Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and RWBY. Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo. RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and the late Monty Oum (rest in peace you saint of a man).
A question one would ask why type this up? Simple – why not?
Chapter 25: Bloody Evolution
Silver and blue reiatsu exploded off of Ruby's body. The reiatsu turned into a literal storm blanketing the whole basement in its expanse. Ichigo had to plant his feet in the ground to avoid his feet slipping off the ground from the force. The Vizards had to cover their eyes from the bright light. The roar and bursts of energy continued for a few seconds before a pulse of force settled it down into a gentle state.
As the closest, Ichigo had the squint through the dust, but it was not needed by the glimmer that was brimming around Ruby. The first he noticed was that her whole attire had changed. The main color of it all was white, but this white shimmered like the light of the full moon. A larger white hood replaced Ruby's, wrapping around most of her figure and draped over her face. Ichigo could faintly notice Ruby wore white boots with black accessories running front the top of the foot and climbing up the leg. She wasn't wearing the uniform of the commander-in-chief of the Stealth Force, and was replaced with a white jacket that reminded Ichigo of Uryu's Quincy outfit, but had lines of black going in a "Y" shape from her shoulders and down her front. Under all that white however was deep red like a rose. If Ruby had her back turned to Ichigo it would've given the Huntress an ominous and mysterious vibe.
She no longer brandished a sycthe. It was replaced with a double-ended glaive of beautiful silver steel. The polearm was only a little taller than Ruby with highlights of sky blue to show the grip and a hole in the direct center perfect for spinning the weapon. The blades were wide as cleavers at the base they stuck on the polearm and continued to widen and bend slightly for almost two feet in length. Each blade bent in an opposite direction, and their blunt edges sported barbs like the thorns of a rose. Near the blades they brandished their own little flag, one being crimson and the other white like a star yet both bearing the symbol of Ruby's rose.
"Senshi Masutamazurozu."
The shadow of Ruby's hood could not hide her silver eyes that gleamed with excitement. Ruby gave her new weapon a few test swings and twirls, sending waves of force with the smallest of movements.
"Ruby likey." mumbled the weapon-addict, almost drooling at the flawless craftsmenship.
'I'll admit, she's crazy.' commented Hichigo, 'Guess that's why you like her.'
Ruby snapped herself out of her obsession and brought her attention back to the duel. She flashed a grin at Ichigo who returned it. They both crouched in a stance. Ruby made the first move, spinning her glaive by her finger. The blades glowed as bright as her eyes till it looked like Ruby was holding a disc of silver light. The more it spun, the more reiatsu that was condensed till it started to spark.
"Here's my new move." announced Ruby, "Howaitososa."
Ruby swung her glaive releasing a spinning silver ring of white reiatsu as though she released a Getsuga Tensho. It ripped through the ground like sandpaper and rushed down Ichigo at a fast speed. He pointed Tensa Zangetsu forward for a last resort.
"Getsuga Ransu."
The tip of his blade shot a lance of dark and red reiatsu momentarily clashing with the Howaitososa before canceling it out with pure piercing power. His instincts alerted him to danger from behind. He whipped Tensa Zangetsu behind him just in time to keep the edge of Senshi Masutamazurozu inches from his face. When brown eyes met silver, the pair made a smile.
"That almost looked like my Getsuga Tensho." Ichigo noted.
"Thanks." said Ruby, "I was trying to model my own, but I couldn't gather the right amount nor control. In Bankai however, there is perfect balance."
"Speaking of," said Ichigo, his blade billowing with dark reiatsu, "Getsuga Tensho."
Black reiatsu exploded where the combatants stood, but they easily got out of the blast zone with shunpo. They stayed at neutral distance, trying to note some weakness in their defenses and capitalize on it. Ruby twirled her glaive a few times, then purposely struck the end with the silver flag into the ground. The glaive of that flag glowed silver, and to Ichigo's confusion the ground she cut as well. She made more cuts and slashes in random parts of the ground, eliciting more glows of her reiatsu.
Ichigo's eyes widened when those cracks suddenly sprung white roses in an instant. In the seconds they grew, the stems wilted but the petals glowed and carried into nonexistent wind. Soon, Ruby stood surrounded by a dazzling show of silver roses.
A small blush appeared on Ichigo's cheeks. The way she stood there, pretty didn't cover it. She was gorgeous, more so than the flowers she grew.
'Wait a minute, why does it remind of Byakuya's zanpakuto?' thought Ichigo.
