A.N.: Azza, Taiyo Kurosaki, my review sections are NOT a chatroom! Get an actual FF account and DM each other if you want to talk that badly!
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.
Chapter Forty-Six
Meanwhile…
Karakura Town; Kurosaki House
Isshin was quiet as he chopped peppers, listening to the sounds of conversation from the living room. He did his best to keep his hands steady while sliding the chopped vegies off the wooden cutting board and into the large pot. Setting the knife down, the former captain wiped his sweaty brow and knew it wasn't because of the kitchen heat that he was sweating.
All day the man had tried his best to quell the fear inside of him. He hated himself for not going to with Ichigo to rescue his granddaughter from the clutches of Aizen. Recalling Aizen's confession, that he had been behind all the mayhem his son had been tormented with, made Isshin's blood boil. And the betrayal by his former comrades, especially Toshiro and Rangiku, twisted the knife.
Most of all he regretted not punching Soi-Fon in her smug face.
Stirring the pot, Isshin continued to hear the Tres Bestia talking to his daughters, Yuzu and Karin getting along with them quite nicely despite the three being Arrancars. The trio plus Chad being present held bring an added level of security to the house that Isshin appreciated after Yamamoto's duplicity was revealed.
Despite what he said to Ichigo earlier, Isshin was deathly afraid for his son and hated himself for the pain his son, Halibel and especially baby Asahi were going through. Ichigo and his girlfriend were heading into the belly of the beast, no doubt what Aizen wanted. What the rogue wanted with his son, Isshin couldn't discern. But considering everything Aizen had put him through and his machinations for bringing him and Halibel together, he wondered what was Aizen's endgame. Was it Asahi, the daughter of human-turned-Soul Reaper and a Hollow-turned-Arrancar? Was if Halibel, a Hollow who'd regained her Human heart and emotions? Or was it Ichigo, whose potential seemed limitless. Were all three of them Aizen's prize?
'And if he's gone through all of this just for the three of them…then what does he have planned for the three of them once he's reached his goals?'
The thought sent a shiver down his spine. Yet despite his anger at himself for not going with him, he knew that he had to be here to protect Yuzu and Karin from the captains. And he knew that Ichigo understood too. "Ichigo, please be safe…" he silently prayed.
Ding-Dong!
"I'll get it!" Isshin shouted. He turned off the stove and removed his apron, walking out of the kitchen and past the group in the living room. Reaching the front door, he prepared himself for whoever had come and opened the door.
Upon seeing who it was, Isshin scowled and raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?" he asked his visitor, his tone harsh and bitter.
Panting for breath, Toshiro Hitsugaya put a hand on the wall beside him to steady himself, sweat dripping down his face. He was without his captain's jacket, the Senkaimon he'd dashed through like a madman possessed closing nearby. "Capitan…Shiba…" he panted. "You…you need…"
"Toshiro, what are you doi-"
"Flee!" Toshiro shouted. "Isshin, you need to run! Now!"
Meanwhile…
Las Noches; Desert under the Dome
Everyone stared at the creature that stood in front of them. Nnoitora scowled while his injuries healed. "What the hell is that?" he asked. "Who the fuck are you?" Orihime and Rukia were both horrified when they realized this was the Flash Goddess, Yoruichi, transformed into a horrible abomination. It looked like she'd become a depraved fusion of Hollow and machinery.
The cat-like Hollow said nothing, merely looking at the Espada like a piece of meat.
Noting the cords attached to her body and her mechanical parts, Nnoitora scoffed. "So, you're that thing Szayelapporo was making. Guess someone let you off the leash."
"Yoruichi!" Orihime called out while her spirits continued healing Nel, Pesche and Dondochaka behind her. "Is that really you?"
The teen didn't receive a human reply from the Hollow. "GRRRRRRRRRRR!" growled the purple-haired creature from behind her deformed mask. Her body lowered as she prepared to attack, her eyes locked with Nnoitora's.
Gritting his teeth, Nnoitora took a stance. His sharp blades dug into the desert sands while he readied himself to cut this interloper to shreds. "You think you can take me? You'll end up just like that loser over there!" He pointed a blade at the defeated Nel. "I'll finish her off once I'm done carving you to ribbons, bitch!"
Lightning crackled around Yoruichi's body. The sound of thunder boomed across the domed desert as she pounced. Nnoitora was taken aback by just how fast Yoruichi was. She made a beeline for the Espada and he swung his blade to take her face off, only for her to disappear with a flash of lightning. "The hell?" Nnoitora's eyes widened as the sound of thunder boomed behind him and pain seared into his side. "Damn you!" Blood dripped from his slash side.
