Chapter Fourteen: Finish Line
The group awoke and prepared to set off for their escape. No words needed to be said, they all knew how big this was. It was final stretch of his whole mission; it was now or never. The Kurosaki brothers shared a glance with each other having a wordless talk. It was simple, no matter what, not a damn thing was going to stop them at this stage. With that, everyone readied themselves and, in a flash, they took off for their escape.
They dumped Momo along the way where someone would find her eventually. They had decided to keep her tied up and gagged. Takeshi didn't think such a small woman could ever radiate such anger. It was honestly kind of impressive.
They continued on their way and neared the gate they had yet to detect any other soul reapers. As they entered the courtyard and saw the gate at the far end.
"this feels way too easy." Spoke Takeshi. "something is wrong about all this."
"maybe we just caught a lucky break." Chimed Ichigo.
Then as if on cue they suddenly felt the presence of multiple people. Captains and some vice-captains by the feel of them. they all suddenly appeared right in front of the gate, they must have been concealing their presence waiting for them. almost every remaining captain seemed to be there, excluding the head captain for some strange reason. guess he didn't feel like they were worthy of his blade.
"uhhhhh…." Went Ichigo looking at the sight.
"you just had to fucking say something didn't you?" deadpanned Takeshi.
"this ends here for you now ryoka! Surrender yourselves!" ordered a short black haired woman.
Takeshi surveyed the captains and vice-captains in front of them. he only recognized Byakuya amongst the group. He also noticed the small white haired captain was missing for some reason. he didn't see Komamura, Gin or Zaraki but their absence wasn't surprising.
"Yoruichi, just who do we have in front of us here captain wise anyways. They're the only ones I'm concerned with." Asked Takeshi.
Yoruichi surveyed the captains in front of them for a moment and then spoke. "the one with the hat and pink kimono is Kyoraku, the one next to him is Ukitake. Byakuya you already know, next to him is Tosen. The final one is Sui-Feng. Odd that Unohana and Hitsugaya aren't here. I don't see the head-captain, lucky for us."
"do you honestly think to take us all?" spoke Byakuya.
"yeah we do, little Byakuya." Replied Takeshi. Yoruichi had told him about Byakuya's nickname he hated so much. The Kuchiki head said nothing in response but narrow his eyes in annoyance.
"so here's what I think we should do. Yoruichi, you should handle Sui-Feng, you know her best. Renji you take Ukitake, I'll take Tosen and Ichigo gets Byakuya. Orihime, Chad, Ganju and Hanataro will handle the vice-captains." stated Takeshi.
"what about Kyoraku?" asked Yoruichi.
Before anything could said a shadow loomed over them all. looking behind Takeshi saw Kenpachi Zaraki himself.
"you gotta be fucking kidding me." Muttered Takeshi.
"good to see you again Takeshi." Said Zaraki with a wide grin. "don't worry, as much as I want to fight you again. I'm actually here to help you. consider it my way of paying you back for entertaining me with such a great fight."
Takeshi looked rather dumbstruck by this turn of events. however he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"fine by me, Zaraki gets Kyoraku."
The battle hungry captains grin grew wider in anticipation.
"I shall help you all as well." Spoke a voice Takeshi recognized. He turned to see none other than Kayda Takagi, his mother.
Takeshi was honestly rather stunned by this development, Kenpachi was one thing but his mother showing up was a whole different thing. Then a man who looked like some yakuza with sunglasses and a badge with seven on it spoke up.
"third seat Takagi!" he yelled "what is the meaning of this!?"
"forgive me vice-captain Iba." Replied Kayda. "you remember what I told you about what little memories I retained from my human life?"
"yes, what of it?" Iba asked
"then you will recall that I had a son right before I died. this young man here standing here with the silver hair and large sword, is my son. That's why I am here choosing to fight alongside him. after all I would be a poor mother if didn't fight for my own child's safety and well-being." Kayda finished.
Takeshi wasn't sure what to say but he certainly happy about this. While he still didn't really know his birth mother, he could tell already he was going to get along well with her. he smiled at his mom, who returned a smile in return.
"hey Takeshi." Cut in Ichigo.
"yes little brother?"
"your birth mom is awesome."
"enough of this already!" roared Sui-Feng. "it's time to take you all down!"
Things were tense for a few moments. The silence heavy all around. Then all at once the final battle to rescue Rukia began at last.
Yoruichi went after Sui-feng and immediately leading her away somewhere else for their fight. Zaraki went right after Kyoraku, Renji leapt at Ukitake. Kayda, Chad, Orihime, Ganju and Hanataro went for the vice-captains. Ichigo made a straight shot for Byakuya and Takeshi made to engage Tosen. Meanwhile Rukia and Uryu quickly ran off to a good place to keep safe from all the carnage about to go down.
*With Kayda, Chad, Orihime, Ganju and Hanataro*
Kayda stood there alongside her son's friends, staring down the four soul reapers in front of them.
"Orihime, Chad, Ganju and Hanataro are your names if I recall correctly?" asked Kayda.
The group nodded their heads in response.
"I want you all to keep back, I will deal with these four myself." spoke the violet eyed woman.
"you really think you can win against us all?" said a tall man with dark hair and a goatee. Said thirteenth division co third-seat Sentarō Kotsubaki.
"This must be some sort of joke on your part." Said a petite dark blond haired woman. Kiyone Kotetsu the other co third-seat of the thirteenth division.
"I believe you're overestimating yourself Kayda." Spoke a young man with spikey black hair and some facial tattoos. Hisagi Shuhei, vice-captain of the ninth division.
However Seventh division vice-captain Tetsuzaemon Iba looked at his third seat with caution. He knew she was more powerful than a mere third seat. Just how much so even he didn't know. Kayda was always shy about having others around her as she trained. That and the few times he'd seen her fight he could tell she was purposely holding back and still beat her opponents. That's not even adding in the nature and power of her zanpakuto.
"we are the ones who shouldn't underestimate her I'm afraid." Cut in Iba.
"you can't be serious?" asked Hisagi.
"you should take my vice-captains' words to heart." Interjected Kayda. "you see while I am a third seat. I'm more than capable of being a vice-captain. In fact I could have left the seventh to another division to become a vice-captain if I truly wanted. I just never have out of the respect and admiration I have for captain Komamura. If anything I'm actually more on par with a high level vice-captain."
"she's bluffing." Said Kiyone.
"no she isn't." retorted Iba
"I imagine you all except for Iba don't know about my zanpakuto." Said Kayda.
"what of it?" asked Hisagi.
"you see my zanpakuto is similar to captain Hitsugaya's in the sense mine is a dragon spirit zanpakuto that has a particular element affinity. in fact the element my zanpakuto is attuned to is water. While I have yet to achieve bankai, my zanpakuto has the potential to be the strongest of all water type zanpakuto. Just like how the head-captains is the strongest of fire types and captain Hitsugaya's is the most powerful of ice types. So be ready, I'm going to show the full power of my shikai something no one even in my division has ever seen before." Stated Kayda.
The other three soul reapers looked to Iba for confirmation on Kayda's proclamation. The grim look on his face was all they needed to see to know the woman in front of them was telling the truth.
"why do I have the sudden feeling I'm gonna really hate what's about to happen in the next five minutes." Said Kiyone.
Kayda pulled out her blade, it was standard length katana. The hilt was a blueish-green color, the guard was circular with the edges having a shape reminiscent of waves. She held it with the blade pointed out in front of her, she held it in both hands, up by the top of the side of her head.
"Be Crushed by the Tides of the Earth and Heaven: Mizuchi!
Her blade glowed after a moment the glow disappeared revealing the blades new look.
