Disclaimer: This man does not own Bleach.
Trascender
"Hell no! This Segunda Etapa... It grants me the power of a Vasto Lorde's Resurreccion! For an Arrancar such as myself, limited by my transformation to only an Adjuchas... this is the crown that grants me the next step in the evolutionary chain! Now, become my flesh and blood and march towards my future! Bow your head and worship me as the king!"
Jumping into the air, Grimmjow opened his jaws to prepare for his greatest Cero.
"Gran Rey Cero!"
'Damn, it's too fast! I gonna have to use 'Blut Vene'!'
However, Blut Vene failed to protect against Gran Rey Cero, blasting into his chest. The Quincy looked up to see Grimmjow's vicious grin as his sharp panther teeth almost gnawed into his face. He ducked, barely missing the fangs and disappered in a flash.
"Trying to recover, punk bitch!? I can smell you! I've spent this entire year... learning to out-do that Blut of yours! I'm far too fast for you to hit me with that Blut Arterie nor defend yourself with Blut Vene! Come at me and die like a warrior!" A voice came from a nearby tower, announcing his presence. Grimmjow turned to face the sound as he grinned feral-like, "I've got yo-!"
"Quincy: Vollstandig. Faustiel."
A rain of feathers descended from the sky. Grimmjow looked around him in confusion, wondering what was going on. Looking ahead, he saw the man crouched over, letting the feathers swirl around him, before blasting outwards in a gleam of light. His coat flew away with from his shoulders, flowing with the wind.
"What the hell is this!?"
'A release? Shit. I was naïve to forget that Quiny had released forms. No matter, I'm gonna wreck him before he finishes!'
As Grimmjow attempted to dash forward to end it in one blow, he failed to notice the hand that grabbed him by his head.
"Fuck!"
The Quincy stood in his place, a Reishi-covered arm blocked the attack. Behind his shoulder blades were short, cherub-sized wings, with a tiny halo on his head. However, behind him was a spritual being, echoing the same stance as the Quincy. The Quincy started crushing on Grimmjow's head, watching the armor plates crush under the pressure. Reishi gathered all around in the sky above their heads, before molding together in the Quincy's blown-out shoulder. In his non-existent arm area was a purely Reishi-made arm. He held it up, while at the same time, the echo behind him did the same thing. Grimmjow continued to struggle, attempting to bite the man's hand off.
"Recht Kinnhaken. Executive Captain of the Second Jagdarmee, designated letter K. The 'Knockout'."
And true to his name, the hook he delivered to Grimmjow sent him flying through tower after tower after tower, until he could no long see the synthetic sun... Only the bloody-red moon and the white sand that buried him into the abyss.
"First Jagdarmee, Executive Captain, Quilge Opie. Draw your sword, Arrancar Woman."
The flamboyant, nearly bald Quincy drew his saber from his waist and stared down the female across from him. Nel was about to draw her sword until she felt an explosion of Grimmjow's Reiatsu, "Idiot. You're not supposed to release your Zanpakuto in the vicinity of Las Noches."
But then she gasped, as she felt another release, then the declination of Grimmjow's powers until she felt nothing.
"It seems your other fellow Arrancar... is dead." Nel stayed silent. "Lack of caring for your comrade? It seems that no matter how you may attempt to copy the human form, Hollows will never become anything more than heartless monsters."
"...I do care... But I would be more worried about your friend and yourself."
Quilge's eyebrow rose in confusion. "Explain yourself woman."
"That explosive Reiatsu... was not your fellow Quincy."
Quilge remained composed, attempting to comprehend what she was saying.
"That... was Ichigo Kurosaki."
"Tch... Damn that bastard. Takin' out my arm."
Recht gazed through the countless holes he created from knocking the Espada away. He almost laid down to rest, but remembered what the Arrancar said about Ichigo Kurosaki and that explosion, so he kept his Faustiel released. He looked around the desert circle before sensing something behind him. Turning, he discovered a tanned, blonde woman who had her arms locked and crossed under her large breasts and her eyes narrowed into thin, cat-like. Rather than taunting the obviously angry woman, he attempted a quick jab, which the echo copied. Halibel stared at it until the very last moment before it struck
"Destroy. Tiburon."