He swung his blade hard but missed again when Yoruichi jumped backwards. Crouching low, Yoruichi's mechanical tail arched above her head. The tip of the tail opened up and shot a projectile at Nnoitora.
"So is that all Szayelapporo gave you were stupid toys?!" Nnoitora mocked before cutting the projectile, a metal orb the size of a tangerine, in half. But upon hearing a loud beeping, Nnoitora realized his mistake just before the two halves suddenly exploded. "She can pop out grenades? What'd that moron put in her?" he said, more annoyed than hurt thanks to his enhance Hierro. He had no chance think more before Yoruichi was upon him again.
Rukia bit her lip, her eyes glued to Yoruichi. Or rather, the creature that had taken the beautiful woman's place. "Is that…really Yoruichi?" she wondered around. True the cat mask and the purple hair were a dead giveaway but Yoruichi looked unlike anything she'd ever seen before in the world of Hollows. And she thought Aaroniero was the most bizarre creature she would see here. "What did that creep do to her?"
"Is she…a Hollow?" Orihime asked, though she couldn't spot a hole anywhere on her with the Hollow moving around so much. "Or is she some sort of robot?" The thought of the kind, wonderful woman she knew and cared about reduced to this was heartbreaking.
"I don't know." Rukia kept a hand on her zanpakuto. She didn't want to have to use it on Yoruichi but it didn't look like the woman had much of a mind anymore. "What did that Espada do to her?"
The fight between Yoruichi and Nnoitora grew heated. There was no way the Espada could deny that the new interloper was faster than him. But his increased toughness more than made up for his lack of speed. While Yoruichi's left claw and her tail armaments could not do more than scratch him, only her right claw, the artificial one that was fed Yoruichi's spirit energy to produce the sharp claws, was the only real threat to him.
Yoruichi leapt forward, her claw aimed straight at Nnoitora's throat. Nnoitora sidestepped her, dodging the strike by a hair. "Missed me, bitch!" he grinned, having caught on to Yoruichi's animalistic attack pattern. "Got you know!"
"YORUICHI!" The orangette and Soul Reaper screamed when Nnoitora suddenly plunged his blade into her side, using his wicked Santa Teresa Guadaña to spread his corruptive spiritual pressure into her body.
"Got you now, bitch!"
But Nnoitora's victory was short-lived when Yoruichi suddenly disappeared, as if he'd never stabbed her to begin with. "What the fu-"
"GRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
Yoruichi's large claw slashed Nnoitora's back, making him scream as her Reishi claws dug deep, tearing through his armor and flesh. Cursing loudly, Nnoitora continued to attack in vain, unable to land a proper blow to Yoruichi.
Dondochaka, the first of the trio to recover from his grievous injuries, sat up inside Orihime's shield. If he was scared of Nnoitora, he was utterly terrified of Yoruichi. "Wat…wat is dat?!" he gasped, scared stiff of the creature. "That thing…its hurting Nnoitora! Not even Master Nel could do that! How is that thing so powerful?"
Rukia was thinking that same thing. Nnoitora was leagues above Aaroniero and he had easily overwhelmed Nel, who'd been his superior before Aizen had gifted him with the ascended release state. "Yoruichi was already a captain-class Soul Reaper and one of the greatest fighters the Soul Society had ever seen before. Whatever it was that Espada did to her, it only made her more powerful. She still retains the speed she was famous for, even as a Hollow. That weapon…" Her eyes lingered on that sinister mechanical claw. "It must take both Yoruichi's spirit energy and the collected Reishi of Hueco Mundo to create those claws. That they're sharp enough to cut through him when my ice and your guys' attacks failed means that Szayelapporo meant to turn Yoruichi into a killing machine capable of killing the captains."
"Isn't…isn't there anything we can do?" Orihime asked, worried about the state of their friend.
"She…she's scary!" Dondochaka cried.
Even Orihime had to agree. Those bestial growls and bloodthirsty eyes made the girl fear that there might not be anything left of the Flash Goddess in there. "Isn't there anything we can do?"
"All we can do is wait…and pray. Pray that she can defeat that monster. And pray that she isn't one too."
Back and forth mantis and cat dueled. Nnoitora grinned as he dodged another strike, slashing Yoruichi's side. When the purple-haired Hollow howled in pain his grin widened. "Gotcha that time, bitch!" He licked her blood off his blade. "I know you can still bleed."
Blood dripped down the cat-Hollow's side. Rukia noted the lack of regeneration when it refused to heal. 'A byproduct of all that machinery in her perhaps?' she speculated before turning her attention that the cracked, bolted mask. 'I've never seen a mask like that before. It's not like when a normal Hollow's mask is damaged. What kind of Hollowfication did that Espada put her through?'
