Chapter 9: Beginning of an army

Setsuzo evaded the incoming swing attack and countered by burying his right hand deep in his enemys stomach. With his left hand, he grabbed his opponents head, lifted him up and smashed him down on the ground.

It had been a week since he "accepted" Bainne's offer to join him. Since then, all he had been doing was killing and devouring other hollows.

Bainne knew this place in and out and guided Setsuzo towards opponents to defeat, in hopes that he would find more participants for his army. His method was to pitch Setsuzo against any other hollow that came across or dared to challenge them. If he could hold his own, he would be offered to join.

That had never come to pass though, since Setsuzo pretty much annihilated everyone he fought. After that, he devoured them, through which his strength was ever growing.

Bainne had told him how things would happen from now on.

First, he had to keep devouring other hollows so he could gather enough strength for his next step. That was when he was gathered with hundreds of other hollows who were like him, who had the drive to evolve. Next, he had to merge with those hollows and assert his individuality by eradicating the consciousness of every other hollow he merged with.

If he failed to do that, he would lose himself and technically die by becoming just another mindless Gillian. However, by some mysterious reason Bainne was convinced that this would not happen to Setsuzo.

After he had become a Gillian, he would just have to continue to devour other Gillians until he evolved once again into an Adjuchas, the state Bainne was currently in.

He didn't know what came after that, Bainne hadn't told him, since he should focus on becoming a Gillian first, then worry about anything else later.

With all that in mind he dug into his newest victiom and started to consume him, bite after bite. He made it easier for himself to set free his devouring instinct and let it take over for a bit.

After he was done, he got back on his feet and looked around to find Bainne. He was sitting somewhere behind Setsuzo and watched him do his work. He always held a certain distance to the fight. Far away enough to give Setsuzo enough room to work on one hand, not too far away, so he could still intervene if he wanted to on the other.

Not that he would, at least not to save him. Setsuzo never confirmed that suspicion, but he had a strong hunch that he didn't need to.

From the get-go, he knew that Bainne was using him for his own purpose and would cast him aside as soon as he wasn't useful anymore. That being said, having gotten that offer from Bainne was somewhat of a blessing in disguise. He could have just as well killed Setsuzo for fun.

Then again, Setsuzo would have rather not know Bainne at all, yet here he was.

He turned around to his boss and asked: "Where to next?"

To that, the Adjuchas chuckled, a sound Setsuzo still hadn't gotten used to, and answered: "Choose for yourself. You can feel them in front of you, can you not?"

Without further conversation Setsuzo turned around and closed his eyes.

He never talked more to Bainne than he had to. They might have been acquaintances now, but he still freaked him out. Bainne was surpressing his Reiatsu the whole time, so other hollows wouldn't be scared off by his killing intent, but Setsuzo still felt it, lingering under that calm surface.

He closed his eyes and directed his senses on the general area in front of him. It wasn't long until he found something, but immediately dismissed it, since it was basically canonfodder to him.

He wanted a challenge for a change. On the surface above, fights might have been scarce, but they were the real deal and not this excuse of a brawl he just had.

He found another target, but it didn't differ much from the last, so he ignored it as well. He took a deep breath and reached out more. He found a few weaklings more until something caught his interest.

There was a small difference to a low spiritual pressure and a surpressed one. Both felt small and insignificant at first glance, but if one lingered a bit on it they would notice a distinction. A weakling's signature felt rough and wild, while a surpressed signature felt more… smooth and polished.

It was comparable to this: when just glancing over it, one would simply pick up the size of the Reiatsu, but not its form. Only when examined further, one could determine that both were the same size, but one felt like a straw, while the other felt like a needle.

And just now, Setsuzo had found a needle in the haystack. He started to move towards it, slow and cautious. It was about a hundred meters away from his position.

When he had covered about half of that distance, the signature started moving.

Shit, he's onto me.

Setsuzo quickly picked up the pace and started closing in on his target. That was, until the signature suddenly flared up and started gaining some distance.

Fuck, he thought to himself. That way, he would never catch up. Just as he was about to release his spiritual pressure himself, Bainne suddenly passed him with overwhelming speed, in the same direction.

It didn't take long until Bainne had caught up with Setsuzo's target and both came to a halt. Setsuzo maximized his output and picked up even more speed until he reached the two.

The pursued individual was standing between him and Bainne, as the latter had cut off his escape route.

"Would you look at that, you finally found a good one", Bainne cackled. "And what might your name be?", he asked.

"Necron", the individual answered. "Necron Raiba."

