Chapter 4
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in any of its forms, but if I did, I doubt I could have made it any better, but I would have seriously edited that Substitute Shinigami arc. I mean seriously? It was basically a copy of Yu Yu Hakusho's Sensui arc.
In the event that you are displeased with my level of skill, please, don't hesitate to send a Review. I will use the best of my skills to reply to each one, but in the event that things are getting repetitive, then I will make an area in my Authors note to comment on it. Please note that this is my first official FanFiction, so please go easy on me.
I give thanks to my first friend on this site, Pehpig, who helped me get things ready.
~Nel~
The three of them had crossed over quite a bit of distance since we last saw them. Dondochakka had regurgitated Bawabawa to assist them on their journey, as Nel had predicted that they would be traveling a long distance.
"Do you have any plans made yet, Master Nel?" Pesche asked, sitting next to her on Bawabawa's back. Dondochakka had placed himself on Bawabawa's head and was having some kind of discussion.
Out of the two of them, Pesche was Nel's confidant. He was smarter and more mature than Dondochakka, though he had that creepy side to him, which made him more trusting to pass her worries towards.
While it wasn't that Nel didn't trust Dondochakka, she just couldn't see him understanding a lot of the complex strategies that the two of them often came up with.
"I was thinking we try and find any of the remaining Espada's; Particularly my replacement, Harribel. From what I heard, she's quite level-headed and might help us understand what we should be planning on doing."
While it wasn't an actual lie, Nel had already thought of what they should do. But whether they could do it was the problem. She was still only a fraction of her true self, and she wasn't getting any kind of power radiating from Nnoitora's lance.
So to access her power, she needed to be pushed while in battle. She could feel a sliver return when that Hollow from before attacked her, but it was like a breath of oxygen, it lasted for less than a second.
To access her power, she'd need to push herself to even farther than she did with Nnoitora before.
"Master Nel?" Pesche called for her. It had seemed that she had dozed off in concentration. "If you want, we could spar a little. It isn't like we're pressed for time or anything."
She smiled softly at his offer. "No Pesche, I'm afraid you wouldn't do much he-"
She was cut off when Pesche fired a bala at her, throwing her off Bawabawa and shocking Dondochakka. He chased after her and drew his sword.
She didn't have enough time to draw her own, so she blocked with Nnoitora's lance. "What are you doing Pesche." She grunted, trying to push herself out from his clash.
She was surprised by how strong he was. His tiny frame had been hiding some powerful muscles. She had forgotten why she had chosen these two to be her Fracion. He wasn't nearly as strong as Dondochakka, but he still was an Arrancar.
Shoving her knee into his gut, she pushed him of to the side and gathered her thoughts. "I asked you, what are you doing Pesche."
"What are you doing, Master Nel." He said, taking a stance with his zanpaku-to, ready to attack. "Don't be so full of pride, Master Nel. As you are now, you are no stronger than me, so don't give me that, it won't help speech."
Realizing he was right, she began to apologize for her Arrogance, when he Sonido-ed in, his blade sealed in the handle. He released the blade, causing it to extend out and slash into her gut.
She saw that fighting him was the only way to prove her apology, she set the lance, blade first into the ground and drew her Zanpaku-to. Pesche was using all of the tricks she had taught him, and he had even added some moves that she had never seen before. He must have learned that rapid-thrust move from watching Commander Gin.
Drawing her stance, she leaped towards him and clashed swords. She used the force behind his blow to give her a platform, using her blade to lift herself into the air and throw a powerful roundhouse kick at his head.
~Chad~
Chad was looking around for apartments when he felt the Hollow and Arrancar spiritual pressures. They were strange, because they seemed like they were fighting. Maybe a turf war, but it was too strange and neither was supposed to be allowed to roam free in Karakura Town.
Running over, he spotted the Arrancar and remembered feeling his spiritual energy back in Hueco Mundo. Activating his Left Arm of the Giant, Chad walked over to address the Arrancar and find out what he was doing here.
Unlike Ichigo or Ishida, he had a small kinship towards Hollows due to his power. And while it was true that Ichigo had that bizarre power to become a Hollow, he still seemed to be opposed to the idea of accepting his Hollow side.
