Sorry for the terrible delay in chapters, I've been busy on my site. Check it out, it's got a Bleach roleplay and much more!
This chapter was whipped up pretty quickly and might be rough, do expect it to get quicker and better as I move along here. I've got the entire Kaworu arc and even the next arc of my story past Kaworu written up and ready in rough draft form.
Hope you enjoy it and hope you're sticking with the story, don't worry if you're tired of all battle after battle. This Kaworu arc is VERY close to finally wrapping up and having the final battles of the invasion arc. Expect romance, tragedy, misunderstanding, and a grim father-son reunion.
Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi sneered as Ishida's tackle carried them both out of the laboratory through the shattered window and into the streets below.
This is not going according to calculations!
Mayuri kicked Ishida away from himself, hopping and landing onto the streets below with an angry grunt.
"What do you want, boy?! Interrupting my studies like this! You are a pest beyond discretion; I wouldn't even keep you as a test subject to dissect if you begged me! I'm turning you into dust!"
Ishida gave Mayuri a stern glance, drawing back a blazing arrow of spiritual energy.
"You read my mind, bastard."
Mayuri let out an angry shriek, insulted at this fool's impertinence. In an instant he dislodged the chained scythe connected to his head, swinging it with his right hand and sending the sharp point hurtling towards the Quincy.
In an instant Ishida disappeared, ducking underneath the flying kusarigama and using hirenkyaku to nimbly appear in front of Mayuri with his bow drawn and ready to fire.
"Your old tricks won't work anymore."
"Oh really? Why don't we try out poisons and see what happens, you welp!"
"I don't plan to let you live long enough for that…"
Mayuri nimbly flashed away, reaching for the blade at his hip, only to see Ishida appear directly above him with energy blazing above his left shoulder.
"I told you, no more of your old tricks. This time I won't give you mercy."
"Why you little-"
"Licht Regen."
Mayuri had no time to respond, a curtain of thousands of arrows blazing down from Ishida's furious bow towards the Shinigami Captain.
His eyes widened in disbelief, refusing to take it in or even respond to such a show of power.
How did a damned Quincy achieve such a level of power since we last fought?!
Mayuri's thoughts were cut off by the giant explosion of destructive energy caused by the arrows all slamming into the ground and detonating, thousands of arrows ripping holes into the Shinigami and sending him collapsed onto the ground.
Chance of victory…60%…already like this and not even…released…
Ishida gave Mayuri a condescending look, shaking his head and standing over the Captain's fallen form.
"You have fallen low, Shinigami. When last I met I was forced to nearly abandon my abilities to subjugate spiritual particles. Yet now, you are already on the ground. I do not offer you a chance to weep and beg for forgiveness any longer, now you will sacrifice your life to pay for your crimes against the Quincy."
Mayuri grimaced, spitting queerly colored blood (surely a sign of his terrible internal wounds) onto the Quincy's face.
"Silence…you rat…you are merely a test subject…"
"Is that so? Well let me show you what we test subjects can do now, Shinigami bastard! Sew me a dream, Ginrei Kojaku…"
Ishida slowly scowled, raising his white spider-web like bow and glowing with a burning white spiritual presence that shook the air around him.
"Feh…fireworks, you're nothing, you scum! I'll kill you where you stand, I don't even want to cut you up anymore or experiment on you!"
Mayuri reached for the sword at his midsection, not sure if he was overwhelmed to movement because of his rage or fear at the Quincy's new power. However, before he could figure his motivations or draw his blade, his eyes glimmered with the reflection of the blazing light around him.
"Im…possible!"
Chance of victory…30%?!
Before Ishida glowed threads of power, millions, connected to his fingertips and to everything around them. Buildings, the ground, Mayuri's clothes, everything.
Mayuri gasped and Ishida smiled weakly, straining to control the threads connected to his gloves and bow.
"I…control…the very spirit…that flows through…all existence…Surrender to the inevitable, you pitiable fool…"
The threads spiraled from his web-like bow, making it appear as if Ishida stood in the middle of some brilliant concentric spider web of power he himself had spindled as an arachnid.
He's harnessed and connected himself to the spiritual particles all around in Soul Society! But for what damned purpose!? This blasted Quincy must be taken down immediately!
However, all of Mayuri's questions would soon be answered as Ishida severed the threads connected to the very ground beneath him, this ground made of spiritual particles like everything else and immediately detonating in a gigantic cross-shaped blast of light that sent Mayuri screaming and flying in surprise.
When the light dissipated and the explosion cleared, the revealing sight was terrible. Mayuri groaned, standing with both arms missing now, his sword still sheathed at his abdomen. He hadn't even had the chance to draw his blade, the explosion brutally blasting away both his upper limbs.
It was like a terrible reflection of the fight they had had before, except this time Mayuri had lost both his arms. His stumps oozed with gruesome blood, and his eyes were boldly opened wide, full of pain, anger, and confusion.
"Y-Y-Y-YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU!"
Chance of victory…10%…NO, damn the calculations! I still have Plan X43. I still have…I still have…
Mayuri stumbled forward, no arms, merely a crippled Captain on trembling legs, his face twisted in a grotesquely cartoonish vision of extreme fury.
Ishida merely sighed, overwhelmed by the immense energies under his control and the obstinacy of this doomed Shinigami facing him.
