Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Prototype-related media
The black sludge then dropped itself into the ground. Ichigo can't believe what just happened. First, he was nearly killed, then his zanpakuto was broken in half, then this happened. Haschwalth was as astonished as him. He had never seen something like a sword imploding itself into liquid form. The sludge quickly bubbled itself up. Haschwalth, having foreseen what's to come, readies himself for an attack.
What happens next shocked the three.
A metal claw emerged from the pool of oozing black sludge, and in a split-second, Haschwalth was impaled by it despite the fact that he had prepared himself for that moment. The old man has his eyes lit up. He too had foreseen what was about to happen to his right-hand man and was confident enough that he will block it easily.
Jugram has activated his 'blut vene' yet it still manages to penetrate him? What is this kind of monstrosity?
Ichigo is at a loss of words either, out of confusion. He knows what his zanpakuto is capable of, and that there is not one of them.
Zangetsu…no that's not Zangetsu, he can't just turn into a clawed hand like that
The sludge slowly materializes itself into something the size and shape of a human, lifting the bloodied Jugram with it. The sludge then revealed itself as the tendrils subsided: the same hooded man in the unknown dimension, the man – the monster – known as Alexander J. Mercer. Jugram, in his dying breath, weakly warned the old man
"Your Majesty… run away… warn Wandereich…delay the attack"
Mercer then throws Jugram in the air, withdrawing his clawed right hand. He then transformed his left hand into a blade and swung it upwards, bisecting his victim from the waist down towards his left shoulder. Whatever's left of Jugram Haschwalth had dropped into the feet of Mercer. Both Ichigo and the old man was stunned at the brutality of Jugram's demise, but it's what he did after that sent chills into their spine.
Mercer knelt at the still twitching Jugram and impaled him with his transformed claw. Tendrils then sprouted out of the right arm and slowly enveloped his victim as he screamed in pain and agony in his final moments. In an instant, all that remains of the man named Jugram Haschwalth disappeared right in front of them.
Suddenly, he felt a surge of Jugram's memories flashing in his mind. It was no news for him; he did this as much during his awakening right until his end. Unfortunately, because he was newly reformed in another dimension, he can only retain his victims' memories ranging from a year until their deaths. In order for him to get the information pertaining to the kind of world he ended up into, he attempted to bypass unnecessary memories, ranging from half a month. He then come across a specific memory bank that happened in a gap between half a year and today. Being rusty by his arrival, he could only discern certain dialogues from it.
Your Majesty…I have news for you…Ichigo has reached Mugetsu and defeated Aizen…
…What are your orders…Your Majesty?
…Royd Lloyd, you are to accompany me and fight off Captain Yamamoto…
…His Majesty will have… word with… Aizen…
He had finished reading Jugram's memories to be exact. However, another surge of power felt within him. He felt something invasive in his body in a form of shimmering blue lights that flowed throughout his systems. Then, the lights slowly formed into a star-shaped, silver emblem slowly branding itself into the heart. Finally, a faint voice from the old man can be heard:
Come back to me, my child, join my ranks
Mercer finds himself in the dark, standing in a shimmering blue path, the only thing illuminating this place. He was no longer dressed in his normal jacket, rather he now wears a white overcoat.
Ahead, the voice continues to call out for him
Come back to me, my child.
Curious, Mercer follows the long trail, unknown that the road behind him slowly falls apart with every step he takes.
He then sees the endpoint: a throne occupied by the old man, the one who had been calling out his name.
Come back to me, my child
Entranced, Mercer slowly approached Yhwach as he reaches for his hand—
Mercer!
All of a sudden, he hears a voice someone familiar: It was Dr. Ragland
Mercer!
His name was called out again, this time with a different, yet familiar voice; it was Dana Mercer
Mercer!
His name called out again; this time, by Elizabeth Greene
Mercer!
Mercer!
Mercer!
Mercer!
His name called out again and again and again, each sound becoming gradually familiar every second. It was the sound of countless of his victims he had consumed on his warpath.
…And then...
MERCER!
It was the voice of the man who ended him,
"Heller?"
The path turned into glass, shattering into pieces, yet still sturdy for him to stand on. He looked below, and before he knew it, he wasn't wearing his usual skin.