It wasn't like Chad was into eating souls or anything, he didn't even allow Hollows and Arrancars to do this. But he felt it was fair to allow them a chance to leave Karakura Town and return to Hueco Mundo. Hollows were animal-like, so it took some convincing, but he was proud that he was the one with the smallest amount of destruction on his record among the gang.
Even Orihime caused some damage in her fights, though her opponent caused most, but she would quickly cover it up by rejecting the damage and returning everything to normal.
But before he could talk to him, he overheard one of the most confusing conversations ever. Mostly, it was confusing because the two people talking were an Arrancar and a Shinigami. He heard something about the Arrancar's sword being modified. He began wondering if this was another defector like Aizen.
But before he could talk AGAIN, the Arrancar flew off towards Orihime's house. He started to Sonido after him, but the Shinigami grabbed his shoulder (how he got behind him was beyond him) and shook his head.
"Don't worry, he's on our side." He said with a fake smile and a monotonous voice.
~Orihime~
A human, an Arrancar, and a Shinigami sitting in the same room, drinking tea: No one could ever imagine anything like that.
Grimmjow was sitting savagely, his right leg not even on the ground, rather his knee was pointed up, suspending his arm while his held his tea cup.
"So how's Ichigo, woman?" He followed with a "That Bastard", under his breath as he mentioned Ichigo's name, causing Rukia to flinch, but Orihime just smiled and offered to pour him some more tea.
"Ichigo-kun isn't feeling well at the moment. His battle with Aizen had left him more damaged than any of us." She told him. She saw that the fight had burned away some of his bloodlust and that he was calmed down for a bit.
Rukia on the other hand, seemed even more anxious as she told Grimmjow. She still held a grudge towards him for when he tried to kill her in his invasion.
She had tried to make things calming, but as she tried to pour Grimmjow another cup of tea, he started to spasm and grasped his head. She quickly reacted, summoning her fairies, but he put his hand on her arm.
Smiling to her, he said his thanks, which was weird as it was, and left, leaving a very puzzled look on both the young girl's faces.
~Grimmjow~
"What the F*CK is wrong with you!" Grimmjow screamed, his voice trailing along for miles, but because he was still out of his Gigai, he wasn't heard by anyone except for the spiritually away. Which was estimated to be about 20% of Karakura Town.
Unkei had activated the parasite in his head during his talk with Orihime and Rukia, which was the result of his spasm. It was his third spasm to date and he still wasn't getting used to them.
"We found you a place to stay for the night. Your host is busy tonight, so we had to find you someplace accommodating for the night." Unkei said, not really caring that his actions gave Grimmjow both grimace and annoyance.
"And why did you have to Brain-Blast me?"
"I wanted to get your attention." He said, tucking the cucumber trigger in the inside of his Shinigami kimono.
"Oh! And a simple 20 meters of walking distance was too much of a hassle for you?" He said, his temper getting higher.
"Why, yes, yes indeed." He said, but before Grimmjow could attempt to strangle him, Chad shoved his Armored Left arm between the two of them.
"You look familiar. Did I try to kill you before?" Grimmjow said, turning his attention to the man between them.
"Actually, yeah you did. But Ichigo stopped you." Chad said. He didn't have any malice in his voice, which shook Grimmjow's opinion of him.
Following Chad down the street, Grimmjow had made it perfectly clear that he didn't need a house. Unfortunately, they needed someplace that Unkei could keep an eye on him, and it would be too difficult to keep and eye on him if he was outside.
When they got to the place, Grimmjow figured that they were both getting their wishes. The apartment Chad had found for him was right next to a construction site.
"Unkei, you rent the apartment, I'll sleep under the stars out here." He said, jumping up towards the top of the halfway constructed building.
"Don't worry," Chad said, patting his hand on Unkei's back. He was surprised to feel quite a few muscles behind it, seeing as the man looked like he never fought a day in his life.
"Why, is there a problem?" Unkei said, tilting his head to Chad in confusion.