It now resembled an odachi sword with a blade that was 36 inches in length. The hilt now looked like it was made of pearl with wave like patterns in it that looked to be made of jade. Hanging off of the end of the hilt was a very long ribbon that wrapped around her hand and sword arm, that was a blueish-green color. On the blade itself on both sides was an engraving of eastern style dragon surrounded by the waves of the sea. That went from the bottom of the blade and stopped just shy of the tip.
Above her a large whirlpool of water appeared and after a few seconds it took the shape of large eastern dragon that then swirled around Kayda as she stood in place.
The four soul reapers in front of her looked at what was in front of them in shock, awe and nervousness. Then they felt Kayda's increase in reiatsu, it made them feel worse.
"well…..shit." said Sentarō.
"time to put you all down." Said Kayda as she then twirled her blade and thrust it forward. As she did this the water dragon shot out in front of her and turned into small tidal wave that had the snarling head of the dragon in the middle. It flew at the four soul reapers at a blinding speed. So caught up in the shock of everything, the four soul reapers weren't ready for the attack and were hit full force by it.
The four soul reapers with no way of escape could only watch as the mass wave of water engulfed them all. it slammed into them and then exploded with tremendous force; the water rocketed sky high into the air. Before falling down and flowing out around the ground. Revealing the unconcious and crumpled forms of all the soul reapers.
Kayda lowered her blade and then turned to others.
"come let's go and keep watch over Rukia and your other friend." She stated and moved. Chad, Orihime, Ganju and Hanataro could only nod their heads and went along with her. still in awe of the display they had just saw.
*with Ichigo*
Ichigo had gone directly to confront Byakuya once everyone scattered to engage their respective targets. Ichigo stared down the Kuchiki head with as much fury as he could muster. For Ichigo after all that had happened between them, this was personal. He was going to break Byakuya to show him the error of his ways, no matter what it took.
Byakuya looked at the Ryoka with just as much contempt. He had the audacity to stomp on the traditions and laws of soul society. he dared to make fools of the gotei 13, him and his equally troublesome brother. Them and their allies would be dealt the justice they deserved for their transgressions. He would make sure of it himself if he must.
"let's just cut to the chase Byakuya. I'm gonna beat you, I'm going to rescue Rukia. And then me, my brother and all our friends will be going home." Said Ichigo.
"is that so? While I will admit you have grown much stronger since we last fought. However you still do not have the power needed to defeat me. Make no mistake, I will kill you, I will kill that brother of yours and I will see to Rukia's execution myself if I must." Byakuya sharply replied.
Ichigo grit his teeth, his anger building. "that's not going to happen Byakuya. Cause I'm going to beat you, using my bankai. So get ready." The orange haired teen raised his blade and channeled his energy as it began to rise dramatically.
"BANKAI!" roared Ichigo.
Then Ichigo's energy exploded all around him in a whirlwind of black and red energy. After a few moments it dies away displaying Ichigo with his Bankai. He was now dressed in what resembled a tight fitting soul reaper outfit. Zangetsu now looked like a katana with an entirely black blade, a black guard and hilt that was mostly black with some red. Hanging off the pommel was a small black chain with a black crescent moon trinket at the end of it.
"Tensa Zangetsu." Ichigo calmly stated.
Byakuya looked over the orange haired teen, he scoffed at what he saw.
"that is your bankai?" Byakuya questioned. "once more you stomp all over the traditions of soul society and soul reapers. allow me to show you a true bankai."
Byakuya brought out his blade and held it upside down. He let it go and simply spoke.
"Bankai: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
With that the battle between the two had begun.
*With Takeshi*
Takeshi stared down his opponent, he was a man of average height, dark skinned, black hair in braids he kept in a ponytail and goggles. He wore a standard Shinigami uniform with the sleeves rolled up, an orange scarf and a haori with nine on it.
"so you're Kaname Tosen I take it? captain of the ninth division." Stated Takeshi.
"yes I am." Replied Tosen sharply. "you're Takeshi Kurosaki, the one who caused so much destruction and obstructed justice so much."
Takeshi looked at the man with a raised eyebrow from his statement.
"your one of those high and mighty type's, aren't you? you think you know so much better than everyone else for one reason or another. I can already tell you're gonna piss me off, with some sort of 'holier than thou' attitude. Gimme a fucking break." Finished Takeshi.
"say what you will, for I don't really care. you've done nothing but leave bloodshed and destruction since you arrived. You nearly killed my friend Sajin Komamura. I will have justice done for your crimes." Spoke Tosen.
"okay let's get a few things straight here. One, I haven't actually killed anyone since I got here. yes, I've messed some people up, including lopping the furries sword arm off. No one has yet to die. Secondly, I only ever purposely destroyed this courtyard were standing in the first day I arrived. That was only to help get the upper hand on that creepy looking Gin. Thirdly, for some who seems pretty obsessed with the concept of justice. Why do you do nothing and allow the unjust execution of Rukia Kuchiki to just happen?" explained the silver eyed teen.
Tosen thought to himself for a moment before answering. "because no one in seireitei is in a position to argue against central 46." He spoke solemnly.
Takeshi caught the tone of his voice and found it interesting.
"sounds like you've had some rough dealing with central 46 in the past." Asked the fullbringer.
"yes that is true." Answered Tosen. "I once had a friend, she loved this world and wanted to do nothing but help it by being a Shinigami. But before she could fulfill her dream. She was murdered by her own husband for simply disagreeing with him. she was unjustly killed, and nothing was done to punish the one responsible. I went to central 46 myself to try and speak to them about it. however I wasn't even a Shinigami yet and they simply tossed me out without a word."
"is that why you became a soul reaper, why you worked to become a captain. So you could possibly have the power needed to keep something that happened to your friend from happening again to someone else?" wondered Takeshi.
"in a matter of speaking yes, I follow the path that leads to the least amount of bloodshed. Let me ask you something. You haven't known Rukia Kuchiki for that long. So why go through such a huge amount of trouble to save her?" asked Tosen.
"simple in all honesty. while true I haven't known her for that long. During that short time we still managed to become friends. Not to mention she saved my family's life by doing what she did. I couldn't just sit by and do nothing and let her get killed for simply doing the right thing. Not while I have the power to actually do something about it. That's why I'm doing all that I've been doing. You would do the same if you were in my shoes if it was your friend, would you not?" questioned Takeshi.
Tosen was quiet, he honestly wasn't sure how to answer that question. However he finally spoke up.
"Perhaps I misjudged you." stated the ninth division captain. "be that as it may though, I'm still a captain of the gotei 13. I have my duty and my orders I have sworn to uphold. A shame really, if we had met under better circumstances. Perhaps we could have been friends." Tosen finished as he drew his blade and readied it.
"perhaps we could have." Replied Takeshi who readied his own blade. "I have one more thing to ask before we begin. More of a curiosity if anything, who was the bastard that killed your friend and got away with it?"
"It was a vile nobleman of one the four most powerful noble families in soul society. his name is Tokinada Tsunayashiro." Said Tosen with some noticeable contempt.
"I see, I'll remember that incase I have the unfortunate displeasure of ever meeting the guy myself." Retorted the fullbringer.
Things suddenly became much tenser as both opponents waited for the other to make the first move. The air seemed to thicken as they both allowed their reiatsu to pour out all around them. they both blocked out any of the other fighting that was going on around the area. Then they both took off to meet the other.
As they neared each other, Tosen lunged forward to make a stab with his blade. Takeshi dodged to the side and swung Reaver around using his superior reach to his advantage. Tosen ducked and moved in to make a slash but was stopped when Takeshi caught him with a spin kick to the chest.
Tosen was forced back and Takeshi quickly moved to pounce on the captain. He quickly jumped up and brought his blade down on Tosen with all his force and weight.