The hand was immediately blasted away, revealing Halibel dressed in her amazoness bone armor. Recht jumped backwards as she aimed her enormous shark tooth at him.
"La Gota."
Each water bullet pressured Recht into finally sealing back Faustiel. Recht leaned over panting and coughing up blood.
"I understand your power, Quincy. Unlike Grimmjow, I noticed that you grabbed him to hold him down before you released your Vollstandig. The power that your release uses depends on the Quincy technique, 'Blut Arterie'... Leaving ultimately no defense. If you didn't seal that, you would have been dead."
Glaring angrily at Halibel, he grabbed his collar with his only hand and began speaking into it.
"Quilge! Retreat for now! We will wait for Lord Juha-"
"Cero Oscuras..." And then the line went dead, signaled by frizzing sound.
"..."
"It seems you've lost your connection."
"...What did you just say?"
"You heard me, Quincy... I said... Ichigo Kurosaki."
Almost on cue, an explosion appeared behind Quilge. Turning around, Quilge received a face full of hand and was tossed back into a wall, landing in the palace. Jumping to his feet, he blinked the dust away from eyes to get a good look at his assailant.
"...Ichigo... Kurosaki."
Dressed in a white hakama and undershirt wrapped with a black sash around his waist, Ichigo walked into the open hole, his white, high-collared overcoat flowing behind him. Quilge narrowed his eyes as he stared at his outfit.
"...You're dressed like Aizen... Have you fallen so low from the top of the food chain, Kurosaki? Becoming a part of these pitiful excuses for existence?"
Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck as he popped his shoulder. Quilge noted the bone strap fragment wrapped across his nose and continued into a black and white-collar connected to his undershirt. Ichigo then ran his fingers through his shoulder-length hair and held up three fingers to count down.
"One, this was the first thing I could find in the closet. Two... People like you who look down on others disgust me. Three... is how much time I'll give you."
"What?"
"I'll give you three minutes tops... before I end this. I won't let you go any further into Las Noches."
Quilge began to laugh in amusement before his glasses and hat were split in half.
'So fast..! When did he draw his sword!?"
Shocked, he used Hirenkyaku to create space away from Ichigo until he heard a whisper in his ear.
"Why are you putting so much distance between us? Distance only has meaning in a fight between equals. With you and I, distance holds no meaning at all. Watch... If I do this, my hand is almost instantly at your heart."
Before he realized it, Ichigo's palm pressed close to Quilge's heart, who panicked in fear.
"Qui...! Retreat... now! We... wait for... Juha-"
"Cero Oscuras..."
Quilge's eyes jumped out of his skull as a dark Cero trimmed with blue began powering up on his chest, shattering his communicator, "Shit!"
The room's foundations collapsed under the pressure of the giant Cero. However, it lasted only for a couple of seconds before Ichigo hunched over in pain, overexerting himself. He coughed a little blood before he fell to his knees, "Damn... That took that much outta me?"
"Ichigo! You just got your Arrancar powers! You can't toss those powers around like Getsuga Tensho!" Nel yelled next to Ichigo, who stood and shook his fists in fury.
"How the hell was I supposed to know that!? Ulquiorra did it! He said it was just like my Getsuga Tensho!"
"Because he was using his Hollow powers properly! You might've had that Visored mask to fight like one, but that is not the same as fighting as an Arrancar! Did you think you were just gonna wake up able to use every technique in the encyclopedia!?"
"...Sorta..." Ichigo deadpanned. "That's how things usually work with me."
"You're just like Grimmjow, idiot! Being powerful doesn't come naturally!"
"Sorry, sorry. Quit yellin' at me. I guess I'll just stick to normal Ce-" Ichigo was silenced when his entire left side was blown to shreds, splattering Nel with blood.
"Ichigo!"
"Quincy: Vollstandig... Biskiel."
"Damnit!"
"..." Halibel deadpanned as she stared at the frustrated Quincy. Recht then glared at his remaining left hand before slamming it into the ground, "Advance! Soldat!"
