There are some important things I want to clear up about the story, you can find it in the chapter's epilogue.
Chapter 8: Capture
*squelch*
*rip*
*drip*
*drip*
The sounds of blood dripping from her now hollow eyehole onto the little puddle of blood below cut across the silence in the room as her vision blacked out completely, her mind following close behind. The adrenaline rush fueling her body due to the distress, fear and anxiety from when Szayelaporro had starting dissecting her was the only saving grace from the pain shooting across the various lacerations, amputations and traumas all over her body. But at the moment, the adrenaline felt more like a curse rather than a blessing.
Her eye sockets were burning and searing from having their eyeballs extracted, the cuffs at arms cut across her flesh as she trashed about from the pain, leaving many slits and lacerations, burning when a breeze passed over it. Her legs, were far, far worse. Her right leg had been sawed clean off, the ankle still restrained to the cuff, blood pouring from the fresh, red stump, dripping to the floor below. Her left leg was connected to her torso by a few mere strands of pink muscle, the severed femur bone sticking out of the fleshy stump. Her face twitched, her mouth salivating and dripping blood at the same time. She wished the adrenaline would just wear off, cause enough pain to cause her to go into shock and grant her the release of death. But she knew her body wasn't that merciful. The body she got because of him. The same body, her body, that she had absolutely come to detest. She would heal soon enough, because he knew he couldn't touch her vital organs that wouldn't regenerate and made sure to mutilate her in a way that would always avoid them and she would go through this all over again, likely suffer through even worse when her consciousness resurfaced.
Her head throbbed with waves of intense pain, her awareness slowly sinking into oblivion. As burning emotions of Bitterness, Misery, Pain, Helplessness, Anger, Frustration, Longing and Fear swirled about her head, she wondered. How long had it been? How long was she being experimented on? She had waited and waited for her big-sis, for Nelly, for Starrk, for Grimmy, for Pacci or anyone to come aid her. But her hope had dwindled to a fraction of what it was when she was first brought here as his captive. The belief that rescue would come had reduced to wishful thinking at this point. Her sense of time was warped beyond recognition and she was in no condition to think and figure it out. To her, it felt like many years had passed or even decades, but perhaps it had only been a few days. The more she thought about it, the more she felt uneasy and fearful. Her thoughts went back to where this all began, like it always did when she was about to pass out.
A few days back
It had been one year since Nel decided to stay with Harribel after her fateful encounter with Ruby. What she presumed would be a short resting stop along the way on her ever-nomadic life, ended up being a major turning point in her life instead. Even for humans with their limited lifespans, 1 year was a duration that would be gone before they knew it. This was many times more prevalent for Hollows who were practically ageless. But even so, in that infinitesimally small speck of time, she had found a happiness that she never had so far in all her life as a menos. But, like everything, all good things must come to an end, and so she had decided to set out travelling again.
"You're leaving?" asked Tia surprised.
"Uh huh! It's been fun, Tia. Truly, it has been. But you know me. I'm really not one to remain cooped up in one place for long. In fact, my stay here has far surpassed any of my previous 'travel stops'. But I don't really see the issue though. It's not like I'll be gone forever you know" she said in a matter-of-fact way.
"You have a point there. Hmm, but its just that after staying here for so long, I suppose I just got used to it. The thought hadn't crossed my mind that you would set out travelling again" replied the vasto lorde.
"Will you be gone long…?" asked Ruby dejectedly. Nel gave her a small, assuring smile.
"Longer than usual, but I will definitely drop by once in a while" she replied, stroking her head with her left hand.
"I think you should let the others know too before you go" suggested Tier.
"Hmm. I was about to suggest the same thing" nodded Nel. "It's been a while since we all gathered too. One last scene before I hit the sands!"
"Should we go get Lily, Starrk and Grimmjow? I can go get those 3" offered Ruby.
"It would be faster to split up" suggested Nel. "Perhaps you can go get Starrk and Lily, Tia? Rubes can go get the big guy. I'll go wake the girls here. How's that sound?" she said, winking at Ruby. The latter, initially confused at the cue from Nel, gasped when she got where Nel was going with the arrangement. The two of them giggled to themselves in silence.
"That's a great idea!" pitched in Ruby "It's been a while since we all gathered here too!"
"That's fine with me, but I am concerned about you going by yourself all the way to the menos forest" she said, looking at Ruby.
"I'll be fiiiiiiiine~~" cooed the cheetah adjuchas. "We've been going to Grimmy's place so often that it might as well be our place by now. And besides, unlike last time, I'm a lot stronger, and besides, its only till the menos forest"
"Fu fu fu that's true" added Nel. "Truly I pity the menos that happens to cross our little tigress!" she said, petting Ruby's head.
"Sigh alright, you have me convinced. But there's one thing" said Tier. Ruby and Nel looked at her with questioning looks. "She's a cheetah, not a tigress" she said with a small smile. The two of them blinked at the statement, looked at each other and chuckled lightly.
