This War's Not Over: Chapter 25
All Out War
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Ichigo knew they had little chance of winning. But he also knew that if he could somehow defeat the Spirit King, then maybe this would hinder the rest of the Royal Guard's fighting abilities if they had no leader to guide them. Ichigo had to find the Spirit King fast. Not only for his own reasons, but for everyone else's sake.
Soul reapers and arrancars alike streamed past him, following Yamamoto's and Aizen's lead. It was strange seeing the two leading their joint forces side by side, and that in itself made Ichigo grin. It seemed that he had finally got the soul reapers and the arrancars to get over their differences and fight together. Just like Ichigo and his hollow.
They were nearing the gates. Royal Guard members had caught sight of them, and they were running back and forth, yelling and shouting between the Royal Dimension and Hueco Mundo, allying their own forces.
The first wave of Royal Guards men that crashed into them were not the captains. Rangiku, Gin, Kira, Yumichika, Hisagi, Chad and many other arrancars confronted them, leaving the remainder of Gotei 13 and arrancars to go further towards the Gates.
More waves came to assault them in an attempt to halt them in their path, numbers peeling off to fight the enemy. Their numbers began to dwindle as they reached the Gate, the small 'army' composed of Ichigo, Aizen, Yamamoto, Miko, Renji, Rukia and the rest of Gotei 13's captains. All the lieutenants, lower rank levelled soul reapers and the rest of the arrancars had been hurled into battle that was now raging behind them.
Ichigo's yellow eyes flashed as he caught sight of the Royal Guard's main forces. Squad 0. All clad in the black shihakushos and torn captain haoris. He sonidoed up to the front to join Aizen and Yamamoto. "They're here."
Yamamoto nodded tersely, his eyes grave. Aizen simply smiled smugly. His eyes told Ichigo what he was thinking—mostly.
Everything was going according to plan.
The sounds of battle flooded his ears, metal clashing against metal as Squad 0 barred Gotei 13's path. Before Ichigo knew it, his angry yellow eyes met with Yosuke's, who used his zanpakuto to slam Ichigo down into the sand.
Ichigo deftly sprang back up into the night sky, firing a getsugatensho without even sparing Yosuke another furious glance. The black and red reiatsu did its work, being significantly stronger than before, leaving Yosuke burned and bruised—and surprised.
It no longer was a surprise to Ichigo. He knew as long as his will was still the same, the hogyoku would continue to make Ichigo stronger.
Toshiro and Byakuya were fighting one of the Squad 0 captains, ice working with the barrage of pink fury. Yamamoto was attempting to burn another Squad 0 captain to a black crisp. Miko was assisting Aizen, but needed to do little as Kyokasuigetsu seemed to be doing all the work. To Ichigo's confusion, it seemed that Squad 0 was short of about half of its members. This gave each Squad 0 captain two Gotei 13 captains they had to deal with.
Yosuke was quick to recover, his sword already slamming down on Ichigo's. The sudden attack caught Ichigo off guard, the distraction of Squad 0's lack of numbers proving to be Ichigo's undoing. The huge halberd tore a hole through Ichigo's stomach. Ichigo leapt back, drawing a ragged breath as his hand reached to cover his wound. He then retaliated, sonidoing as if he came to attack from the front before Yosuke's zanpakuto stabbed at nothing, leaving Ichigo the opening to tear a large gash down his back. Yosuke swore, twisting to bring his halberd barring to protect his front as Ichigo attacked him with a point-blank getsugatensho. Yosuke managed to dissipate the blast with his reaitsu this time, but he was out of breath and bleeding.
"So, is the Spirit King still tucked nice and safe in the Royal Dimension?" Ichigo hissed, his voice dripping with contempt.
"You'll regret saying that. His Majesty would cut you up before you could even blink!" Yosuke glared. "Not that you'll ever get to experience that yourself. You'll die here, I can assure you that."
"Well I'll tell him when I see him that Higashi Yosuke has been buried under twenty feet of sand," Ichigo snarled, his yellow eyes flashing.
He fired two point blank getsugatenshos, sending Yosuke shooting down into Hueco Mundo's sand. Ichigo stared, in a daze, as Yosuke's blood spattered onto the sand's immaculate white surface. What am I doing?
