AN: Howdy! Sorry it's been a while, but the last three weeks have been tests and projects and more tests. It's been a lot recently.
Anyways, I hope that this chapter is fun. I enjoyed writing the fights, but next chapter's are going to be great. Chapter 4 will be the final chapter of this Bleach arc and will end with the jump to the next world.
Anyhoo, responses:
To ssjzohan: Thanks. I hope the hype continues!
To goddragonking: I'm glad the first two chapters were great; I'll try to update as quickly as I can, but you might just have to bear with me for a while.
To cturner971: I'm happy to answer any questions I can! I hope this chapter was worth the wait; sorry it was so long!
To Guest: I'm happy to have your attention and I can't wait to show you guys everything I have in store. Hopefully it's a surprising, or at least entertaining, journey.
To G3r1k: I thought at first Kuchiki would steam roll Yang, but with Magic and the things she went through in SMHS, as well as her unique Semblance and durability, she'd be better equipped to fight someone unused to a real challenge than he would expect, even if he is Byakuya. I'm unsure if Yang and Jaune will ever have a fight with Kenpachi, though I am toying around with one idea that might make it happen. I'll see if it comes through.
To jacalman: Thanks for pointing out my little continuity error regarding Jaune's loss of his skills. I'm happy that you think it works out regardless. The trilogy idea is a good one, and I have a possible concept for it wiggling around in the back of my mind. I'm going to try to avoid working on it too much until I'm almost done with this – don't want to work on too many things at once, right?
Chapter 3: Eleven and Six
Jaune watched Emerald and Mercury as they led Ganju, Ichigo, and him down the pathway towards the Repentance cells. He felt bad admitting it to himself, but he didn't really trust them. Both of them were terrorists. Real, actual, terrorists that had nearly brought the entirety of Remnant's world order crumbling down into Dust. He could forgive them for that in light of how they had helped Sora, Ruby, and the others get to Salem and save his life, as well as the World. However, he wouldn't forget any time soon. He was going to keep an eye out to make sure they didn't stab him in the back trying to escape.
"What are you thinking about, Jaune?" Ichigo asked, causing the warrior to turn in surprise as his train of thought was suddenly broken.
The blonde Keyblade Wielder looked ahead again to focus on Emerald and Mercury. "Um... I'm wondering if Yang's okay," he said, not completely lying. The question had been present in the back of his head ever since landing in this weird world, even if he hadn't voiced it too often.
"You shouldn't worry about that," Ichigo stated simply. His voice had a quiet edge to it, as if he truly and fully believed what he was saying. It cut off any thoughts of disagreeing that Jaune had in his head. "Remember, I've got friends out there, too. They're all fighting by themselves against Soul Reapers, and out of us I'm probably the strongest out of any of us. But that doesn't matter. I've got to trust that they can do it, because they're my friends. They deserve that much."
"Yang was a better fighter than me," Jaune admitted quietly. He looked down at the Keyblade in his hand, the golden guard glittering in the bright sunlight streaming down from above. "Especially now that... I can't remember how to do anything."
Ichigo frowned in confusion. "Hey, what is that supposed to mean? You can't remember how to fight?"
"It means -" He was cut off by Ichigo grabbing his shoulders and tearing him backwards. Jaune gruned in surprise when a mass of black and white cloth slammed into the ground where he had been standing a moment before, the slight ringing of bells accompanying the stone raining down around them. Jaune hit the ground on his back, then watched the huge mass of muscle and sword begin to slowly stand up, an aura of shadow exploding into being around it.
Jaune hissed in pain as a sudden pressure began to weigh on him, forcing every muscle in his body stiff and incapable of movement. He shoved himself to his feet with great effort. He tried to take a step forward, but found himself hitting a wall with every attempt. On the other side of the newcomer, Mercury, Emerald, and Ganju were frozen by the invisible force; Ganju looked like he was about to bleed out of his ears. Jaune gritted his teeth when he saw in the corner of his vision Ichigo struggling the same way. Jaune to had save them all! He snarled and pushed his foot forward, ignoring the flare up of pain that came with movement. He wouldn't give in. The Kingdom Key appeared in Jaune's hand and flashed with a bright light, filling the area.
Everyone gasped, suddenly realizing they hadn't been breathing. Jaune stumbled and managed to steady himself by slamming the tip of the Keyblade against the stone. He took a few deep breaths and looked past the Captain who had yet to move, the monster's gaze imply locked on the Keyblade in Jaune's hand. The others were slowly recovering from the effects of this... monster's mere presence.
"Emerald, Mercury, take Ganju to Rukia. Now!" Ichigo snapped, standing straight up like he hadn't been affected at all, though Jaune could see the same bravado he had used back at Beacon when he was scared. Ichigo unsheathed Zangetsu and readied it defensively.
Jaune stood on shaky legs and shouted in agreement, "The Keyblade did something, but I don't know how long it's going to last! Go!"
"Don't have to tell us twice," Mercury said, standing up straight. Before Ganju or Emerald could say anything, he grabbed onto their arms and turned on his heel, dragging them behind him at tremendous speeds.
"Hey, wait! That's a Captain! Ichigo and Jaune don't stand a chance!" Ganju shouted, the noise drifting back to the two warriors. In fact, it was the last thing they heard from those three before they rounded a corner and disappeared completely.
"Well, that makes me confident," Jaune muttered when the Captain and his dark aura turned towards them.
The man was tall, huge even, and extremely well built. A long, thin scar traced down the left side of his face, over his eye and the corner of his mouth. His hair was sticking out in every direction in long spikes, each tipped with a small bell. His right eye was covered by an eyepatch, which seemed odd given that his left eye was the one that had a scar across it. His grin was manic, bloodthirsty and almost demonic. This was only accented by the huge aura of darkness that had enveloped him, clouds and tendrils drifting off of his skin. He had a blade in his right hand, a chipped and sharp blade that looked like it had survived many cruel battles. A black necklace was tight around his throat, accenting the muscles rippling in his neck. "Heh heh heh heh heh..." he laughed, the noise more animalistic than anything else.