"You'll see," Chad said, walking off to go to sleep in his own apartment.
~Ulquiorra~
Ulquiorra had found himself buried fifty feet underground, with nothing but his fingernails to dig through the ground.
He had needed to use all of his strength, which was severely limited here in Hell, just to push the dirt around him away so that he could move a little.
The air here was so thin with Spiritual Energy that it was like it barely existed, making it impossible to use any of his true strength. But amongst the strenuous amounts of effort he was exhibiting, Ulquiorra could feel a strange yet power reiatsu.
This was nothing like Aizen's though. Aizen's was distant and elusive. He could barely make out it on occasion with his Pequisa. This energy was loud and almost seemed angry and sad at the same time. It wasn't that hard for that to happen though, as much of our hatred is spurred from our sadness.
Feeling like he was getting nowhere with the direction he was going, Ulquiorra began exerting enough spiritual energy into his hands to strengthen his fingernails, allowing them to scratch through the Brimstone.
Ulquiorra felt a rush of annoyance at this. With just one scratch, he broke open a very thin wall leading to the outside, or, at least out of the walls. Looking through the room he had entered, he found it to be frozen solid. At the center of the room lay the source of this power energy. Now that he was close enough, Ulquiorra could feel the energy.
There was more energy than there was in the entire Karakura Town. You could make 10 Okens and still have more than enough energy to destroy all of Soul Society with this power.
But strangely, the being possessing such power was bound, showing just how much more powerful this world was. The being stood 25 feet tall and had a draconian head with ram horns. His body was black and scaly with a long tail swooping down to the floor.
Six wings lay on his back, each a different color and of a different species. One was a dragonfly wing, another, a bat. One lay flat and was silky smooth like that of a penguin, while the one just above it was that of a swan. To the opposite side of the Swan wing stretched a long black one, probably that of a crow or raven. Below the raven wing reached a thin, but long human arm with a thick, leather cape under it. It was the only arm on its entire body.
Ulquiorra. I see that like many before you, you are at a loss for words as to what I am. I am the opposer. The Judge. The loved one. I am…
"Lucifer." Ulquiorra said, his voice scratched just saying it.
The first Hollow. The first being to oppose natural order and to challenge the ideals of the Soul King. I was his most faithful. His devoted first son. But then I saw the humans and how he loved them more than I. I hated humans for that, but more than anything, I hated my own father for choosing to love the creatures that didn't even believe he existed over his most loving servant.
"So you led a group of eager minded followers and attempted to overthrow his reign." Ulquiorra had heard the same story during his human years. Only the Soul King had a much different, but similar name.
I wanted freedom, and the chance to give others that same freedom. You see, He does not offer you freedom. He is conniving and is planning. He is always planning. And you cannot stop His plans.
"Now why is such a magnificent revolutionary leader trapped in a frozen pillar?" Ulquiorra said, he sat down and looked over at the towering figure. "Last time I heard you had established Hell as your own personal kingdom and prison for the damned."
I was betrayed by my own kin. My own bretheran who had fought by my side had chosen to betray me am overthrow all of Hell. Now the Demons are getting fed up with waiting and are conniving to accelerate the Apocalypse.
"Hey! What are you doing here?" A guard said, rushing into the room. He found himself instantly vaporized and a large tunnel opened up to the sky.
Run. I can't escape, but I can make enough room for you to escape. Warn Grimmjow Jeagerjaque. You must stop him before he unleashes Destruction upon the world.
~Grimmjow~
Looking up at the clear sky, Grimmjow began thinking about the past again. He remembered his fallen comrades that died because of his impulses. He remembered what Kurosaki had told him during their fight.
"What was it? 'What's the point of Eating everyone I hate until I'm left alone? Heh, fuck that."
Grimmjow felt a slow trickle of water hit him in the face. He perked up, wiping the water off of himself. He had been resting on a gurdur hanging out of the construction site. Turns out that staring out at the open sky is only good of you have a warm roof over your head.
Grimmjow dashed back into Uken's room, just avoiding the real downpour. He began licking the water off of his arms and hands.