Tosen brought his blade up horizontally and caught the strike. Resting his other hand against the blunt side of his sword, to reinforce the block. Even so, the force was so great, that ground cracked beneath his feet and his arms buckled a little. Barely able to hold off the force of the strike.
Tosen pushed off, making Takeshi jump back. as this happened Tosen raised a hand with a pointed finger.
"Hadō #4. Byakurai!" spoke Tosen as a bolt of lightning shot out from his hand.
As the lightning shot out, Takeshi quickly ducked and jumped to the side to avoid it. he generated power into his blade and whirled it around.
"Getsuga Tensho!" he yelled as the silver arc raced out towards Tosen.
Tosen was in the middle of an incantation, leaping to the side of the attack at the last moment as he finished his incantation.
"Hadō #88. Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!" stated Tosen as massive ball of blue electrical looking energy swirled in front of him. right before it launched off in giant beam directly at the fullbringer.
"oh fuck me." Muttered Takeshi. He brought his sword around and generated a shield and braced himself for the blast. Knowing full well he couldn't dodge this attack.
The kido spell slammed into his shield. Takeshi was immediately pushed back against his will on the balls of his feet. He kept feeding in his power into his shield trying to withstand the powerful kido. Then the attack exploded right in front of him.
The ground shook and dust and debris were launched everywhere around the blast zone. Tosen stood attentively, he knew that his opponent wasn't one to be beaten so easily. If he was, he never would have survived against Gin.
He was given his answer when another getsuga tensho came flying through the smoke even faster than the previous one. Tosen went to jump up and away to avoid it, as he went to do so. He felt his opponent's presence right behind him.
With no real time act otherwise while in a mid-air jump. He whirled around with his blade with one hand in order to block whatever strike that was coming his way. Tosen's blade met Takeshi's in a shower of sparks but with only one hand this time it wasn't enough to stop the strike entirely.
Tosen felt his blade and sword arm being pushed back against his will. He could only wince in pain as he felt the fullbringers blade mange sink into his right side. It wasn't a very deep cut, but it was annoying none the less. Tosen quickly launched another Byakurai. Takeshi caught the signs of the attack and quickly moved back allowing the kido spell to blow past him.
Both paused where they landed, taking a moment to catch their breath.
Takeshi for his part wasn't in that bad of shape. His shield had managed to eat most of the attack. Though he still suffered some cuts and burns when it blew up. Thankfully he could feel Reaver working her magic now that he had managed to cut Tosen. Though the fight was far from over, he would still need to end it as soon as he could. He didn't really like the strategy of simply waiting and hoping for his drain to beat his opponent for him. especially considering Tosen was a captain and as a captain, his reiatsu reserves ran fairly deep.
Takeshi readied his blade and charged at Tosen. He made a horizontal slash, which the captain parried. Tosen made a stab with his blade that blocked with his blade. Using his strength he shoved Tosen's sword to the side and rushed the captain, readying a swing.
Tosen dropped low and dove forward avoiding the strike. As he passed by the fullbringer he made quick slash with his blade behind him. the strike managed to slice Takeshi across the back of his left thigh.
The silver eyed teen hissed from the pain and quickly spun around his blade ready. Only to see Tosen high up in the air over him.
"Suzumushi Nishiki: Benihikō." Spoke Tosen as he moved his blade in a semi-circle motion. As he did a trail appeared from the motion, which then transformed into hundreds of blades.
Seeing the danger in front of him, Takeshi quickly brought Reaver back and channeled his power into it. as he did this Tosen launched the barrage of blades directly at the teen. Takeshi responded in kind as he swung his own blade around.
"Scatter shot!" he yelled as a swarm of silver shards flew to meet the barrage of blades head on. both attacks slammed into each other mid-air, each one halting the others progress. Then Takeshi gave the command.
"Click."
BOOM!
Was the sound heard all around when all the shards exploded. Tosen blade barrage was scattered everywhere, rendered useless from the explosion. He though until he felt some his own blades flying directly towards him due to the blast. He quickly tried to move to dodge but wasn't fast enough, as one of his blades firmly planted itself into the lower left side of his abdomen.
Tosen gritted through the pain as he quickly pulled said blade out of him. however Takeshi chose not to let up on the captain, as he appeared directly on his wounded side. Takeshi swung at the captain, which Tosen brought his blade up to parry. While he managed to do so, he was ill prepared for the strength of the hit. It caused his sword arm to swing far out to the side of him, leaving him exposed. The fullbringer didn't let the opportunity go to waste.
Takeshi quickly gave a twist and swung back in the opposite direction from before. The strike sliced Tosen clean across his chest, with a decent amount of blood spraying out from it. Takeshi then went to move Reaver for a finishing strike, before that could happen Tosen quickly raised a hand towards the silver haired teen.
"Hadō #31. Shakkahō!" yelled the captain as a large ball of red energy launched at Takeshi at point blank range.
Takeshi could nothing but simply eat the blast head on as he was engulfed in huge beam of red energy. He was thrown with great force across the courtyard before colliding into a wall and crashing clean through it. he slammed into the ground, tumbling before skidding to a stop.
The cloth on his arm and leg were tattered, his shirt was burned in multiple places. He also had a fair collection of new burn marks, he hauled himself up to his feet. While the attack had done some good damage, he was far from done with this fight. He spat some blood out his mouth as he regained his focus.
'I'm pretty sure that busted some ribs.' He groaned mentally to himself. He looked around where he was. It looked like he landed in pavilion like area out of sight from the rest of the fighting happening in the courtyard. He felt Tosen approaching and readied himself. Tosen appeared inside the pavilion area sensing that his opponent was still standing.
"still standing, I shouldn't be too surprised. You did take a did take a direct hit from Komamura's bankai." Spoke Tosen.
"true but I was ready for a hit from his bankai at some point in our fight. I wasn't ready for what you pulled on me and I payed for it." retorted Takeshi.
"fair enough" replied the captain. "however I believe it's time to end this fight between us. let's see how well you do when robbed of all your senses."
Tosen held up his blade with his right hand and placed his left hand against the guard.
"Bankai: Suzumushi Tsuishiki: Enma Kōrogi." Said Tosen calmly.
A ring on his blade began spin rapidly and then grew larger and larger until it completely surrounded Tosen. Then it split off into ten separate rings, Tosen simply swung his blade and the rings flew off into the air. They each reached a position in the air and began generating a black substance that began to take shape and surrounded Tosen and Takeshi completely. It grew and grew until it began to resemble a dome, soon enough the dome completely formed and closed itself. Trapping the captain and the fullbringer inside of it all by themselves.
Once the dome completely formed, something happened that completely stunned Takeshi. He couldn't see, he couldn't hear, he couldn't smell, hell he couldn't even sense Tosen's spiritual energy. The only sense he had left was his sense of touch.
'so this what he meant by robbing me of my senses.' Takeshi mused to himself mentally. 'this is gonna get rough.'
Tosen surveyed his opponent. "he seems completely confused by what has happened." Tosen spoke to himself. "good, this should make things easier."
Takeshi was still trying to get his bearings within the bankai. When suddenly he felt his back get sliced clean open by Tosen's blade.
Takeshi howled in pain, not that he could hear himself yell in pain do to the bankai.
'he's playing with me. You may have robed me of most of my senses, but I'm not done yet!' he mentally yelled.
Takeshi charged energy into his blade and then made a full 360 degree rotation, unleashing his scatter shot as he did so. the shards flew in every conceivable direction within the dome.
Tosen sensed what was happening and threw up a kido barrier in front of him to block any immediate shards from hitting him. he felt as the shards covered all around the dome, then he remembered what the shards could also do a little too late.