"Pfft….! You're getting better at this!" complimented Nel, tapping Tier on her shoulder. "Well, you better get going Rubes, before she changes her mind" she said, nudging the little one along with her spear arm. Ruby gave one final nod.
"Be right back!" she waved, setting off. The two watched her back go further and further away from the lair and into the distance towards the direction of the Menos Forest.
There was no way to know, at the time. For all their superior instincts for hunting, tracking and battling prey, none of it would matter. Life could be unsettling sometimes, for unlike the calm before a storm, sometimes, life would plummet you to the abyss without any sign of disaster or misfortune. One could be in their prime, when fate decided that was the time when things fell to rock bottom. There would be no way to tell, no signs to look out for. And this was one such time. As Nel and Tier watched in unison, completely calm and unconcerned, neither of them ever realized that the cheetah adjuchas would never make it to the menos forest.
She was about a quarter of the way towards her destination. This was a route she took often, so though she had no reason to be on full alert, the random adjuchas or gillian do pop up from time to time so she didn't completely relax her guard. Her sprinting form was one that was ready to combat an enemy, should one appear whilst also moving towards her destination.
"My, my, what I fine specimen I've come across! Luck finally shines on me after searching in this wasteland for so long!" she heard a voice call out to her. Immediately, she stopped in her tracks, turning her head towards the direction of the sound. She caught a brief glimpse of a humanoid, smiling down on her.
*BZZT*
Gone. A glimpse was all she got before she was staring at empty space and a sharp, piercing pain shot across her slender torso, a slivery sword piercing her. A white gloved hand reached for the handle of the sword, pulling it out of her. Her face twisted into a confused groan, her breathing starting to grow more and more laborious. How impossible, she thought to herself. She was fast, agile and her battles with Grimmjow and spars with Nel proved as such. But to be completely blindsided like this?
With a pained expression, she lifted her head to take a look at her attacker. Her eyes grew wider in confusion. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. To her, it almost looked like a human. A human male, with shoulder length pink hair, a long white shirt that covered almost his entire body till the top of his neck, almost like a lab coat, white gloves and even what appeared to be a rectangular spectacle frame. He was also holding a silvery katana, the same one she was stabbed with. But what gave away what he was, was the reaitsu he was emitting. So similar, one that she had felt from one of her family members. Specifically, from 2 of them.
"A…an arrancar….?!" She stuttered, her body slowly loosing sensation from the point where he stabbed her. Sure, he had punctured one of her lungs from the looks of it, but even so, with her regeneration, it wasn't a lethal wound. Why was she having this much trouble moving?
"Oh? What's this? I did not expect an adjuchas to know of arrancars. It seems I have indeed come across an interesting specimen!" he said with a self-satisfied smile. He took out a piece of cloth, cleaned his sword and discarded the bloodied cloth after sheathing his weapon. "One that has also showcased the effectiveness of Spiritual Neurotoxin Sample C in battle" he noted, taking out a small notebook and casually making notes and observations. "We'll have much to talk about, but let's move to a more appropriate place, shall we?"
"Wh…what..?" she breathed out, the numbness now spreading out to her limbs and entire body. Her limbs twitched slightly when she tried to move them but other than that, she had been rendered immobile. She was also feeling incredibly sleepy. It took her conscious effort to maintain her concentration. The pink haired arrancar approached her with slow, precise steps, walking to claim his prize, her. She tried to move, struggle, away from him and his creepy grin. But to no avail. He looked at her, his smile fading a bit and with raised eyes.
"What's this? The wound has healed already…?" he said slowly as a matter-of-factly manner, genuinely curious and a bit surprised. Using his hand, he probed the area where he had stabbed her, observing the color and texture of the skin underneath the fur. "Confirmed that the trauma to the flesh has recovered completely. Time to recovery, approximately 1 min. Initial observations of regenerative abilities and reishi capacity would suggest subject belongs to the upper class of adjuchas among the Menos class, with high probability of transition to Vasto Lorde class" he said, making more notes in his little notepad, looking back and forth between his notes and her. "Ha…..ha….hahahahahah hehahehahehaeaeheha! My my my my my, What a wonderful subject I've had the fortune to come across! I've hit the goddamn jackpot! I came looking for copper, but I found gold! I can't wait to start further research right away!" he berated, with a tinge of madness and ecstasy pasted on his face.
Ruby watched in horror and disgust as the mad man picked her up like a rolled carpet, hoisting her over his shoulders as she helplessly tried to struggle free, her body losing strength and her already fading mind finally giving in to the darkness once more.
