Tite Kubo owns "Bleach", and all of that stuff. However, the plot is mine.
A/N: I have gotten some questions about Ichigo being dead already. Yes, I know that is most likely. But, it is one of the points I wish to explore in this story, whether or not Ichigo really is dead. So, please, read on and review.
"Oi, where am I?" Ichigo suspiciously looked around the dark expanse of nothing that stretched around him in all directions. One second, he had been standing next to Rukia at the gate to the real world trying to get home, and the next, he had just disappeared and appeared here. Though, he had no clue exactly where here was.
Suddenly a single point of light flared up in the distance, gradually strengthening and spreading out, illuminating the tilted skyscraper world of Ichigo's soul. "Welcome, Ichigo." "Hey there, King." Two voices, one grave and serious, one mocking and sarcastic, called out from behind him.
Ichigo whirled around, to see the familiar faces of Zangetsu and his inner hollow. "Old man, what's going on?" He ignored the taunting voice and leering visage of the hollow for the moment.
"Ichigo, you have died. Even as we speak, your soul world is changing and expanding, freeing itself from the confines and limitations and necessities of life." Ichigo made to interrupt, with a disgruntled expression on his face, but Zangetsu merely continued speaking. "Yes, you can die. Although you became a spirit and then a shinigami, you were still a part of this human, real world; you were still alive. And, a part of your soul remained attached to your body, marking it as yours. If you had tried, as a spirit, to possess another gigai, your soul would have been violently rejected. But now, you, Kon, and your body are all dead."
"Okay. So, then. What happens now? Why didn't I go to Soul Society already?"
"Because you were already partially dead, and, because you, irregularly, already possess a zanpaktou, you did not need a hell butterfly, in the conventional sense. Nonetheless, now you still need to and will now undergo the Trial of Souls."
"Trial of Souls?" Ichigo asked, with a blank expression on his face.
"King, you really disappoint me!" The hollow drawled out. "You know nothing of the realities of the Soul Worlds, of the fate of souls. Pathetic." He cackled.
Ignoring the little side taunts, Zangetsu continued his explanation. "You have never wondered about or pondered over this fact, but why do some souls go to Hell? Why have you never heard of souls going to Heaven?"
Ichigo responded in a puzzled manner. "Isn't Soul Society…"
He was cut off. "Soul Society and Hueco Mundo are worlds both akin to a form of purgatory. Let me tell you now. God was merciful, but also just. Only those of pure heart can enter Heaven and join him. But, He could not bear sending so many souls to Hell. And so, He gave everyone a second chance, a very long second chance. At death, souls naturally are sent to Soul Society, as per the duties of the shingami. But, obstinate and unrepentant souls remain attached to the earth, or are corrupted by other souls, and then become hollows, going to Hueco Mundo."
"So, Hueco Mundo isn't Hell? It sure seemed like it." He remembered the terrible fighting, and the dark reiatsu that saturated the place. And, he recalled all of the pain and suffering that had taken place.
"Perhaps it may seem so, but it is not. If shinigami or souls in Soul Society die or are killed, they have a good chance of going to Heaven. Most hollows are purified and sent to Soul Society. Some, though, are judged guilty and sent directly to Hell." Ichigo had a flashback to the hollow, who had pursued the soul of the child stuck in a parakeet, remembering how the gates of Hell had appeared and the soul of the killer condemned. "Each person, at death goes through some sort of Trial of Souls, and receives a warning as to the workings of the soul and the possible destinations."
"Everyone already knows all of this?" Ichigo asked incredulously. "How come I never heard of it before, then?"
"Because they have forgotten, everyone forgets this Trial on a conscious level, as will you at its conclusion. They may only know on an instinctive level that they are being judged and that they should act accordingly." Zangetsu paused. "Sadly, many try to forget this and they fall into corruption and evil." Ichigo nodded in understanding, thinking of Aizen.
Shrugging, Ichigo nodded. "Okay, so then, what kind of trial am I going to get?"
"All people have a light and a dark side of their personality and character. In your case, your hollow side has actually been manifested as the representation and focus of your opposite and dark side. In this trial, you must fight your hollow. The victor will rule without fail and possess the sum total of both of your powers. And, the victor will determine your destination, of either Hueco Mundo or Soul Society, as well as your very being, an arrancar or a vaizard. Likely, this battle will also determine your soul's eventual fate." Zangetsu fell silent at the hollow stepped forward, leering.
"So, then, I better not lose. Oi, hollow, let's do this. Bankai!" Ichigo unleashed his bankai and firmly grasped his zanpaktou, standing loosely in a ready position.
"Right, king." The hollow cackled again. "Will the horse overthrow the king this time? We'll know soon enough." And he too, drew his zanpaktou.
"One question though, hollow. I've always wondered; how powerful are you? Or actually, better yet, what are you?" Ichigo demanded, ignoring the usual taunts and jibes.
"Ha!" The hollow chuckled softly. "What am I? So many people have asked the same question, and up to now, I had no answer. But now, I think I might finally have a response. If you win, I'll let you know the truth to both of your questions. So, you'll probably never know, then, hmm?" He laughed and threw his blade straight at Ichigo, who rolled to the side. Drawing his sword back, the hollow proceeded to launch an unending volley of throws. Each case swiftly pierced through anything in its path, blasting obstacles into piles of rubble.
"Dammit!" Ichigo muttered, pressed back, unable to close and fight. He tightened his grip and let his blade swing out. "Getsuga Tenshou!" A white crescent blast of pure reiatsu blasted the incoming blade to the side, and Ichigo took advantage of the opening to lunge towards the hollow. "Take this!" And, he slashed mightily at the hollow, with a diagonal slash that cut him deeply from the shoulder to the waist.