Jaune felt a pit of fear rising in his gut. "Ichigo, I think we should make a tactical retreat," he said simply. He shivered. "This guy feels..."
"I know," Ichigo said. He redoubled his grip on Zangetsu. "But we can fight or run. Way I see it, if we run he'll either chase us or go after the others. Are you stronger than Mercury and Emerald?"
Jaune glared at the Captain still staring patiently at them. "Unfortunately," he admitted.
"Then we'd have to just fight him again later. I'd rather get it out of the way before we get injured in other fights," Ichigo explained resolutely.
"I know," Jaune said sadly. He had been thinking the same thing. The blonde warrior kept his gaze locked on the Soul Reaper. "Um... who are you!?"
There was no answer. The man simply disappeared, leaving behind the quiet jingling of bells. Jaune felt an explosion of darkness coming from his right and instinctively raised the Kingdom Key. The blow slammed into his weapon with enough force to shatter a bus, and Jaune was thrown into Ichigo. The two couldn't even shout out in pain as they were thrown through wall after wall of stone, leaving behind huge gaps where they had crashed.
Jaune grunted and pushed himself off of Ichigo. "Okay, 'tactical retreat' you said? That sounds a lot better now," Ichigo agreed. He pushed himself up to his feet and spat out a globule of blood. "Where is he?"
Jaune looked around, focusing on listening for the Reaper's arrival. Jaune may not have looked it, but he was pretty smart when it came to fighting. When it came to people, women, books, and being cool? Not so much, but somehow he was smart about fighting. He heard the quiet jingling of bells coming from his right. "Ichigo, get down!" The two threw themselves to the ground, rolling beneath a blow from the Captain's blade that moved fast enough to send a blade of wind down the pathway, carving into the walls a deep, jagged line. Jaune made it up to his feet before the Captain could turn and attack again, slamming the Keyblade into the man's side.
It did nothing. The figure turned and glared down at Jaune, the manic grin widening. "Got some fight in there..." he said, the dark aura fading away for a moment. This didn't cause anything resembling normal consciousness to appear in the giant's eyes, though he did look less evil and more wild. It disappeared when the dark aura exploded from his shoulders, reborn, and Jaune was thrown backwards. He skidded across the ground for a moment, tumbling until he could get up to his feet. He raised the Keyblade and glared worriedly at the Captain now standing between him and Ichigo.
"Bells!" Jaune realized when the Captain disappeared again, jingling following him. Jaune raised his weapon, waiting for the Reaper to attack, but was surprised when he attacked Ichigo instead. Ichigo's cleaver swept upward, blocking the Captain's blade. The Captain turned with the block and his blade glinted in the light.. "NO!" Ichigo moved just in time to take the brunt of his attack with his own blade, though it still sent him sliding backwards.
"I'll take you on all by myself!" Ichigo snapped, rushing the Captain. Their blades clashed while Jaune ran in from behind, trying to find an opening without risking getting in the way of Ichigo's attacks or vice versa. The Captain jumped backwards, flipping over Jaune and slashing down. Jaune was thrown forward by the blow, his aura dripping dangerously low when he hit Ichigo.
Ichigo caught Jaune and helped him back up to his feet. "Are you o-"
"Ichigo, look out!" The Captain had basically warped behind Ichigo, his blade flying upward and glinting evilly. Ichigo gasped in pain and fell to his knees and hands, blood leaking from his back. The Captain slowly raised his weapon above his head, the Dark aura around him flaring up dangerously. Jaune snarled, feeling a fire rise up in his gut, and leaped forwards, moving fast enough that he managed to slam his shoulder into the center of the Captain's abdomen. The bells jingled as he stumbled backwards, his attack going wide and burying his blade in the stone beside Ichigo. "Leave him alone!"
The Captain pulled his sword out with minimal effort, taking a half step backwards to gain space for an attack. The Keyblade Wielder blocked the blow, redirecting the force upward with the Kingdom Key, then slashed down across the Captain's chest. He looked up to see what damage he had dealt, only to be lifted up above the Captain's head. He gasped and clutched uselessly with his free hand at the fist curling around his throat. The Captain's manic grin widened for a moment before he turned and slammed Jaune down directly on top of Ichigo. The two younger warriors shouted in pain with the collision. "What the heck? Was your mother a train?" Jaune asked, voice hollow.
"Dammit... can't die here..." Ichigo groaned. He tried weakly to push himself up, though Jaune's weight atop him as well as blood rushing from his wound did nothing to help. His head slammed against the stone floor, hard. "Damn... it..."
Jaune looked up at the Captain's sword raised above them. Then it flew down at them, glinting with murder. Jaune tried to raise the Keyblade above him, but the world disappeared in a bright flash of white Light before he could manage to save both him and Ichigo from impending death. His last thoughts were of his family, most of whom had not seen him since before the Fall of Beacon. He had promised his dad he'd come back. Sorry, Dad. I tried.
Jaune blinked in surprise when he found he wasn't dead. "Um... where am I?" he asked simply, looking around in confusion. He looked to his left, where a blue and white sky stretched on for miles. A cliff? He looked to his right and saw – Jaune yelped and fell down, clutching vainly at the side of the building he was somehow standing on. "I survive that crazy Reaper Captain just to fall off of a building?!" He shut his eyes and groaned. After a few moments, however, a gut feeling told him to stop freaking out. With the Keyblade, he would probably survive any fall. He stood up and scratched his cheek. Somehow, gravity had rooted him to the building like it was the ground. He repeated, "Where am I?"
"Jaune? How are you here?" Jaune whirled around, catching sight of Ichigo and another man. He wasn't injured now, the wound across his chest gone.
Jaune grinned and ran towards him, ignoring the tall man in a black and red ethereal cloak standing beside Ichigo. The Keyblade Wielder skidded to a stop in front of the Substitute Soul Reaper. "You're okay, too! That Captain... wait, are we dead? Is this hell? No, why would you be in hell..?"
