sword slamming Aizen with a black arc of intense energy which threw him to the ground with Ichigo in close pursuit.

"Your determination is admirable" Aizen stated as he dug himself out of the small crater "but what chance do you think you stand against me alone?"

"Who says I'm alone?" Ichigo responded when suddenly they both felt a crushing spiritual pressure weighing down on them "no matter how many times I see it, it still amazes me" Ichigo thought as Kenpachi Zaraki literally shot out from a nearby street corner surrounded in his own violent yellow aura before locking blades with Aizen with such force it sent a shock wave so powerful it shattered every window within a five block radius, when the dust cleared the two men were standing next to each other sparks flying off their blades and Kenpachi's signature smirk decorated his face.

"You're as strong as ever Captain Zaraki" Aizen chuckled.

"I have to admit" Kenpachi began as he pushed down a little harder on his sword "out of all the Captains from a year ago you were the last one I expected to have the power to provide me with some entertainment."

"Come now Captain, surely even you should know better than to judge a book by its cover" Aizen replied.

"Shut up and let's have some fun!" Kenpachi declared as he parried Aizen's blade upward and swung his sword horizontally into Aizen's chest sending him flying back into a building.

"Go Kenny" Yachiru cheered as she appeared next to Ichigo.

"These guys really are too much…" Ichigo thought dully as the two behemoths went at one another, moments later they shot out from the building and continued to trade sword slashes with one another "…okay now I need to look for an opening for me to join in without getting mowed down by Kenpachi" he sensed several familiar spiritual pressures causing him to smirk "looks like I'm not the only one thinking along those lines…"

"Roar Zabimaru!" Renji called out as he leapt into the air and sending the tip of his shikai rushing towards Aizen's back causing a small dust explosion.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Renji?" Kenpachi asked as the smoke cleared revealing Aizen to have been unphased by the attack "you used to be in my squad so you should know better than to intrude on one of my fights."

"Honestly" a monotone voice called out as Byakuya and Rukia appeared nearby the former looking down on both Aizen and Kenpachi dismissively "if you can't finish him off then stand aside Zaraki."

"Is that a challenge Byakuya Kuchki?" Kenpachi inquired, Byakuya merely looked down on him causing Kenpachi to chuckle "fine then, but don't blame me if end up killing you!" Kenpachi renewed his assault against Aizen.

Ichigo, Renji, Byakuya, Rukia, and Kenpachi continued to assault Aizen for several minutes but to no avail. Rukia lacked the physical strength to do any damage against Aizen up close and due to the clutter of fighters so close to Aizen she couldn't use any of her Sode No Shirayuki's dances without hurting her comrades. Renji tried to attack from a distance with his shikai but Aizen's armor was too thick for him to do any damage and he couldn't use his Bankai since everyone was in his way. And Byakuya was having trouble moving in for an attack since Kenpachi seemed to get in his way every single time.

Kenpachi grabbed Aizen's right wrist and severed his arm from his body with a single twist, his grin only seemed to expand as blood sprayed his face and he lunged his rusted sword through Aizen's heart, the monstrous Captain was breathing heavily in content "that was the best fight I've ever had."

"Glad you enjoyed it" Aizen stated just before he shattered in front of Kenpachi's gaze before a pair of large holes appeared in Kenpachi's upper torso.

"Damn it Kenpachi" Ichigo swore.

"Ichigo grab him!" Rukia commanded just before Ichigo leapt forward and grabbed Kenpachi "first dance Tsukishiro!" Ichigo vanished just before the ground and heavens surrounding Aizen were encased in ice along with the former shinigami.

"Come now did you honestly believe this would be enough Rukia Kuchki?" Aizen asked as the ice shattered around him.

Rukia smirked before saying "honestly, no that wasn't the point" Renji held his sword with both hands as it began to glow an intense dark red.

"Bankai Hihiou Zabimaru!" Renji cried as a gigantic bone serpent rushed towards Aizen and bit down onto him before dragging him back into the sky, Aizen watched in mild amusement as the mouth of the beast began to glow dark red "Hikutso Taiho!"

"You've grown Renji" Aizen stated calmly as he swung his sword splitting the blast and Renji's Bankai in two, Renji's eyes shot open in shock as he watched his bankai literally split down the middle before Aizen appeared in front of him and stabbed him through his abdomen "but you're still no match for me" Rukia watched in horror as Renji collapsed once Aizen removed his blade and turned his gaze towards her "perhaps I should finish you off now, Rukia Kuchki…" he was cut off when by what appeared to be a swarm of lotus petals and another Getsuga Tenshou forcing him to leap back into an open area he focused his gaze on Rukia and Renji as Byakuya and Ichigo appeared next to them "…how ironic, to think the two of you would be teaming up" what happened next earnestly shocked Aizen to say the least.

Out of nowhere Nemu Kurotsuchi appeared in front of and grabbed both his wrists, her hands were glowing bright green and Aizen's arms soon turned the same color. Aizen tried to throw the young woman off but he was having difficulty moving his arms.

"What is this?" Aizen asked in alarm "what has that madman concocted now?"

"This is a poison that I developed Aizen" Nemu began "by applying it around your wrists I've effectively halted the flow of your spiritual energy."

"That's impressive, but what good will that do you if it can't kill me?" Aizen replied as he struggled to look down at his hands "look your little concoction is already starting to run its course and I don't care who made you or how much you're like him, you don't stand a chance against me in combat."

Nemu turned her head to her right before asking "are you almost done Quincy?"

"I am get away now Nemu!" a calm voice called out causing Aizen's eyes to pop open in shock as he turned to see Uryuu standing over one of his Seele Schneiders which had been driven into the ground with a Ginto in his left hand "it's over Aizen" Nemu jumped away from Aizen and landed next to him as he poured a small amount of shining liquid onto the top of the handle and Aizen was quickly engulfed in a pentagram of bright white light.

"You're starting to annoy me" Aizen stated causing both the shinigami and the quincy to turn in shock as a shockwave approached them from the pentagram.

"Damn it I let my guard down!" Uryuu swore in his mind as it approached him "it's too late…" his train of thought was cut off as Nemu threw herself in front of him and absorbed the bulk of the impact before the force slammed her into Uryuu and they were both knocked out after crashing into a concrete slab.

"Such pitiful beings" Aizen sighed when suddenly three additional faces that he recognized appeared "speaking of which…you three look like you've been living in a garbage dump for years, to think that a former Espada would be reduced to such rags and what is up with your Fracción and their new appearances?"

"Aizen, tell me something" Nelliel began "I understand many years have passed since you came to us in Hueco Mundo but when you first came to us it was with the promise that once you obtained the Hogyoku you'd use it to create a new future for us."

"What of it?" Aizen asked.

"What happened to Starrk, Barragan, and the rest of the Espada?" Nelliel demanded.

"Can't you tell?" Aizen replied "they all died because they were too weak, in fact your successor to the rank of 3rd Espada Tia Harribel fell to my sword shortly before you arrived."

"How could you?" Nelliel spat out in disgust.