"And how will you kill me, pray tell, Shinigami? Kick me in the shins…to death?"
"I-IT'S ONLY A FLESH WOUND! You mewling welp! You should worry more about yourself and your friends! I'll kill all of you and dissect your corpses! Even the Soul Reaper, rules be damned! All of them!"
Ishida sighed, drawing back his bow this time, the threads connected to it glowing as he did so, absorbing spiritual pressure from the surroundings of existence around him and feeding it into the exceptionally powerful arrow.
"This next one will go right through your muttering skull, Captain. I'll end it, mercifully."
Mayuri suddenly gave a broad grin, or as well a grin a psychopath with no arms could give, his eyes bulging and glancing in opposite directions, making him look even more demented.
"Will you now? I believe you'll find yourself quite unwilling to do so, Quincy!"
Ishida grimaced suddenly, finding himself unable to draw back his bow. Instead his arms suddenly began to move without his control, moving his bow down and poising the arrow underneath his own chin in an awkward and bizarre method of Quincy suicide.
"W-What the hell?! I-I can't control my body?!"
Ishida's mind spiraled into a sudden collapse of surprise and confusion. The Shinigami hadn't even drawn his sword. What witchery was this? It…it wasn't possible.
Yet, anything was possible for the grinning Mayuri, as he seemed so eager to explain.
"I hope you enjoyed the enzymes I splattered with my spit all over your face, Quincy. Clearly some of the organisms managed to intrude into your body's system. Your nervous system is completely forfeit, consider your entire body mine!"
Mayuri grimaced, spitting queerly colored blood (surely a sign of his terrible internal wounds) onto the Quincy's face.
"Silence…you rat…you are merely a test subject…"
Ishida's eyes widened. Had it been then? Had that been all that it had taken to infect him with whatever bizarre microorganisms that Mayuri had designed? The entire battle had fallen to his inability to dodge the disrespectful spit flung at his face.
"It…can't end like this…sensei…"
"Quiet, Quincy, or I'll control your tongue myself. All it takes is my neural commands, your body is a part of mine now. I don't even need arms, I'll use your own to kill you! Now…let's…end this…"
Mayuri concentrated, forcing his will past Ishida's, forcing the blazing spiritual arrow that Ishida had created farther down so it was positioned to fly straight through his chin.
"I refuse to allow this…for the pride of the Quincy…I must…"
"You can't resist science, you pitiful brat! All the faith in the world is irrelevant put up to my powers! Pray to your gods and prepare for a hole in your damned skull!"
"Tch, Shinigami scum. I have no need for prayers. Have you forgotten? Ransotengai."
Spiritual pressure suddenly burst around Ishida, spiraling like threads all around the Quincy. This was the puppeteer technique that allowed the Quincy to fight on even when their bodies were beyond their control or incapacitated.
"Damn you! Connecting your threads of spiritual pressure even to yourself! But do you have the power to overwhelm my control, I wonder…"
Mayuri grimaced, trying to focus on pushing the Quincy's bow closer to his chin and to have him draw back the arrow, but second by second the bow was being pushed back towards the Shinigami with Ishida's threads of spiritual pressure puppeteering.
Mayuri was slowly losing the tug of war despite himself, and this only made him angrier. Rage was making him lose control and focus, it often did, but the pain from his blasted away limbs and the anger from being humiliated by a Quincy despite all his experiments was grinding his patience to its final sore raw end.
The Captain could only stare with wild eyes as the bow was turned back towards him, the spiritual arrow tugged back farther and farther, ready to fire.
"You…bastard! You'll never kill me…I'll…you…"
"You'll do what, hmm? Use that disappearing liquid trick of yours? You have no arms to stab yourself with or even release your blade."
Mayuri's eyes widened even greater as he realized the truth behind the Quincy's words. Could this be the end? No, no, he had so many calculations to run regarding this scenario. All test simulations had signified his victory over the Quincy…or at least run of the mill Quincy who were at a disadvantage. In the end, that was Mayuri's game, playing in a fixed scenario. When the tables were turned against him by introducing a foreign variable, well, all calculations were thrown out the window.
There the arrow was drawn back despite Mayuri's words and calculations. There the arrow was sent flying towards Mayuri's prone skull, ready to end the miserable madman's life then and there.
"This is for…sensei…"
"He died screaming for mercy, you know! He died like a dog, y-y-y-you I'll-"
"By the honor of the Quincy, god rest your wretched soul."
Mayuri let out a ragged scream of furious and impetuous rage as the arrow flew forward to pin him in the skull.
Darkness…darkness…My calculations! It's over! Chance of victory…0%! It's all over…Reset! RESET SCENARIO!
Mayuri did not close his eyes and welcome death or shun it in fear, instead his bulging eyes stayed open to behold the arrow as it…hit a body flashing before him?
A…foreign variable in the equation? Nemu?!
When the dust had cleared, it merely revealed what should have been predicted by both the arrogant fighting men standing there. Mayuri's Lieutenant had intruded.
She stood there, defiant, her uniform smoking from the blast of the arrow she had intercepted and taken in her "father"'s stead.
Nemu turned to look at Ishida with seemingly robotically emotionless eyes. Ishida could see emotion in them however, it was subtle but it was there.