"Master, this is unimportant," the other man said, suddenly drawing both Ichigo and Jaune's attention. The man was tall – maybe as tall as the Captain that Jaune and Ichigo had been fighting earlier. He had ragged, dark hair that partially obscured his weary, stubble covered face and the brown sunglasses over his eyes. He had a long cloak of black that looked as if it swallowed all light that touched it save for the red fire that burned within. "I know how your ally entered your Inner World, but it does not matter. You must be tested."
Jaune frowned and glared at the man. "Why do you need to test Ichigo... Um... Mister..."
"Oh, right, I've never had to introduce him to anyone before. This is Old Man Zangetsu," Ichigo explained, gesturing with one hand at the tall man.
"Zang – Your sword?" Jaune asked. He looked up at the man's calm glare, then cast a glance around them. "So, this must be Ichigo's Heart."
The man did not answer, instead turning to Ichigo. A sword materialized in his hand and he tossed it haphazardly at the Reaper so that the blade spun around and threatened to cut someone in half. The orange haired young man yelped and tried to catch the sword, hand nearly slashing against the blade while it bounced in and out of his grasp due to his sudden fear and surprise at the blade's appearance. Jaune watched with an eyebrow raised when Ichigo finally managed to grab hold of the sword. "What the hell, Old Man? You shouldn't throw swords at people!"
Zangetsu just glared at Ichigo before growling, "This is your sword."
Jaune glanced between the two. "I thought you were his sword," the Keyblade Wielder muttered in confusion.
Zangetsu stopped and turned to glare at Jaune. Unabated hatred was visible behind his sunglasses and Jaune felt like something was burning a hole in his forehead. "You are an invader here, Key Knight. Do not interfere in our affairs." Zangetsu turned next to Ichigo. "That sword will suffice for one such as you – a weak Reaper who does not understand what it is to wield his Zanpakuto. A child."
Jaune and Ichigo both turned as the sound of manic laughter suddenly appeared, shooting past them and landing with its back to them. The figure was the same height as Ichigo, and he had the cloth of Ichigo's massive cleaver in his right hand, spinning it around to create a massive circular blade of death. The figure turned around, and they saw that the weapon wasn't where the similarities to Ichigo ended. He looked almost exactly like the young man, though everything about him was inverted. His skin and hair were a pale, almost bone white. His teeth were a deep black, the same as the sclera of his eyes. He had evil, orange irises. He was dressed in a similarly inverted outfit. "Hi there, Partner! And... Blondie. It's good to see you both!" It said in Ichigo's voice, though there was a manic tone that made him sound … wrong. Then the creature leaped towards them, suddenly stopping the circular movement of the blade and sending it flying towards Jaune and Ichigo. They threw themselves in opposite directions, both rolling across the side of the building and to their feet.
Jaune summoned the Keyblade as his front foot hit the ground. He glared up at the creature soaring through the air, swinging the sword around in a circle again. It landed just beside Ichigo and began to mercilessly assault him, using the oversized blade in its hands to the fullest extent. Ichigo could barely keep up or manage to block with the tiny blade clutched in his hands. The second Ichigo spun around and delivered a powerful two handed blow, sending Ichigo flying across the surface of the building and nearly off the edge. Jaune snarled and jumped up to go help, only to be slapped away by Zangetsu. "You cannot interfere, Key Knight. This is Ichigo's test to see if he is worthy to wield me! He must take me back with his own two hands or die trying!" the old man snapped as Jaune pushed himself back up to his feet.
Jaune shut his eyes tight, thinking back to when Salem had trapped him in his own Heart. He had been chained in his own Darkness, the monster threatening to devour him. He wasn't going to let anyone else go through that. "I refuse!" Jaune growled suddenly. His eyes flew open and he sprinted at Zangetsu with Keyblade in a low grip trailing at his side. Jaune slashed upward, trying to bisect the figure. He moved around the attack, leaving nothing but a trail of black and red behind him that the Keyblade moved harmlessly through. Jaune slammed his foot in front of him, stopping his momentum and letting him turn to attack Zangetsu again. "A good friend of mine told me that if you're friends, you never fight alone! So no – Ichigo isn't fighting alone!"
Zangetsu disappeared without a word, causing Jaune's sideways slash to hit nothing but air. From behind the blonde Keyblade Wielder came a voice: "Your foolish nature belies intelligence. I had not expected that, Key Knight." Jaune turned around and raised the Kingdom Key, barely blocking the wave of power that exploded out from Zangetsu. The building beneath Jaune was protected, but the wave spread around him like a wake that shattered the stone, steel, and glass. Black and red energy filled Jaune's vision and slowly began to erode his defense. He held fast, despite the sudden burning sensation running up and down his arms.
Jaune fell to one knee when the wave ended, smoke rising from his shoulders. "That was... that was... Darkness..."
Zangetsu stared down at him dispassionately. "It was power, Dark or Light it matters little. You should know better than most all Hearts contain both." Jaune grimaced angrily at the truth of those words. He better than most?
Jaune forced himself to his feet and glared at the cloaked man. "What's that supposed to mean?"
His only response was four words: "You smell of Darkness fought." Then Zangetsu grabbed him by the throat and tossed him across the tower again. Jaune shut his eyes tight. He had to get to Ichigo and help him, but he couldn't do that with Zangetsu attacking him like this! He hit the side of the skyscraper a few seconds later and bounced across it, coming to a stop on his back. "And you are stronger for it, Key Knight. If you fight the battles of others for them, they will never get stronger!" Jaune opened his eyes and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a quick beam of Darkness coming from Zangetsu's cloak.