"I suppose there's no point in denying it any further" Aizen chuckled "the truth is I enlisted the aid of you and the Espada so that I could steal the Hogyoku and use it to complete my evolution."

"You mean?" Neliel asked through gritted teeth.

"Indeed, from the very beginning you, the Espada, and the other arrancar were all completely expendable" Aizen answered "and now that I've completed my evolution I have no further use for you or anyone else."

"How dare you use our master" Pesche called out "and what's worse you've hurt my friend Uryuu!"

"Let's get him Pesche!" Dondochakka called out as Pesche leapt on top of him and the two began to charge up their Cero Sincretico.

"How pointless" Aizen stated calmly as he let out some of his spiritual pressure which alarmed his former subordinate.

"Don't!" Nelliel tried to warn her friends but was too late, Aizen appeared in front of them and literally split them down the middle "Aizen!" Nelliel cried as she rushed towards him with her sword drawn and yelled "DECLARE GAMUZA!" she had tears flowing from her eyes as she changed into a centaur.

"How unsightly" Aizen replied as he knocked her aside with his free hand "while enjoyed seeing you again, you really should be leaving now" Aizen raised his left hand which began to glow white before firing a white cero resulting in a large explosion.

The dust cleared revealing Sado Yasutora standing over her with his right arm transformed which appeared to have a large shield like appendage growing out of it.

"Brazo derecho del gigante" Sado said softly as he shook off the dust from the explosion.

"Chad" Nelliel replied in shock.

"I'm sorry Nell" Sado stated softly "I'm not as fast as you or Uryuu, I couldn't save your friends."

"There's no point in apologizing" Aizen assured him "after all the two of you are no match for me, and your shinigami friends are under my hypnosis, they can't help you now."

"Bankai" a monotone voice called out as the space around turned jet black and four rows of glowing pink katana surrounded them "Senkei Senbonzakura Kageyoshi" Aizen turned his gaze towards Byakuya who was standing next to Ichigo.

"Do you honestly think you can do anything against me?" Aizen asked amused at the younger man's attempt to retaliate "what's more you're willing to work with a human, a shinigami representative, and an arrancar?"

Byakuya turned his gaze towards the former Espada who simply eyed him intensely but he should no signs of emotion towards her before saying "given your actions here I can more or less guarantee that our new Head Captain will be willing to grant you asylum once this is over" he then looked at Ichigo and Sado before saying "don't get in my way if you wish to live."

"Cheeky bastard" Ichigo swore before leaping above Aizen and preparing another swing "Getsuga Tenshou!"

Aizen raised his sword to shield against the attack, once the black energy disappeared Byakuya appeared behind him and slashed him across his back however no blood shot out since the cut was so shallow. Aizen smirked before apparently shattering in front of Byakuya.

"How disgraceful" Byakuya stated as a second katana manifested itself upside down in his left hand before he performed a backwards stabbing motion which caught Aizen in the stomach "to think a heathen like you was once a Captain."

"How?" Aizen asked in disbelief "you've witnessed my shikai!"

"There are two reasons why I've used my Senkei" Byakuya began as he twisted the sword in Aizen's stomach "the first is because it compresses all my sword fragments in order to explosively increase my killing capabilities, your armor may be tough but it can't stop my sword completely" Byakuya tried to raise his blade upwards towards Aizen's heart "and the second is because it traps my enemy in a confined space and no matter what happens, so long as I still breath my Bankai can trace the movements of all those within" the blade began to make slow but stead progress upwards "do see now Aizen? It doesn't matter what you do, even if you throw off all five of my senses, so long as you remain in here my blade will find you no matter what you try!"

"Stop Byakuya, you're hurting me!" a female voice called out causing Byakuya to open his eyes in shock as he saw himself face to face with his dead wife "…please…" Byakuya's face contorted slightly in disgust as he grabbed the handle with his right hand and began to put all his strength into forcing the blade upwards causing 'Hisana' to scream in agony.

"You'll pay dearly for using Hisana's image!" Byakuya hissed as she leapt back to free herself from the blade and turned back into Sousuke Aizen.

"Exceptional" Aizen stated in approval "not even the image of your beloved wife could stop you, we really are alike."

"Don't flatter yourself" Byakuya replied as Sado appeared behind Aizen his left arm transformed "we're nothing alike."

"La Muerte!" Sado cried as his left finger tips began to glow and he slammed them into the middle of Aizen's back.

Aizen turned his gaze towards the young giant before he heard the sound of galloping hooves drawing his attention back to his front where Nelliel was dashing towards him as she raised her arm "Lanzador Verde!" and threw her lance which began to drill into his chest on impact causing Aizen to begin shaking in pain from the two forces which threatened to tear him apart from both his front and his back.

"Byakuya let's finish him off" Ichigo called out as his sword was engulfed in black energy and he raced towards Aizen from his right.

"I don't answer to you, boy" Byakuya replied as his own sword was engulfed in white energy which spread out to his sides and formed a pair of pure white angel wings "Shukei Hakuteikan!" with a single flap of his wings Byakuya rushed towards Aizen from his left.

The white and black masses of energy converged on opposite sides of Aizen's neck causing a massive explosion which immediately filled Byakuya's Senkei with dust and debris. About a minute passed before it cleared and the four allies emerged from the rubble covered in scrapes and bruises. Nelliel tried to stand up but fell to her knees as she lost the energy to maintain her release, the same was true of Sado who collapsed on the ground nearby from exhaustion and his arms returned to normal. Ichigo and Byakuya were both using their swords to maintain their balance, the former had lost his mask while the latter had no choice but recall his bankai or die from exhausting his spirit energy.

"Please tell, that we killed him" Ichigo said through his heavy breathing as the dust cleared "damn it" he swore as Aizen emerged with a skull shaped imprint on his back, a swirling hole in his chest and the bulk of his neck missing on both sides; all of these injuries were bleeding heavily.

"A valiant effort" Aizen breathed out as his wounds began to heal and he slowly walked towards Nelliel who was looking up at him with an intense loathing "this is bad, the Hogyoku isn't reenergizing me or healing my injuries as quickly as before, I need to end this now" he raised up his sword prepared to execute Nelliel but stopped when the skies blackened, thunder filled the air, the winds quickly began to pick up force, and temperature plummeted "not now!"

"Reign over the frosted frozen heavens Hyourinmaru!" a familiar voice called out just before a massive ice dragon raced towards Aizen forcing him to leap back to avoid it, seconds later the dragon shattered and Toushirou landed next to Nelliel "what the hell is up with you and targeting women Aizen? You make me sick!" though he didn't appear different at first glance the young shinigami's spiritual pressure seemed to have doubled from earlier, in addition to being stronger it seemed to be more in control than it had been previously despite the drastic increase in strength, over the young man's forehead was the outline of a demonic eye while his turquoise eyes were filled with murderous intent.

Aizen began to laugh hysterically at his sudden appearance "rushing in to save a woman in danger, you haven't changed a bit" he looked Toushirou dead in the eye "right down to your inability to save the women who are…" he was cut off when Toushirou leapt towards him and swung his sword down with such force Aizen had no choice but to fall back to avoid being killed, however his left hand was severed from his body.

