Chapter 11: Change of Heart
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.
Ichigo stepped back, gritting his teeth, unsure of what Aizen was planning on doing to him next.
"It's time, Kurosaki," Aizen announced, drawing his zampakutou with a chuckle.
Ichigo did the first thing he could think of. He brought one of his hands in front of his face and Aizen chuckled once again. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. If you draw out that mask, your hollow powers will be out of control. Just remember that you absorbed a great amount of the Hougyouku's power." Ichigo slowly put his hand down to his side and tightened it into a fist.
"And if you were to face me in that state," Aizen continued, taking a step forwards, "you would not really accomplish much in defeating me."
He was right, Ichigo realized. There was nothing he could do. He was helpless without Zangetsu, and there was no telling what could happen if he underwent hollowfication. He was backed into a corner; there was nowhere to run.
Aizen grabbed him by his tattered robes and pulled him forwards. Ichigo tried to struggle against his captor's grip, but to no avail. Aizen's smirk grew wider as he positioned the tip of his blade to Ichigo's chest. "Shatter." Ichigo's eyes grew wide. "Kyouka Suigetsu," Aizen finished as he stabbed the blade through Ichigo's chest. The sword shattered upon impact, leaving hole in Ichigo's chest. Ichigo screamed as he slowly transformed into his hollow form, struggling to fight off the effects. Aizen cackled as he watched the horrible event in front of him.
Not too long afterwards, Ichigo stood in his full hollow form – eyes glowing red with a lust to kill, horns glistening in their splendour. His long, orange hair flowed behind him for a second before settling neatly against his back.
"Welcome to the side of evil, Ichigo," Aizen said as the hollow knelt before his new master. "Your first task is to kill Kuchiki...or you could say, Kurosaki Rukia. She is the enemy, but you are much more powerful than she will ever be. So it should not be too hard for you. You might have her still in your memories."
Ichigo's eyes grew brighter for he understood his task. He straightened up and disappeared from view using sonido. Aizen chuckled darkly in triumph, proud that he had successfully brainwashed the enemy that had defeated him twice in the past.
Aaronierro chuckled as he stared at Rukia, who was glaring back at him. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Kuchiki, my favourite subordinate," he quipped, pretending to be the one that Rukia had adored the most in her previous life.
Rukia sighed and averted her eyes to the floor in frustration for a moment. "First of all," she glared back at Aaronierro, more intensely than before, "You are NOT Kaien-dono so your fucking games don't work on me anymore. Second, it's Kurosaki now. It has been that way for the past 13 years."
The espada grinned wider and more maliciously. "Ever since I had been revived, I had been waiting for the day to fight you once again." He drew his zampakutou. "But this time there will be one of us standing."
Rukia drew her zampakutou and got into a fighting stance. "You're right, and this time I have every confidence to know that that person is going to be me."
She rushed forwards, murderous intent remaining in her cold eyes. Aaronierro blocked her incoming attack; reiatsu flowed between them as they stalled one another. They remained in that position for a short while until Aaronierro slashed his sword forward past Rukia's defences, causing her to jump back.
"Nice reflexes, Kuchiki," Aaronierro commented, "but not good enough!" He charged towards her and attacked with a downward strike of his sword, but Rukia dodged it with flash step. The espada growled in disapproval and flew towards her once again. Rukia blocked the attack and parried her opponent off.
Aaronierro skidded to a halt. He continued to smirk in enjoyment. "You never cease to amaze me, Kuchiki. In fact, I must admit...you are slightly more experienced than you were the last time we fought one another, don't you think?"
"And you haven't changed at all," Rukia shot back, a slight smirk gracing her face.
The insult made Aaronierro growl. He twirled his zampakutou in his hand continuously. "Rankle the seas and sky, Nejibana!" The katana changed into its trademark three-pronged spear.
Unlike what happened in their previous encounter, Rukia was not phased by the release. She continued to attack with her full strength.
Aaronierro chuckled as he readied his weapon. "Let's do this, Kuchiki. Show me what you've got."
Rukia made a sweeping circle with her zampakutou, transforming it into its pristine white appearance with a trailing silk ribbon. "Mae, Sode no Shiroyuki." Using flash step, she dematerialized close to the espada. "Some no Mae – Tsuki Shiro!"
Aaronierro knew what attack she was using so he immediately disappeared from the icy patch that formed underneath him, laughing at her dismay. "You know better than that, Kuchiki! I already know that attack, remember?"
"I know," Rukia replied. "I was just getting warmed up. And it's Kurosaki, not Kuchiki."
