Uryuu Ishida scowled at his new attire. The uniform had a little thistle symbol stitched into it, signaling that he was from the 12 squad.
"Of all the squads I could get, it's this one." Uryuu mentally groaned. "Could this day get any worse?"
Orihime, currently wearing the same outfit, had thought that if there wore shinigami robes around, they wouldn't get attacked every time they were seen.
And to her credit, they managed to avoid any more fights by the time nightfall hit.
Hopefully, they'd get to the tower without getting caught.
"Heey..." A voice came from behind.
Uryuu and Orihime both looked behind them to see a heavily built, and very clearly drunk shinigami stumbling towards them.
"Hold it there." The shinigami said. "What're you doing here?"
"Er..." Orihime mumbled. "We're heading to The shrine of Pertinence."
"Why? And what squad are ya from?"
"He's getting suspicious. Not good." Uryuu thought before replying. "We're from the 12th squad, and we're checking the seals on the prisoner."
"What seals?" The man snapped. "I thought that Kuchiki girl lost her powers?"
"W-Well that's b-because," Orihime stuttered. "We're ensuring she doesn't regain them."
"Oh." The shinigami stopped his interrogation. "Well then, you guys better go on your way."
Orihime sighed in relief before beaming. "We sure wi-"
"Hey!"
"Oh come on!" Orihime thought as more shinigami hurried down the street.
"We've been looking all over for you two." One of the shinigami said.
"Looking for us?" The two thought.
Uryuu in particular saw a big red flag waving in his face. "Do they know?"
"We saw you got lost, but it's best not to be going alone with all the ryoka running around." Another said.
"We should get back to the quarters were it's safe." Yet another added.
"Oh no, We're on a night-time mission from the captain." Orihime said, her face slightly panicky.
"I'm sure it can til morni-"
BOOM!
It was only Orihime's reflexes that stopped the both of them from getting blown to cinders, a shield forming to them from the kamikaze soldiers.
"How disappointing." A cold, slightly nasal voice that put Uryuu on edge was heard. "I had thought that would damage them enough for capture."
"H-He bl-blew them up..." Orihime said. "Wh-What kind of- They b-barely had a ch-chance t-to catch us..."
A man walked out the smoke with white face paint, as well as a second coating of black face paint around his eyes, nose, and above his upper lip. He wore a Captain's haori, gold ornaments over his chin and ears, and a strange hat which extended to two points over the Shinigami's right shoulder.
"That mask… I still remember." Uryuu's mind froze in horror. "It's the same person…"
"Hello." The captain said with a dark smirk, strolling over to the terrified teens. "I am the Captain of the Twelfth Division, and the Second President of the Shinigami Research Institute of Technology. Mayuri Kurotsuchi." His smirk turned sadistic. "And I'd love to dissect you."
"Gak!" Ichigo stumbled, reeling from a stab wound that wasn't there.
"Ichigo!" Ganju yelped. "What happened?!"
Ichigo held a hand to his chest. "I-I felt like something stabbed me-"
"King!" Zangetsu snapped. "Behind you!"
Ichigo whipped around, only to jump at the sight of a large man with spiky hair and bells attached to said spikes. The was wearing an eye-patch and, most alarmingly, the Captain's haori.
"Hey there. Been looking all over for you." the large captain said.
"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo yelled.
"Zenpachi Zaraki. Captain of Squad 11." Zenpachi said simply. "I'm here to fight you."
"Crap." Ganju thought.
Ichigo thought about Yoruichi's warning to avoid captains at all cost. "Yeah, I doubt I can run from this."
"What's the matter?" Zenpachi said. "I said that I'm challenging you to a battle. Since you haven't said anything, can I start?"
Ichigo gripped Zangetsu, his eyes swiveling towards Ganju, who was struggling to stand, and Hanataro, who was drooling on the ground half-conscious.
"You guys alright?!" Ichigo roared in concern.
"I've...been better." Ganju gasped. "But you've got worse problems, turn around and fight him!"
"Fine, but you two get going." Ichigo stated, turning back around to Kenpachi, preparing to face him. "Leave this guy to me."
Part of Ganju wanted to violently protest to this statement, but his logical side new he had no chance against this guy.
Not to mention that Hanataro was getting the life choked out of him in the captain's very presence.
Scowling, Ganju picked up Hanataro and ran off, giving one last piece of advice. "Don't get your dumb ass killed!"
"Not happeni- "Ichigo started before jumping as something landed on his shoulder.
"Wow! You scared that guy bad, Kenny!" Ichigo's head whipped around to see a small pink haired girl standing on his shoulder. "He fainted right on the spot!"
"The fuck?" Ichigo swung his arm to get the girl off, and the girl flew all the way back to the giant. "Who are you?"
"I'm Yachiru Kusajishi, Lieutenant of squad 11." The small girl said. "You seem mad."
"Are you surprised?" Zenpachi said in irritation. "That was just stupid."
"Well stupid is as stupid does." Yachiru casually shot back, jumping on a wall.
Ichigo blinked. "What are you doing?"
"Getting a front row seat for Kenny's fight, obviously." Yachiru said.
"Wait, you aren't helping him?" Ichigo said in confusion.
"Nope, Kenny likes fighting solo." Yachiru stated.
"We here in the 11th squad do one-on-one fights only." Kenpachi smirked. "Now enough talk! Bring it on!"
With no choice, Ichigo drew Zangetsu and charged the strangest and strongest opponent he faced yet.
Uryuu summoned his spirit bow at once, shooting an arrow at the mad scientist's head.
The man, without missing a beat, craned his neck at a horrific angle to avoid the arrow, still walking towards them and observing Orihime's shield.
"A defensive shield, not unlike a Bakudo 81. Interesting." The man grinned. "I'll make you an offer, Girl. Why don't you come work for me as a research subject?"
This shook Orihime out of her shock, and looked over at the melted corpses strewn about, before giving Mayuri the fiercest glare one could give with tears in their eyes. "No."
"Is that so?" Mayuri said, drawing his zanpakuto. "Well, I'm afraid your compliance isn't a factor."
"Orihime, get-" Uryuu started to say, only to be cut off by Mayuri suddenly advancing.
