Author Notes: The end of the Hollow-Arrancar Invasion Introduction Arc of the story. The next one will be the Xcution arc, don't worry- it won't be the "oh they're allies, nah they're the real enemies all along because they brainwashed themselves to be good guys sort of thing in the original manga, something that caused me to lose faith in Bleach even more than Aizen's anticlimactic defeat at the end of the Winter War arc- at least until the Thousand Year Blood Arc got me back into reading Bleach again. They're more gray in this fanfic, let's put it that way. Also Ichigo's classmates will be able to shine more than they ever did after Soul Society arc occurred.
Starting with this chapter, there will be some deviance to Uryu's backstory.
I also took my take on Grand Fisher's released one, not being a giant brute discarding his strengths for dumb brute force, but focusing on his manipulation skills.
Anyway, the end of a long awaited revenge for Ichigo...with a sudden truth that will become more relevant in the Bleach Rinse fanfic. I will spoil a little tidbit, some elements of Violinist of Hameln will be added to that fanfic. To give some background, it is a fantasy based manga that is both the funniest and ironically, one of the most horrific and tragic stories I've ever read. If you're curious, read up on it online- it should be available somewhere on the net.
As a warning, this chapter is going to be divided into separate parts because of important it is as a climax to the first half of the first story arc in this fanfic.
Chapter 12: The Rain Ends Part 1
The elegant looking man stepped onto the frozen ground, followed by a red ponytailed haired man following behind him.
"Rukia, what happened to you...," said the crimson haired man in shock.
"Don't ask Renji," Rukia as she looked to the side in embarrassment.
"Enough of this. Captain Kuchiki. I didn't know you would be here too," said a white haired boy with a white coat worn over his Soul Reaper uniform.
"Captain Hitsugaya," Rukia said as she kneeled down again.
"Hello, sir...," Orihime as she bowed from the classroom she was perched on.
So that girl can see me, that's a problem, thought Hitsugaya to himself with a stern look.
"Where is the Visored- the one with horns, Rukia," Captain Kuchiki asked his sister.
"Oh right, he told me to heal him," Orihime remembering about Uryu to be healed on Ichigo's request- the fight had taken her mind off of that detail.
"Uh...I feel like a bus hit me...(eyes widened) Soul Reapers," Uryu at first said wearily before taking an angered tone towards the arriving party.
"Quincy...well, you're not our concern unless you do something to us," Captain Kuchiki said as he suddenly appeared behind Uryu without the latter noticing.
"My grandfather died to protect one of you, even after the others decided not to be allies to you because of that incident!," Uryu said with a low rasp as he charged his energy bow.
"Are you going to kill Ichigo," Chad asked weakly, crawling towards the Captain. This caused Uryu to disengage the bow in shock.
"So that is his name? Where did he go? More importantly, it means that you three will be made to forget him. We initially would've interrogated the Arrancar, but it seems that the last one is facing the Visored," Captain Kuchiki said to Chad with a look of indifference.
"Miss, can you bring back mommy," asked Yuichi the parakeet to Orihime. Suddenly, Renji the red haired Soul Reaper flashed before the bird, hit him with his pommel and a curly haired boy's spirit emerged from the parakeet and entered a Shoji near the open area of the classroom, which closed behind him as the boy's spirit fully entered the doorway.
"What would your mom think if she saw you like that, at least over in Soul Society- you'd be able to see her as yourself," Renji said with an irritated tone that implied that he cared for the kid in the parakeet somewhat.
A thought came to Orihime's mind as she snapped her fingers.
"Ayame, Shun'o...can you revive anything," Orihime asked her Shun Shun Rikka politely, much to Renji's confusion.
"You brought a man from his death to reawaken with his powers...so yes, yes we can," said the blonde Shun Shun Rikka.
"Um, sirs, I think I can find a way to get your interrogation," Orihime answered to the Captains with an awkward tone.
"Are you saying you can tell us everything...human," Byakuya said unbelieving of her words
"No, but some people will be brought back to tell you...no hurting Ichigo...I mean it...Grrr...,"
"She's just buying time for him," said Captain Kuchiki with a cold, callous tone.
"Actually, Captain Hitsugaya...from what I've seen her do...she could pull it off," Rukia answered with her head raised to see the white haired captain's eyes.
She isn't lying from what I can see from her, thought the turquoise eyed Captain to himself.
"Sigh...fine, is it ok, Captain Kuchiki," Captain Hitsugaya said to his fellow Captain.
"To argue with you would lead to a fight, which would be considered by the Head Captain- I'll just let this amusing debacle commence," Captain Byakuya said as he closed his eyes as he gave up on the discussion.