Having lived as a part and parcel of Hueco Mundo, she had come to learn and get accustomed to the many quirks of being an inhabitant of Hueco Mundo. If you're strong, you survive. If you're weak, you become food for the strong. If you're strong, you can achieve your desires, your wishes and have your own way of doing things without being judged by the standards of others, even if it was something that went against the very nature of Hueco Mundo itself. But fundamentally, all this meant was that the strong were the ones who decided the way of things. So, when she met the arrancar, she had expected things to go many ways. Being eaten, being spared or even becoming acquaintances were in the realm of possibilities she had considered. This, on the other hand, THIS, she had NO way of expecting. How could she?
The moment her consciousness surfaced, a white light pierced into her vision, forcing her to keep her eyes closed. Her mind was still blurry, but she could tell that she was lying down on something hard, flat and cold, very unlike the rocky surface of her big-sis's lair or the loose shifting surface of the sands of Hueco Mundo. She still couldn't move her limbs, but for another reason; She could feel something cold and tight binding her front limbs together, as well as her hind limbs. For that matter, neither could she open her mouth, they had been sealed as well. She tried to flair and struggle, hoping to move about. But her midriff had been bound by something as well. Being immobilized and clueless, the only thing she could do was wait to get some clues. No hollow or predator she'd seen before ever did THIS to their prey. So, she couldn't even fathom how things would play out.
Time ticked away in painful silence and anxiety before Ruby heard the sounds of something being wheeled in, as well as footsteps. The face of the pink haired arrancar, eager to begin his work appeared in front of her, his hands pushing a trolley with many compartments filled with an assortment of tools. She noticed that she was in a dimly lit room with drawings, charts and other such documentation lining the walls with various notes and observations. There was also a lot of sophisticated looking equipment and machinery, vials, containers, all of which were labelled and filled with clear, translucent and colored liquids. Some of them contained what looked like body parts, such as eyes, bits of hollow mask, flesh, part of a wing or leg, and one even had a brain in it. The other side of the room had many bigger containers, all labelled but in a script she couldn't read. She was sure there was more to this room she was being held in, but in her immobilized state, she couldn't tell. She couldn't make out if there was any way out, save for the door through which this arrancar had come through or if there were other hollows in the vicinity or even where she was.
She fought against the tough, fabric like material holding her jaws together, in an attempt to make a noise or call out to the arrancar. But only muffled sounds came out. Meanwhile, the arrancar had neatly finished setting up everything, holding what appeared to be a syringe filled with shimmering blue liquid. Pushing out some of the liquid from the tube, he expelled the liquid till he was satisfied, and then approached her with that ever-present creepy grin. She tried to move but the damn restraints were in the way. She felt the arrancar rubbing something cool and funny smelling at her front limb, after which he injected her with the shimmering blue liquid in the syringe. She felt sick, violated. Whatever he injected in her couldn't have been good. He then rubbed the spot with the same funny smelling liquid and went back to his table of instruments.
"Now then" he started, holding something "I'm sure you have plenty of questions. It wouldn't be fair if I'm the only one having fun is it? I think it's only fair the test subject should also know what it is being put through. Aren't I generous?" he smiled, approaching her holding something long and flexible between his fingers. He approached her, using the object in his hands to measure her body from top to bottom, making notes between each measurement and drawing rough sketches with labels. He then put aside the tape measure and loosened the restraint on her mouth, and then removed it. No sooner had he done than, Ruby growled, trying to charge up a cero, but…nothing happened.
"What? Did you think I would just allow you to discharge cero blasts inside my precious lab?" he goaded her with a sickening, sarcastic voice.
"…..What did you do to me?!" she asked him.
"I'm glad you asked! Surely you don't think I would carry out my experiments without putting some restraints on my test subjects, did you? The liquid you were injected with earlier were what I call spirit bugs. They are microscopic insects that can record, observe and control the resitsu composition and any other changes inside the body of the subject they enter. And that's what's inside you right now" he said, putting out his tongue with an erotic expression. Ruby shuddered violently, feeling exposed, contaminated. She squirmed and squirmed, but the displeasure on her face only bringing more joy to the mad arrancar.
"Normally, I need to analyze the reishi of the subject to gain control over their entire reishi but I've already analyzed so many adjuchas that I can already gain some basic control the moment the bugs enter your system. Therefore, you won't be doing as you please in my lab. You should consider yourself lucky, your amazing body will be used to further my wonderful research on all hollowkind. Honestly, it pleases me to no end, I've never come across a specimen as wonderful as you!" he said, caressing her. She tried to bite off his hand, but her fangs stopped just at his skin, without penetrating them.
"Hierro. Also meaning 'Iron Skin'. All arrancar have it. No mere adjuchas or vasto lorde can penetrate its defenses" he explained.
"But how?!" asked Ruby "Starrk told me that arrancar don't just pop up out of nowhere! Most menos don't even know how about arrancars!"
