TTGL: So this is the Heavens.
Chapter 21: Believe in the me that's going to kill you.
It had begun to rain. It always does at the final showdown. The bulk of the Dai-Gurren was just visible through the sheen of raindrops in the background. Nothing else was there, no trees or buildings, just empty plains obscured by the tears of heaven.
Aizen stood alone. His long hair was near black where it had soaked up water. The smartass smirk graced his lips, his eyes taking in the assorted group before them, his sword held loosely. Hundreds of thoughts raced though his head every second but when viewed from the outside he seemed calm and quiet.
The young white haired Head Captain Hitsugaya addressed him, his voice low with menace. "This ends here, Aizen. Once and for all."
"I agree." smiled Aizen. "I've waited long enough to dispose of that creature known as the Spirit King. Now, all of my labour will bear it's fruit."
"Like hell you will!" Hitsugaya snapped. "Everyone, we fight to kill. Do not let him escape this place. Attack!"
A tide of shinigami rushed forward. The weaker members watched from the Dai-Gurren, knowing that thet would only get in the way of the powerful officers, lieutenants and Captains.
Aizen looked screwed as the Soul Society's finest warriors surrounded him and moved to attack. A medley of ranged attacks flew at him from kunai, ice shards, fire and beams of energy. Aizen released a wave of power that nullified the lesser attacks while the others impacted with him, dissipating against his steel like skin.
A solid wall of pink crashed into his back while Ichigo drew his attention. Ice formed up the traitor's legs locking him in place. Soifon rushed in, shunko activated and began to pummel Aizen with frightening strength. Ishida unloaded hundreds of arrows into his back.
With a laugh, Aizen shrugged off the blows. He lunged with his sword, launching into a storm of slashes that even the captains struggled to defend against. Kenpachi threw himself in front of Renji, taking on Aizen single-handedly while the others regrouped. He bellowed with mirth as the two blades crossed again and again, neither giving way. Ichigo joined the fray, his strength forcing Aizen back.
Ceros fired from Aizen's wings, knocking the two brawlers away. Hitsugaya chopped at the wing but Aizen blocked with his sword. Shunsui emerged from Aizen's shadow, stabbing at his back but the blade was unable to pierce the flesh. Jumping into the sky, Aizen rained down cero upon their heads, decimating the ground below.
Zabimaru shot through the air, biting down upon Aizen. The man grabbed its fangs and ripped its head off. Soifon ran along the skeletal snake's back and struck at him with her shikai but he deflected the blow then kicked her in the gut, sending her crashing back to earth.
Tornadoes spun through the sky while more blue arrows sought their target. Aizen disappeared, avoiding all of the attacks and reappearing behind Ishida. The Quincy tried to dodge but couldn't escape the lightning fast sword blow that cut him down. Ichigo leapt to his friend's aid but Aizen had already moved onto his next target.
Hitsagaya engaged him before he could prey on any of the weaker combatants. Ice crashed around them with every move. Shunsui, Hisagi and Kenpachi piled into the battle. While Aizen's attention was elsewhere, Unohana, her tall lieutenant Isane Kotetsu and the Third Seated Orihime Inoue rushed around the field, healing any of the shinigami or quincy that had been injured.
Aizen broke away, creating a short lull in the fight. He spoke in a care free way, his voice as calm as ever. "I admit to you all that your efforts are impressive. Until recently such a unified effort would probably have been enough to defeat me. I have a new power though, and with it you are but ants before me."
He raised his hands to the heavens and lightning rippled across his body. His white body and black mask became inverted, the white becoming black and visa versa. His entire being seemed like a shadow now, blurry, indistinct and hard to focus upon.
Aizen lunged, his right arm elongating like elastic towards Unohana. Mid way there the arm split, the zanpakuto still heading for the medical captain while dozens of black tendril shot out towards the others.
Unohana blocked but was sent crashing to the floor. Aizen's left arm too lunged out. Now hundreds of needle sharp limbs crisscrossed the plains. Most were blocked or dodged but a few found their marks. Almost quicker than the eye could follow they rejoined back into two arms in time to parry Kenpachi.