"You aren't regenerating as fast as you were before" Toushirou stated.

"You're point?" Aizen inquired.

"No matter what you may try to say, my friends' efforts were not in vain" Toushirou replied as he readied his sword "it ends now Aizen!" he swung his sword sending another massive ice dragon towards Aizen which slammed into his front as he attempted to guard against it and was forced into the air as a blizzard began to blanket the entire fake Karakura Town in snow.

*With Retsu and the others*

"Hold still Lieutenant Abarai" Retsu commanded as she finished closing up the red headed Lieutenant's wound "there, that should do it" she along with Isane, Hanataro, and Orihime were busy trying to treat their wounded allies as best they could, she had just gotten around to treating Renji after she had set up a barrier to protect them all from the elements after the new Head Captain unleashed his sword.

"Damn it that was painful" Renji said through gritted teeth as he lost consciousness.

"Captain Unohana, I'm almost done with fourth seat Rammyaku" Hanataro called out as he continued to close the multiple stab wounds through her arms and legs from Gin's Bankai, she let out a screech as the pain woke her back up "I'm sorry."

"It's alright" Youmei let out as she winced from the pain.

"Kid you are so lucky that Princess has control of our body right now!" Savage hissed from inside Youmei's mindscape.

Youmei turned to see Rangiku looking at her causing her to look to her side in shame and say "I'm sorry Lieutenant Matsumoto, Savage was the one who used the technique but it doesn't change the fact that I'm the one who killed Gin…I understand if you hate me."

"Stop" Rangiku replied as tears fell from her eyes and the image of Gin's face passed through her mind "please…"

Retsu sighed as she turned her gaze towards her Lieutenant "How is Elaina's treatment coming along?"

"I'm almost finished closing the wound, but she'll need to rest for at least three days before she can…" Isane began but was cut off.

"Come on now Lieutenant Koutestu, don't sell me short" Elaina said weakly as she tried to sit up but was stopped by Retsu gently placing her hand over her chest signaling her to continue lying down "how's dad?" she asked causing Retsu to take up a more solemn expression "what in Hell's name did Aizen do to him?"

"I don't know" Retsu stated as she turned her gaze towards Alexander and Shinji who were lying on the ground unconscious "physically they're both unharmed, however…" Shinji twitched violently with traces of tears forming in his eyes "…ever since Aizen used his Bankai on them both their heart-rates have been significantly elevated, they've both been tossing in their sleep, heightened rapid eye movement, and they've both been sweating heavily…"

"…signs of intense dreaming" Elaina finished for her and she nodded "or I suspect intense nightmares, he must have shown them something that really shocked them."

"But how?" Hanataro asked "I thought that Captain Dark-Heart had developed a guard against Aizen's illusions."

"Against his shikai yes" Retsu stated "it would seem that Aizen's Bankai, whatever it is, must operate on a different wavelength."

"So that means that Tou…I mean the Head Captain is still vulnerable to this?" Rangiku asked clearly distressed.

"That's correct Lieutenant Matsumoto" Retsu answered calmly as Alexander began to stir "Alex…"

The Captain of Squad Five shot up breathing heavily as beads of sweat fell from his face and his body was shaking uncontrollably from the adrenaline flooding through his system. Retsu quickly ran up to him and placed one hand on his shoulder and the other on his forehead.

"Alex, it's me try to calm down" Retsu said soothingly as he grabbed her wrists reflexively, she winced as he squeezed on both of them with all his strength which was painful to say the least even for her "take a deep breath, you're alright now…it's going to be okay."

"Re…Retsu?" Alexander breathed as his heart rate slowed down to a more normal pace and his wits slowly returned to him, he loosened his grip as Ichigo and Byakuya appeared suddenly holding an unconscious Sado and Nelliel before Shuuhei returned with Nemu and Uryuu "I see so they too weren't able to stop Aizen…" suddenly his eyes opened in alarm "Retsu where is Aizen now?"

"Cap…I mean Head Captain Hitsugaya is currently engaging him in battle" Retsu answered.

"Damn it" Alexander swore as he tried to get up but his legs weren't listening "Retsu you have to warn him, Aizen's Bankai….it….if he uses it, it could mean the end of us all!"

"Calm down" Retsu commanded cutting him off "now take a deep breath and tell me, what is Aizen's Bankai?"

*With Toushirou and Aizen*

Toushirou and Aizen crossed blades causing sparks to fly up from their swords before they leapt apart from one another. Toushirou swung his sword horizontally sending a swarm of ice dragons racing towards Aizen. Aizen dodged the beasts with a series of shunpo and swung his own blade in a swirling motion as Toushirou rushed in with one of the dragons and swung down on Aizen and the two locked blades again.

"I must admit, you're good" Aizen stated "you're much stronger and faster than you were before" he parried Toushirou's blade upwards and attempted to cut him down with a follow up attack but Toushirou blocked it with the bottom of his blade at the last moment "even your technique seems to have improved…it's a shame your tenor as the thirty first Head Captain is going to be short lived."

"Aizen" Toushirou hissed through gritted teeth, the hatred in his voice was palpable.

"Can't forgive me can, not after what happened to Momo" Aizen chuckled and Toushirou's eyes narrowed further "what's the matter? Weren't you going to make me pay?"

"Aizen…" Toushirou repeated before Aizen suddenly realized they were surrounded by well over a dozen ice dragons "…shut up!" the mythical beasts let out a thundering roar before rushing towards the duo.

Aizen leapt back as a dragon flying in from the left and attempting to chomp down on the former Captain. He opened his eyes in slight surprise as several approached him from both side which he barely dodged by turning, mid turn he caught eye of several more approaching from below, thinking quickly he leapt upward only to come face to face with yet another dragon. With nowhere to escape to Aizen was frozen in an ice-sickle the size of a skyscraper.

"Now's my chance!" Toushirou thought to himself as he charged in and raised his sword with both hands, just as he was about to strike the ice shattered and Aizen raised his sword horizontally just in time to block Toushirou's swipe "damn it" he swore.

Aizen looked at the younger man intently "those dragons…" he thought back to watching his fight against Harribel "…while he could use multiple dragons with just his shikai earlier, they all had to follow a similar trajectory, he couldn't have possibly have used them in order to box in his opponent or have broken them up into waves like he did just now, his control wasn't anywhere near precise enough for such a tactic" Aizen parried Toushirou's sword and attempted to stab him through the face, however Toushirou tilted his neck just in time to avoid a fatal blow and only received a small cut over his right cheek; Toushirou countered with a spinning swipe which forced Aizen back "not bad but I landed a hit Head Captain Hitsugaya" he mocked.

"So did I Aizen" Toushirou replied.

Aizen's eyes opened in sudden realization when he a small section on his right side split open, Aizen winced slightly at the pain as it slowly began to close "not bad at all" he complimented through gritted teeth.

"That one was for Kaname Tousen" Toushirou stated ignoring Aizen's compliment.

"Excuse me?" Aizen inquired.