"You're doing what needs to be done," Shiro hissed fiercely in his head. "Don't you see? We can get things over so much more quickly when you have your head in the game."
"But he's just following orders."
"You seem to be forgetting the whole reason why we're here," Shiro's voice hardened.
"I haven't forgotten!"
Ichigo tore his eyes away from Yosuke, sonidoing towards the Gate.
"Aren't you going to finish him off? He'll recover and kill us for sure!" his hollow snarled, throwing himself against Ichigo's wall.
The wall didn't budge. Nor did Ichigo in his decision.
"It's about time you chose a way Ichigo," his inner hollow growled. "The hollow way, which is honest and bloody. Or, you choose the way of the soul reapers, which is dishonest and peaceful."
Ichigo flinched, and Shiro seemed to sense the instability in Ichigo's wall. However, he didn't take the opportunity. Ichigo felt himself gather up his emotions, his thoughts—and a strange calm crept over him. He spoke out loud, knowing Shiro would hear him.
"I choose my way."
Silence.
A fighting Rukia and Miko came into view, fighting against one of the Royal Guard's underlings. Ichigo charged in to help, channelling Shiro's anger into Zangetsu and hacking off the underling's sword arm. Miko was the one who finished him. But then Rukia was racing to Ichigo, her sword drawn back to kill. Ichigo gasped, ducking under her zanpakuto. He caught her snow white weapon in between his fingers, Rukia flinching. Blood had trickled into her eyes, but as she stared at him, her eyes glinted with recognition.
She dropped her arm, her shoulders sagging. "Sorry."
Ichigo shrugged, his eyes on her wounds. "It's a bloody war."
He watched as she stared numbly at the battle.
"You okay?" Ichigo asked, noticing a huge gash on her shoulder.
"We're losing," she whispered.
Ichigo bit his lip. Losing. Gotei 13 and the arrancars were losing. He was losing.
Miko was at his side, her chest heaving feversishly. Ichigo wondered if the bloodlock was giving her a hard time. She had a much more advanced exposure to the poison after all. Rukia gave Ichigo a tiny nod as she raced to help Renji, who was having a hard time with the captain he was dealing with. Ichigo's legs bent to spring, but Miko's preventing arm held him back.
"I'll help them. You go to the Gate, reaper boy," Miko said, and with a smile, she added, "After all, didn't you promise you'd grant me my wish?"
Ichigo tutted, turning his back on her to go flying into the Gate. But then he heard a scream of warning, and he whirled around, his eyes wide. The scream was cut off abruptly.
Miko's blood sprayed his face.
Ichigo let out a horrified gasp, Miko's body flopping limp on the blade that ran through her heart. All three stood there. Ichigo, Miko's broken body, and the figure of the one who had attacked her.
Yosuke discarded her like a ragdoll. Ichigo tore after her, but Yosuke had flicked her away with such force that her body crumpled to the floor faster than the young teen could catch her. He stood there, staring at her with blank eyes.
He knelt down, his hand shaking as he fumbled for her pulse. There was no pulse to feel. Ichigo felt numb. He closed her agony-stricken eyes with his hand. The youth with his broken ideals sat there, unaffected by Miko's blood that seeped into his white uniform, staring blankly at her blood covered body.
Miko was dead.
He shook his head in denial, but she was. She really was. And she had never got to see the day where she could be cured from a poison that had frightened her all her life.
Yosuke landed in the sand, taking the opportunity that Ichigo's will had crumpled along with his friend's body. Ichigo did nothing to stop him as Yosuke grabbed him by the neck, pushing him into the sand. Ichigo gasped, choking as the captain neared his zanpakuto to Ichigo's throat.
Then Ichigo went oddly limp.
The point-blank cero from Ichigo's horn hit Yosuke squarely in the face. And suddenly, it was Shiro who was in control. Ichigo's lips stretched oddly wide, revealed two rows of sharp teeth as the hollow threw himself at the captain.
