Countdown To The End Of The World: 6 Days, 9 Hours, 53 Minutes, 38 Seconds...
Byakuya stared in silence. He knew what he was going to do was the only option, even if it would get him executed. Even worse, his "sister" and Ukitake would get involved. He sighed, seeing nwo other option. Ukitake and Rukia looked a bit shocked as they saw Byakuya vanish. They looked around, knowing it was his Flash Step.
"Where did he go?" Rukia asked, looking all around. As she looked back at Geddon, she gasped seeing her brother right behind her. "Geddon!" Rukia shouted, running towards her. Geddon gasped as she turned around seeing Byakuya thrusting his sword. Byakuya's expression changed to surprised though as Geddon instantly vanished, reappearing instantly behind Rukia and Ukitake. She appeared to have collapsed on her knees, breathing heavily a bit. Rukia and Ukitake both looked shocked at her incredible speed.
"G-Geddon?" Rukia said shocked. Geddon looked up at her a bit shocked with a blank expression.
"W-W-What just happened?" Geddon asked, still breathing heavily. Byakuya changed his expression to his normal expression after a bit.
"It seems I took her for a minor threat. That will have to change." Byakuya said, pointing his sword down. Rukia knew exactly what he was going to do.
"Byakuya, no!" She shouted.
"Scatter." Byakuya said. His sword started to glow as it seperated into tiny cherry blossom petals. They started heading towards Rukia, Ukitake, and Geddon, who was right behind them. Rukia quickly grabbed her sword, seeing how reasoning wasn't going to work.
"Dance." She said, thrusting her sword into the ground. "White Moon." From her blade, everything around her, except for her friends, started to freeze, including the cherry blossoms that were about to attack them. She watched as the cheery blossoms fell to the ground around her, camouflaging into the snow that surrounded them.
"Hmph, not bad. But don't think it means you defeated my attack." Byakuya said, looking back at the cheery blossoms that fell. Rukia looked at him with a confused expression until she saw the cherry blossoms starting to move. Her eyes widened a bit as they started to levitate, giving off the pink glow they usually do. One by one, the crystal that incased them started to shatter as the pink cherry blossoms reformed, swarming around Byakuya.
"I grow tired of your nonsense." Byakuya said, instantly reappearing behind Rukia. Before he could thrust his blade to Rukia, Ukitake blocked the attack. Rukia looked back at bit shocked at her close death exerience.
"You are not to harm Geddon or Rukia. There has to be another way!" Ukitake said, raising his sword up while still blocking Byakuya. Ukitake felt a strong pain though as he began to kneel. Rukia and Geddon both looked a bit shocked as they saw Ukitake coughing a bit of blood.
"Ukitake!" Rukia said, worried.
"It would be unfair to take the life of someone who's ill. Therefore, I will not take your life." Byakuya said, looking at Rukia. "Your fate however, will not be the same if you continue to resist." Byakuya said, kicking Ukitake in the head, causing him to collapse on his back, to the ground. Byakuya looked as he saw Ukitake shaking a bit from the disease he has. Ukitake leaned up a bit, wiping the blood that had dripped from his mouth. He shook as he made his ways to his knees, then slowly to his feet, still holding his sword.
"I...won't let you hurt Geddon." Ukitake said, breathing heavily. Rukia grabbed his shoulder, getting his attention.
"Please sir, let me handle this. If you push yourself too far you'll die." Rukia said, glaring back at Byakuya.
"I believe my normal shikai won't be enough to defeat you. Feel honored, sister that you have earned the right to die by my bankai." Byakuya said, causing Rukia's eyes to widen. "Bankai." Suddenly, the area around him began to grow dark, as a swarm of illuminating pink swords started to surround them. Rukia watched, a bit scared, seeing row after row of swords surrounding them in the form of a circle. As Rukia looked around, she realized Byakuya wasn't near them anymore. He was a few yards away from the group, levitating a bit.