"Come now. You don't think a genius such as me would be satisfied with just being an adjuchas did you? Ah….I forget, I still haven't introduced myself have I?" he said, and then with a small one handed bow he announced "My name is Szayelaporro Granz, arrancar scientist"
"Going back to your question, I am extremely pleased that you actually seem to think with your brain unlike those other primates I've experimented on. It makes my work all the more enjoyable, being able to show my genius to one who can actually comprehend an intellectual's works" he said, flipping his hair. "But you are correct in assuming that most menos have no knowledge of arrancars, let alone on how to become one" he said. "And as you suspect, I too, started off as a simple minded, wild beast known as an adjuchas of the menos genus. Naturally, to a brilliant scientist such as myself, the wild instincts and the body of an animal were only hindrances to my ambitions and research. So, I simply did what was necessary to ascend further. While it was a long and cumbersome process, I did come to uncover the secrets of vasto lorde and arrancars. Just like how I shall now proceed to reveal the secrets of what your body has to offer to my research, my dear little kitten!" he said with a twisted smile, caressing her further. She twisted her face away from his gloved hand.
"Aww don't be like that my little kitty" he cooed "You and I are going to be inseparable from now on after all!"
"You probably should stop now before you regret it later" retorted Ruby
"What's that?"
"I said, it's not too late to stop! You may have captured me now, but you really caught me at a bad time" said Ruby with a taunting smile. "Even now, my big-sis, Harribel, is most likely looking for me out there. It won't be long before they're all here for you"
"Harribel? You mean The Tier Harribel? The vasto lorde said to be the second strongest in all of Hueco Mundo?" asked Szayel.
"Uh huh! And that's not all! There's also Nel, Grimmjow, Apacci, Mila-Rose, Sung-sun and not to mention Starrk and Lily!" she said confidently. The pink haired arrancar said nothing for a while, simply looking at her curiously.
"Is that all?" he asked her, thoroughly surprising her. "Come now, there's no need to look that surprised" he replied with a sneer. "I already mentioned it, have I now? Even the weakest arrancar is stronger than the strongest Vasto Lorde. And to one such as myself, even that Harribel might as well be nothing more than a little warmup, though I do prefer to settle things in a less savage manner" he said, pushing his 'glasses' with his free hand. "And besides, the probability of someone actually finding this place is less than 0.01%, in other words, it does not exist" he repeated again with the same sinister grin.
"Is that so? Then, what about Starrk and Lily? They're both arrancars, really strong ones too!" she said undeterred.
"IF arrancars really are your acquaintances, and they come looking for you, I welcome it! Just another wonderful specimen for me to dissect and study!" he said sadistically. "Now then, I believe we've talked enough, how about I get started? Hmm?" He picked up a small, sharp looking metal tool with his right hand, approaching her slowly.
"Stay away…stop…stop!" she struggled, but to no avail. The restraints were just too strong. His sadistic grin was just growing more and more wider, the scalpel approaching the exposed sections of her midriff. The blade made a small incision on the flesh, a fresh crimson line appearing and oozing her red life essence. She waited for the blade to dig deeper into her but….nothing happened.
"….huh….?" she wondered.
"What? Did you think that scientists were maniacs that like to carve up and mutilate their subjects without a second thought?" he asked, the same smile ever present on his face "Science is wonderful because there's a method to madness. Science yields the very nature of the workings of the universe. Unlike a psychopath who only gets pleasure for himself or herself when carving up a body for no reason whatsoever. A true scientist loves their test subjects as much as he or she loves their work for the two are as indispensable as air and water for sustenance". He then went back to his 'technical' mode, taking out his notebook and an old-fashioned pocket watch.
"I shall now test the time taken to regenerate a minor injury such as a laceration on the subject's body in order to determine the degree of instant regeneration capabilities of the subject" he said to himself, starting the stopwatch.
And so, his 'experimentation' continued for god knows how long. He was meticulous, making sure to take multiple trials of whatever test he was conducting, all while taking thorough notes and at times, making precise diagrams of her body. He would talk throughout his experiments, either goading her with appreciation or his 'love', or sometimes make snide comments about her body and how it was such perfect 'material' and also at times praising himself for the genius he was. But for the most part, he would talk to himself about the things he observed, tested and the conclusions and theories from the results of his observations. Ruby just wished he would shut up, his experiments by themselves were bad enough for her.
His initial tests started very harmless and simple; cutting off her nails or her fur or other non-vital and non-painful areas such as her whiskers and measure the time taken for them to grow back. Then, he started small and minor, making small, tiny incisions through various areas in her body, again through multiple trials, measuring the time it took her to regenerate and how much of her reaitsu she consumed in healing those wounds. Then finally he would start with internal injuries, such as breaking bones, her teeth and fangs, the part of her claws connected to the root of her nerves and so on. Naturally he couldn't reach some of her body parts that were covered by the restraints. In such cases, he would undo them at that spot, test, and then put them back on.
After so many such small tests and mutilating, breaking and goading at her for so long, the scientist finally stopped, disinfected his tools, put them away and discarded his gloves. He organized his notes and stored them away along with the countless other documents on his shelf, looking quite pleased with himself.