"When I first joined the Thirteen Court Guard Squads I lacked a purpose" Toushirou began "I was saddened and broken because of what had happened to me in the prior months, I just wanted to die…but he…Kaname Tousen gave me a reason to fight, he showed me that I had the power to make a difference and the importance of holding a certain measure of fear towards one's own power."

Aizen chuckled before quoting "he who does not fear his own sword has no right to wield a sword at all" he smirked behind his mask before saying "you do realize that it was his 'fear' that he joined me in my cause and betrayed both you and your teacher."

"It is true that he took his 'fear' too far and as a result he was venerable to your influence" Toushirou began as he gripped his sword tightly before turning a rage filled eye towards the thing before him "but the one who exploited his 'fear' was you! What happened to him was all you fault!"

"You're too sentimental Toushirou Hitsugaya" Aizen stated before leaping towards him and slashing at him repeatedly forcing him on the defensive "can't you see that your attachments to others has only dragged you down?" Toushirou grabbed his right wrist and slashed Aizen across his chest forcing him back several yards as it began to regenerate "your teacher whom you admired turned out to be nothing more than a cold blooded killer, his daughter constantly mocks and takes every chance to humiliate you, one of your subordinates constantly dragged down your squad because of her own nervousness, Ukitake was too weak and Kuchki was too single minded too catch me, Momo and Kaname betrayed you, and your dear Lieutenant was far too pathetic to shield you from any of my plans…all your friends and loved ones have only let you down Toushirou…" Aizen was cut off as a crescent blade raced towards him and forced Aizen to use a shunpo to avoid having his skull turned into an ice-pop.

"Aizen" Toushirou said coldly as he pulled back on the chain to retrieve his blade, moments later Aizen appeared behind him and prepared to stab him through the back "you're so damn pathetic…" he dodged with a shunpo.

"I'm pathetic?" Aizen asked as Toushirou appeared in front of him and unleashed his own barrage of sword strikes "care to elaborate? I'm strong because I never came to rely on anyone else, by forsaking such trivial attachments such as friendship or camaraderie I was able to evolve into a god, who knows as strong as you are maybe you could do the same!"

"You just don't get it, DO YOU!" Toushirou declared as he and Aizen thrust their blades towards each other's face and dug into their respective cheeks forcing them both to back off "all those people you just mentioned…" he leapt towards Aizen and attempted to stab the Hogyoku but Aizen deflected it before following up with a horizontal swipe which Toushirou barely managed to block "…I only became this strong because of them!"

"How pitiful" Aizen replied as they both leapt back and took their stances "your attachments have only brought you pain and suffering, nothing more!" he leapt towards Toushirou and performed a horizontal swipe which cut into Toushirou's forehead forcing him back.

"Kaname Tousen gave me an understanding of the grave implications of the powers I possess" Toushirou stated as he sent another two dragons directly at Aizen who leapt up to avoid them "Jyuushiro Ukitake taught me honor" several more approached Aizen from below as even more came in from the sides surrounding him "Byakuya Kuchki helped me understand the importance of law and order" like earlier a single dragon dropped down on Aizen from above forcing the former Captain of the Fifth to fire a pure white cero which demolished the beast allowing him to escape as the others converged creating a massive tower of ice "and most of all my teacher Alexander Dark-Heart taught me not just how to fight, but the importance of judging one's self and actions critically; by sharing with me his sins and the failures of his past he taught me the importance that no matter what gifts we may have and no matter what kind of powers we gain…" he used a shunpo to get behind Aizen and attempted to stab him through the back using Senka but Aizen blocked his blade at the last moment "…we are not gods! We're humans; small, flawed, and imperfect humans who's understanding is limited by their own perspective."

"I guess I was wrong" Aizen stated as they parted blades and separated "if it took four pathetic men to give you this level of power than you simply lack what it takes to be like me" he looked down upon Toushirou before saying "I see why Momo's faith in you was so easily" Toushirou's face contorted slightly to an even angrier expression "and I honestly have no idea what caused Gin to concoct such delusional hopes about you…" Aizen was cut off as Toushirou's spiritual pressure quickly rose and Aizen himself felt the force of its power crushing down on him.

"BANKAI!" Toushirou yelled out at the top of his lungs as he prepared to finally unleash his true power which had remained dormant for all those years, he was immediately engulfed in a large ball of snow big enough to fit over a dozen people inside as the blizzard that his shikai created expanded all the way to the barrier on the outskirts of the fake Karakura town effectively turning the false city into a rectangular snow globe, Aizen watched with a degree of fascination as the snow began to take shape before compressing into solid ice giving the young man a pair of reinforced wings with the wing span of a small fighter jet, both his arms were encased in smooth serpentine ice dragons complete with long horns and whiskers at the head and talons towards the front. His tail grew to about fifteen feet in length and upon closer inspection revealed that it was constructed out of countless ice crystals compressed into scales. His talons now reached down slightly past his feet giving him five dagger like claws on each leg. The ice which in its previous state had only encased his limbs and shoulder had now encased his entire torso in a crystal like armor and even covered the bulk of his neck and a small portion of his cheeks. In his right hand Toushirou held his katana which had a frost mist swirling around the blade. But the greatest estimate to the great amount of power behind this new bankai wasn't so much the presence of any of its current features but by the absence of any purple flowers floating behind him "Touketsukyuusaisha (Frozen Savior) Hyourinmaru!"

"An impressive display" Aizen replied calmly as he looked down upon the boy from above "I confess a part of me always wanted to see it even though I was the one who…" Aizen was interrupted when Toushirou practically materialized in front of him with one mighty flap of his new wings "…so fast!" Toushirou swung sword vertically severing Aizen's left arm from his body "I'm really starting burn through those" he noted as he leapt back to avoid Toushirou's follow up, Aizen's eyes opened in shock when he didn't feel his arm regenerating causing him to look towards his shoulder to see ice forming over the stump forcing Aizen to focus more of his energy in order to shatter the ice before it could spread "he's using the ice to slow down my high speed regeneration!"

"That was for Momo!" Toushirou hissed through gritted teeth before lunging towards his enemy once again and thrusting his blade towards Aizen's side, normally Aizen could have just blocked the thrust but due to the pain of losing his arm he had left himself open resulting in a deep cut over his right leg followed by an icy stalagmite "and that was for Gin!"Aizen looked at him intently through his visor "get used to the pain Aizen, because there's plenty more where that came from; one blow for every innocent soul who's life you've stolen!"

"This is getting out of hand" Aizen thought as his left arm finally regenerated and he shattered the ice over his leg before losing it as well "that blade of his is too dangerous to take on at close range I need to keep some distance between us!"

"Get back here Aizen" Toushirou demanded as he flew after Aizen who avoided his swing with a shunpo and used the opening to fire a pure white cero at him forcing Toushirou to shield himself with his wings resulting in a large explosion which caused several fragments to blow off "fine if this is how you want to play it!" Aizen's attention was drawn to the sky as a large hole appeared in the clouds above "Hyoten Hyakkaso!" from the clearing a virtual river of snow poured down over Aizen.