Shiro left Miko's ragged bleeding body behind. His golden eyes glistened with a thirst for battle. King hadn't let him out for so long—let alone willingly. The black ink spread completely over the surface of Ichigo's eye, the hollow assuming full control.
Yosuke was bewildered at Ichigo's strange mood swings. The prick had had King at his bankai's mercy, but here he was now, bleeding and burned more than ever before by one of his ceros.
Shiro went into ressureccion. Although King had used this form many times, the feeling of power this form had always made the hollow's day. With a scream of glee, Shiro tore Yosuke's arm off. Shiro exploded into laughter. It felt good. Even King felt good about it, but he refused to admit it. King always felt good when it came to battle. He hated admitting he was just like Shiro.
"Your way my ass King. Tch. You love this too much."
He relished when Yosuke sprawled on the dirt, his expression a mixture of fear and confusion. Shiro raised his white blade, eager to use the Final Getsugatensho.
"Sayonara Yosuke," Shiro spat gleefully as he brought the blade down to deliver the pitch black reiatsu.
The Final Getsugatensho blew Higashi Yosuke to pieces.
Something was slapping Ichigo. Wait, no. Someone. Ichigo groaned. Each syllable was pronounced in time with each slap.
"I-chi-go-get-a-hold-of-your-self-!"
Ichigo's eyes flew open, his fist reflexively slamming into the person's face. He was on his feet before the person could recover, but his shoulders relaxed when he recognized him. "Dad?"
Isshin looked up from his sprawled position, massaging his face, his eyes streaming with fake tears. "I can't believe you hit me. After all I've done for you."
"What the hell are you talking abou—" Ichigo stopped abruptly.
He was standing on the Hueco Mundo sand, a battle still raging above his head. His eyes traced over the huge gash in the scorched sand. The Final Getsugatensho's work surely. His heart plummeted as his grief-stricken gaze fell on a dull crumpled form that lay in the distance.
"Miko is dead."
His father looked at him sympathetically. "I know. But there's nothing you can do about it. This is war. People die."
Ichigo stared at his feet, his mind replaying the scene over and over. It would haunt him forever.
"So there's no need to throw a tantrum and destroy half of Hueco Mundo, m'kay?" Isshin said light heartedly.
Ichigo's eye twitched. "Tantrum?"
"Ah, teenagers these days. Feel like it's the end of the world when they get angry. I had to tackle your hollow to the floor and slap some sense into him," Isshin said, commenting about the weather.
Ichigo stared at him blankly. It felt weird feeling his hollow's annoyance—wait—more like embarrassment.
"Being tackled by that moron, twice," Shiro hissed. "To say I'm embarrassed is an understatement!"
Ichigo choked back a laugh at Shiro's expense. But he didn't hold for long as he let out a laugh for the first time in a while. His father didn't catch the source of hysteria, but he seemed to understand that his son was having an internal conversation with his hollow.
"We need to get you to those Gates," Isshin grinned as he stared up at the writhing mass of fighting people.
Ichigo nodded, throwing himself up into the bloodstained sky. Bodies were falling all around him, and Ichigo knew with a sinking feeling that they were losing. He needed to find and defeat the Spirit King fast. The battle was ugly. When Ichigo looked down, the immaculate white sand was stained with crimson red splotches of mangled bodies, and according to Ichigo, the splotches were far too many in number.
The teen was joined by Grimmjow and Nel, who were both panting hard. Nel's head wound had reopened, and Ichigo had to practically drag her to Unohana, Orihime and the rest of Squad Four, who were stationed behind a large sand dune away from the fight. He ordered Grimmjow to stay here and fight. They needed more help here for now.
While Grimmjow reluctantly left, Aizen and Isshin were the ones to fight their way through the Royal Guard while Ichigo conserved his strength. Ichigo examined Aizen and his father carefully. He wasn't examining the red stains on both their clothes—he was examining the silent agreement they had in between them, both plotting, knowing, once again behind Ichigo's back. His yellow eyes narrowed angrily, but he said nothing.
They made it to the Gates. Aizen was suddenly attacked by one of the Squad 0 captains, his reiatsu far more crushing than Yosuke's had been. Aizen looked at Ichigo, his eyes full of regret. "Go on without me. Good luck, Kurosaki Ichigo."