Aaronierro charged towards Rukia using sonido and attacked her head-on. Rukia dodged the attack and countered with a sideways slash of her zampakutou. However, Aaronierro rotated his trident so that the staff could block her counter. Rukia attacked another opening, but Aaronierro blocked that attack as well.
The espada laughed once again as he continued blocking Rukia's continuous movements. "Come on! You're being too predictable! Show that you really want to kill me! How about this? Your son is being transformed as we speak."
Rukia clashed her sword with her opponent's weapon and her eyes widened at the news. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Aaronierro chuckled as he leaned into Rukia, trying to slash at her through her defences. "Not only is Aizen-sama after your husband - and yes I had known that you were married to him for quite some time – he is also after your son as well. I'm pretty sure that you didn't tell him that he has hollow powers, didn't you?"
Rukia gasped as she remembered what Ichigo had told her fifteen years ago. So it is true! And that powerful reiatsu that she felt before – that is him!
"And guess who assisted in his capture?" Aaronierro's grin grew wider.
Rukia shrieked in fury. She increased her speed and intensity as she slashed her sword through her opponent's defences, catching him off guard with her increasing power. Reiatsu surrounded her as she glared murderously at her opponent. In a dark voice, she recited this incantation: "Seeping crest of turbidity, arrogant vessel of lunacy. Boil forth and deny, grow numb and flicker, disrupting sleep. Crawling queen of iron, eternally self-destructing doll of mud. Unite, repulse. Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness. Hadou 90 – Kurohitsugi!"
Aaronierro froze in his place as he felt dark energy encase him within an enormous black box. He tried to break out of this, but he could not. Before he knew it, pain erupted throughout his body. He could not see in the dark, but it felt like several swords stabbing through him in various places on his body. The box disappeared, showing him covered in his blood. He fell to his knees, gasping for air. "Damn…bitch…" he croaked.
Rukia materialized towards him and watched as he struggled to stay alive. "You're finished," she stated coolly, raising her sword over his head.
Aaronierro struggled to smirk one last time. "You really don't want to show mercy, huh? You've changed."
Without any second thoughts, Rukia slashed her blade through the espada, cutting him in half and splashing more of his blood. "I'm just sick and tired of hearing your voice."
She was about to turn around to join the others but a suffocating atmosphere surrounded her. It was somewhat familiar, but it was sinister and uninviting. The reiatsu was so dense that she could not move from her place. What was going on?
Her breath caught in her throat as she heard footsteps coming from behind her. Fighting the paralyzing reiatsu that held her in place, she slowly turned around and her eyes widened when she saw her own husband in his hollow form. "I-Ichigo!"
Hinamori froze mid-step and averted her eyes to an area with utmost terror. Tatsuki and Renji stopped and stared at her.
"What's wrong, Hinamori?" Renji questioned.
"It's Ryuichi-kun!" Hinamori exclaimed. "His reiatsu...it feels so...evil."
"Could it be possible?" Tatsuki asked in confusion. "How could Ryuichi have hollow powers?"
"He must have got them from Ichigo," Renji replied. "In fact, I remember Rukia and Ichigo telling me that there's a very good chance that Ryuichi would inherit his father's hollow powers. Something must have happened to trigger the kid's powers."
Another sensation hit Hinamori as she snapped her head towards another direction. "Rukia's in trouble! I feel a very sinister and powerful reiatsu in her area. She must have defeated the espada that blocked our way before, but she is in deeper trouble!"
Renji growled. He could not put his finger on who could be there with his friend right now, but he knew that Rukia's chances of defeating this new foe were slim to none. But there was also the factor of Ryuichi's situation as well. Renji had a feeling that something was not quite right. The only thing was to check it out.
"Go protect Rukia, Hinamori," he advised. Hinamori turned him with a puzzled look. "With your skills in kidou, you should be able to hold him off."
"I guess," Hinamori said, "but what about you?"
"Tatsuki and I will go towards Ryuichi's location," Renji answered. "Something isn't quite right about this whole thing, and if I were to assume correctly, Jade and Ruby are coming as well. They will join you, I'm sure. Go quickly!"
Hinamori became determined as she nodded in reply. She quickly ran down the hallway back to Rukia's location while Renji and Tatsuki ran towards the laboratory.
Ryuichi looked around at the arrancar, who were unsure of what to make of the situation, staring back at him. His yellow pupils rested on Szayel, and he chuckled menacingly.