He was wearing Jugram's
What are you doing Haschwalth?
Looking back at Yhwach in a fit of rage, he transformed back to his normal self, dashes at him.
You're not Jugram... Yhwach echoed out of astonishment
He then jumped at him, transformed his right arm into claws, and stabbed Yhwach in the neck
"I am not Jugram Haschwalth, and I am not somebody's guard dog as well" Mercer declared before repeatedly clawing into Yhwach's face like an animal.
Leaving a bloody mess on the throne, he consumed Yhwach and yelled out, causing tendrils to crawl out of him and enveloped the path. Unbeknownst to him, the tendrils formed into a shape of a tipping scale in mid-air as it latches behind him.
The emblem become wrapped in tendrils that slowly consumed it. It felt like something powerful had formed within him
From his memories, new images randomly popped out of his mind; a girl in a white uniform with black hair forming tendrils shaped like wings, spreading bio-bombs in different directions, a man in a jet-black, panther-shaped armor made out of tendrils dashing towards Ichigo like an animal, and the last images show him along with the two of them entering a void
Mercer stood up and turned to the old man
"Yhwach… your name is Yhwach, right?" he sternly asked
"So the younger one that I consumed back there must be you too, am I right?" he added, finally noticing the difference between him and the man from the other dimension
Mercer's questions to Yhwach baffled Ichigo the most. The guy who he fought bears a striking resemblance to Old Man Zangetsu, the other guy from the other dimension, and Ichigo's zanpakuto in a human form. He turned to the hilt of his sword and pondered on a specific phrase from Mercer's questions:
So the younger one that I consumed back there must be you too, am I right?
Come to think of it, his zanpakuto turned into a sludge, which subsequently turned into Mercer. Piecing the circumstances together, he reached to a single, possible possibility that shuddered him to the core:
Alexander J. Mercer 'devoured' Old Man Zangetsu
Meanwhile, Yhwach, who still can't comprehend the fact that Mercer dispatched his trusted right-hand, Haschwalth that easily, also reached to the same possibility, albeit with an added circumstance:
Mercer arrived into Zangetsu's dimension a split-second before Jugram could break the sword into pieces, and consumed him, thereby attaining a form that allows him to appear into Soul Society.
Now regaining composure, Yhwach answered him with contempt in his eyes.
"So what if I am?"
Mercer then turns into black, not a sludge but a shadow, and approaches Yhwach head on. Yhwach immediately recognized this movement; it was the same thing Jugram uses whenever he goes to rest. All of a sudden, a blade came out from behind and slashes his left arm off. Yhwach uses blut vene to minimize the pain, but the blade transformed into a claw and quickly pierces his left eye. The shadow immediately breaks off from him and transformed back into human, now watching Yhwach clutching his bleeding left eye, still shrugging off the pain. To the old man's surprise, the left eye quickly heals itself. Then, unfamiliar imagery flashes right in his mind.
Yhwach was left kneeling down and breathing heavily, reeling with the immense pain and the sudden flash. He realizes that something else was injected from the claws and is slowly making its way into the brain. His blut vene immediately kicked off, keeping it contained in his eye. From the montage of unknown scenes, Yhwach identifies Mercer
"Alex Mercer…is your name?"
Mercer then responded, now regaining his eccentric personality back from his old world
"Now we're beginning to be acquainted to each other"
"DAMN YOU, YOU MONSTER" cursed Yhwach loudly.
Before the shadow could shrink into nothingness, Yhwach did something that made Mercer sadistically grin in satisfaction: He grabbed a sharp piece of rock and lodged it in his left eye. He then pushed the rock deeper and further until his left eye popped out, grabbed it and threw it away from the closing shadow, all while screaming in pain as it closes out between them. Mercer then picked up the left eye and immediately consumed it before he collapses once more, screaming in pain. Piecing together the memories from the he had finally gained a small insight in what kind of world did he land into
"Soul reapers… quincies… in a war a millennia ago. And I just appeared right between it" he muttered as he slowly stood himself up, clutching his head in pain
A/N: So I decided to split the first chapter into two, realizing how painfully long it is