Chapter 13

It was horror. Pure, undiluted horror.

The lab was dark, but lit with lines of harsh white lights that only beamed down directly below them. Tanks lined both sides, filled with the different colored liquids and containing one of each of the captains; Byakuya Kuchiki, Jūshirō Ukitake, Shunsui Kyōraku, Kenpachi Zaraki, all of them were suspended in the tanks of corresponding colored liquid that matched the color of their spiritual energy.

They all writhed in pain, small tubes plunging into their skin that pumped the concentrated spiritual energy into their veins. Their skin was taut around their bones, all having lost their muscle definition to be dangerously thin and frail. Even the bandage wrappings they wore simply to cover their intimate areas hung on their emaciated bodies like sheets.

Their pained faces were half covered by masks that provided them with oxygen laced with a mild anesthetic, draining just enough of their energy so that their weak, feeble pounding against the glass was simply a gesture to let the mad scientist know that they were still alive, but only just.

However, the worst of it was still to come.

In the center of the lab, a restraint table showed them whom was strapped there with tubes jammed into his flesh, pumping icy blue liquid into his writhing body. His arms were strapped outwards, preventing him from resisting the tortures he was forced to live through and his legs were strapped together to make him a cross on that table.

He had been the one to produce the scream as the mad scientist slammed a massive needle into his victim's neck and injected a pale green slim that spread beneath the victim's skin like ink on a wet page. The man, no, the boy, on the table tried to bite back the scream, but it came anyways, just as it had earlier and just as loud.

Throwing his head as far back as the table would allow, Tōshirō Hitsugaya screamed with everything he had, tears and blood poured from his eyes in unbroken streams. He writhed against his restraints, screaming and crying at the same time, but there simply wasn't enough strength left to break free. He was trapped, helpless and left to suffer at the hands of Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

"Let's see what this new compound does, shall we?" Mayuri Kurotsuchi cackled as he set the emptied needle down on a stainless steel tray.

"'Shirō!" Ukitake yelped before he could stop himself, his eyes wide with fear, but he was unable to look away.

The sudden noise drew the scientist's attention away from his tortured test subject that wailed on the table.

"Oh good. A new batch of test subjects." Kurotsuchi laughed as he rubbed his hands together with a malicious grin across his crazed face.

"Is that the real Captain Hitsugaya?" Ukitake asked as his shocked expression turned down into undiluted anger.

Kurotsuchi simply shrugged, "He was here waiting to be experimented on when I arrived. It took a bit to catch up on my own research, but I'm pleased I have made some progress. Their fusions are not yet complete, but with some more time, I believe I'll be able to find a solution before starting on my prized subject."

"Prized subject?" Kenpachi arced a hairless brow.

All Kurotsuchi did was point upwards towards the ceiling.

Nyruki and the captains all followed his boney finger upwards, setting their already wide eyes on the tube filled with black and red. It pumped into a clear tank before dropping down a large bundle of smaller tubes that plunged into the body and down the throat of an orange haired teenager, literally hanging from straps and chains from the rafters as if he was being crucified and on display for all to see.

All but Nyruki recognized the young boy; It was Ichigo Kurosaki.

"He hangs as a reminder that I have to get the fusion right. It must be complete before I start with him. I nearly completed the fusion with Byakuya Kuchiki, but the control nearly died in the process." Kurotsuchi grumbled, pointing to the tank of white that suspended a motionless, mutilated body of Byakuya whose only indication that he was alive was the monitor that was display on the base of the tank that blipped with a weak heartbeat.

"You're a madman. Where's the real Captain Hitsugaya and Kibōyūwaku?" Asked Kyōraku, his brows angry and stern which was a rare expression for the man who was usually napping, or drinking sake.

"Oh? You mean them?" Kurotsuchi grinned.

With a hard pull of a lever, a black cage lowered from the ceiling, suspended by thick chains with links the size of Nyruki's head.

"You'll pay for this, Kurotsuchi!" The real Hitsugaya roared, trying to break through the bars that were far too thick to bend.

"Let them go! This isn't real, Mayuri! This is all just an illusion!" Kyōraku howled angrily, balling his fists.

"Illusion? If that is the case, then this is my illusion where I can do whatever I want and further my research!" Kurotsuchi began to laugh out loud.

"This is my inner world! You can't just hijack it!" Nyruki snapped, rocking forward on one foot with her fists curled.

Kurotsuchi began to cackle all that much more, "Oh, is that so? Perhaps I should experiment on you as well. Whatever the case, I have her now and we are never leaving! If this is an illusion, then so be it. You're all trapped with me." He laughed harder.

"I was right... He's already fallen." Nyruki said, shaking her head, with fear and uncertainty clouding her mind and making it near impossible to think rationally.

