Chapter 10: The Awakening
Two dark figures stood on the roof of the Kuchiki mansion, waiting for their chance to enter.
Ggio and Findor, the surviving fraccion of Barragan, had been given a very important task by Aizen – infiltrate the Kuchiki mansion and bring him Rukia and Ichigo's daughter, Aiko. They did not know how he knew of the little girl, but they knew why he wanted them to bring her back with them. Since Ichigo was a viazard, the evil lord had assumed that not only Ryuichi had inherited his father's hollow powers but also Aiko as well. Aizen also knew that the Kuchiki manor would be where the youngest Kurosaki would be kept safe.
The arrancar nodded at each other before stealthily jumping down in front of the manor. They casually walked towards the front entrance, watching for anyone who would defend the mansion from them. After all, even a handful of guards would not be enough for a couple of arrancar.
Sure enough, they were spotted as they came close to the entrance. Ggio grinned as he and Findor drew their swords. The guards attacked with everything they had, but were struck down and slashed immediately. The arrancar wiped their blades with one stroke before sheathing them and entered the manor, chuckling in unison while they quietly tip-toed towards the room where Aiko was staying.
However, an old man – Ginrei Kuchiki - blocked their way; the arrancar continued to smirk.
"What are a couple of arrancar like you doing here?" He demanded, narrowing his eyes. "State your business!"
"Our business?" Findor repeated. "It's none of your concern, old man."
"Yea," Ggio added. "You're no match for us. After all, we answer to Barragan-sama and we are the most powerful. So you had made a grave mistake when you stood up to us. But anyway, you are an old man. You should be dead anyway."
Ginrei sighed as he drew his zampakutou. "Your mistake was coming here in the first place. I should teach you to step on aristocratic grounds."
Before he could do anything, Ggio and Findor used sonido to whisk past him, catching him off guard. Two long and deep slashes emerged across the old man's chest and his blood splashed outward as he fell to the ground. The arrancar chuckled darkly as they sheathed their zampakutou.
They crept toward the door and quietly slid it open, not wanting to wake the child, who was sleeping peacefully in her bed.
Findor motioned to Ggio to take her in his arms, and Ggio sneered at the request. Findor nudged his companion in the arm and glared at him. "Take her, dumbass...or else, Barragan-sama will punish you when he finds out," he whispered. Ggio rolled his eyes in resistance, but he went ahead and followed through with the request. After carefully picking her up from her bed without waking her, Ggio nodded to his companion and the two climbed out of the window.
Using sonido, they de-materialized towards the sky and created a garganta, which marked the end of their mission.
Renji smirked as he reached for his zampakutou. He was looking forward to encounter Gin again and finish his revenge. "You're mine, Ichimaru!" He ran towards Gin with his zampakutou drawn.
Gin frowned as he blocked Renji's strike. "I ain't interested in fighting you, Abarai."
"Too damn bad!" Renji shouted as he tried to slash through Gin's defences. "I've wanted pay back ever since you killed Kira!"
Hinamori's eyes swam with tears when she heard the name. "A-Abarai-Taichou..." She silently whispered, her voice shaky with emotion.
Ruby averted her eyes to her superior in sympathy. She had heard about this man whom her superior loved and what had happened to him, and all what she could do was feel bad for her.
Gin rolled his eyes. "You leave me no choice." He held one hand out with the palm outward and said, "Hadou 33 – Sokatsui!"
A blue fireball escaped from his outstretched palm and collided with Renji's stomach, pushing him back with a shriek. "Renji!" Rukia, Tatsuki, Ruby, and Hinamori shouted in unison.
The wide smirk appeared once again on Gin's face as he turned towards Rukia. "Like I said, I'm not interested in fighting you. All I want is the girl." He chuckled darkly.
Rukia was about to draw her zampakutou when Ruby stepped in front of her. "I don't think so, creep!" She spat. Jade stepped in front as well. "You are to face us," he coolly said as he glared at the snake-like man before them.
"Jade...Ruby," Rukia muttered in surprise.
Ruby smiled as she turned to her lieutenant. "Don't worry about us, Kurosaki-Fukutaichou. We can handle this guy ourselves. You need to worry about rescuing Ryuichi and Kurosaki-Taichou."
Renji stood up with a grunt. The blast did not harm him in any way, but it did surprise him a little. He walked back towards the group and raised an eyebrow when he saw Jade and Ruby standing their ground. "What the hell?"