Szayel gritted his teeth. "DON'T JUST STAND THERE, YOU FUCKING IDIOTS! ATTACK HIM!" His fraccion roared as they rushed toward him.
Ryuichi tightened his hand into a fist and then flattened his hand once again. Then he grinned back towards his attackers. "This is gonna be eaaassssyy!" He mumbled as he got into a fighting stance.
As soon as his attackers were about fight him with everything they had, Ryuichi did a roundhouse kick against a couple of their masks, stunning them. He punched another right through the mask and he dissolved instantly. Another attacked him, but he sent a piercing sidekick through his mask. A couple more attempted to dive towards him, but he disappeared from view. While they were looking around for him, he jumped down from above them, hammering them with his fists.
He turned towards those whom he stunned before and pointed a finger towards them. Reiatsu gathered at his fingertip as he grinned wider. "Bye bye!" He laughed maniacally as the cero burst towards the arrancar while they were charging towards him, disintegrating them immediately.
Now there was just Szayel, who stared in incredible disbelief. "You...you have some fucking nerve! I'm gonna..." He stopped and remembered what his master had told him – he had wanted the boy alive and no other harm done.
Ryuichi cocked his head to the side. "Gonna what?" He asked, impatiently. "You're afraid that if you kill me, your precious Aizen-sama will kill you, am I right? HA! You're so weak! What is it gonna be, pretty boy? Obey your orders and let me kill you, or disobey your orders and try to kill me?" Szayel growled. "But let me explain this one thing to you," Ryuichi's hollow voice continued, "You can't kill me, even if you tried! So what's it gonna be, you weak bastard? HUH?" He threw his head back and laughed shrilly; more of his orange-striped mask started to form on his face.
Szayel chuckled as he drew his zampakutou. "There seems to be a major flaw in your ultimatum. As you can see, I have a weapon to slaughter you with. You? You have nothing!"
Ryuichi grinned at his enemy's words. "Then bring it on!" He dematerialized above Szayel, holding out one of his palms forward. "Hadou 33 – Sokatsui!"
Szayel dodged the cyan fireball before it hit him. Ryuichi fired more fireballs, making the espada scientist dodge them every time. Then he aimed towards the wall surrounding the entrance to laboratory. "Hadou 66 – Soren Sokatsui!" Two powerful, cyan fire balls were fired, making the wall explode into rubble.
Szayel growled as Ryuichi grounded himself. "You are some fool!" He charged towards his opponent swinging his zampakutou repeatedly. Ryuichi laughed as he dodged each one, making the espada frustrated even more. "Hold still, you fucking bastard!" He swiped his zampakutou towards Ryuichi's neck, but the young shinigami dodged it and countered with a sweeping kick that knocked the espada off balance. Ryuichi grinned as he slowly walked towards his opponent, preparing to fire a cero towards his way.
"YOU ARE NOTHING BUT AN AMATEUR, KID!" Szayel screamed. "I'M SZAYEL APORRO GRANTZ, THE EIGHTH ESPADA! YOU CAN'T STOP ME!" He slowly stood up from his spot, still grasping his zampakutou tightly.
That was Ryuichi's cue to fire his cero and it hit the espada point-blank before he could dodge or block it, triggering an explosion that was powerful enough to turn the rubble into dust.
He waited a while before the dust settled to see if the cero had done the trick. Szayel still stood where he was – heavy burns covering his body – fuming with rage. "You...will...pay for that," he hissed while attempting to stand up.
Ryuichi chuckled in amusement. "About time to you showed yourself!" He charged towards his opponent, about to take another shot at toying with him. He could admit, if he had his zampakutou at that moment things would be a lot easier for him to slaughter this guy for what he did to his father and sister. Of course, that was the real Ryuichi's way of looking at things. This was the hollow counterpart, the one who did not care what happened to any of his loved ones as long as he gets the action he was destined to have.
"You want cero, kid?" Szayel whispered, grinning as maliciously as his adversary. "Here's a bit of cero for you!" He pointed two fingers in front of them and fired a magenta cero.
Ryuichi dodged the attack and fired his own cero as a countering move. Szayel was barely able to block it for he was partially hit in the shoulder. He hissed in pain from the burn.
Before he could do anything else, however, a blade sliced through his back. The cut was shallow, but was deep in enough to splash the espada's blood. He slowly turned around only to face Renji with his sword drawn; his blood dripping from the blade. Tatsuki ran up right behind him.
