Chapter Ten
The Battle Within
World of the Living, Ten Minutes Later...
Katie was still crying on Tabitha's shoulder. Tabitha was still trying to calm her down. A Hell butterfly appeared and sat on her shoulder. "Nick was bitten by one of Aizen's Hollows." It said in Raymond's voice.
It continued explaining that Nick will be moved if and when his newly-integrated inner Hollow shows itself and that Jasmine was sending her a Butterfly as well. As soon as the first had disappeared, Jasmine's appeared and went onto her shoulder. It told her that Jasmine felt guilty about not being able to stop the Hollow from biting Nick and that she would be taught healing by Captain Tiny Highwind. She smiled at her daughters' achievements and then frowned at Nick's condition. She decided to take Jasmine's advice about Katie, seeing the truth in her words.
"Katie, Nick is fine. He got injured in the battle, but it's nothing major. Just a few scratches. As soon as he gets better, he'll contact you. Okay, sweetie?"
Katie's head picked up and nodded, flashing a small smile. "Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Negron."
"Katie, you know you can just call me Tabitha. Now, go get some rest. I promise everything is fine."
Katie then nodded again and went back upstairs to rest.
Nick's Inner World...
Nick had just landed in what he could only think to be his Inner World. He looked around and saw that his Inner World looked like a mix of things. It had some skyscrapers, a couple of mountains, a cave or two, a field and a canyon-like wasteland. Continuing to look around, he spotted what looked like a man dressed in a tattered trench coat with a furred rim. "Who are you?" He asked the man.
Turning around, Nick saw that the stranger had a fox mask over one side of his face. "Who do you think I am?" The stranger asked back.
"I'm going to guess that you're the materialization of my Zanpaku-to, Kyubi," The man nodded. "Which would make this my Inner World."
"That is correct. As you may not yet know, there is an intruder here. This intruder, however, is now a part of you. In order for you to control him, you must defeat him in a struggle to find out who has the right to wield me."
"Why would we have to fight to figure that out?"
"Because he is a part of you, but a different consciousness. If you wish to keep him under control, you will have to first win the right to wield me."
"Okay, that explanation makes it a bit clearer. So, where is this guy, anyway?"
"I'm right behind you." Said a voice from behind Nick.
Turning around, Nick saw that the intruder looked exactly like him, but his clothes were opposite colors. The flames on his vest and pants were red instead of blue and the rest of the clothes were a grayish silver instead of black. Nick saw that this person that looked like a mimic of himself also had gold eyes, the same eyes as a Hollow. Nick pointed at him accusingly. "You... You're a Hollow! Why do you look like me?"
"Because, I am your Hollow. When that Hollow bit you, I was created. It is one of that Hollows' abilities. I see that you need to fight me in order to wield Kyubi," Nick's Hollow smiled and released his version of Kyubi. "Well, you're going to have to beat me in order to do that. I should warn you, though. I have the same power as you, so this should end in a stalemate, unless I'm smarter than you. Are you ready?" He asked tauntingly.
"Give me a second," Nick released his Kyubi. "Okay, let's go."
"Let's see how you like it. Kyubi, Unleash!" Nick's Hollow sent a barrage of flames at Nick.
Nick dodged and appeared behind the Hollow version of himself. "Now who's behind who?" he asked, getting ready to attack his enemy. "Kyubi, Unleash!" He sent flames at his opposite.
"Too slow." Hollow Nick said, now appearing to Nick's left.
"Shit! So, you have my abilities as well as my power, huh? Well then, I guess it's time to use the secret move that I still haven't used," Nick dashed at his Hollow. "Kyubi, Molten Slash!" He stabbed the enemy with his Kyubi, making his Hollow disappear and reappear farther away from himself.
"Good job, Nick," Kyubi said, walking over to him. "You have earned the right to wield me. But, you will have more problems with this one," He pointed at Nick's Hollow. "So be careful."
"I will. Thank you, Kyubi."
Kyubi only nodded as Nick came out of his Inner World.
Clinic Room...
Nick woke up and sat up in the bed. "Where am I?" He said, making Jasmine, his father and even Raymond to jump in fright.
"Nick!" Jasmine hugged her brother. "You're okay. I knew you could do it, I just knew it!" She ran towards the door to the room. "Captain Highwind, Nick's awake!" She called.
Tony Highwind appeared in the doorway and entered. "Hello, Nick. If you don't mind me asking, did you defeat your inner Hollow?"
"Yes, but not for good. I only beat him over the right to wield my Zanpaku-to."
"Okay. We will have to move you to another location for a while. You do wish to be able to control your inner Hollow, right?"
"If it will make him stay calm, then I do still wish to control him and his powers that I can use," At this Tony looked at Nick with a puzzled look. "When I was fighting him, I was able to move even faster than I can now. I was able to defeat him using that extra speed."