"He gave me life. You must understand. You have people you love despite their feelings towards you, despite how they may…treat you…."
Ishida stiffened, images of his stern father coming to mind as Nemu spoke. She cradled Mayuri's unconscious form in her arms, looking up at the Quincy.
"Spare my creator…or I will be forced to battle you."
Ishida sneered, suddenly overwhelmed with rage and disrespect. Sure, he had sworn by his chivalry and pride to never fight or strike a woman, but this was ridiculous. She had saved his life once, but this was beyond reproach, he could not allow the vile slaughterer of Quincy known as Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi to live on.
Mayuri gasped for air, slowly glancing up, apparently coming to, his long fingernail held up in the air and moved almost tenderly in the direction of Nemu's head.
Ishida stiffened, about to shoot an arrow but having stopped at Mayuri's movement. Was he actually caressing his "daughter", showing some sort of human emotion?
Nay, the long nail revealed its purpose, clicking into a heretofore unseen slot in the side of Nemu's neck like a key entering a lock. The nail clicked to the side of the slot and all of a sudden, Nemu stiffened, as if listening to silent orders from Mayuri.
Mayuri gave one last vile smile afterwards and then slumped back down to the ground.
Steam began to spew out of the side of Nemu's mouth and her nostrils, making Ishida's eyes widen and causing sweat to comically drape down his forehead. What in the world was this?
Nemu's eyes were fiery and suddenly lifeless, her expression robotic as she spoke in a monotonous voice.
"Entering…berserker…mode…"
What?!
Ishida hadn't any time to respond before Nemu used a maddening shunpo to appear in front of him and deliver the coupdegrace, a vicious punch to his chest that instantly broke at least two of his ribs and sent him flying into the wall behind him in an explosion of dust and rubble.
Zaraki Kenpachi lay in the giant void, blood streaming from his wounds. Yet there was no pain, only nothingness. There was nothing around him, nothing but himself. He hated it, not having someone to fight. Without the sound of sword clashing against sword, the pain, the exhilaration of battle, without that there was nothing but the tired boring voices inside his head.
The truth was, he hated being alone. He was scared of it, it's why he always loved battle. It's what he could count on. His entire family had been slaughtered in the wars of the noble Shinigami clans. He had been born in an age where you had to survive by taking your blade and holding it in front of you like a man, drawing blood and fighting for your life.
That's what you could count on, a fight, it's what he counted on to be with him always, supporting him like a family. He could see in his head the thousands of men he had killed, and it reassured him, they were the family he had never gotten the chance to fight and slaughter.
Zaraki Kenpachi spat blood, trying to rise, trying to forget the fact that he had just been skewered alive by a maddening psychopath who had overcome his full powers. All that mattered was the thrill of battle, the familiar feeling of a blade in his hand and the warm caress of a blade through his own flesh. That's what it was all about for Zaraki Kenpachi, love and family.
Finally rising, he shook his head, confused and enraged, not sure where he was or why Kaworu wasn't in front of him.
"Shit, where the hell am I? Don't tell me I'm dead! What a fuckin' bore! Nothin' here but my own thoughts, who am I supposed to cut? Is this hell? Then let me fight the fuckin' devil!"
Suddenly a violent din surrounded him in the grand void, a giant swordsmen covered in armor with a katana drawn towering over him. A warrior much like those he had slaughtered by the thousands in wartime, a true samurai. More alarmingly, it looked exactly like the one had fought during his battle with Komamaru.
"What the hell is this, huh? Who are you? Fox face?"
A booming voice issued from the rattling armor of the swordsmen, shaking from within as if the giant samurai was empty inside his armor.
"YOU KNOW WHO I AM, ZARAKI KENPACHI."
"Tch! Hell if I know or care! Save the introductions and bring me that giant fuckin' blade of yours."
The giant warrior only responded with a massive roar, bringing his blade down towards Kenpachi. The sword itself was the size of a small building, and as the wounded Shinigami Captain brought his comparatively diminutive blade up to block it, he could only laugh in glee and madness.
"Ain't the size of yer sword, it's how ya use it!"
His taunt was nearly cut off as the massive sword slammed into his, making his feet crack the ground from the sheer forced of the giant swordsmen. Grunting, he strained to support the weight of the massive pressures upon him, barely able to remain standing and contain the immense forces threatening to snap him and his sword in half.
"You think that as you hide behind your sword, ZARAKI KENPACHI."
"Tch! You can ready my fuckin' thoughts now? Who cares! I don't need no special blades! This sword here is just a sword, like yers, if it cracks I'll just draw another one!"
"And what of your sword's screams to be known?"
"I don't fuckin' care, I don't have time to be chattin' with a goddamn sword! All that matters is cutting' and stabbin'!"
"You say that, but you hide behind your sword's chatter, as it slams against another blade. That noise is your conversation, your dialogue. You delight in the noise of your sword screaming, and yet you speak of not caring for your sword's thoughts."
"Thoughts? Chatter? THE FUCK YOU TALKIN' ABOUT? Yer overcomplicating the joy of the fight, ya moron. Just slash your sword at your opponent and get ready to bite flesh, that's all! Don't need no fancy attacks or bullshit cheating advantages like shikai and bankai. A sword is just a piece of metal."