Uryuu grabbed Orihime and used the Hirenkyaku to retreat backwards and upwards with her, quickly notching more arrows and launching a barrage at the face-painted captain.
Orihime put her hands to her earrings, letting Tsubaki fly in case Mayuri survived that.
Her fear were not unfounded as a figure rushed from the side, grabbing Uryuu's arrow.
"What the-" Uryuu balked at the female shinigami that came from nowhere and jumped them.
He unfortunately wasn't given anytime to think as Mayuri rushed out of the smoke and slashed at them with his released sword.
"Santen Kesshun!"
A shield popped up out of thin air and blocked the blade, to Mayuri's shock and excitement.
"You can materialize this shield so quickly!" Mayuri grinned.
Orihime proceeded to swing a karate kick into Nemu's stomach to make the woman let go of Uryuu.
However, this had significantly less effect, as the shinigami took the blow without so much as a flinch.
Mayuri, taking advantage of Orihime's unstable balance from the kick, shunpo'd behind to slash at her.
Fortunately, Uryuu was able to use Ransotengai to yank Orihime out of the way like a puppet.
"Ransotengai." Mayuri's eyes suddenly glittered with fascination. "No Quincy I happened upon could use that technique. You may have potential yet, boy."
"Thanks." Uryuu shot back, his tone full of spite as he looked at the changed blade. It had transformed into a crooked trident with a baby head at the base.
Uryuu tried to dodge the next attack, but the girl grabbing him stopped him from moving.
Uryuu gasped in pain as the blade cut into his arm and chest, and Nemu dropped to the ground.
"This is my zanpakuto, Ashisogi Jizo." Mayuri gloated. "Ashisogi Jizo severs the nerves that carry signals to and from the brain, paralyzing what ever it cuts. However…" He stabbed Ishida's left leg and the Quincy yelled in pain. "The pain receptors are unaffected."
"Ishida-kun!" Orihime cried in panic. "Koten Zanshun! Santen Kesshun! Souten Kisshun!"
A black orb rushed at the two 12th squad members, causing them jump back.
Orihime quickly ran over to Ishida with her fairies at her side, making a shield to block any attack Mayuri might make, and another shield to heal Ishida.
"Stay back!" Orihime snapped, sending Tsubaki zooming around the two.
"Tch!" Mayuri batted the fairy away with his sword, only for it to come flying back.
"Mayu-" Nemu started, only to get decked in the face, dropping to the ground.
"Wha-" Orihime blinked, shocked and confused by the action.
"Nemu, you dolt." Mayuri snapped, pulling her up by her hair. "How could you ignore the girl like that?"
"My apologies, Mayuri-sa-"
The apology cut off abruptly with a crunch, as Nemu was slammed into a wall.
"Stop that!" Orihime cried, visibly appalled. "What are you doing?"
"Disciplining my subordinate." Mayuri said with a raised eyebrow, as if he had been asked if water was wet. "What does it look like?"
"You can't do that!" Orihime snapped.
As if to directly taunt Orihime, Mayuri slammed Nemu's head into the wall with even greater force than before. "Hmph. What a father does to his child is no business to you, girl."
Orihime felt a huge lump in her throat, this man was treating his own daughter like dirt.
She had no personal experience with parents she could remember, but she knew from the times she saw Tatsuki's mom that this was far from what should be.
Something darker than rage started to bubble in her throat as she glared at the bastard, something she had never felt in her life, something she couldn't quite put her finger on.
All she knew was this guy was going down. Hard.
"Koten Zanshun!"
Tsubaki rushed toward Mayuri, faster than ever, and started to actually cut him.
Orihime looked back to check on Ishida, who's wound was healing very quickly.
A drained gasp left Orihime as she registered her reaitsu reserves dropping fast. "No! Not now!" She thought.
"Don't panic, Orihime!" Hinagiku stated.
"Yeah!" Baigon added. "Just do the best with what you can!"
"Right!" Orihime said, focusing back on Mayuri and Nemu.
Just in time as well, as Mayuri chose the moment to shunpo closer and strike.
Orihime moved her shield to block the attack, but Mayuri had sharpened his reaitsu and was able to cut through the shield, albeit just part of it.
Orihime squawked as the nicked her arm, causing it to go limp.
"I believe that this fight is ending." Mayuri stated, pushing in the blade deeper, causing Orihime to scream.
An narrowly dodged arrow shoots off into the sky.
Mayuri leaps back scowling, a small gash on his cheek.
Orihime hit the floor, grabbing her numb arm in agony.
"To think you could get up so fast." Mayuri said in visible irritation. "You're both rather resilient."
"We are." Uryuu said. "Nothing you do can stop us, I swear on my Quincy pride."
Mayuri's face fell into an annoyed grimace. "Oh, don't even start with that!"
"What?" Uryuu managed, thrown off by the statement.
"That 'Quincy pride', it's all your kind talk about!" Mayuri snapped. "Do you know why I know about the Ransotengai?"
The question struck Orihime and Uyruu mute, prompting Mayuri to continue his rant.
"I've studied every aspect of the Quincy! Every technique! Their pain tolerance! Their reaction to mental and physical stimuli!" Mayuri raged, his tirade getting truly massive. "I've cut open their very souls to see how they concentrate reishi and mix it with their reaitsu! I've used Ashisogi Jizo to disable the limbs of hundreds, if not thousands of Quincies to get them to use that very Ransotengai technique you use! I've even ripped their organs, one by one, and cut open their brains to see if there was any connection to their evolutionary path in wielding reishi!"
Orihime resisted the urge to vomit.
"I've made discoveries that would go down in history! But did any of them care? NO! They merely kept spouting that Quincy Pride bullshit!" Mayuri snarled, before mimicking the various Quincies he's tortured. "Upon the pride of the Quincy, I will never do such a thing! I swear on the pride of the Quincy, I will not let that happen!"
Uryuu's hands started to shake.
"Pathetic! Nothing but lies and empty promises!" Mayuri roared. "Even the last Quincy I experimented on was ranting about his pride. An old fool who's named I've forgotten."
Uryuu froze. "What?"