"You see that Setsuzo? He didn't have to almost shit himself to talk", Bainne bickered to Setsuzo in a mocking voice. The latter bit his tongue, since he knew that no matter what his retort was, it would not do him any good.

The Adjuchas spoke again, this time a bit more bossy. "As fun as it is, let's put the banter aside, time to get to work."

It may not have been a direct command, but Setsuzo knew when he was spoken to, so he started to make his move and flared his Reiatsu a bit to get his opponents attention.

It worked perfectly, for his enemy turned around and directed his focus towards Setsuzo. The latter didn't waste any time and went in for a full on charge towards his opposite.

(Bleach OST 2 Track 18: Back to the Wall)

He formed a fist with his right hand and aimed for the stomach. Raiba however was quick to react and countered the punch with one of his own. Another punch aiming for Setsuzos face followed suit which he only narrowly managed to dodge.

With his left arm he grabbed Raiba's and tried to pull him closer so he could throw him over his shoulder. He succeeded and Raiba landed roughly behind Setsuzo on his back. He didn't take long to get back up though and by the time Setsuzo had turned around he was already back on his feet.

Now he made an attack and leaped towards Setsuzo, trying to land a drop-kick. Setsuzo reacted without hesitation, flared up his Spiritual pressure and, with the additional boost in power, grabbed Raiba mid-air, holding his legs firm and tight. Then, he used the latter's momentum to swing him around a few times and throw him towards the closest tree in their vicinity.

Statisfied, Setsuzo watched Raiba crash into it with full force. His small victory didn't last long however, as he felt his enemys spiritual pressure flare up as well and out of the smoke of the crashed tree, he emerged with alarming speed. Setsuzo got ready and expected another assault on his head, but Raiba went to the ground moments before he reached Setsuzo. He slithered a bit, until he suddenly put his hands on the floor and attacked with a kick from below.

Setsuzo was too slow this time and could neither evade nor block, so he took the full force of the attack to his stomach and was thrown back several meters on his back.

Coughing and gasping for air he got back up on his knees, readying himself for any more incoming attacks.

What followed next was another assault on his face that he evaded by rolling to his left. Raiba rushed past him, stopped dead in his tracks and turned around, continuing his attacks, but Setsuzo had recovered from his previous shock and also charged towards his opponent, ducked under a swing and grabbed Raibas upper body, slamming him into another tree.

The latter struggled to get free and landed several blows on Setsuzos back, but he didn't let go, instead he turned around and threw him into the air, raised his Spiritual pressure with a battle cry and buried his fist deep in his opponents stomach.

Raiba grunted in pain, but after a few moments he grit his teeth and his Spiritual pressure spiked as well. He grabbed Setsuzos wrist and aimed for his elbow, most likely to bend his arm the other way and render it useless.

Setsuzo countered with the new skill he had developed over the course of the last week and ejected a blade from his forearm that reached a little further back than his elbow. He still sustained some damage, but most of the attacks force was dampened due to Raibas sudden attempt to stop his fist, but he had punched with too much force and still cut up his fingers.

And yet, he still managed to lift himself off Setsuzo's fist and throw himself a safe distance away.

"Didn't know we were fighting dirty", he panted. It was the first time he talked to Setsuzo directly. His voice didn't seem that hostile though. In fact, it appeared as if he was rather enjoying his current situation, despite the fact that he was at a huge disadvantage, both in fighting power and numbers, since he had suffered more damage than he had dished out.

"I don't recall ever having said something about fighting fair and square either", he replied with a smile. Damn it, he was enjoying this too.

(Bleach OST 4 Track 14: Pleasures of Combat)

Both fighters locked eyecontact and met the others gaze with joyous ferocity and then simultaneously maxed their Reiatsu output. It appeared as though for both of them it had been some time since they had the opportunity of enjoying a real fight.

This time Raiba was the first one to make his move and charged towards Setsuzo, while the latter took his fighting position and awaited the incoming attack.

Shortly before Raiba reached him he performed a cartwheel with the intention to hit Setsuzo with some serious momentum behind his kick. Setsuzo had expected something like that and his arms where already up in blocking position. Adding to that was his cruel bonus of having a blade attached to his right arm.

When the two limbs made contact however, no blood was spilled, but a high-pitched ringing sound was generated. Setsuzo was confused until he took a glance at his opponent's leg. It was not its usual color anymore, but it was encased in a white substance.

He can use some kind of hardening. This fight is getting better by the second.

Setsuzo was by no means an adrenaline-loving fight-addict, but he enjoyed being pushed to his limit with a chance but not a certainty to grasp victory. For instance; he'd never get any joy out of fighting someone like Bainne, because the outcome was predictable.