He glanced around and caught sight of Ichigo a few dozen feet to his right. With Zangetsu, the three of them formed a triangle, meaning Jaune couldn't hope to get to Ichigo. But he had to help! He had to – Jaune stopped and suddenly thought back to when Sora and Ren had entered his Heart, the memories appearing as if by their own accord. They'd been there, they'd helped him... but they'd let him do it himself. And he had been stronger for it. Jaune glared at Zangetsu for a moment, hoping he was right. Eventually, he dismissed his Keyblade. "Ichigo will win," he said resolutely, finally understanding what all of this was about.
The man in the cloak didn't smile at his victory, though his stance changed from aggressive to calm as he turned to glare at the ongoing battle between Ichigo and White. Jaune watched him nervously, half expecting that the sword spirit would assault him again. Eventually, he let his gaze drift towards Ichigo. "Come on, you can do it..."
Ichigo was being pushed back steadily by his cackling mirror image, barely managing to bring his tiny sword to bear against the wide swings and whip like slashes of the cleaver. Jaune gritted his teeth, worried when another massive blow nearly tossed Ichigo's replacement sword out of his hands, followed by an upward blow that flipped him in place. White spun and slammed his elbow into Ichigo's gut, causing him to tumble across the surface of the skyscraper. White's massive sword came around on its cloth whip again and slammed into the ground where Ichigo's head was, barely missing when the Reaper rolled out of the way. Ichigo watched White carefully, waiting for the next attack. He ducked beneath one whip, then sidestepped another. The third, unfortunately, hit his block and he was forced to one knee.
"Enough already, let's just end this thing!" White said with a shake of his head. He raised his blade behind his shoulder and began to charge Ichigo. "I'm going to show you what it truly means to fight with Zangetsu's full strength, Partner! You couldn't do that even if you died trying!"
"Show me how to fight beside you, Zangetsu! How I can share my strength with you... and you with me. Please let me fight with you now!" Ichigo roared. He stood up and began running towards White in a single motion, his tiny sword trailing behind him.
Jaune blinked once, surprise filling his eyes. Ichigo's weapon had just changed in his grasp, turning once more into the massive meat cleaver White had been holding. White, meanwhile, stumbled over his own feet when he found he was holding the tiny blade Ichigo had been using before. "What!?" White and Jaune shouted.
Ichigo didn't let it slow him down. He simply ran up to White and shattered the negative creature's blade with a single clean swipe.
Then Jaune found himself on his back once more, the Keyblade moving towards the sword rushing at his head from above. He yelped and moved the Keyblade as fast as he could, causing the tip of the Zanpakuto to crash into the side of the Keyblde. A small Reflect wall appeared around the point of contact, sending the giant, Darkness controlled monster of a Reaper stumbling backwards. "Good job. Now get off!" Ichigo grumbled from beneath Jaune. The Keyblade Wielder grinned sheepishly down at his friend, then rolled to the side off of him and prepared to defend the two of them again. Ichigo stood beside him moment later, ready to square off with their opponent as well.
"You feeling stronger after your 'conversation?'" Jaune inquired without moving his eyes from the Captain.
"I think so," Ichigo said, voice sharp and filled with determination.
"Then let's hit him as hard as we can." He held his Keyblade out to his side. Ichigo glanced at the weapon for a moment, then crossed it with Zangetsu. The two weapons flashed brightly for a moment and the two warriors raised their weapons overhead.
The Darkness controlled captain grinned wildly and the aura around his shoulders flared up, consuming the pathway and creating a skull like visage in the air behind him. He laughed like a monster then sprinted towards Ichigo and Jaune, blade glinting as the Dark aura filled it up and elongated its form. He began to bring it up, slicing through the ground and leaving a jagged line through it as it moved up to kill the two of them. The Keyblade and Zangetsu flared up, blades of Light extending. Ichigo and Jaune slashed down as one, their roars mixing with the monster's.
The blades collided with the monster's, causing the Light and the Darkness to explode violently outward. Jaune and Ichigo yelled out in pain and surprise as they were thrown apart from the man, who himself was tossed backwards by the explosion. Ichigo and Jaune soared high into the air, then hard into the ground. Jaune pushed himself up to his feet despite the dizzy feeling in his head. "Ouch," he grumbled.
Ichigo hissed in pain and stood up. He agreed, "Yeah." He scratched the back of his head and glared over at the unconscious Captain. "Good, he's unconscious. I really thought victory would entail getting stabbed and nearly killed."
"Does that happen to you a lot?" Jaune asked, confused.
"Does it not happen to you?" Ichigo retorted, just as confused.
Jaune was about to point out that no, it was not that way for most people, when he was cut off by the sudden, very surprising appearance of a tiny girl with pink hair standing above the unconscious Captain. She was dressed in a tiny version of the usual Soul Reaper's garb, with a loosely fitting band on her left arm. She was clutching a pink handled sword in her left hand by a string connected to its tsuba. "Kenny! You're better!" She waited for a response that didn't come. She frowned then nodded and smiled. "Yep, you just need to sleep it off!"
Jaune and Ichigo flinched when she turned to look at them. "Thanks for helping out Kenny, you two. He's going to be really angry he didn't get to fight you, but you can always play with him later," the little girl said sweetly. She waved at Jaune and Ichigo. "Who are you?"
"The name's Ichigo Kurosaki."
"My name's Jaune," he said, walking forward. He crouched down face to face with her, smiling kindly and speaking clearly to her unpatronizingly. "What are you doing here, Sweetie?"
"I'm here for Kenny, Puppy!" the little girl laughed. "I'm Yachiru."
"P-puppy?" Jaune asked, feeling embarrassed. Better than Vomit Boy, I guess.
"Jaune, we have to get going," Ichigo said. He had a feeling this little girl was more dangerous than either of them thought.
"We can't just leave the little girl all alone!" Jaune protested innocently.
"I'm not alone. I told you, I'm with Kenny!" the little girl pouted and pointed at the unconscious Captain. "I keep him safe."
"Yeah... you're right, we should probably help her," Ichigo muttered at that crazy thought. That little, innocent girl hanging around that monster? That sounded like she was bound to get hurt.
