finally got Chapter 4 up! By the way...earlier I said that this entire fanfic was inspired by an RP I had with my friend, but only the Hollow Ichigo scenes in this chapter were actually from the RP. And I lost my side of the RP, so I had to work from scratch and what was left of his lines. Oh well!
"Lemme go! Lemme go! Let! Me! Go!" Ichigo cried, trying hard to get out of Yuji's restraints. "Ugh, how many times do I have to tell you?" Shana said, "Ichigo's dead, and we can't get into the Crimson World without having a Denizen wreak havoc, so we're not going to rescue him!" "You're wrong! There's no way I'm dead!" Ichigo said, "No, wait, I mean my Torch! No, wait, I'm the Torch!" Yuji sighed. Clearly being a Torch had Ichigo waaay too confused to think straight…. "That does it!" Ichigo cried, "If you're not gonna help me, I'm going to talk to someone who will!" He started dialing Uryu's number. "No!" Shana shouted, slicing Ichigo's cell phone in half. "No contacting people. You can't be trusted, and you can't tell anyone." "Aaaagh!" Ichigo suddenly shouted, "I'm being tortured!" Yuji looked at Shana. "I didn't do anything to him," the Flame Haze coldly replied. "It-it feels like I'm being shocked! S-Someone's poking me with a metal needle!" Ichigo cried. Yuji and Shana just stared at him. "Come on, you guys! I'm not faking it here! It really huuurts!" Ichigo shouted. "What's happening to him?" Yuji said. "It seems that since Ichigo is a Torch of someone who still exists, it feels everything its other self feels," Alastor explained, "Everything that's being done to Ichigo in the Crimson Realm is being imposed on to the Ichigo we have here." "That proves it!" Ichigo said, "We've gotta go to that Crimson Realm and rescue me! I-I mean him! I mean-! Argh, I don't know what I mean!" Yuji sighed. "You've gotta let me go after Ichigo! If he's in there too long….his other side will come out!" Ichigo said. Yuji and Shana were shocked. "What do you mean?" Yuji said. "It's nothing. Just another one of his tricks to get us to help him," Shana scoffed. "It's not a trick! I swear!" Ichigo shouted, "If Ichigo's pushed too hard, his inner Hollow comes out!" Yuji was suddenly frightened. "Look, Shana, maybe we should help him," he said, "Whatever he's talking about, it sounds really important." "You don't know how right you are," Ichigo said, then froze. "It…it's too late…." he said, falling to the ground, "He's already free…"
"A-hahahaha!" Hollow Ichigo shrieked, pinning Wolf tothe wall. "Thought you could keep me down, did you? Well, think again!" He blasted a hole in the wall with a Cero, then proceeded to rampage throughout the entire complex. "Where's that masked creep and the pervert with the doll fetish?" he shouted, "Ah, well, doesn't matter anyway. I'm busting out of here!" He proceeded to massacre anything he came across, tearing through the Crimson Realm. Finally he came across a female Denizen, one who wore a lot of red and black and had her face painted like some kind of harlequin. "All right, babe," he smirked, "You're my ticket outta here! Open up one of your portals, NOW!" The Denizen, frightened, tried to attack the masked demon, but Hollow Ichigo simply held her by the wrists. "Now," he said softly. The Denizen nodded, opening up a portal.
Yuji looked around. He felt something. Something that radiated absolute terror. "What was that?" he asked. Ichigo looked up. "It's too late…" he said. Shana grabbed him. "What the hell does that mean?" she shouted. Ichigo looked away. "It means that everyone here's going to die. Like you said, there's nothing you can do about it." Yuji rushed over to him and hit him in the face. "Are you even listening to yourself?" he said, "That's not what the old Ichigo would say! What happened to the guy who had a higher set of morals than anyone else?" Ichigo rose. "Yeah, you're right. The old me wouldn't forgive me if I just sat here!" he shouted. Shana sighed. "Look, whatever the hell that is, it's going to cause a huge imbalance between here and the Crimson Realm!" she shouted. "That is correct," Alastor added, "I can sense that the Crimson Realm has been significantly torn apart. If whatever is creating that presence is in the human world…it could further corrupt the balance by destroying everything here." They instantly took off, hoping to get there before the damage became irreparable.