Takeshi mouthed the command word and all the shards exploded. Engulfing the entire inside of the dome in a silver explosion. The intensity of the explosion made even more so since it was trapped within a confined space.
Once everything began to settle Takeshi still stood where his was, having taken only minor damage form his own attack. He had put a lot of focus into his harden ability, knowing that he was essentially hitting himself with that move.
Tosen meanwhile was still standing but suffered much more from the blast. His shield only protected a single side of at a time. being completely surrounded by the exploding shards meant he was going to be caught no matter what. His haori was shredded and the rest of his uniform was torn and tattered. He had multiple cuts on his body from the blast.
"dammit, I can't let that happen again." Tosen spoke to himself as he took a moment to gather his thought together after what had happened. Then Tosen felt his opponent focusing his energy again, this time it was far higher than the last attack. Tosen suddenly realized in horror what his opponent what doing.
"He's going to do inside the dome what he did to the whole courtyard in his fight against Gin!" Tosen realized in panic. "he's going kamikaze himself just to stop me!"
At the same time Tosen came to that realization. Takeshi was overcharging a getsuga tensho with his blade raised above his head. Any energy he wasn't using for the attack was put into his hardening ability. Takeshi knew full well that he was going to hurt himself to some degree doing this move but he couldn't see any other option within the current situation. He would just have to hope his hardening would hold up.
Tosen charged as fast he could with his blade to make a killing strike. However before he could get close enough, Takeshi swung his blade straight down. Unleashing a getsuga tensho on par with the one he used during his fight against Gin that destroyed the courtyard.
The attack went off and instantly spread across the entirety of the dome interior. Tosen tried in vain to dispel his bankai but it was too late, as he was engulfed in the blast entirely.
From the outside of the dome, it seemed as though cracks began forming across it. Before suddenly the whole dome exploded in a mushroom cloud like explosion of silver. That could be seen by all across battle zone.
Those who saw it had myriad of different emotions from it. Renji, Rukia, Hanataro Ganju, Chad, Orihime, Uryu and the enemy captain stared in awe at the blast. Zaraki howled like a mad man in delight at the sight of the blast. Meanwhile Ichigo, Kayda and Yoruichi looked at the explosion with concern.
At ground zero of the explosion Takeshi was on knees in the middle of a giant crater. His shirt as completely gone as was the cloth on his arm. His pants were tattered at the bottom, though somehow the leather straps on him, along with his gloves and boots. Hadn't seemingly suffered that much damage amazingly. His right arm had a large gash running down it, he had multiple smaller ones on his chest and couple on his left arm. There were also some on both his legs. Plus multitude of burn marks all over him.
"fuck, that may have worked but I sure hope I never have to do something like that ever again." Takeshi groaned to himself, as he finally regained all of his senses. "I'll say it before and I'll say it again, thank kami Halibel helped train my harden ability as much as she did. I would have taken myself out probably otherwise."
Then Takeshi felt a presence that honestly amazed him. Tosen was standing a fair distance away from him inside the massive crater. How he was standing Takeshi had no idea because he looked even rougher.
The entire top half of his uniform had been completely blasted away; his pants were tatters. His scarf was gone, his hair had fallen out of its ponytail and fell freely across his back and his goggle had a large crack running across it. he had an even greater multitude of gashes and cuts across his body. Plus even more sever burn marks on him.
"I'm honestly surprised your still up Tosen, I'm very impressed in all honesty." spoke up Takeshi as he hauled himself to his feet.
"that attack….was nothing short of….suicidal on your part." Huffed out Tosen in response.
Takeshi couldn't help but laugh a little to himself at the remark. "yeah true I can't argue it, but it was either that or be stuck at the mercy or your bankai. Plus, as the old saying goes 'go big or go home'." The silver haired teen retorted.
"I suppose it's time to end this fight at last." Spoke Tosen as readied himself.
Takeshi sighed to himself, he kind of hoped the captain would have just given up after what had happened. Oh well.
"yeah I guess so." chimed Takeshi as brought Reaver around behind him.
Both fighters stood still in silence and then in the blink of an eye they charged each other.
As they neared striking distance, Tosen shot his blade straight forward in an attempt to stab Takeshi clean through his chest. Takeshi ducked as low as he could at the last second. Then he swung Reaver clean around across Tosen's mid-section. Making a complete 360 spin with the action.
Tosen froze in place where he stood from the strike. Then after a few moments his blade fell from his grasp clattering against the ground. Blood began to pour out all around his mid-section. Then gravity took control as Tosen fell forward or atleast the top half of him did anyway. While his bottom wound up falling backwards.
Thus ended the life of the ninth division captain Kaname Tosen.
The moment Tosen's spiritual energy faded away completely signaling his death. It sent a shock through everyone in the courtyard who felt it happen.
"Kaname…Kaname is dead?" spoke Kyoraku in disbelief.
"ha! I'm not surprised someone so afraid of death like Tosen got taken out by someone like Takeshi. he beat me after all." chimed Zaraki with a wolfish grin.
"holy shit, I can't believe he actually outright killed a captain." Spoke Renji in shock.
Ukitake said nothing and simply thought silently to himself of what had just transpired.
Meanwhile Sui-Feng and Yoruichi were having their own thoughts on the recent development.
"that bastard ryoka killed captain Tosen!" spat Sui-Feng in fury. "he'll pay for this transgression!"
Yoruichi simply shrugged her shoulders. "that seems unlikely to happen I dare say." Spoke the werecat as if she knew something no one else did. "I'd say my latest student has already surpassed you, considering Tosen now makes the fourth captain he's defeated since he arrived in seireitei."
Sui-Feng's brows furrowed in response to that statement. "He's your current protégé is he?" spat Sui-Feng. "then I'll be sure to kill him myself once I've finished with you!"
Yoruichi smirked playfully at her former student. "that won't be happening, seeing as how you won't be getting passed me to begin with."
With that the battle between the two continued.
Ichigo and Byakuya paused their own battle briefly once they felt the life force of the captain fade away.
Byakuya narrowed his eyes in the general direction of where he had last felt his fellow captain's presence. "to kill a captain of the gotei 13 is an offense of the highest order." Spoke Byakuya. "the soul society will not rest until the perpetrator is apprehended and put to death for his crimes."
Ichigo grit his teeth in frustration. "like hell I'll allow that to happen!" roared the orange haired teen. "my brother isn't the type to kill a person outright on purpose! He most likely did so by accident in the heat of the battle!"
Byakuya said nothing and merely scoffed while looking at the orange haired teen and continued their battle.
Kayda, Rukia and the others were honestly lost as to what to say at the fact Takeshi had killed a captain. They were all either shocked or horrified by it. Kayda however knew all too well the sort of trouble her son had just thrown himself into unknowingly.
'this's a worst case scenario.' Kayda thought to herself worriedly. 'they won't overlook him killing a captain. Not to mention captain Tosen was captain Komamura's best friend. He'll undoubtedly want my son's head for this.'
At the same time Takeshi was also processing everything that had happened. As he looked down at the now cut in two Tosen.
"well shit, this is gonna cause problems in all likely hood." He muttered to himself. "I should have pulled back my strike a bit, but I was too focused in the heat of the moment of it all to really care. oh well, as long as me and the others can escape to the living world, I'm sure I can find somewhere to hide with Yoruichi and Kisuke. Granted I could just hide out with Mila and the other's in hueco mundo, no one will find me there. Things to address for later, need to go help my brother with Byakuya."
Before he could move a huge wave of fatigue hit him.
"dammit it all, I used too much energy fighting Tosen. I don't have the strength to help fight another captain." He spat in frustration.