Mayuri produced a piece of paper, dropping it carelessly. It fluttered to the ground, landing blank side down. Printed on it was a photograph; it...it couldn't be considered a body at that point, more like a limbless carcass and several chunks of meat and organs, bleeding over a operating table.
This time, Orihime did throw up.
Uryuu didn't hurl, but with the look of utter horror on his face, he might as well have.
There was no way to tell, but he knew for a fact that he saw his grandfather on that picture.
Uryuu gritted his teeth so hard, they could've broke.
He glared at the man that murdered his grandfather with vengeance in his mind.
"You..." Uryuu snarled, standing up, and flowing with energy.
"What is this?" Mayuri thought. "Is he using another technique?"
"I swear on my Quincy Pride..." Uryuu snarled. "That I'm going to kill you, you Monster!"
While this was happening, Orihime was laying sideways on the ground.
Orihime felt something bubble in her, as she wiped bile off her chin and shirt.
It was something she still couldn't put her finger on at first, having never really felt this emotion before, at least not at this level.
It wasn't her fault, rage didn't even come close to describing what she was experiencing, and she rarely even felt that.
Orihime barely even registered the numbness in her arm anymore.
She didn't notice her legs standing up on their own.
She didn't hear Mayuri charge up a kido spell, or Uryuu notch an arrow on his bow.
She didn't notice the black trickling into her eyes, or her reaitsu reserves filling back up for no reason.
All she felt was a feeling, a feeling she had never felt, a feeling she never wanted to feel, and she just figured out what it was.
Hatred.
She stood there, brewing in this feeling until a foreign, yet oddly familiar voice rang in his head.
"Kill Him."
Ichigo's blade slammed into Kenpachi's, driving the giant Shinigami back.
Kenpachi was quick to start pushing back and the two Zanpakuto sparked as their wielders struggled for dominance.
Ichigo gave a strong push, feeding Zangetsu reaitsu to get a good blast.
Said blast knocked Kenpachi off his feet, and Ichigo pressed his advantage, quickly jabbing at the man's chest.
To his intense frustration, he had serious issues actually cutting him, the blade barely piercing skin.
He tried to push the blade in deeper only for Kenpachi to grab the blade and lift it, and by proxy Ichigo, into the air.
"Shi-"
Wham!
A surge of pain rushed through Ichigo's body as he was thrown to the floor.
"Come on, Ryoka! Don't tell me that's all you got!" Kenpachi laughed.
"Like hell it is!" Ichigo roared, getting up and swinging at Kenpachi, shooting off another blast of black energy from Zangetsu.
Kenpachi gave a feral grin, slashing the blast in two, just in for Ichigo to close the gap and swing at Kenpachi's side.
The blow sent Kenpachi sprawling, yet when he hit the ground Ichigo saw that the wound was negligible.
"Why is it so hard to cut you!?" Ichigo snapped.
"My reaitsu is why." Kenpachi states. "I emit so much naturally that it blocks weak attacks and stalls strong ones. It's like having armor you can't take off."
Ichigo scowled. "I'll just have to swing harder then!"
Zangetsu laughed. "That's the spirit!"
Ichigo lunged at Kenpachi, reaitsu charged blade in mid-swing as it clashed with Kenpachi.
Then Ichigo proceeded to punch Kenpachi in the face, causing him to lose his balance.
Ichigo grinned and took the opening, lifting his blade for another slash, only to get backhanded into the air.
Not to be deterred, Ichigo fired another blast from Zangetsu in midair.
Kenpachi, not missing a beat, charged right the blast, jabbing at the airborne Ichigo as he was about to land.
Ichigo swiveled in the air to dodge it, but the tip of the blade still gave him a nasty gash in his side.
The shinigami winced in pain, as that wound was added on top of the injuries he got with Renji, but continued his fight.
Ichigo raised his zanpakuto and called upon its powers, before swinging the strongest blast he could. "Zangetsu!"
This managed to push Kenpachi back a little, and when the blast ended there was blooding trickling his wrist from where he blocked it.
"This is great!" Kenpachi laughed. "I haven't had a fight like this in years!"
"Glad to see you're enjoying yourself." Ichigo snarled. "You're really something else aren't you? I've thrown everything I've got at you and you haven't even unsealed you sword!"
Kenpachi chuckles at this, confusing Ichigo. "Did I say something funny?"
"My sword doesn't have a sealed state." Kenpachi stated.
Ichigo blinked. "What?"
"My reaitsu is so huge and uncontrollable, my sword is stuck in a permanently released form. Essentially, my sword is always in Shikai." Kenpachi explained.
"Then what's your sword's name?" Ichigo asked.
"Don't know." Kenpachi shrugged. "It was like this as soon as I got it."
Ichigo's eye twitched. Violently.
"That's not fucking fair." Ichigo thought. "Learning Zangetsu's name wasn't easy."
"That bastard." Zangetsu said darkly. "He's just ignored his Zanpakuto for so long. Make him regret it."
"Roger." Ichigo thought, clenching Zangetsu tightly.
Then they ran out of time to talk, as Kenpachi rushed forward with a jab.
Ichigo slipped to the side to avoid Kenpachi's thrust and retaliated with a thrust of his own.
Kenpachi tilted his head and let the sword pass by, before grabbing Ichigo's outstretched arm and trying to pull him in for a headbutt.
Before he could do so, Ichigo kicked him in the jaw with enough force to knock out a tooth, before jabbing at his face.
Kenpachi leaned back, narrowly avoid getting his face hacked open before slugging Ichigo in the stomach.
Ichigo gasped in pain as crashed to the floor, blood soaking into his shinigami robes as he tried to get back up.
"Fuck." Ichigo thought. "I'm losing blood fast. That fight with Renji did more damage to me than I thought."
Then Kenpachi was upon him again, sword swinging down on his prone figure.
Ichigo had managed to raise his sword to block, only for the sword to cut through a good part of Zangetsu and jam right into his chest.
A scream actually escaped Ichigo as he fell back onto his back, body going into shock and blood rapidly pooling beneath him.
"Well, kid. Thanks for the kicks." Kenpachi grinned and yanked the sword out of Ichigo's body. Hard.
Ichigo writhed in a spasm of pain, his vision going dark.
