Author's Note: This chapter took a while to write because I was trying to make it different than the original episode. Anyways thank you to all those who review, favorited, and/or followed this story. Please enjoy this chapter and leave a review at the end.
"Juha Bach"
"Shiro"
"Aka"
"Ao"
"P.O.V."
'Thought'
"Attacks"
Shikai/Bankai
Chapter 9: A Gentle Right Arm
Ichigo was running down the street following the Reiryoku that was spiking in the distance as he thinks back to how Karin was crying as he tucks her into bed.
'How many years has it been since I last saw Karin cry? Until our mom died, Karin was a crybaby, just like Yuzu. After mom died, I closed myself off from everyone for a whole year until I meet Juha Bach, Aka and Ao, and Shiro and began training to become a Shinigami. Yuzu, who was the clever and responsible one, tried to fill in for our mom, and began to take over all of the housekeeping. Karin, who wasn't good at much of anything, stopped crying altogether so as not to worry the rest of us. Even when she got in trouble, or the time she broke her leg, she never cried. So if she's crying, she must truly be in pain.' Ichigo thought as he remembered her words to him. 'I saw the memories of the spirit possessing that bird. It happened right in front of him. You've got to help that poor boy, please do it!' Karin's words echoed through his head. 'Just leave this to me, Karin.' He thought as he sped up his running.
Meanwhile, Shrieker pins Rukia to a wall as she struggle to break free of his grasp.
"You're weak. Your spell has no bite. If you're really a Shinigami, why don't you loss the meat suit and fight me for real?" Shrieker asks as Rukia continues to struggle in his grip. "Either way, you die." He says but then suddenly a large fist slams into his face.
"That won't happen. As long as I'm here." Chad says as he tightened his fist.
'Amazing, with just one punch he managed to send that Hollow to the other end of the street.' Rukia thought with a bewildered look on her face. 'Just what kind of human is Chad?' She wonders.
"Hmm, it must've have been a lucky punch. That scared me for a minute there, but there's no way he can see me." Shrieker says but receives another punch to the face, this time dead center.
"All right. That makes two times now." Chad says.
'I can't believe what I'm seeing. He's knocked that Hollow down twice now. Ichigo said he has a strange power, and now I'm wondering just what that power is exactly.' Rukia wonders.
"And you're wrong by the way, I can see. I've been able to see you the whole time I've had Yūichi in my care." Chad says to the Hollow.
"Damn you!" Shrieker shouts before leaping into the air and spreads the wings on his arms. "Let's see you try and punch me now, you human toad! You'll never be able to hit me from way up here!" He taunts with a cackle.
"Hey, don't just stand there Chad. Get moving!" Rukia tells him.
"Don't worry about me Rukia. He thinks he's out of my reach but Yoruichi taught me to use my surroundings to my advantage." Chad says walking up to a telephone pole.
"What are you going to do?" Rukia asks. 'Yoruichi? Is that the name of Ichigo's other teacher? It must be but I feel like I've heard that name from somewhere before.' She thought.
"When you've got flies, you use a fly swatter." Chad says as he starts grunting.
"So many ways I can attack him. Shall I swoop in low like a falcon, or dive-bomb straight down onto his head and tear his-huh?" Shrieker says as he hears Chad's grunts get louder before they turned into screams as he break the telephone pole off its base. "What the hell?" He asks in complete astonishment.
"This is how I'll get him in the air." Chad says.
"Then do it. Bring it down on him now!" Rukia orders as Chad slams the telephone pole on top of Shrieker, forcing him to the ground.
"You're through now, Hollow." Rukia says walking up to the downed monster. "Another Shinigami's on his way here to finish you off for good." She says but was struck with confusion when Shrieker starts laughing. "What's so funny?" She asks.
"Lazy Shinigamis. It's no wonder you're always getting beaten and humiliated every time you battle us." Shrieker says and then suddenly, dozens of frog-like creatures, known as Targets, leap into the air behind Rukia and Chad before pinning them both to the ground. "Ha! Looks like the shoes on the other foot now. You Shinigamis take us too lightly. That's the reason you keep ending up like this, face down and helpless. But which of you meat socks to eat first? I think I'll go ahead and have my fill of the tasty Shinigami." He says making his way over to the pinned Rukia.