"AND A MAN? MERELY A PIECE OF FLESH OVER BONE TO BE SHATTERED."
Kenpachi's eyes widened as the giant warrior pressed more forced behind its sword, actually cracking through Zaraki's blade and making him grimace. Could it really be happening? His sword had never let him down before.
"You depend on your blade. Without it you are nothing. If you delight in it when it screams and sings yet ignore the fact that has words to speak, if you do that you are merely denying yourself. If you call your sword a mere piece of metal, you are even less than that. A clump of flesh and bone."
Zaraki Kenpachi had no time to respond to the puzzling and annoying words issuing out of the giant warrior, the massive blade slamming straight through his sword and bashing him away. The blade was indeed so massive and he so small that there was no cut, instead it smashed his arms and shoulders, shattering the bones in them and even worse, shattering his sword into a hundred pieces.
Kenpachi realized it then as he fell to his knees, unable to move his broken arms, staring at his crumbled sword. He realized that the sword was merely an extension of the man. All those men he had killed, they were inferior of heart and spirit. It wasn't their blades. But by denying his sword, he made both him and his sword weaker.
But this realization brought him nothing but discomfort. It meant that he was not a solitary fighter, it meant that the sword was not a tool but a part of him…even more than him, perhaps a partner, an embodiment of his soul?
All these realizations seemed external, as if foreign epiphanies were being forcefed into his skull. But by who? Whose voice was inside his mind, reverberating like the sound of a sword clanging against another sword…
The giant warrior stood over him now, ready to deliver the finishing blow.
"You know who I am Zaraki Kenpachi."
"Tch, as if I care! You talk too much!"
"And you hide within your strength…within my strength. Why is that?""What the fuck do you mean? I don't need any help! Ichigo fought me two versus one! I only needed myself!"
"And you lost!"
"But at least I didn't use any fuckin' tricks!"
"You are mistaken. I've been there alongside you from the beginning. That battle, as well as the other battles…you had no handicap then but your own ignorance."
"What?! Alongside me? The fuck are you talkin-"
"Haven't you recognized me yet, Ken-chan?"
Little Lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi giggled as her pink haired head bobbed up and down, riding the massive shoulder of her Captain, Kenpachi Zaraki.
She laughed as she urged him forward; pointing down the long alleyway Kenpachi was sprinting down, his spiked hair standing proud like the many towers of Soul Society.
He spoke up in his gruff voice.
"Are you sure this is the right way? I hope you're not pulling the same shit like when the ryoka were invading."
"Of course not Ken-chan!"
"You felt it too…didn't you?"
"Yeah…that strawberry-head…you betcha…I sensed his spirit too!"
"So what!?"
Captain Kenpachi Zaraki let out an eerie grin, strolling down the street.
He laughed as he moved forward; pointing down the long alleyway he himself was sprinting down, his spiked hair standing proud like the many towers of Soul Society.
He spoke up in his gruff voice.
"Are you sure this is the right way? I hope you're not pulling the same shit like when the ryoka were invading."
Kenpachi paused before speaking once more.
"You felt it too…didn't you?"
There was no response evident but silence.
"You callin' me crazy or something? What a fuckin' surprise!"
"You act so detached and full of bloodlust, so brazen and bestial, but you must realize that the path of the beast is the path of impotence…no evolution, no flexibility, nothing but pure strength and madness. If you're a beast, you need to be stronger."
Kenpachi hissed in frustrated anger, trying desperately to pull out the spear impaling him to no avail.
"Besides…despite your hackneyed exterior, you have things to protect, even if you don't realize it."
Kenpachi's eyes widened as Kaworu turned to face little Lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi, who had been watching loyally this entire time. Zaraki had no time to react as former Captain Kaworu lifted a single arm up in Yachiru's direction and muttered phrases in a tired voice.
"Destructive Art: 95, Lighting Genesis, Crash Down."
Even without the incantation it was clear the bolt of lightning was quite fast and powerful, and neither Yachiru nor the hopelessly pinned Kenpachi had any time to react as it ripped straight through little Yachiru's chest, sending the Lieutenant flying backwards and limp onto the rubble.
Kaworu smirked in a self-congratulatory fashion and then turned back to the Captain who he had trapped like a pinned butterfly.
"Killing requires reason, slaughter requires strength, and while you may have had the latter, there is always another stronger than you…brute. To live and fight as a beast as you do, is to live in a world of blindness and congratulate yourself for it."
For once, the boisterous and wild Kenpachi gave no response, in fact he hadn't even heard Kaworu's words.
Inside Captain Zaraki Kenpachi, a war was raging.
"What the hell is going on?!"
"Look deeper…"
"You act so detached and full of bloodlust, so brazen and bestial, but you must realize that the path of the beast is the path of impotence…no evolution, no flexibility, nothing but pure strength and madness. If you're a beast, you need to be stronger."
Kenpachi hissed in frustrated anger, trying desperately to pull out the spear impaling him to no avail.
"Besides…despite your hackneyed exterior, you have things to protect, even if you don't realize it."
Kenpachi's eyes widened as Kaworu turned to face the sword in Kenpachi's hand. Zaraki had no time to react as former Captain Kaworu lifted a single arm up in Kenpachi's direction and muttered phrases in a tired voice.