"No!" Ichigo thought. "This can't be! I can't die here! I made a promise not to die before saved Rukia! I refuse to die! Zangetsu, help!"
For a while, Zangetsu said nothing, before a dark laugh bellowed from the blade, setting off a dozen red flags in his head.
"Zangetsu?"
"Don't worry King!" Zangetsu said. "I've got this."
The last thing Ichigo felt before losing consciousness was a surge of power in his body.
Kenpachi's head whipped back as he felt a surge of reaitsu explode from behind him.
He looked back to see his seemingly dead opponent back on his feet.
"What the hell?" Kenpachi thought. "He had no pulse!"
He turned around to see what was going on, only to freeze as he saw the black eyes and gold iris of a hollow on his face.
"You ready for round two?" The shinigami raised his sword with an entirely new voice.
For most people in the seireitei, the sight of this would send them fleeing in terror.
For Kenpachi, he merely gave the biggest grin of his life.
"So that's the hollow..." He thought.
"So that's the hollow..."
Mayuri's attention was focused on the girl currently glaring at her with black and gold eyes.
Even while dodging the quincy's arrows, the madman never took his eyes off her or the lights hovering around her.
"Koten Zasshun!" Orihime roared, Tsubaki speeding to him at insane speeds.
Mayuri tried to block with Ashisogi Jizo, only for the black orb to cut through the sword and the arm holding on to it in one blow. A hiss of pain left his mouth as blood poured from the wound.
In most cases, Uryuu would've been quite shocked at Orihime straight up amputating someone, however he was feeling even more hatred for the bastard, his deeds against him and his grandfather fresh in his mind.
A scattershot of arrows burst from his bow at Mayuri, who raised his hand in a stopping motion. "Bakudo 81. Danku."
A white barrier formed between Mayuri and the arrows, blocking them as he picked up his zanpakuto, and jabbed a needle into the remaining stump of his other arm, causing the flesh to bubble and regrow itself into a new appendage..
Orihime growled, guiding the fairy to strike Mayuri again, only to miss as the captain vanished via shunpo, reappearing on top of a wall.
"Bakudo 62." Mayuri stated, a blue-white glowing rod of energy generated in his hand. "Hyapporankan."
The scientist chucked the rod at Orihime and Uryuu as it multiplies into a hundred more rods, all falling down on them.
Unimpressed, Orihime raises a hand, before snarling. "Santen Kesshun!"
The orange shield covered both of them, blocking all of the rods coming down on them.
A combination of frustration and excitement was rushing through Mayuri at the amount, this girl would be one of the greatest specimen he would ever experiment on, he could tell that.
Not if only he could properly pin her, her attacking weapon was moving too fast to properly hit, and the girl herself could make that shield just as quickly-
Mayuri shunpo'd to the side as he narrowly dodged another volley of arrows from the quincy, only to get slashed by the fairy in the back, mentally noting that shield only works one way.
Right. The quincy assisting her was a problem as well.
He couldn't get close and strike with Ashisogi Jizo with that annoyance flying around, and any long range attacks would simply be blocked.
He decided to wait for the two to tire before getting a cheap shot in.
He could always use his bankai if things got real bad, though he'd rather not kill such promising specimens.
Orihime was doing substantially less thinking than Mayuri, focusing only on hacking the man up as much as possible.
Unfortunately, she was paying much less attention to her surroundings and more importantly, what was behind her.
An expert chop to the back of the neck knocked Orihime out cold, dispelling the fairies immediately and turning them back to earrings.
Uryuu's head whipped around to see the unconscious girl in Nemu's arms, who appears to have somehow recovered from her massive head trauma.
"Shit! Orihime!" The quincy cried, using Hirenkyaku to get to his teammate, only to be warded off by Nemu's blade.
"Sprout, Kareta Tane."
Nemu's blade turned green and thorns sprouted on the flat of the sword on both ends. Uryuu only had a second to see these changes before Nemu swung his sword and the thorns shot out.
Uryuu made a narrow turn, narrowly avoiding being hit by the thorns flying through the air.
His ire was stoked even higher when Mayuri shunpo'd between them and him. "About time you got up Nemu." He scoffed. "Hurry up and carry the girl to the lab, I'll take care of this nuisance."
Uryuu narrowed his eyes. "Not happening." He grabbed one of the metal poles and pulled. "I'm sorry grandfather, but I'm afraid I must disobey you!" He thought as the pole snapped.
Earlier...
Clang!
Kenpachi grinned as he and Zangetsu clashed blades, a shockwave breaking the ground beneath them.
"Getsuga Tenshō!"
The area was rocked yet again as an black wave of energy erupted from Zangetsu, engulfing Kenpachi entirely.
When the attack ended, Kenpachi was knocked flat on his ass, bleeding a noticeable amount. Zangetsu capitalized on this and swung down, emulating Kenpachi's striking Ichigo when was down. Kenpachi on the other hand decided to disappoint him as he blocked the attack with his sword before deflecting it up and punching the Zanpakuto spirit in the gut, sending him flying.
Zangetsu coughed up blood, but didn't relent his attack and charged up reaitsu is his blade as he fell back down using the momentum to strike as hard as possible. Kenpachi didn't miss a beat and jumped in the air, intent on striking before Zangetsu could hit the ground, only to be caught off guard as Zangetsu hurled his sword down, the reaitsu still in it, erupting in black flames, and forming a Getsuga Tenshō with the sword at the front. The attack crashed into Kenpachi with enough force to send him right back into the ground.
Yachiru watched with a huge grin on her face, this hollow was intense! She couldn't think of any hollow that pushed Kenpachi so far.
"Damn kid." Kenpachi smirked, getting off the ground. "You're giving me the greatest fight I've had in a long time! Let's make this last!"
Despite his outrage at Kenpachi leaving his sword to the sideline, Zangetsu was enjoying this fight as well. However, he was aware that he had to end this quickly. "If you want to make this last, you'll have to do better than this!"
Kenpachi grinned, charging with his reaitsu flaring something fierce. Zangetsu merely charged as well, readying another Getsuga. The two attacks clashed, creating another shockwave, and the two swung again, only Kenpachi was quicker on the draw.