Suddenly, Yuji and Ichigo stopped. "Hey," Yuji said, "Do you guys feel cold all of a sudden?" "Yeah," Ichigo said, "It's like the air's become poison or something!" Suddenly, the surrounding area became warped as it does whenever a Crimson Denizen comes to the human world. This time, though, there were only two Crimson Denizens, rather small. The first wore chiefly red and black and wore harlequin makeup, with black markings around her eyes, a teardrop, red lipstick, chalk-white skin, and black hair tied into pigtails. The second, however, was quite menacing. It was clearly Ichigo, but his face had been partially covered with a white skull mask with black markings. His expression had changed to a smile full of sadistic intentions, and the whites of his eyes were black while his pupils were yellow. "Is that….me?" the torch of Ichigo said. The other Ichigo smiled. He licked the Denizen. "This chick's been real useful to me," he said, "But unfortunately, I don't need her anymore. I'm just going to throw her away like the unwanted rag that she is." He stuck his hand through her body and then tore her head off with his teeth. Yuji winced. He'd never seen anyone being treated so brutally, not even a Crimson Denizen! "Alright, then," Hollow Ichigo smiled, "It's time for me to have some fun! That Torch over there looks like a good target…" The Torch in question was a red-haired girl, who looked terrified. "I'm going to eat it!" He opened his mouth, and fired a black and red beam, destroying not only the Torch, but several other people. "Hmm," Alastor stated, "There's something different about him. Earlier he had such a high regard for life that he criticized your attitude towards Torches, but now he's destroying everything like he doesn't even care about anyone that he harms." "Hey! Strawberry brat!" Shana shouted. "Why the sudden change in philosophy?" Hollow Ichigo looked down at her. "Ichigo, a brat?" he asked, "As opposed to whom…you? Pfhahahahahaha!" Shana growled. She hated to be reminded of the fact that Ichigo was quite older than her physically and had beat her several times. "You might have tore through me when you were sane, but I'm taking you down now!" she shouted, trying to keep her confidence. "Wait, Shana," Alastor said, "He's different than before. I can feel it. You are different, aren't you?" he continued, addressing Hollow Ichigo, "That's why you attacked that Torch while Ichigo couldn't stand the notion that their Existences fade." "Tcheh! Whaddya know?" Hollow Ichigo smirked, "Not every day we meet someone sharp enough to 'see past the mask,' as it were. They don't usually figure out that I'm someone else altogether, if at all, until much later…when I'm ripping them to shreds!" He lunged at Shana, creating a sword which Shana blocked. He then smiled intensely, as his mask now extended and covered his entire face, with horns jutting out from the side. "Point-Blank Cero!" he shouted. Shana was immediately thrown back. "You bastard…." Shana grunted, trying to get up, "The other you might have pissed me off, but you're an absolute heartless monster! You're just like the Denizens!" "You don't know how wrong you are….I'M SO MUCH MORE THAN ANY DENIZEN!" Hollow Ichigo shouted, his Hollowfication becoming complete. "You may be more powerful, but your intentions remain the same." Alastor said, "The true Ichigo had such a high regard for life that he criticized Shana's actions, but your actions will cause an imbalance, especially with the damage you've caused to the Crimson Realm." "Hey, I was just lookin' to escape that place. Not too hospitable. Doesn't mean I can't have my fun in the process!" He laughed. "And 'til Ichigo recovers. Didn't think he'd actually need me to save his ass, to be honest…" "Well, you're going to need him when I'm through with you!" Shana cried, rushing to him. Hollow Ichigo simply knocked her away with one hand. "No! Stop!" Yuji cried. "You've caused enough damage! Can't you see that your actions will cause an imbalance? Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Hollow Ichigo walked up to him. "You'd think so, wouldn't you?" he said, smirking. "Me being part of Ichigo and all. But nope, just stayin' alive. And if I were you, kid…." he said, leaning towards Yuji, "I'd be on my knees, thanking my lucky stars that my Hollowfication wasn't triggered by anger on Ichigo's part. Then you'd REALLY be screwed!" The other Ichigo had had enough. "Hey, stop that!" he said, hitting his Hollow counterpart over the head with a metal bat. "I can't let you do this anymore!" Hollow Ichigo rose and looked up at him. "Well, well, what have we here? A copy of Ichigo?" he laughed. "You're not the King. You're not anything. You're just aweak, little nobody who only exists to be a stand-in. A substitute. Shana's right, you are nothing but an object." "I may be a Torch," Ichigo said, "I may not be the real Ichigo! I may not even have any powers! But I can still stop you!" He reached for Hollow Ichigo's mask. "You idiot!" Hollow Ichigo cried, "What the hell are you doing?" "Getting the real Ichigo back!" the Torch retorted. "Alright, you asked for it!" Hollow Ichigo shouted. "Point Blank Cero!" But it was too late. Ichigo had already begun to tear Hollow Ichigo's mask off, staring into his own face like a twisted mirror. Hollow Ichigo screamed in pain. Then, four blasts struck him from behind. Five people appeared on the rooftop.
A blond woman, who was well-endowed, and wore glasses and carried a green book with her.
A young man about Ichigo's age, with dark hair and glasses, wearing a white outfit, and carrying a blue glowing bow of energy.
A Hispanic man who was quite muscular, and had some sort of armor going around his arms.
A large-breasted girl with red hair and flower-shaped crystal barrettes.
And a small girl in a black kimono.
Okay! Things are starting to heat up! Can you recognize everyone in the ending? If so, don't be afraid to say so!
