AN: A massive thank you to the guest who let me know that I had accidentally replaced chapter 3 with chapter 8! Been editing the previous chapters to tighten it up a bit and fix some grammatical errors etc...must have just misclicked or clicked absentmindedly. Anyway...onto
Chapter 16 - Planetary Devastation
Madara cautiously sank into a battle stance, testing his limbs; his legs were fully regenerated now, and he could move uninhibited. His reiatsu was still going to take some time to replenish, but he was finally free from those cuffs, and wasn't about to complain.
The hollowfied Ichigo before him did not look like it wanted to attack, despite emanating levels of reiatsu on par with the Espada. Instead, it observed its surroundings curiously, eventually settling its eyes on Orihime. "So this is the girl…" It mused.
"I-Ichigo, are you okay?" Orihime asked, her voice laced with apprehension. Her face and clothes were marred with dirt, but she had otherwise weathered Grimmjow's abuse unscathed. "What's happened to you?"
"Ichigo? Oh, no. The boy's still asleep. Looks like Grimmjow really did a number on him," the being possessing his body replied. Then, seeing the look on Orihime's face, he facepalmed.
"Relax, girl; Ichigo's fine. In case you haven't realized, I'm Zan- his inner hollow. You can call me… uhh, White." He stuttered, clearing his throat. "Anyway, I've saved his life a few times now, actually. He should really show some gratitude and let me out more often," White finished with a dejected look, before perking up and pointing toward Grimmjow and Ulquiorra. "Hey, looks like the Arrancar are retreating."
True to his word, two beams of golden, Negacion light enveloped the Arrancar from a garganta that had torn open in the sky. Two more beams descended far in the distance, and the four remaining Arrancar that survived their attempted kidnapping of Orihime retreated back to Hueco Mundo.
Madara nodded. "…How many of these Arrancar are there?" He asked.
"We've met up to Arrancar 16; someone called Di Roy. He was one of Grimmjow's minions and easy enough to take care of. Grimmjow himself was number 6...but I dunno what happened to his tattoo. Apparently the lower their number, the stronger they are," White answered, turning to face him, sizing him up before cracking a smile; "You're pretty strong, yourself. Maybe even as strong as me."
Madara crossed his arms. "As strong as you? You should not be so quick to underestimate me, White. You have seen nothing of my true abilities." The hollow was strong, certainly stronger than Ichigo, but his reiatsu didn't feel particularly overwhelming. If anything, it felt slightly weaker than Ulquiorra's resurreccion. "Are you and Ichigo not the same being?"
White was about to answer, but suddenly doubled over. He struggled with himself, shrieking incoherently before bringing a trembling arm up toward his mask. With a final shout that sounded more human than hollow, he tore it off. Ichigo's reiatsu settled down, and the distinctive feel of a hollow's spiritual pressure faded away. His irises had returned to their natural hazel, and the blackness in his sclerae subsided.
His voice returned to normal as well, and his demeanor was suddenly very cautious. He slowly placed himself between Madara and Orihime.
"Ichigo, is that you?" Orihime asked gingerly.
"Yeah, Orihime, it's me. I'm sure you have a lot of questions about my hollow powers, and I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to warn you about them earlier, but right now, there's still one more hollow to deal with," Ichigo said in a low voice, raising Zangetsu and matching Madara's battle stance.
The corner of Madara's lip tugged in a mocking smile; "You've got one foot in the grave, and you've seen what I can do. I respect your spirit, boy, but do you really want to fight me?"
"That depends… If you make a move to hurt those I care about, I will kill you, hollow," Ichigo growled, making his voice sound as threatening as possible. He drew himself up to his full height, determinedly staring Madara in the eyes. He was slightly shorter than the Uchiha.
Madara laughed. "You were almost killed by a single Espada without his resurreccion; I scared away two of them. Besides, if you're so worried about me, why did you cut off my arms as I requested?"
"I freed you because you promised to protect Orihime, and she vouched for you," Ichigo replied. "But now, I need to know what you're after, hollow."
Madara relaxed out of his stance. "It's Madara Uchiha… and I'll be borrowing Orihime. I need her powers to heal a comrade of mine." He turned to where she was still kneeling on the ground. "Come Orihime, We had a deal. It's time to go."