"That was truly marvelous! I've never had such as civil and cooperating test subject before!" he said, petting her head. She growled and snapped at him in anger.
"Well? You got what you wanted, let me go or just finish me off!" she demanded.
"Finish you off? Now why would I do something barbaric?" he responded "And besides, 'I got what I wanted'? Now you didn't think that I was done with my research, did you?" he said, his face unsettlingly close to her own. "We're only getting started, my little kitten! But….I'm not a cruel being, I do treat my subjects very well" Saying so, he put a chain collar on her, removing the restraints on her limbs and literally dragging her out. She tried to resist and get away, but to no avail. He dragged her out of the room, through a series of dimly lit corridors, with rooms on both sides one after the other. He took her to one of them, small, single cell room with a small window and chained her to the wall, removing her restraints. Leaving her alone in the dark for a while, the scientist returned with what appeared to be a glowing purple orb.
"I call this beauty the Spirit Capsule. I created it by condensing many different menos into pure reishi. It restores the user's reishi and heals all wounds. But of course, the quality depends on the menos that comprise it. I'm positive you must be starving after regenerating all your wounds throughout the entire time. I like my test subjects to be in peak conditions so as to get the best possible results" he said with glee and then opened her mouth, forcing the orb into her throat. Ruby felt nauseated and chocked as she struggled to chew and swallow the bitter, foul smelling orb. Instantly, all her hunger vanished and her reishi had been restored. Szayel then promptly put the restraints on her mouth and limbs, leaving her chained up to the wall. "Well now, I have other things to attend to, till then, make sure to rest up well. We have much work left ahead of us!" he said one final time before locking her cell door and leaving.
Ruby just lay there in silence, immobile, tied up and utterly traumatized. The dark, cold room did little to lift her spirits. She was a fighter, a strong-willed, high spirited girl. Even when a fight got really nasty, nothing had broken her down this badly. She felt dirtied, drained and being chained like this, utterly powerless for the first time in her life. She really wished her big-sis, Nel, Grimmjow, Starrk and the others would find her soon. They were on their way to get her no doubt. She just had to put up with this freak for a little while longer while they got to her. Then, she told herself, they, she would personally sink this guy.
Meanwhile, back at the lair, Starrk and Lilynette had arrived with Tier, while Nel woke up Sung-sun, Mila-rose and Apacci. It had been long, far too long since Ruby had left in search of Grimmjow.
"What's taking the pipsqueak this long" asked Apacci to herself. "It's just that goof's place, she should've been here by now!"
"You're right. Something's off" said Sung-sun. "Harribel nee-sama, should we go and investigate?"
Harribel looked at Nel and Starrk. The three nodded to each other.
"Let's make haste" said Nel. "It's probably nothing serious, maybe she just ran into some enemies on the way" she said reassuringly, so as to not create panic "Let's check at Grimmjow's place first"
Soon enough, they were at the Menos Forest. The blue jaguar noticed them, acknowledging their presence.
"Huh..? What's with the sudden visit?" he asked. His clueless question only elevated the tension in the minds of the rest who saw him all alone and having no idea about Ruby supposedly being sent to escort him back.
"Grimmjow….you're by yourself?" asked Nel.
"Obviously. What's so strange about that?" he asked nonchalantly.
"So then…Ruby didn't come here to bring you back to the lair?" asked Lily. He looked at her confused.
"Where's this coming from?" he asked. "Don't tell me the brat's disappeared off somewhere again" Harribel just glared at him hard, further confusing him.
"What's your deal, Tier?" he asked irritated.
"Now is probably not the best time to joke about Ruby disappearing off, Grimmjow" said Sung-sun. "To keep things short, we sent her to get you because Nel decided to set out traveling again. That was a long time back. If she isn't here, then we have a situation at hand"
"Then just say so from the beginning!" he barked "Well? Do we have any clues? Did you see which way the brat headed off to?"
"The usual way, Grimmjow" replied Lily. "The same way we came here. But there's no trace of struggle or anything that suggests otherwise. It's also hard to imagine she would just waltz off somewhere especially after what happened last time"
"Tch, fine. Where do we start looking?"
"It would be easier if we could track her spirit energy" suggested Mila-rose. "If we can even find it that is"
"We won't get anything done as a group like this" said Starrk. "We should split up; it would be easier to search"
"No" said Tier.
"Tia?" asked Nel.
"No. No one goes alone" she said firmly. Nel understood. Or rather, her concerns were understood. Ruby went alone, confident that she was strong enough to repel most enemies that she would encounter. And this was the result.
"But travelling as a group would take too long!" protested Grimmjow.
"Let's do this then" suggested Nel, breaking the tension "We can search in smaller groups. That way, someone can cover for the other, while also maximizing our search efforts" She then looked at the blue jaguar adjuchas "That work for you Grimmjow?"
"Fine" he muttered.