Hundreds of Quincy appeared from the sky, raining down upon Halibel, who grabbed her blade and swung in an arc.
"Hirviendo." Ridding the first wave, more soldiers began following up behind the fallen.
Halibel dodge an attack from two soldiers at once before realizing that Recht was making a run for it. "I will sink you before you get a chance to escape!"
"Too late, Arrancar broad. I'm outta here. If you're still alive after this... I will return to kill you..."
"Not... before I get... my... shot..! Get...down here!"
The Quincy gazed down at the pathetic form of an unreleased Grimmjow, trudging and crawling along through the sand, leaving a trail of extraordinary amount of blood behind. He lifted his hand for his final Cero.
"Not you again... I'll deal with you later as well... Farewell..."
Recht walked into the Quincy opening, leaving only a shadow for Grimmjow to blast away. Halibel blocked another Spirit Sword and swirled her water to stop multiple Spirit Bullets from piercing both her and Grimmjow.
"Grimmjow... Can you stand?"
Grimmjow deadpanned before growling, "...Does it look like I CAN STAND!?"
Halibel narrowed her eyes as she turned away from him, "Alright then... lay there and die... Or wait for Kurosaki to save you."
Grimmjow went silent.
"I... I was just kidding... Halibel... baby... you won't leave me here... will you?"
Silence.
"Noooo! At least kill me before Kurosaki gets here!"
Ichigo glared across the room at the false angel in front of him. Quilge looked down at him from the ceiling, nearly blanching his disgust of the act in front him.
"Ichigo...? Nel questioned.
Ichigo's left side was regenerating itself using the Arrancar's Instant Regeneration ability. Ichigo closed his eyes as he began to reminisce.
"I fought an Espada... who told me that when he became an Arrancar, he kept his regenerative abilities instead of more power. I see now... that if I didn't remember that... I would've been dead."
Quilge watched in disgust as it finished sealing Ichigo's skin back. Ichigo reached into his coat, revealing the hilt and guard of his Zanpakuto, which was jet black with a white circle at the bottom and a larger white circle as his handle guard.
"You failed to kill me... Quilge Opie... That was my final opening."
He grasped the handle and drew his sword, showing off the black blade, trimmed with a white edge. As he held it truly for the first time, it was odd to him.
'It feels nothing like Tensa Zangetsu. While it has the length of it... It reminds of that damned Fullbring sword.'
Ichigo pointed it at the ground and watched the dark energy swirl around the guard. It then began to slowly flow around Ichigo's hand and down the rest of his body.
"Your three minutes is up. Before I finish this, I gotta know... Why have the Vandenreich declared war against the Hollows?" Quilge smirked.
"Oh, the irony is astounding, Ichigo Kurosaki. Weren't you at war against the Hollows? Aren't we always at war with Hollows? Is it now wrong because you've become one, hypocrite...?"
"You know what I mean... What plans does this 'Juhabach' have for them?"
"Them? You addressed them as if you weren't a part of them? How odd. I guess some part of you still thinks of yourself as a human or a Soul Reaper."
"..." Ichigo couldn't say anything to that. It was true.
"It would've been useful. You would've been able to help the Seireitei before it collapsed."
Ichigo's ears perked up at the sound of that, along with the sounds of Quilge's dark chuckles.
"Explain. What do you mean?"
Quilge chuckles grew louder and madder. Tears nearly flowed out his eyes. However, eventually he stopped, and smirked with twisted amusement at Ichigo, "At this very moment we are speaking... Our Liège... and our powerful Stern Ritter... are tearing Soul Society asunder."
Ichigo froze, the blood in his veins running cold.
"What!?" He couldn't believe it... His friends... He had to get to his friends.
"We thought it would have been better to use the Arrancars as our soldiers... but that Espada woman escaped. So they won't obey our commands."
By this time, Ichigo had tuned Quilge out and retreated into the back of his mind.
'Soul Society torn apart... They're dying... Protect...Must...protect'
Can you hear their mourning? Their cries raining down in your world, Ichigo? Don't let your world end, Ichigo...
Don't let it end.
