The Whole Hollow
Sorry for the wait everyone. I'm trying to re-read the Soul society arc for this part of the story. This chapter draws some inspiration from Not Quite as Planned by cerokun, so any similarities are not me trying to rip off his work.
Note: I know my previous chapters weren't all that great, but that's because I'm learning new styles and tricks with every fic I read and review I get. Thus, my writing is evolving, so please bear with me, as this story will likely improve if it lives long enough.
I hope you enjoy this.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Ichigo and his friends were in a somewhat prickly situation. They were currently running as fast as their legs could take them through the Dangai precipice world, praying they could get to the exit before the thing chasing them could catch up. What was it that was chasing them you ask? Well that would be the entity known as the Cleaner that patrolled the Dangai, removing any and all that linger in it too much. At the moment, it was trying to 'remove' the Karakura group.
"Damnit!" yelled Ichigo as the group sprinted through the Dangai, "Urahara never mentioned this thing!"
"Worry about it AFTER we get out of here!" Tatsuki yelled back as she ran behind her Hollowfied friend.
"I swear I will rip his hat off and make him eat it if we survive!" yelled Ichigo.
"Less talking, more running!" his friend snapped back.
The group continued to sprint, but trouble arose when the cape of Uryu's Quincy uniform was caught by the cleaner, pulling the bespectacled teen toward the entity wishing to remove him. Luckily for him, Chad thought quickly and used his strength to forcibly remove the cape from Uryu's outfit, before they both resumed their sprint.
"I don't think we're going to make it!" yelled Uryu.
"We have to!" yelled Ichigo.
Just as it seemed that the Cleaner was going to catch the group, Orihime had a burst of inspiration and spun around with her hands on her Hairpins.
"Santen Kesshun, I Reject!"
A triangular orange barrier sprung up between the group and the Cleaner, causing a large burst of energy when the entity slammed into it. Said burst sent the group flying out of the Dangai into open air and it was only Orihime re-summoning her barrier under them that kept them from going splat. The group landed on the triangle of energy and it lowered them to the ground, allowing the group to get off.
"Nice save, Orihime," said Tatsuki as the martial artist caught her breath.
"Thanks," said the orange haired girl.
"You IDIOT!" yelled Yoruichi as the feline leapt up and began to scratch the girl's face.
"What's wrong with you?" asked Ichigo as he and Tatsuki pried the irate cat off their friend.
"If even one of your fairies touched the cleaner, you'd have been done for!" yelled Yoruichi as Tatsuki restrained the feline.
"I'm sorry," said Orihime as she bowed repeatedly to the black cat.
"Anyway," sighed Ichigo as he adjusted his cloak, "where are we?"
"This place looks like some sort of abandoned town in Feudal Japan," muttered Uryu as he looked around.
"Is this really the Soul Society?" asked Sado.
"This is the West Rukongai," said Yoruichi, "specifically, the Junrinan."
"Where are all the people?" asked Tatsuki.
"Probably hiding," said the feline as it jumped to the ground, "we did make a bit of a scene when we arrived."
"I'm guessing that's the Seireitei then," said Ichigo as he looked at the towering city in the distance.
"Yeah," confirmed Yoruichi, "that's the place."
"Well," smirked Ichigo before rushing forward, "then we know our target!"
"Wait, ICHIGO!" yelled Yoruichi as their Hollow companion rushed toward the fortress.
Ichigo paused in his run, and just in time, as several large blocks fell from the sky, forming a massive perimeter wall around the Shinigami City.
"Well well," said a loud booming voice, "it has been a while since someone tried to get in the Hakutōmon without a pass."
When the dust cleared, a giant of a man wearing a modified Shinigami uniform with armor over his left shoulder. In his hand was a hatchet sized to match his larger stature and he loomed over Ichigo menacingly.
"You're a small one," muttered the large man, "I am Jidanbō Ikkanzaka, Gatekeeper of the West Gate!"
"So you're the doorman here," said Ichigo, "well my friends and I need to get in, so could you let us in?"
"HAHAHAHA!" laughed Jidanbō cheerily, "Nobody but nobody gets through the gate without a pass. It's my job as gatekeeper to keep out people like you…though you look strange."