"I don't need any help keeping Kenny safe," Yachiru said, hefting his torso above her head. Suddenly slightly more serious she smiled at Ichigo's and Jaune's surprised faces. A little girl was holding that giant of a man up? "Don't worry, he's going to be fine after a short nap. Then you guys can play together again!" She began to drag the man off, humming excitedly to herself.
"Or maybe she's fine," Jaune suggested.
"Yeah. Probably fine," Ichigo agreed.
The girl turned around and smiled from beneath the unconscious man one more time. "Bye bye Puppy! See ya, Ichii!" Then she trotted off at a surprising speed with that beast above her head.
Jaune and Ichigo watched her leave for a moment, then shook their heads. "We've got to get moving," Ichigo said. Jaune nodded, and the two took off in the same direction that Emerald, Mercury, and Ganju had run off before their battle with 'Kenny.'
S M H S
"Are you sure we're going the right direction?" Jaune asked as they continued running down the unremarkable pathway that was impossible to differentiate from any of the others in this place.
"Wh – I mean, yeah! I'm sure," Ichigo said defensively, grumbling as they ran sprinted side by side.
"Calm down, I was just asking," Jaune muttered to the side. He kept his eyes on the road before them, knowing this was better than nothing. The Keyblade came into his view with every step; the two of them had decided it was best one of them have a weapon at the ready in case someone tried to catch them unawares. "So, how'd you meet Rukia?"
"She killed me."
"Oh, that's uh... nice," Jaune muttered. Ichigo had quite the weird group of friends.
"Kind of. The only way to unlock my powers was to stab me directly through the heart with her Zanpakuto," Ichigo explained as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
Jaune grinned nervously. It was still seemed a little... excessive. "Yeah, when Pyrrha helped me with my... abilities, all it took was a poem and holding hands."
"Oh, a girlfriend? She waiting for you some -"
"She's dead."
Ichigo felt his words catch in his throat and he began to cough like he was choking on them. "I, uh... I mean – Sorry."
Jaune sighed and continued running, fighting off the old pain. "It's fine, you didn't know. Let's just focus on keeping your girlfriend from ending up the same way."
"That bossy little girl is not my girlfriend," Ichigo growled.
"I'm just messing with you," Jaune grinned. He slid to a stop, catching sight of the long, thin bridge they had just come across. A massive door was open at the other end of the bridge, leading into the white 'Repentance Cells' where the others awaited with this Rukia they were risking everything to save. "Good. Finally got here."
"Rukia!" Ichigo shouted, sprinting past Jaune, waving his hands over his head.
"Even if she isn't your girlfriend, Man, acting like that is going to make everyone think that she is," Jaune muttered under his breath. He shook his head, then began to jog across the bridge after his friend.
Inside the cells, Ganju was facing the door with a sour, pained look on his face. Emerald and Mercury were glancing between him and a young woman at the back of the room nervously. "Oh, good. Blondie and Strawberry are here," Mercury muttered. He shook his head and gestured at the young woman in white at the back of the room. "Maybe you two can get Ice Queen here to cooperate."
"Ice Queen?" the young woman snapped, turning on her heel. Jaune could certainly understand why they had called her Ice Queen. She was almost as pale as Weiss was, and her face was just as haughty and indignant, too. She was a lot shorter than Weiss, though, which said a lot, and her features were sufficiently different that he wouldn't confuse them. Rukia had deep black hair and violet eyes, and the shape of her face was much sharper. Her haughty glare turned scared, then overwhelmingly happy, and finally terrified when she caught sight of Ichigo. She let her gaze fall so her eyes were obscured."Kurosaki!? What are you doing here, I told you not to come! I don't want you here! I said I'd never forgive you if you followed me!"
Ichigo watched her hide her tears with a sad, sympathetic scowl on his face. Jaune remained quiet, knowing this would all be explained eventually. Rukia continued berating her supposed savior. "You... I don't know how you roped all these people into this suicide mission, but look at you! You have a huge scar across your chest and blood stains all over your clothes, and you haven't even faced the worst of it."
"Well you can yell at me about this later," Ichigo said calmly. He gestured at Jaune, Ganju, Emerald, and Mercury. "Like you said, I roped my new friends into this suicide mission, so maybe you could come along for their sake at the very least."
"No! I -"
"Hey! I'm not taking no for an answer!" Ichigo shouted, stunning the short woman. "You can't think for a second I'd just give up on you after coming this far, Rukia! You're my friend, you've done nothing wrong, and I'm not letting anybody hurt you. You got that!? I'm the rescuer here, so just shut up and listen to me!"
"L-listen –?" Rukia snapped, her features becoming indigant again. She got up into Ichigo's face and began to shout. "What did you say? Who do you think you are, ordering me around like this!? A rescuer doesn't get to ignore the rescuee!"
"What kind of rescuee doesn't want to be rescued!?" Ichigo shouted back, his forehead almost touching Rukia's.
"Seriously, for not being together they argue like an old married couple."
"They aren't together?" Emerald asked, somewhat surprised by this revelation.
Jaune shrugged. "You two aren't together?"
"Not for my lack of trying," Mercury said with a smirk.
"Shut up, idiot," Emerald growled.
"This isn't going well," Ganju muttered, moving beside Jaune and watching the two pairs argue at the top of their lungs. "We need to get out of here before any Captains show up."
"Yeah, we fought one," Jaune explained, his face twisted into a grimace. "I'd rather not do that again so soon.
"You fought that one? And you're not dead?" Ganju inquired in confusion. "Without running away?"
"He wasn't really in control of himself," Jaune said. He walked forward. "Guys?" The argument continued. "Guys?" More shouting. Jaune growled angrily and raised his Keyblade above his head. "STOP!" The room froze and Jaune let out a sigh of relief. It looked like things were slowly coming back to him. When he didn't need them to survive, at least.
Jaune sighed and dismissed his Keyblade. "Good, now, how about you introduce us, Ichigo?" Jaune suggested as the spell began to time out and movement returned to everyone.