Don't falter in your steps.
"Ichigo Kurosaki! "
Abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll age if you pull back. You'll die if you hesitate.
"Do you feel the despair, Kurosaki!? Some of your friends have already been confirmed as dead! Does that-"
The black Reiatsu exploded. Both Nel and Quilge were thrown off of their feet. Nel gripped a rock to keep from being thrown out of Las Noches. Quilge wasn't so lucky. The name of Ichigo's Zanpakuto flashed through his head... and he held his head high and whispered.
"Fade to Black... La Luna Negra."
Damn you brat! Get out of my room!
I just wanted to know about that picture! What is that? Is it a fire monster?
…
...Old Man?
...You could say that... It came a long time ago and terrorized the Soul Society... Made it worse than it already was... But it won't come back. I made sure of it...
What if it does come back? Will you go defeat it!? I bet your flames could take it down! Huh, Old Man!?
...
...If it ever makes its reappearance, I will do my best to stop it... But I can't guarantee...
...that I will come back alive.
A war-torn Soul Society set the somber mood for fall of the greatest pillar to have ever held up the Soul Society.
'For... me to feel so cold... Such a foreign feeling.'
Yamamoto stood stock still, his eyes downcast towards the ground. He couldn't feel anything below his chest. Gazing at the clean chop upon his torso, slicing his heart in two, he already mentally counted down the moment when his life would end. Making one last glance at the treacherous grin displayed on the Quincy King's face, he suddenly began seeing his body upside-down...
...and his upper body planted itself upon the ground... while his lower half died whilst standing. He heard a distant scream from far away before it faded.
'Don't show your despair... Shunsui...I can feel it from here. Don't die... because I won't be coming back to punish you.'
"'The greatest Soul Reaper since a thousand years'... Wasn't that your catch phrase, Genryusai?"
Yamamoto ignored this man's taunts. Ignored everything, but a certain fire... He felt its flames kiss at his heart.
"What a sad sight... It almost makes me sad... seeing you die like this, Old Man... Haschwald... Let's go."
Yes... he could feel it. Even though his senses were dulling, he felt it searing his very soul.
"Yes sir."
It flared and roared in his ear. It gave Yamamoto hope... not for himself... but for the future. He reached his hand out... to hold Juhabach for a few seconds. He knew it would end... in but a few seconds.
'Don't falter in your steps, child...'
The feeling in his hand disappeared.
"Even when you're dead... you still resist? Pointless..."
Yamamoto felt pressure upon his head. But he could barely feel it. The only thing running across his mind...
'Don't falter in your steps, child...'
"You never follow things through... Why do you think I never considered you for my war potentials? It's... because you never change."
'Don't falter in your steps, child...' A mantra of hope glued to his heart.
"Why didn't you heal your arm? You could have ordered the human fix it. But you didn't want that... During your battle with Aizen, you could have used help. But that was not the case either..."
'I didn't... want to...'
"You didn't want to rely on humans... Especially not Ichigo Kurosaki."
'I don't think... that applies anymore, Juhabach. I've already failed him... I've already failed myself.'
"You didn't want him to balance the entire world on his shoulders. You wanted to bear that weight for yourself... That... was your greatest failure."
'I already know that...'
"You've become weaker... than your former self... When your divisions were only blood-thirsty thugs... When you would have done anything to achieve victory... When feelings didn't matter to you or your blade..."
It terrorized the Soul Society... Made it worse... But it won't come back.
What if it does come back?
...I will do my best to stop it... But I can't guarantee...
...that I will come back alive.
"That was the fearsome Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto. But you Soul Reapers discovered worthless justice... false pride... and forced peace. You became nothing."
'Except... your downfall... entails all of those things... Juhabach.'
"In death, you lie there... unknowing of the destruction of your world," Juhabach pointed his finger at the fallen war-god. "But the heart of your great warriors... died with us a thousand years ago."
'Enjoy your hollow victory... Juhabach... but I can feel it. That child's steps... will never hesitate ever again. Your greatest enemy... is not me.'
Condensed Reishi flowed into the fingers of the Quincy Lord...