"that can be easily remedied war pup." Chimed his fullbring.
"what do you mean?" he questioned mentally to Reaver.
"I know it's been awhile since we last did it, but don't forget you can devourer others with me to heal and replenish yourself. up to and including soul reapers and you happen to have exactly what you need in front of you."
"you can't be serious?"
"it's not like you haven't done it to a soul reaper before, remember Ashido? You did it to him after you accidently offed him in your fight to protect Mila. after you had worn yourself out badly fighting him. this situation is no different, you fought and killed Tosen in the heat of the moment. In order to protect your friends and loved one's. now your battered and worn out but still need to fight to help them all out. So don't be such a bitch and use me on the dead captain, it's not like he's going to be of any other use to anyone else anyways."
Takeshi grit his teeth as much as he hated to admit it, Reaver made a very good point. Now wasn't the time for moral dilemmas, right now it was making sure he and everyone else on his side survived. One does what they have to do in order to survive in this kind of situation. Just like back in the hollow world.
Takeshi took a deep breath and exhaled, he lifted up Reaver and brought her down on the two halves of Tosen. Soon enough they were engulfed in a silver aura before being broken down into spirit particles and absorbed into Takeshi.
Takeshi's eye went wide form the sheer magnitude of the rush he received as Reaver worked her powers on Tosen's corpse. Nothing he had ever done this sort of thing before on. whether it be hollow or Ashido, came even close to magnitude of the power that was becoming one with his being. All his wounds healed leaving no trace of them, his strength felt replenished and even higher than ever.
After a few moments it all ended, Takeshi took a minute as the rush of it all faded away.
"damn, that was something alright." He spoke to himself as he ran a hand through his hair. "that sensation was….intense for a lack of better words." He quickly shook his head at his current thoughts. "no time to dwell on this, the others still need my help."
With that he slung Reaver onto his back and took off towards Ichigo and Byakuya.
*With Kyoraku, Ukitake, Zaraki and Renji*
Zaraki grinning with his usual blood thirsty glee, swung down at Kyoraku. Kyoraku brought his own blades up to parry, him having already released his Shikai. So his two blades looked like two large Chinese scimitars, with red cloth hanging off the pommels. After parrying the strike he quickly jumped back to create distance between him and Zaraki.
"quit running Kyoraku and fight me head on already." Growled out Zaraki.
Kyoraku stared down the battle loving captain. "truth is Zaraki, I don't really want to fight you. I'm waiting for a more interesting fish to come swimming by in a manner of speaking."
"what the hell do you mean by that?" questioned the eleventh division captain.
"quite simple really." Began the eight division captain. "Rukia's overzealous punishment, the ryoka invasion, central 46's unusual quietness during all of this and captain Aizen's murder. Take a minute and think about Zaraki, too much of all this seems far too suspicious."
"what exactly are you getting at Kyoraku?"
"simple Zaraki, me and some of the other captain's believe we have a traitor in our midst. Explained Kyoraku. "who and why we're not sure just yet. What do believe is that whoever they and whatever their goal is. they've playing all of us, Rukia and the ryoka from the shadows for who knows how long now. All we know for certain is that Rukia seems to be at the center of it. at this stage of the game, whoever they are, will reveal themselves soon enough. me and Ukitake are here to simply keep up appearances until they traitor reveals themselves or the head captain starts coming this way. In which case me and Ukitake we'll be heading off to keep him busy. You know how stubborn old man yama can be about things. He won't believe what we suspect without solid evidence or we force him to believe us by doing something that would convince him. So we would like to prevent him from killing Rukia, the ryoka and so on. seeing how they seem to be unwitting pawns in whatever the hell is going on."
Kenpachi took in his fellow captains' words for a moment. Then a wolfish grin spread across his face at one particular thought.
"so let me get this straight." Began Zaraki. "you just biding time until either the traitor or the head captain shows up? And you're going to fight whoever comes first?"
Kyoraku nodded his head.
Zaraki laughed like a crazy man before speaking. "care for some extra help for when that comes around?"
Kyoraku chuckled a little in return. "no problem at all, especially if we have to fight old man yama. We'll need all the help we can get for that one."
Then as if on cue a massive spiritual energy was felt in the distance making its way to courtyard. Everyone knew who it was, the head captain was coming at last.
"well then that seems to be our cue." Mused Kyoraku.
Ukitake then appeared next to Kyoraku and Renji appeared next to Zaraki.
"we best be going to meet off the head captain." Spoke Ukitake.
"we're going to have extra hands helping us with that my friend." Replied the eight division captain.
Renji looked at Zaraki in confusion. "ummm captain Zaraki, what exactly is going on?" he questioned.
Zaraki simply looked at the vice-captain next to him. "change of plans Renji, we're going to be joining Kyoraku and Ukitake in fighting the head captain." He finished with glee.
Meanwhile the color seemed to pale from Renji's face. Renji liked a good fight he wouldn't deny it, but he wasn't suicidal. However before he could voice any protest, he was grabbed at the collar by Zaraki. who then took off following Kyoraku and Ukitake?
'I'm gonna fucking die!' Renji noted mentally to himself as he cried fake anime tears.
After a few minutes of travel the group stopped in the middle of another courtyard. Soon enough the head captain himself than appeared before the group.
"Captain's Ukitake, Kyoraku, Zaraki and vice-captain Abari!" bellowed the old soul reaper. Explain yourselves at once for blocking my path!
"hear me out here head captain." Spoke Kyoraku as he explained everything. After he was finished the head captain stood in place, stroking his beard in contemplation.
"so that's why you're doing this." Spoke up Yamamoto. "very well then, I will play along with you all until the traitor reveals themselves."
Ukitake let out a sigh of relief. "thank you for understanding this head captain." Stated Ukitake. "we would never get in your way unless we felt we had very good reason to do so."
"I understand." Replied the head captain. "plus, it's been a very long time since we last had a spar. Not to mention I'd like to see firsthand just what captain Zaraki can do against me. I can also sense Vice-captain Abari has achieved his bankai, how interesting. Let's how well you children can handle me."
With that the head captain opened his eyes showing off his intimidating gaze. He drew out his blade and held it out to the side.
"Reduce All Creation to Ash: Ryujin Jakka." He spoke calmly as his sword erupted in massive and intense flames that surrounded him and the good portion of the surrounding area.
Kyoraku and Ukitake looked on with a shared look of seriousness, Zaraki was smiling ear to ear and Renji was feeling more intimidated than he had ever felt before in his life.
*With Takeshi*
Takeshi moved as fast he could to where he felt his little brother and Byakuya fighting. Once he got there, he saw something he honestly wasn't expecting to find. He saw some kind of dome made of an uncountable number of pink blades. He couldn't see inside of it, but he could feel Ichigo inside of it none the less.
"looks like I'm gonna have to break into this thing." He sated as he grabbed his massive blade from his back.
"Getsuga Tensho!" he yelled and launched his attack the dome of swords.
It collided and blew up with great force against the dome, however he couldn't see any visible damage. Undeterred he tried it again with even more power. This time he started to see a few cracks. It did it again and the cracks grew larger and more prominent. He released one final getsuga tensho, that finally blew a sizeable hole in the dome. Not wasting anytime, he quickly ran inside, not wanting to risk letting the dome repair itself, if it even could.
Once in, he quickly spotted Ichigo and Byakuya in the center of it. they were directly in one another's face. Takeshi was about to move to help but then something unexpected happened.
He suddenly felt a very hollow like presence and it was coming directly from his brother to his shock. Then to Takeshi horror a mask, a hollow mask formed halfway onto his face. even without it fully formed he could tell it was like one he tossed away in sewer. The white of Ichigo's eyes turned a pitch black and his irises became a sickly gold like color. Then a twisted grin that spread from ear to ear appeared on his little brother's face.