Then he glanced quickly at Isshin before concentrating on the enemy at hand. Ichigo smouldered inside, but he saluted Aizen before diving into the portal, his father at his heels.
Isshin was finally back. Not home, but back. He stared at his son who had his back to him. His espada uniform was covered at the bottom with Miko's blood. An ugly scarlet hole was on one side of his back. When he turned to look at his father searchingly, Isshin could see he had a few cuts that crisscrossed his face. His son wasn't in very good shape. He wished they could have had time to see Unohana before they left.
"Shall we head to the palace?" Isshin prodded.
"Yeah."
Ichigo's cold yellow eyes never deterred Isshin the way it deterred Ichigo's friends. It was hard seeing the gentle loving saviour with the eyes of a much hated enemy. Ichigo probably never noticed how much his friends tried to ignore his appearance and love him for being himself.
To Isshin, nothing was easier. It had worried him the first time, but after seeing his son control the hollow form better than he could have ever done, Isshin still knew that Ichigo was Ichigo.
"So tell me, how did you end up in Karakura?" Ichigo asked suddenly as they ran across the nothingness.
Isshin hesitated, but Ichigo deserved to know. "It's obvious that I was part of the Royal Guard before. I was the lieutenant of Squad 0. When the old Spirit King mysteriously died—more like killed by the current Spirit King, I had a fallout with the captain of Squad 0. I had my suspicions about the Spirit King's death so I put it forwards to him. But my captain wouldn't accept the blatant fact because the one who killed the Spirit King was his father, who became the new Spirit King after the previous one's death."
Ichigo gapped at him.
"There was a huge fight that broke out between me and the captain. I used the Final Getsugatensho on him and cut off his arm. I lost my powers. I hid in Karakura town where I met Masaki. I didn't think about ever returning until she came along and gave you soul reaper powers."
"Rukia?" Ichigo cocked a brow.
"My one and only third daughter," Isshin smiled dreamily. "Rescuing my good for nothing son from becoming a delinquent."
A punch from Ichigo. They arrived at the palace, where three figures were waiting at the entrance. Ichigo stiffened, drawing his blade. Isshin tensed too, but when they skid to a halt, Isshin's face smoothed over and he grinned.
"Hiruzen."
The said Hiruzen had shoulder length white hair. His eyes were green, but apart from his hair, he seemed to be about Isshin's age. He advanced towards them, a pleasant smile on his face, while two females walked beside him. One of them was blond and the other was a small brunette with tanned skin. Other figures hid in the shadows of the entrance, yet they didn't approach Isshin and Ichigo.
"Greetings Isshin. It's good to see you," Hiruzen said, before turning to look curiously at Ichigo. "Who's that?"
It must be weird, Ichigo figured, to have to be introduced as Isshin's son when he looked nothing like him. The brown eyes being the only thing that linked them, the yellow eyes pushed them even further apart.
As Hiruzen seemed to digest Ichigo being Isshin's son despite his hollow-like appearance, Ichigo figured this must have been one of his father's friends while he stayed here.
The icy-eyed blond stepped forwards, placing an impatient hand on Hiruzen's shoulder. "I hate to interrupt this reunion, but we have more important things to be thinking about right now."
Hiruzen sighed, straightening up. But before he could say anything Ichigo interrupted. "Who's side are you on?"
"Yours. Whoever is against the Spirit King. We want to help you fight, Ichigo," the blond replied coolly.
So that was why Squad 0 was short in numbers. Some had stayed behind in their silent protest against the Spirit King.
"The fight in Hueco Mundo's going pretty bad for us. That's where we need you," Ichigo said, forgetting all formal introductions.
The blond smiled wryly. "I like your quick thinking Ichigo. Never have been one for talking."
She zipped past him, the kicked up wind blowing in Ichigo's hair as he stared after her ruefully. The brunette and the figures in the shadows followed, all heading towards the Gate. Hiruzen remained.
"I'm staying to help you fight the Spirit King," he said stubbornly.
Ichigo shrugged. "Suit yourself."
"Because Hikifune and Kiyomi aren't crazy enough to take him on like us three," Isshin laughed.