Orihime snapped to attention, but hesitated; "But…I thought that I could heal my friends here first before I went with you?"
Madara let out a short scoff. "Have it your way, then. Go and heal your friends. I will be waiting here," he said as he sat down, cross legged. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes in meditation.
The orange-haired girl got to her feet, nodding resolutely, but Ichigo stepped forward, grabbing hold of her arm, "Wait, Orihime, what's going on? Where is he taking you?"
"I don't know, Ichigo," she said with a sad smile, gently pulling her arm from his grasp. "I was sent back here to help heal the wounded with two squad 4 members, but Ulquiorra ambushed us in the Dangai."
At Ichigo's confused expression, she clarified. "He's the 4th Espada, the one with the wings that Madara was fighting when we just arrived. In fact, Madara showed up in the nick of time and saved my life. His only condition was that I heal him and his friend later, so I agreed."
Madara held up a hand before Ichigo could protest. His eyes were still closed; "Calm yourself, Ichigo. We shall not be long; a few hours at most." His voice was calm and he sounded honest, but it did not do much to put Ichigo at ease. "Go and tend to your wounded here. If Orihime can meet me before dusk, then I will return her to you by nightfall - you have my word."
"Sorry, Ichigo, but I made a promise," the girl added, before pointing toward Karakura town, and declaring in a lively voice; "Anyway! Let's go find Rukia and get her back on her feet again. Also…" The cheer in her voice suddenly became slightly forced. "I think you've got some explaining to do, Mister 'hollow powers,'" she said as she poked him playfully in the chest.
The pair turned to leave. They had only made it a few steps before an immense reiatsu crashed down upon them. "Bakudo Number 99: Part 1 - Kin!" A gruff voice shouted.
An array of thick, gray bands burst from the ground beneath Madara, snaking around his joints before snapping taught around his body. Madara barely had the time to register the arrival of multiple powerful reiatsu signatures before he was violently yanked face first onto the ground. Thick slabs of stone slammed onto the top of his tape-like bindings, nailing him firmly against the earth.
Ichigo took this opportunity to grab Orihime and dive out of the way of the Bakudo. He recognized the spiritual pressure of the caster from when he was learning to awaken his own shinigami powers at the bottom of Urahara's pit.
Tessai landed with a thud, his hands and knees purposefully dug into the ground. "Bakudo Number 99: Part 2 - Bankin. First song - Shiryuu!" He continued, as layers of white, bandage-like cloth erupted from his hands towards Madara's already immobilized form. They wrapped around his body tightly, before forcibly lifting the hollow to an upright position. "Second Song - Kyakurensan!" A ring of sealing rods materialized around the mummified Madara, before impaling into him in a circular formation.
Tessai rose; his reiatsu was burning in a thick golden aura around him as he pressed his palms together. "Final Song - Bankin Taihou!" He roared. A thick metallic coffin crashed down around Madara as the former head of the Kido Corps finished channeling the ultimate sealing kido. He was panting heavily.
"Madara!" Orihime cried, shaking Ichigo off of her and running up to stand defiantly between Tessai and the coffin. She didn't know what she was thinking, but it felt like the right thing to do at that moment. Madara had done nothing wrong in her eyes. "Santen Kesshun!" She cried, summoning a triangular shield in front of her. With a start, she realized she was staring back at two very familiar faces.
"Mister Tessai? Mister Urahara? What is the meaning of this!" She held her arms out to her sides, planting her feet firmly and protectively between them and Madara's metal prison.
"Step away from the hollow, Orihime," Urahara commanded. "This one is more dangerous than you can imagine." There was no hint of the usual joviality in his voice as he walked toward her, drawing Benihime.
Orihime swallowed nervously; this was the most serious she had ever seen the quirky convenience store owner. Still, she didn't believe he would be willing to cut her down to get to Madara. "What's so dangerous about him? Yeah, he's really strong, but he hasn't done anything except help us."