"Renji, we have to go," Tatsuki said. "They can handle it. We need to worry about the mission."
"I must finish my revenge," he growled.
Rukia rolled as she grabbed her childhood friend's arm and pulled him away. "You're coming with us, Renji. Forget about your revenge for now." Then she turned towards Hinamori. "Come on, Hinamori. They'll be fine."
Hinamori snapped back to reality. "C-coming!" She turned back to the Carmine twins. "Good luck, you two. Don't ever lose to him. He is a very crafty individual."
"Don't worry about us, Hinamori-san," Ruby re-assured with a smile. "We'll take care of him and then join you later. Now go!"
Hinamori nodded at her subordinate and left the area with her group.
Jade and Ruby drew their swords in preparation for their battle.
Gin's malicious grin grew wider with anticipation. "I was actually more interested in you two. After all, Aizen-sama has plans for Rukia-san already set in mind."
Ruby and Jade stared at him in alarm. "What the hell are you talking about?" Ruby demanded.
"Aizen-sama and I had a keen interest in you two. We had a huge feeling you would become shinigami because of your skills. We just needed to motivate you somehow."
Ruby widened her eyes in shock. "Y-you don't mean..."
"Yes," Gin replied darkly. "Aizen-sama hired those men to kill your mother. It was my idea and he agreed."
Jade broke out of his calm and cold persona as he gasped along with his sister. Memories of that horrible night – those men beating their mother to death – had returned with full force. At first he thought that it was coincidence that they were in a terrible place in Rukongai, but he had no idea that those men were hired by an insane shinigami that had been the cause of the most foul hollow experiments when no one had realized it and later would eventually show his true colours to the entire Gotei 13. Jade could not believe it and neither did Ruby, but Jade was hit first.
Seething, he tightened his hold on his zampakutou and screamed, "RESONATE, DENKIMARU!" The blade turned into the guitar with the crescent blade attached to it with a chain.
Gin snickered as he took in the sights of the weapon. "Let's see if our hypotheses about you are correct," he muttered as he prepared himself for battle. "Show me your skills, Carmine."
Meanwhile, Hinamori, froze when she felt Jade's reiatsu. She could not believe how strong he had become and he was just in shikai state. It was just like those times back at the 5th Division Headquarters when Ryuichi had struggled against Jade and Ruby, and then when the siblings fought each other.
Back at the academy, they were rookies that needed a lot of improvement – she thought at first. But then they surpassed Ryuichi exponentially when they achieved shikai. How could that be?
Then she figured it out. They each had hidden powers that could be awakened when they are provoked. This made their shikai seem like bankai since the reiatsu levels of both releases were so similar in density. If that was the case, their bankai would be so destructive that it could possibly destroy them and everything and everyone around them if not controlled. The feeling made Hinamori nervous. It was just Jade fighting against Gin, but if Ruby were to join him, they would finish off the evil man in one shot.
Hinamori was not the only one that felt it; Renji and Tatsuki had felt it as well. "Holy shit..." Renji said incredulously. "Who knew that an unseated officer could have that much strength!"
"And it's just shikai as well," Tatsuki added. "It feels like a bankai though."
"They're just in shikai," Hinamori explained. Renji and Tatsuki gave her puzzled glances. "But they have hidden powers that could quadruple or even increase their strength tenfold," Hinamori continued. "This happens when they are provoked. Something tells me that Aizen knew about that so he had to do something about it – something that could provoke them in trying to fight him or Gin."
"Whoa," Renji trailed off. "They could finish Aizen off if they wanted to."
"Perhaps," Hinamori shrugged.
"Hate to be Gin right now," Renji said. "He's still mine though..."
"What did I just say, Renji?" Rukia shot her friend a look to kill.
"Let's continue, guys," Tatsuki intervened. "Now that we know what those kids are capable of, our work is cut out for us and we can have more faith that they will beat Gin and join us as soon as possible." Her companions nodded and continued on their way.
Ripping through the air at high speeds, the crescent blade moved frantically towards its target, controlled by the heavy chords Jade played on his guitar. Gin dodged the attacks and tried to counter with his shikai, but Jade's attacks continued to overwhelm him. This happened until Gin blocked the blade and parried it away, but it boomeranged right back at him. He dodged the incoming attack and the blade continued to speed towards him with persistence.
