The Arrancar was tense, a slight trembling of his sword-arm showing his attempt at freeing himself. It stopped once the Shinigami got close, and he turned to look at him. There was no fear in those glowing eyes of his, only a certain… inquisitiveness.
Too stupid to be afraid? Well, nothing to be surprised about.
The Captain stepped boldly toward the Arrancar, admiring his work. The giant was completely restrained, the chains blocking his movements effectively and precisely.
"Magnificent…" he breathed. Not the Arrancar, of course. That was a specimen wholly beneath his notice. Rather, the proof of his genius! Urahara Kisuke's experiment, that modified soul he called Ururu, and upon which he lavished like the waster of effort that he was, could take on an unreleased Fraccion of an Espada and win. But, could she restrain an opponent of the same level of strength with such precision and efficiency? Could she engulf him with reishi-strengthened chains that blocked the release of an Arrancar's zanpakuto? No! A hundred times no! And that meant that his work was superior.
Mayuri brought his hands together with an ecstatic sigh. The one that worked the superior product was the superior scientist. That was an undeniable law.
Satisfaction flooded him like a wave of regenerating serum. No, more; it was vindication, it was a sublime feeling that defied description.
Happiness. Pure and simple happiness.
He was so glad that when he stabbed the Arrancar with his Ashisogi Jizo, he did so in a way that wouldn't provoke excruciating torment.
At his gesture, the clones drew back their chains, retracting them back into fingers.
He scrutinized them for a moment, and his good humor just increased. No puppy eyes searching for a useless approval, no weak souls needing a cookie or a pat like a dog. No, the four just stared at him, expressionless, waiting for his next command.
He could almost swoon.
"Well," he sighed. "I don't think that any more good could be taken out of his hole. Let's salvage the personnel and retreat".
The four nodded in unison. Still, before they could get in motion, a deep voice made itself heard.
"I see…"
In a mild surprise, Mayuri turned.
The Arrancar was on one knee, a fist pushed against the floor while with the other he still clutched his sword. His head was down.
Mayuri tapped at his cheek, slightly annoyed. Here he did again, forgetting a thing the moment his interest was caught by another. That was no good. He really needed to work on it.
"What is it, Guardian?" He asked. He was in such good humor that he was ready even to entertain that idiot a little bit more. "Are you wondering what is exactly happening? What is the poison holding your limbs in place? Or no, wait". He softly brought a fist on an open palm. "You're probably asking yourself what is going to happen to you now?"
The Arrancar didn't answer. Of course, he couldn't.
"Your questions are irrelevant", Mayuri said. "Still, you've been useful, so i guess i'll tell you. I am always in need of good flesh. You'll make nice. An Arrancar doesn't particularly hit my interest at the moment but i suppose i can find a use for a tester. You'll be fighting against worthier subjects as i test them. As an inferior specimen, it's really the best you could hope for, don't you think?" Of course, it was, but by now he had lost all his trust in brutes' ability to see beyond their nose and toward scientific advance, an objective that dwarfed their pathetic existences.
He paused. The Arrancar's intrusion had reignited his previous curiosity. Well, he supposed that he could devote a few moments to studying Arrancar's psychology.
"Tell me", he began. "You hesitated in striking my experiment. How come? Don't whine," he added with a hint of annoyance. "Don't waste my time. Just answer. It will be much more simple for both of us". He made an encouraging gesture. "It is possible that even an Arrancar like you is slowed down by some kind of morals?" In any other instance, he'd have laughed. But while he studied, he was always serious, so he kept his tone straight.
The Arrancar took a moment to answer.
"Aye," he rumbled. "I find killing children… dishonorable".
Mayuri ruminated on that answer for a moment. A part of him scoffed at it. The rest, the cold-blooded scientist, just registered.
"How come?" He asked. "As a Hollow, an Arrancar devoured souls. Morals should be the farthest thing away from your mind…" Mentally, he rolled his eyes. Did he really come all the way to Hueco Mundo to hear the same tirade about honor?
He didn't get to hear the answer.
"Enough". The voice of the Arrancar took a slow, threatening edge.