"Destructive Art: 95, Lighting Genesis, Crash Down."
Even without the incantation it was clear the bolt of lightning was quite fast and powerful, and neither Kenpachi's blade nor the hopelessly pinned Kenpachi himself had any time to react as it ripped straight through metal of the sword's hilt, searing and melting the sword until it fell apart completely in a dozen molten pieces.
Kaworu smirked in a self-congratulatory fashion and then turned back towards the Captain who he had trapped like a pinned butterfly.
"Killing requires reason, slaughter requires strength, and while you may have had the latter, there is always another stronger than you…brute. To live and fight as a beast as you do, is to live in a world of blindness and congratulate yourself for it."
For once, the boisterous and wild Kenpachi gave no response, in fact he hadn't even heard Kaworu's words.
Inside Captain Zaraki Kenpachi, a war was raging.
The truth had always been in front of him, hidden in the swagger of battle. And it soon revealed itself, the heavy armor of the giant warrior shattering into pieces and revealing a small pink-haired girl inside.
"YACHIRU! THAT BASTARD BROKE YA! I'LL KILL HIM! MY SWORD!"
"We'll get 'em Ken-chan!"
"Tch, is there a reason no one did anything about me talking to myself and not having a real Lieutenant?"
"I just think they were too scared to ask, Kenny."
Ikkaku nudged Yumichika, watching Kenpachi mumbling and muttering to himself like some sort of crazed psychopath.
"You talk to him…"
"No you!"
"I don't wanna get myself killed this young, you bum."
He had always thought of her as true family alongside him, another who delighted in his fights and the blade. How close he had been to the truth, yet so far. Indeed, he found family in his fights, familiarity in his blade because there literally was the spirit of his comrade alongside him in every battle…cheering him on, lending her strength…
He had never been alone, she the external feeling of family, perhaps of his slain sisters from a family he had never had the chance to experience as a child…she had been there alongside him from the beginning, his blade, his family, his soul.
There was after all, nothing wrong with a man and his blade alone deciding battle. This changed nothing, if anything, it expanded it.
Kenpachi smiled confidently, glancing at the little girl at his side and the sword at his hip. It all felt…right.
"C'mon Ken-chan, no more time to talk. We've got a spoiled brat to cut up!"
"Hahahaahaahaahaaha, I'm liking this already!"
Kaworu sighed, glancing at the pinned and probably now dying Captain to his right. How many Captains of his father would he have to kill to get his attention? It was just like the old days, trying to get father to pay him mind.
Ever since his mother had passed during childbirth, his father had turned a stern eye towards him as if it had been his fault his mother had died.
"Don't be difficult….I'm leaving you with your uncle…"
"No! Daddy, please don't leave! Where's mommy!"
"She's dead, Kaworu…"
"No! You're lying!"
"You saw it with your own eyes…you remember…"
The fragments of Kaworu's memories shook inside his skull like broken pieces of glass, wounding his tender flesh when they splashed out into his brain. Was he coming unhinged? Had he already gone far too insane?
None of his memories made sense anymore, was that memory a figment of his imagination? Why had he been asking of his mother if she had died during childbirth? Why had his father claimed he had seen it with his own eyes? Surely he couldn't remember his own birth…then what?
Which of his memories and ideas were real and which of them were utter madness? Could it be that he had lost his grasp on reality and was fighting a quest of evil?
Kaworu grimaced, shrugging the wounds from his body and mind. Even if he was on a skewed quest of psychosis, he had put far too much time and madness into it to turn back now, he had lost far too much…
His steps were taking him closer now to where he knew his father was waiting for him, in those grand ivory buildings he made his headquarters, alongside the towers of penitence where prisoners were kept. Fitting for such a cruel and stern ruler.
However, before he could take another step, an extra step was added into the silent interval in between his steps. The footstep of another. And the sound of a bell ringing? That could only mean? Impossible! What was the fellow made out of!
Kaworu barely managed to whirl about in time, intercepting Zaraki Kenpachi's swinging blade with his spear still in bankai. It was amazing, the Shinigami Captain had been skewered and dying with his sword shattered in a hundred pieces…yet here he was coming back with a furious new reiatsu and his sword apparently still intact.
"What the hell?! Shouldn't you and your wretched sword be dead?"
Kenpachi gave a wild grin, exerting his strength both physical and spiritual as he blazed with reiatsu and sent Kaworu stumbling back with a rough push.
"Nah! In fact we've never been better!"
Kaworu's eyes widened as he straightened himself, brushing blood and dust off of his clothes.
"'We'? Don't tell me-"
"Like you said, a man with no control of his blade is just a dumb beast. Now this is a fair fight."
Kenpachi let out a gruesomely morbid laugh, exploding with even more spiritual pressure. Even for an amazing source of spiritual pressure, this was definitely a new level, the energy was just leaking out of Kenpachi and his sword.
His sword was just as ragged-looking as before, but now it was imbued with a more powerful aura, as was the man holding it.
The Captain rushed forward, slashing his sword viciously down at Kaworu, Kaworu barely managing to block it. And even as he did so, a rushing blast of spiritual pressure and strength blasted him away, sending him flying back into the tower wall behind him.