"You can't dodge and block forever," Jade warned as he continued to control the vicious blade.
"I'll dodge as long as possible!" Gin shouted as he ducked under another incoming attack.
"So naive," Jade mumbled as he changed the tunes on the guitar, forcing the blade to glow brightly. Then he changed the riff slightly and the blade spun in its place, shooting hundreds of lasers from its surface.
"Shit," Gin cursed. He quickly held his hand up. "Bakudou 39 – Enkosen!" A shield of condensed reiatsu appeared in front of him, repelling the laser projectiles.
Jade played another continuous riff, forcing the blade to zip around its target and slice through his back, causing him to shriek. The kidou shield disappeared before he fell to the ground.
Jade sent the blade hurdling down. Gin tried to block it, but it sliced through his shoulder, severing his arm. Blood sprayed from the stump and Gin gave out a blood-curdling cry.
"You're finished," Jade said. He played more riffs and the blade sliced the other arm off before Gin could do anything. "On your knees, dog," Jade said with a sadistic smirk. He forced the blade to slice through Gin's stomach.
"You bastard!" Gin screamed as blood gushed from his heavy wounds.
"You should have thought twice before sending those men to kill my mother," Jade said as the blade sliced through Gin's back once again. "I'm going to make you feel her pain. After all, she died in agony."
Gin tried to scramble away from his torture, but the blade mercilessly sliced through him repeatedly.
"Where's your 'master' now, huh?" Jade continued to taunt. "He wouldn't want to see a pathetic loser like you getting sliced to ribbons now, wouldn't he?"
Gin growled menacingly and coughed up more blood. For once in his life, he just wished he would be finished off already. The cruel, agonizing torture was more than what he could bear. The more the blade sliced through him, the larger the blood puddle around him grew.
Ruby narrowed her eyes and flash-stepped towards her brother. She put a hand on his shoulder. "Stop, Jade. Let him die slowly. He's received enough torture."
She averted her eyes towards Gin's twitching figure. Then she stepped towards him, drawing her katana. "Fucking loser," she spat as she stabbed her katana through Gin's legs. She ripped the sword out and wiped it on her robes before sheathing it.
"Fuck...ing...bitch," Gin breathed before he lost consciousness.
Ruby turned towards her brother, who had reverted his zampakutou to normal. "Let's go," she said. Her brother nodded and they walked out of the area to join the others.
Elsewhere, Grimmjow and Neliel walked through the upper hallway, hoping to run into any of their allies. However, their luck ran out when they spotted Stark and Lillynette in front of them.
"Aw crap!" Grimmjow muttered under his breath.
"Long time no see, Grimmjow," Stark greeted calmly. Lillynette snickered beside him. Stark's eyes averted towards Neliel. "And Neliel, it has been far too long."
"Get out of the way, Stark," Grimmjow growled.
"And what if we don't?" Lillynette asked with a smirk.
Grimmjow drew his sword. "We will have no choice but to move you ourselves."
Lillynette cackled at the threat. "You? The former 6th espada and the former 3rd espada? Don't make me laugh! Have you forgotten who you're threatening? Huh? Stark is the primera espada! We can wipe the floors with you two no problem! You won't even last 5 minutes if you faced us!"
Grimmjow growled once again. He had always found the young arrancar annoying, and she had not changed since the last time he saw her.
"I've got one question, Grimmjow," Stark said as he continued to glare at his former ally. "Why would you of all people help them? Neliel, I would understand, but you? You've grown soft, and it pisses me off."
"I've got my reasons," Grimmjow replied bluntly. "It's better than serving some dumbass whose plans always fail every time."
"Hence why you betrayed us," Stark said.
"More or less," Grimmjow replied.
Stark drew his sword. "Then I should make you pay – both of you."
"Shall we do this together?" Lillynette asked, hoping for an affirmative response.
"Sit this one out for now," Stark answered. Lillynette rolled her eyes and groaned inaudibly.
Neliel drew her sword as well, but Grimmjow stopped her. "I'll do this for now. You back me up."
Knowing what her boyfriend meant, she nodded and stepped back, allowing him to fight.
Rukia, Renji, Tatsuki, and Hinamori entered an open space of the castle, not too far from Grimmjow and Neliel's position.
The sound of fighting caused Tatsuki to look up in alarm. "Someone's fighting up there."
"If I were to bet," Renji said, "it would be either Grimmjow, Neliel, or both because I can feel their reiatsu right now."