Mayuri narrowed his eyes. Defiance, now?
"You asked me if i had questions". The Arrancar spoke before he could put him back in his place. "My answer is this: no. I have no question. None of those you spoke off ever passed through my mind".
Mayuri frowned.
"I have no questions. I saw enough already. Mayuri Kurotsuchi".
A wave of surprise crossed the Captain. "What? How do you know my name?"
"I know the names of all the Captains". The Arrancar's voice was a slow, deadly rumble. "The stench that i felt could belong only to one of them. Still, i'd never imagine seeing such filth".
And then, something impossible happened. Ignoring the fact that the poison of Ashisogi Jizo ran through his veins, the same poison that could hold Zaraki Kenpachi immobile, the Arrancar got up.
"What?" Mayuri stepped back, something that stank too much like astonishment jumping in his chest. The clones were quick to put themselves in front of him, their hands taking back their sword forms. "How?" Mayuri was in disbelief. "How can you move?"
The Arrancar turned, planting glowing eyes upon him. "You are unlucky", he said. "No poison can affect me".
No poison? Mayuri's mind ran with possibilities. Yes, the poison of his zanpakuto could be pushed away while in its fog form, but after being injected directly? That was…
"Impossible?" The Arrancar seemed to be reading his thoughts. "You're a fool, Mayuri Kurotsuchi. You know nothing".
Mayuri balked at the insult. Coming from a brute?! How dared he…!
"Kill him!" He screeched, pointing wildly.
The clones obeyed at once. As one, they dashed forward, the ancient dust exploding out beneath their momentum.
It happened in a flash.
The Arrancar stepped forward, his foot breaking the stone floor. His sword flew out in a destructive arc.
Torsos, arms and legs; they flew in the air, together with the blood they kept. All four of the clones; a moment earlier they were attacking, the next they tumbled messily on the floor, in many places at once.
Mayuri watched. He blinked, uncomprehending. And then, as the horrific realization dawned on him, a scream of horror was ripped from his mouth.
"My experiments!" He screamed. In a flash, he was amidst the carnage, desperately rummaging among it, touching, moving, searching for a sliver of life, uncaring of the blood splashing his hands and coat.
It couldn't be, not like that, not so quickly. The experiments of that man had never been felled so quickly. If only those four had managed to hold out a little bit before falling… no, it couldn't be. There had to be a mistake!
"How!" He howled, slamming both fists down on what had been a body. He turned sharply toward the Arrancar, the horrid destroyer!, all his despair and disbelief turning into bloody anger.
"You shouldn't have been strong enough!" He screamed, because there was no way that he had misread that idiot's reiatsu, no way that such a pathetic creature could defeat his experiments so easily.
"Your luck ended when you met me, dark one". That was all the explanation that destroyer offered him, speaking calmly and solemnly, without a shred of guilt for the devastation he had caused. How dared he? How dared he?!
"I will kill you!" Mayuri's shunpo was so powerful that the pieces of the massacre were scattered by the blowback. In a flash, the Captain was in front of his opponent, Ashisogi Jizo swinging in a savage strike.
The sound of metal echoed loudly as the Arrancar's blade intercepted.
"What?" Mayuri stepped back, startled. How…! He lacked the time to retake his poise: the Arrancar pushed his sword and back and brought his massive palm slamming against his chest.
Mayuri let out a choked sound, spit flying from his lips. He managed to maintain his position for a moment yet, then he was blown away, flying all across the chamber and slamming against a wall. The blow drove all the air out of his lungs making him gasp in pain. Still, he managed to regain himself and landed on his feet. For a moment. Then his knees gave way and he fell down, clutching at his stomach and trembling.
"How…" he choked out, lifting his head to gaze hatefully at the Arrancar. "Your Reiatsu isn't… enough…"
The Arrancar didn't offer explanations.
"I am glad", he said, pointing his sword against him. "It's not often that my blade is offered such a stenchful prey. I will shed no tears in bringing you death".
Mayuri forced himself back to his feet, ignoring the pain wracking his torso. "How dare you?" He howled. "You're just a piece of trash living in a ruin forgotten by everything. How dare you?"