Yoruichi landed beside Urahara, and she shared an uncomfortable glance with him. He had stopped barely three paces away from her, but he made a point to hold Benihime placidly at his side. "The less you know, the better, Orihime," Urahara explained. "Just know that these are the Captain Commander's orders."
Yoruichi nodded, before placing one hand on Benihime and extending her other. "Come, Orihime. Forget whatever he's threatened you with. You're safe, the battle is won. We've got this under control, now."
More of her friends were arriving, now. She looked around and saw Toshiro, Rangiku, Ilkaku and Yumichika all landing in a circle around herself and Madara. Her Santen Kesshun was only effective from a single direction, and she had a feeling that if Yoruichi or Urahara wanted to, they could break through the shield with barely a flick of their wrists. Still, she held her position.
"Nobody ever explains things to me properly!" She exclaimed. "What does the Captain Commander want with Madara? And what does Aizen want with me?!"
Neither Yoruichi nor Urahara said a word, but she could see clearly in their eyes that they were begging her to stand down. She slowly lowered her arms and dispelled her Santen Kesshun, turning toward Ichigo. He was staring intensely back at her, a pleading look in his eyes.
"All I want is to feel included…to feel like I belong…" She whispered before looking away, unable to meet his gaze.
"Orihime…? What are you talking about? You are included. You're one of us. We saved Rukia together, didn't we?" Ichigo asked, confused by her words.
"But you didn't want me there in the first place. I wasn't a part of the original plan," she bit back. She didn't know why she had chosen now of all times to vent her frustrations, but her ordeals in the past hour or so had really worn down her self-restraint.
She wanted to tell them that Madara and Aizen needed her. They specifically needed her, Orihime Inoue, for her Soten Kissun; that feeling of being 'needed' gave her a sense of worth that she had not known she was missing until now. But how could she say those words in front of these shinigami? That would be tantamount to openly declaring herself as a traitor to their cause.
Shinji Hirako arrived next, touching down next to Ichigo with concern etched on his face. He laid a hand on Ichigo's shoulder, but the substitute Shinigami brushed it off, walking toward Orihime; "Come on, what are you waiting for?" He didn't feel good about leaving Madara out to hang here, but he was on the verge of collapse and was in dire need of rest. He had seen the hollow's power first-hand, anyway, and dealing with power on that scale was better left to Urahara and the more heavy hitting Shinigami.
Orihime did not move, and her eyes were filled with sincerity. "Madara risked his life to save me. To save all of us and Karakura town! You can't do this to him!" She argued.
"Leave Madara to Shinji and Urahara; I'm sure they won't mistreat him," Ichigo tried again, beckoning Orihime over.
Orihime took a small step back, shaking her head resolutely. She thrust her wiry arms to her sides again in a renewed show of defiance. Everybody present knew that Orihime was physically powerless to stop them, but nobody felt comfortable breaking through her with force.
"Orihime; come on - Chad and Rukia are still injured and they need you, remember?" Ichigo tried again. His expression suddenly darkened as he looked at the gathering surrounding them. Even Urahara had his zanpakuto drawn. Ichigo scowled; "All of you, back off and give her some space, alright? Let's let things cool down a bit first, okay?"
His plea was too little, too late, however, as a skeletal susanoo burst from the ground around Orihime. Madara floated above them, suspended in the middle of its rib cage. His arms were crossed and his Rinnegan were glowing in fury. "I saved the life of Orihime here, helped protect your pathetic little town, and even gave her leave to tend to your wounded first… and this is how you choose to repay my kindness?" He spoke softly, but his voice was laced with bitterness and hatred.
Tessai's eyes were wide in shock; "How did you break out of my Bakudo?!" He was sure he had immobilized Madara with 'Kin' before sealing him away with the 'Bankin'. In fact, Tessai had put a monumental amount of reiatsu into the Bakudo; it was the single strongest kido he had ever cast.
He had felt it appropriate due to the level of danger the Seireitei - and Captain Commander Yamamoto himself - had labeled Madara with. Tessai undid the Bankin's seal, seeing in dismay that he had somehow exerted almost half of his reiatsu reserves in binding a lump of wood. "When did you-"
Madara glowered; "Even now, the only thing you can think of is capturing me? All you shinigami are the same. Single-minded, brain-dead pieces of refuse. You have one final chance to leave us," he said, leaving no space for argument as he tore open a garganta behind him. "Orihime will be coming with me immediately. Try to stop me, and you will die."