"Brother!" Rukia shouted, knowing if there was any chance he would at least listen. Byakuya just continued to give them a stern look as he grabbed one of the many swords. He rushed right at them at full force. Not able to think of anything else, Rukia took a battle stance, ready to strike back to protect her. Right when Rukia was about to strike, Byakuya vanished. Rukia gave a strange look before realizing he was right behind her. Rukia coughed blood out as she felt the the blade thrust into her back, feeling how the blood dripped from the blade.
"Rukia!" Ukitake shouted, seeing her empty eyes. Byakuya just closed his eyes as he took the blade out, causing Rukia to cough more blood. She began to collapse as she used her blade to use as support to stay up. Byakuya looked at her as she slowly made her way back to her feet.
"Your continuing is pointless. If you continue, I will not hold anything back to kill you." Byakuya said, tightening his grip on his sword. Rukia breathed heavily as she slowly dragged her sword up, still with blood dripping out of her wound and mouth.
"Hmph, then be that way." Byakuya said, vanishing again. Rukia screamed in pain as she felt what seemed to be one hundred thrusts in the back, each coming out through her chest. She couldn't even fall to the ground, feeling how each one came into her body a split second faster than the last one. When the last one finally entered, Byakuya held it there, leaning closer to her ear.
"Your death is your own fault." Byakuya said, finally taking the blade out, slowly on purpose, so Rukia could feel immense pain. With one long breath, Rukia collapsed to the ground, with her eyes closed. Ukitake and Geddon looked in horror at what the just saw. Byakuya sighed as he sheathed the sword. Instantly, the swords surrounding them had disappeared, and everything seemed normal. Nel's eyes went to fear as she saw Rukia on the ground, with a puddle of blood that started to slowly grow.
"Wukia!" Nel shouted, tears rolling down her eyes. The floor Nel fell on began to collapse, as she started falling outside. Luckily, she landed on the skull on her head, protecting her a bit.
"Nel!" Geddon yelled worried. As Nel got to her knees, she rubbed her head a bit as she looked back at the others. Geddon's eyes widened though as she saw a higher portion of the building, beggining to fall. Nel's eyes went to fear as she heard the giant mound of rubble beginning to fall from the ceiling. At the rate it was going, it would kill Nel if it landed on her. Nel tried to stand to run, but saw that her leg was caught under other rubble when she fell. She tugged on her leg and the rubble, but the rubble was too heavy for her to lift.
"Nel!" Geddon said shouting. She instantly vanished, catching Byakuya's attention. Right when the rubble was about to fall on Nel, Geddon snatched her, instantly reappearing a few yards away from the building. Nel had her eyes closed, covering her head, until she looked up, seeing Geddon holding her smiling a bit.
"Dank you." Nel said, sighing a bit. Geddon glared back at Byakuya, who was still looking at her. She placed Nel on her back, seeing how she was going to need to run to survive.
"We got to go Nel." Geddon said. Nel looked down at her, then back at Rukia, worried.
"But what about Wukia?" Nel said, upset.
"Look, I'm sorry Nel, but if we stay any longer we have a good chance of dying." Geddon said, looking back at her with a worried expression. Nel just shook her head.
"No we won't! Itzygo will save us!" Nel said, looking back at the bleeding Rukia.
"Look Nel, I know he's strong but I don't think..." Geddon started, before Nel interrupted.
"No! I know Itzygo, he wouldn't bweak a pwomise! He neva would!" Nel complained. Geddon sighed, knowing Nel would be terribly upset if they just left. Either way, she knew that she couldn't leave Rukia the way they were.
"It matters not. Now you will die." Byakuya said. As he tried to take a step though, he felt something tugging at his leg. When he looked down, he saw Rukia holding onto his leg, shaking from her bleeding wound.
"No..." She said, softly. She couldn't speak up any louder, being weak from her sudden fight. Byakuya just lowered his eye sternly as he looked.
"Your interference is starting to annoy me." Byakuya said, taking out his sword. Geddon and Nel looked in fear as they saw him swinging his sword towards Rukia. But they grew a surprised look as they saw Ukitake blocking the attack with his sword, still with blood dripping out.