"Starrk goes with Lily, Tia can go with the girls, and I can go with Grimmjow, does that sound good?" Once again, heads nodded in the affirmative. "Let's move out!"
And so, the aforementioned groups set out, seeking out any possible hints or clues about Ruby's whereabouts. Unfortunately for them, Hueco Mundo was really, really vast with no real landmarks save for the occasional odd structure or rock or so. Even so, they didn't give up. They couldn't give up. They would find her.
Ruby tried her best to fall asleep. But the stress of being in a new place, chained and locked up, without the familiar company as well as the turmoil from the previous day prevented her from doing so. She'd hoped she would be spared from the mad scientist's pervasive tests and jeers. But it wouldn't be until much later that she would realize how wrong she was, or that what came next far, far exceeded the previous day.
The pink haired scientist with his ever-present smile opened the doors to her confinement, eyes narrowing down on the floored cheetah adjuchas.
"I hope you slept well, my dear little kitten! Because today, we kick things up a notch!" he said merrily. As before, the only thing he undid was the chain collar and the restraints on her limbs. As he dragged her from her room to the experimentation room from yesterday, he began talking as usual.
"I'm sure you wonder why there exists such architecture in a place such as this, a place as bleak as Hueco Mundo" he said. Ruby pretended to ignore him, but was keeping a keen ear. "It's all thanks to the king of Hueco Mundo really" he answered "He may be a regal old fool, but he certainly has his uses. Thanks to him, I never run out of test subjects. He also supplied me with the manpower needed for me to steal all this equipment from the World of the Living. Thanks to that, I can continue to pursue my research all I want and nobody to challenge my demands. Now you might be wondering what does the King of Hueco Mundo have to gain from all this? Come now, isn't it obvious? Using my genius intellect, I was able to uncover the secrets to the transformation of adjuchas to vasto lorde and then to arrancars. Now wouldn't that make for a brilliant idea for soldiers?" All the questions he asked her, he would immediately answer himself, as if to say Ruby was going to hear everything he had to tell and show off about, whether she wanted to or not. They had arrived at the dreaded room.
"And that is what brings us to today's topic of research" he explained. And like the previous day, he secured her to the table, as if treating a volatile substance that could be set off by the slightest man handling. He also made sure to force a mouth guard into her mouth so that she wouldn't bite her tongue in the process. He then went back to his shelf of tools, suiting up for his twisted work, notes at the ready and tests ready to be performed. "It is a certain fact that high-speed regeneration, an ability that is a signature ability of the menos class of hollows allows them to regenerate any non-vital body parts at an accelerated pace, varies from individual to individual, depending on the subjects reishi capacity, the genus to which they belong and other similar factors. What are the limits of this? How does this change in relation to the target's spiritual pressure? And, how much of a boost does the target get in this ability when evolved to a higher class such as vasto lorde? I can't wait to find out!" he said, picking up a surgical saw. "The experiment shall begin to test by amputating the non-vital organs and body parts of the subject in order to measure their regeneration time and effectiveness in recovering from a trauma. Once tests have been documented at the time the subject is an adjuchas, the experiment is then repeated once the subject reaches a higher form, in this case, vasto lorde" He slowly approached, saw in hand, that smile, oh lord, that haunting, apprehensive smile growing ever so wider.
"I'm going to start now, my dear little kitten, just reeeellllaaaaxxxx this will be over before you know it" he said slowly, soothingly, as he ran the saw over the flesh of her right hind limb.
"Hmmmmmmmmmmm! HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!"
The cheetah could only squeal as the mad scientist continued to sever, observe and force her leg to regenerate before repeating his trials and making observations and continue on with the next body part. Every time he severed a body part from her, he would clean it up, store it in a container filled with a liquid. Ruby could only ponder in disgust as to which vile experiment he would use her discarded body parts for.
"AMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!UNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"
On and on the madness continued, as Ruby reeled with pain, tears rolling down her eyes as she wasn't even given the mercy of being able to roll about to ease the pain she felt. With every trial, blood would pool uncomfortably at her back and drip down to the floor below, draining into an outlet on the floor. 'This is nothing', she told herself. 'Nothing, compared to the numerous life or death battles I've fought. Big-sis will be here soon. I know that for a fact. She'll definitely come. I'll definitely get out of here. I just need to endure this pain for a bit longer. It'll be over before I know it, a bad, bad nightmare that I'd just laugh off one day. I'll be back laughing with Pacci, Mila-rose, Sung-su, Nelly, Grimmy, Starrk and Lily and we'll all be laughing like usual, smiling and talking about the most mundane stuff. Well, maybe not Grimmy, but urgh,….whatever, I know they'll be here, and we'll all finish off this guy for good' she convinced herself. For now, that was the best she could do to tolerate the pain. That was all the comfort she could provide herself.