"Bakudou 81: Danku" Aizen chanted creating a clear wall of energy between him and the approaching snow which began to crack the moment the snow made contact, however it did provide Aizen with the time necessary to fire another white cero to his side creating an opening in the snow large enough for him to escape with a shunpo, immediately after he escaped what would have been his frozen funeral Aizen readied his blade just in time as Toushirou attempted to split his head in two with a downward swing "you're determined."

"Of course I am" Toushirou replied as he pushed down with both hands "my duty, my morals, my own personal feelings are in sync with one another" Toushirou head-butted Aizen creating a crack over Aizen's forehead and sending blood trailing down Toushirou's "right now my soul is screaming at me, demanding that I kill you!" Aizen leapt back trying to create some distance between them "and kill you I will!" the aura around his sword intensified "Doragonfubuki! (dragon snow storm)" he swung his sword sending a trail of icy mist towards Aizen before turning into a swarm of over a dozen dragon.

"They're too fast" Aizen thought in alarm as he raised his sword just before the first one slammed into him though the dragon disappeared on impact the sheer force behind it pushed him back over a dozen yards just before the second slammed into him from behind, the barrage continued until the last dragon struck taking out entire section of Aizen's limbs and torso.

But Toushirou wasn't done yet as soon as the last of his dragons struck Aizen he appeared above the man whom he despised more than anyone or anything else and pointed the tip of his blade down towards him and chanted "Yukipa-ji! (snow purge)" a mountain of snow poured down on Aizen crashing him into the streets below, the sheer amount of snow and the massive shockwave the attack caused virtually every building within the fake Karakura town to collapse before being buried underneath a white sheet of snow and ice several minutes later Aizen emerged from beneath the frozen wastes his limbs were barely attached to his torso as they slowly healed "you're finished Aizen" Toushirou said coldly.

"Alexander Dark-Heart isn't the only one who can use this technique" Aizen smirked beneath his mask as he called out "…Hadou 91: Senju Koten Taiho!"

"Shit" Toushirou hissed just before several rods of light slammed into his chest resulting in a huge explosion which literally sent him flying back.

After being flung back about two city blocks Toushirou crashed into the snow that his Tenso Jurin and other attacks had generated before his back began to dig into the streets underneath creating a trench approximately twelve blocks in length and deep enough towards the end to dig a city subway system.

Toushirou dug his way out of the ruble and snow, the impact from the spell had effectively destroyed the armor covering his chest and left several large burns across his torso. In addition the contact with street had effectively sheared off his wings and the bulk of the armor off his back covering it in scrapes.

"Damn" Toushirou swore through gritted teeth before regaining some altitude "one of my lesser Bankais and that would have been fatal."

"CAPTAIN!" a familiar voice shouted out causing Toushirou to look towards the ground as the voice approached him from behind.

"Rangiku" Toushirou called out as he looked down towards her "is she alright? Did something else happen?"

"TOUSHIROU, DON'T LET HIM USE HIS BANKAI!" Rangiku shouted.

"What?" Toushirou replied in confusion before he heard a disturbing chuckle from behind him.

"It's too late Toushirou Hitsugaya" Aizen chuckled "Bankai Kontangoumon Kyouka Suigetsu!"

"Now what?" Toushirou asked through gritted teeth as over a dozen crystal clear mirrors surrounded and encased him before everything went black "show yourself Aizen, you damn coward!"

"Calm yourself Toushirou" Aizen's voice echoed from around him "over the years your teacher Alexander Dark-Heart taught you many ways to kill a man; flesh that burns, veins that sever, bones that shatter, and organs that rupture. But he neglected to teach you one critical lesson Toushirou, to break a man's spirit is to utterly destroy him!" a small amount of light and color appeared in the darkness surrounding Toushirou and began to take shape

"That's!" Toushirou thought in disbelief

"But don't worry, my Bankai makes the perfect tutor…after all…Hell is something we each carry ourselves…" Aizen finished

*Outside*

"TOUSHIROU!" Rangiku cried out in vain as the mirrors sealed him inside, she burst off in a dash towards them but was stopped when Aizen appeared right in front of her "GROWL…" she was cut off when Aizen grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm behind her back.

"It was because of you that Gin tried to kill me" Aizen stated in amusement "to think a man like him would throw away his life just to keep you safe and happy."

"Bastard" Rangiku hissed.

"This will be Gin's punishment for deceiving me for all these years" Aizen continued ignoring Rangiku's protests as he let go of her arm and grabbed the back of her head with his left hand "you're going to watch as Toushirou's very spirit is broken just like his teacher and Captain Hirako before him, and then you are going to die; all of Gin's efforts will have been vain!"

"You won't break him" Rangiku replied through gritted teeth "he's not such a weak person to lose his spirit to someone like you!"

"Touching" Aizen stated "but pointless."

"…please Toushirou, don't let him get to you!" Rangiku thought desperately as she looked up towards the box of mirrors confining him.

*With Toushirou*

The young Head Captain found himself standing in the middle at the very bottom of the Central Forty Six Chambers. What he found most disturbing was that it wasn't empty like it should have been after Aizen's betrayal, but rather it was completely full; all forty sage's seats and all six judge's seats were filled with a screen in front giving only the outline of their occupants with a kanji printed at the top, towards the bottom stood two young boys dressed in the academy robes.

"This is…it can't be" Toushirou stated in disbelief as he fell to his knees.

"It has been decided" a voice called out from the rows drawing the attention of the two boys.

"Since it is forbidden for two shinigami to possess the same Zanpakutou you must fight for ownership of Hyourinmaru" a voice declared.

"But why?" Kusaka asked desperately "why can't we have the same Zanpakutou?"

"Because it is the law, an ancient law which has been with us for centuries" another member of the Central Forty Six stated.

"In that case let me discard Hyourinmaru" the younger Toushirou begged "that way me and Kusaka won't have to…"

"Silence!" another member cut him off "it is not for you to decide!"

Various calls for them to fight tormented the two young men until eventually Kusaka drew his sword.

"Hitsugaya Hyourinmaru is mine!" Kusaka cried out.

"Kusaka don't!" both Toushirous cried out but to no avail as Kusaka charged towards them and the scene turned black with the sound of metal piercing flesh and the younger Toushirou's scream "KUSAKA!"

"Damn it" the older Toushirou swore weakly as he clenched his blade.

"You took everything from me" a voice called out to him causing Toushirou to look up to see Kusaka impaled upon his sword with a thin trail of blood as the blade ran through his heart.

"Kusaka…" Toushirou said weakly.

"I could have it all" Kusaka continued as he glared down accusingly on Toushirou "glory, fame, honor, recognition" he raised his head slightly "I could have become the Head Captain myself" he slid all the way down the blade to where the guard was pushing up against his chest "but all I got was an early grave" he drew himself up to his face before saying "because you killed me!"

"Kusaka!" Toushirou cried out as his old friend disappeared and the setting changed to a familiar training ground "this is…"

"That's good, you're improving" a calm voice called out drawing Toushirou's attention to another younger version of himself this one wearing a black kimono sparring with his Captain "but you still need to be quicker."