"You are not going to harm her." Ukitake said, breathing a bit heavier from his illness. Byakuya looked back as he saw the one who blocked his attack standing behind him. He scuffed to himself as he simply pushed back Ukitake with his elbow. After Ukitake fell back a few feet, his eyes went blank as he felt Byakuya thrust his sword into Ukitake's chest, just a little bit.
"Stay out of the way." Byakuya said, kicking Ukitake in the stomach, taking him off the sword and shoving him into the wall.
"I'll deal with you later." Byakuya said, looking at Rukia. He shifted his gaze back to Geddon and Nel.
"After I deal with you." Byakuya said. Geddon felt like everything was caving in on her, the pressure of knowing that she was about to get killed.
"No...Itzygo will come to save us..." Nel said to herself. "He pwomised..." As she spoke, they saw Byakuya walking towards them, swinging his blade to the side to wipe off the blood. Geddon wanted to run, but was frozen in fear, unable to get her body to listen to her. "He pwomised..." She said again. Their eyes went wide as they saw Byakuya right in front of them, raising his blade. Their eyes then looked like they were shivering in fear as they saw him swinging his sword down.
"Itzygo you pwomised!" Nel shouted. It was so loud, it could be heard echoing throughout the entire town. Out of nowhere, they heard two blades clashed into each other. Nel and Geddon looked as they snapped back into consiounce. Their eyes widened at who they saw.
"And I'm keeping that promise!" Ichigo shouted, pressing against Byakuya's blade. Byakuya grew a surprised look as he saw Ichigo, with a weird expression like he's happy to fight him again.
"Itzygo!" Nel cheered. Geddon sighed deeply, completely relieved of the sudden near-death experience.
"You guys alright?" Ichigo asked, shifting his gaze towards them.
"We're fine but...Wukia..." Nel said, looking at Rukia with tears rolling down her face. As Ichigo looked at where Nel and Geddon were, his eyes widened as he saw Rukia, bleeding to death. He started to glare at Byakuya for what he's done. He's saved Rukia before from Byakuya, but after Rukia's execution day, he'd thought he had finally changed somewhat about Rukia. The more he thought of it, the angrier he got towards Byakuya.
"Byakuya!" He yelled in anger. "What the hell is your problem?!" Ichigo stammered. "She was your own sister, and you tried to kill her!" Byakuya didn't even seem to care, seeing how his expression stayed the same.
"The importance of killing Geddon is more important than the life of one person, Ichigo." Byakuya said, shifting his gaze towards Geddon, who grew a nervous look.
"Stay away from her!" He shouted, starting to push back Byakuya, still holding the sword. Byakuya quickly moved out of the way when he found an opening around Ichigo's push. He reappeared in the sky as he did before when he fought Rukia, causing Geddon to grow a worried look.
"Ichigo! Get away!" Geddon screamed. By the time Ichigo looked back to see what she was talking about, it was already too late as Byakuya changed his sword into it's Bankai form. Everything around Ichigo began to grow dark as rose of cherry blossom swords started to appear. Ichigo just smirked.
"Hmph, using the same trick you did in your last battle huh?" Ichigo said, holding his sword sideways as he put his other hand touching the bottom portion of the blade. "Bankai!" Ichigo shouted as he moved his hand down towards the tip of the blade. Instantly, a white flash grew around Ichigo as his sword changed in shape, and his cloths grew into a full black kimono, while maintaining red inside and white strip on the tips of his outfit, stretching down to his heels. Byakuya just grinned a bit, rushing down at Ichigo at burst speed, who managed to block the oncoming attack. Ichigo noticed an increase of Byakuya's power, able to tell that he was going all out in order to get rid of anyone who got in the way of killing Geddon.
"If you know what is best, you'll get out of the way." Byakuya said, jumping away from Ichigo.
"Well lets see what my options are. I either A: Move out of the way and let you kill Geddon, or B: stay in the way, and keep you from killing Geddon. Hmm...hard decision." Ichigo said, smirking. Byakuya just gave him a stern look.