"Shit! Stronger than my bankai?! Then I'll take you out faster than you can see…"
Kaworu grit his teeth, flashing forward with startling nimble speed and appearing far too quickly for Kenpachi, directly behind the 11th Division Captain with Inazuma's spear point hurtling towards his back.
However, as the cross-spear crashed into its target, Kaworu noticed in disbelief that it hadn't even drawn blood. His spear had been blocked by Kenpachi's sword, the Shinigami Captain having whirled around to intercept his attack.
"Hah! I can see you now, ya dumb bastard!"
Kaworu grit his teeth, struggling to resist Kenpachi's sword pushing him and his spear back.
"Damn, so it's not just your strength that increased…"
"Tch, I'm gonna make you pay for hurtin' Yachiru, you fuck!"
"Huh, so you know your sword's name now, do you? That explains this power, possibly merely the realization of your constantly released shikai. Yet will you possess the power to overwhelm me, I wonder?"
Kenpachi pushed Kaworu back once more and brought his sword down towards Kaworu's skull, single-minded in his terrifying urge to fight and cut and smash.
Kaworu barely had time to release the first limit on Inazuma,
He held the great spear Inazuma in his left hand and pressed the tip into his right palm. As if made of air, it sank straight through his palm as if his palm was an endlessly deep pool of water and then simply disappeared.
Kaworu clenched his right fist, his eyes bulging and the veins at his forehead straining with obvious difficulty as his right arm trembled.
Suddenly, the bright golden-white tattoos spelling the phrase "VENGEANCE IS MINE" ("Fukushû Suruwa Wareniari") across both hands that had grown on his knuckles with his bankai started to contort against his skin.
The golden lines began to crisscross and grow, as if the tattoo was somehow sprouting like a vine. They grew up his hand and began to snake and crisscross all around his right arm, these glowing golden lines and symbols searing into his skin as if they were being branded on or tattooed.
It all stopped at his right shoulder, and as the smoke cleared, one could see the intricate and beautiful lines and runes all around his right arm with a new surprising addition.
There seemed to be a glowing wing of electric energy sprouting out of his right shoulder, a single ethereal wing of massive spiritual presence.
However, all of this rote redundancy was cut off immediately. Kaworu had had the time to release his initial limit, but not the time to react to Kenpachi's surprising agility and power. Zaraki hadn't just grown in strength, he'd become a beast on all fronts.
Kaworu's eyes bulged as Kenpachi's sword slashed vertically through his chest, sending a spiral of blood flying into the air and making him gasp and choke with sluggish streams of crimson ichor seeping from betwixt his lips from the immediate internal bleeding.
Kenpachi let out a wild hoot as Kaworu gasped and toppled over right after having released his first limit of power, making it quite anti-climactic indeed as he currently lay on the ground bleeding out with a giant slash across his chest.
Zaraki strolled towards his fallen opponent, his long sword pointed in the direction of Kaworu's throat as the fallen man gasped for air and balance from his severe wound.
"Looks like ya got bitten by the beast, huh? You sure liked to rant about how only a man can kill a beast and blahblahblah, but it looks like you're down in the dirt with the rest of us now. Yachiru got her comeuppance."
Kaworu grit his teeth, feeling the life from within him draining, his heart beating slower and slower.
Lubbdubb
Lubbdubb
Lubb…dubb
"My Ichi-chan…if I were to run away from this place…would you join me?"
He rested his fingers gently on her chin, lifting up her face to gaze into his.
"Would you? Leave this place, this land of duty and law, this land where you were raised…leave this land where you hold such supreme position…leave this land for your heart and mine?"
Yoruichi trembled, tears running down her face.
"I know what I have to do…my Kaworu…my Okami…"
Kaworu smiled lovingly, taking this as an affirmative response, his hand reaching to pull her in a kiss.
Suddenly, however, his brow furrowed, and he sighed, shaking his head.
"I'm sorry."
"I…understand…but…did it have to be so…ruthless, Ichi-chan?"
The young man fell to the ground and coughed up violent streams of his own crimson blood, staring at the blade sticking out of his chest. The blade Yoruichi had stuck into him.
He stared up Yoruichi, who was a trembling, sobbing mess, and his shivering right hand reached out and brushed the hair out of her eyes, smiling.
"Shh…don't cry Yoruichi…I understand…only following…orders…"
"Yoruichi…I'm sorry…father, I'm sorry…but…"
Kaworu's eyes blazed with energy, a blast of lightning making its fiery current out of his clenched fists and into his chest, jumpstarting his heart and searing his terrible wound closed in a burst of burning power.
"…I must make a new world to replace this one…I will not die before you do."
The current didn't stop, coursing across the ground directly at Kenpachi's surprised form, slamming into his toes and up into his skull.
Smoke seeped out of Zaraki's nose and mouth and he gave a rough laugh, shaking his head.
"Nice…fight…looks like this is our limit, eh Ya-"
Kenpachi didn't finish his sentence, toppling over from the sudden rush of electric force into him with smoke still seeping out of him.
Kaworu rose with a tired grunt, feeling lightly roasted without much energy. But it didn't matter, the tower waited for him. His father was waiting.