Yoruichi stepped up; "How did you regenerate your arms and legs? The sekkiseki should have absorbed all of your reiatsu… You shouldn't be able to use high speed regeneration without reiatsu."
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Madara sneered sarcastically. He walked forward, reaching out to grab hold of one of Orihime's arms, before pulling her back toward his garganta.
"Wait! What about Rukia?!" Orihime protested. Things were spiraling out of her control. "I need to-"
"Bankai!" Ichigo cried, releasing Tensa Zangetsu again before lunging toward them. Regardless of Madara's words, he had only just rescued Rukia from the Seireitei. He was not about to stand idly by while Orihime was kidnapped before his eyes. Donning his hollow's mask again, he swung wildly toward Madara. "Getsuga Tensho!"
But just like when she first fell from the garganta, he could not break past the skeletal ribcage surrounding her. The Getsuga struck true, but only managed to crack the ribs. "Let her go, you bastard!" He roared, bringing his zanpakuto against the susanoo again and again. Each strike simply bounced off with a harmless shower of sparks. Madara spared him a piercing glare, but continued toward the Garganta, leading Orihime behind him.
"Ichigo…" Orihime said, "That's enough; please…I agreed to this, anyway. It will be fine; I'll be back in no time for Rukia and Chad." Seeing the expression on Madara's face right now, she wasn't even sure she would ever come back, but she was committed, now. The time for words had passed.
"You're only saying that because you feel indebted to him!" Ichigo roared in his two-toned, hollowfied voice. He was pressed against the Susanoo's ribcage and hammering at it with his bare hands, now.
"We all are," Orihime countered as they approached the Garganta.
"He is a hollow!" Ichigo screamed after her. The irony of his words must have been lost to him, as at that very moment the most potent hollow reiatsu was the one emanating from himself.
"Enough of this! Awaken, Benihime!" Urahara commanded as he released his zanpakuto into its shikai state.
"Bankai, Daiguren Hyorinmaru!" Hitsugaya cried beside him.
"Collapse, Sakanade!" Shinji's voice joined the chorus, spinning his zanpakuto around a ring on its hilt.
"Shunko," Yoruichi said, as her body was once more enveloped in white steam.
Madara narrowed his eyes, releasing Orihime. His reiatsu was still extremely low but he had plenty of chakra. It was him against four captain-level combatants and a fatigued Ichigo. Hashirama…you are a vital part of my plans… For the sake of the Infinite Tsukoyomi, I will see you restored, he thought, steeling his guard as Yoruichi launched herself toward him.
She was coming straight at him, her right fist drawn back in preparation to strike. "A head on attack? You insult me. Amaterasu!" Yoruichi flickered, and the black flames passed harmlessly through her. Frowning, Madara hardened the front of his susanoo, bracing for her strike.
He lurched forward as Yoruichi's fist smashed through the back of his susanoo instead, where the armor was weaker. He turned quickly, recovering his footing and preparing to engage the dark skinned woman in hand to hand. As he raised an arm to block an overhand right, he felt a left hook drive into his side. What!? He thought as he ducked to avoid a downward elbow strike. Instead, he felt an uppercut smash into his chin, sending stars across his vision and knocking him out of his susanoo. His Garganta closed.
"Scream, Benihime!"
"Getsuga Tensho!"
Madara funneled more chakra into his Rinnegan; something was messing with his spatial perception - he could deduce that much, but he did not know exactly how or what. "Release!" He commanded as he regulated his own chakra. Looking around him with his Rinnegan, he saw that Urahara and Ichigo had launched similar waves of energy toward him. They were thin, and he had noticed them with enough time to dodge. Benihime's red sword beam reached him first.
Madara sidestepped out of the way, only to receive a gruesome slash on his other side. Not genjutsu… my sense of direction is reversed! He realized, too late to avoid the getsuga that also crashed into him from the opposite direction as what he had expected.