The Arrancar snorted. "You truly know nothing, shinigami". For the first time, a hint of irony crept in his voice.
With a snarl, Mayuri retook his stance. "I know nothing? You know nothing!" He spat. "Talking about dishonorable? About stench? You make me sick! I would laugh at hearing those tirades from anybody else but from an Arrancar? An eater of souls? You're pathetic!"
The Arrancar took his stance in turn, grabbing his sword with both hands and holding it aloft and at his side. "That i am", he rumbled. "But that doesn't change this one, simple truth: without honor, a life has no worth".
"Ah! That's hysterical!" Mayuri would have laughed if he wasn't absolutely livid. "I thought that only shinigami and humans liked to spit that drivel. Hearing a Hollow parroting them sickens me!"
"I know that it does…"
"What do you know!"
Mayuri had enough of that nonsense. He was going to cut him to pieces, and to make it last.
Still, the pain still wracking his torso quelled enough of his anger to keep him from throwing himself to the attack once again.
Fuming, he glared at the Arrancar. He hadn't been wrong: that scum's reiatsu wasn't enough to warrant the power he displayed. Mayuri clenched his teeth so hard that they creaked. How? How?! He didn't understand!
The Arrancar flash-stepped, disappearing from sight in an explosion of concussive sound.
"What?" Mayuri lifted his sword, just as a massive shadow fell upon him. An enormous sword soon followed, slamming against his guard with a deafening clang.
"Ack!?" Mayuri widened his eyes at feeling terrible pressure. His arms trembled with the efforts to keep his parry up.
The Arrancar's glowing eyes narrowed. Mayuri let out a choked sound as the pressure increased even more. The sword of the Arrancar forced his zanpakuto down, sinking into the Captain's shoulder. Mayuri's mouth opened in a silent scream.
He moved a second later, slinking out from that deadly trap and to the side. Freed from the opposition, the sword of the Arrancar came down like a cleaver, cutting through his shoulder and slamming into the floor.
But Mayuri had already moved out of the way. The Captain reappeared at some distance, before crumpling to the ground with a choked growl. Trembling, he looked at his devastated shoulder.
The pain was immense, but the outrage… the outrage! That was enough to close his throat and squeeze his guts.
"You piece of shit…" He rasped out, trembling and sweating. Showing a shivering hand in his coat, he took out a syringe and jabbed it into his chest. He threw it away with a snarl that quickly turned into a moan as the regenerating serum did its work. When it finished, all his physical wounds were gone, but not the one on his pride.
The Arrancar swept away the dust raised by his last attack with his sword, but didn't move to attack again. He watched him.
"Not understanding always unnerved you". It wasn't a question.
"Shut up!" Mayuri howled, mind running with possible solutions to the problem in front of him. Then, realization hit him. "What?" He asked, disbelief overriding even his anger for a moment.
"You heard me". The Arrancar took back his stance. "No, Mayuri Kurotsuchi".
"No…?"
"No". The Arrancar's voice held a finality to it. "This is my answer to you: no".
Mayuri stepped back, suddenly feeling scared. Those glowing eyes, they felt like they were driving a spike into his chest. There was some kind of… recognition into them, as if… as if he knew. All his efforts, his researches, his motives, deep down to the most secret ones, the ones he had never told anybody, never shared outside of his heart.
He stepped back again, dread and rage mixing. "How?" He chocked out. "How do you know?" It wasn't normal. There was some kind of contact that he couldn't put into words. He shook his head, trying to clear it. It didn't work.
"I am Gatekeeper", the Arrancar said slowly. "As such, all those that come before are subject to my gaze. And with these eyes of mine i see all. All their reasons, all their sins…" He lifted his sword. "I am Executioner as well. And this sword of mine will hand out judgment over you, Mayuri Kurotsuchi".
Mayuri's outrage skyrocketed. "How dare you…" He whispered, and then louder: "How dare you! Get out of my head! That is not for a primitive like you to know! Forget it! Forget it! You have no rights!"