"Looks like we finally made it," Renji commented. Szayel growled at the intruder. However, he winced as more pain shot through him. The espada turned around to face Ryuichi grinning triumphantly – his hand lodged deep in his chest. Szayel choked out more blood and fell to his knees when Ryuichi wrenched his hand from the wound. "You...bastard!"
Ryuichi held a finger out in front of Szayel's face, where another cero was being prepared to fire. Tatsuki gasped as Renji narrowed his eyes and grabbed the boy's hand. "Leave it be, Ryuichi. It's done; it's over for him."
Ryuichi sneered at the gesture. "Get away from my prey," He growled.
"Listen to me, Ryuichi!" Renji shouted. "You`re being like this because of the hollow that has taken over! Fight it!"
"Don`t tell me what to do!" He argued as he pointed his finger towards Renji, who backed away in defeat.
Suddenly, a sensation interrupted the hollowfied shinigami, and the malicious grin returned to his face. "Well, well, well. What have we got here? Something big is going down. This will be interesting!" The cero that was ready to be fired disappeared from his fingertips. "You must be lucky, both of you, for I have found some bigger fish to fry." He disappeared from view towards Hinamori and Rukia's location.
Renji and Tatsuki stared after him with puzzling looks, then glared at the defeated espada beside them. "Looks like I'm going to have to finish you off," Renji said as he brought his blade next to the espada's neck.
"Do it," Szayel ordered, blood trickling down his mouth. "I've been defeated anyway. After all, it's what you would want to do after how I had changed your friend and his son. I was about to experiment on your friend's daughter as well."
"Changed?" Renji repeated. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Szayel chuckled darkly. "Your friend and his son belong to Aizen-sama; although, Kurosaki Ichigo is now on his side. What are you going to do about it?"
Renji was not surprised by the espada's words because when he felt Ichigo's reiatsu earlier, he knew that there was something sinister about it. He also had a huge feeling that Aizen must have something to do about it. However, that did not stop that rage that was building up within that moment.
Growling, he pressed the blade of his zampakutou next to the espada's throat and with one quick swipe, ended his life for good. He wiped the blade before sheathing it and started to walk into the laboratory, but stopped and looked over his shoulder at the bloody corpse of the espada he had slain. "Now you have given me more reason to finish you off for good," he said coolly, "Good riddance. Let's go, Tatsuki." He walked away from the scene towards the bed where Aiko lay unconscious. Tatsuki nodded and followed her boyfriend.
Rukia's breath caught in her throat as Ichigo slowly walked towards her. She wanted to be happy to see him, but something about the atmosphere told her that this was not looking good. There was a look in her husband's eyes that spelt bloodlust, but how could that be possible? Surely Ichigo must recognize her by now, but why is he still edging towards her?
Maybe if he would recognize her voice. "I-Ichigo!" Rukia called as she fought through the nervous lump in her throat. "Ichigo! It's me! It's Rukia! I hope you can hear me! Ichigo!"
In response, Ichigo pounced towards her, wrapping on his clawed hands around her throat tightly.
"I-Ichigo?" Rukia squinted as she tried to gasp for air. "What's wrong with you? Can...you recognize your wife? Ichi...go?"
But Ichigo did not listen to her. The bloodlust intensified in his eyes and crimson reiatsu started to form between his horns; Aizen's words kept echoing in his mind. Kill her, Ichigo. You're much stronger than she is. Kill her!
Rukia's eyes widened when she saw the cero starting to form and tried desperately to escape from her husband's grip. "ICHIGO! STOP!" Her screaming caused her to cough and gasp for more air. She grasped Ichigo's arm tightly and tears started to stream from her face. "I...chi...go! Snap...out of...it!"
Kill her!
"Ich...igo! Stop...this!"
Kill her!
"Please! Ichi...go!
"Bakudou 63 – Rikujokoro!"
Six rods of light bound Ichigo in place, knocking Rukia from his tight grip towards the floor. She sputtered and coughed as she once again tried to gasp for air, this time succeeding.
"Rukia-san!" Hinamori ran towards her to see if she was okay.
"Hi-Hinamori!" Rukia managed to say through her recovery.
"Are you all right?" Hinamori asked as she stared at her superior and friend with concern.
Rukia smiled but the tears were still streaming down her face. "Yeah, I'll be okay." She turned back to Ichigo, who was struggling to break through Hinamori's binding spell.
"Aizen must have brainwashed him," Hinamori trailed off. Rukia's hands turned into fists. Hinamori turned back to her friend and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Rukia-san. We'll do whatever we can to bring Ichigo back to our side."