"What was that!?" Ichigo shouted at Jaune.
Jaune shook his head, then pointed at himself. "The name's Jaune Arc. It's short, sweet, and the ladies love it."
"Do they?" Rukia inquired.
Jaune's gaze fell to the ground, clearly wounded. He muttered to himself, "Why does everyone ask that?"
Ichigo shrugged and gestured at Jaune. "Jaune's here looking for his friend Yang. Those two are Emerald and Mercury, they're not Jaune's friends. They're firm on that," Ichigo muttered, pointing at the two criminals.
"Very firm," Mercury said with a thumbs up.
"Can we get going? Blondie promised he'd get us out of here since we helped him find you," Emerald suggested impatiently. She gestured over her shoulder at the exit. "And I'd rather not fight more of these Soul Reaper tools. I saw some guy with flower petals beating the crap out of somebody way below when we were on our way here."
"Flower – oh, no," Rukia muttered. She looked over at Ichigo. "No, Ichigo, you all need to run! Now! You're in terrible dang -" She was cut off when a massive wave of power suddenly washed over all of them, making everyone present feel like a massive weight had been placed on their shoulders.
"W-what the hell?" Ichigo groaned. He stumbled to the door, with the others quickly following suit. He and Jaune caught sight of a man with pale features and a permanent, haughty scowl standing outside. He glared at Jaune and Ichigo within the doorway and the weight on the two of them increased exponentially.
"No, Byakuya..." Jaune and Ichigo looked over their shoulders at Rukia's terrified face.
"Your brother," Ichigo grunted as he turned back to this newcomer. "Good, we have a score to settle."
"Your brother wants to kill you?" Jaune asked the woman sympathetically. That was... awful.
"Ichigo, no! He'll kill you, just leave! Run away, it's not worth this much trouble to just die!" Rukia snapped. She walked up to Jaune and turned him towards her. "Can you convince this idiot to get away now!?"
Jaune looked down at her terrified eyes and was suddenly reminded of Pyrrha. She had given him that same look when she had thrown him into a locker and stopped him from helping her. It had probably saved his life.
But he had the strength now to stand up for others, and he wasn't going to let Ichigo go through the pain of watching her die because she was too stubborn to take some help. "No," he said. He turned back with Ichigo and the two began to walk towards Byakuya.
"We'll run away," Mercury suggested to Rukia.
"Kurosaki. It appears I was too soft with you when last we met," Byakuya said, his voice smooth and condescending. "I will not make that mistake again." He drew his blade and began to walk towards the two warriors at a slow, deliberate gait.
"Neither will I," Ichigo growled. He moved his hand up to his own weapon and drew it in a single, fluid motion. He sprinted towards Byakuya with reckless abandon, swinging Zangetsu into Byakuya's weapon in a massive two handed blow. Byakuya simply blocked it with one hand on his weapon's handle, taking the attack in stride. Ichigo moved quickly into his next attack, but it too was easily deflected.
Jaune ran up and jumped over the fighting duo, landing behind Byakuya and slashing at the man's back. The Captain took a half step back, avoiding both this attack and that of Ichigo. Zangetsu and the Kingdom Key crashed into each other, then Byakuya slashed down on the locked blades with his own sword. Jaune and Ichigo stumbled towards each other and their foreheads slammed together at full speed. "You two are far less skilled than even my last opponent," he said quietly. He disappeared in a blur of black lines, reappearing behind Jaune and kicking the young man right into Ichigo. The two tumbled off the edge of the bridge, screaming in fear. Jaune threw his arm out and grabbed onto the edge of the bridge, catching hold of Ichigo with his other.
"Alley oop," Jaune grunted as he dragged the substitute Reaper up and tossed him back onto the bridge, launching Ichigo into a two handed overhead attack on Byakuya. Using the momentum of throwing Ichigo, Jaune hoisted himself up onto the bridge, too, and swept at Byakuya's ankles simultaneously. Byakuya blocked Ichigo's attack with minimal effort, then glanced down. He disappeared in another flash of blurred lines, reappearing out of the path of Jaune's attack.
"Enough." Byakuya raised his blade in front of his body and disappeared in a flash once more, black streaks signaling his disappearance. Ichigo ws the first to feel Byakuya's wrath, when the sword streaked across his back. Blood flew into the sky and Jaune heard Rukia scream out in anguish. Jaune rushed forward to try and save Ichigo, only to be blown back by some sort of spell slamming into his chest. Jaune landed on his back with a thud.
"Urgh... Have to stay awake," Jaune commanded himself when his vision began to slowly black out. He pushed himself up and forced himself to stay conscious.
"So, another human of great endurance. I was surprised to meet one in this 'Yang,' but to find one in you is another matter."
"Yang?" Jaune asked, his mind clearing for a moment.
"So you knew her. She was a worthy opponent until the end," the Captain said. He seemed oddly honest in his words. Not that it mattered to Jaune's horrified mind.
"W-was?" Jaune asked, eyes widening when he realized what Byakuya was saying. The world turned a dull red and his grip on the Keyblade in his hand tightened, becoming white knuckled. He had killed Yang? He should have been there to help her, to keep her safe! She was his friend, dammit! Jaune snarled and Darkness called from the part of his Heart he had tried to repress pulsed out of his Keyblade, swirling around his shoulders. "You killed her!?" He launched himself at Byakuya, crashing into the man and shattering his guard instantaneously.
The Captain slid backwards a few feet before steadying himself and clutching at his arm. "So, that is a Keyblade. I was unsure given your weakness, but now... I will not tolerate such a threat to Soul Society." He stood up straight and sidestepped the next massive attack that came his way, raising his weapon out to his side. "Scatter, Senbonzakura." The blade shattered, swirling away in a vortex of deadly pink blades. The cloud slammed into Jaune, but he shrugged it off. With a spin of the Keyblade around him, Darkness mingled with the blades and sent them flying away, dispersed like in a tornado.