Orihime then said these words, "Sotten Kesshun. I reject." Suddenly an half oval shield formed at the area where both Menoly and Loly died as a single Arrancar.
Later That Night
Ichigo was getting exhausted from the fight while Grand Fisher was remaining on top.
Damn, I guess that was all I do at the moment. It's not like this is going to get worse and he reveals he's holding even more power back then he has now, thought Ichigo as he humored himself
"My Hollow powers involved manipulating my hair into weapons, my lure into a puppet to distract my prey. But as an Arrancar- (placing his sword horizontally with his sword hand and gesturing a puppeteer playing with a marionette with his free hand) Play Marioneta (Puppet)!" Grand Fisher explained before commencing in an odd ritual.
The Arrancar was covered in a dark red Spiritual Power, which emitted a Spiritual Pressure that caused Ichigo to bend on one knee.
As the masked Soul Reaper turned his head, he gasped in horror as lighting flashed Grand Fisher's new form.
Grand Fisher had turned into a winged, skeletal Calaveras marionette doll that stood ten feet tall with a long, cylinder nose, a toothy maw for a mouth, two large clawed hands wielding two bladed crosses, clawed taloned feet and a barbed tail. Attached to his back were strings- countless strings leading to a large hoard of Calaveras puppets above him, each having a unique design and type of weapon. They all chattered their teeth and laughed dissonantly to Ichigo's despair. An exposed red heart oozing red fountains of blood thumped from the center of the Arrancar's chest.
"This is an Arrancar's Resurreccion- their power to manifest their skills as a Hollow if it were modified to a Soul Reaper's skills. I was a manipulator who devoured countless Pluses and Soul Reapers- by releasing my powers as an Arrancar- I can use every one of their powers they had before I ate them. This is the Ultima Actuation (Final Performance) for you, so ironic after your rebirth," Grand Fisher said in an even more low-pitched voice, but this one was more mechanical and cold sounding. The eyes of the Arrancar were a ripple of black and pink mixed to form an insane glare.
Ichigo prepared himself for the worst as the hoard rained down like the water droplets surrounding them. Ichigo would block someone that were adult sized, but would be struck in the back by the Zanpakuto wielded by Calaveras warped Soul Reapers.
What truly unnerved him were the screams of the dolls that varied from torment to insanity to fear. One would speak until the next one drowned out the earlier voice and the next...and the next...
"Please kill me- Hahahaha, I can't wait to tear your tendons out- I'm nothing- God, help me- Captain, I have to warn my Captain about this power- Where are you my son- It hurts- You're strong- A little strawberry cutie ain't ya- Giggle, Giggle- I want to live- I'm so cold," said some of the voices. Others were so tragic, monstrous or too odd that Ichigo had to tune them out to remain sane.
"Mister, I want to be strong to protect my sister," said a small Calaveras Doll tugged Ichigo's Hakama, he looked happy as if he had no idea of his situation. Ichigo briefly hallucinated that the Doll had his face as a child.
Ichigo then gave a desolate stare and stared at the hoard distorted into a mass of insanity, misery and an infinite amount of emotions that did not mesh with each other- resulting in a chaotic orchestra of hell.
"Your mother would've been here after I got to kill her with some help. But, this Lorgnette bastard decided to butt in and save her at the last minute...I bet she's dead now," Grand Fisher explained as he zoomed into Ichigo's space, looking down at him the same way a bird of prey looks a rabbit before eating it.
Ichigo saw this opening to strike Grand Fisher until the Arrancar blocked him...with the tip of his outstretched left index finger. Grand Fisher proceeded to thwack Ichigo's Zanpakuto out of his hands- it landed in the ground- splitting the grave named "Masaki Kurosaki" in two halves.
The masked Soul Reaper's eyes widened in despair- his mask was bashed in by a frontal vertical cut from one of the crosses, finally allowing his own face- identical to the one he has as a human to witness it crumbling. Grand Fisher did not let up on the assault- in fact, it got more brutal. Ichigo was slashed with large strikes from the bladed crosses, his feet grabbed by the talons of the Arrancar until they made a sickening crack, the barbed tail impaling his stomach, the bat like wings' barbs strike through the joints of his arms and the toothy maw biting into the neck of the orange haired Soul Reaper to cause a stream of blood to spout out like a fountain. The Calaveras dolls joined in- beating his body with punches, clawing it and impaling it with their weapons- thankfully, they were all Asauchi (Shallow Hit)- the zanpakuto of lower ranked Soul Reapers that hadn't learned the names of their Zanpakuto- so the damage wasn't too bad. Ichigo unconsciously gave a sigh of relief, subconsciously knowing that it couldn't get any worse.