It sent an unsettling shiver of nervousness down the fullbringer's spine.
Then Ichigo began speaking to Byakuya, he couldn't tell what was being said but then out of nowhere. Ichigo suddenly overpowered Byakuya, who had been taken a back in shock just as much as Takeshi had been. Ichigo delivered a devasting slash diagonally across the front of the captain's body. Byakuya fell back trying to gain some distance and regain his bearings out of this unexpected turn of events. meanwhile the partially hollowfied Ichigo cackled like a maniac. it was after this Takeshi finally found his voice again.
"just what the literal fuck is even happening anymore around here?" he cried out.
Sadly for him, this caught the attention of the currently hollowish Ichigo. Who snapped his head immediately in Takeshi's direction. He narrowed his eyes and kept up a sinister grin spread across his whole face.
"Oh… Son of a bitch." Was all Takeshi could mutter right before Ichigo appeared before him with blinding speed.
"well, well so you finally arrived I see." Spoke the hollowish Ichigo in a distorted hollow like voice that held a mocking tone to it.
"just who are you and what have you done to my brother?" the silver eyed teen demanded.
"relax, kingy is fine. He just out of the way for the moment is all. the moron was about to get himself killed for real by the noble with the stick up his ass. So I stepped in to help. As for who I am, well I don't have a name."
"you're some sort of hollow inside my brother, aren't you? just how the fuck did that come to happen?"
"beats me, I've been a part of your brother since he was growing inside his dear mommy. I just wasn't fully awake until he regained his soul reaper powers."
"well could you kindly let me brother back out?"
"sorry not happening, I enjoy being in control of the body for once." spat the hollow Ichigo as he then suddenly swung at Takeshi. Takeshi managed bring his blade up in time to block the strike.
"ok, that was a dick move!" spat Takeshi.
"like I care." sneered the hollow Ichigo, as he disappeared in blinding speed once more right behind him. Takeshi quickly spun around to block but wasn't quite fast enough when the tip of his brother bankai stabbed him in the gut.
Takeshi made a quick swing that forced the hollow Ichigo back.
"damn you are tough, I was hoping that would go clean through you." said hollow Ichigo with glee.
"first off, fuck you! secondly, you stabbed me you jackoff! Thirdly, I'm going to kick your ass now!" spat Takeshi as he charged his hollowfied brother.
There blades clanged against each other and sparks flew as they clashed. Takeshi was avoiding using any of his special attacks. He was trying to hold up long enough for Ichigo to hopefully regain control. He didn't want to cause any real harm to his little brother in the process.
"this is great!" announced hollow Ichigo. "the shark woman with the big tits really taught both you and kingy well."
"ok, you can kindly shut up right about now." Retorted Takeshi.
"why should I? It's the truth, granted kingy already has his claim on the snake girl. She may not have the biggest knocker's, but she is rather flexible, if kingy's night of fun with her proved anything."
"you really like hearing yourself talk, don't you? could you please be quiet already?"
"Granted I would really prefer the lion woman; she has huge tits and looks like the type who could be wild in bed. Though I suppose you would know all about that one." Hollow Ichigo finished while he laughed.
Takeshi took a deep breath and exhaled. "ok you know what, I'm fucking done with you, so I'm just gonna end this." Takeshi took off with lightning speed and faster than the hollow Ichigo could react and slammed the flat side of Reaver right into his face. Hollow Ichigo went flying back tumbling across the ground, bits of hollow having been broken off in the process. hollow Ichigo sat up on his knees, a hand gripping the masked side of his face.
"you bastard!" roared the hollow Ichigo as the hand on his face gripped what remained of the hollow mask tightly. "kingy is taking back control because of you!"
"that was kind of the whole idea of me smacking you in the face." Deadpanned the fullbringer.
"fine I'll go away this time, but I'm far from being done. Not by a longshot, I'll be back, and I'll make you pay." He spat.
"highly unlikely but sure, now leave already!" yelled Takeshi.
With a final tug the hollow mask was ripped off. After a few moments, Ichigo looked at his brother having returned to normal.
"Takeshi are you ok?" asked Ichigo.
"I'm fine little brother." Said Takeshi as he walked over and helped Ichigo back to his feet.
"I'm not entirely sure what just happened. I was fighting Byakuya and then I felt some kind presence from within me take control. Next thing I knew I was trapped in my mind trying break free." Said Ichigo.
"apparently little brother you have an inner hollow for some reason. that's what that all was." Chimed the silver haired teen.
Ichigo looked at his older brother in horror his mouth hung open, not sure what to say at such a development. Takeshi calmly raised a hand up before Ichigo started losing it.
"listen Ichigo." Began Takeshi. "I'm not sure why you're like this or what to necessarily do about it. however, it's over with for the moment and we still have a mission to complete. once we get home, we will figure this out and do something about it. for now though we must stay focused on the task at hand."
Ichigo stood in place and looked at his older brother. Knowing he was right, Ichigo took a deep breath, calmed himself and re-focused on the task of rescuing Rukia.
"thanks for keeping my head on straight Takeshi."
"no problem Ichigo, after all making sure you keep yourself together is one of my jobs as the oldest sibling."
Then both turned when they felt Byakuya's presence near them. he had finally got his bearings from the devastating hit that dealt to him by Ichigo's inner hollow. though he still looked like hell and didn't have much fight left in him.
"I'll finish this. It won't be too hard." Stated Takeshi.
However before he could take a step towards the wounded Kuchiki, he was stopped by Ichigo.
"no Takeshi, this is my fight still. I don't have much left either, but I have enough to finish this. Let me do this." Asked the orange haired teen.
Takeshi looked at his brother in deep thought and decided to relent. For Ichigo this was much more than a mere fight and he had point he had to prove to the Kuchiki head. A point he had to make himself.
"alright, this is yours. Just make sure you don't fail." Retorted Takeshi.
"as if I ever would." Replied Ichigo and went off to Byakuya stopping some distance in front of him.
Takeshi watched from his position as the two conversed briefly. He wasn't sure what was being said but he had an idea. They were both going throw whatever they had left at the other in one last final attack.
Then the dome of swords disappeared, and Takeshi noticed Ichigo was charging a giant black and red energy colored getsuga tensho. He looked at Byakuya and saw what he was doing for his final strike.
He saw the white wings and the white energy like halo above him and his word that seemed to burn pure white. Takeshi knew right away what it was, it was Byakuya's Shūkei: Hakuteiken attack. Takeshi couldn't help but cringe a little looking at it. after all the last time he saw it was what nearly killed him. Plus, it left the scar that ran form the right side of waist all the way up to his right shoulder.
Takeshi watched albeit nervously as his brother and Byakuya stared each other down. Then both leapt directly at each other, they met with their attacks and massive explosion of white and black went off.
Takeshi had to bring his arms up to cover his face from all the dirt and debris being kicked up front it. after a few tense moments, everything died down. Revealing Ichigo and Byakuya standing with their backs each other. some words he couldn't hear were spoken between the two and then Byakuya simply left.
Takeshi looked to Ichigo and saw his brother looked completely calm. Takeshi quickly made his way over to him.
"so what exactly happened at the end there?" questioned the fulbringer.
Ichigo turned to his brother with a slight smile. "don't worry he won't be a problem anymore. He's given up his pursuit of Rukia." Ichigo calmly stated.
Takeshi smirked in response. "good and speaking of which. We should get back to her and the others. We need to get the hell out of here while we have our window of opportunity."
Ichigo nodded his head in response and both brothers took off to the group. Soon enough they saw the everyone but Yoruichi and Renji huddled together. As they neared though something unexpected happened. That caused the brothers to stop in their tracks.