Jaune didn't even wonder how this man could know what a Keyblade was, instead just moving in to attack. A blade of Darkness flew out of the Keyblade and a cloud of petals swirled around to block the attack, but it was useless as Jaune jumped through the wall with weapon raised over his head. "I'll kill you for hurting my friend!" he snarled, slashing down. Byakuya sidestepped it with an exertion that was, for him, quite visible. He moved past the next attack and landed a blow with his open palm directly in Jaune's sternum. The Keyblade wielder, in his fervor, ignored the pain and continued to attack unabated.
Byakuya gritted his teeth and continued to land blows on Jaune, though they continued to be ignored. Jaune slashed at Byakuya again, and the man was not quick enough to dodge this time. Darkness slammed into his chest and the Captain was sent stumbling backwards. However, this had given him space from Jaune, so he jumped backwards even further to avoid the next Dark slash. "You are born from Darkness, aren't you." He raised his empty blade and aimed it at Jaune, summoning up all of the petals once more and sending them flying directly at the young man. "Darkness and madness, that which legends say is connected to the Keyblade. The end of the world, all because of you."
Jaune heard that and stumbled backwards, each word hitting him hard. The Darkness around his shoulders faded away when he realized what he was doing. He'd lost control because of a friend's death. Pyrrha had sacrificed herself to save his Heart from Darkness. She wouldn't want this. Hell, Yang wouldn't want this and it was because of losing her – a friend – that he was losing control. "What... where..?" Jaune wondered aloud. He dropped his Keyblade and looked around with hazy eyes.
"Blondie look out!"
Jaune looked up just in time to see a swarm of pink petals hit him head on before everything went black.
"Ichigo, Jaune!" The others sprinted out of the tower, with Emerald sliding to a stop above Jaune and Mercury above Ichigo. The two cast Cure spells, healing both slightly but not rousing either from unconsciousness. Rukia watched the wound stitch shut and looked up at Mercury. "What are you?"
"An assassin," Mercury said matter of factly.
"Bullshit," Ganju muttered from above Ichigo. He drew his dagger from his back. "Now get these three out of here. I'll buy you some time."
"Bullshit," Mercury muttered in retort.
"Unfortunately, I have to agree with the silver haired boy," a voice said from above. A woman with long, purple hair and rich, dark skin appeared, descending on a large singular wing. She had an orange shirt on and a pair of tight black pants with cream leg warmers covering her purple boots and the bottom of her leggings. Similarly colored cloth was tied around her forearms like protective gear. She landed between Byakuya, whose sword had just reconstituted into a single blade, and Jaune who was still unconscious on the ground.
"Yoruichi..." Byakuya said, his calm broken for a moment. He took a half step back.
"Been a long time, Byakuya," Yoruichi said coolly, matching the captain's glare with her own.
Byakuya, still yet to fully steady himself, just repeated the woman's name. "Yoruichi Shihoin."
"Byakuya, you just showed these two can't beat you yet. Your superiority was never in question," the woman said. She bent down and threw Jaune over one shoulder; the Keyblade disappeared. Next she walked over to Ichigo and threw him over the other. "So I'll be taking them both, and in no time at all, they'll easily beat you down."
"You would risk letting a Keyblade Wielder live?" Byakuya asked. He shook his head in disappointment, then launched himself at the woman. She snarled and disappeared, reappearing behind him.
"I don't have time to play tag with you, Byakuya. Maybe we'll have another opportunity." Then she jumped and disappeared in a burst of lines, smirking at the captain she had just left behind.
Byakuya watched her go for a few seconds, his hands quivering with rage at her effortless escape. While he stared off into the distance, Emerald, Mercury, Ganju, and Rukia stayed stone still. Something about the Captain right now told them that doing otherwise was a... dangerous prospect. Finally, the man turned to them, rage behind his otherwise calm eyes. "We, uh... we're probably pretty dead, aren't we?" Mercury asked. He raised his hands defensively in front of his body, readying for a losing fight.
"Dammit," Emerald muttered under her breath, the closest she'd get to verbally admitting he was right.
"Return to your cell, Rukia," Byakuya ordered. He shoved past the two human warriors and ignored Ganju readying to fight as well. The Captain grabbed hold of his sister's white shoulder and turned her towards her cell. "Go."
"Yes, brother," Rukia muttered, and she began to dutifully walk back.
"Wait, where are you going? You're listening to this a-hole?" Byakuya and Rukia both turned in surprise to the source of the voice.
"Okay, Merc, now it's my turn to point out the stupid," Emerald hissed, but Merc didn't really hear.
"You aren't even going to try to survive? You're just going to let someone kill you?" Mercury asked, astounded beyond belief. "Someone who just tried to kill your friend?"
"He's my family – like you'd understand!" Rukia snapped, her face turning red with indignant rage.
"Hey! I killed my dad because he tried to kill me, so shut the hell up about what I don't know!" Mercury snapped, pointing his finger at her. "What's the point of a brother or dad who tries to kill you, Ice Queen? If you aren't alive, you can't do what you love. For me, that's fighting, screwing around, and making Emerald as uncomfortable as possible. Are you really going to let everything you love to do never get done again?"
"Insolent human. Be glad I do not have the time for you," Byakuya snapped. He raised his outstretched hand towards Mercury, Ganju, and Emerald. A bright white light began to glow around the outline of his fingers, filling the vision of his three targets. "The Head Captain must be alerted to the presence of a Keyblade among the Ryoka. Now, Tanma Otoshi – Sleep."
"God dammit, Merc, you couldn't just keep your idiot mouth shut?" Emerald growled before everything went black. Her last thought was wondering if she should have wasted a wish on running away.
S M H S
Jaune yawned and rolled over onto his side. He didn't really want to wake up just yet. Sleep was nice. Sleep didn't slash him with a thousand unpredictable, undodgeable blades of death. Sleep didn't bash him over the head like a Darkness controlled Soul Reaper captain. Sleep was nice. He was warm, and no one was hitting him. Well, usually.