"Now now... I haven't fallen anywhere. I've risen. I'll give you your precious little captain, but Kibōyūwaku stays with me." Kurotsuchi said, his laughter gone, having given way to a sneer of malicious intent.

"Fine! We'll do it!" Nyruki said instantly before any of the others could voice up.

"Nyruki! What are you doing?" Ukitake gasped.

"Trust me." She said simply and quietly.

"Oh, really?... Fine. Take him and leave me to my experiments." Kurotsuchi said as he pulled another lever that dropped the floor out from under Hitsugaya's side of the divided cage.

He hit the floor hard on his back, knocking the wind out of him as Soi-Fon flash stepped to him and immediately flash stepped back to the safety of the group. He softly coughed as he regained his breath, but he refused to lay there helplessly as he forced himself to his feet with fists and teeth clenched with all his strength.

However, another laugh began to rip from the scientist's throat and they all knew that something was wrong. It had been too easy to wrest the real Hitsugaya free and they all knew it.

"How you all have survived this long is a mystery. Lets end that so you don't ruin anything." Kurotsuchi laughed with a push of a large red button.

With a heavy metal thunk, a door slid up on the left side of the large lab. More of the perverted versions of the captains began to emerge and all of them had been fused clones of the ones in the tanks. Kurotsuchi was cloning an army of the monstrous creatures with the powers of their Zanpakutōs.

Another demon Byakuya whipped his long spike-tipped tongue with bared teeth while the spines of his hair bristled with anticipation. He walked hunched and on the balls of his bare feet that were also tipped with claws and his fingers dragged across the wall, leaving behind long claw marks that carved the concrete far too easily. His throat snarled with a rabid, double toned timbre and his entire body was covered in weeping cuts that stained the tattered cloth that wrapped around his boney hips.

As if that wasn't enough, another ice ghoul Hitsugaya crawled forward next, beating his wings and growling with hunger. His tail whipped wildly, snapping against the demon Byakuya's chest that left behind a cut that he immediate began to lick with a sickening grin.

The fire breathing Komamura was next, growling with a deep rumble and walking on all fours with ears back and massive teeth wetly bared. His eyes were wild, pure instinct to kill and maul and he was hungry, so desperate for a meal that he snapped at the demon Byakuya's arm, hoping for a bite, but missed. The demon was faster.

The next creature was another water-bound Ukitake that pulled himself along with his long, thin arms, dragging the heavy tail behind him that slammed against anything within his reach. His hair was wet, clinging to his bare back with the bones of his spine poking through the thin flesh that was gray and lined with the blue lines of his veins. Now that they got to see a living creature that wasn't carved by one of the giant augers, they all saw the set of gills laced into each side, being five thin slits that flared and wheezed with each struggled breath.

The rest, emerging out from behind the ones that had already been seen before, only served to get worse.

A grotesque and bloody remnant of Kenpachi emerged out from the darkness of the corridor, hair as spiky as ever but sprouting from not just his head, but all the way down his exposed back and each spike was tipped with a dagger that plucked at his own flesh. One eye was completely gouged out, leaving only a bleeding hole and his mangled teeth resembled the cutting edge of his Zanpakutō. Each finger and toe was tipped with claws, replacing each digit's tip and they were huge, purely engineered to rend and tear anything within his long arm's reach.

The growling and snarling was soon covered by a deep buzzing as a small, flying Soi-Fon emerged next. She was strictly air bound, as her legs had been replaced by a large abdomen, that of a hornet, that was armed with a stinger that put the needle Kurotsuchi had used to shame. Her torso was just as thin and sickly, her ribs being easily visible through the thin vail of pale flesh that was tinted with yellow and black. Her eyes were entirely yellow and trained on them as she mashed her teeth and a pair of horrifying mandibles together that ached to sink into her prey.

The last one finally emerged, being what remained of Shunsui Kyōraku. He was sullen and thin like a stray dog, but his arms from the elbows down had been replaced with his familiar blades. They dragged as he walked half hunched over, and his wavy hair that was usually pulled back was free to drape over his shoulders. His canines were long and sharp and his tongue hung out of his mouth and dripped with a painful hunger.

Each creature began to circle them like sharks, ready, impatiently waiting to be given the order to tear at their prey and consume their flesh, only to play with their bones afterwards.

"There's no Unohana." Kyōraku said, keeping his eyes locked on his remnant that had begun to lick his lips with the anticipation of food to feed his desperate 6'3 frame.

"There was no need for one. Her Zanpakutō heals instead of rends. Do try to stay within my complex while you run. I want to record the results." Kurotsuchi laughed lowly as he watched and enjoyed the terrified looks on their faces as the predators encroached closer.

"You're mad!" Ukitake gasped, protectively wrapping his arms around Nyruki like a father would a daughter against a threat.

