I'd just like to say thanks to those that reviewed the previous chapters. I really appreciate them. By the way, this little note is directed to TwitchyKid and Umbreon-Rawks. First I'd like to answer TwitchyKid's question. Technically speaking, it's a copy of what happened to Ichigo, though in this case the appearance of the hollow did not appear while Hyourinmaru was still there. Ichigo's hollow appeared at a time that Zangetsu was still present. And the indication of a hollow's domination in a shinigami is the disappearance of the embodiment of one's zanpakuto, since the hollow dominates the zanpakuto as the primary form of power. I took that quite playful attitude of the inner hollow from a generalization that inner hollows are playful (from what I've seen with Ichigo's hollow).
To Umbreon-Rawks: I wouldn't mind your posting your story. In fact, I'm not really surprised that we had the same idea. Just imagine how many bleach fans are there. Just thinking of the numbers, it's practically normal to find someone with the same idea as yours. (and if you know the principle of permutation, you'd totally understand this one a lot easier.) It's nice to find someone else with the same idea as yours once in a while.
VII. The Destiny of the Mask
Everything was blurry. The whole world seemed to swirl through Hitsugaya's eyes. He could tell that he was lying on a bed somewhere, though he couldn't really tell where in the world he was. The swirls were still blurred in a chromatic aberration of colored and black; and his head felt like it was being bludgeoned. He felt something clamped on his neck, and his chest felt heavier than usual, so he tried to stand up to try and find a mirror in the room. He swayed while he treaded his way slowly through the mass of equipment placed at tables in the room. Even though his vision was quite blurred, he could tell a few details of his surroundings, and soon enough he found a small mirror right across from where he previously lay. He grabbed the mirror, clutched his head and rubbed his eyes before looking. Somehow those helped him see a bit clearer. He looked closely to at least see as much details as he could. He positioned it just enough so that he could see not only his face but just up about his shoulders. His brows furrowed with what he saw.
There was some kind of black taint emanating from the side of his left eye, replacing some of the white that was supposed to be there. He also touched his neck, and saw some kind of a black belt locked on to it. He looked down and noticed the white ceramic material sticking out from the gash that he received, and it seems to be the reason why the wound stopped bleeding. Then thoughts of what happened flash in his mind, the memories of what happened before he became unconscious. He immediately searched for his zanpakuto all over the room, and found blades that looked like it, but seemed to be different. He inspected the twin blades, and found them both looking like Hyourinmaru, save that one was colored red. Then it hit him.
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."
Once more he looked down at the red zanpakuto. He felt something different from it, felt a deep mysterious energy radiating from it, as if it was calling out to him. He could tell that the nature of its reiatsu was harmful and demeaning to others, yet when he held it, he felt as if the hilt had hands that were grasping on to him, like it never want him to let go. He returned the blade back to its sheath when he suddenly felt the presence of two incoming reiatsu towards his location. He set the red zanpakuto aside and secured himself with Hyourinmaru. The door opened, revealing two of the traitors of Soul Society. He placed one hand on the hilt of his blade, ready to draw anytime. Aizen smiled upon the sight.
"My, my, it seems that you're awake, Hitsugaya-taichou," he said coolly. He pulled out a small push button from the sleeve of his hakama, while Gin looked around and surveyed for anything new to the surroundings. Hitsugaya pulled the blade out of its sheath and pointed it at the cold ex-captain.
"Aizen, you bastard… why did you bring me here?"
"There's no need to use violence, Hitsugaya-taichou. I would've told you for the asking." He took out the Hougyoku from his other sleeve. "You see, you've shown much progress in the last few years, and I've discovered something new about the Hougyoku. I was interested in your physiology after I discovered something special about your konpaku, which is really similar to the nature of Juego's konpaku. You are the only two beings I know that possess this special characteristic, so I took the task of taking you back here myself to conduct further research."
He looked down at the other zanpakuto behind Hitsugaya. "You may have noticed that other zanpakuto as well. I'm not really sure if this is the case, but my theory about it is that you have been able to generate it as another form of your power when I melded your reiatsu with traces of captain commander Yamamoto's reiatsu. You were very unique, since you were able to bring it into another form after you've taken it into you, unlike Juego who could only assimilate another's reiatsu but does not adapt its form into his own. If you could remember, he was able to copy the capability of other's zanpakuto, but the truth is that he doesn't have his own zanpakuto. His power is purely a large meld of reiatsu I took from the most potent shinigami there are, though he uses his own reiatsu to support the use of this. But you – you are very special, Hitsugaya-taichou. You transformed the captain commander's reiatsu into a form similar to your own Hyourinmaru. When I found that out, I couldn't contain my excitement. Since you could not complete it quickly, I used a little trick just to get it done quickly. With this – "
He showed Hitsugaya the Hougyoku he was holding in his hand. "I had to see the results completely, so I reversed the process I use in transforming hollows into arrancar, or what is called shinigamification. It is relatively easy to create new arrancar, but I had to use my own reiatsu to turn you into a vaizard. Isn't that special? Now I couldn't wait to see what other surprises you have in store for me."
Hitsugaya's eyes widened. He touched the ceramic material clotting his shoulder. Realization hit him. So that was it… this material…is the same as that of a hollow's mask…
He raised his reiatsu and charged towards Aizen. "You bastard!" However, his target did not even flinch. He simply raised the push button he was holding to chest level, and pushed it. Hitsugaya dropped to the ground as reiatsu-filled electricity passed through him, incapacitating him and sending him agonizing in pain as deadly volts worked up every muscle, every nerve that was there. Aizen looked down at him and stepped on him.
"That's not good, Hitsugaya-taichou. You're supposed to be my test subject, and nothing more. You'll do exactly as I tell you, because you have no choice but to obey me."
He looked up to the ex-captain and smirked. "L-Like you seriously think I'd do that... I'd rather die than f-follow you, you sick bastard."
"But I'm sure something even worse than your death would make you realize that I only want my goals to be accomplished, Hitsugaya-taichou. I knew from the very beginning that you wouldn't follow me without some sort of an incentive. It's not candy, but I'm sure that it'll certainly persuade you into servitude. Here's a little insight to it: let's just call it peer pressure." He clapped his hands twice. "Bring in our little present to Hitsugaya-taichou. We certainly want him to experience a little of our thoughtfulness."
Ulquiorra slowly entered the room, dragging behind him some sort of a dark cloth. He scrutinized it, and his eyes widened in shock when he realized what Aizen's little present was…