VI. Evil Unfolds

There was nothing but ice and cold, blasting winds roaring from a great distance away from Hitsugaya. With his sword in check, he dared to proceed towards the direction where the angry howl came from.

After a few moments of walking, traversing the ice-laden ground, he came upon where his companion rested. There it lay, the great ice dragon Hyourinmaru. From the creature radiated the powerful blasts of cold wind enough to stop a heart from beating. He looked up to the raging eyes of the beast.

"What is going on, Hyourinmaru? Why am I here?"

"You have been a great companion that every zanpakuto wishes, Toushiro." The dragon answered, with each word the inner world rumbled. "Your power is undeniable, and you are great above many a shinigami. But I'm afraid this is as far as I could go with you."

Hitsugaya's eyes widened in confusion. "What exactly do you mean by that? Does that mean that you're going away?"

"I must say goodbye, Toushiro. But I shall be watching over you, though not in this form," was all the great dragon managed to say before it turned into solid ice and started to crumble. Hitsugaya moved back to avoid being taken in by the avalanche. After that, he looked towards the spot where the dragon formerly stood, and noticed a silhouette standing at the exact same spot, though he couldn't tell what shape it was exactly due to the smoke that blurred his vision. After a short while, he could already make out of the shape that was still there. It was human, yes. The shape was that of a man, or rather, an adolescent. As the smoke cleared, he was able to tell that the person had white hair, and wore garments very similar to his, except that the haori of this person is colored black and the shihakusho that lay underneath it was colored white. Funny thing though, is that the skin seemed to be in a grayscale as well. The person stood there with a zanpakuto slung on his back much like him, but held another zanpakuto shaped just like the other one mentioned. The head was bowed, so he couldn't really tell how he looked like.

"You there!" he called out. "Who are you?"

The former's head was still bowed. "Me?" it answered in a voice very similar to Hitsugaya's own, except that it sounded like it was being said behind a face protector. It mustered a slight snicker. "You know me better than anyone else, Toushiro."

"I'm not playing games with you. I asked who you are."

"You really wanna know?" it slowly raised its face, and Hitsugaya was held in disbelief. It was him! It was like he looked through a mirror, but the skin of the boy was white, and its eyes are colored in black and yellow, like that of a hollow. "You know who I am, partner."

"What the hell are you?" he asked, ready to draw his zanpakuto anytime. He smelled trouble brewing.

"Come on, partner. We know each other better than anyone else in the world."

"What did you do to Hyourinmaru?!" he drew forth his zanpakuto. The mirror image scoffed, and held on securely to his own zanpakuto.

"Hyourinmaru? You mean that old dragon? He's gone for the time being. Why don't we enjoy ourselves while he's away?" He blocked off Hitsugaya's shunpo-slash combination with his zanpakuto.

"You bastard… tell me where he is!"

"You know what? The truth is… I'm Hyourinmaru!" he pushed Hitsugaya away with a quick application of force on the blade he held. The former jumped away, raising his zanpakuto and his reiatsu as well.

"Sit upon the frozen skies, Hyourinmaru!" he called out, the blade growing a crescent extension and a large blue dragon spewing out as well. He commanded the dragon to chase after the enemy. The target, in turn, laughed at the attempt and twirled his zanpakuto like a baton, blocking the attack completely. He scoffed.

"Hah! That's it? No wonder you got beaten up by that Aizen bastard! Imagine that you have such a badass zanpakuto and a ginormous amount of reiatsu to match, and you get beaten? You're pathetic!" he assumed his own stance and raised his reiatsu as well, but at a menacing level compared to Hitsugaya. "Sit upon the frozen skies, Hyourinmaru!"

A large white dragon came out of a transfigured blade just like Hitsugaya's own. He thrust his blade to the ground, and the ground cracked when several dragons came out similar to the one formerly released. They chased after Hitsugaya who was still commanding his own blue dragon.

"This is how you use your power, Toushiro! Your just a pathetic weakling not to realize this much power within you!" He laughed while Hitsugaya fled from the marauding jaws of the creatures coming after him.

"Destructive Art #33: Blue Fire, Crash Down!"

Blue energy erupted from Hitsugaya's palm, distracting the ones that were chasing after him. He shifted his blade's orientation, commanding his dragon to come crashing towards his copy. The white Hitsugaya smiled. He pulled the other zanpakuto from its sheath, revealing a red unreleased Hyourinmaru.

"Rise from the depths of hell, Gogyou Enjin."

His version of Hyourinmaru reverted to its unreleased form, though the blade turned blue and cold blue energy began swirling about it. The other zanpakuto he held in his other hand, Gogyou Enjin, blasted fire from the tip of the blade, and soon swirls of fire and ice encircled him. He brought down Gogyou Enjin, releasing a large wave of fire that was shaped like a dragon, and consumed Hitsugaya's blue dragon. It continued to ravage towards the captain, and though he was able to dodge, the fierce heat still burned him even without direct contact with the fiery monster. He winced in pain as he removed bits of burnt cloth from his arm.

"That was sweet now, wasn't it, Hitsugaya? You already have a new zanpakuto under your command, and I assume now that with this much power you wouldn't lose to that bastard, or anyone else. But well, I've got a feeling that you would still do. You're a pathetic loser, anyway." He suddenly disappeared from sight and reappeared before Hitsugaya, and did a quick twin slash, making a large wound on Hitsugaya's chest shaped as an X. He tumbled backwards, blood oozed from the large gaps on his body. He tried to stand but failed to do so as his chest bled profusely. The mirror image approached him slowly with a wide menacing grin on his face. Upon reaching his prey, he thrust Hyourinmaru through his victim's stomach, making Hitsugaya cough blood and bleed even more. His body was encased in ice with Hyourinmaru's stab through him, save for his head. He felt his eyes grow heavy and his body grown numb with cold. He felt life fleeting away with each passing moment and each drop of blood going out of him.

"Hmmm… looks like they're calling out to you there, Toushiro. I'll let you out for now, but remember…I'm going to take over the next time I have the chance!" with that his copy laughed, and he finally closed his eyes.

"It looks like a success, Gin…"

"Hmmm… does look like it, Aizen-sama."

The two were staring down on an ice-cold Hitsugaya, lying unconscious on an operating bed, his upper clothes removed. Aizen removed the Hougyoku from a certain gun-like device pointed at Hitsugaya. They surveyed the gash made by Aizen on his shoulder. It was covered in a sort of white ceramic material, stopping the wound from bleeding any further. Aside from that, nothing has changed with his outside appearance. The two left the room, Aizen holding the Hougyoku in his right hand.

"Ya sure it really worked?"

"We'll find that out when he's awake…"