Ruby appeared in an instant in front of Ichigo, clashing with his blade. As the pair clapped their Bankai weapons together, Ichigo failed to realize the petals picking up speed around him. He suddenly winced when he felt a sting in his thigh. The distraction to check made Ruby press on with the attack, knocking him on the head with a blunt part of the glaive.
Another sting of pain, this time on his shoulder. Ichigo ignored it for now, but he did note the change in the storm of petals surrounding them. Ichigo successfully deflected a strike from Ruby, but his instincts alerted him to more danger from the same angle. He only took one glance at the corner of his vision, but widened seeing the silver petals dive towards him. Ichigo dashed out of the way to the side, but was punished with a kick from Ruby. It was better than having multiple petals that were as sharp of steel flying with the speed to embed themselves into the ground.
"You cheeky trickster." said Ichigo.
Ruby giggled. "I like to call it flower power, Ichi-kun. And sorry."
"What do you mea-"
Ichigo was interrupted from his sentence when the petals suddenly exploded in concussive blasts. Ruby got out of the way with shunpo, but Ichigo found himself laid back in a crater. Basically, everything in his body was cramped.
"Ow..." groaned Ichigo.
Mashiro laughed. "That shows you that even pretty flowers can be mean and dangerous."
"Since when have you said anything about that?!" exclaimed Kensei.
"Just now." said Mashiro.
With a few stifled groans, Ichigo picked himself up. Ruby had a smile that was way too innocent in light of the recent events of her basically blasting Ichigo into the ground. Hichigo probably had a point about her.
"Want to test our speed?" Ruby suggested.
Despite the ache, Ichigo smiled. "Let's do it."
The Vizards eyes widened when Ruby and Ichigo disappeared in shunpo then the whole basement was filled with afterimages of the two dodging, parrying, and striking in their 'duel'. Where one Ruby was overextending her reach, another pair of afterimages had Ichigo and Ruby in a lock glaring at each other. The air rippled from the colliding force of their zanpakuto like a chorus of drums.
"That is," noted Lisa, a bit shocked, "really fast."
"They look even on par in skill and speed it seems." said Kensei.
"That looks so much fun." said Mashiro. She was one of the fastest Vizards, and she just knew it was going to be so much fun having two more speed demon in the group.
"Getsuga Tensho."
"Howaitososa."
The afterimages dispersed when black and white reiatsu suddenly flashed in between the ground and 'sky' and split the basement in two different colors. The resulting clash proved a stalemate with both combatants forced back. They crashed, or more like shrugged, through multiple boulders before anchoring themselves in place. Ruby twirled her glaive around so the end with the red flag pointed forward. Instead of a silver glow, the blade hummed in red reiatsu. Even across the expanse, Ichigo could see the innocent smile on Ruby's face.
"Oh, you have to be kidding me?" cursed Ichigo, dreading what was going to follow.
To his horror, the blade acted like a muzzle firing an endless spray of red reishi bullets in Ichigo's direction. None were accurate, but the spread was vast and each bullet impacted with enough force to put a crater in a rock. Ichigo was sweating bullets pushing his speed to the limit to avoid the volley from hitting him. The closer he got, the more compact the spread till he was forced to use his blade to deflect the reishi bullets.
Ruby saw an opening and took it. She rushed down Ichigo with her Semblance, and aimed a punch that connected just below Ichigo's chest cavity. Or that would've if he didn't suddenly found himself staring at nothing. He felt that the space around him was different, and he looked back at Ruby with her back turned also confused. That confusion turned into a grin of glee.
"What the heck just happened?" Ichigo exclaimed.
"You did it!" squealed Ruby, jumping on the spot, "You've unlocked your Semblance."
"My...Semblance." said Ichigo, noticing now the blue glow around him, "What did I do?"
"That's...so...AWESOME!" Ruby screeched, dashing into Ichigo's personal space, "You switched places with me, like a blink. Think of all the things you could do. You could like switch places with a weapon, or, or, or, uh, probably switch two people from different places, and... wow... the possibilities with your Semblance are endless."
"Huh." said Ichigo, "I guess that is cool. Uh, how does it work?"
"Remember when I tried to punch you." said Ruby, "Sorry though."
"I can take a hit." said Ichigo, "But yeah. I think some sort of tickle. It was really weird, but it was so small."
"Your Semblance works like a muscle." Ruby explained, "The more you use it the better."
"Right, want to con-"
Ichigo stopped midsentence when he felt pain on his face. He collapsed on his knees clutching his head.