Ceros were spewed from all of his wing tips to drive the others back while he fought with the Squad Eleven captain. Kenpachi was tough but even his fearful sword couldn't draw blood. Aizen didn't have that problem. Every slash no matter how skilfully it was blocked managed to rip into Kenpachi.
Ichigo turned full hollow and powered through the cero barrage, Hitsugaya and Ikkaku following close behind. Swords grew from the mouths of the heads on Aizen's wings. Now seven black blades tore through the air, each perfectly able to fight for themselves.
From above, Hisagi wrapped up Aizen's zanpakuto arm with his chain, allowing Kenpachi the chance for a direct strike.
The sword bit in deep leaving a blood gushing wound but no sooner had the blade passed through then the cut had healed itself. From Aizen's chest emerged hundreds more tendrils, turning Kenpachi into a pincushion. Kenpachi cut them all off with one swing but the damage was done.
Ichigo sliced clean through a section of wing only to watch it instantly regenerate. Aizen punched the ground and large spires of black shot out from below. Each of the spires grew black needles that stretched out horizontally, covering the entire area in razor sharp darkness.
The darkness was torn apart by Byakuya's Senbonzakura, revealing the devastation of the attack. No one had escaped injury. Before the shinigami had a chance to recover, Aizen was upon them. He dived forward, moving so fast that even the captains had difficulty tracing his movements.
He ploughed through shinigami like corn. Quick as a flash he zipped around the battle, his sword blazing. Renji, Hisagi, Ishida, Kyoraku, all fell in quick succession without putting up a fight. Ikkaku managed to block and counter attack, scoring a hit but his zanpakuto broke on impact.
Orihime went to heal the fallen but wa fired upon. Ichigo flash stepped in front of her, taking the brunt of the blast. He returned fire then charged at Aizen. Their blades met again and again, each strike seeming to shake the earth.
Aizen's entire body started to glow red then he fired a full body cero, earning a direct hit through Ichigo's defences. Hitsugaya tried to stop Aizen from following up the attack but all of the head captain's ice melted on contact with the being. Aizen grabbed hold of Ichigo and lobbed him at Hitsugaya, horned head first. The two landed in a tangled heap on the floor.
Kenpachi managed to stand again, his body bleeding profusely. "Heh. Looks like I can go all out on you. I can finally try this out. BANKA-"
"Hey hey hey hey hey! The mighty Kamina is here to save the day!" announced a new voice loudly behind them.
"God damn it." grunted Kenpachi. That was the second time someone had interrupted him before he could finally test out his bankai.
Aizen looked vaguely amused as Kamina strode toward him, Nemu still on his back. As he passed Orihime he placed Nemu on the ground beside her and asked the orange haired girl to check her over. He then continued on until he was stood facing Aizen with only a few feet between them.
"You are an interesting one." commented Aizen. "It is rare that I destroy a persons spirit conduit only to have then confront me days later brimming with power. Curious."
"Believe it! What doesn't kill me only makes me stronger!" grinned Kamina. He thought for a moment then added, "And whatever does kill me also seems to make me stronger. Man, I'm cool."
"I admit that you have grown vastly in strength, but do you honestly think that you can do what every captain could not?"
"There is no 'think' to it. Believe in the me that is gonna kill you!"
"Come then. Show me your power, Kamina of Team Dai-Gurren." smiled Aizen knowingly.
Kamina raised his hand to has face and the skull mask formed, consumed by the light blue flame like hair. His cape burst into bright crimson flames and his mask fragments came together to for his shades. Wasting no time like he had with Mayuri he instantly activated his shikai.
Aizen looked taken aback but quickly recovered his calm. Ichigo wasn't so quick though. He was amazed at the raw power that rolled from Kamina. His own reitsu in hollow form could make captains dizzy but Kamina was pumping out threatening levels.
Kamina dashed forward so fast that even Aizen could only act on instinct. He blocked but was sent spinning across the fields. Using his wings to balance himself, Aizen controlled his path and flew up unto the air. Kamina followed, his fiery cape splitting down the middle to become two bat like wings of flame.
They darted through the sky, each parry of their blades dripping with so much spiritual energy that they created multicoloured sparks when in contact with each other. Their movements were so fast that they appeared only as blurs.
