Destroyer

Uryu Ishida always knew that a day very much like today would come.

"Ishida…why?" the Soul Reaper asked, his zanpakutou ready to cut on command.

He knew that being the last Quincy meant that it was very possible for something like this to occur.

"Answer me, Ishida!" he cried out, his face a mixture of anger and confusion.

He tried to avoid having things come to this. Unlike his brethren he knew the consequences of his actions: he knew that the world could become unbalanced for every Hollow that his spirit bow destroyed.

"Ishida...why did you have to kill her?" Ichigo roared, unleashing an immense amount of spiritual energy.

Ishida looked on impassively, knowing that his old friend's power was no match for his own. In the past it was clear that Ichigo was the most powerful of the four, with himself being the second. Although his pride had occasionally gotten in the way, he had begrudgingly accepted the way things were.

"She wouldn't have wanted this, you idiot! She would never approve of the way you are doing things!"

Ishida shot him a glare, as the four spiritually charged wings on his back gathered more energy from his surroundings. Once a long time ago, during a battle with the Soul Reaper Captain that killed his grandfather, he had unleashed the power of the Sanrei gloves to unleash one spiritual wing; this had been beyond the limits of his powers, so much so that he had lost them soon after. Now, however, he was beyond such human limits.

"Orihime loved you, Ishida! She loved you and still loves you, wherever she is…" he said solemnly, pained by the thought of his deceased friend.

After the death of his beloved, he had left Karakura and had gone on a journey. He battled many Hollows and Bounto, even encountering creatures that defied description, until he came upon a peculiar book.

"Ichigo," he said evenly, creating four intricately designed bows out of nothing, "we both know how this will end, do we not?"

Ichigo glared, unsure of how to answer a question like that. What was that guy talking about?

The book was a long lost artifact of the Quincy, dating back thousands of years ago. It was written in an ancient language, yet somehow he was able to read it without any prior knowledge of it…as if was designed specifically for him to read.

"Everything that has a beginning also has an end, Ichigo Kurosaki," he said, adjusting his glasses, "of all people, you should know that the best."

Ichigo ignored his friend's bizarre rant, instead focusing on his own questions. "Why did you kill Rukia?"

"She stumbled on to my plans. She knew that the Quincy were dangerous…she knew I posed a threat to the world. I had to stop her, Kurosaki. If it means anything, I made sure that her death was quick and painless."

He could tell that Ichigo was about to reach his breaking point, but he knew that in the end it made no difference.

"I have to avenge her death, Ishida!"

The Quincy Book had contained information that neither grandfather nor father ever revealed. There were prophecies, which detailed such events as Ichigo Kurosaki's birth, the Aizen incident, the Bounto, the Visored, the Arrancar…and one strange prophecy concerning him. It said that a Quincy was to become the protector of the era, and that a Quincy would also be the destroyer.

The Bounto known as Yoshino had told him that there would be a Quincy to protect this era, and that he himself would be that very Quincy. She was wrong, he later realized, when she had died and the world had nearly been destroyed if not for the timely assistance of his father, who was revealed to be Quincy like his father before him.

After reading the book, he was left puzzled: if the Quincy that would protect the world had already appeared years ago, what of the Quincy that would destroy the world?

"Bankai!" Ichigo shouted, holding his sword at arms length and transforming into his final form. Ichigo would end this once and for all, even if it meant killing his former friend to save the world.

Ishida was the one who had killed Orihime. The both of them were fighting a particularly savage Hollow, and she had accidentally gotten in the way of one of his arrows; her spirit was destroyed before he could even realize what had happened.

Because he was a Quincy and not a Soul Reaper, his powers were dangerous to even those he cared about. Her spirit had been utterly destroyed bythat single arrow, and there was no chance of ever seeing her again, no matter how many lifetimes he lived.

First his mother had died, and then his grandfather due to his cowardice...but Orihime was the last straw. He could not bear to lose another person close to him, so he cut himself lose from his friends, determined to find something that would show him the way.

Afterlosing her, Uryu Ishida no longer did he see things in terms of good and evil. No, now he thought of only one thing: power.

With power, he could avenge her death. He would destroy them all, every single last one of those rotten Hollow bastards that had caused him to kill the only woman he had ever loved. He would then destroy the world, and then remake it so that he could see her again.

The book had also contained a way for him to go past the limits the human body could withstand, a way to let him overcome any obstacle. In order to gain such power, however, he was required to give up things that binded him to the world.

Things like his frail human body, for one thing.

Without his body, he was free to go beyond the limits placed on him. Now he finally had the power to do what needed to be done…now he would be able complete his destiny.

"Kurosaki, I am doing this for Orihime. The one who destroys the world will be able to recreate it. I will make things better, for you and me and everyone we know. I must have Orihime back. Your time will come soon; do not make me have to destroy you prematurely."

"What you are trying to do, Ishida…won't bring Orihime back. No one can play God, not even you!"

The four bows where encircling the Quincy, all of them drawn and ready to be fired with a mere thought. "I recommend that you step aside, Kurosaki, and allow me to finish what I have started."

He found himself almost startled when he saw a familiar smirk appear on his old friend's face…that smirk of his that said "I won't give up, you bastard, so don't try to persuade me otherwise."

"I'm doing this for Rukia and everyone else that died because of you," he said, adding, "and…I'm doing this for Orihime."

Ichigo took a defensive stance, his sword ready for one more fight. "Ishida, I'll bring you back to your senses," he said, pointing his soul slayer at the Quincy, "before you lose them entirely!"

The Quincy showed no emotion as he began firing all four bows at once with his mind, his last thought consisting of Orihime smiling at him in that certain way of hers.

End