"I shouldn't be surprised. Your ignorance will be the death of you." Byakuya said, pointing at Ichigo. Icihgo looked at Byakuya questionably until he saw all the pink swords all pointing at Ichigo. His eyes widened as he realized he was going to charge them all at Ichigo at once. "Die." Every sword suddenly burst towards Ichigo at quick speed.
"Shit." Ichigo said to himself, quickly deflecting the oncoming barrage of swords. Each one he hit simply dissipated into cheery blossoms, quickly reforming again. Ichigo could tell sooner or later he would slip up, and one would get buy. As he looked back at Ichigo, he saw that because of the oncoming barrage of swords, he was completely vulnerable. After Ichigo deflected the next sword, he sped up as he ran towards Byakuya at quick speed. What Ichigo didn't see, was Byakuya's hand behind his back, forming a sword from the cherry blossoms that were around. Right when Ichigo attackd, he grew surprised as he saw Byakuya blocked it with one of the swords.
"Your ignorance is exactly why you shall now die." Byakuya said, kicking back Ichigo. As Ichigo looked back, his eyes widened as he saw every other sword heading right for him. There was a large explosion as every sword collided together. Byakuya reappeared a few yards away as he watched. He saw piles of debris and dust scatter everywhere as the blades finally disappeared. Byakuya sheated one of the blossom swords as everything turned back to normal.
When Nel and Geddon saw the scene, they gasped as they saw Ichigo in a ditch-like hole that was created from the explosion. They couldn't believe what they saw, and what shocked them more was the amount of blood they saw.
"No, Itzygo!" Nel shouted, with tears rolling down her cheek.
"Ichigo is dead, and you shall be joining him very soon." Byakuya said bursting towards Nel and Geddon.
"T-Theres no way Ichigo can be dead! It's impossible!" Geddon shouted. Right when he was about to strike, Byakuya's eyes widened as he felt a blade thrust through his back, coming out his chest. His eyes went blank as he slowly looked down, with blood coming out of his mouth, as he saw the black tipped zanpakuto. When the blade went back out, Byakuya fell to his knees as he collapsed to his knees. It wasn't just the attack that caused him to collapse, but also the amount of energy that he exhausted when he was fighting. Nel and Geddon's expression changed to joy as they Ichigo standing behind Byakuya with a grin.
"Itzygo!" Nel cheered, diving head first into Ichigo's chest, causing him to fall on his back.
"Ow!" He yelled, feeling the pain of the wounds on his back. Geddon ran over to his side, kneeling.
"Ichigo your alive." Geddon said happily. As Ichigo looked, he saw a tear rolling down Geddon's face. He smiled a bit, seeing how they were both ok. He leaned up though as he saw Byakuya getting to his feet, placing his hand on the wound to stop the bleeding a bit.
"I see..." Byakuya said, shaking a bit from his wounds, having a flash back of the attack he pulled on Ichigo. "Before the blades striked you, you increased your spiritual pressure to slow down the speed and power of the swords, softening the blow..." He said, coughing a bit of blood that was seen coming out of his mouth. Ichigo glared back at him as he slowly got to his feet.
"Geddon." Ichigo said, getting their attention. "Go over and heal Rukia. He won't be able to fight anymore." Nel and Geddon nodded as they ran over to Rukia, who was still bleeding. When they finally got to her side, they saw that she was breathing heavily. Geddon got worried.
"Ichigo!" Geddon yelled back to Ichigo, getting his attention. "My healing spells won't work. I can only heal her if something else stops the bleeding!" She said, with a worried accent.
"Don't worry. Nel can take care of it." Ichigo said, looking down at her. Geddon got a confused look until she looked at Nel, who was putting her entire hand in her mouth. She grew a disturbed look on her face as she saw her cheeks puffing out, about to barf. She closed her eyes as she heard the barfing of the little arracnar. She looked back as she heard Rukia screaming, rubbing her face from the slime, and Nel was wiping the vomit from her mouth.
"Eww! Gross! Nel, why the hell did you puke on me?!" Rukia stammered, wiping the vomit away.