Ichigo took that back. He didn't want anyone else interfering in the fight. To him, it was just him and the Spirit King. Despite this feeling, he might as well get all the help he could get. They ran through the palace, slipping past some of the select few guards that remained stationed in the building. Ichigo decided it would be wise to go into his espada form before the confrontation started.
"The Spirit King's chamber is locked behind a huge gate," Hiruzen said. "But my zanpakuto doesn't have any blasting capabilities…"
The gate loomed over them, but Ichigo raised his white sword and threw the Final Getsugatensho at it. It crumbled under the getsugatensho's weight. Hiruzen was impressed.
"A gate?" Ichigo muttered. "What gate?"
Isshin laughed, but it was cut short by a stranger's piercing voice. "And what might you be doing here, Isshin?"
All three whirled around. Hiruzen gasped while Isshin's eyes widened. "Yamashita."
The man looked younger that Isshin himself. But what drew Ichigo's attention was that this Yamashita only had one arm. He froze.
"Yoshiro Yamashita. Captain of Squad 0," Hiruzen whispered to Ichigo.
Ichigo nodded tersely to Hiruzen, readying his sword to fight him.
"No Ichigo."
The teen stared at his father uncomprehendingly. Hiruzen and Isshin both moved as one to stop Yamashita from getting to Ichigo.
"This fight is mine and Hiruzen's. As is yours with the Spirit King. Go now!"
Ichigo hesitated, took a step forwards, then a step back again. He turned as he heard Yamashita attempt to throw himself at Ichigo in an effort to protect his father. Isshin threw him back. Ichigo sonidoed down the hallway that led to the Spirit King's chambers.
Ichigo felt sick. The deeper he went, the more the reiatsu crushed him. How was he supposed to fight in a place like this?
Aizen's words rang in his ears.
The Spirit King's zanpakuto enables him to enter your soul. He destroys his enemy from the inside out, breaking down their inner world. His opponent will have a split concentration in fighting him in the inner world and at the same time in the real world. Exhaustion is what defeats his opponents, as his reiatsu therefore his stamina is far greater than their own. But his power to enter souls is very similar to that of the Hogyoku, Ichigo. That is why you have a chance of beating him.
Ichigo ran his head through the training. Anything to keep his mind off the reiatsu that was crushing his confidence. How could such a monster be defeated?
Ichigo skidded to a halt in a grand room, the ceiling being so high it could almost be coliseum. Tapestry plastered the walls and carpets streaked under Ichigo's feet.
"So this is where it ends," Ichigo thought grimly as his red glare rested on the Spirit King.
The King had his back to him—waiting for Ichigo. The man slowly turned around, revealing a scar-clad face full of scorn.
"Kurosaki Ichigo."
So this was the man who had been pulling the strings behind the killings. Without a word, Ichigo brought his zanpakuto down on the ground, the floor splitting in half and lifting where he stood. He felt the power, the anger, the fear, the pain, but it all felt so good for once that Ichigo wondered if Shiro was interfering with his emotions. It was probably for the best, if he was going to destroy this place.
The normal Ichigo wouldn't be able to do this. No regrets. Yes. The destruction of the palace. Just like the destruction of Seireitei. For Rukia. For Renji. For everyone who had lost their home.
With a flick of his sword and Shiro's influence, Ichigo's Final Getsugatensho split the entire palace in half. There was no longer a roof. Chunks of buildings whirled and fell all around Ichigo and the Spirit King, the man eyeing him with perked interest at the said challenge that Ichigo had wordlessly declared to him.
Dust filled the air. But Ichigo's eyes did not sting.
But as the Spirit King glanced furtively around him, he realized his palace had not withstood Ichigo's blast. It was now in complete ruin. The Spirit King's eyes brimmed with anger. Ichigo and Shiro's lips stretched into a wide grin. Oh yes.
Payback was a bitch.
…Aaaand we shall end it there! Join us next time for the final chapter! (I think!)
Hope you have all enjoyed this fic so far. I know it's been long, and you can't imagine how happy I am for people reading this! Shiro will take part in the final battle of course!
Please review!