"Not mad. Driven... Determined." Kurotsuchi grinned.

"We need to go." Byakuya said as calmly as possible, his eyes quickly shifting to each creature to watch their movements.

"You won't get far... Attack!"

With a unanimous roar, the creatures lunged for their prey, swiping and reaching for them, only to grasp at air when they landed and collided with each other into a thrashing pile.

The whole group, at once, had flash stepped out just in time as each creature began to fight and snap at each other like rapid dogs fighting over a single piece of meat.

The group wasted no time and bolted down the corridor that the creatures had emerged from, having been blocked off from the main door by the bickering predators. They ran as fast as they could, but they were not home free, as the creatures put aside their bickering to give chase.

They followed the blank corridor as it took them down at a slope, descending into a black shadow that was only broken in even intervals by small hanging lights that barely parted the blackness. They could hear the mashing of hungry jaws, hear the sound of spines slamming into the concrete behind them and they knew that the pack was drawing close. Dangerously close, as the creatures were faster than they were.

The group never slowed until they burst out into an open chamber that was massive, making them feel small in its vastness. Its ceiling was so high that it couldn't be seen, held up my just as massive columns of poured concrete that had been scarred by claws and blades. The floor was smeared with dried blood and crushed bone and running along the walls, was an enclosed water filled tube that lead to a large pool. They knew where they were, as they were in the den of the creatures.

"This is not where we need to be!" Kyōraku snapped as all skidded to a halt, not sure where to go next in the massive expanse.

"We have to get Kibōyūwaku!" Nyruki yelled as she tried to head back the way they had come.

However, a tight grip on her wrist kept her from going far.

"No! We can't right now!" Ukitake barked, refusing to let her go.

"If we don't, we're all trapped here! Don't you get it! We're locked in here until we either kill him, or set Kibōyūwaku free so she can knock him out of this!" Nyruki growled, trying to get free of the stronger man's grasp, only to have her other arm grabbed hard.

"Stop! We have to retreat and regroup and right now, we do not have the time to argue!" Byakuya snapped at her.

He was right. She knew it without even thinking about it. They were being chased by horrific monsters that had been created from the suffering of the people she had come to care about. They needed to run and find somewhere safe to regroup and plan, but where, she had no idea. She couldn't think and she figured they would figure that out together and once they were free of danger.

With a nod, Nyruki calmed herself, "You're right. I'm sorry." She said, pursing her lips together.

"We're all scarred, Nyruki, but we'll figure this out." Ukitake said, his voice comforting and warm that helped ease her mind.

Nyruki nodded, "I don't know how to get out of here."

"Then we come up with something along the way. Even I know when to run." Kenpachi said as he readied for combat by balling his fists.

The creatures were closing and fast.

"That'll work. They're here!" Kyōraku yelled.

The creatures burst from the corridor and skidded to a halt, growling and angry, drooling for their meal as they stalked towards them with claws ticking against the stained floor.

The demon Byakuya swiped his tongue along his freshest wound to lap up the blood as his hair bristled and rose up on end, ready to be fired. They released with a howling scream, sending a dozen spines shooting from the long tail of hair that raced towards them in a tight cluster. They all ducked and flash stepped away as the spines embedded themselves into the column, just as the group reappeared on the opposite side.

"Oh, those are not gonna be fun if we get hit!" Kyōraku said, his breath coming in and out of his lungs from having to sprint.

"We need to split up. Hopefully we'll separate them enough to handle them!" Soi-Fon said through her breath.

"No time to debate it! Go!" Ukitake ordered.

Just as they flash stepped away, having broken up into their previous groups without a word, a whirling tornado whizzed out of the darkness and only stopped when the bladed arms of the starving Kyōraku embedded themselves into the concrete with a cloud of dust.

They had all gone in separate directions, each being chased by one, or more of the creatures, and if you asked Byakuya and Nyruki, they would have much rather been chased by anything other than what had decided to hunt them.

The demon Byakuya.

They had run away from the large pool, but had followed the glass enclosed waterway in hopes of it leading them into the sewers where they could get outside. No second passed without a dozen spines whizzing passed their heads that plowed into the wall. They were endless and the lashing tongue of the demon chasing them snapped like a whip, cracking as it tried to reach out and grab ahold of them.

Both knew they needed distance from the demon, so as they ran, Byakuya did the only thing he could to trip up the beast. He pointed behind him, still sprinting, and cast a spell.

"Hadō #4; Byakurai!" Byakuya called out.

A small sparking blue ball began to build at his fingertip, but it was weak, not at all as powerful as it should have been as the arcing lightning lunged from his fingertip and smashed into the demon's chest. It was enough to cause the creature to stumble and fall to the concrete with a scream, roaring in pain as he tumbled, but it bought Byakuya and Nyruki time to reach the end of the corridor.