Kenpachi swing struck Zangetsu's defense…and scattered it to the winds. To say the blow knocked his Zanpakuto aside would be an understatement. Zangetsu's sword was thrown out of the way with such force that Zangetsu himself was dragged several feet sideways. Zaraki then added an absolutely vicious follow-up hit that sent Zangetsu flying into a wall.
Zangetsu quickly got back up, spinning his sword by the cloth, and radiating reaitsu. "Prepare to die."
That was the only warning before Zangetsu hurled his sword again, the sword erupting in black flames and flying toward Kenpachi. However, Kenpachi swung his sword at the blade, knocking it off course. With a smirk, Zangetsu pulled on the cloth, sending the blade flying back at Kenpachi and cutting deep into his arm, upon which the Getsuga Tenshō reacted, the explosion sending him flying.
"Hah!" Zangetsu gloated. "Suck on that!" His grin faltered a bit when he heard Kenpachi's chuckles.
"This is it…" he chuckled. "This is IT!" The chuckle rose into full blown maniacal laughter. "This is what I've been waiting for all these years! An opponent that my equal, if not better! Now..." He snatched up his nameless Zanpakuto from where it had fallen, before grabbing his eye-patch. "I can fight with no restraints at all!"
BOOM!
Momo Hinamori was not a light sleeper.
This wasn't to say that she could sleep through an earthquake or that her dreams were so deep that she could snore her way through the End of Days.
Aizen never had a problem getting her up for work and if he called for her once she was up and ready without any further prompting.
But she wasn't some princess that would toss and turn just because there was a tiny little lump in her mattress. When she went to asleep she stayed asleep.
So, when two explosions of reaitsu, one somewhat familiar and one not familiar at all crashed into her senses with all the finesse of a freight train, she, for the first time in her life, found herself flailing in her bed with a strangled scream.
When she regained her bearings, she registered the familiar reaitsu as Kenpachi's, only significantly higher than ever before. While she didn't know the battle happy captain from experience, she was aware of the reaitsu draining eye-patch he always wore, and how he only took it off when fighting particularly strong opponents.
If there was a ryoka running around in the seireitei capable of backing Kenpachi into a corner, then they really had a problem on their hands.
More disconcertingly was his opponent, she sensed the same hollow reaitsu the came crashing down into the seireitei, and it's was even darker than before.
The other fight was between what sensed was Mayuri and Nemu against some unknown and insanely powerful entity,
Like Kenpachi, the ryoka was emitting ludicrous amounts of power in continuous and relentless waves into the air without halting or hesitation, setting off Momo's senses like fireworks.
She had to do something.
"Should I warn everyone?" Momo thought. "No, that's stupid. There's no way in hell anyone's missing this. Go help? No way! I'll be killed in seconds! I'll just head to Aizen and ask what to do."
And with that, Momo dressed up in her Shinigami robes and rushed out the dorms, trying to sense her Captain. It was rather difficult to do so with two powerhouses exploding their overpowered reaitsu reserves over the whole seireitei, but she was a lieutenant for a reason.
In a under a minute, she tracked down his reitsu and ran in its direction. As she ran, she noticed that the reaitsu seemed...rather low.
"Is...Is Aizen-taicho okay?" Momo thought worriedly, before trying to shrug it off. "Of course he's okay! Don't be silly, brain! He probably just got done dealing one the other ryo-"
Momo's line of thought was put to a horrifically sudden stop as she saw something splayed across the wall.
"CAPTAIN AIZEN!"
"Ugh." Ichigo groaned as he slowly roused out of unconsciousness by the soft pitter-patter of water, pouring down all around him and even over him. "Wha…?"
Ichigo looked around, seeing light rain pouring over what he realized was his inner world. "What the? Why am I here? Why is it raining?"
"I'm afraid that is your fault."
Ichigo whipped around to see someone else in his world.
It was a tall, gruffy looking man with ragged black hair, facial hair, and sunglasses.
"Wh-who the hell..." Ichigo blinked in confusion.
"Come now, Ichigo." The man grunted. "Surely you have an idea?"
"...Another zanpakuto spirit?"
"Close, but wrong." The man stated. "I am your quincy power."
"...What?" Ichigo said in shock. "I'm a Quincy!?"
"Correct." The man replied.
"How?"
"I do not know whether your parents or some other force is responsible for my existence." The man said. "All I know is that I'm a representative of your Quincy power, like Zangetsu is a representative of your Shinigami and Hollow power."
"...What?" Ichigo gaped, his shock turning to horror, the light rain suddenly getting heavier by the second. "No."
"Ichigo." The quincy warned.
"No, the shaft!" Ichigo hisses through clenched teeth, flash-backing to the when he first got Zangetsu. "Fucking-!"
"ICHIGO!" Zangetsu roared, getting Ichigo's attention. "Calm yourself!"
"Calm Yourself?" Ichigo repeated incredulously. "Are you serious?! How can you say something like that and expect me to not panic?"
"Really?" The quincy stated. "You were using your powers with relative ease and skill before now. And now you suddenly aren't trusting them?"
"...It not like that." Ichigo said solemnly, the rain lightening a small bit. "It's merely the fact that I'm apparently the same species as the soul eating murder-monsters I've been killing for the last week or two, not to mention, only finding out after I got into fights with dangerous enemies."
"Fair enough." The quincy spirit stated. "Ichigo, listen. Before you think about what power you have, think about what you are."
"What I am?" Ichigo blinked in confusion.
"What have you wanted to do since you've seen ghosts." Zangetsu added.
Ichigo found that question oddly intriguing. He had little real interests that didn't involve fighting, which in hindsight explains why Zangetsu was so battle-ready all the time.
But when he really thought about it, fighting to protect was his reason for everything he's done. He dived in this mess and fought many strong people to save Rukia. He attacked any hollow that touched his sisters without mercy. He even helped the ghosts he saw on a regular basis, despite never knowing their names.
He grimaced as he remembered the reason why. A young girl about to fall in the lake. Waking up to the smell of blood that wasn't his own on his body. Rain pouring down, washing away the blood from his mothe-
"Ichigo!" The quincy's yell snapped Ichigo out of his wandering mind, and with a start he realized the rain was pouring down to the point where he could barely see the quincy. With another start, he realized that there were tears streaming down his faced along with the rain.