"Wake up, Jaune. I'm not letting you sleep all day." A large foot hit his back probably harder than meant by the person it belonged to.
"Ah, five more minutes, Mom," he mumbled, rolling onto his chest and placing his eyes on the back of his arm to block out the light. "I'm still tired."
"Mommy? Isn't it a bit early in our relationship for that?" Jaune was kicked onto his back by the same boot, this time accompanied by derisive laughter. He groaned and covered his face. He wasn't going to give whoever this was the satisfaction of waking him up. "Hey, Vomit Boy, wake up."
Jaune's eyes flew open. Only one person still called him that, and he was tired of it! "For the last time, Yang, don't – " Jaune froze, just staring at the smirking face of the blonde woman above him. "Yang?"
"Not 'Mommy?'" Yang mocked. She placed her hands on her hips and gave him a big smirk.
Jaune blushed but ignored it. "Yang, you're alive!" he shouted, tears welling up. "Yang, I was so worried after that Byakuya guy said he killed you, I..." Jaune shook his head, not wanting to think about it, and tried to push himself up to hug Yang, only to be stopped by her boot. "Yang, let me up so I can give you a hug!"
"First, did you really call me Mommy earlier?" Yang said with a smirk.
Jaune sighed and shook his head. He grunted, "Never mind. I forgot why everything was so much funnier without you around. Now it's clear."
"Oh, that's not nice." Yang smirked and leaned forward on her foot slightly, causing Jaune to slam against the dirt floor, the air rushing out of his chest. She laughed and continued with, "You're grounded until you apologize."
"Ugh..." Jaune grumbled. He slapped Yang's leg off when her laughter became hard enough that she couldn't keep it firmly on his chest. Jaune pushed himself up and crossed his arms, glaring at her for going there with her joke. Finally, he just sighed and jumped forward, hugging her. "I was so worried I was going to have to tell Ruby you got killed."
"Wh – Eh?" Yang shook her head and pushed Jaune away. "I'm glad you're happy to see me, but why would I be dead?"
"Because you dueled with Byakuya." Jaune turned and summoned the Keyblade, glaring at the newcomer, a woman with dark skin and attractive features. "Except for you two and Ichigo, he tends to easily murder everyone he fights."
He dismissed his weapon and grinned at her. "Hi. The name is Jaune Arc – it's short, sweet, the -" he was cut off by Yang's arm looping around his mouth.
"Don't mind him, Yoruichi. Like I told you earlier, Jaune doesn't know how to talk to women he hasn't met before," Yang said over his muffled cries. She tightened her grip and his cries died out.
"It's fine. It's almost cute," the woman with the purple hair said. She watched Yang let go of Jaune, then waved at him. "Hello, I'm Yoruichi Shihoin. I saved you, Ichigo, and Yang from Byakuya." She walked closer, and got close to examine Jaune. "So, Keyblade Wielder, how do you like it here?"
Jaune looked around at the massive stone cavern. Somewhere from the other side of the cavern, behind a series of large stones, was coming the sound of battle. Sword shards were raining down like shrapnel. "It's... large." He blinked once and shouted out worriedly. "Wait, where's Ichigo!? Ichigo!"
"Hey, is that Jaune!?" The Keyblade wielder looked up at the stone at the center of the cavern. Ichigo was pulling himself up over the stone, an angular and oddly shaped blade in his hand. He stood up tall and began to wave down at the Keyblade Wielder. "Oh, hey! It's good to see you're finally awake!"
"Focus, Master."
Ichigo's brow furrowed and he angrily turned back. "I'm coming, Zangetsu," Ichigo shouted over his shoulder. He returned his gaze to Jaune and waved goodbye before jumping back into action against Zangetsu.
Rather than question what was going on right then, Jaune decided to make sure everything was okay. "Is he gonna be alright?"
"He'll be fine," Yoruichi told Jaune dismissively. She almost sounded like she didn't care, though that she had gone to such great lengths to save them didn't fit with that tone of voice.
Jaune frowned for a moment before asking, finally, "What do you want with us?"
Yoruichi smiled softly. "Keyblades are rare. Kisuke wasn't even sure that they existed," she explained simply. She eyed the young man with an intrigued look. "And the legends surrounding them are... varying. Having seen how differently you fought against Kenpachi and then Byakuya, it's easy to tell why."
Jaune's face fell. He had lost control in front of everyone. "What about Mercury, Emerald, Ganju, and Rukia? Are they here?" Jaune asked, worried about even the criminals despite himself. They'd been helpful and even managed to save his life.
Yang scoffed derisively. Despite the fact that they had helped defeat Salem, Yang was of the opinion – just as almost everyone except Sora was – that they had only done so to save their own skins. At the end of the day, they were a pair of terrorists. "Those two are here? Great, I bet everyone's on high alert because they stole something or blew something up."
"Actually, all they did was help. Again." Jaune shook his head, disappointed in himself, and moved on to the next topic: "I lost control when I heard you died, Yang. I thought I'd lost another friend and that you'd lost your mom, and..." He sat down and sighed. "I was too weak to do anything, as usual."
"Which is why you'll be training here with Ichigo." The two looked up at Yoruichi's suddenly very serious face. She raised a hand to her chin, pondering something for a few moments, then said, "Though, Yang, I do have a favor to ask of you. When the heat dies down a little, I need you to check in on a place called Central 46. Kisuke was worried about what might show up there during all of this."
"Good, I've been dying to get out of here," Yang said with a grin. She slammed her fists together and turned to Jaune. "But in the mean time, from what you've told me it sounds like you've been embarrassing Beacon with your fighting. I feel like I should remind you of our old classes – violently!"
"You slept through our classes!" Jaune protested.
What he got in reply was a fist slamming into his chest that sent him right to the ground. "Not the fighting ones."
Jaune palled. This was going to be a rough few days.