"I understand. Well, if you can walk, we'll get going to your new location."
Nick nodded and tried to get out of bed, succeeding and stretching. Captain Highwind smiled at the incredibly strong teenager and led the way out of the clinic.
Visored Base, An Hour later...
Nick, Jasmine, their father and Captains Barrett and Highwind made their way to a building located near the wall surrounding the Seireitei. On the symbol was an emblem. The emblem looked like a face that had what looked like a Hollow mask tilted to one side of the face. Captain Highwind addressed the group. "This is the base of the Visoreds, or Soul Reapers who have gained Hollow powers and use them to augment their own in battle. Nick, you will be staying here for a few days while you learn to fully control your inner Hollow." He opened the door and led the way inside.
A girl with bluish-black hair walked toward them. "Why, Captains Barrett and Highwind! What brings you to our little base?" She asked.
"There has been an incident, Jewel."
"Oh, so another guy got bitten by one of those fucking Hollows created by Aizen?" Raymond and Tony both nodded. "Well, who got bit and needs help to control the Hollow powers?"
Nick stepped forward and Jasmine noticed that, for a brief moment, his right eye had turned from brown to gold and back to brown. She decided to ask someone about that later. Nick's voice broke the silence. "I was bitten while trying to protect my sister." He said, bowing slightly to the girl.
Jewel looked at Nick and asked. "What is your name?"
"My name is Nick Negron. My father is Elias Negron and my mother is Tabitha Lenora Negron, former Captain of Squad One." Nick replied.
"Oh, really? One of Tabitha's kids? Now that's ironic. First your mom gets bitten years ago, and now you. I can't get a break from surprises anymore, can I?" Nick, being oblivious missed what Jewel had said about his and Jasmine's mother.
"I guess not, Jewel," Tony said, smiling at the girl. "So, will you help him out?"
"Sure, why not? It's not going to get better without our help, so I guess it can't be avoided," She turned to Nick. "What is the evaluation level of your Spiritual Pressure?"
Nick was confused by this, so Raymond spoke up. "I've assessed it to be that of a Lieutenant, but it grows. Sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly."
"Ah, so we'll need to keep him for about a week or two. If you just came here to start Soul Reaper training, we'll be happy to teach you while helping you control your Hollow powers. Now, go farther in and you'll meet up with another Visored. Tell them the evaluation level of your Spiritual Pressure and they'll figure out how we'll need to help you control those powers. I have to talk to the other members of your group," Nick nodded and walked farther into the building. Jewel looked back at the others. "Has the Hollow been showing itself at all in his appearance?" She asked in a hushed and urgent voice.
"Neither I nor Captain Barrett have seen anything." Tony said, causing Jewel to look at Jasmine.
"Have you seen anything?"
"Well, when he stepped forward to announce that he was the one afflicted, his right eye turned from his usual brown to gold, and then it changed back to brown."
"Okay, then we might have to keep him a little longer. If the Inner Hollow starts to show itself in any feature of the face, it means that Nick could be losing the struggle for his body. We'll get to work on this right away. But, just in case, I'd warn all of you to go and continue what you were doing before this incident happened. I'll send a message to Tabitha myself telling her that we have Nick."
The two Captains left first, followed by Elias. Jasmine stayed for a moment longer. "Thank you for helping him. Nick is my only brother, and I don't want to lose him. Please, help him conquer this as quickly as possible. None of the others told you, but his girlfriend back home is pregnant, and if Nick has to be killed, his girlfriend might do something she'll regret. I'm sorry for staying so long. Goodbye." Jasmine turned to leave when jewel reached out for her shoulder.
"Wait a minute," Jasmine turned back around. "I know you're worried about your brother, but we'll do everything we can to make sure that you don't lose him. Don't beat yourself up about this, please. You should go and get some rest for now. I'll keep you posted on his progress."
"Thank you." Jasmine left the Visored Base.
A/N: Here's chapter ten. Now we know one of the Visoreds' names, but not the full name since I couldn't figure out a last name. I didn't want too much in one chapter, so I decided to put some conversation between Jewel and Jasmine in. Jasmine has to be the one to tell everyone what happened because she feels guilty about being the reason Nick got bitten in the first place. Chapter eleven will be up soon, but not today. Three chapters are enough.
Next Time: Nick meets some of the other Visoreds and starts tiring himself out in order to defeat his inner Hollow for complete control of his body. In the World of the Living, Tabitha is sent a Hell Butterfly from Jewel telling her that Nick is now in their possession and are now beginning his training. Jasmine, on the other hand, begins learning healing arts from Captain Highwind. Elias gets a surprise visit from an old friend and Raymond goes to the Captain of Squad Twelve in order to have surveillance put on Nick's house in case a Hollow attacks it. Until next time on Bleach: Fire of Kyubi.