"Please," The quincy stated, his tone somewhat pained. "Do not open up wounds you're not ready for."
"Damn it." Ichigo growled, wiping his face and clearing the clouds somewhat.
"It'd be helpful to get those problems finished as soon as possible," The quincy sighed. "But rushing things will only do more damage."
"Man, my confrontation with Zangetsu was a lot less taxing." Ichigo groaned before frowning. "What, where is Zangetsu?"
"Fighting Kenpachi in your body." The quincy said casually.
"Oh shit right!" Ichigo paled. "I got to go!"
The quincy spirit frowned at this. "Before you do so, I need to state something."
"What?"
"You have been following what you believe is right for as long as you and I remember, and I can't go against that." The spirit stated. "But remember this, for all your willpower and strength., your recklessness will get you in trouble you simply can't fight out of."
"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked.
"You adamantly resolved to fight Jidanbo, Renji, and Kenpachi alone." The spirit stated. "Even when there were others capable of helping you."
"...Well in my defense, I needed to test out how far I've gotten against someone." Ichigo argued.
"Shouldn't everyone have?"
Ichigo frowned. "Yes...Shit, I see what you mean now."
"You have been fighting on your own for very long now." The spirit stated. "Especially since you've become a shinigami. But some enemies we will fight will be stronger than what we can handle alone. In these times, you will need to be able to rely on your friends. After all, they want Rukia okay as much as you do, do they?"
Ichigo sighed. "You're right, I've been pushing myself. It's just that-"
"You feel guilty, right?"
Ichigo nodded. "I have a debt to repay to her, she saved my life, I want to save hers."
"It's good to feel that." The spirit said. "But don't let it consume you."
Ichigo nodded, internalizing that last bit of info before calling out. "Zangetsu!"
Meanwhile, in the real world.
"Well, I'll be damned!" Zangetsu roared with a mad grin. "What crazy trick did you pull out?!"
"Heh. This is no trick!" Kenpachi taunted. "I merely got the science and research to design a power sealing device for me. Without it, I'm exponentially stronger! I have to wear it in order to make fights with weaklings interesting!"
Despite the mad grin on Zangetsu's face, he was rather concerned about his odds. The mere reaitsu Kenpachi was pouring out was threatening to crush everything in sight.
And then a familiar voice called his name in his head. "Zangetsu!"
"Ichigo, is that you?" Zangetsu said, somewhat relieved.
"Who else could it be?" Ichigo grinned. "So, what's the situation."
"Captain here had one last trick up his sleeve." Zangetsu said. "Some seal on his power that he just took off."
"We still got this." Ichigo growled. "It's two on one!"
"Hey!" Kenpachi's yell caught both their attention. "What are you blabbering about?"
"My wielder just woke up." Zangetsu stated. "I'm afraid you've just lost!"
Kenpachi scoffed. "What, because I'm outnumbered? That's never stopped me before, and it won't now!"
"Zanpakuto are mere weapons of war! The fact that your wielder needed his sword to take over for most of the fight is merely a result of a strong man that's weak in mind!"
Zangetsu and Ichigo both took great offence to that statement. "He's going down."
The quincy spirit decided to pipe up at this point. "Ichigo, Zangetsu." The two stiffened at the spirit calling them. "Calm yourselves. We are all aware he's wrong. Three people who fight together are stronger than two who do not."
Zangetsu was rather caught off guard by the quincy spirit's appearance, but quickly shrugged it off. "We shall end this in one strike."
Ichigo nodded before grabbing back control. "Come at me, Kenpachi Zaraki!"
Kenpachi obliged with a mad laugh his reaitsu increasing even further. Ichigo, Zangetsu, and the quincy all responded by charging their reaitsu as far as they could.
And right as the man was on top of them, Ichigo swung. "GETSUGA TENSHO!"
Kenpachi's reaitsu covered blade slammed into the greatest blast of reaitsu Zangestu had fired yet. A massive shockwave erupted from the collision, blasting outwards to shatter every building within it's radius.
Retsu Unohana, Captain of the 4th Division, rushed to the scene of the supposed crime, her lieutenant right behind her.
The two huge explosions of reaitsu in the distance was already enough to jerk most of the seireitei out of bed, and the piercing scream that echoed a few seconds after threw the 5th division. Most of the shinigami running around were acting as if the world was ending, then again if what they were saying was true, then they might have a point. Eventually, Unohana stopped at the scene of the crime, Momo sobbing over the corpse of Captain Aizen.
"My god." Isane gaped in horror. Even with the experience of her many centuries of healing horrid injuries, it took a good amount of effort for Isane to not turn green at the sight of the body.
Massive bites were taken out of perhaps every part of the body. Part of the skull was bitten through, leaking blood and brain mater out on the matter. His arms were bruised and resting by his head; one hand swollen to twice the size of the other and out of alignment with his wrist. The worst part was the face, everything below the eyes torn apart, to the point where the jaw and most of the neck was missing entirely, and the eyes were covered in dried blood and blank as all get out.
However, there was something about the corpse that niggled in her mind, something off about it. Whatever it was, the nigh-hysterical Vice-Captain crying over it took precedence.
Unohana walked over and shushed her softly, comforting her in her arms like a mother would a child and whispering softly in her ear. Hinamori herself didn't know how long she spent crying into the woman's chest.
"Momo!"
Hinamori jumped when she heard her childhood friend rushing toward her, Matsumoto by his side. "Shiro-chan?"
Hitsugaya didn't bother with his usual statement of, "It's Captain Hitsugaya!" Momo looked and sounded like her life was crashing down around her. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying so hard.
"Who did this?" Toshiro growled.
"Most likely the hollow that's been running around." Unohana stated evenly, carrying Hinamori in her arms.
"If we're lucky, Kenpachi's already about to kill that thing." Isane added.
Toshiro nodded darkly. "Matsumoto, can you take care of the 5th division for a bit?"
Matsumtoto nodded, completely serious and focused for once. "I got them."
Toshiro quickly grabbed Hinamori's arm. "Come on, Momo. Let's get you out of here."
