13: Madness

The mist cleared and a terrifying creature was revealed. The once human form of Szayel Apporo Grantz had been distorted into an unnatural shape. Crooked grey branches jutted out from his back and his legs became meshed in behind a forest of spindly tentacles. His lab coat had vanished revealing a thin grey suit which stretched over his almost bare flesh. His eyes, from a distance appeared to be bleeding a thick viscous fluid, but the purple markings around his eyes were definitely not blood. His golden eyes flickered with confidence and the very same twisted smile had returned.

Train just stared at him.

"Surprised? You haven't faced any Espada properly before have you? This is my ressureccion. You see, we Espada seal our original hollow forms within our blades. But we can summon those powers at will! This is my true form! Behold and know true fear, your life shall soon be at an end." Szayel spread his arms wide and cackled insanely.

"Face me Black Cat, if you dare!"

Train was visibly shaken, but still he forced himself to square his shoulders and take up an offensive stance. He studied the beast, searching for an opening, a weakness, anything. He didn't even know what Szayel's power was!

The doctor just waited, watching on as his lab rat began slowly approaching. He grinned wickedly and howled. The grey branches jutting out from his spine suddenly grew large red growths resembling bloody tear-drops. Before Train could react the unusual wings shot out towards him, swallowing him up.

"Train!" Ichigo pushed himself up onto his hands and knees and then onto his feet. He was unstable at first but soon gained his footing and raised his sword. While he rushed to his friend's aid the wings unfurled, spitting the young warrior back out onto the ground.

Train coughed and spluttered, but he was not injured. He checked himself for wounds, unable to believe he had escaped unscathed.

Szayel extended a hand and his wings retracted. One of the droplets swelled until it was too big to support its own weight and burst, spewing viscous fluid and a tiny object which landed in the palm of the lunatic's hand. Szayel shook it to clean the fluid from his new toy and then held it up proudly like a child during show and tell.

"Look! Isn't he so adorable?" He held up a little doll, one that resembled Train Heartnett. "Look at him. He looks a bit like you doesn't he? He's even got your hair!" He tugged at the tufts of brown locks on the doll and the real Train suddenly collapsed to his knees, gritting his teeth and clawing at his hair.

Szayel made a shocked face. "My, my, whatever is the matter?"

"What...What the Hell did you do?" Train cried.

"Me?" he pointed to himself, "I haven't done anything."

"Bullshit!" Train snapped, "What is the deal with that stupid doll?"

"Stupid doll?" The psychopath turned to look down at the doll and started talking to it. "Did you hear that Train? You are stupid!" He flicked the doll's head and in that same instant Train was flung backwards, landing in a heap beside Ichigo.

"What the...It's like a voodoo doll!" Ichigo helped Train up, keeping a watchful eye on his foe.

"Voodoo you say? My how vulgar! This is not a witch's black magic at work here! No this is something far grander! Watch!" Szayel's warped fingers gripped the dolls head and with a slight heave, tore if off.

Ichigo cried out in alarm and spun on his heels to check on Train. He was surprised to see his head still on his shoulders. "W-What? It...It didn't work?"

"Hmm? You think it didn't work? I already told you this is far from a childish voodoo doll. No, the real power is in these!" The mad scientist dug around inside the hollowed out doll and picked out a bunch of little oddly shaped pieces of clay. There was writing on each of them, however it was in Spanish. "Looks like a children's toy, doesn't it? But I've never seen a children's toy that could ever do this!" He took out a small bone-shaped piece and crushed it between his fingers.

Train's right leg suddenly gave out on him and he dropped to the ground, screaming in agony.

"You bastard! What did you do?"

"All of these pieces are vital areas on a human. I have a liver, a stomach, a heart and of course bones and other such things. I can destroy each of them at will! And slowly, painfully you will die...All from a simple children's toy! Ha ha ha ha!"

"Grr, like I'll just let you get away with that! I'll just have to kill you as fast as I can!" Train hopped on one leg, using his sword as a cane. Szayel watched and waited until he was within only a few steps and as soon as his left foot hit the ground, he broke that leg. Train's jump landed awkwardly and his leg bent and twisted under him, forcing him to fall. While he was down, Szayel walked over and stomped on his hands.

Ichigo darted around to the side in an attempt to ambush his foe, but Szayel's wings acted of their own accord and entrapped the fiery young youth. He was promptly spat out and a new doll was delivered to the evil scientist.

"Well, well, well. It seems you want to play this game as well. Alright then," The Espada tore the head off of the second doll and took out a handful of pieces. His finger's tightened around them and-

'BOOM!'

The doll was gone. The pieces rained down all over the battlefield like confetti. Szayel stared wide-eyed at the mangled mess that had become of his hands. Both of them had been decimated by an unseen force. He turned around and glared at Train who was lying on his side, Hades' barrel still smoking.

"Y-You! You insignificant little insect!" Szayel looked down and saw the Train doll lying at his feet. His face contorted in rage and he stomped on it with so much force that the ground beneath it splintered and broke apart. "Die! Die! Die!"

As the dust cleared the madman noticed his doll was no-where to be seen. Not even a scrap was left. His hideous scowl warped once more into a sickening smile and he let out a boisterous laugh. That was until he heard a familiar foe laughing along with him. His face twitched and he stared angrily at what would be left of the Black Cat...