I can let myself go now... and entrust my heart... and the weight of the world to you...
The blast seemed to slow down...
Don't falter in your steps, child...
As the blast rendered his corpse to nothing, he did not feel he was defeated... Because he could feel it. Across time and space, the worlds, and everything in existence, nothing pierced his soul such as the distant voice of the one he entrusted everything to. The once human Substitute Soul Reaper. The distant cry of the Arrancar he became. The child whose will never faded, even after falling into despair.
Don't falter in your steps...
"It's over... Relay to the other Stern Ritter... to raze Soul Society into the ground."
And the Soul Society became hell. Soul Reapers were being slain left and right. Juhabach reveled in the Soul Society's destruction.
"It's the end. Soul Society has been destroyed and the Royal Guard will make an appearance. We'll retreat and..." Juhabach was muted as an explosion rocked the area behind him. He and his subordinate turned and faced the explosion, "What... the hell was that?"
...Ichigo...Kurosaki...
This is a small Trivia, giving a little information about the story's setting and things that I either forgot to mention or haven't gotten to yet, since I probably won't do chapter 3 until Wednesday (Since I want to hear about the explosion in the next chapter and get a confirmation on who it is. Probably Ichigo.).
-Trascender, if you couldn't tell, means 'to transcend' in Spanish. The organization itself is based around the Gotei 13 and the Vandenreich, where that's the title of the entire army, but like the Jagdarmee, Stern Ritter, Captains, etc., the Espada are the top ten powerful Arrancars of the Trascender, similar to a captain, with Ichigo being comparable to the Head Captain. The Fraccion are the equivalent of a Lieutenant and the Numeros are like the squad members. Each Espada may have a certain skill for their Fraccion and Numeros, like the Omnitsukido or the Research Institute. (Hints for Rudobon.)
-La Luna Negra means 'the Black Moon' if you didn't know.
-Pairings are still on the horizon, so I may or may not do one. If it's done, I might do offscreen mentions, blushing, etc. since I'm not much of a romance reader.
-The Espadas, their ranks, and their aspects of death have already been picked out.
Revealing the first 4:
Ichigo-Despair
Halibel-Sacrifice
Nel-Naivety
Grimmjow-Destruction
-Most of the Arrancars are either on the run and hiding or they've been captured by the Quincy. Those three plus Ichigo are the only ones planning to fight back.
-Ichigo's powers are based upon his Fullbring. His appearance is basically Fullbringer Ichigo's head copy and pasted over Aizen's head with the Final Bankai hair.
-Recht Kinnhaken literally means 'Right Hook to the Chin' in German. His Vollstandig is Faust=fist with -iel like the other Vollstandigs. His Vollstandig is basically Komamura's Shikai or Nero's Devil Bringer from Devil May Cry 4. It enhances his Blut Arterie (The offensive style of the Quincy Blut) to beyond Kenpachi-standards, but renders his defense to basically nothing.
-Segunda Etapa has become the equivalent of Bankai. If a Hollow breaks its mask, it's evolutionary chain ceases. Hogyoku-made Arrancar can acquire Segunda Etapa when their power has become strong enough to reach Vasto Lordes level. It doesn't change them into a Vasto Lordes, but gives them power to match up to Resurreccions of Starrk, Baraggan, and Halibel. This means that Ulquiorra was an Adjuchas, but after his Arrancarification, his additional training and hollow-consumption(which was very little) gave him power to equal a Vasto Lordes. Naturally-made Arrancar can't acquire Segunda Etapa.
-Ginjo and Tsukishima are still one of Ichigo's biggest enemies in the story.
-Ichigo's power is only slightly above Starrk's. He could battle Shunsui, Jushiro, and Unohana (Unless her true power is shown and it happens to be like Yamamoto/Aizen/Juhabach level) on equal grounds and may be able to solo Yammy, but he will eventually get stronger.
-The Soul Reapers are not as important in this story, since they have been shown to still trust Ichigo. They might not get much character development or appearances.
-Yamamoto's scene was written as I was listening to Kuno Shinji's Hikari to Kage from Casshern Sins. Depressing song really sets the mood.