There was sudden whirlwind right behind the group. When it died down it revealed a man with brown hair and glasses. With a standard soul reaper uniform and haori with the number five on it. not to mention a familiar smirking captain right next to him.
"who the hell is that!?" exclaimed Ichigo.
Takeshi looked at the sight in front of him nearly in disbelief, he spoke up answering his brother's question.
"that's Sosuke Aizen, captain of the fifth division and he's supposed to be dead."
*Sometime earlier, Central 46 compound*
Once they felt the fighting breakout near the gate, Unohana and Toshiro headed towards the central 46 compound. They had both left their respective vice-captain's back at their divisions to watch over things. Once they neared the entrance, the noticed no guards of any sorts were posted. An odd occurrence considering seireitei was still on lockdown.
Toshiro couldn't help but have an uneasy feeling start to set in.
"I already have the feeling that whatever it is we're going to find inside. Is not going to be pleasant." Stated the small captain with worry.
Unohana looked on with an equal amount of concern. "I agree Hitsugaya, be alert and ready for anything." She replied.
With that spoken, the two captains opened the entrance way and walked into the compound. As they made their way through the complex towards the meeting hall, they were hit by another red flag. A stench, a stench of the dead and it only got stronger as made their way deeper in. Toshiro drew his blade and held it ready, Unohana was prepared to launch kido at a moment's notice.
As they neared the meeting hall the smell became more intense and once they reached their destination. They were greeted by a horrific sight.
Every single member of central 46 was dead in their own chairs. Neither of them needed to look any closer at them to figure just how long they had been dead. The smell was all they needed to figure that one out.
"who could have done this?" asked Toshiro.
"and more importantly, why?" replied Unohana.
"indeed, who could have done this and for what reason?" spoke a voice they both recognized. Which only served to unnerve them even more.
"it…it can't possibly be…he's….he's supposed to be…." Toshiro stuttered out in disbelief.
"supposed to be dead?" the voice finished for the small captain. As the one who spoke walked out from the shadows revealing themselves.
Out from the shadows came a still very much alive Sosuke Aizen, too the utter shock of the other two captains.
"hello, captain Unohana, captain Hitsugaya." Aizen calmly spoke to them. "I must admit I'm surprised, you managed to figure things out enough in order to come here. Though from what I understand the ryoka boy Takeshi Kurosaki, had managed to put things together enough on his own to be very suspicious of things. Then proceeded to tell you in order to nudge you along to where you are. I must give the boy credit for his perceptiveness."
The shock of it all finally dropping both captains stared at the man in front them warily.
"I assume you are the one responsible for the murder of central 46's members?" asked Unohana
"correct, I needed control of central 46 for my ultimate plans you see. Not that I feel bad for killing them in the slightest. They were all a bunch of self-righteous fools, who caused more problems than they fixed."
"just how long….just how long have you been in control here?" demanded Toshiro.
Aizen simply smirked before speaking. "since before Rukia Kuchiki was apprehended in the living world."
A sudden realization hit Toshiro in that moment. "everything with Rukia Kuchiki, the ryoka, everything happening of late has been of your doing hasn't it!? for what purpose Aizen!?" yelled Toshiro.
"in all honesty." began the traitorous captain. "it's because miss Kuchiki is in possession of something I need to further my own ambitions. Something she doesn't even know she's in possession of."
"what by chance are these so called 'ambitions' of yours Aizen?" cut in Unohana.
Aizen smiled cruelly at the fourth division captain. "I am to break the shackles that hold the worlds down. None since the beginning of existence have ever truly stood at the top and I aim to change that. I will bring down the thing you all swear loyalty too. Then I shall I replace it and by doing so take my place on the top above all others. By myself and myself alone." He finished.
Unohana narrowed her eyes in response. "so you plan on over-throwing the soul king then?"
"correct." Aizen simply replied.
"your insane!" roared Toshiro. "do you honestly think you can get away with all this yourself!?"
Aizen looked down at the young captain and chuckled darkly. "come now captain Hitsugaya. Since when did I ever say I was working alone?"
Before Toshiro could say or do anything else in response. A blade shot with lightning speed from the shadows and pierced Toshiro clean through the chest. Once the blade retracted back to the shadows, Toshiro dropped to ground immediately. Then out from the shadows where the blade came from stepped forth Gin Ichimaru as he then moved over to Aizen.
"Hitsugaya!" yelled Unohana, she wanted to help the young captain but couldn't while being confronted by the two traitor captains.
"here I thought Hitsugaya's reflexes were better than that, oh well." said Gin mockingly, his usual grin plastered on his face.
"you're a part of this too Ichimaru!?" said Unohana accusingly. "I'm surprised you're even on your feet at this moment considering what the fullbringer did to you?"
Gin couldn't help but get a little sheepish at that remark. "true he did do quite the number on me. I have nasty scars across my entire back thanks to him." retorted Ichimaru.
"what more are you two planning?" wondered Unohana.
"now, now captain Unohana. That would be spoiling the fun of it. though it's a shame Tosen was killed off by the fullbringer boy. Now he won't be able to see, all the hard work he put into our cause come to fruition." Chimed Ichimaru.
"Gin…" Aizen simply said.
"oops did I accidently let that slip out. My bad, sometimes I just can't help myself you know." Spoke Ichimaru, with his usual tone and smirk.
"regardless, while Kaname being killed is unfortunate, it's does nothing to change our course of action. Speaking of which, as entertaining as this has been. It's time we get moving along." Stated Aizen.
"what makes you think you just going leave here, just like that?" questioned Unohana.
"you could certainly try to stop us captain Unohana." Spoke Aizen. "however you would be condemning captain Hitsugaya to death by doing so. he doesn't seem to have much time left as it is."
Unohana could only stare hatefully as she grit her teeth in frustration.
"good-bye, captain Unohana." Chimed Aizen, then he and Gin both disappeared in a brief whirlwind. Once they left, Unohana started treating Toshiro right away.
*Present time at the courtyard*
Everyone could on stare in shock, seeing the supposedly dead captain Aizen before them, not to mention Gin Ichimaru right beside him.
"Gin, go keep watch. I'll handle things from here." Spoke Aizen.
Gin simply nodded his head and took off some distance away.
"now then, time get what I desire." Spoke Aizen as he looked at the group before him.
Before anyone could do anything, Aizen focused his spiritual pressure on them all except for Rukia. Ichigo and Takeshi were forced onto their knees unable to really move. Everyone else however simply fell down immediately unconscious.
"how…the fuck….is he…so powerful!?" Takeshi murmured between breaths. The force he was feeling was unreal. Not even Halibel's spiritual pressure felt this powerful and that was very frightening thought. He had to admit.
Aizen looked down and saw the fear in Rukia Kuchiki's eyes. He couldn't help but enjoy the sight of it. quickly he grabbed the small woman by the throat and lifted her up.
"now then, it's time to take what is mine." Aizen calmly spoke.
Rukia could only watch in terror at what was happening. She had no idea what was going on. why was captain Aizen doing this? Why did he seem so cold and cruel all of a sudden? None of this made any sense to her. however, she didn't have much time to think on it. Aizen began chanting a kido spell she didn't recognize as pointed his free hand at her chest.
Next thing she knew, she felt horrible pain shoot out across her body. It was like she was being ripped open. The pain was so intense she couldn't even scream or cry out. She was completely helpless.
"you bastard! Let her go!" roared an enraged Ichigo.
Aizen ignored the orange haired boy and continued on his task. Soon enough a hole opened up that went through the center the Rukia's chest. It revealed the item of his desire, Kisuke Urahara's hogyoku. He reached in and plucked it out, ending the kido once he did. The hole in Rukia's chest sealed back up completely like it was never there to begin with. He simply tossed the woman a distance away, no longer having any need for her.