Jidanbō leaned toward Ichigo to get a better look at the Hollowfied teen and his eyes widened in shock as he realized what was standing before him.
"Wait…YOU'RE A HOLLOW!" he exclaimed, "What is a Hollow doing in the Soul Society."
"It's a long story," sighed Ichigo.
"Hollows must not be allowed into the Seireitei!" exclaimed Jidanbō, "As Gatekeeper I will stop you here!"
The giant raised one of his hatchets and brought it down on Ichigo with incredible strength, causing his friends to cry out in alarm as the ground shattered and dust was kicked up from the massive impact.
"ICHIGO!"
"Hoh hoh," sighed Jidanbō, "looks like I made quite a mess, but the threat is…wait, I can't move my axe!"
"Was that your best shot?" Ichigo's voice asked from the cloud of dust.
"Impossible!" said Jidanbō.
As the dust settled, the group was shocked to see Ichigo standing in a large crater that had formed from the impact of Jidanbō's weapon, holding the blade of the large Gatekeeper's axe in a firm grip with his right claw.
"I'm going to have to apologize," said Ichigo before vanishing in a blur of speed and slamming a powerful kick to Jidanbō's face, the force of which knocked the larger man to the ground where he lay there unconscious, "we just want to get through."
"Nice plan, Kurosaki," said Uryu sarcastically, "how are we going to get in without the Gatekeeper?"
"The door doesn't look to be locked with any special seals," said Tatsuki, "maybe it just needs someone strong enough to lift it?"
"My thoughts exactly," said Ichigo as he walked to the gate and gripped the bottom edges.
Ichigo began focusing his power to his muscles and slowly, the gate began to rise up off the ground. The strain was like nothing Ichigo had ever had to endure and he let out a snarl as he fought to lift the massive door high enough for his friends to pass through. Suddenly the burden lessened a bit, and Ichigo saw Sado standing next to him with his right arm in its active state.
"Together," said the large teen before the two of them gripped the massive door and lifted with all their might.
With the two of them combining their significant levels of strength, the two teens managed to lift the massive gate high enough for the group to pass safely, but before they could take a step, an amused laugh made them stop.
"Well well well," said a silver haired man with eyes closed in slits, "what do we have here?"
The man had a perpetual smirk on his face and wore a Shinigami uniform with a white Haori over it with the handle of a sword sticking out on his left side.
"It's not often that someone other than a Gatekeeper opens one of the gates," said the man cheerily, "then again, I've never seen a Hollow team up with a Ryoka either."
"Ichigo, Chad," yelled Yoruichi, "that's a Captain! He's on a completely different league from all of you! Get out of there!"
"I'm sorry, but I can't allow that," said the silver haired Captain as he grabbed his sword, "Shoot to kill…"
"Sado, Ichigo, MOVE!" yelled Yoruichi in a panic.
Ichigo saw the man draw his blade and felt his power spike, so thinking quickly, he spun and used his tail to knock Chad out from under the gate, before diving forward and allowing the massive barrier to slam shut, separating the Hollow from his friends as he rolled to the dirt.
"Shinso!" yelled the Captain as he thrust his blade forward.
Expecting an attack of some sort, Ichigo dodged to the side, and it was that action that saved his life. The Captain's blade extended forward in the blink of an eye and would have sliced him cleanly in half if he hadn't moved when he did. Instead, the blade separated Ichigo's right arm from his body, causing the Captain to smirk as he retracted his blade and the severed limb fell to the dusty ground.
To be continued…
Author's Note: To those of you that think Ichigo and Chad lifting the gate is bull I offer this: Jidanbō was able to lift it, though with a little trouble, and since in canon, Ichigo blocked all of the Gatekeeper's attacks with Zangetsu held in one hand with no discernable effort, so, since Ichigo is stronger now than in Canon, he can lift the giant gate with Chad's help, as the Fullbringer was the brute force fighter in their group and has his Fullbring in it's second stage like it was when they invaded Hueco Mundo.
Otherwise, I welcome thoughts and ideas and if you want spoilers as to what happens next, I ~might be inclined to give…some. ;)
Ciao for now.