Aizen shot a cero but it was defended by one of Kamina's wings. He tried again to knock Kamina away using the black tendrils but Kamina destroyed them all by throwing duplicates of his zanpakuto at them in quick succession. Kamina closed the distance and swung, exploding his sword as it hit.
There was a crash as Aizen rocketed to the ground. He stood up unharmed and brushed himself down.
"This has been interesting but I have a long awaited meeting with the Spirit King. I'm afraid that I shall have to cut this short." said Aizen calmly.
He stood with his limbs spread wide and all hell broke loose. Tendrils shot out from both arms, legs and body while masses of cero erupted from the wing's snake heads and Aizen's own mouth. The sunlight was blocked out by the sheer volume of firepower.
Even Kamina couldn't stand against that kind of attack but due to his thick headedness that didn't stop him. He forced his way through the maelstrom, roaring as he went, "Giga shade break!"
Despite the forces against him, Kamina socked Aizen straight in the face with the force to topple a mountain. If he had stuck a high speed rocket up the traitor's ass he couldn't have flown across the field half as fast.
Like a zombie, Aizen pulled himself up, resetting his jaw with a few rough movements of his hand. He cracked his neck then shot forward. Kamina parried, blocked and dodged but Aizen had become serious. His blade flashed with unnatural precision, striking everywhere that Gurren wasn't.
They locked blades and Aizen used the opportunity to grab Kamina by the throat. "Are you prepared for oblivion?" he asked. A tendril snaked out from his palm, piercing Kamina's throat. It moved down his bidy then split, several spikes tearing out of him. They retracted and Aized dropped him to the ground.
Ichigo launched a Getsuga Tensho/cero combo to keep Aizen from finishing Kamina off but the shadow being absorbed the earth splitting power and returned it with greater force. Ichigo stood his ground, weathering the blast.
"Your world ends here."
"You are simply too ugly to destroy the beauty of this world." said a calm voice behind Aizen. Suddenly blue/green vines of energy wrapped themselves around his warped body.
The shinigami all stared open mouthed. Ikkaku blinked several times, thinking that his wounds must be more severe than he had first thought. "Yumichika?"
The black haired shinigami that had appeared looked over to Ikkaku. "Ah, Ikkaku. You are looking worn down to say you survived Hell. I don't know about you, but I feel wonderful."
"But, you're dead. We watched you get consumed by the wave. How are you here?"
"My zanpakuto draws in spiritual energy. There was so much of the stuff that I was able to unlock my bankai. It draws energy from the very air, creating a void of energy for a squar mile around me. I was able to take in enough to give me god like power while diluting it enough to not overwhelm me."
"You bastard!" shouted Ikkaku. "You could have told me you were still alive!" He found becoming angry the only way to show emotion. He was a many member of Team Eleven so welling up at seeing his friend again was something he wouldn't even think of doing. Yumichika knew this well.
"Hey! Don't forget me!" shouted a second new voice. "I am your saviour. The one and only, Kon-sama."
Beside Yumichika was another man who wore white robes instead of the shinigami black. He had wavy sand coloured hair that looked reminiscent of a lion's main. Fastened to his belt was a tattered looking lion plush toy.
The man Kon walked up to Aizen and punched him in the Gut as Yumichika began to drain his spiritual energy. Aizen was fully pinned, becoming nothing more than a punching bag for Kon's rock hard fists.
"I'm so glad I have knuckles now." Kon said happily." Inhabiting this espada body was the best move ever."
"You two are bugging me." announced Aizen. His body grew thinner, becoming a snake and easily sliding away from Yumichika's zanpakuto. He shot a gran ray cero at Yumichika who managed to absorb it but not without taking damage.
Kon drew his sword and engaged in vicious combat. Aizen seemed to know his every move though.
"I created the espada that were merged to create that body. Do you think that I wouldn't know its strengths and weaknesses, how it will react and what its limits are?"
Blood sprayed as Aizen stabbed his sword through Kon's centre of mass. Kon laughed off the attack but fell silent when Aizen removed it.
"That body is formed from ten separate souls. Cracks that divide them are still present in their combined state. By hitting the I can disintegrate your body with attacks that would usually do little damage.