"I can also feel the reiatsu of the one whom I fought with back in Karakura," Tatsuki added, "and that girl he's with."
"Grimmjow's fucked," Renji sneered. "He's fighting against the primera espada for crying out loud, and he's totally outclassed. Then again, he's got Neliel with him, but I don't know how long they will last against them."
"Have faith in them, Renji," Hinamori advised. "From what I have heard, they're really strong. So they will do the best they can to win."
Renji shrugged. He had no other choice but to have faith in them. After all, they are allies now.
Rukia froze in mid-step, causing the other members of her team to stop as well.
"What's wrong, Kurosaki-fukutaichou?" Hinamori asked, full of concern.
Rukia did not say anything. She continued to stare at a certain someone standing in the doorway in front of them.
Renji's eyes widened in shock as he got a look at who Rukia was staring at. "It...it can't be! That's...impossible!"
Aaronierro, in the form of Shiba Kaien, grinned widely in malice. "Hello there, Kuchiki, Abarai, Hinamori."
Rukia growled as she grabbed her zampakutou. She had a grudge against the espada ever since their previous encounter, and she had a feeling that she would face him again.
Ryuichi felt a familiar presence even through his drugged state. It can't be! He wanted so much to beat his tormentors even more when he sensed that they too had his sister.
"Ah, there she is," Szayel smiled when Aiko was carried into the room.
"A-Aiko..." Ryuichi whispered, feeling tears well up in his eyes.
Aiko was crying in panic when she was being strapped to a table. "Onii-chan! What is going on? (sob) Help me, Onii-chan! I'm so scared! (sob)"
"Quiet, child!" The fraccion shouted as he held her in place. She cried louder in fear of his loud voice.
"Let go of her!" Ryuichi cried as he tried to struggle against his bonds and emotions.
Another fraccion backhanded him across the face. "Shut up and watch!" He held Ryuichi's head sideways so that he could watch the terrible event happening before him.
Szayel stepped towards the crying little girl, preparing a syringe. "Hello, child, don't worry," he soothed as he stuck the needle inside Aiko's arm. "It's just like a little nap. I'm going to do some quick tests and then I will send you on your way." Aiko's eyes continued to spill their tears as she relaxed and closed them.
"AIKO!" Ryuichi screamed. The fraccion that was holding him struck him on the back, causing him to shriek in pain.
Szayel and a couple more of his fraccion went to work, applying more drugs to Aiko's system. The horrifying event was just too much. Ryuichi had promised himself that he would always protect her. He prayed for some kind of miracle – anything that would save her from this nightmare.
That was when he became paralyzed, even under his straps and the fraccion's hand that held him in place. Ryuichi could not comprehend what was going on. Then, for a moment, everything went black.
An enormous amount of reiatsu exploded outward, pushing the fraccion back and ripping the straps. Szayel and his fraccion looked up from their work in alarm.
It took a moment for the smoke to clear, but when it did, it revealed Ryuichi – a hollow mask and a wide grin donning his face.
Next time on Inherited Nightmares...
A horrible sensation froze the blood in Ichigo's veins. Ryuichi? Something must have happened that awoke his hollow powers. Ichigo tightened his hands into fists as he gritted his teeth. "It has begun... Damn them all..."
A click of the lock snapped him back to reality. Ichigo held his breath as he waited for whomever it was to open the door, hoping that it would miraculously be his wife or any of his friends.
However, Ichigo felt something a lot more than disappointment – fear or anger, he was not quite sure – when he saw Aizen standing in the doorway, grinning maliciously at his prisoner.
There it is, guys! I've been so busy that I hadn't much time to write, but at least I managed to finish this chapter.
I've also got more news. I spoke to my friend's friend, the one who was going to draw Ruby and Jade, and we had agreed that since she is so busy thanks to university and that she doesn't really draw anything for anyone, the pressure should be taken off. She also didn't really get any details from my friend as well . Ah well. With that in mind, I'm going to start working on the first Inherited Nightmares video-formatted chapter, editing certain characters for Aiko (younger Marron and maybe misc. Anime characters), Ryuichi (Ichigo), Ruby (Rukia), and Jade (Getsuga Ichigo and/or Tensa Zangetsu). The video will be out as soon as I can get it finished. I'm also waiting for someone to message me regarding another video series that I'm working on as well.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think!