...Only to find him still in one piece! And still alive!

"What? H-How are you-" Pain shot through the arrancar's spine as his wings were sliced clean off. Fountains of dark red blood spurted out from the remaining stumps. "AAARGH!" He swung his mangled fist at his second assailant but Ichigo flash stepped around to the front and waved the Train doll in his face.

"Looking for this?" He asked, smirking.

Szayel cursed under his breath and reached for his sword, but before he could do so Ichigo's jet black katana pierced his centre mass. His eyes narrowed and his furious outburst became nothing more than a gargled roar as blood pooled in his mouth. His body trembled and he collapsed to his knees, glaring at his most hated foes with the utmost contempt.

"It's over." Ichigo roared. "You twisted games are over!"

"And no matter what, we won't let Eve become a monster like you! We will save her and we will bring her back to her senses!"

Szayel's lips curled up into a wicked grin at that. His shoulders bounced as he let out a final wave of raucous laughter.

Ichigo silenced him with a swift slash of his sword, but even as the Espada turned to ash, his mocking laughter echoed around the great hall. His sickening, taunting beared down upon them like the booming voice of God.

"Grr, shut up! Shut up!" Train howled, firing wildly into the air.

It wasn't until he had calmed down and the room had become gripped by a deathly silence when they finally realized...

Eve was gone...

Ulquiorra bowed before Aizen who sat atop his grand stone throne. "Lord Aizen, Szayel has fallen."

Aizen just smiled, "Yes, it appears so. It seems he was too confident in his abilities. He should have known not to under-estimate them."

"My lord, what shall we do?"

Aizen considered this with a complacent smile etched upon his features. He leaned back and took a sip from his tea before letting out a deep sigh. "Let them come! I look forward to meeting them."

"And what of the girl?" Ulquiorra pressed.

"Bring her back. She has done well for now. She has proven herself worthy. In fact, now that Szayel is dead...I have an idea." His smile was venomous.

Rukia's eyes widened. She had sensed something odd and so she had spent her time concentrating, homing in on the fluctuating reiatsu within the palace walls. An unfamiliar presence had just been extinguished and an all too familiar spirit was blazing.

There was no doubt about it. That intense spiritual pressure belonged to the substitute shinigami, Ichigo Kurosaki. There were others too. The others were more faint, but she could sense them nonetheless. It must have been...

"Eve?" Rukia whispered through the stone wall. She waited for a response, but all she could hear was weak, gentle sobbing. It had been the only sounds to stir from Eve's cell in what had felt like days.

"Eve?" Rukia repeated, louder this time.

A light sniffle and then, a soft reply. It was not a word, merely a passive hum, but it was enough of a signal to show she was listening. Rukia pressed herself up against the wall and explained in a hushed voice.

"Eve, I think we're going to be rescued!"

Eve fell silent. When there was no further response Rukia panicked. "Eve? Eve are you alright?"

"Yes..." Came a frail sigh, barely discernible from the harsh winds that lashed against the cell walls all night.

"Ichigo is on his way...And...Train. They are coming to save us!"

Eve barely waited for her to finish before asking, "And Sven?"

Rukia focused and tried to find his reiatsu, but she found nothing, not even a faint sliver. She frowned, "I'm sorry. I don't think he's with them...But look on the bright side! When we get out of here you can still go back and see him-"

"No." Eve interjected, "I can't..."

"Why not?"

"..."

It was best not to probe further. Rukia decided to shift the topic and cheer her up. They had not received any good news for so long. This was like an early Christmas present...Or maybe it was Christmas? It had been so long she could no longer tell. In a world of perpetual night time has no meaning.

"Well...Just hang in there! I promise you we will get out of here! Ichigo and Train will burst in here and knock down all the bad guys. Then they will say something silly and we'll all laugh. Then...Then we will all go home..." Rukia smiled at her childish little story. She doubted it would be that simple, but the weak sense of hope she had come so close to abandoning, had finally been given new life and now she clung to it like flotsam from a sinking ship. She promised herself she would not drown! She promised she would survive...To see him again.

Ichigo...I knew you would make it...But please...please be careful...

The fiery-haired youth lifted Sven up onto his shoulders and marched onwards. Creed carried Train over his back. Together they passed through the immense hall through the narrow door-way at the far end. The found themselves in a thin, winding corridor and with no other option they pushed forward. It was a slow march but they struggled on knowing full well that time wasn't on their side. Also, the news of Szayel's death would no doubt have spread throughout Las Noches. The other Espada would certainly be on the move.

They had to find Rukia and Eve and set them free before they ran into any more Espada. It was a stupid plan, of course there would be guards for the prisoners, but it was their only option. Their encounter with the mad doctor and the brainwashed Eve had cost them severely Train could no longer walk and Sven was barely clinging onto life. There was no-one around to treat them and so they were left with only two able bodied warriors left, facing off against Aizen and his army of arrancar.

Fear and doubt shattered their crumbling resolve, but still, Ichigo's fierce determination drove him onwards. He would not accept defeat unless he was already dead, but he was damn sure not to let that happen!

I...I will survive! I will rescue Rukia! And I will stop you Aizen!

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