Chad watches as Rukia struggles to break free from the Targets pinning, he recalls a time being a child in Mexico with his grandfather, Oscar Joaquín De la Rosa.
[Flashback]
A young, shirtless Chad stands before his grandfather, Oscar Joaquín De la Rosa, who is a muscular older man with gray hair, wearing a purple cap with a yellow shirt and black suspenders, with tears in his eyes.
"Please, I want to hear it from you. Don't tell me you hit someone again, Yasutora?" Oscars asks his grandson. "What's the point of hitting someone? If you hurt those who hurt you, what's left? An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind." He says placing his right hand gently on top of Chad's head. "Yasutora, you're young and very strong. You are big for your age and handsome too. How blessed you are. You possess many precious gifts. A sharp mind, an iron will. And you have a heart of gold. These talents and qualities make you very different. That means people will pick on you, find fault in what you do, and try to bring you down." He tells him. "I wish we lived in a world where that doesn't exist. But that the world we live in. In spite of that, you must be kind and find a good use for your big strong fists. Use them in a way that helps our world." He says.
[End Flashback]
'I know, abuelo. I know my hands weren't made for me to hurt others. They were made to protect me and defend others from evil in this world. I learned my lesson and will never abuse the gift I have been given.' Chad thought as he grunts from his struggling catching both Rukia and Shrieker's attention as they see him break free of the Targets hold with a loud shout.
"What's going on? You're the craziest human I've ever seen!" Shrieker shouts in shock at seeing Chad break free from his Targets' grasp.
'But now, I need to ask something of you.' Chad thought as he charged at Shrieker with his right hand curled into a fist.
"Oh, you think you can take me head on with sheer muscle power, meat bag? Bring it, I'm going to enjoy eating you!" Shrieker shouts readying his claw to strike Chad down.
'Please, I want you to give me the power, to fight alongside Ichigo.' Chad thought as he ducked under Shrieker's slash and connected his fist with the Hollow's lower right midsection causing a large explosion to occur and kick up dust.
Out of the dust cloud Shrieker was sent straight into the wall, embedding him about seven or more feet into the stone structure. As the smoke starts to clear away, Rukia looks towards Chad and is shocked by what she sees. Chad's right arm was being covered in a liquid that goes all the way up to his shoulder before it solidifies into a form of armor. The shoulder fans out a bit into an upward extension, parallel to his height. It has an indentation at the top in the middle of the extension, stopping just where his shoulder begins, separating the upward extension into two. There are two wing-like protrusions on either side of his wrist. The arm is black, with a dark magenta strip running down the middle of the arm, tapering down towards a point that stops at the wrist. The dark magenta strip is outlined by a thin white line. These patterns are on the top as well as the underside of his arm.
'What in the world? What happened to his arm? I've never seen anything like that in a human before. Could this be that special power Ichigo was talking about before?' Rukia thought before snapping out of it and remembering her current situation. "Over here, Chad! Kick the air right above me!" She shouts.
"I've got a better idea, Rukia, but you should stay perfectly still." Chad says as Reiatsu began gathering around his fist.
'What's he doing?' Rukia wonders as she sees the Reiatsu surround Chad's entire fist before he bends down and punches the air releasing an energy blast in her direction.
The blast comes towards Rukia but thankfully it doesn't hit her, just the Targets on her back. The blast soars over Rukia by a few inches but completely destroys the Targets while freeing the pinned Shinigami in the process.
'What was that?' Rukia wonders as she looks to where the energy blast collided and sees that the end of the street wall was partially destroyed. 'That attack was similar to a Shinigami's Kidō spell, but that arm is like nothing I've ever seen. Just what kind of human is he?' She asks herself.
