...

Hitsugaya couldn't help but stare at the scene below them, shock and awe clear on his, and he figured the other two captain's faces.

The only one indifferent was the third captain who stood two feet ahead of them.

Aizen Sosuke was the only one who was unsurprised.

And even if out of the four of them he had every right not to be surprised- It was incomprehensible to think of...

A Zanpakuto was a very, very dense weapon. One that could survive even what its user could not. One that grew far more powerful as time passed, at a rate far greater than it's the user could match. It was that very fact that made them so utterly useful and made him so grateful that they chose to serve them.

By those facts alone... Oetsu Nimaiya was presumed to have lived since the ascension of the Soul King- If it could even be called that anymore. He shook his head, unwilling to go down the cavern of thought that surrounded their so-called king. It had clearly broken Captain Byakuya's worldview, and if a man of his... Will could be brought so low, he did not wish to find out what it would do to himself.

Regardless, ignoring that unnerving train of thought, he focused back on the matter that had perplexed him. He, and the two close captains beside him. And no doubt every other captain for that matter, all of them witnessing the scene before him from their own safe distances. The Captain Commander himself was likely of the same headspace.

He focused on the fact that a Zanpakuto blade had been incinerated with but a glancing blast.

A Zanpakuto as old as one of, if not the second, oldest Shinigami to ever live.

A Zanpakuto that should've, by all accounts, been indestructible.

What should've been an utterly dense conglomeration of reiatsu, even the sight of it had had the very grounds beneath them shaking, had been burned through like it was made of paper.

And all at the barest of hands of that chaotic, that utterly reprehensible source of reiatsu currently standing before the Royal Guard.

Every instinct in him told him to run. To get as far away as possible. Told him that this was a field he did not have, not now and nor ever, a chance of surviving if he strode forward.

Every instinct told him that to pick a fight with that thing was to condemn himself to a fate worse than death.

Even just staring at its incomprehensible face, at the dark shrouding form that took over it that hurt to look at, at the screeching chainsaw that cried out a sound that had him shivering as it replaced the thing's right arm.

It all made him feel as if he was naught but a young untrained soul roaming the Rukongai, as he once was. Only he wasn't some nameless soul, whose biggest worry was another of his kind... No, it was as if he was a nameless soul standing before a Vasto Lord.

...

"Aizen..." Captain Ukitake remarked slowly as he turned a look towards the man in question, sheer utter worry gracing his face. "Is that truly your Zanpakuto spirit?" He questioned, a hollow tone to his voice.

Aizen didn't turn to look at them. Hell, he didn't even answer the question verbally, instead, he merely gave them a slow nod.

Ukitake, despite the sheer disbelief marking his face, seemed to falter. His words dying in his throat no doubt.

Hitsugaya couldn't blame him.

That was a hard pill to swallow, but what was worse was-

"I had a feeling it was going to be something bad but..." Kyoraku muttered, his gaze focused down on what had become a battlefield of attrition. As he watched one of the Royal Guard knit their bodies back together, having been cleaved in half moments ago, only for Hikifone to find her body scattered into millions of pieces as a black blade sailed out of the spirit's body, one that struck through the former captain of the Gotei Thirteen's heart and promptly exploded her body into veritable black dust.

The spirit was as fast as it was brutal.

"You lied to me Aizen!" The thing roared out. "You told me they were strong!"

In response, another member of the Royal Guard- Tenjiro Kirinji, promptly swarmed the thing with another red waterfall, the man's reiatsu seemingly brighter than before.

To Hitsugaya's own numbness, he watched as the scalding reiatsu, which had penetrated through the thing's body and armor the last time it had been used against it, didn't so much as dent it.

He barely noticed his own hand shaking.

The spirit had been adapting to his foes since the start of the battle but...

This was too much.

Far too much.

To the point that, though he trusted Aizen Sosuke, he felt somewhat worried that the Royal Guard could in fact lose.

Yes, from every piece of knowledge he'd gained of them recently, and even long beforehand, they weren't the type of people he could truly trust. But...

Every part of him was terrified of the thought that the creature could win.

Tenjiro's Scalding technique was, from what he'd seen so far, an ability that required a great deal of preparation- The last time it had been used, the man had spent a minute of pure utter concentration, one that had left him open to attacks, and required three of his colleagues to protect him, and it had barely managed to hurt the thing.

That second attempt had required the man to spend thrice as long, and it had done nothing.

At the sight of his attack failing to do anything, the man's form slackened, his eyes widening in horror, his surprise to the point he hadn't even bothered to defend against the hurricane of black reiatsu that formed around him. The hurricane of black... Rocks? Twisted around at speeds faster than Byakuya's own Zanpakuto ability, and shredded the man's body.

He barely noticed the gulp that came out of him.

He was certain of it.

