Prologue
"The zanpakutô cleanses a soul of its crimes so it can enter the Soul Society, but not all hollows make it in. The zanpakutô can only wash away the sins of a soul committed as a hollow. Those who committed heinous crimes while they were alive, are handed over to Hell." ― Excerpt from the latest edition of the Spiritual Arts Academy's textbook, 'The Soul Reaper Regulations Encyclopaedia'.
September 2nd 2001. 1st Level of Hell.
The sound of the rushing wind rises in his ears as its envelopes him.
I'm…falling.
He falls as his eyes strain to open for the first time since awakening.
Am I…falling to my death?
He's falling too fast to get a sense for his surroundings. All he can make out the fading shapes of a…
Skeletons? A Gate? No. How…?
He attempts to re-position himself as he falls. Struggling for control as the rushing air envelopes him more intimately.
I was…
He remembers.
"KUROSAKI!"
He remembers the name of his enemy. The one who cut him down. The one who…
You!
Emboldened by his rage, he manages to contort his body into position better suited to take in his surroundings.
But…
He looks as he falls, but he can't quite place where he is.
Where the hell am I?
It's nothing he recognises. A vast empty landscape with nothing below him but sea of white cubes waiting for him below.
That bastard! Is it that damned Aizen again? Did Aisslinger or Di-Roy find me? No.
The surface is fast approaching.
I remember.
The wind is deafening.
I remember!
Instinctively, he reaches for the zanpakutô on his back with one hand.
I remember…a blade-
BOOM!
The floating white cubes below manage to stay in place somewhat, cushioning his fall.
His large frame draped across a dozen or so of them. He catches a glimpse of chained inhabitants, draped in cloaks, in the few of the apparently floating white cellblocks cells beneath him that couldn't withstand his descent.
What the fu-
Then they appeared. The Kushanâda – armoured, monstrous giants who serve as the guardians of Hell. They approach him slowly, but with purpose.
I remember a blade.
Half a dozen giants appear as if from nowhere and everywhere, all at once. Converging on him with a crystal-clear mission.
"I remember you bastards. It was one of you with a damned blade. It dragged me through that damned gate!"
He readied himself. Creating a foothold on the rubble among the white cubes. Preparing for battle once again.
Wait. No. It was Kurosaki's blade. His father. Another damned soul reaper. Didn't he cut me down?
Too late. They're here for him. Monstrous beasts. Vaguely humanoid. Loosely armoured. They look like the mutated undead, but unlike any hollow. He unsheathes his sword, blowing away the first three to approach him with the spiritual-pressure from his blade alone.
That damned soul reaper! But…how? Did I survive?
Almost instantly, the rest are upon him from the opposite side. Swords drawn. Aiming to kill. The fallen one blocks their blows with his bare arm before kicking another away.
I've seen those gates before! And their blades! I'm sure of it…
Before he can finish his thought, they're upon him again. The ones he thought were already slain were now back on their feet. Weapons primed and held high.
Wha-? What are they?
He struggles to block, instead opting to leap backwards through the air, creating a foothold for himself using the spiritual-matter in the atmosphere.
Menos Grande? Gillians? No. Adjuchas?
He watches them approach. Almost gliding through the air towards him. As if they are a part of the fabric of this space.
They've doubled in number already? Where are they coming from?
He readies himself to attack, taking in a deep breath before immediately coughing up the very air he just inhaled.
"Huh?"
The air is almost toxic to breathe. While it is just as heavily saturated with spiritual-matter as Hueco Mundo…the nature is different to what he's accustomed to. In that moment, he hesitated. They were upon him now.
"Bagh! I won't lose to you! Whatever you are!"
They surrounded him. They're hands almost holding him in place in the air. It took everything he had just to throw them off of, and just long enough to prepare to cut one down.
"I won't be taken down by you! Witness the power of an arrancar!"
The desperate battles rages in mid-air, while an audience of two watch on with curiosity.
"My, my, my…What do we have here?"