"That was just a lucky hit." Shrieker says as he spreads his wings clearing the smoke around him to reveal that a good chuck of his lower right midsection was missing but still had his leg connected to his body. "I don't know what that was but its best if I keep my distance." He says before spreading his wings and takes off into the air while his remaining Targets on the ground scatter from sight.
"With him in the air like that, it's going to be hard for me to hit him." Chad says as they watch the Hollow from the ground.
"Can't you use that energy blast attack from earlier?" Rukia asks.
"I kind of did that on impulse before. Not really sure how to do it again." Chad admits. "I'll have to have Kisuke or Yoruichi help train me to get a better hold on this power." He says observing his right arm.
"Makes sense but let's deal with this for now. I think I have a plan." Rukia says.
Shortly afterwards, Chad is now holding Rukia up in his hands aimed directly at Shrieker but he seems to have a look of doubt on his face.
"Hey, Rukia. If you ask me, there are some problems with this plan." Chad tells her.
"Don't worry. Combining your enhanced brute strength with my intelligence is our best chance here." Rukia assures him.
"You must be smart. Because this seems really stupid to me." Chad says.
"Let me do the thinking for the both of us. Get ready to launch me." Rukia says with a smirk on her face as Chad pulls back a little. "On my mark. Steady." She says.
"You can't reach me all the way up here with a telephone pole, so whatever you're planning is-" Shrieker begins to say.
"Fire!" Rukia shouts.
"Huh!" Shrieker says looking down to see Chad launching Rukia straight towards him. "What?" He asks in shock.
"You're through now." Rukia says as she continues to fly towards him.
"You're right, Shinigami. I was a fool to think I could defeat you. I surrender. Kidding." Shrieker bluffs as a Target emerges from the fur on his neck before firing several leeches from its forehead at Rukia, who is covered with them and sent falling to the ground below.
"I got you." Chad says running forward and catches Rukia at the last minute before she can hit the ground. "Wow. Close one." He says.
"Yeah. He's a tricky one. Thanks for catching me." Rukia says gratefully. "Damn, what are these things sticking to me? Leeches?" She questions attempting to remove them from her being.
"Exactly." Shrieker says laughing as he lands a few feet from them. "Try if you like, they won't come off. And you'll find they have a nasty little habit of exploding." He says as he opens his mouth and extends his tongue before vibrating it, which sends out a sound pulse that causes the leeches on Rukia's body to detonate, injuring her.
"What the hell? Rukia!" Chad shouts in shock at seeing what happened to her.
"I'm just getting started." Shrieker says laughing manically.
"How the hell did you do that?" Chad asks turning towards the Hollow.
"You haven't figured that out yet? They're remote leech bombs. Diabolical, aren't they? They latch on, and when I produce a certain frequency with my tongue, they respond by detonating themselves." He explains as Chad, with a solemn expression, stands up and walks forward to confront Shrieker. "Oh, you want to go another round, eh, hot shot? Well first, I have someone here you might want to see." He says directing Chad's attention to a captured Yūichi.
"Huh." Chad says with wide eyes.
"The parakeet. So that's where the Hollow sent those Targets before, to grab the boy and use him as a hostage." Rukia says now realizing where the Targets that were holding Chad before his power awakened disappeared to.
"I'm so sorry, mister. I was trying to call for you." Yūichi says apologizing.
"That's okay." Chad assures him.
"And with three leech bombs on the bird cage, you'll both do as I say. Because if they explode, there won't be enough of your little friend left to spread on a cracker. Now let's play a new game. Musclehead stays put while I play tag with the Shinigami." Shrieker says.
"Do as he says." Rukia says as she stands up off the ground. "Don't think for a second he won't blow up the bird. At least the chase will take him away from here so you'll be safe." She tells him.
"But what about you, Rukia?" Chad asks.
"Don't be concern. I can take care of myself. I made a promise to Ichigo. I'll be just fine." Rukia tells him.
"Good luck." Chad says.
"Thanks." Rukia says before running off, prompting the Targets to give pursuit.
"I'm going to enjoy every second of this." Shriker says as he follows after his Targets and Rukia.