Momo started to pull back, not wanting to leave her captain's body. "W-Wait!"
"No." Toshiro said. "You need to get as far away from here as possible."
"I agree." Unohana stated, dropping her back to the floor. "Plus, I need to get Aizen to check if that hollow killed him alone, or if the other ryoka helped."
Hinamori paused at first, but soon relented. "Okay."
"Good." Toshiro nodded, heading out of the crowd. "Let's go."
Before they could leave however, a huge spike of reaitsu caught everyone's attention. "What the..." Toshiro gaped.
That was all he got to say before a bright light from the 11th division blinded everyone, as the area was engulfed in reaitsu with a continuously widening ring of air racing away from it… and rapidly approaching the group.
"Minazuki!" Unohana yelled, hurling her rapidly transforming blade into the path of the shockwave. In seconds, Minazuki morphed into a green, gas-like substance before taking the solid shape of a giant, green, one eyed manta ray-like creature.
"HIT THE DECK!" Toshiro roared, creating a shield of ice to protect the shinigami along with Minazuki.
Everyone huddled behind the ice and the manta-ray just in time to not get hit by the massive shockwave that passed over them, though their ears were still clearly assaulted by the sound the explosion made.
"Minazuki, are you okay?" Unohana rushed her zanpakuto's side.
"Yeah." Minazuki winced. "Although you should warn me next time, that blast nearly knocked the wind out of me."
"I'm afraid a very powerful hollow invaded the seireitei." Unohana explained "Kenpachi went to fight it, but it appears he needed to release his eye-patch."
"The fight seems to have died down." Rangiku said with mild relief. Indeed, the huge burst of reaitsu seemed to have simmered down.
Hinamori looked at the smoking crater in the distance, hoping that Aizen was avenged.
Ichigo groaned, bleeding on the floor and staring blankly into the sky.
"Guys?" Ichigo called. "We aren't dead, right?"
"Nope." Zangestu stated. "Did we take out that Kenpachi dude?"
A dry chuckle drew the shinigami's attention, leading him to roll his and see Kenpachi looming down on him with a huge cut on his chest.
"I haven't had a thrill like that in a long time, kid." Kenpachi stated. "...You really are something, you know that?"
Ichigo chuckled at that, trying to get back up but only getting on his knees. "Dude, you have no idea."
A large grin spread on Kenpachi's face at that. "I kinda regret not talking to my sword sooner," Ichigo blinked as Kenpachi's sword cracked, and then split in half. "then it could've told me how awesome this fight was." And with that, Kenpachi tipped over and fell down on his back with a crash.
Ichigo grinned. "I won."
But then his vision starts going dark, his body turning to lead. "What? Zangetsu? Old man? What's going on?"
However, when he called into his mind, ho got no response. It suddenly struck the boy that he used up more reaitsu than he should in that last attack.
"Wait, how did I know the name of that attack anyway?" He thought before his legs froze up completely.
"Shit!" He gasped, falling back down on his face. "No.."
As he lost the fight and slipped into darkness, Ichigo thought he saw something black crossing his sight.
"Good lord, Ichigo." Yoruichi groaned as she walked up to Ichigo's unconscious body. "I had a feeling you'd bump into a captain even if you tried to stay stealthy, I didn't think you'd bump into Kenpachi of all people so quickly."
Yoruichi then frowned as she registered more shinigami coming. "Welp. No time to heal you here. Just don't bleed out, hear me?"
Mayuri scowled at the situation, wondering what to do.
This last ditch technique the quincy used, Letz Stil, was absorbing the very land around them and adding it to his power.
And yet that technique wasn't the main reason he was enraged.
Nemu had been prepared to leave with the girl while he finished of the quincy, and then he could experiment with the girl's powers to his heart's content.
And then Zaraki just had to explode his irratatingly potent reaitsu over the whole seireitei. While he was able to shrug off getting hit by Zaraki's smoldering power along with the quincy's exploding outward, Nemu needed a few instants for her senses to properly register what happened. And that was more than enough for the damn ryoka to rush over, grab the girl, and knock Nemu to the ground, knocking her out.
He was going to punish Nemu most grievously after this mess was done.
He looked over the fool, putting the girl down on the wall before turning to him.
"If their is any consolation," Mayuri thought. "This will be one of the greatest research sessions I will have when I win."
"Prepare to die." Uryuu growled, reishi condensing in a arrow in his hand.
"Bakudo 61: Rikujokoro." Mayuri smirked.
Uryuu growled as 6 rods of light froze him in place, arresting his movement.
Mayuri laughed mockingly. "Your power pales in comparison to my intellect!"
Uryuu's merely narrowed, and Mayuri almost choked on his laugh when Uryuu shattered 2 rods with a flare of his reaitsu. "This will not stop me."
Mayuri resisted the urge to curse, jumping back and firing another kido. "Hado #4: Byakurai!" A blast of lightning burst from his hand, striking toward Uryuu
Uryuu merely shattered the rest of the Bakudo before shooting the arrow, blowing clean through the lightning bolt.
The arrow flew through the air, and Mayuri laughed. "It's fast, but still just a nuisance! I can easily dodge your strikes!" He cackled, easily evading with Shunpo.
The he saw Uryuu floating right above him, aiming another arrow.
"What?" Mayuri gaped. "How did he-?"
"Die."
"Oh fu-!"
Then a second arrow, launched from the air, rained down upon him and ran him through with a great explosion of blue reiatsu.
"Apologize to your victims, and never appear before me again, and I'll spare your life." Uryuu said coldly.
"FUCK IT!" Mayuri roared, now missing an arm and most of his left shoulder. "Forget live specimen! I'll kill you both and study your corpses, you cocky brat! BANKAI: KONJIKI ASHISOGI JIZO!"
His disgusting Shikai slowly bubbled upward and outward, taking the form of a hideous and massive caterpillar with the upper body of an infant. A great "halo" hovered over the baby's head, breathing a purple, and almost certainly poisonous, mist.
"Behold! Konjiki Ashisiogi Jizo!" Mayuri gestured at the grotesque Bankai, which was breathing out a purple mist. "The mist you see is a rather potent poison, made of my blood. Far more so than the ones I've used on you so far. It works through skin contact, so don't think holding your breath will save you!"