Angered at the sight of her own blood, Yoruichi's body exploded with white lightning. Nnoitora prepared himself as Yoruichi lunged forward but was caught off guard when the cables on her back suddenly moved with a mind of their own. Stabbing into his armor, the empowered Espada found himself on the receiving end of a massive blast of electricity. "GAHHHHHHHH!"
Taking advantage of the stunned Nnoitora, Yoruichi opened her mouth and chomped down on Nnoitora's hand, ripping it off. Screaming in pain, Nnoitora stabbed at her but hit nothing. He watched as she landed on a nearby dune, chewing his hand up before swallowing it.
"You…damn…BITCH!" Something inside Nnoitora snapped. Or more likely everything snapped at the sight of a female Hollow eating his own flesh. "All of you bitches…think you're better than me! I'll show you! I'll show you whose the strongest!" His whole body glowed a sickly yellow before he turned to Orihime, Rukia and Nel. "Starting with you!"
The Fifth Espada surprised everyone when he bit down on his own tongue, drawing blood. Sticking his bloody organ out, he focused every ounce of spirit energy into the tip of his tongue. "I'll kill you all!" he shouted before unleashing his last gambit. The Cero on his tongue shifted colors from yellow to pestilence green. "Gran Rey Cero!"
Everyone was caught off guard when Nnoitora fired the dangerous weapon at them, its speed faster than Orihime could bring up her shield. However, Yoruichi's speed was faster and she leapt in front of them and opened her mouth in response to fire a Cero of her own.
Orihime and Rukia were blown back against the barrier protecting the three Arrancars when Yoruichi's back suddenly exploded with intense lightning. "That's…" Orihime grunted, unable to move from the intensity of the lightning.
"Shunko," finished Rukia.
Fusing the power of her Shunko lightning with her Cero, Yoruichi launched her Shunko Cero. The two beastly attacks collided, causing a fierce explosion that shook Las Noches to its foundations. Everyone braced themselves as they felt the shockwave. Rukia and Orihime were knocked off their feet while Nnoitora braced himself, digging his blades into the ground to steady himself.
"There's…no way…she can be this strong," Nnoitora chided. "I…I am…the strong-"
Eyes stared directly into Nnoitora's face. Horror spread through every inch of Nnoitora's body when he saw Yoruichi standing not two feet away from him, her mouth already opened with another Shunko Cero in her maw. "NO!" was all the Espada could let out.
The monster in front of him showed no mercy and blasted him at point blank range.
Rukia threw herself over Orihime as another shockwave hit, protecting her from the wave of sand that washed over them. Rukia waited until all was quiet before risking opening her eyes. "Is…is it over?"
She got off of Orihime and helped her up, dusting the sand off of each other. Looking out at the battlefield, they couldn't see anything past the smoke. But once the ringing in her ears died down, Rukia heard something through the cloud of smoke.
The sickening sound of crunching.
The smoke soon cleared, letting the girls see what was happening. Orihime felt sick when she saw what Yoruichi was doing.
Nel opened her eyes to find that she was alive and naked, her injuries healed. Beside her lay Pesche while Dondochaka sat on her right, shaking from head to toe. Covering herself, Nel sat up to find herself inside Orihime's barrier. "Orihime? Rukia? What's going on? Where's Nnoitora?" she asked. She was startled by the looks on the girls' faces as they stared into the distance. Following their line of sight, Nel soon found what they were staring at and was greeted with the sight of the cat Hollow eating what was left of Nnoitora. "What in the world…is that thing?" It looked like no Hollow she'd ever seen before.
Neither Orihime nor Rukia spoke. Both were too horrified by the sight of their friend tearing into the Espada's body like one does a piece of chicken. "Yoruichi…" murmured Orihime, covering her mouth while she fought the urge to hurl in disgust. "Please…please stop…he's already dead."
Yoruichi didn't listen to her friend. Instead she continued to chomp down on Nnoitora's body until all that was left was the Espada's severed head, rolling it around like a cat with a ball of yarn before smacking it away. She looked up at the girls before her eyes suddenly found Nel's. Whatever bloodlust had been sated with devouring Nnoitora came rushing right back to her and she let out an earsplitting roar.
"Yoruichi! Stop!" Rukia shouted, drawing her sword as the Hollow raced towards them. "Don't make me cut you!" Even as she said that she knew she stood little chance against the Hollow. But she couldn't let her kill Nel and the others.
"Santen Kesshun!" Orihime put her shield in front of them but one swipe of Yoruichi's large claw made short work of it. "Nghhh!" The girls were both knocked back by the impact, slamming back against Orihime's healing barrier.