He glanced at Kenpachi's unconscious form, grimacing and stumbling forward. No, he wouldn't deliver a final blow to the fallen 11th Division Captain. Kaworu wouldn't admit it to himself, but he respected the potential in Zaraki Kenpachi, beast or not.
There was a bit of Shogo Kiriyama in the Captain, he was a pure being. Pure violence maybe, but purity was of some value no matter what it consisted of.
"It would be a pity to kill a warrior such as you…"
Kaworu looked away, glancing at the grand tower where his father was evidently waiting for him and the entrance through which he soon planned to flash.
He clenched his fists, trying to remember his mother's face, his uncle's smell, his lover's lips…steeling himself for what would come, an inevitable reunion and clash. It had to be done, the new world had to be created and the road to it would be paved with his father's bones. It was inevitable.
"This is it, father."
Suddenly, a voice directly behind Kaworu, the surprise of it making him grimace and then sigh in resignation.
"Not quite."
Kaworu turned around slowly this time, exasperated with interruptions and far too tired to handle anyone else. He managed to turn just in time to see Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya and his released zanpakutō.
A dragon!? Like Inazuma? Could it be?!
He had no time to react to the ice dragon that slammed into his midsection and carried him flying straight into the walls of the tower in a giant explosion of rubble. Upstairs, Shigekuni gave no reaction to the shaking of the tower, merely continuing to sip his tea.
Hitsugaya blazed with spiritual pressure, his eyes furious as he shouted into the destruction and din he had caused.
"Where's Hinamori, you bastard?!"
Captain Jushiro Ukitake smiled weakly as he made his way through the garden of 13th Division's headquarters, still feeling quite in pain and tired from the vicious battle and wounds he had taken from Kaworu. The blasts of energy sent into him had aggravated his already weak physical system, short-circuiting his body and forcing him into a 4th Division healing room for a number of precarious hours until he managed to pull through under Captain Unohana's direction supervision.
Alongside him was Rukia Kuchiki, back from visiting her brother, now here to visit her fallen Captain, still overwhelmed with trepidation over the whereabouts of Ichigo Kurosaki which were currently unknown.
Still, this quiet walk in the garden alongside her Captain was comforting enough in such a wild time of war. She still had no idea where all her friends and comrades were and if they were okay, but all she could do in the end was pray and believe in her compatriots.
Is that really all I'm capable of then? Crossing my damned fingers? Tch…
She had tried to summon inner strength, but ever since the last terrible defeat against Kaworu and the fall of her brother and friends she had been overwhelmed with a sense of helplessness. Even with her powers slowing having returned, she felt like an ant compared to the spiritual pressures of the key players currently slashing their way throughout Soul Society.
Ukitake gave Rukia a kind smile, touching her right shoulder gently and snapping her out of her inner-gloom. What he'd never admit is that he half touched her shoulder because he had almost found himself toppling over from sheer lack of strength and had needed some support. His body was still in horrible shape.
"Rukia…you need not fret so much, I know what you're thinking…"
"Captain…"
"You fought admirably for your position, and you'll only get stronger…I wasn't always a Captain, you know, and look at the state I'm in now. Someday you'll be even stronger than me, I'm sure."
"Thanks, Captain Ukitake…I just can't help but feel rather irrelevant in this battle. It's all up to the Captain-Commander, and I don't even know where Ichigo is."
"I understand, I understand. How about first thing tomorrow morning we take the whole division out and start looking for him and your friends, huh?"
"But Captain…you're still injured from-"
Ukitake laughed, smacking his chest proudly and giving Rukia a wink. What he wouldn't tell her is that he felt like his body was on fire.
"Hah, little old me? I'm fine! Don't fret. We'll go first thing-"
Ukitake's broad smile and continued words were dragged down into a giant explosion of dust and rubble, exposing the sewer system below the ground, the vicious blast opening up a massive sinkhole that immediately sucked up the Captain before he could finish talking.
"-tomorrooooooooooo-"
Rukia Kuchika's eyes widened in surprise, having glimpsed the sudden strands of spiritual pressure that had appeared before Rukia and Ukitake's path and then the ensuing explosion that had shook the earth around them and sucked up Ukitake. Her Captain's mournful face disappeared into the brand new pit, the poor fellow still smiling to reassure her in her insecurity even as he was sucked into the freshly made void.
"Captain?! What the hell?!"
"Number 12, Fushibi. Setting the ambush was easy, all I had to do was wait for you traitors to appear."
Rukia Kuchiki spun around in surprise to gaze at the source of the stern feminine voice issuing behind her. Momo Hinamori, looking particularly disgruntled.
What the hell is she doing here?! Shouldn't she be in the infirmary or something?!
"Lieutenant Hinamori?! What is the meaning of this!"
Momo gave a cruel sneer, an expression quite bizarre on her usually gentle face, speaking or rather spitting out angry words in reply.
"Quiet down, you traitor! I know exactly what you and Captain Ichimaru planned, framing Captain Aizen like that! I'll kill you for my Captain! I'll fix everything!"
Rukia Kuchiki stiffened, reviewing her possible choices and glancing at Momo's trembling hand at Tobiume's hilt. Clearly the Lieutenant of Fifth Division had totally lost it, either because of external or internal influences, it was irrelevant. All that mattered was that Hinamori was a clear danger to herself and all those around her.