Uyruu flared his reiatsu, driving away the poisonous cloud for a moment. This was bad. He was rather sure his boosted reaitsu reserves could shrug off the effects of the poison for a while, but the same couldn't be said about Orihime.
"This might be a drain." Uryuu grimaced, pulling more reishi and reaitsu into his hand, drawing his arrows and aiming for the monster's head.
"ATTACK!" Mayuri roared, prompting the caterpillar to sprout more swords from its body and charge the quincy down.
Uryuu loosed his projectiles, as the Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo made a bullrush towards the Quincy. They collided with a colossal burst of reiatsu, rocking the seireitei with another epic explosion. When the dust cleared, the bankai was split clean down the middle and Mayuri was missing almost his entire chest area. The two pieces of the bankai crashed down to the floor before dissapainting into the sealed sword.
"Goodbye, Mayuri Kurotsuchi." Uyruu stated calmly.
"Damn you...You…think this…is over… You quincy brat? I'll fix myself up…and…come after you again." Mayuri lifted his sealed Zanpakuto and stabbed his throat with the blade.
"What?" Uryuu gaped as the captain dissolved. "Fuck!"
"One's last ace in the hole should only be used at the last moment. In this form, I can't attack you, but I remain invulnerable!" Mayuri, in his oozelike body, slowly inched away. "And even though I may not have beaten you outright, I still live, and with the poison in the air, you will die!"
Uryuu cursed as he almost fell over, a painful rasping build up in his throat and lungs, and he hocked up a splatter of blood. "No! I can't die here!"
He stumbled to Orihime, hoping he could wake her up before the poison took his life. "Orihime!"
It was pitch black for Orihime, she couldn't see a thing.
"Hello!" She called. "Tsuabaki! Ayame! Anyone!"
"Here."
"Huh?" Orihime turned to see a small light. "Who are you?"
"Not a good time to tell you." The familiar voice stated. "You have someone calling you."
That's when Orihime heard Uryuu calling out from the light. "Orihime! Help me!"
"You'd best return to him."
"Uryuu!" Orihime rushed into the light, trying to find where he is.
Right as the light was about to envelop her, she heard the voice one more time.
"See you later...m-"
"Orihime!"
Orihime gasped as she regained consciousness, looking up at Uryuu's face.
"U-Uryuu."
"Finally, you're u-guagh!" Uryuu suddenly puked a glob of blood.
"Uryuu!" Orihime yelped, already preparing to use her Souten Kisshun, before coughing up blood herself. "What's...happening?"
"Poison." Uryuu rasped, barely able to talk at this point. "Heal please."
Two quick Souten Kisshuns later, and Uryuu was getting back on his feet.
"You good?" Orihime asked.
"Good enough." Uryuu stated. "Let's get to the Shrine before anyone else shows up."
"I could float up there." Orihime suggested. "I don't think we could hide after that."
"...I'm afraid we'd die if we met anyone else now." Uryuu sighed.
"What?" Orihime gasped. "Why?"
"I had to use a my people's last ditch power, Letz Stil, to defeat that bastard." Uryuu admitted. "It granted me power beyond any quincy in history, but I overwhelmed my body and burnt out my ability to use my quincy power as a result. I'm merely a powerless human soul now. You'll have to fight and protect me if we get into any more fights."
"...Can I try something?" Orihime asked.
"...Try what?" Uryuu frowned.
"Could I heal the damage your...your...Lez Stal-"
"Letz Stil." Uryuu corrected, before blushing at interrupting her.
"Your quincy technique." Orihime said, giving up on pronouncing the name. "Could I heal the damage it caused?"
"...I'm not sure." Uryuu stated. "N-Not to downplay your powers Orihime, but I highly doubt it's that simple."
"It's worth a try." Orihime argued. "I mean, we can wait until we get somewhere safe before we-"
"Actually, no." Uryuu stood up. "Ichgo is going to do anything in his power to save Rukia, and I'll be damned if I don't do the same. If there is a chance I can recover my quincy powers, I'll have to try. I want to do this."
"And if it doesn't work? I'd never be mad at you for it."
Orihime grinned at that. "Okay then, Uryuu, please lie down." Ishida nodded and did so. "Souten Kisshun!" Two pieces of her hairpins glowed and transformed into Ayame and Shun'ō, who sped over to opposite ends of the Quincy, one at his feet, the other at his head. Inoue knelt and put her hands on the barrier it created, closing her eyes.
A mild grimace spread on her face when she felt the damage. "Wow, that's really bad." She thought. "Can I fix this?"
"Not impossible," Ayame said. "But this might take a while."
Orihime's power quickly went to work, as the Letz Stil outfit dissipated and returned to the normal sanrei glove.
About a minute later, the two faeries rose and returned to Orihime's hairpins.
"Did it work?" Uryuu asked.
"I think it did." Orihime said.
Uryuu took a deep breath. "OK." He raised his right arm, and tried to focus reishi in his hand. The glove worked as good as new and an arrow formed in his hand like always.
"Yes!" Orihime pumped a fist, before stumbling as the multiple rejections took their toll on her.
The Quincy turned and caught Orihime before she hit the ground. "Thank you, Orihime… I fear I can never repay you."
Orihime stood back up and gave the quincy a thumbs up. "Your welcome, now let's get Rukia back!"
Uryuu obliged and headed off with Orihime to find Rukia. Although despite his gratefulness to Orihime for restoring his powers, he can't help but feel guilt running down his back.
"Grandfather, I'm sorry." He thought. "I used the power of Letz Stil in rage and vengeance, and needed my friend to help me after it."
Uryuu then resolved himself. "I only hope we can get to Rukia without anymore violence."
However, even this hope was quickly dashed, as Orihime pales upon seeing a black man with dark brown braids, and more terrifyingly, a captain haori.
"Forgive me, ryoka." The captain stated, drawing his zanpakuto. "But I must destroy you both, in the name of justice."
"Oh shit." Uryuu thought, preparing an arrow and aiming at the captain, while Orihime made a Santen Kesshun shield to block whatever crazy power the sword would unleash on them.
"Cry, Suzumushi."