"It was drool." Nel said, opening and pointing to the inside of her mouth. Rukia closed her eyes with her hand, not wanting to see.
"Relax Rukia." Ichigo said, getting her attention. "It has healing properties. Your body should stop bleeding." Ichigo said. Rukia's eyes widened as she looked down at her chest, realizing he was right. It did stop bleeding, although it was gross.
"Want mowe?" Nel asked, opening her mouth. Rukia grew a bit shocked, shaking her head no. Geddon sighed as she kneeled down next to Rukia.
"Ok, just hold still." Geddon said, raising her palm up to Rukia. Rukia watched curiously for a bit until she saw a yellow sphere shining in the palm of her hand. It started to shine as it began encircling around Rukia from her head to her feet. Within a few seconds, the light had completely vanished, and Rukia's wounds were gone.
"Wow, that was amazing." Rukia said, impressed her wounds were completely healed. "Thanks Geddon."
"Your welcome." Geddon replied, happily.
"Hey, what about me?" Nel asked, irritated. Rukia chukled as she rubbed Nel's head.
"And thanks Nel." Rukia said, happily. Nel smiled , seeing how she thanked her and was alright.
"Oh, wet's help him!" Nel said, putting her hand in her mouth, walking over to Ukitake, causing Geddon and Rukia to get a nervous look.
"No wait, Nel? I don't think that's such a good..." Rukia started. She couldn't finish her sentence though, seeing how Nel already vomited. Luckily, he didn't wake up like Rukia did. Ichigo smiled, seeing that they were ok, until he glared back at Byakuya, who seemed to be walking away.
"Byakuya!" Ichigo shouted, causing Byakuya to stop. "That's it? Your just going to walk away?" Ichigo asked, unable to believe it.
"Hmph, if I can't defeat you, there's no reason to keep trying. Besides, you seem to know how to handle the situation pretty well." Byakuya said. He turned around though, giving Ichigo a curious look. "But, remember what I told you. One life isn't more important than the life of everyone else." He said, as he started to walk away again. Ichigo looked at him, confused by what he meant. But all that mattered to him, was that his friends were safe, and things seemed to be fine...
Countdown To The End Of The World: 6 Days, 2 Hours, 21 Minutes, 3 Seconds...
Zani grew an irritated look on her face as she waited in the abandoned warehouse for the last hour. She was waiting for someone expected to show up, and the plan was to meet an hour ago. She walked around, trying to blow off some steam from the immense anger that was building up from waiting impatiently. Her eyes widened though as she heard the metallic garage door finally open. She threw an angry glare as she saw Myatsu walking in.
"Myatsu! Where the hell have you been?!" Zani stammered.
"I'm sorry, I was expecting to be back sooner than this." Myatsu said, walking in. "Are the others here?" Myatsu asked, looking around.
"We're up here." A mysterious voice said from above. When Myatsu looked, he grinned as he saw three people sitting up top of the crates.
"Ah, splendid you could come." Myatsu said as the three jumped down from the crates.
The tall one with white hair was Rick. He had what appeared to be a pitch black kimono, along with pitch black gloves. The second one was Kyle. He had a strange array of bandages going across his arm, all the way around. His black pants and white shirt gave him that kind of fighter look. And the last one was Tenya. She appeared to have two short sword cases, along with yellow-colored hair.
"Ah, good to see you guys again." Myatsu said, grinning a bit.
"For some reason I'm not surprised with you being late." Tenya said, looking annoyed.
"Everytime we always have a meeting, you are always the last one here."
"Well, either way, as you know now we have a serious matter to attend to." Myatsu said, looking a bit more serious than before. "I'm sure you have heard tale of a certain soul reaper named Ichigo Kurosaki, no?" Myatsu asked, raising an eyebrow. Kyle replied with a bit of a shocked look, which Rick noticed.
"You heard of him?" Rick asked curiously.
"He's said to be a substitute soul reaper with incredible spiritual pressure. He's been able to acquire his hollow form all in a short time." Kyle replied.
"Then you must obviously know why I brought you all here. He's gone off with my sister, and I think you all know what'll happen if she gets away..." The others just turned their head to the side as a reply.