"Ichigo-"
Ruby was also cut off when a similar shocking sensation racked her head and she sank to her knees. Her eyes widened in terror hearing Gruby's voice howling in her head.
'Oi, what the hell!?' cried Ichigo.
'Sorry, couldn't help myself.' cackled Hichigo, 'I sensed that your girlfriend's tenant was making her final move. I'll be damned if I just stand here and let that bitch kill me.'
'That's not gonna happen.' said Ichigo, 'Ruby won't let that happen.'
'Dammit, not now.' cursed Ruby.
'Your little spar just gave me more power.' said Gruby, 'Come in here and we'll see who gets to earn their existence.'
Shinji and the Vizards arrived on time. A Kido barrier was made around them with them standing in just beyond it.
"Nothing like the present." said Shinji, "Oi, this is your last chance. You've got to beat your Hollows now."
"But Shinji we've never done this with two of them." Lisa protested.
"We'll manage!" Shinji shouted, leaving no room for argument.
"It's okay." Ruby strained out, her voice becoming more demonic, "We'll make it through this. That's a promise."
Ichigo and Ruby gave an unearthly roar that shook the area. Black and crimson reiatsu bursted off their forms. When it dissipated, it revealed two Adjuchas. One of them was Ruby, taking the form of an Alpha Beowulf lookalike. Ichigo's Adjuchas form was white in comparison with red tribal markings running down his limbs and from his Hollow hole. His form was a foot taller than Ruby and a lot more muscular. The white Hollow had spikes on his shoulders, clawed hands and feet, and a muscular tail whipping about.
There was a moment of silence as the two Adjuchas turned their gaze to the Kido barrier. The Vizards produced a cold sweat under their combined stare. Then the unexpected happened: the wolf Adjuchas locked its gaze on the lizard Adjuchas and struck him instead. She swiped a claw at his chest, getting a roar of rage and the two ended up fighting themselves. It proved an even match between the two Adjuchas, where Ichigo had strength Ruby had agility.
The Vizards released a sigh of relief. With the two distracted, they wouldn't worry about the Kido barrier breaking before the time limit runs out.
"Great." said Shinji, "Now let's just hope they don't kill themselves from the outside."
(Inner World)
Ruby found herself in a suburban area in a neighborhood lined with expensive houses. Senshi Masutamazarozu was in her hand, but the question was where was Gruby. Was this change in her mindscape a trap by Gruby to throw Ruby off? What game was she playing?
"Ruby?" called a voice.
Ruby whipped the glaive around aiming the red flag end to shoot whoever was there, only to be confused when it was Ichigo who was at a loss as well.
"Is that really you Ichigo?" Ruby said, still on the alarm.
"How the heck am I supposed to prove it to you?" exclaimed Ichigo.
"I don't know, strawberry?" said Ruby.
To her delight, a tick mark marred Ichigo's forehead at the false interpretation of his name. "That is not what my name means!"
"Good, it is you." Ruby sighed in relief, resting her glaive.
"How the heck are we in the same mind?" wondered Ichigo, looking around the street they stood on.
"Because we are sharing our mindscapes."
Ruby and Ichigo whipped their weapons in combat at the voice. Down the street approached their dopplegangers. Gruby held a glaive exact to Ruby only the steel was red and black. Hichigo had a copy of Tensa Zangetsu only it was pure white.
"Why does he have black lipstick?" Ruby asked, not at all intimidated.
"Why does she have a black hood?" Ichigo retorted, "Okay, you got me there."
"Oi." called Gruby, "Listen up when you're about to die."
"Why did you bring both of us here?" Ichigo demanded with a scowl.
"Too hard not to." said Hichigo, "One final dance with all of us here. Maybe one of you will do it, maybe both of you, but what I want is both of you gone. Then, we can get to killing each other."
"You mean when I run your thick skull into the ground and make it my personal stomper?" Gruby 'corrected'.
Hichigo snickered but it was laced with fury.
"I've got news for you." stated Ruby, poising her glaive to oppose her enemies, "None of you are going to get our bodies."
"Is that so?" hissed Gruby, licking her lips, "The time for words has passed then."
"That was lame." snickered Hichigo.
"Quiet, dumby!"
"Make me, bitch!"
"You have more brains in your ass!"
Ruby and Ichigo could only sweatdrop, then get serious when their dopplegangers blinked in front of them. They just barely managed to get their weapons in the right position to defend themselves. All the while, the Hollow and Grimm were laughing like maniacs.