"Ryusenka!" Hitsugaya cried, rocketing toward Madara with a shunpo. If he could land the blow, Madara would be frozen by Hyorinmaru's ice and they could capture him properly.
Understanding his opponents' trick now, Madara swiftly calculated the squad 10 captain's true angle of attack, extended a palm and snarled; "Shinra Tensei." His deduction was perfect, and Hitsugaya was sent flailing back into the ground, crashing in a tangled heap with his wings of ice.
Madara's patience with these shinigami had run out. Digging into his chakra reserves, he called forth a gigantic mass of roots around Orihime's position. She fell to her buttocks as the ground rumbled unsteadily beneath her, carrying her further and further up into the skies. He brought the kind-hearted girl toward him atop the gigantic tower of tangled wood, and landed beside her at the top.
He surveyed his enemies below him, and expanded his senses out towards Karakura town. Many more powerful signatures were on their way towards him. Some were captain level. Manifesting the torso and arms of his complete susanoo, he and his susanoo simultaneously formed a horse seal before their mouth; "Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!" He roared as a tsunami of fire rolled toward the shinigami and vizards.
Kisuke Urahara stared nervously at the impending wall of fire. "Captain Hitsugaya - do something!"
The squad ten captain, having just picked himself up again, stared at the jutsu, wide-eyed. He knew that being an ice user, he was best equipped to handle fire-based attacks, but he simply didn't have an answer to something of this scale. He raised his zanpakuto toward the approaching flames; "I don't…" He trailed off, racking his brain for some kind of useful action.
"Allow me," Shinji said as he donned his hollow mask. "Cero."
A red beam shot out from the vizard's hollowfied mouth, spreading outward in a cone. Shinji's dense, crimson cero washed over Madara's fire style, scattering the flames before colliding with the susanoo atop the wooden spire.
"Shinji! What the hell do you think you're doing! Orihime is up there, too!" Ichigo demanded, grabbing the vizard by his collar. He was already able to maintain his hollow mask for much longer.
"Sorry kid, Madara is too dangerous for me to afford to hold back," Shinji said slowly as he extended his senses toward the spire, and pried Ichigo off of him. "But I can sense that Orihime is fine… and so is he."
Madara was certainly not fine. His wound from Benihime was already healing, and he was not injured by Shinji's Cero, but he had well and truly had enough. Every Shinigami he had encountered since becoming a hollow had either tried to kill him or manipulate him to some higher end.
They were self-righteous, short sighted, and were willing to ruthlessly trample on others as long as they could get their way. They all deserved to die.
He brought his palms together, summoning forth a small black orb between them. "Do not move, Orihime. You will be protected as long as you remain within my susanoo," he said as he released the orb, allowing it to float up higher into the sky until it was barely visible.
Orihime coughed as the dust from Shinji's cero cleared. "What are you going to do? Let's just go now… Madara? Please, please don't hurt my friends."
Madara narrowed his eyes; "Your 'friends' just fired a cero at you. They have scorned my goodwill and refused my mercy. This shall be their just comeuppance."
Orihime lips quivered and her eyes began to water as she fell to her knees, clutching onto his leg; "No, please don't hurt them! They're just worried-"
She was cut off as Madara brought his palms together before him with a thunderclap, and his Rinnegan glowed brighter. "Chibaku Tensei - Planetary Devastation!"
Karakura Town - Kurosaki Clinic
Isshin Kurosaki's shinigami powers had almost fully returned, now. He had wanted to join the fight to protect the town, but Urahara talked him down. He was a family man, now, Urahara had said; his job was to protect his children, and he could leave Karakura town to the rest of them.
But Ichigo was out there, fighting the Arrancar with his life on the line. Ichigo, his son. No matter how powerful he may have gotten in the past few months, Ichigo was the one who had witnessed Masaki's death firsthand. He was the one who had turned all that trauma into an unrelenting drive to protect everybody he cared about. He was the one who, Isshin knew without a shadow of doubt, would give his life in a blink of an eye to save another.
And then he felt his son's spiritual pressure disappear, replaced by that of the same Hollow he had fought all those years ago. He felt Shinji and Urahara release their Shikai. Hitsugaya had gone into Bankai, and Yoruichi's reiatsu skyrocketed. All within seconds of each other. Whatever was going on out there, it wasn't good.