"You really are a kitty cat, aren't you?" Uken said, looking over at him from the bed. He was reading a book titled The Never Ending Story.
"Fuck you."
Then Grimmjow spent the next few hours screaming in pain.
~Nel~
Nel was getting used to dodging Pesche's attacks. He was skilled, but she had been the one who had trained him. He swung at her left, she paried it with her right, carrying it over hear head. She dropped low and swept her leg, he jumped and spat some of his Infinite Slick onto the ground, cause herself to trip.
He landed on top of her, his sword stabbed into the sand right next to her ear.
"Pesche! What are you doing!" Dondochakka said, he had finally caught up with them and swung his giant mace at his insect mask.
Pesche managed to roll away, trying to explain himself. Dondochakka managed to calm down long enough to listen to Pesche, but when they returned to look over at Nel, she was gone. All that stood there was Pesche's sword stuck into the ground.
"Nel!" They screamed.
~Orihime~
"Shall I pour you some tea Rukia?" Orihime already had the tea kettle in her hands.
"No thanks, Orihime. Could you tell me what that was all about with Grimmjow?"
Orihime looked at her dear friend and chuckled a little. She felt the water and realized that it had gotten cold already. She got up to turn on the stove top to heat it back up.
"Orihime?"
"Oh, yes, silly me! Grimmjow's the new Substitute Shinigami of Karakura Town." She said, already putting the kettle onto the stove top.
"What?" Rukia was staring at her with disbelief. Orihime had been so sure that Captain Ukitake would have told her, but she figured he must have decided to wait.
"Yes. His body was discovered among the rubbles of Hueco Mundo. Since he hadn't been purified nor sent to Hell, he had to have been still alive, so they took him to Soul Society for War Trials.
"Captain Ukitake and Captain Hitsuguya asked us if we believed Grimmjow deserved a second chance. Ichigo said yes, so I followed behind him. I'm so glad he's fitting in nicely. Isn't that good for him, Rukia? Rukia?"
Rukia was gone, there wasn't even a trace of where her spiritual energy could have gone. The kettle rolled gently after she had dropped it in surprise.
Orhime rushed to the from door to check and see if she had left. Nothing. It was almost as if she had never even come over. She rushed to the bathroom, still in disbelief, not even noticing the closet door slowly open. A single, green vine seemed to be growing out of the endless darkness existing inside.
"Rukia?" She screamed, throwing the bath tube screen open. There was nothing there but a leaking faucet. She bent down to turn it off.
The vine slowly crept closer and closer. Orihime was too shaken up to notice it as she turned her head. The vine looped around her right ankle and pulled her out of her sitting position. She screamed, stopping the vine by putting her left foot against the wall.
Slowly another vine entered the room and grabbed her right hand while she tried to pry the first vine off. The second vine pulled even harder than the first, swinging her torso over and banging her temple against the door to the bathroom. She went out almost instantly, unable to resist the vines as the slowly grew in abundance and began wrapping around every part of her body.
The last thing heard from her room before she was dragged into the closet was a little groan, crying out for Ichigo.
~Kisuke~
"Did you feel that?" Yoruichi said between her groans and moans.
"Oh, yeah." Kisuke said, he was incredibly thankful Chad had found a place for Grimmjow for the night.
"Not that, stupid. That."
"Oh, yeah, that. Looks like it's coming early."
Author's Note:
Hi everyone. Sorry it took me so long. I was trying to figure out what my first plot was going to be. Then I saw this awesome picture that I probably can't show without risking getting kicked off the site. Basically, let's just say it involved Tentacles and leave it at that.
Next chapter:
Ulquiorra crashed into Orihime's room to find Ichigo and Chad already there.
"What are you doing here!" Ichigo yelled, instinctively rushing up at Ulquiorra and grabbing him by the collar. He shoved him firmly against the wall, glaring strongly into his eyes. Then they lit up in surprise and realization. "Wait, why can I see you?"
"Where's Orihime?" Ulquiorra said, his temper was rising and he felt like he was going to murder someone.
"She's not here." Chad said, trying to pull Ichigo off of him.
"And Grimmjow?"
"He went looking for her."