Ichigo shattered free from his bonds and leered at the woman in front of him, anger adding to the bloodlust that shone through his eyes.
"I knew he would do that," Hinamori whispered.
"Ichigo..." Rukia sobbed. "Please...recognize us."
Ichigo prepared another cero, hoping that this time it would succeed without any interference. Hinamori gasped in alarm, picked up Rukia, and dodged the cero before it hit them using flash step.
Ichigo fired another cero, and Hinamori shouted, "Bakudou 39 – Enkosen!" A wall appeared in front of them, repelling as much of the cero as possible before it broke. This forced Hinamori and Rukia to dodge the attack once again.
When she saw Ichigo preparing another cero to fire at them, Hinamori shouted, "Bakudou 90 – Danku!" The cero was fired towards them once again, but collided with a transparent shield that formed in front of the women, shaking the room with the impact.
However, the impact of the cero striking the invisible wall was too great for it to handle for it had caused the wall to shatter and disappear. Hinamori pulled Rukia away for safety and nearly collapsed from using too much reiatsu.
"Hinamori!" Rukia exclaimed.
Panting, Hinamori looked up and smiled tiredly at her friend. "That last move really took a lot out of me," she said, "but I'll be okay."
Rukia looked up in terror to see Ichigo walking towards them. "I don't think we will be," she whispered in fear. Hinamori turned around just in time to see her captain break out into a run. "Shit..." She hissed. "Well it looks like he's not going to bombard us with anymore cero, but then again he doesn't have Zangetsu."
"He doesn't need it," Rukia pointed out. "He has incredible power in that form – power so enormous that he managed to defeat Aizen and that espada easily." Hinamori said nothing as she watched the hollow about to attack them with a single slash of his claws. "Rest right there, Hinamori," Rukia said as she stood up as much to her third seat's protest. "I'll try to hold him off."
"Are you crazy?" Hinamori shrieked as she winced at Ichigo disappearing from view.
"It's either hold him off or let him kill us," Rukia explained. "I would rather not let him kill us, even though I know that he's much stronger than I am."
She brought up her zampakutou just in time to block his claws from reaching them. The collision was strong enough to force Rukia to slide along the ground, gritting her teeth. She tried to parry off the attack, but Ichigo slashed at her once again, causing the sword to shatter. The claws also made a deep gash through her shoulder down to just above her stomach, making her shriek from the pain.
"RUKIA!" Hinamori screamed.
Rukia fell down to her knees – her side heavily bleeding. She cursed and panted, and she realized that her husband was just toying with her.
The hollow grinned maliciously and prepared what would seem to be his final cero.
Rukia looked down in defeat as she clutched her injured shoulder, trying to even out her breathing. The reiatsu her husband was giving off was too much for her body to bear, and her injuries and shattered sword were not helping much either. This was not supposed to end, she thought. Her own husband was about to kill her and she knew it. Tears streamed from her eyes as she slowly averted them towards the vicious hollow before her. "Ichigo..."
Hinamori looked away and shut her eyes tightly to avoid watching the horrible event that was about to take place. She wanted to help, but the kidou she was casting had used up too much reiatsu. It had seemed that they had lost hope. Ichigo is about to kill his own wife, and there was nothing she could do about it.
All of a sudden, a kick caught Ichigo off guard and the cero was blasted off course, blowing a hole through one of the walls that surrounded them.
Rukia, who had been waiting for that very cero to destroy her, turned to the intruder alarm and gasped in shock at who it was.
Hinamori had done the same thing. She could not believe who had stood up to their former ally. "Ryu...ichi?
Ryuichi stood in a fighting stance – his face almost completely covered by the flame-designed hollow mask. Half of his mouth, which was not covered, had been pulled up in a malicious grin. "Hello there...father."
Next time on Inherited Nightmares...
Grimmjow and Stark charged towards one another and collided in the centre, clashing their swords repeatedly against one another's in a never ending cycle. Reiatsu flowed between them heavily as they did their battle.
Neliel continued to glance over at Lilinette, who was shifting her weight impatiently. A part of her told her that she should go ahead and fight her, but she reminded herself that she was not that type of person who would attack someone who would not put up much of a fight. However, since she knew what the younger arrancar was truly capable of as well as Stark, it was a matter of time before she too would step in and back her boyfriend up.
O.O! Ichigo is evil now! Don't worry though, he won't be on Aizen's side for very long. This chapter was really hard to write due to continuous writer's block and trying to organize my ideas. I hope you enjoyed reading it though. Let me know what you think!
Take care!