Isshin made his decision; he would protect his family by joining the fight. Yuzu and Karin were safe in the clinic. Ichigo was the one who needed him now. Manifesting Engetsu, he tied his old squad 10 Captain's haori under a pauldron around his left shoulder, and exited his door silently so as not to disturb his daughters.
A faint, deep rumbling turned his head. He looked around him but could see nothing of note. Even as he searched for the source, the rumbling was rapidly growing in intensity. He felt a tremor beneath his feet, and then a mighty crack from Ichigo's direction split the sky.
Isshin took off immediately with a shunpo, but he stumbled the instant he exited the protective barrier Urahara had placed over Karakura town. He felt his balance being warped, somehow; he was being drawn upwards by an invisible force that was growing stronger as he approached the battlefield.
And then he saw it; huge chunks of grassy soil and rock were being hewn from the earth, coalescing in a steadily growing mass up in the sky. Directly below it, two figures stood at the apex of a dark, gnarly wooden spire that had risen at least a hundred meters into the sky.
As he watched, one of them made their way to the edge, and leapt.
"Orihime!" Ichigo cried as he tried to shunpo toward her, but the gravitational force from the orb in the sky was too powerful. He watched in horror as she jumped off of Madara's spire of trees, and out of the sanctuary provided by the blue, flaming ribcage. He watched helplessly as she, just like himself and the others, was violently sucked up toward the rapidly growing sphere of rubble.
A spark of hope ignited in his chest as he saw Yoruichi, with her Shunko enhanced speed, darting across the field of debris. The former leader of the Seireitei Stealth Force was using the larger chunks of earth as stepping stones as she made her way toward Orihime. He hoped against hope that she would reach her, but even as she closed the distance, a Garganta tore open near the ever growing nexus of the gravitational force.
The pulling force subsided, and everything began to fall. Yoruichi did not make it in time to Orihime before Madara disappeared with her into a Garganta.
Dangai - Precipice World
"Orihime…" Madara was conflicted. He had hidden himself underground with a substitution jutsu after sensing the Kido attack, and had heard everything. This girl, who the others treated so insubstantially, had just saved all of their lives. He released his Chibaku Tensei when he saw the lengths Orihime was willing to go to for her friends. Despite how emotional she was, and despite apparantly lacking any combat prowess, she reminded him of Hashirama.
Her inner strength, and her desire to protect...This girl; In her own way, she, too, possesses the will of fire, Madara thought.
Her outward appearance was the polar opposite, however. Orihime was crying, curled up in a fetal position near an array of bones on the floor of the Dangai. He cautiously knelt beside her, carefully placing a hand on her shoulder. "I released my jutsu. Your friends are safe. I gave them a scare, but nobody was injured."
She turned her doll-like eyes toward his own, sniffling. They were red from crying. "R-really...?"
"I verified it with my Rinnegan. You have my word." Madara inclined his head.
Orihime sat herself up. "Thank you…" and then, her eyes widened as they focussed on something behind Madara. She visibly paled.
Madara sensed it too, turning with a scowl. Ten paces before them stood Grimmjow, Ulquiorra, Harribel and Aizen.
"What a remarkable coincidence," their leader said smoothly as he rested a hand on the hilt of Kyoka Suigetsu. "We were just on our way to look for the two of you." Madara's scowl deepened, but Aizen continued; "I believe we may have gotten off on the wrong foot, Madara Uchiha. How about we start over?"
AN: one more chapter to conclude this second arc!
Please leave a review with your thoughts if you've gotten this far; positive or negative doesn't matter. Any and all criticisms are welcome.
Responding to a few reviews now:
MaxTrueOmnipotent1: Soon, my friend, soon.
MadaraLimboClone: This might sound really unsatisfactory to you - especially given your handle, heh - but in my mind, his limbo clones should be visible to spiritual entities, as the plane of existence they are projected into may be the same as shinigami/hollows. HOWEVER! I do have an idea of a situation where they will come in handy sometime down the track ;P
Obamna: thanks and stay tuned!