"So, we go in, grab the girl, and come back, right?" Zani asked. Myatsu shook his head a no.
"I'm afraid it's not going to be that easy. This Ichigo character is becoming a nusince since my last visit with him. And his friends are just making things worse. Normally, I'd kill them myself, but..." Myatsu stopped, remembering what Uruhara said. "I have obligations to not kill them. Therefore, I'm leaving his friends up to you four. As soon as Ichigo gets back, we'll give them a warm welcome..." Myatsu said, chuckling.
Countdown To The End Of The World : 6 Days, 1 Hour, 51 Minutes, 49 Seconds...
After a long day, Ichigo and the others finally had a chance to relax. They were currently at the Inn, resting for whatever tommorow would bring. They had told Ukitake about Myatsu and trying to kill Nel. He said he's going to do what he can to talk to the other captains about finding out an idea about how to stop him, and protect Nel at the same time. As for the old man that told Byakuya where they were, they said they wouldn't kill him if he made them dinner at the Inn. It wouldn't have mattered, they weren't going to kill him anyway.
"So, what's da plan now?" Nel asked, who was on Ichigo's back.
"Well, we're going to need to see what tomorrow brings. I'm sure my friends can handle the hollow situation back home, although I'm a bit curious as to what Myatsu is planning." Ichigo replied.
"Why is he after Nel anyway?" Rukia asked Geddon. Geddon sighed a bit disappointingly before looking back at the others.
"He's going to try to create a spiritual hole." Geddon said, causing Rukia to look shocked. Ichigo looked at Rukia curiously.
"What's a spiritual hole?" He asked.
"It's a like a black hole. It's capable of pulling many different things closer to it, but very dangerous. It can pull things from miles away, all colliding into the same thing." Rukia replied, causing Ichigo to grow a bit of a more surprised look.
"Can't anything stop it?" Ichigo asked. Geddon just sniffed a bit as she left the room, slamming the door behind her. Ichigo looked at her confused until he saw Rukia glaring right at him. He grew an annoyed look as he heard Nel giggle.
"She's mad at you." Nel said, looking down at Ichigo's face.
"Don't remind me." Ichigo said, irritated.
"The only way to stop it...is to kill the source." Rukia said, causing Nel and Ichigo to look at her, shocked. They were completely speechless. They weren't expecting the only way to stop it would be to stop it's source, or in this case, Geddon. Ichigo esspecially felt like an idiot, asking a stupid question in front of the one who's going to suffer most from it.
"N-No!" Nel yelled, catching Rukia and Ichigo to look back at Nel. They weren't surprised seeing tears running down her eyes, knowing how torn up they felt as well. "We can't kill Gedden! She's our Fwiend!" Nel said, starting to sniffle. Ichigo grabbed the back of her shirt, carrying her over to the side of his leg.
"Don't worry Nel. We're not going to kill her. I promise." Ichigo said, calming her down. After a bit of sniffling, she finally seemed to calm down as she yawned, leaning agaisnt Ichigo's lap.
"Weally?" Nel said, looking at Ichigo with watery eyes.
"Really. I promise." Ichigo replied, stroking her head. She sniffled a bit as she slowly closed her eyes, followed by a bit of tiny snoring. Rukia and Ichigo just chuckled at this. Ichigo placed her in the bed at the Inn that they were staying at tonight.
"She's really peaceful when she's sleeping." Ichigo said, looking at her sleep.
"She's had a hard day, plus she didn't get much sleep last night." Rukia replied. Ichigo looked at her curiously.
"Why? What happened?" Rukia looked back at Nel a little worried, then motioned Ichigo to follow her out of the room. She closed the door quietly so Nel wouldn't wake up.
"So, what's going on?" Ichigo asked. Rukia just looked to the side a bit before back at Ichigo.
"She...had a nightmare..." Rukia said, a bit disppointingly.
"Well, what's the problem? People have nightmares all the time." Ichigo replied.
"Ichigo...her nightmare showed you....dying..."