"O-Orihime! Let us outa here!" Dondochaka pleaded, picking up his fixed club and putting himself between Yoruichi and Nel. Growling, the cat Hollow raised its claw to tear through Orihime's barrier…
"Yoruichi! Stop! We're your friends!" shouted Orihime.
The white misshapen creature came to a dead stop, her body freezing up as that last word reached Yoruichi's mind. "F-Friends?" she asked, her voice low and mechanical. "You…are…friends?"
Seeing that she'd reached the Flash Goddess, Orihime got up and walked over to Yoruichi. She reached out and touched her mask, making the Hollow flinch at her touch. "It's me, Yoruichi. It's Orihime."
"Ori…hime?" Yoruichi repeated. Her body tensed and she howled in pain when her head started to hurt. She tried desperately to hang on to her last lingering thread of sanity and fight what Szayelapporo had done to her brain but the effort caused extreme pain. "It hurts! It hurts! Guhh!" Her claws dug into the sands and she bent over, her tail thrashing around.
"Yoruichi…" Orihime caressed the twisted mask on her face. "I…I can try to heal this."
Rukia walked up next to her. "I…I'm not sure you can. I know your powers are good, Orihime but I don't think your healing abilities can do much for her. You can't cure Hollowfication. I can't even tell what kind of Hollow she is."
Orihime lifted her barrier, letting the three out. While Dondochaka carried the still unconscious Pesche, Nel got up and took walked over to Nnoitora's severed head, shaking her head sadly at what'd been done to her former comrade. Not wanting to prance around in the nude, Nel grabbed what was left of Nnoitora's coat, discarded after his transformation, and tore it up to make makeshift garments like Orihime did to Aaroniero. She walked back over to the girls and the Hollow who'd saved them. "Is this your friend?"
"Yes. This is Yoruichi. But I…" Orihime let the tears fall. "I don't know how to fix this."
Nel put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head. "Some things can't be undone. But we can find Szayelapporo's notes and try to figure out what he did to her."
Footsteps and panting alerted the group to someone coming. From the smoking ruins of Szayelapporo's palace rushed Kisuke. "Man! Why'd I think to wear clogs in the desert!" he huffed before he reached the group. "Girls! You're both okay! I was worried when I…when I…" Kisuke's eyes fell upon the Hollow in front of him. "Yoruichi?"
"Kis…uke?" answered back the white mechanical Hollow. "Is…that…you?"
Yoruichi slowly walked towards the shopkeeper. The sight of his beautiful, headstrong friend reduced to his was almost too much for Kisuke. He dropped to his knees and hugged the Hollow's neck. "Dammit…" he whispered. "Yoruichi…"
"Not…your fault…Kisuke…" replied Yoruichi before she grunted in pain. "Nghhhh! It hurts! Everything…hurts!"
"I can fix this," Kisuke promised, hugging her neck tightly while fighting back the urge to cry. "I will fix this. I promise." He had downloaded all of Szayelapporo's data from his computer, still operational despite Yoruichi's rampage. With his prior knowledge of Hollowfication, he knew there was a chance to save his friend. But he knew he'd need something else. "I…I need the Hogyoku," he finally said as he stood up. "If I can get my hands on that, I might be able to fix you."
"Kisuke…" Yoruichi looked at her friend sadly, not wanting Kisuke to blame himself or destroy himself trying to fix this.
Nel walked over to them. "We can at least try to remove her mask. Turning her into an Arrancar might be able to help her shed some of Szayelapporo's implants," she suggested.
Taking a closer look at her, Kisuke noted the lack of a hole in Yoruichi's chest. 'What did he do to her? Is she a Hollow? A Demi-Hollow? Some sort of technological medium between Soul Reaper and Hollow? But if there's no hole, what happens if we remove her mask?' There were too many questions for Kisuke right now for him to know what to do. "We'll find a way to fix her later after we leave."
Rukia nodded. "Right. We need to go and help Halibel and Ichigo. It looks like they're in trouble. And if Yoruichi is powerful enough to defeat the Number Five Espada in his enhanced state then-"
Something flew by everyone, catching them off guard. Orihime's eyes widened in horror when she saw three arrows in Rukia's chest. "RUKIAAAAAA!" she screamed as the girl fell to the ground.
Spinning around, Kisuke and Nel found Uryu standing behind them, bow drawn and at the ready. On his face was a large sun-like tattoo.
And behind him was the Number Seven Espada, Zommari.
"How pitiful," the man said while looking at his dead comrade's head. "So much for the toughest Espada. Don't worry, Nnoitora. I'll finish the mess you were too weak to finish off."
To be continued