"So you assume that I was didn't kill Soul Reapers of notable status didn't you? I wouldn't have gotten far if I only went after the grunts- a ranked officer would have killed me long ago if I didn't have backup. So I got smart, stalked Soul Reapers below Lieutenant level from the shadows and killed their helpless loved ones first when they were alone. Once I got to fight them, I used my lure to make look like their loved ones and ate them...since I explained earlier that I can use all of their power...You understand it right," Grand Reaper said as if reading Ichigo's mind (and that of an unseen reader looking at the current chapter).
Ichigo's eyes looked in terror as he saw some of the Calaveras Dolls demonstrate rituals with their zanpakuto, 13 in all, each individual respectively belonging to an individual Division and varying rank.
"Skewer Through Bone, San Honchū Yardage (Three Pronged Spear)- Feel The Rebound Handō no Haru (Spring of Recoil)- Be Soft, Namerakana Hachimitsu (Smooth Honey)- Summon the Blood Swam, Ka no Fue (Mosquito Whistle)- Happening Twice, Kishikan (Deva Ju)- Grow Kinoko (Mushroom)- Crazy Beats Man, Sōon (Discord)- Endless Recovery, Akkorokamui- Crowd Around, No Ta No Shadō Kurōn (Mutli Shadow Clones)- Be Humble, Kanso (Simplicity)- Shine, Kōseki (Crystal)- Larger Than The Heavens, Kyojin (Titan)- Smithed For My Lord Kinzoku Dai Jinushi (Metal Squire)!," said a group of Calaveras Dolls that seem to exhibit more power and presence than the rest.
Suddenly, Ichigo was by this order- impaled through his right arm by a pitch fork, hit by a spring that caused him to fly backwards, hit in his right leg by a pillow like blade that caused it become a soft melting substance, a sound caused mosquitos to swarm over his left arm until it was drained into a husk, had those events repeated again, grew mold with mushrooms on his right shoulder, heard a loud din of discord themed to rap beats, touched by a series of tentacles that cured his injuries, struck by multiple punches from several similar beings,forced to feel humble enough to accept every attack, struck through the right side of his stomach with pink crystals, punched by a large fist towards the cemetery and finally stabbed in his right hand by a series of knives thrown by a metal doll.
Ichigo tore the knives from his right hand with his left, went to Masaki's grave stone, looked with melancholy as he pulled out Zangetsu and looked at the sky to the group that had done this to him.
On the right side of the group: The one with the sharp pitch fork ended katana,resembled a hannya oni in appearance; the one with the spring like sword was a small young blond man with spring like hairstyle with an upturned nose; a curvy, large busted orange eyed woman with long puffy lavender hair wielded the pillow like zanbato; a silver eyed mosquito wearing Soul Reaper robes- likely due to heavy experiments on himself- wielding a mosquito head shaped flute as swarms of mosquitos hovered above his head; a long-haired, gray eyed handsome man with a hairstyle that pointed backwards and a small, short red haired girl with brown eyes wearing a red mushroom who wielded a sword with a mushroom shaped sword guard.
On the left side of the group: a dark skinned, round aquamarine colored shades wearing, blue colored buzzcut man wearing a custom made rapper version of the Soul Reaper uniform who wielded a nodachi with a jukebox for a pommel; a large bald, closed eyed man in a monk variant of the Soul Reaper uniform with a large, black octopus hovering above him; a black ponytailed, completely clothed kunoichi with hazel eyes who wore a ring instead of a zanpakuto- or rather, the zanpakuto became the ring that allowed her to generate clones; a mustached elderly noble with long pale green hair with a regal grace wielding a plain Chokutō with a simple gold tassel at the pommel; a light purple haired girl with matching eyes with a modest bust wielding a pink katana with a crystal flower shaped sword guard and a pink eyed, large magenta pompadour haired adult man with a goatee sitting on the shoulder of a large giant with long, dark hair, elongated horns from his forehead, small beady eyes, and a mouth was covered in flesh and a dark, thick beard along with wooly hair covering his entire body aside from its balding head.
And finally in the center of the group, a scarred older man with spiky white hair and stubbed face, with turquoise eyes standing beside a machine in the shape of a mouthless, golden eyed small boy with silver hair generating weapons from its palm.
Ichigo said in intense shock, "W-what the fuck are those?"
"They are my Trump Card- Elenco Estelar (All Star Cast), the top 13 of my Ultima Actuation- Soul Reapers ranked 3rd seat to below. Each one is stronger than that seatless Soul Reaper called Rukia!," Grand Fisher said with a slow and satisfied tone in his voice.
Chapter 13: The Rain Ends Part 2