"Yes sir" the younger Toushirou replied as he tried to perform a shunpo faster than usual and tripped up as a result "damn…"

"You're doing very well" his Captain assured him as he offered his hand "your progress has been nothing short of miraculous."

The younger Toushirou cracked a faint smile before accepting his Captain's aid "I owe it all to Fifth Seat Dark-Heart and to you Captain Tousen."

"We'll pick this up tomorrow" Kaname stated as he headed for their office.

"Yes sir" Toushirou replied as he followed after his Captain.

"After the Kusaka incident I had given up all hope, all reason" the older Toushirou thought solemnly "but it was thanks to Captain Tousen that I found a reason to move forward…in a way he really saved my soul…"

"And yet you didn't save mine" Kaname's voice echoed drawing Toushirou's attention back towards his sword and like Kusaka before him Kaname was impaled through his heart at the end "I was desperate that I was willing to believe almost anything" he slowly began to slide down the blade "you were of a similar disposition, so why didn't you notice?" Toushirou felt his pulse begin to race as his former Captain was stopped at his guard "were you too focused on yourself to care about anyone else?" he dipped his right index and middle fingers in his wound before placing them over Toushirou's left cheek and smearing it with his blood "you were such a disappointment" his body shattered into dust leaving Toushirou alone with an expression like he was having a heart attack.

The scene shifted once again to a familiar hut in a small village where two children were playing in the fields.

"Come on try to catch me little Shirou" the girl called out playfully.

"Quit calling me little Shirou!" Toushirou said in annoyance as he tackled her to the ground, she was simply laughing at his antics.

The scene fast-forward to a taller Momo wearing the academy uniform standing over Toushirou who hadn't grown much at all.

"Okay I'm leaving now" Momo stated proudly "I'll be living the dorm rooms from now on but I'll still come by to visit on breaks, so take care little Shirou."

"Stop calling me by that stupid nickname" Toushirou demanded.

"Tell you what, when you attend the same grown up school as me, I'll use your real name" Momo offered.

"Yeah right, who'd want to attend some dumb shinigami school anyway?" Toushirou replied but in truth he wanted to go with all his heart.

Momo ran off towards the gate before shouting back "see you soon Toushirou!"

"Whatever, don't hurry back you bed wetter" Toushirou replied.

"Come now Toushirou" he heard a gentle elderly voice call from behind him "you shouldn't say such things Toushirou."

"Whatever it's not like she'll be gone for long right?" the younger Toushirou replied before the scene darkened once more.

"Momo…Granny…" Toushirou thought as he knew what was coming next.

"Why Toushirou?" his grandmother began as she appeared impaled upon his sword "why didn't you do as I asked?" she began to slide down the blade leaving a trail of blood on the steel "it was dying old woman's last request so why didn't you protect her?"

"I'm…I'm sorry" Toushirou said weakly.

"You're sorry?" he heard Momo ask as she replaced their grandmother "that doesn't cut it little Shirou" she began to slide down his blade "sorry doesn't change the fact that you allowed Aizen to condition me" she grabbed the blade and began to pull herself closer "sorry doesn't make up for the fact that you spent decades messing around with your squad and sleeping with your Lieutenant instead of keeping your word to Granny" she pressed her chest up against the guard and lowered her head to Toushirou's ear before whispering "and sorry didn't keep Gin from turning me into a shish kabob" the image of her kneeling on the ground with Shinsou running her through her heart appeared causing a tear to roll down Toushirou's face "some Heavenly Guardian you turned out to be…"

Toushirou's surroundings remained solid black for several moments before eventually he heard the sound of footsteps before a familiar form emerged from the darkness. He was dressed in a shinigami's black kimono in addition to a long white sleeveless haori which seemed to flow down his tall thin figure.

"Hello Toushirou" Gin stated with a mocking politeness.

"Gin" Toushirou said through gritted teeth.

Toushirou was at a loss as to what to feel towards the man in front of him. On the one hand he felt pure hatred towards him for all the grief he had caused Rangiku over the years and for being the one who killed Momo. But on the other he felt great pity towards the man who in fact done all those things solely to protect Rangiku and the Soul Society.

"I gave up everything for you, you know that?" Gin began as he walked towards Toushirou who had his blade pointed right towards his heart and seemed unable to move his arm.

"Gin stop!" Toushirou commanded but his words fell on deaf ears.

"To protect you from Aizen I did everything in my power to make sure he didn't take his interest in you too far" Gin continued as he impaled himself through his chest but didn't even flinch "when he chose you as a subject for experimentation I summoned the Vaizards to save you" he made his way slowly down the blade as his blood red eyes opened slightly and a thin trail began to fall from the corners of his mouth "and to put you on Aizen's trail I chose to be banded as a traitor" his pace slowed but it didn't stop him "and do you remember why I did all that even though you took Rangiku from me?" he finally made it to the bottom where the guard pressed against his chest just over his heart "I did it…" he placed his palms on Toushirou's shoulders who was more or less frozen due to the shock of seeing so many familiar faces "…so that you would kill Aizen and protect Rangiku!" he managed through gritted teeth which seemed to bring Toushirou back to earth "tell…me Toushirou…" his head was lowered and his arms began to shake "…why haven't you killed Aizen yet? More importantly…" he raised his head slightly so that blood red eyes were gazing into Toushirou's turquoise eyes "…why…aren't you…protecting Rangiku right…now?" his body went limp.

"Gin" Toushirou thought solemnly as his body shattered like the ones before it and his words sank in, moments later Toushirou gripped his fist in anger as his thoughts turned to Aizen "this is the last straw Aizen!" he raised his left hand over his face.

"That's good, give in to the Wrath" a sadistic voice called from within the darkest depths of Toushirou's soul "once you do your heart will finally be mine!"

*Outside*

"Please be alright" Rangiku thought in desperation as she felt Aizen's fingers roughly gripping her scalp, she would have resisted but she knew there was no hope for her to overpower Aizen.

"Kontangoumon Kyouka Suigetsu" Aizen thought in amusement "the mirrors my Bankai surrounds the victim with force him to relive the most horrible experiences of their lives with the people involved bearing down upon them accusingly" his thoughts turned to his successor and predecessor "when I used it on Captain Dark-Heart it forced him to relive each and every innocent person who died by his hands when he was alive, the loss of his mother, the fight to the death with his father, and his failure to protect his beloved and unborn child. With Shinji he was forced to relive the night he failed to protect his friends from my research and their subsequent exile" Aizen smirked at his cruel tactics "the weight of being forced to relive such cursed memories surely broke them both. And given Toushirou's fragile mind it's only a matter of time before…" Aizen's train of thought was cut off when he suddenly felt a strong spiritual pressure coming from within the mirrors of his Bankai before they all shattered revealing Toushirou to be standing slightly hunched over with his mask dawned and his Bankai slowly beginning to regenerate.

"Toushirou…" Rangiku thought in fright as she looked upon her Captain.