But gods, he wouldn't . Even as he was slicing through her limbs or her tail, he would go on and on, about the technical details or readouts from his measurement instruments or about her, or himself. After what seemed like HOURS, when he'd finished mutilating just about every body part he could find on her, just when she thought the worse was over, he put away the saw, along with his bloodied gloves and instead picked up the scalpel from before. What was he up to now? She wondered bitterly. He looked directly at her, his right hand squeezed and pressed around her head, while his right hand holding the scalped approached her…..right eye. Oh god no. No no no no no…not there. Not ther-
"HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM! UNNNNNNNNNNMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNMNMNMNMNMNMNM!"
"SHUSH NOW!" he roared, as he forced her head to stay motionless while he extracted her eyes, her vision becoming crimson. "Keep moving around like that and I'm going to stab into the eyeball making me have to repeat the trial! I dislike having to waste time and resources, so it would be in your best INTERESTS TO STAY PUT!" he roared again, pressing into her harder. The cheetah whimpered, whittling down silently. "There's a good girl" he said softly, with a self-satisfied smile. "This IS the final phase for today, so continue to stay that way, and I promise this will go easy for both of us"
The crimson liquid dripped down her cheeks, wetting them slick with blood. If she was shedding tears, she wouldn't have been able to tell. She lay there in dread as her eye sockets felt itchy after a good while, something taking shape and pressing against the insides of her sockets. Slowly and surely, her vision returned, and the familiar, distasteful face of the pink haired arrancar came into view again. She could see him placing two reddish white orbs with silver in the center into a glass jar filled with a translucent liquid.
"Trial 2" he said, the scalpel approaching her newly formed orbs yet again.
"HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!"
She knew now how long had passed. She neither had the energy or will to care. She was too worn out to think or feel or see. Even the rambling of the mad arrancar fell on deaf ears. Once again, she felt the disgusting, vile taste of the foul-smelling orb being shoved into her throat. Instantly, all of her wounds and reishi were completely healed, as if they never existed. But her strength and will still remained at rock bottom. And yet, she took deep breaths, comforting herself that the worst was over. She had pulled through somehow. Definitely, help would be there soon. Definitely. She will survive, and she will get back her days of peace together with her family.
This night, as she was chained up again in her cell, she watched fragments of visions and images in between cycles of disturbed sleep. She saw people, heard names that sounded foreign and yet, familiar with a touch of warmth. Weiss. Yang. Blake. And with each name, came the images of white, her sister in yellow and black. She saw herself talking to them in a room with two rows of shabbily arranged beds, with books to support them, makeshift curtains for the windows, shelves and other random objects reminiscent of her own room back from her previous dream. Once again, she witnessed the familiar looking crimson and black scythe slant against the wall. Another name popped up in her head.
Crescent Rose.
She awoke with yet another jolt, finally awake and feeling miserable. She was still chained up. She was still restrained. And there was still no Big-sis. She was still trapped in that nightmare. And without fail, the deliverer of that nightmare was back to deal some more.
No.
She wouldn't give up now. Whatever he had planned couldn't be any worse than what happened previously. And soon. She just had to bide her time. Sure, it had been so so long already, and yet her big-sis was yet to come to her side. But she surely will. She just had to come. Right?
"I see you look better than you did the last time" he said, reaching for her chain again. "But rest assured. Today, we shall be conducting a different kind of experiment. One that is necessary before research can progress any further. In fact, you'll be thanking me at the end of the day. This is something you'd never achieve this quickly without my scientific flair" he said, flicking his hair.
Once again, she was back at the cursed room, strapped on and rendered immobile on the cold top of the operating table, all the blood from the tests conducted on her cleaned up. He then began readying his equipment as usual. But to her surprise, he didn't pick up any of his dissecting tools, only a syringe. He then came forward and opened her mouth restraint. She just growled at him.
"Now now, no need to be so hostile, I'm not a barbarian you know" he sneered. "Let's be civil, shall we?"
"You're a monster!" she snarled at him. "Why?! Do you torture every hollow you capture, not even granting them death?!"
"You already know why, my kitten. Stop asking meaningless questions, otherwise I WILL seal your mouth back again" he said sharply. "This is all for the future of science!" he said, spreading his arms. "Even with the small fraction of tests we've performed together, I already have so many wonderful results!" he said with glee. "You should consider yourself lucky you know. I've never given this much of my love to any of the other test subjects"
"That's my line! Soon my big-sis will be here and-"
"And what?" he snapped sharply once more. "As I mentioned before, the arrival of the vasto lorde, Tier Harribel, is unimportant and unworthy to warrant any countermeasures. Your little group of rag-tag hollows pose no threat to me whatsoever. And even if there WERE such a threat, there is no conceivable way anyone can discover this lab I spent so much time concealing in the dunes of Hueco Mundo. And even going beyond that realm of possibility, even if by some miracle they find this place, it's just more test subjects for me to further my research!"
"You stay away from them!" she roared.