(Ichigo vs. Hichigo)
Ichigo was dumbstruck by the strength Hichigo used against him. It was more than enough to dig through and run him through some buildings without stop. Ichigo tried pouring reiatsu into Zangetsu, but Hichigo only pushed more in response.
"Getsuga Tensho."
Zangetsu brimmed with black reiatsu before Ichigo unleashed at his feet to bring about an explosion. A dust cloud hid them away until Hichigo swept it away.
Ichigo and the Hollow dashed towards each other locking their blades together. They quickly separated, white and black reiatsu churning between them.
"Why so angry, Ichigo?" said Hichigo.
Ichigo just leveled a scowl at Hichigo. He was suddenly distracted by a silver glow in the distance. It was Ruby but what worried Ichigo was the crimson glow that was overtaking it. His instincts alerted him back to his own fight, barely deflecting a blow from Hichigo.
"What were you doing staring off into space?" said Hichigo.
"Getsuga Ransu."
Ichigo shot a laser of reiatsu from the tip of his blade. To his shock, Hichigo backhanded it away like it was a little nuisance. He disappeared and hammered his blade down upon Ichigo. As the pseudo-shinigami struggled to hold it back, Hichigo puts his free hand on the white blade.
"Getsuga Tensho."
Ichigo could only widen his eyes as he was engulfed in an explosion of white reiatsu. When the dust settled, Hichigo stood unharmed with the tip of his blade dripping with blood. Ichigo, however, had the front of his clothes burned away and a bleeding gash down his torso.
"You really do suck, Ichigo." Hichigo taunted, "I was the first one to use Getsuga Tensho in Bankai."
Before Ichigo knew it, Hichigo appeared in front of him and grasped his zanpakuto.
"Give it up."
To Ichigo's horror, his blade turned white all the way to the hilt then disintegrated.
"Zan-Zangetsu!?" exclaimed Ichigo.
"That's not Zangetsu!" Hichigo cried, weirdly with pure fury.
The next Ichigo knew, he was tosses through several houses. The rubble cleared showing Ichigo sporting new cuts on his face. His Aura took the brunt of the damage but now it can barely flicker to life.
"Ichigo, do you know the difference between a king and his horse?" said Hichigo, spinning his sword by the chain, "I'm not giving you a kid's riddle. Form, abilities, and power. Even if the two were exactly the same, one would be the king controlling the battle, and one would be the horse lending its power to the king. There's only one answer. It's instinct! In order for identical beings to gain power to become king, they must thirst for battle and to mercilessly crush, shred, and slice their enemies. But you don't have that. You lack those pure, basic instincts. That is why you are weaker than me, Ichigo!"
Hichigo let go of the spinning blade into Ichigo's gut. The scream of pain died down in his throat, replaced by a cough of blood. The Hollow walked towards the impaled Ichigo.
"I'm not gonna have it, Ichigo." said Hichigo, "If you are weaker than me, then I will destroy you."
They were interrupted when something crashed right next to them. The dust cloud settled to reveal Ruby and Gruby, the former struggling under the heel of the latter. Gruby's glaive was aimed right for Ruby's heart.
"I would agree if it weren't so much crap." Gruby commented.
Despite the situation that got some surprised from all three present.
Gruby smiled. "You see that's the difference between us, me and the Hollow. While I so want to kill this waste of space and get my own life, he actually cares for you in his own over-the-top tough love. No matter how many times he threatens you, they are all empty. If it were up to him, you wouldn't but be like this."
"What do you mean?" groaned Ichigo. Hichigo was oddly quiet.
"He-he-he-he." Gruby chuckled, "We are all freaks here from our worlds. In Ruby, a shinigami wrapped with silver warrior and Grimm. You, a born shinigami, Hollow...and Quincy."
Ichigo and Ruby widened tbeir eyes. A shinigami and a Hollow he could understand, but a Quincy? No one in his family besides his siblings showed signsvof being spiritually aware. Except maybe his...mother?
"This whole suppressing should really be for me since I'm the real threat." Gruby continued, "You know what's the best part? You've been lied to this entire time. That old man was holding back your true power because he was never Zangetsu. The real Zangetsu is-"
"SILENCE!"
A clap of steel rang through the mindscape. Gruby stood sming while holding back a black Tensa Zangetsu with her fingers. The one who attacked made Ruby, Ichigo, and even 'Hichigo's' eyes widen.
It was the now known false Zangetsu.
Uh oh. Gruby really messed up everything for the Quincy spirit. How will Ichigo face this shocking truth that the spirit who helped him train to protect people actually lied about his true power? And who really is Gruby?
Up next is Chapter 26: Existence
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