Running down another street, Rukia sees two Targets flanking her, one on each side, and leaps into the air just before they fire two streams of leeches directly under her. As Rukia lands on a wall, a Target appears in the tree next to her and fires another stream of leeches, which hits her right side and causes her to fall to the ground below.
"This might sting a little." Shrieker says before sending out another pulse of sound with his tongue, causing the leeches on Rukia's leg and arm to detonate and injure her further. "My, my. Don't you look pretty? All covered in your own blood. I think red becomes you Shinigami. Let's see some more of it!" He shouts throwing a Target at her.
As Rukia dodges and resumes running, the Target splatters against the telephone pole that was behind her, causing its leeches to fall out.
"Faster, faster, faster." Shrieker says laughing as he throws more Targets at her. "Run, little reaper, run. How long before you get tired and get blown up?" He asks cackling. "Of course, you could turn around and actually fight me." He says as Rukia suddenly comes to a halt in an empty intersection. "Huh? Done already?" He asks in confusion. "How boring. I didn't think you would give up so easily. Come on, run some more. It's not every day I get to chase Shinigami. I was having fun." He whines.
"I haven't given up." Rukia tells him.
"Huh?" Shrieker asks in confusion.
"There's just no need for me to run from you anymore." Rukia tells him.
"What are you blabbering about?" Shrieker asks.
"You challenged me to fight you, didn't you? Or was that just an idiotic bluff? Either way, you're about to meet your doom. You challenged me to attack you. So then attack you I will." Rukia says.
"More like I will. Hadō #63. Raikōhō (Thunder Roar Sear)!" A voice behind Shrieker shouts as yellow lightning strikes the Hollow knocking him to the ground.
"Perfect timing, Ichigo." Rukia says glad to see her substitute.
"She acts like she planned it this way, huh Chad?" Ichigo asks placing his foot on top of Shrieker's head with Chad carrying Yūichi's bird cage, free of leech bombs, behind him.
"Maybe she did." Chad says.
"Whatever, this has been a couple of weird days; first Chad comes to school with a talking bird that turns out to have a human soul stuffed inside it, next Karin is about to see the memories of this kid's past, and finally Chad awakens his mysterious power in the form of a strange looking arm." Ichigo says.
"I guess that would fall under the category of strange, huh?" Rukia asks with a smile.
"And then there's you, who promised you wouldn't do anything too risky until I got back." Ichigo says shooting a glare in her direction.
"Well now, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you actually care about what happens to me." Rukia says.
"I guess I do." Ichigo says with a little scoff.
"How touching. Do you plan to keep standing on my head all day?" Shrieker asks attempting to standing up.
"Shut up!" Ichigo shouts angrily stomping his foot back onto the Hollow's head forcing him back down. "You've got a lot of nerve talking to me after everything you've done to that poor kid. And I'm not expecting much from a low level Hollow missing nearly half his midsection." He says grinding his foot into the Hollow's head some more.
"That's it! Get off of me!" Shrieker shouts using much of his strength and forces Ichigo off of him. "Who are you anyway?" He asks seeing Ichigo land a few feet from Rukia.
"Ichigo Kurosaki, age 15, Shinigami. Although the actually term being used is Substitute Shinigami since I'm not an official one. And I'm the one who's going to send you straight to Hell." Ichigo says smirking at the Hollow.
"Hmm. Substitute Shinigami, eh? Crap. I screwed up. When the two of you split up back there, I should have gone after you!" Shrieker shouts as several Targets firing streams of leeches at them and Shrieker releasing a sound pulse with his tongue.
"Ichigo!" Rukia shouts as she rushes towards him and pushes his Soul out of his Gigai with her Gokon Tekkō just as a large explosion engulfs them both while Chad ducks in cover to protect Yūichi from being used as a hostage again.
"Where'd you go?" Shrieker asks when the smoke clears but doesn't see his prey and then looks up to see Ichigo in the air unsheathing Getsu no Ikari from his waist.