To their relief, their hunch had proved fruitful as the corridor emptied out into the sewers with the thunder of water spilling into the waterway that raced with a deafening current through the troughs. It was dark, but they could still see where they were going as they ran along the path that was lit with small orange lights.

"This way!" Byakuya called out, neither slowing, nor looking behind him as he shot for a passageway that jutted to the right.

Their new corridor ran parallel with the racing water and neither were content with the threat that the Mer-Ukitake could suddenly appear. They knew they were in his domain and needed to put as much distance between them and any water source as they could.

Grabbing her arm, Byakuya yanked Nyruki to the right as to shoot down another corridor that lead away from the water.

"This should lead to an exit not far from my manor!" Byakuya said through his breathing that was beginning to get heavy from the sheer speed of their run.

However, after only a number of yards, they were forced to skid to a halt before they plowed into a brick wall that suddenly appeared through the darkness.

"What? This shouldn't be here!" Byakuya reeled, his hands firmly planted on the bricks as if he could push them aside.

"This was built here, Captain! The bricks don't match the rest!" Nyruki said, panting as she looked behind them at the raging waterway with rising terror.

"This was put here to keep those creatures in. We need to find another way." Byakuya said as he grit his teeth together, pushing against the immovable bricks

"I doubt that'll be of use, Captain. If this is bricked up, I bet the rest of them are too." Nyruki said as she started to shake.

The distant snarl of their pursuer broke through the thunder of the water and they knew that the demon was closing in, most likely having followed their scent. They stared with their backs against the bricks, breathing heavy and eyes frozen wide as their nightmare appeared.

Skiding to a halt, the demon Byakuya mashed his jaws together and whipped his tongue around to snap its spiked tip against the wall. His fingers were clawed and ready, and the spines in his long hair had risen to ready themselves to be launched at their targets.

They were trapped like fish in a barrel.

The demon snarled with his dripping mouth as he hunch over, placing his hands on the floor in a prowl, readying himself to fire his deadly spines. This was it. They had made the gamble and had lost.

As they pressed back further into the bricks, a long narrow spike burst through the chest of the demon Byakuya, lifting him off the ground as he thrashed and screamed in pain. He wailed with flailing limbs as he tried to pull the spike from his chest, but it wasn't long until Byakuya and Nyruki realized that the spike was attached to something behind him.

The demon was whipped from side to side, smashing him into the walls hard enough to spider and splatter blood across the bricks. Each slam produced another cry from the demon until eventually, he stopped, having been killed by the owner of the spike.

With a flick of his long painted tail, the Mer-Ukitake tossed the demon Byakuya from the spike at the end of his tail, having ejected it like a bolt from a crossbow. It wasn't a simple spike, but rather a javelin.

"They kill each other?" Nyruki gasped, her hands firmly planted on the bricks behind her.

"It's survival of the fittest. The weak die to ensure the strong survive." Byakuya said, never removing his eyes from the creature as he rose from the water like a serpent.

"Does that mean he'll eat that demon after us?" Nyruki asked, trembling.

However, Byakuya said nothing as he offered her a glance that reflected their mutual fear. She could see her reflection in his silver eyes, and she was terrified. These monsters were nothing she had expected, and their insatiable hunger only drove that fear to new heights. She couldn't think, her mind refused to think because the only things running through her mind was that she was about to die.

With an echoing shriek, the Mer-Ukitake earned their attention as he used his thin arms to pull his large body from the water. He had his prey cornered, so the need to be in the water had evaporated against the need to finish his hunt and reap his rewards.

Nyruki's fear had frozen her solid. She couldn't move, though she wanted to. She wanted to run, wanted to do anything to get away because she was desperate for the last thing she saw not to be a mutilated form of the man whom had become a pseudo-father to her. It wasn't fair and it began to build tears in her eyes just at the thought of it.

Her thoughts were shattered as a pair of firm hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to the side so that she no longer pressed back against the bricks, but a body instead.

"Do you trust me?" Byakuya asked as an arm snaked around her middle to hold her tightly to him.

"What?"

"Do you trust me?" He asked again as his other planted hard against the bricks with a wide open palm.

The Mer-Ukitake crawled closer and as soon as his long tail was firmly on the concrete, he raised it like the tail of a scorpion, laying on his belly with his hungry eyes staring into their souls. He licked his lips as the tip of his tail began to drip large drops of a clear liquid, thick and stringy as a new javelin began to emerge. He could willfully produce them and this new one was pointed directly at the pair.

"Yes... Yes, I trust you." Nyruki said, gulping and trembling as she pressed back as far as his body would allow out of her fear that had reached a fever pitch.

The Mer-Ukitake shrieked again, lifting his torso up on his thin arms. His gills flared with heaving breaths as he whipped his tail and fired that very javelin with a howl.