Aizen multiplied, appearing behind everyone simultaneously. Blood soaked the grass and was washed away by the rain. Aizen admired his work but then staggered forward, blood flowing down his face. Kamina stood behind him, his shikai lodged in his head. Aizen batted him away and his head recovered.
Kamina splat blood. There were several holes through his body but he had a look of pre fire in his eyes behind the shades. "Yumichika. Use your bankai."
Yumichika grimaced in pain. "That will take away everyone's power."
"Just do it!"
The pretty boy shinigami nodded. "Bankai!"
Everyone felt it. The sudden ripping of the spiritual energy from the body. It felt kind of like severe blood loss. It made you feel weak and helpless.
Gurren disappeared, as did every other zanpakuto, unable to maintain their physical forms without any power. Kamina again stood face to face with Aizen, both now weaponless.
"Everyone, surround Yumichika so that he can keep his bankai active. Leave Aizen to me."
He punched Aizen with a right hook to the face. Aizen retaliated, kicking him in the ribs. They traded blows with the strength to crush bones. Aizen dodged a jab and smashed his fist into Kamina's head, shattering his mask.
Kamina brushed off the last few mask fragments. "Who needs that anyway. My manly soul is the only weapon I need."
He blocked Aizen's next attack using his forearm, really feeling the impact now that he was back in normal mode. His normal mode was still far superior to everyone else though so he was confident that he could hold out.
They both fought on, slowly bashing each others brains out. Aizen had the upper hand though. Punch by punch he was beginning to win, Kamini becoming more sluggish and disorientated. A full powered swing later Kamina stood in place swaying his eyes unfocussed. His body looked like one big bruise.
"You have fought well. Better than I ever anticipated. This is your limit though. Goodbye."
"Headbutt of the Gods!" Kamina roared, his body pulling itself together in an instant, his weakness merely a feign. His forehead smashed into Aizen's third eye, splitting the skull around it. Aizen reeled back, gripping at the wound in agony.
Kamina held out his had and began to roar with all of his might. His body started to glow, the light spreading over him then forming together in his hand in the shape of a sword. It materialised as Gurren and he swung it at Aizen's undefended chest. It cut half way through then Kamina bellowed "Explosion!"
Aizen was blown to pieces in a shower of blood and guts. Kamina collapsed, his sword fading away again. The body parts tried to reform but were frozen as Hitsugaya staggered toward them. Ichigo, back in his shinigami form used a Getsuga Tensho on each individual block of ice, completely destroying everything within.
"It's over." sighed Hitsugaya.
Everyone had just started to pick themselves up when a freak thunderstorm broke out and a black portal spiralled into existence. From it stepped an entirely black being without any definable features what so ever. It looked at the shinigami with expressionless white vortexes that sat where eyes shout be.
It spoke inside everyone's head, its voice echoing throughout their thoughts. "It seems I underestimated you all. I thought that the spiral warrior would have been enough to destroy you all. Lordgenome wasn't enough either. New strategies must be put into place it would seem."
"Are you the one behind all of this?" demanded Hitsugaya.
"Yes. I have been orchestrating events from the shadows for many years now and will continue to do so. Some day soon, all of humanity will be annihilated."
"Not if I have anything to do with it, Anti-Spiral scum!" screamed Ichigo, leaping at the being with all his might. Zangetsu passed straight through the Anti-Spiral without harming it.
"I have much to think on. Goodbye for now, lowly spiral beings." said thee Anti-Spiral without even acknowledging Ichigo's presence. He turned and disappeared through the portal, leaving the souls alone on the plains.
Kamina continued to stare at the spot in space that the Anti-Spiral had occupied for several seconds then blacked out.
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A/N: Another arc finished, one more to go. I'm not sure how this chapter turned out so I'll leave it down to your judgements. I realised that I'm not very good at writing battle scenes, which is bad considering this is an action story lol.
This week's omake winner is HyperForce so well done to you, sir. Just tell me how you want it and it'll probably be done for Tuesday.
Hope you all enjoyed the chapter but if if anything felt wrong please tell me as I'm not sure if I really captured the essence of such an important boss battle. Too many characters in one battle clogs up my writing I think. Anyway, thank you all for reading, please leave me your feedback and I'll see you all next week hopefully.