Against someone like Raiba however, who was about the same strength as he was, he couldn't help but smile.

"You're not really the honest type yourself", Setsuzo commented as they both struggeled to push the other away.

"Never said I was", Raiba quipped back.

They kept pushing until Setsuzo came up with an idea and instead of keeping up the resistance, moved to the side and gave way to his opponent's leg all in one fluent motion. Then he used Raibas momentum, grabbed his head and slammed him into the ground with full force, however the latter reacted quickly and prevented the fall by putting his hands on the ground.

He pushed himself of the ground and managed to land another clean hit on Setsuzos stomach, but didn't stop there. He continued with a small onslaught of punches until he knocked Setsuzo away. Gritting his teeth, he tried to ignore the pain that was splattered across his whole upper body and landed on his feet.

With a furious scream he ran at Raiba with full speed, who was caught off guard, since he didn't expect Setsuzo to make such a quick recovery.

He practically ran him over and tumbled him to the ground, where they both fought for the top and Raiba ended up winning. Just as he was about to wind up to a fatal blow, Setsuzo ejected another blade from the top of his wrist that was about as long as his forearm and tried to slice up Raibas upper body, while the latter aimed to shatter Setsuzos head with his attack.

Just as both were about to give eachother a serious injury, they froze in place as the third hollow in the area displayed a sudden and violent murderous rage by releasing his surpressed spiritual pressure.

Raiba was more affected than Setsuzo, since the former never had the displeasure of being in Bainnes presence.

Setsuzo managed to shake him off and built up some distance without harming him any further. If Bainne was interfering, he knew exactly what that meant.

"Well, that was quite entertaining I gotta give you that", the Adjuchas commented. "I have to say I'm really impressed. I've watched Setsuzo take apart hollow after hollow since we started our partnership", Setsuzo scoffed at that last word but it was barely noticeable, "but you are the first one to actually hold your own and even injure him. For that I'm gonna make you an offer. You see, I'm building an army, you don't really need to know why yet, that comes later maybe. All you gotta know is that I'd like you to be a part of it."

"And if I refuse?", Raiba immediately shot back a little provocative.

"Setsuzo, if you would please", Bainne said with a mocking tone.

"If you refuse", Setsuzo said with a warning in his voice, "then he will continue where I left off. Basically, he's gonna play you a bit and then he will kill you, that's the point. Either you join him or you die, you don't really have a choice here."

"I wouldn't have said it like that", Bainne responded with a slightly angry glance at Setsuzo (Then why did you ask me in the first place?), "but that's the gist of it. Now what's your answer?", he asked while looking at Raiba.

He was still a little tense after having felt such a murderous aura and one could clearly see the moroseness on his face, but he agreed.

"Fine, if I don't have any other choice anyway, I'm in."

"Really? Just like that?", Bainne asked a little surprised.

"Would it change anything if I would try to bargain?", Raiba asked with a sarcastic tone.

"No, it certainly would not", Bainne concluded.

"Alright that's that I guess. So how does this work? Where's the rest of your grand army, or is it just the three of us? And where is our base of operations, our fortress?", Raiba immeadiately asked.

He doesn't waste time by talking around the point, that's for sure, Setsuzo thought to himself. An army was really good and all, but Raiba brought up some very important questions. Bainne could continue to walk around and gather stronger hollows who had a sense of individuality, but it would take a long time to gather enough so that he can go through with his plan to make them all Adjuchas.

Then there was the other very good question of a base of operations. At a certain point, if they would actually make it this far, Bainnes army would become too large to constantly move around. They'd basically be a nomad-army and while the idea was interesting it was faulty to the point where it just wouldn't work.

He kept all of that to himself however, since he wanted to wait out Bainne's reaction to these questions. And he was surprised.

"Yes it's just the three of us", Bainne stated bluntly, "and as for a base of operations, I already have a few locations in mind, but we have to check them out first and see what we can build. We're actually on our way to visit one."

Setsuzo didn't expect that kind of response. They spent the last seven week on moving into one direction and Bainne had never told him why, which made him seem like he didn't actually have a plan. Setsuzo had also gotten the feeling that Bainne's plan of an army was kind of rushed and unorganized, but as it just turned out, he had been wrong.

From the looks of it, Raiba didn't expect that kind of response either. Before, he had spoken in a scornfully and didn't take it seriously, but now he seemed genuinely interested.

"What's the endgoal of all this? Why do you recruit lower hollows like us and don't go looking for some Gillians that possess some kind of individuality?"