"at last it's mine." Stated Aizen as looked at the hogyoku in his hands. "Rukia Kuchiki is of no further use to me. Kill her Gin."
Gin kept his usual smirk on his face and drew his blade. Activating Shinso, shooting the blade directly at Rukia.
Rukia could only watch helplessly as her demise neared her. she closed her eyes expecting to die. Only it didn't come, in fact she felt as though she was being held by someone. She opened her eyes to see her brother Byakuya holding her. then she noticed Gin's blade stabbed into him. he had shielded her from gin's attack she realized in shock.
"Brother!" Rukia cried out.
"Ru…Rukia…" Byakuya weakly choked as Gin's blade left him. losing his strength he fell to the ground, Rukia along with him. Rukia looked in horror at her brother's current state.
Aizen looked at the sight and scoffed. "don't bother with her anymore Gin. The effort isn't worth it. besides there's another important task I must complete before we leave." Announced Aizen as he turned his attention to Ichigo and Takeshi. who were both stuck in place from Aizen's spiritual pressure bearing down on them.
"I must admit you two have proven very interesting." Spoke Aizen as he approached the Kurosaki brothers. "you to achieve bankai in only three days and defeating Byakuya Kuchiki. He stated looking at Ichigo. "I don't have the time to list everything you have managed to accomplish in the short time you arrived here." Aizen spoke looking at Takeshi.
"if I could flip you off right now…I would." Spat Takeshi.
"amusing" retorted Aizen "though the achievements you both have managed here shouldn't be too surprising. After all, Halibel trained you both quite well. You especially Takeshi Kurosaki. Granted you have had a few years of training by her under your belt."
At that statement both froze up, their blood seemingly going cold instantly. Both had looks of disbelief and shock on their face. As they shared a single thought together in their minds.
'how does he know!?'
"surprised I take it." retorted Aizen calmly. "I leave you two to figure out how I know of your relationships with her and her friends, on your own. For now I have something special for you Takeshi. your powers intrigue me a great deal, I've never encountered a fullbringer before. You were a fun little mystery to figure out but figure it out I did. I'm well aware of the nature and origins of your powers. it made me have an idea you see."
"over my many years I've experimented with hollowfication and hollows in general in many different ways. So when I learned of you, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I'm going to put you through hollowfication and see just what becomes of you." finished Aizen with cold smile adorning his face.
"WHAT!?" roared Takeshi. he wasn't sure what Aizen meant by hollowfication. All he knew was he wasn't going to like it that was for sure. "you keep the fuck away from me!"
"sorry but you don't have a choice in the matter." Aizen coldly replied as the hogyoku began to glow in his hand and he moved it closer to Takeshi.
"get the hell away from him!" yelled Ichigo desperately, as he was still pinned in place by Aizen's spiritual pressure.
Takeshi couldn't only watch helplessly as the glowing orb came closer and closer to him. Then it touched his chest and his world became engulfed in agony.
He threw his head and screamed in a blood curdling manner. His fullbring deactivated on its own and his spiritual energy flared wildly about.
Aizen simply grin in a slightly malicious manner before he walked away. "now time will tell what will happen to you fullbringer." He simply said.
Takeshi thrashed about across the ground where he was. His body felt on fire, like he was being stabbed repeatedly everywhere. Like the very core of his body, mind and soul was being violated in the worse way imaginable. He clawed at his own body without control as he continued thrash about in his agony. As the change Aizen had done to him began to take hold.
He could hear within his mind Reaver screaming out in equal pain and agony as the change affected her as well. Then his mind felt as though it was being ripped apart. As suddenly what seemed like thousands of different voices screamed out inside his head all at once. the screaming continued more and more and more, as the pain increased.
Then the voices began dwindling away and seemingly morph all together little by little at the same time he could hear Reaver continue to scream but as she did. The voices that had begun to morph together earlier then seemingly morphed with hers. As her voice started to change into something more distorted and inhuman, until that was all it sounded like.
Takeshi locked up and suddenly flung himself up onto his knees, his face pointed up as his torture continued. Then suddenly, despite all the pain he was feeling he could still feel something begin to morph on his face, steadily but surely covering it all. his own screaming voice becoming distorted, inhuman in the process. just like Reaver's as the object finished forming on his face.
Ichigo could only watch helplessly in horror as his brother was forcibly being changed. what terrified him the most was he saw forming on his brother's face. he could see it spread across his face, his brothers voice changing as it did. Once it had completely formed, there was no denying what it was adorning Takeshi's face.
It was a hollow mask.
Even when compared to Ichigo's own, it was terrifying to look at. It had the general shape of some monstrous humanoid like demon. The jaws had long pointed teeth that were also serrated and interlocked together, that went completely across his jaws. On either side on the chin of the mask were grooves, that gave the impression the jaws could open up in a mandible like manner. There was a large jagged looking silver x. that started on the left and right on the top of the mask. That then went across and down his face, below the eyes and down the cheeks. Despite not being in his fullbringer state, his eyes had returned to their silver color. However now the pupils of his eyes were slanted vertically like some sort of monstrous predator. However the craziest thing about the mask was that, instead of being white like every other hollow mask he had seen. The one on Takeshi's face was black in its coloration.
Ichigo continued to watch in fear for his brother as Takeshi continued to scream in agony. His voice now sounding like the horrifying distorted screaming wails of a hollow then a human.
Then his screaming began to dwindle down until they ceased. Then the mask on his face began to crack all around before falling to pieces to the ground and fading away. Once the mask disappeared completely, Takeshi eyes having returned to normal, rolled into the back of his skull as he fell over unconscious.
Ichigo looked at Takeshi's intently hoping that the worst had not befallen his older brother. He saw the steady rise and fall of Takeshi's chest indicating he was alive still.
Aizen had watched the whole display from a distance with fascination.
"incredible, not only did he survive the hollowfication, but he also produced a mask unlike anything I've seen before. The only plausible explanation is that his fullbringer powers. due to their nature and origin, must have influenced his hollow-fication in some manner." Aizen murmured to himself.
"captain Aizen." Spoke Gin as he approached. "the others seem to have caught on to our little show here and are on their way."
"I see, well then it's due time for us too soon make our exit I'd say." Chimed Aizen.
Aizen was about to turn on his heel when he suddenly felt the rising spiritual energy of the orange haired teen.
"you're not going anywhere you bastard!" roared Ichigo, his spiritual energy shooting up with his anger and fury. As he stared down the man of his hatred in front of him. soon enough he was able to stand on his feet and move just fine. Despite the amount of spiritual pressure Aizen was out putting.
Aizen simply watched in amusement at the futile display.
"I'm gonna kill you for this!" Ichigo yelled.
He charged Aizen with all the speed he could muster and swung his blade at the captain with all his force. Then something happened that stunned Ichigo beyond belief. Aizen had stopped his strike mid swing with just a single finger, like it was nothing.
"a good display ryoka boy." Said Aizen. "but not nearly good enough, unfortunately for you."
Before Ichigo could do anything else, his mid-section exploded intense pain and blood. Aizen having almost cut Ichigo clean in half. Ichigo dropped to the ground, bleeding out and unable to move. Consciousness slowly slipping away from him.
He barely felt the presence of multiple other people as they arrived at the scene. He heard voices he didn't recognize or was simply unable to recognize in his current state. He saw a bright golden light out of the corner of his eye as some people began to shout. He could barely make out the visage of some woman in a captain's coat with a long and thick braid of black hair going down her front. That ran over to him.
Then everything faded away to black.