"Rights?" The Arrancar cocked his head. "It has never been a question of rights. Isn't that right, Number Seven?"
Mayuri felt it like a punch in the gut. His old name. The name that he carried when he was the one being experimented upon, under the Captain that came before Urahara Kisuke.
"That's all there is to say…" As the Arrancar spoke, Mayuri just stood still. He couldn't move, couldn't speak. Only listen. "A poor little creature, inflicting the same pain he has suffered, trying to find meaning for his broken heart. Just another cog in this cycle the shinigami created…"
Mayuri staggered, reeling under the press of onrushing memories. Past and present mixed in front of his eyes. For a moment he was Number Seven, back in his little jail, stinking of sweat and excrements and despair, the next he was the Captain of the Twelfth, staring from the other side of the glass, watching the subjects being tested.
"Shut up…" He snarled, half in anger and half in despair. "Shut up! It's how it should be! It was for a greater cause! The greatest! The scientific advancement! And now it's my turn to carry it! My turn to be the experimenter and for others to be experimented upon! I earned it!"
His pain hadn't been in vain. He had found his truest meaning in it. That the cause of scientific advancement was the only true path. And that all the rest was nothing but an illusion.
"This is what you believe", the Arrancar calmly pointed out. "But no, it wasn't. It never was. All of this is just your madness. This is why you'll never surpass Urahara Kisuke".
Mayuri felt all the strength leaving his limbs.
"It's not envying for his scientific prowess that you feel. It's the envy toward someone freed from your own chains. For someone free to question and search without the burden of a broken soul".
"Shut up…"
"You are a failure, Mayuri Kurotsuchi. A slave to your own past".
It was too much. Rage exploded inside of Mayuri like a reishi bomb. The Captain felt it traverse him, only to explode out of his head like a vulcanic eruption.
His hand shot out, lifting his sword, just as a single word was ripped out of his mouth.
"Bankai!"
Wicked energy erupted out of Ashisogi Jizo, the sword's guard enlarging and twisting. When it stopped, a grotesque creature towered behind Mayuri, a colossal caterpillar with an oversized baby head. Its reiatsu filled the chamber like a dense fog of death.
Mayuri let out a burst of mad laughter. "Power is what decides who's on top!" He howled. "And the truly great are the brave ones with the courage to follow research and advancement! All the rest is hypocrisy and idiocy! Morals? Only a fake burden on a road of progress!" He jabbed wildly with his finger. "I was an experiment! But i grew! I overcame! Now it's my turn to be the one to experiment! The one to reach for the heights of greatness! You all! You mean nothing! Only this has meaning!"
A flurry of images crossed his eyes as he let out his heart. His cage as an experiment. The tests, the pain, the constant constant pain. The search for meaning at that absurd existence. And then, in the worm's pit, again a weakling, incapable to understand, to puzzle out a glimmer of sense out of his torment. And then, a revelation!, the final understanding that there wasn't a hidden meaning to find. That was how the world was supposed to be: experimenters and advancement, and nothing else. There was nothing to see underneath, nothing to search apart from that. And all that constant work and pain and searching were all at the service of that supreme objective that was technical and scientific advancement. The lives of the ignorants, his own body and identity, they were nothing but grains to be sent into the mill of that glorious endeavor. Nobody understood! How could they? Barbarians, idiots, ignorants; clinging to their trite notions of honor and mercy. What did they know of pain? What did they know of truth?
And then, in that perfect vision he had found, in the sublime tranquillity that it had brought him, a note out of tune, a damn imbecile with tousled blonde hair and not a shred of understanding. And… and… envy! Burning, hot, absolute envy!
"He's nothing!" Mayuri howled. "Less than an ant! Less than a speck! He didn't earn his place! I did! I and nobody else!"
The Arrancar lowered his head. "I mourn for you", he rumbled. Then, he lifted his eyes, those damn piercing eyes, and assumed his stance. "Come. Let us this mockery".
His dismissal made Mayuri go crazy.
"Go!" He howled, his mouth stretching so much that some of the sutures ruptured.
Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo's chest exploded with a multitude of blades, and the bankai rushed forward. On a hundred legs it went, devouring the distance, an unstoppable machine of poison and rusted metal and flesh, an avalanche of progress that couldn't be stopped, devouring everything in its path to fuel its advance.
The Arrancar's sword ripped through the Bankai's head. It cut through the flesh, slamming against the blades, shattering them until it lodged itself among the sharp detritus.
"My blade cannot cut your chains", the Arrancar said, his feet sliding back under the pressure. "But it will hand you freedom from them".
He shouted. His blade cut through. The bankai let out a cry and was cleaved in two.
Mayuri blinked. The Arrancar flash-stepped in front of him, blade raised.
It happened in a flash. A black-clad figure stepped in front of him, taking the blade in his stead.
Mayuri didn't care who it was, he barely remembered who it could be. What it mattered to him was that now he had a chance to get out of the way, to get out of that hellish place and back to his laboratory, cool and comforting.
But no!, he noticed with dismay. The blade of the Arrancar hadn't cut through the black-clad figure. Instead, it pushed her away as if there was no sharpness to it. The figure tried to hold on, but the Arrancar just barreled through.
"Rest, broken one".
His sword found Mayuri's chest, and this time it was sharp and deadly.
Mayuri's vision spun. In a whirl, he saw the door, the Arrancar, the still struggling black-clad figure, then the lower half of his body, still on its feet.
He slammed on the ground.
He blinked, unable to comprehend. Blood filled the little floor that he could see. So much blood. Whom it belonged? Was he doing some test and the knife had slipped? How very strange…
A familiar face appeared in his vision, devastated with concern.
Mayuri blinked, remembering.
"Ne… mu…" Talking felt harder than ever. And still, the hatred welling inside of him wouldn't be silenced. "It should have… been you… you failu…re…"
He reached up to slap, but strength fled him. His arm fell, his head turned aside. He couldn't remember… there was still so much to do. Bring him more subjects! More experiments! More research! He needed to surpass that man… he needed to… to…
Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Captain of the Twelfth Division, laid still and didn't move again. In death, his expression was thoughtful, as if he was already pondering upon his next experiment.
Genudàn, Quarta Espada, Gatekeeper and Executioner of Las Noches, retook his post in front of the great door.
The Arrancar laid eyes on the lithe figure folded over his fallen opponent. She was shivering and crying.
He didn't speak. There was nothing to say.
Eventually, Nemu lifted her head. Tears streaked her face, doing nothing to dim the furious anger in her eyes.
The girl screamed and charged him. Genudàn sent her tumbling back with a wave of Reiatsu.
"Get back", he ordered, slamming his sword on the floor. "I have no quarrel with you".
She looked to be barely listening. "You killed him", she spat, with a mix of despair and fury.
"That i did". Genudàn was unfazed. "He deserved it. But not you. Not yet". The Arrancar's all-seeing eyes swept over her, digging, searching, seeing. "You walk the edge. You may follow his path as well as diverge from it. Yours is the choice but know this. If you decide to walk his same darkened path, destiny will carry you back in front of me, and my sword will hand you the same judgment".
"You killed him!" She protested in dispair. "There's no destiny. He was everything to me. I have nothing left now!" She crumpled over the body, draping her arms around him. "I… i never was good enough. If i was, he… he would have loved me!"
Genudàn hummed deeply. "That is a lie. He loved nobody but himself and what he did".
Nemu sobbed, hiding her face against the corpse.
"My sword cannot cut the chains that imprison you". The Arrancar's rumbling voice reached her as if from far away. "It's up to you to find another reason to live. Still, your duty isn't done yet, shinigami".
Those words stirred something in her. Yes, duty. She had lived for that and that alone. Duty to her father. She still had a duty to his… his body, and then, to his memory.
She lifted her head, fixing the Arrancar with a tear-stained, angry glare.
Genudàn nodded, then said nothing else, returning to his vigil.
Nemu gathered her father's corpse and then flew away, back toward the camp. The survivors followed her suit.
In her pain, the lieutenant thought only of what that would mean for her future, but not of the chaos that it would bring to an already teetering Soul Society.