Again, some pretty important questions.

"The endgoal is something I'll tell you when you're an Adjuchas like me. As for the Gillians… well let's say when I said it's just the three of us I meant we're the only ones who can properly use their brain."

Somewhere in the distance, both lower hollows noticed a sudden spike in Spiritual pressure.

"You see, as an Adjuchas, you have the ability to control the Gillians. Over the past week I reached out a bit and all in all, I'm controlling about 50 Gillians now. But they're only good for two things. First, for me to control them and support me and possibly you in battle. Second, once you two become Gillians you can feast on them and advance faster as if you were on your own. Also they are horrible company."

"You keep talking about us turning into Adjuchas. What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly what he's saying", Setsuzo intervened. "He wants an army and a strong one at that. The reason why he's looking for hollows like us with their own sense of self is because he wants an army of Adjuchas, so he's going to, let's say, help us a Little advance in that direction."

Bainne simply pointed at Setsuzo and clapped his hands, meaning to say that this was exactly what he was thinking.

Raiba looked around between the two and finally said: "Alright, now you really have my interest. So where do we go from here?"

"Further north-", he aprubtly stopped and raised his head to look at the ceiling. "Hold that thought, I'll be right back." With these words he jumped towards the ceiling and broke through it in one go.

Raiba turned around and looked at Setsuzo confused, but before he could ask, Setsuzo already answered: "Dude, I am just as clueless as you are. He's done that twice over the past week and never told me why."

While he was talking, the 50 something Gillian slowly made their approach. They moved close to one another and spread out to build a circle as soon as they had reached the two lower hollows. Then, they all raised their heads towards the ceiling, every Gillian in a slightly different angle and opened their mouths.

"So what is his endgoal really?", Raiba asked Setsuzo.

"I have no goddamn idea", the latter replied. "He told me just as much as he told you. All I know is that he wants an army like that dude from about 6 years ago, what was his name again?"

"Sousuke Aizen?"

"Yeah, that guy. So like I said he-"

"Wait, are you telling me that you've never heard of him?"

"I did hear of him", Setsuzo answered, "but not a lot. Two or three times tops."

"Have you been living under a rock?", Raiba exclaimed.

"I woke up as a hollow three and a half months ago and I had lost all of my memories. Plus, I woke up on the upper level", he pointed towards the ceiling, "so if anything I've been living above a rock", Setsuzo stated bluntly.

"Okay first of, you gotta work on your wordplays, 'cause that was bad."

"Realized it the moment I said it", Setsuzo admitted.

"And second off, WHAT?", Raiba exclaimed again. "You've been a hollow for three months and you're this strong already? You sure you didn't just lose your memory by courtesy of a punch to the face?"

"Pretty sure. Three months ago I was about as strong as this guy over there", Setsuzo answered and pointed in the direction of a random hollow, which he was sure Raiba could feel as well.

"Damn. I've been a hollow for three years, but I'm only getting stronger in baby steps."

"Makes sense. The hollows down here are so weak, they're practically canon fodder. Up there, not so much. Anyway", he continued, "Bainne wants an army like that Aizen guy had. So I'm guessing that, at some point, he wants us to become Arrancars. As to why he wants an army like that beats me. To be honest I can't really read this guy. I 'joined' his army about the same way you did."

"Arrancars, huh? Does he know how to do that?"

"No idea", Setsuzo answered.

"So if we run we're fucked", Raiba concluded, "if he has any plans for us that would cause us to die, we're also fucked. And if we don't cooperate-"

"We are also fucked", Setsuzo ended his sentence. "No matter how you look at it, he's got us by the balls. We have no other choice but to roll along for the ride."

"Well shit", Raiba said baffled after some time. "Either i've made a really good or an incredibly dumb decision here."

"That's exactly what I thought a week ago. We can only decide in the long run"

"If there is a long run", Raiba added. "In any case, since he's not here right now, wanna pick it up where we left?", he said daringly with a provocative glance.

"Would be a nice change of pace, but I don't think he would be so fond of that."

"What, you think he gives a shit? About us?"

"No, but I think he gives a shit about his armys size and he wouldn't like it if I kill the newcomer that we just took in", Setsuzo responded in a similarly pugnacious way.

"Is that a challenge?", Raiba gnarled with a belligerent smile.

Before Setsuzo could reply something, two enormous Spiritual pressures practically exploded above them and all the Gillians around them started to charge their Ceros. The signatures above them were flaring crazy and both were oozing with murderous rage. Suddenly, one after another, the Gillian started to fire their Cero into the ceiling.