Normally she would have been relieved to see him emerge apparently alright from the torture Alexander had described to her, but what she sensed frightened her to her very soul. Toushirou's spiritual pressure had always been strong ever since the day they met and even then it had a cold edge to it to match his personality. But now it was completely different, it wasn't its familiar cold yet gentle self, it was now overflowing with raw anger and hatred as if his soul could think of nothing but enacting the most violent death imaginable upon any who dared to oppose him.

"This spiritual pressure, it's completely different from before" Aizen thought in disbelief as he saw Toushirou's armor, wings, and tail quickly regenerating "all I can feel is the wrath, the blood lust, it's like evil itself" before his Bankai had regenerated Toushirou disappeared with a shunpo and reappeared in front of Aizen and grabbed his left arm "so fast, I didn't even notice until!" Toushirou cut Aizen's left hand off with a single stroke freeing Rangiku from his grip and spraying the back of her head with his blood, Aizen raised his sword just in time to block a follow up strike which sent him flying backwards and crashing into what remained of one of the town's fake buildings "this spiritual pressure is almost nothing like Toushirou Hitsugaya's is this the Frozen Devil I'm fighting?"

"Captain can you hear me?" Rangiku asked desperately as she fell to her knees in front of him "Toushirou answer me please!"

*Toushirou's inner world*

"Ah isn't that sweet of you to save your little girlfriend" a Toushirou with chalk white skin, black eyes with golden pupils, and black hair wearing a white kimono with a black haori asked as he slumped over a normal Toushirou who's face was contorted in rage as the winds of his inner world picked up and became even more violent "that's it let it all out" he placed his hand over his other self's heart and it began to apparently sink into his chest "now why don't you make Aizen suffer like no one before him has suffered before?"

"Aizen" Toushirou said his name through gritted teeth.

"Very good" the inner hollow said in approval.

*Real World*

Toushirou let out a loud roar which terrified Rangiku as unlike any time before the jaw of his mask actually opened like it was his real mouth and his bankai regenerated fully. He turned his gaze towards Aizen who had just shattered the ice forming around his stump of a wrist and began to regenerate his hand when Toushirou rushed towards him with a flap of his wings so powerful and nearly buried Rangiku in the snow it kicked up. Aizen swung his sword down as hard as he could when Toushirou appeared in front of him however Toushirou literally grabbed the blade just above the guard with his left hand and kicked Aizen in the stomach with a right roundhouse sending him flying back.

"My Kyouka Suigetsu!" Aizen thought in alarm as Toushirou held his Zanpakutou in his left hand.

"Let's see how tough he is without that overpowered magic trick he calls a sword" the inner hollow chuckled from within Toushirou's soul as the simple katana was encased in ice over a foot thick before shattering into dust and falling to the ground.

"He destroyed Aizen's Zanpakutou" Rangiku stated in disbelief as Toushirou flew straight towards Aizen and pinned him to the ground by planting his knees over the traitor's arms.

"This isn't possible" Aizen told himself as Toushirou placed his left hand over his chest and slashed him with Hyourinmaru, Aizen tried to throw him off but to no avail as Toushirou reached into the wound with his left hand and violently ripped out a small black pearl he had committed numerous unforgivable crimes in order to obtain "the Hogyoku…" Toushirou then picked him up by the collar with his left hand and threw as hard as he could sending him racing past Rangiku and crashing into even more debris which had littered the streets.

"Alright now we don't have to worry about him regenerating himself, might as well take your time and enjoy this Toushirou" the inner hollow suggested as Toushirou released the grip on both his hands causing Hyourinmaru and the Hogyoku to drop to the ground.

"Is this really Toushirou?" Rangiku asked herself in a mixture of terror and disbelief as he walked past her without so much as sparring her a glance "his spiritual pressure…it's nothing like it normally is…" he reached into the debris and pulled a wounded Aizen out by his neck "…it's fiercer, crueler…" he slammed Aizen face first into the ground they were standing on "…there's no sign of kindness or any sense of duty…" Toushirou wrapped his tail around Aizen's neck and lift him into the air.

"Get it over with" Aizen hissed.

"No…" Toushirou replied coldly "…I want to hear you scream as you beg for mercy!"

"Not happening…" Aizen was cut as Toushirou slammed his left fist into Aizen's face creating a crack over his face which like his hand was not healing.

But that was not the end, Toushirou continued to pound into Aizen's face repeatedly "…it's like all he knows now is…" Rangiku thought in horror as she watched Toushirou brutally beat Aizen "…an undying hatred…"

"…you may hate me in the future…" Gin's voice rang in Rangiku's memory as the segment of Aizen's helmet covering his jaw shattered yet Toushirou continued to strike without mercy "…it seems very likely to me that you will…" Toushirou slammed his right fist into the top section of Aizen's mask causing it to shatter revealing Aizen's head, his eyes had turned jet black and his hair had strangely grown out, he could only look at Toushirou angrily "…however hatred will rob your heart of its freedom and destroy you from the inside…"

"I see…this is what Gin meant" Rangiku thought as she dragged herself to her feet and ran towards Toushirou "I have to hurry!"

Toushirou slammed his left fist into Aizen's stomach causing him to cough up a large amount of blood "time to finish this Toushirou" the inner hollow instructed.

"May you rot in Hell Aizen" Toushirou hissed as he brought the man whom he despised above all others in close and forced his jaw open with his left hand before raising his right hand which had a small blue green orb forming around the index finger and placed it halfway into Aizen's mouth "it's finally over!"

"And your heart will finally be mine once again!" the inner hollow chuckled "now finish him!"

"With pleasure" Toushirou thought as he prepared to fire his cero.

"STOP!" Rangiku shouted before suddenly appearing behind Toushirou and wrapping her arms around his neck "don't do it" she begged with tears rolling down her face.

"You're too late girl" the inner hollow chuckled "Toushirou kill her!"

"Shut up" Toushirou replied as he turned his focus towards the woman on his back and away from the struggling Aizen in his tail "what is the meaning of this Rangiku?" Rangiku gulped slightly at the cold edge of his voice "can't you see that I'm about to finally end this madness?"

"Toushirou I'm begging you, don't do it" Rangiku replied desperately.

"Do you realize what you're asking of me?" Toushirou asked in disbelief "Rangiku this is the man who betrayed us and threw the entire Soul Society in chaos, who knows how many lives have been ruined because of what he's done, to top it all off Momo and Gin…he took them away!" he tightened the grip with his tail causing Aizen to struggle further as memories of Momo and her smiling face flashed through his mind "for what he's done…HE DESERVES TO SUFFER A THOUSAND DEATHS!"

"I know Toushirou…" Rangiku stated weakly "…and I'm not saying that we should let him go, but…" she squeezed him tightly "…you're not killing him out of sense of duty and it's not to protect innocent people…" she raised her head before saying "…you're doing it to satisfy your own hatred!"

"So what if I am?" Toushirou asked angrily "it's not important so long as he dies!"

"Before he died…Gin gave me a warning" Rangiku began desperately "he told me that if I gave into my hatred it would rob my heart of its freedom and destroy me from the inside out…after seeing you just now I realize that he was right and if you give into that hatred now it'll destroy you as well…so please, I'm begging you don't do it…I DON'T WANT TO LOSE ANYONE ELSE!"