She had to get to Captain Ukitake in the collapsed sewers, and quick, who knows what wounds could have reopened. But in between her and the pit stood Momo, determined and ready to battle
Crap…I…I can't do this…can I? She's a Lieutenant…I can handle her…I think…I could have been a Lieutenant like Renji…I'm sure, if brother hadn't held me back…I have to believe in my power. Here she comes!
Rukia was snapped out of her musing as Momo Hinamori drew her blade and swung it in the air, not attacking just yet.
"Hajike…Tobiume…"
Speaking out her release phrase, Momo and Rukia both watched transfixed as Momo's sword
The blade had straightened and become a long sword with several jitte-like prongs along its length at various intervals. This was Momo's shikai, Rukia had heard of it but never experience it firsthand.
She had but little time to react to it as Hinamori let out an angry yell, charging a blast of spiritual energy into the conduit that was her released blade and sending the fiery sphere of destruction flying towards Rukia.
Rukia Kuchikia quickly utilized her shunpo to take a sidestep just away from the terrible blast, drawing her own blade carefully and pointing it in Momo's direction.
"I don't want to hurt you, Momo."
"It's far too late for that, Rukia…Stand and fight and die like a Shinigami."
Momo Hinamori let out an uncharacteristic growl, sending another vicious blast flying out towards Rukia from her sword while charging forward.
Rukia quickly dodged the blast, finding a quick rhythm in her ability to dodge the agile but avoidable attacks. The blast flew past her and missed, but Momo wasn't done, quickly launching a vicious kido spell, specifically…
"Destructive Art Number 31, Shakkaho!"
The blast just barely missed Rukia as she made an agile sidestep, but it did connect with one of the stone pillars behind her, toppling it over directly behind Rukia.
Rukia held her own blade forward and spoke defiantly while turning it in a circle counter-clockwise.
"Mae, Sode no Shirayuki."
While she turned it the blade, hilt and crossguard turned completely white. The tsuba becoming a circle and a white ribbon spreading out like wings from the pommel.
This was her shikai, ice white and one of the most beautiful in Soul Society. However the release of it took a considerable moment of time, more than enough time for Momo to have readied another spell which she quickly sent flying. This one was quite obviously a binding spell and Rukia released she barely had time to react.
"Number 63, Sajo Sabaku!"
However, despite the fact that she had been prone…the binding strips made their way right past Rukia Kuchiki, barely missing her and flying directly past her.
Hmmm…lucky…maybe this is my chance!
Momo fired off a blast from Tobiume as Rukia charged forward with a shunpo, and just according to Momo's unfolding plans, Rukia dodged it nimbly.
When the explosion behind her from the dodged blast cleared, she found her arms and legs immediately binded by a number of spiritual strips, Rukia's eyes bulging open in surprise at the sudden turn of events. It had all been a game for the fiery tactician Momo Hinamori!
Then that last binding kido?! She didn't miss! She was aiming for the collapsed pillar behind me and waiting for her chance to trigger the waiting binding kido with a blast from Tobiume…Dammit! I can't move!
Rukia Kuchiki struggled uselessly in the spiritual bonds containing her as Lieutenant Momo Hinamori slowly made her way towards what she saw as her ultimate enemy and the vilest evil of Soul Society.
"That took a while, Rukia, but it's finally over. If you have any honor left, you'll resign yourself and get what you deserve."
Hinamori drew back her blade, charging another fiery red blast of spiritual energy to fire at the prone and trapped Rukia, grimacing with strain as she summoned more of her destructive spiritual power.
"WHAT YOU DESERVE FOR HURTING CAPTAIN AIZEN!"
Shit! Is this it? Am I done? Ichigo…I'm sorry…I never got to…
Rukia Kuchiki closed her eyes, more than ready to meet her sister again yet mournful at all she had been unable to achieve in her life.
However, before the blast could strike, it was stopped by a blazing shield of golden energy, and in between that shield and Rukia was Orihime Inoue.
Momo shook her head, drawing back her sword and sneering.
"Human interloper! You have no business in this battle! Either you defeat me or your comrade in evil dies! And you cannot defeat me, being just a human!"
Orihime stood defiant, her powers swelling with the rise and fall of her genuinely growing emotions.
"I'm not letting you hurt my friend. And I'm not going to let you die either…I'm tired of people saying there's only one choice. I'm going to save my nakama and save you too."
Orihime seemed determined as she stood in between Momo Hinamori and Rukia Kuchiki, her hands upraised as she kept the shield charged and constant. Meanwhile Momo had merely grimaced in her psychosis, charging up another round blast of destructive energy to fling forward at her opponents.
Momo sneered, shaking her head sadly.
"There is only one choice…"
Hueco Mundo
Las Noches
Captain Sōsuke Aizen lay back in his throne, giving a musing smile as he viewed the ongoing situation in Soul Society and his penultimate plans unfolding briskly.
"There is only one choice for Soul Society. It will be razed to the ground and all who dwell in it will suffer and die deaths with the realization that nothing lays ahead for them in reincarnation but dwelling in a realm of my creation."
A rough chapter, maybe not my best. Prepare yourself for Orihime standing up for herself, Nemu showing off her terrifying berserker mode, Kaworu and Hitsugaya fighting in a vicious clash of dragon swords, and much more!