Episode 21: Evolution III
More...I need more souls...hollows don't even satisfy me anymore. I must continue to devour Gillians...more and more Gillians. One by one they fall to my might. These pathetic unintelligent creatures serve as my snack for a little while longer. But the hole erodes my flesh. The pain grows by the hour. A hole bigger than my former hollow form stands as a gateway to the other side of this world. It stands as a symbol of my grief and addiction to slaughtering those that once lived fulfilling lives. All these creatures, as pathetic as they may seem, were once people, like me. They too must search for other souls for sustenance...to heal their pain...much like a binge eater – taken to a new morbid level.
As I chow down another Gillian – or a personification of a thousand souls, a surge rushes throughout my body. My belly aches and bulges – no bubbles, to form new tissue. Bile wells up in my throat and interrupts my digestion of this Menos. I can't hold it any longer and spew up what appears to be white bile. However it sticks to my body, it sucks itself back up and suffocates me until my entire face is covered in this strange substance. More of it ejects from every orifice until my whole body seems to be cocooned in some sort of thick hardened chrysalis. I want to scream out to the forest but noone can hear me. I only burst my eardrum with the sound of my own protests. I feel like an elephant in a mouse cage. How can I possibly fit in such a ridiculously confined space? It seems to only become more and more cramped as the cocoon seals over my whole body. I cannot breathe, I cannot escape...I will be crushed by this spontaneous phenomenon. If only I was able to be reunited with my brother one last time.
Damn...NO I WILL FIGHT THIS! I open my arms and try to pry the chrysalis open but it doesn't work. I grind the inside walls with my claws creating immensely bright sparks which burn my flesh away, this only seems to trigger more of the white death to ooze from my body. I desperately scratch the walls like a crazed drug addict. I then resort to peeling back my own flesh and bone to stem the inevitable wall from closing in and gaining more cement. It only exacerbates the process and I'm left paralysed through my own foolishness.
I decide the only way out is through using my energy blast. Though it may backfire and kill me anyway, but at least I'll have died struggling instead of accepting defeat. The energy wells up in my mouth as well as some more of the bile. This is it...I only have one chance. Even if I'm successful I may still wind up losing my life...If I fail I will most certainly die. I can already feel my bones being crushed to fine powder. I must do this now before I'm reduced to a pulp. My organs squelch onto mush and my limbs appear as empty toothpaste.
I fire the orb of destruction directly against the pupae. I'm blinded by the intense light and heat but I can finally breathe. It may have worked...or I may have just reached heaven...I feel a complete sense of euphoria. I have opened the floodgates to the river of paradise...This feeling is amazing...After such crushing pressure against my body I am liberated from the form that had recently bestowed me.
As the light fades and my vision returns I come back to a less fortunate reality. I am not quite near heaven as of yet but at least I still feel like I'm there...I wriggle my new body, the breeze never felt so pleasant against my scales. My claws spread out and become webbed. Each step I take sounds wet, like I'm wading through water. My body appears more reptilian and definitely more terrifying than before. Short, bony claws curl around my feet, the black markings are more profound, and they spread across my ribcage like a winged bat. My upper limbs reach down to the ground, raking the dirt and bone dust as I stride.
That whole cocoon phase must have been...well a cocoon...preparing my body for the next stage in evolution. Though I am not as high above the ground, I feel much lighter and stronger. My reatsu flickers and spits like an icy fire.
A wayward hollow snarls at my presence. He appears like a giant ant, and as such will be crushed as easy as an ant. With one swipe of my arm he is crushed, or more bifurcated.
The blood spurts into the air and streams down slowly, as if the gravity has just eased. It is at this moment I can appreciate my most important feature – the mask. No longer do I bear the face of a flatworm but rather a demonic crocodile. My vision is no longer confined to slits, now I have proper eyes that bulge outwards. Black markings form a cross along my head which appears to have serrated edges. Finally two horns adorn the top of my mask. I am now one to be feared. As I roar my name across these lands I hear the insignificant creatures flee for there lives.
"! I AM BANZAI BENENDES...THE STRONGEST ADJUCHAS IN ALL OF HUECO MUNDO!"
The second stage of evolution...the second strongest class of hollow...yet the fact I'm only second means I must further strive...for the ultimate goal...will I acclaim true power? Can I truly boast the title of the 'strongest'. Let us find out in the next thrilling chapter!