That thing's reiatsu had materialized into a physical object... Millions of the same one at that.

No matter how hard he squinted his eyes or ran his mind, he failed to come up with a pattern on what it could do- Whenever he felt he'd gotten a handle on what its specialty seemed to be, it threw a wrench into it by creating something new entirely.

From absorbing and returning Hikifone's own attacks to adapting its physical form to the point nothing could dent it.

From possessing Senjumaru's creations to recreating the woman's own imprisonment seal and sealing her inside, after breaking out of its own.

To incapacitating Oetsu Nimaiya's abilities entirely- The man had been forced into the proverbial benches ever since his last attempt at overpowering the cursed spirit had utterly backfired.

With his own personal blade destroyed, Oetsu Nimaiya had called upon hundreds of spirits to battle, and in one swift move, the cursed spirit had set them all free from his control. And every last one of them, in turn, had hunted their former master for reasons unknown.

It had taken Nimaiya almost fifteen deaths before he'd finally quelled them all and if not for the circumstances he would've applauded the man's prowess at taming the Zanpakuto spirits... Only the moment he'd finally tamed the last errant spirit, Aizen's spirit had revealed to the unfortunate royal guard that it had tainted every last one of them with its own reiatsu, and the unfortunate royal guard had unwittingly taken it upon himself.

Even now, near half an hour since the start of the utter mess, the man lay incapacitated on the edge of the field that formerly held Aizen's own barracks, his body shuddering as it spewed black reiatsu out by the second.

All of it was utterly mind-boggling!

What sort of power was this!?

He turned a furtive glance towards Aizen Sosuke's face, finding a serious expression on it.

How...

If he had this at his disposal...

How did this man lose?

"Aizen..." Captain Kyoraku's voice filled their area. "...Be honest..." The man remarked carefully, earning the other's attention as he turned a glance back in his direction. "Have you lost control of it?" A beat passed. "Can you stop it, right now? If you wished to?"

Truth be told, he doubted he had any control over such a thing in the first place... Because if he did then...

How the hell did Aizen tame such a spirit, to begin with? What madness had he needed to go through to...

Hitsugaya didn't know if he really wanted to know.

He'd believed the man when he'd said he was from the future, for everything he'd spoken of had come to pass.

He'd trusted him after that trial when he'd shown more care for their subordinates than any other. Then even Kuchikia Rukia's own brother and her captain!

A shinigami's worth could be found in his treatment of those lesser than them after all.

When he'd proved his strength against those Hollows, he'd felt almost elated at the fact that he was on their side.

But... He'd never really, truly, taken heed of the fact he'd come from the future.

Never truly understood the meaning of what it meant for a shinigami like him to run.

"I can," Aizen answered with a sigh. "...But I won't."

He blinked at that, his mind failing to believe the fact he could back up such a claim.

Perhaps he was simply trying to save face?

He certainly would've preferred it if that was the case... Because if he could stop that thing, then... Then, the future he'd run from truly was a horror none of them were prepared for.

"Why?" Shunsui questioned, yet Aizen's attention fixated on the battleground once again. The speed and urgency of which had caused them all to do the same.

Ichibe Hyusube had finally reformed himself.

Since the thing's ability to adapt had shown itself to them all, Ichibe had formed a black box made of, if Aizen was to be believed, ink. One he'd entered into, before making it and him with it disappear from their sight.

He stiffened as he felt the sheer utter pressure that swarmed all of them, the royal guard captain's frown the only thing they could make out as he swept his spear in a spin before slamming it onto the ground.

"Is this truly the might of the Royal Guard?" Ichibe's voice swarmed all around them as he stared at his subordinates with disappointment. "To lose to such a malformed creature?" He slammed down again.

Hitsugaya's own gaze, despite the shimmering swath of reiatsu that filled each of the fallen shinigami's forms- Hikifone's body knitting back up rapidly, Senjumaru's sealed form breaking free, Tenjiro's dried husk seemingly refilling, while Oetsu's body spewed out the rest of the creature's reiatsu in one go. Every one of them rapidly rose back up to their feet.

"I understand the Gotei Thirteen are certainly too weak-willed to fight it, but I certainly expect better from those promoted by me!" The man slammed the spear again. His body enlarged with every second that passed, as a huge shadow filled the ground beneath him.

Ichibe slammed the spear again, and Senjumaru's minions rose up from the ash they'd turned into, armored and sheathed in what looked to be the same material as the creature itself. Tenjiro's reitsu seemed to turn denser, the swamp-like effect that surrounded his body turned smoother as it rippled across the ground beneath him fluidly, a strange red mist oozing out of him as electricity seemed to arc off his bulging muscles.

Hikifone was the only one that didn't seem to be affected at all at first glance- Yet, to his own trained eyes, he found himself surprised to notice the fact the reiatsu in the air around the five of them was rapidly reducing in amount.