Toushirou gripped his fists tightly before asking "and what of you?" Rangiku looked at him in surprise "say my hate does consume me, what will you do?'

Rangiku closed her eyes half way before answering "if I lose you then I'll have nothing else to live for, once order has been restored to the worlds I'll move on to the next stage in the cycle of rebirth where I shall await the return of the Heavenly Guardian…the Frozen Savior…"

Toushirou's fists began to shake violently before he loudly swore "DAMN IT ALL!" Rangiku nearly lost her grip as he let out a powerful wave of spiritual energy and put away his mask causing her to look at him in a combination of shock and hope "that's unacceptable" he stated as he haphazardly threw Aizen to the side with his tail causing him to land with a dull thud as he struggled to breath "I can't lose you too" he pulled on her arms causing her to let go of him, all the snow and ice began to disappear as he sealed his Bankai and he turned towards Rangiku "to make matters worse I've given you yet another bad memory…I'm such a fool…"

Rangiku pulled him into a tearful embrace causing him to place a hand over the back of her head gently.

"Kid what the Hell do you think you're doing? You haven't…" his inner hollow began but was cut off.

"Shut up, you need to realize that you are nothing more than a small part of me" Toushirou replied as the hollow's grip slipped over his heart "it's time you learned your place!" the hollow let out a scream as it faded back into the darkness of Toushirou's heart "I'm sorry Rangiku, please forgive me…"

"It's alright" Rangiku replied.

Little did the two officers know that nearby Aizen was crawling towards the Hogyoku "I'll never let them take it from me" he thought as he struggled to drag his body forward with his only hand "once I have it back I'll make them all know the true meaning of fear!" he finally reached his destination and reached out for it with his right hand "I'll show them the true power of a god!" just before he was about to grab the wretched stone a white bladed pierced the back of his hand and nailed it to the ground, before Aizen could see who it was he felt an additional two blades pierce his chest around his heart, he looked up to see Alexander and Shinji on top of him; Alexander had driven Nehan through his hand while using Kokuhyou in conjunction with Shinji's Sakenade to pierce Aizen's heart.

"Master, Shinji" Toushirou called out when he realized what had just happened.

"How?" Aizen asked weakly "my Bankai…it should have…" Toushirou and Rangiku approached him "…broken both of you."

"If we had been on our own it probably would have" Shinji stated "I must admit that was an effective technique forcing us to relive all of our worst memories…"

"But you failed to realize one thing" Alexander continued "we made it through those events when they actually happened, and do you know why we were able to do that Aizen?" Aizen gave no response "it was because of our friends and family" suddenly over a dozen people surrounded them as they arrived via shunpo and in Nelliel's case a sonido "while it's true that to this very day I have not forgotten, nor have I forgiven myself for my past. At the same time I can not allow them to break me, because if I did then I'd hurt Elaina, Retsu, my friends, and my comrades; while what I've done can never be forgiven, so long as there is breath in my body I can't allow myself to fall into despair for my friends' sakes."

Aizen was silent for a few moments as the life drained from his body "you're all just too much…" his body became still and his eye lids finally shut for the last time.

"After all these years" Shinji began as he and Alexander began to sheathe their swords "I can't believe I'm pitying you Aizen, you were just…too pathetic…"

"Head Captain Hitsugaya" Alexander said in acknowledgment of his former student as he bent down to retrieve the Hogyoku and Hyourinmaru, Alexander turned his gaze towards Rangiku for a moment before thinking "thanks to her he has truly surpassed me in every way imaginable."

"We'll need to decide what to do with this" Toushirou thought as he pocketed the Hogyoku and sheathed Hyourinmaru and turned his gaze towards Nelliel "I'm not a hundred percent certain why you decided to help us, but I'm grateful to you; you have my expressed permission to move about here in the World of the Living as you wish so long as you don't disturb the peace."

"Thanks, but that's not going to bring back my friends" Nelliel replied solemnly "maybe I should see about hanging out with Ichigo and his crew."

"The same goes to you and your Vaizards Shinji" Toushirou stated causing them all respond cheerfully, even Kensei managed to crack a smile at the good news "just make sure to keep Hiyori as far away from the Seireitei as you possibly can."

"What the hell did you just say shorty?" Hiyori yelled angrily but was silenced when Shinji threw his hand over her mouth and nodded in understanding.

"Ichigo Kurosaki" Toushirou continued ignoring the childish fight that had broken out between Shinji and Hiyori "I wish I could promise you that we'll never cause trouble for you again but…"

"I understand" Ichigo replied "if you ever need help don't hesitate to ask."

"I'm grateful" Toushirou assured him before turning his gaze towards his subordinates "let me start off by saying you all performed heroically today, however there isn't any time to lose, we must return to the Seireitei immediately; after all we must pay our respects to the fallen and then we have to rebuild the Thirteen Court Guard Squads."

"Sir" most of the officer responded.

"This isn't how I envisioned becoming the Head Captain…but I intend to make the most of it…" Toushirou thought.

*Captains' hall: Three Months Later*

"Things sure have been lively the past three months" Shunsui sighed as he talked to Ukitake as they awaited their colleagues "I can't remember the last time I had to do so much paperwork."

"How's Nanao doing?" Ukitake inquired.

"I found her lying on her desk with a killer hangover this morning" Shunsui sighed "in hindsight I probably should have told her that Lisa was a porn fiend a long time ago."

"She'll get over it I'm sure" Ukitake replied "but still it is concerning; I know it's only been three months but still to be short two Captains and four Lieutenants at the beginning of a new Head Captain's tenure is troubling."

"We'll be fine" Shunsui assured his friend "the kid's been looking for the best and the brightest ever since he took over…" suddenly the doors opened revealing their two newest additions "…well speak of the devil."

"Sorry we're late" Elaina stated "still getting used to the new routes" unlike three months ago Elaina was now wearing a sleeveless kimono and she now had bands holding her leggings closely to her ankles, but the most meaningful change was the sleeveless white haori she was wearing with the kanji for nine on the back.

"It's no problem" Shunsui chuckled.

"Please take your places" Toushirou commanded as Elaina stood between her father and Kenpachi.

"Thank you for your patients, Head Captain" Youmei replied, her hair was still long on the left side and short on the right, the only change to her attire was that now she was wearing a white haori with a long sleeve over her right arm and no sleeve over her left with the kanji for three on the back.

"Now that everyone's here it's time to call this meeting to order" Toushirou stated as he stood up between the two rows of Captains, over the past three months he had grown approximately half a foot and his face had become more streamlined and mature in appearance; Elaina, Retsu, and Alexander each suspected that Momo's Fukahana may have stunted his physical growth but chose not to bring it up "approximately three days ago I received a summons."

"A summons?" Elaina inquired "the Central Forty Six is dead so who the hell could summon you? After all you're the Head Captain."

"There is one body that can" Byakuya stated calmly.

"That's right" Toushirou replied "we've been summoned by…the Royal Family…"

Author's Notes: And that's chapter 26 boys and girls, please tell me what you think and don't forget to stick around for chapter 27