Ichigo disappears in mid air and a second later reappears two feet in front of Shrieker but a the last second the Hollow jumps into the air, avoiding Ichigo's dual katanas.
"You're too slow. But I can tell you're soul is going to be tasty." Shrieker laughs landing beside his targets.
"I don't know about too slow. You seem to be missing something." Ichigo says smirking as he shows Shrieker something skewered on his Ikari's blade.
"What?" Shrieker says in shock at seeing his left hand on the Shinigami's Zanpakutō and looks down to see that his left hand had indeed be cut off right at his wrist. "When did you…" He begins to ask clutching his left arm's stump.
"I'm beginning to understand how you operate now." Ichigo says as stands in front of Rukia, who dragged his Gigai over to where Chad was, Chad and Yūichi. "You used these leech bombs to tie up Chad when he started getting the upper hand on you with his newly awakened power, then attacked a defenseless girl. All just for the thrill of a chase. What a coward. Time to pay." He growls swinging Ikari to rid it of the disembodied limb.
"Oh, the only price I'm going to pay is indigestion, after I finish eating two more Shinigamis." Shrieker boasts as he and Ichigo disappear from they're current location.
A while later, Ichigo and Shrieker appear on another street as they create multiple craters in the ground, Ichigo cuts three Targets in half using a 360 degree spin, causing their leeches to spill onto the ground.
"Pretty good moves for a substitute. But aren't you forgetting something? The leeches spilling from their guts is still live ammunition." Shrieker says as he extends his tongue to release a sound pulse, causing the leeches to erupt in a large explosion. "Take that, you rookie Shinigami." He says cackling but then notices something in the smoke. "Huh?" He asks as more of the smoke clears to reveal Ichigo perfectly unharmed surrounded by a yellow transparent energy cube. "What is that?" He asks.
"A Kidō barrier. I put it up right before the leeches explode but thanks to the explosions you didn't see it and assumed I was caught in the blast." Ichigo explains as the barrier slowly dissolves around him.
"You're more troublesome than any other Shinigami I've dealt with. But you shouldn't have dropped that barrier!" Shrieker yells tossing two more Targets at Ichigo who simple sidesteps the first one and grabs the second on out of the air, squeezing it tightly causing the body to be destroyed and two leeches remain in his hand. "Are you insane or something? Willingly letting my leeches attach themselves to you?" He asks as he extends his tongue once again.
"Not insane." Ichigo says and Shunpos right in front of Shrieker as he reels his fist with the leeches in it back and shoves it straight through the Hollow's mask and into his mouth. "I just thought you might like to know what your bombs feel like." He says but hears Shrieker whimpering and hesitating to vibrate his tongue. "What's wrong? Aren't you going to detonate it now? Go ahead. Do that thing you do with your tongue." He taunts hearing Shrieker grunting from the pain. "Well, if you aren't going to use it, then I might as well take it from you!" He shouts before ripping the circular end of Shrieker's tongue out of his mouth.
"Oh, my tongue!" Shrieker groans in pain. "You son of a-" He begins to say.
"Chad, now!" Ichigo yells as the Hollow looks over his shoulder and sees Chad rushing towards him.
Chad's right arm covered in Reiatsu as he releases a loud scream and punches the air behind Shrieker unleashing a large spiritual energy blast. The blast consumes Shrieker and once it dies down the Hollow is revealed to still be alive but with his entire left arm, midsection, and leg. Shrieker was shaking violently from the attack he received from Chad as he was balancing himself on his right leg, struggling to hold himself up.
"You…bastards. You'll…pay…for…this." Shrieker says weakly.
"No. Your time is up." A voice says as Shrieker looks up to see Ichigo in the air above him with Getsu no Ikari in his hand held vertically parallel to each other. "You've had your sick thrills. Now it's time for you to rot the rest of your miserable afterlife…" He begins to says as he falls downward towards Shrieker. "In Hell!" He yells as he delivers the final blow to the Hollow straight down the middle of his mask leaving a deep cut, which begins to glow as Shrieker's body begins to disintegrate before reforming.