Eyes open in surprise and disbelief, the hollow collapsed backwards, spraying blood from the grave wound. Breathing a breath of relief, Ichigo wiped his brow and stepped back. "You really think it would be that easy? Ichigo! Hado Number 4, Byakurai!" A bolt of white lightning pierced through Ichigo's shoulder, as the hollow slowly stood back up. Before Ichigo's paralyzed body and eyes, the hollow's wounds began to heal and close up. "Game over, king! Let me show you how it's really done. Getsuga Tenshou." He swung his blade, which had also turned into its bankai form.
A black crescent wave slammed into Ichigo with tremendous force, blasting away the entire area, as the skyscraper upon which they were standing crumbled away into nothingness. But, as the dust began to dissipate, to the tune of the hollow's crazed laughter, a sudden burst of reiatsu flared up. "Not yet." Ichigo panted out.
In a quick dash, Ichigo appeared in front of the hollow and slashed down. The hollow parried the strike and the two exchanged a flurry of blows, before leaping back and circling each other warily. "Hehe. So, Ichigo, you are forced to rely on my power." The hollow began to laugh wildly at the sight of the hollow mask over Ichigo's face. "You are trying to use my power to fight me? How funny!"
"I'll never give up. I will win!" Ichigo firmly stated. And, he again charged forward at the hollow, who began to dodge or parry every attack that Ichigo threw at him with an insulting ease.
"Baka." The hollow taunted. "Getsuga Tenshou!" He drove Ichigo back, forcing him to continually dodge and retreat as he sent blast after blast at him. "You try to attack blindly, without technique or strategy. In this battle, instinct alone won't be enough. Ichigo!" With an insane bout of laughter, the hollow took his blade and crushed it between his hands. "Let me show you our future form." White slivers began to appear and form around the hollow's white form, as he began to convulse and metamorphose.
"What in the world!" Ichigo stared in revulsion as his hollow self shed its human skin, a hole appearing through the chest, a ghastly white skull over the face, long curved talons of bone, and a thick, corded pale tail whipping out behind him.
"Hehe." The hollow laughed. "What's the matter, Ichigo? Frightened? Let me show you the abilities that the true king of this body has!" Reiatsu exploded outwardly, in such sheer quantities that Ichigo felt a powerful presence nearly forcing him to his knees. Ichigo's eyes widened in shock at the immense spiritual force.
His bravado returned quickly enough though, as Ichigo stood upright by force of will. "Is that it? Just a little reiatsu gain?" He drawled out, despite knowing that the hollow's spiritual aura had just doubled or tripled in magnitude. "Now, I'm all disappointed. I can beat you still yet."
"Don't lie. Ichigo!" The hollow taunted, and blurred out in a burst of movement, dashing around and circling the motionless Ichigo. He outstretched his arm and fired out a large cero beam. Hurriedly, Ichigo raised his blade, and cut back the cero with a Getsuga Tenshou. When the blast ceased, Ichigo glimpsed the hollow hurtling towards him, claws outstretched and slammed his blade up to parry. As Ichigo skidded back several feet from the force of the blow, he realized that the hollow's claws suddenly gleamed blue, as an enormous sheet of pale, blue fire crashed into him.
Ignoring the blood seeping out from a number of cuts, Ichigo looked painfully and with some amazement at the burns all over his body. "Wasn't that Hado Number 33, sokatsui?" He murmured to himself, as he stiffly readied himself for another attack. He remembered that attack from the multiple times that Rukia had used it, both in training with him and in battle as well.
"Yes, it was, Ichigo." The hollow leisurely began to walk over, tilting its head from side to side, peering at him. "That is my special talent, to instinctively combine kido into my attacks. Unlike you, I have mastery and use of all four abilities of the shinigami, and already posses all of the hollow abilities. You are weak. And so, as your opposite, I am strong." With a gesture, the hollow struck at the air in front of him, and a ball of red energy shot out. Ichigo dodged to the side, using shunpo.
"Grr… That doesn't matter." Ichigo gritted his teeth at the his deteriorating situation. Despite his tiring energy, he steeled his resolve. "Even if I die, then I'll take you with me! I will never let you out to harm anyone!" His reiatsu flared up as he declared his purpose. His entire soul expanded and his spirit's aura sprang up around him, wreathing him in dancing blue flames. "Let's decide this with a final blow!"
"You wouldn't!" The hollow was shocked. "You can't!" It babbled out, stunned by the turn of events. Ichigo's reiatsu flared up, as strong if not stronger than its own. "I need your power; your power should become part of mine. We are the same being. If you destroy me, you'll destroy the inner world. You'll destroy yourself." It almost pleaded. It stood motionless, while Ichigo continued to drain his soul's very core for energy. And as Ichigo drained the core of his being, the entire soul world began to shake and crumble; the whole inner world stood on the edge of collapse and destruction. The bones and tails and mask melted away as the inner hollow stumbled about the violently trembling world. With an almost frightened look, it returned to a more normal form and grabbed its sword as well.
"Oi, I guess this is it. If it turns out… well, nice knowing you Zangetsu, and though I can't say the same for you, goodbye to you, hollow." Ichigo said softly and firmly, and nodded in respect to Zangetsu, who gravely bowed in return. "Hyahh!" With a way cry, Ichigo lunged towards the hollow, and focusing and compressing all of his released energy into that one strike, slashed down in a swift and powerful killing blow. Channeling all of his energy into his blade, the hollow swung his sword wide to parry Ichigo's stroke, both blades glinting like bolts of lightning streaking through the sky towards each other.
As the two blades collided, two massive blasts blew out from both sides in a tremendous explosion and release of power. The entire inner world began to collapse, as the skyscrapers began to tumble and fragment and as numbing rain began to pour down from the invisible and intangible skies, blanketing the world in a gray mist of oblivion.