He slammed it again and Oetsu Nimaiya's burnt hilt seemed to slowly reforge, a blinding glare of light echoing out of it as a cheer seemed to emanate out of the man in question.

Still, despite the sudden shock of a recovery, his gaze couldn't tear itself away from Aizen's spirit.

Couldn't turn itself away from the creature's grin.

"Know this spirit! Know the might of those chosen by the Soul King himself!" Ichibe slammed his spear to the ground one last time as ink rapidly filled the silent and still Zanpakuto spirit, and for the first time since it had shown up, wasn't blown away, instead, it seeped down off of it slowly, the spirit's armor, reiatsu and chainsaw hand disappearing with it.

And through all that dark armor, through the blinding glare that its burning hand had created, and through the shadow-covered face, Hitsugaya saw something that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Saw something that had stopped even Ichibe Hyusube in his tracks.

"My turn..." The thing's face cut open into a smile as the words came out.

Ichibe's giant form took a step back, as he raised his spear into the sky, black ink covering it as a strange expression filled his face.

The spirit raised both of its arms, just as Ichibe swiped his ink-covered spear down onto its head.

The weapon struck true, and promptly disappeared into nothingness.

The hole that led to pure darkness had sucked it all in.

Ichibe stumbled the slightest bit, shock writ on his face. The rest of the royal guard, to his surprise, seemed to heed his own instincts as they all shared a look together before rapidly moving away in every direction but the center.

"Wait-" Was all Ichibe managed to utter out before he was swept in a rapidly generating aura of utterly chaotic reiatsu.

"...Time Travel." The creature spoke slowly, as it tilted its head before it made a crushing motion with its fist.

The aura came as quickly as it disappeared, and for a brief moment, he stared ahead, mouth open the slightest bit wondering what had happened.

For Ichibe's form hadn't seemed to be affected at all-

"Because," Aizen's voice broke him out of his stupor, even as Ichibe seemingly as confused was currently looking over his hands quickly. "My purpose is to fix the future,"

"Foolish creature!" Ichibe's voice called out.

"Its purpose is to fix the past." Aizen shrugged. "And I've no intention of stepping on its toes, lest it steps onto mine."

"Did you really think you could threaten me with the fear of what could've been!?" The man barked out as he started building up his reiatsu. "I am the Soul King's first guard! Death means nothing to the likes of me-"

Whatever else the man had been about to say was cut off as the creature started laughing, its reality-breaking face knitting itself back up to what it was before.

"...Time Travel... Is not a vision." The creature remarked as it stared upwards, entirely ignoring the bemused and now wary Royal Guard. "It is but a fact come to life! Your only salvation will be to lose your name!"

"...What?" He couldn't help but ask.

Ichibe's eyes, for a moment, had narrowed as the reiatsu building around him seemed to halt.

After an uncomfortable moment of utter silence passed, the Royal Guard tentatively looked back towards his hands before focusing on the still-smiling spirit.

"Ridiculous." He scoffed, shaking his head. "Truly, you have mocked me for the last time... Prepare yourself nameless spirit..." A beat passed as a strange, shudder-inducing smile showed itself on the Royal Guard's face-

One that had him, once again truly questioning just who the evil between them truly was. That had him almost tempted to learn of what had broken Byakuya's mind to the point of the man glaring with pure anger at every member that supposedly held a higher rank than them.

"For you're headed towards a hell of never-ending darkness!"

Yet, just as Ichibe said the last word, for some reason, the man's body seemed to cave into itself as blood, to his shock, suddenly exploded out of him.

What just- He blinked the moment he realized he hadn't asked that out loud as he'd intended to.

Opening his mouth to question the bleeding corpse of the captain of the Royal Guard, Aizen Sosuke beat him to it with his own chuckle of all things.

"Ichibe Hyusube," Aizen stated casually, a strange glint in his eyes.

The name, unsurprisingly given the way the other members' lives seemed to work, quickly brought the royal guard in question back to life- Yet, unlike the others, to his and everyone else shock, the man was immediately cut down in the exact same way.

What in the Soul Kings name...

What was going on!?

"It punched the future into him," Aizen called out, before he promptly said the royal guard's name again, only this time with what seemed to be vindictive glee.

And like before, Ichibe's body reformed itself and was just as quickly cut down.

Aizen in response, immediately flash-stepped toward the center of the battlefield.

Yet, even as the other two captains followed, he found himself frozen and unable to move at the thought of what Aizen's spirit had done.

The Immortal Royal Guard Captain... Had been stuck in a death loop...

Just... He blinked, his mouth hanging open as he stared at nothing in particular. The same singular thought ran through his head once again. A thought that filled him with far more dread than before.

How the hell had Aizen Sosuke lost!?

...

Hope You Enjoyed! Don't Forget Feedback!