A tall, middle-aged, pale, thin woman stood in the air. Her arms were crossed over a loosened scarf around neck, while her head was cocked to one side. She was watching from a few dozen meters back with a look of delight and intrigue at the spectacle ahead of her. She was dressed in the unmistakable black uniform of a soul reaper. But with one quirk; she wore the robe of a Captain, but the colours were inverted. A black Captain's robe on a black soul reapers uniform. The white symbol in the centre of her back denoting that she belonged to the 1st Squad. Draped over her left shoulder was what appeared to be some sort of thin rope which hung what appeared to be a 'nagamaki', a Japanese-style long-sword, with an overly long hilt, over one shoulder. She unfolded her arms and flicked her scarf over right shoulder as she looked down at her companion from the corner of her eye, who was still standing on one of the white cubes below.
"Reach out to the Visuals Department for a report. I'm sure my dear old cousin from 'up above' can fill in the details of what exactly we are witnessing."
"Right away Captain."
Her companion was a darker skinned woman with shorter, finely curled, hair. Also dressed in a soul reapers uniform, with a zanpakutô strapped to her left waist in the form of a 'katana', a Japanese-style long-sword. She had Vice-Captain's badge strapped to her right arm. Also denoting that she belonged to the 1st Squad. But its flower, a Red Spider Lily, was not recognised among the 13 Court Guard Squads. This Vice-Captain was younger than her Captain. In her prime, but less experienced, and less impressed at the battle that raged ahead of them. More so, she was worried about the impact if the battle went on for too long. But her fears need not go on for much longer.
The Captain stepped forward.
"Captain?"
Without turning back to her own Vice-Captain, she briefly stopped and waved her hand as if to say, 'don't worry about it'.
"Oh, I'm not going to wait. Just be sure to give me the report after I deal with this."
The Vice-Captain immediately drew out her divine-messing device and began to dial a number.
"Yes Captain."
This was a losing battle for the fallen one. While his power was enough to keep his assailants at bay, they appeared to have infinite stamina, and would definitely wear him out in time. His breaths were shallow, and with each desperate breath gorging on the toxic spiritual-matter in the air, the battle wouldn't last for much longer unless he…
He felt a change in the wind. The mistakable 'whoosh' of a soul reaper's 「Shunpo」. His head whipped behind him to get a quick glimpse of her.
"And who the hell are you supposed to be? Another soul reaper?"
The mysterious Captain's sense of intrigue had seemed to fade. She reached for the sheathed nagamaki, hanging over her shoulder.
"Ha. No matter…behold the TRUE power of an arrancar!"
Her presence had pushed him to escalate things further. Now was not the time to for restraint.
"Oppress! 「Violador」!"
He was cut down before he could finish calling out the name of his sword.
"H-how…"
That blade. Another damned blade…not…again…you…you damned…soul reaper…I'm falling…again…
September 5th 2001. 4th Level of Hell. 4th Court of Hell. The Eternal Monastery. The Sub-basement's private laboratory.
Wha…Where…?
Grand Fisher attempts to opens his eyes, but the light is too strong. He feels as if he has just awoken from a deep hibernation.
SPLASH!
He thrashes about as much as he can before realising that he is be unable to move his body entirely. He is trapped within a tank filled with fluid.
SMACK!
With all the strength he can muster, he manages to at least slam his palm on to the glass, attempting to draw some attention. But more worrying for him is that for a second, he does not quite recognise his human looking hand.
This…is…!
He looks up, finally beginning to make out his surroundings. He is in a laboratory of some sort. A figure is ahead of him, dressed in surgical attire, performing surgery, or an autopsy, on the specimen laid out on the table before him.
That's…
A muffled voice interrupts his thought.
"Captain, he appears to be awake."
The surgeon looks up from the table and slowly approaches Grand Fisher.
That's me! One of my「Lure」's? How…
The surgeon stands barely an inch away from the glass, with his eyes locked on Grand Fisher's own. Assessing him. Gauging his awareness. The figure is bald, has no eyebrows, and there is nothing covering his face but a surgical mask. The right-side of his face appears to be heavily scarred to the point that even his right ear is almost fused to his face.