Suddenly, Shrieker's wound begins spewing a torrent of energy as a large set of gates with the upper torsos of skeletons sticking out of the center of each door appears behind him. Chad eyes widen in shock as he rushes over to Ichigo's side and notices Rukia walking over to them carrying Yūichi in his bird cage.
"The Gates of Hell, huh?" Ichigo asks.
"That's correct. That monster is getting his just punishment for his crimes." Rukia says. "The Zanpakutō can only wash away sins a soul has committed as a Hollow. Those who commit terrible crimes while alive go to Hell." She explains as they watch Shrieker scream in pain before a large arm wielding an equally large blade impales him from behind, and as the former serial killer was dragged into the burning abyss the gates begin to close and shatter.
"So that's what it looks like when truly despicable scum like him are dragged into Hell." Ichigo says sheathing his Zanpakutō. "Seems fitting to me." He says as Rukia nods and Chad silently agrees.
Later that day, Ichigo, still in his Shinigami form, Chad, with his right arm still covered in its armored form, and Rukia were gathered around Yūichi as Rukia observes the bird carefully.
"Well, Rukia?" Ichigo asks.
"I'm afraid there's nothing I can do. His Chain of Fate has been severed. There's no sign of it. Without it, there's no way we can return Yūichi to his body." Rukia says as Yūichi gains a sad look on his bird face. "Don't be sad. The Soul Society is a wonderful place that's very peaceful. You'll be happy there. You'll never be hungry, and you'll never grow old. In fact, it's a much better place to live than this world." She says.
"So now you're suddenly an expert on life in this world." Ichigo says leaning over her shoulder with a skeptical look on his face.
"What?" Rukia asks suddenly speechless by the closeness of her partner to her face.
"Anyway, you're missing the point here. When you pass over, you'll finally be reunited with your mother." Ichigo says.
"Ah!" Yūichi says as he perks up at the news he just heard.
"We can't bring her back to life, but she is on the other side waiting for you. And this time it's really true." Ichigo says giving the bird one of his rare gentle smiles.
"Ichigo." Rukia whispers with a faint blush on her face at seeing that rare smile.
Yūichi, excited by the news he heard, looks to Chad, who gives the bird a simple nod.
"Mister Sado? Mister Ichigo? Miss Rukia? Thank you for everything you all did for me. You managed to defeat that monster that ruined my life and helped make sure I have a safe journey into the next world." Yūichi says.
"Hey, don't even mention it." Chad says as Ichigo and Rukia smile at the bird.
"I guess it's time for me to go now. I don't now what else to say except thank you. All of you." Yūichi says as his soul manifest behind the bird cage to reveal that he is a small boy with unruly medium length brown hair and brown eyes wearing red shorts and a green jumper.
"Yuichi?" Chad asks making both the bird and soul look towards the giant. "Someday, when I die and pass over too, would it be okay with you if sometimes I carried you around again?" He asks making the boy smile and agree.
"Well then. If you're ready, let's begin the Konsō." Ichigo says unsheathing Getsu from his sheath.
Later that night, at the Kurosaki clinic, Karin was still in bed, only now looking much better than she did before.
"Oh, Ichigo. Thank you." Karin says tearfully.
Back with Ichigo, Rukia, and Chad, the three watch as the Jigokuchō flies toward the moon before disappearing, indicating that Yūichi was on his way to the Soul Society.
"Well that take care of that." Ichigo says returning to his Gigai. "So what's your plan now Chad?" He asks his best friend.
"I'm going to head over and see Kisuke. Hopefully he can start training me to use this new power better." Chad says looking at his right arm.
"Sounds like a good idea. I wish you luck in whatever kind of training he's going to put you through." Ichigo says as Chad nods. "Anyway, it's been a long day. Let's head home, Rukia. Later Chad." He says walking off with Rukia walking after him and Chad heading in the opposite direction.
Author's Note: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. If you are wondering what Kido barrier Ichigo used, its the one Byakuya used in episode 198. Please be sure to review and tell me what you thought of this chapter.