Setsuzo and Raiba looked at eachother and both had the same thought crossing their mind.

If we stay, we'll be crushed andthus, also fucked.

And with that, both turned around and ran like hell.

ooo

"Did you think you can hide!?", Bainne yelled at his opponent after having blocked his incoming attack.

Over the past two weeks he had always had this feeling that he was observed by someone. He had been right. While Setsuzo and Raiba had been fighting, Bainnes focus had been on them and on his Gillian. So when he flared up his spiritual pressure to get those two to stop, he almost didn't notice the Reiatsu that was spiking above him. Almost.

While talking to Raiba, he had homed in on his enemys signature and wanted to surprise him by jumping straight through the floor of the second layer, but to no effect. So, after getting to the next floor, he left himself wide open for an attack and his opponent took the bait.

"Thought I'd catch you off guard. Worked out great last time if I remember correctly", his foe replied mocklingly.

"Yeah, you got lucky. Ain't gonna work this time, I can promise you that you little fucker", Bainne hissed.

Of all the hollows Bainne had fought, Nark was one of the nastiest ones. It wasn't that he was particularily strong, but he was clever. He was also in possession of an ability to lay out Reiatsu-type traps that were somehow not noticeable until one activated them.

Surely, Nark had already put up some really agitating ones. This time though, Bainne wouldn't even need to move so much as a muscle.

"Oh my god, you're so hilarious when you're pissed", Nark bickered. He got out of his hiding place and revealed himself. He was about the same height as Bainne, but way slimmer. His legs were animalistic, just like Bainnes and his arms were proportionally way too long. Even when Nark stood upright, his Arms still reached the ground.

His body was of a bleak grey shade and his spine grew spikes out of his back, while his mask was abnormally long.

"Let's do this like last time, wadda ya say?", he continued.

"Sorry, not sorry to disappoint you. This won't be like last time."

"Oh you don't say. And why is that, if ya don' mind me askin'?"

(Bleach OST 1 Track 8: Raw Breath of Danger)

"Because this time", Bainne said and released his spiritual pressure, to which Nark responded with the same, "I brought back-up."

With these words, he commanded all the Gillians beneath him to fire a Cero to where Nark was at the moment. The latter seemed to realize what was about to happen, but it was already too late. Several Ceros pierced through the ground and hit him in various places.

Bainne thought he had accounted for the grounds instability, but appearantly 50 Ceros at once concentrated in one spot were still a bit much. They both came crashing down and while Bainne managed to break his fall and land somewhat safe, Nark fell down like a rock.

Bainne rushed towards his position after he had landed and buried his fist deep in his opponent's chest. Nark gasped and coughed up some blood before he looked at Bainne and said with a voice drenched in hatred: "You motherfucker. How did you hide so many of them suckers?"

"I didn't even hide them, that's the Point, You just suck at sensing, that's it. So much so, that it goes beyond pathetic, it's hillarious. You probably didn't even find me because you sensing me, but some leftover Reiatsu of your own from when that trap of yours hit me.

"You will go to hell for this."

"That wouldn't be the only thing. But when I see you again down there I can tell you all about it. So be a chap and save me a seat." Without further ado, he started to eat Nark slowly, ripping out small bite after small bite, savoring his swift victory.

He didn't think that it would be that easy, but luckily he was wrong. He was afraid Nark would sense the Gillians, but as it turned out, Nark really sucked at that. That and the fact that Nark was probably too fixated on him.

The first time the both of them had fought, it had been a long and dreary matter. They had fought for hours, until Nark had gotten the better of him through a dirty ambush.

That fight had been the whole reason why Bainne started to think differently and as it just turned out, he was thinking in the right direction. His victory now had been almost too easy.

He made sure to eat every single remain of Nark and left nothing. He needed it all, or else he would eventually devolve into a Gillian again and lose all of his individuality, thus losing the one chance he had at reaching the top and fulfilling his goal.

After he finished, he turned around and started looking for his followers. Appearantly, they were smart enough to get the hint and moved out of the way of the falling debris in time. Good. If they had been so stupid to just stand under the falling rubble, they didn't deserve to be under his command.

After he had found them, he started moving towards their location. There was a lot of work to do.

Author's notes:

Yes, finally another one done. Like I promised, they are getting longer. After proofreading it though, I'm somewhat uncertain about the fight. I'm getting the feeling that I suck at describing fight scenes but I'm sure that changes with practice (Shit, I hope).

If you`ve got your own opinion, PM me, or, better yet, review the Story. I`ll always welcome constructive criticism.