"Who…"
Wordlessly, the figure waves a hand over the glass and Grand Fisher begins to fall into deep slumber once more before he can let out a garbled word from within the tank.
Chapter 188.1 Descenso al Infierno [CRUSH THE WORLD DOWN \SIDE-B]
September 7th 2001. 1st Level of Hell.
Falling.
Five arrancars fall from the sky. Like a shower of meteorites burning up on entry to the atmosphere.
BOOM!
There are five consecutive crashes into the floating prison cells of the 1st Court of Hell.
"Did Lord Aizen save us?"
"We're…alive?"
"Ha…hahaha!"
"What the hell is this?"
"I can't…breathe."
Shawlong Koufang. Edrad Liones. Yylfordt Granz. Di-Roy Rinker. Nakeem Grindina. The fracciónes of the Sexta Espada Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez strain to stand on the floating white cubes that broke their fall.
There is a mix of excitement and fear in the air among the five. Shawlong being the most alert and the first to activate his 「Pesquisa」.
WHOOSH!
"Well, well, well."
Shawlong's head whips up ahead of him. He sensed their arrival too late.
"Here we are again, so soon."
The Captain and her Lieutenant hover above the five arrancar intruders.
"More arrancars, again. But more evolved this time? Yes." The Captain casually assessed the situation.
"It appears the reports were accurate, Captain." Her Lieutenant stands by her side, with her right hand already poised to draw on her own sword too at a moment's notice.
"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" Di-Roy was the first to address them to Shawlong's chagrin.
We must be cautious!
"More soul reapers?" Yylfordt appeared to be psyching himself up. He perhaps knew the danger they were in but didn't want it to show in his voice.
"This doesn't appear to be Soul Society or the World of the Living. And yet…" Edrad was more concerned with his surroundings.
"I remember losing. Dying!" Nakeem was already regretting not using his resurrección before, and he would not make that mistake again.
"Yeah…me too." Di-Roy was preparing to draw his sword.
"No fool! If we were dead, then why are we here?" Shawlong attempted to stop his comrades from acting too rashly.
Edrad stepped forward looking intently at their visitors.
"Right. If those Court Guard soul reapers are here too, then we can't be-"
The Vice-Captain flippantly turned to her Captain, not acknowledging the prattering of the arrancar intruders below her.
"Captain, shall I…?"
The Captain stepped forward and lifted what appeared to be her nagamaki from off her shoulder.
"No, no, no, Miss Ubuginu. I shall handle this myself."
Di-Roy had his sword drawn and was poised at the two soul reapers.
"Huh, you handle 'us'? You're outnumbered you old hag! And we already survived a fight with a Captain-class soul reaper. You-"
WHOOSH!
The Captain was behind them in one step.
"My dear boy, do not mistake us for one of the old man's lackeys. We don't answer to him or anyone above. We are not of the 13 Court Guard Squads."
WHOOSH!
"We are…the Minus Squads."
Vice-Captain Ubuginu stood on the opposite side of the arrancar group, attempting to prevent their escape.
"You know, I must commend this Aizen fellow after all. He truly does good work." The Captain's excitement began to build as she saw the arancars up close.
Shawlong drew his zanpakutô, and the last of others slowly followed suit.
"Who are you?" Edrad asked in a panic. Realising the irony of his own question, after he recently felt there was no need to know the name of his last opponent before the battle begun.
The Captain appeared to hold her sword from both ends, revealing that what she held was actually two nagamakis sheathed together, with each blade stored within in each other sword's overly long hilt.
"My dear friends…I am Captain Sachiko Tsunayashiro of the 1st Court Guard Squad of Hell. Head of the branch of the Tsunayashiro family stationed in Hell."
The arrancars could only up look up at her with a look of confusion and fear. Paralysed in part by said fear, but also by her rising spiritual-pressure.
"This the 1st Court of Hell. Eternal Solitary Confinement."
She fully drew both of her swords and held them at either side.
"Welcome to Hell."
To be continued…
Next, Grimmjow's fracciónes vs. Tsunayashiro!