"Then, you'd best hope that they don't find you or us, wouldn't you?" he smiled in a sinister manner. "In any case, going back to the topic at hand, the next step in our progress involves you" he said, looking at her. "I mean, don't get me wrong, all tests are done with you as the subject of interest, but this step in particular, is only about you"
"Just get on with it and put me back in chains already" she scowled in anger and helplessness.
"Patience, my dear little kitten. All in good time" he replied. "Anyways, as you know, menos come in 3 catagories; Gillians, who are weak, slow and go in pairs. The most primitive instincts fill them, they have no mind of their own, and rely on a hive mind consciousness to get things done and survive. Some of those gillians, when they have a soul whose instincts overpowers the hive mind consciousness of the gillian and becomes the dominant soul, we get a Gillian that can transition to the next superior class, adjuchas" he said, pointing at her. "Like you, or me when I was one, or one of your rag-tag buddies, or the king of the menos forest" he said, ticking off his hands. "The adjuchas are characterized by their smaller size comparable in form and size to animals from the World of the Living. Each adjuchas has an instinct that drives them from the moment they were a Gillian, and they will do all to follow their instincts to their fullest. It is what drives them" he explained. Ruby scowled. She understood not why he was going to such lengths to explain all this. She knew all this after all.
"Adjuchas are strong, rare and because they consume so many Gillians, who by themselves have hundreds of hollow souls, adjuchas consist of many thousands of hollow souls inside them, and yet, the instinct of 1 being drives the adjuchas. This only goes to show the will and depth of the instinct that drives an adjuchas to be what it is. But even the adjuchas is NOTHING compared to the vastly superior and aptly named Vasto Lorde. Incredibly rare, so much so that the actual number of vasto lorde can be counted in my one hand. So powerful that they can shake the very pillars of Hueco Mundo itself. And yet, why do they not possess the same instinct, that very strong, eroding instinct that an adjuchas MUST have to survive? If eating many many adjuchas was the answer to becoming a Vasto Lorde, why is it that the king of the menos forest, one who is easily one of the strongest adjuchas, cannot become one, and yet, someone like me could or you could? What makes them different? And THAT is wherein my genius arrived at the answer" he said smiling, drawing some blood from himself.
"You see, there are two simple requirements; just two, needed for an adjuchas to become a Vasto Lorde. Even if one is not fulfilled, the adjuchas can try and try but he or she will never cross that threshold of superiority. And the answer is…!" he said, swirling about.
"First and the most difficult one! Only an adjuchas that has transcended past its driving instinct is qualified to become a vasto lorde! This makes sense if you think about why Vasto Lorde have such humanoid forms, while adjuchas have such primal animalistic forms. An animal in the wild is driven only by its instincts. It cannot think and make decisions that would otherwise prove to be detrimental at the moment but would prove to be beneficial in the long term. No, only a human mind, a human way of thinking can even attempt to do something as blasphemous as going against the natural law! AND THAT" he said, smashing the table with his fist "IS PRECISLY why it is so difficult for most hollow who are so attuned to their instincts to achieve! The stronger the adjuchas, the stronger your adhesion to your instinct and hence the stronger you will be as a vasto lorde, if you overcome it"
"What does that have to do with any of all the cruel things you did?!" questioned the cheetah.
"Oh but it does, my dearie! It certainly does! I'm glad you asked, I'm so infatuated with that curious little mind of yours. Ahh~~" he replied in a seductive voice "Why, the very fact that you are asking me is evidence of the same! Evidence that you have ascended past your typical hollow instincts! You feel comradery, you feel concern for others, you are no longer driven by the pain and rage you must have most definitely felt as I was mutilating you, otherwise you wouldn't have just endured all of my experiments without killing yourself from struggling to kill me from the rage!"
"Now you might think that is a very unscientific way of making inferences. And you're right. After all, the instinct that drives each hollow is different. And that is why, the method I use to determine this factor is through…..this" he said, pointing to be a roll of paper with a graph drawn on it. "This, my cute little kitten, is a map of your reishi structure. Think of it as the DNA of spiritual beings if you will. You see, the key difference between those that have transcended past their instincts and those that haven't can be found using this reishi structure. The former menos have a reishi that is much more tempered, calmer and more in tune with their body as compared to those that are driven by instinct, whose reishi structure is more turbulent. And from all those tests I have conducted so far, I was able to discover that you posses a much more laminar reishi structure, therefore being qualified for becoming a Vasto Lorde" he explained.
"And the second requirement, is much more simple. Possessing a quantity of reishi that is above a certain threshold. And that is why it is still necessary to consume souls to fuel and append your reishi capacity. That too, is something I discovered while examining my own reishi structure and the reishi of other adjuchas and your own. And THAT is where you are lacking. So close" he said, pinching his fingers almost together right at her face. "If you had perhaps consumed 50 more adjucha, you would have attained it! But worry not, for THAT is where I come in!" he said menacingly. Ruby was a very intuitive individual, and also quite clever. Even as he finished that sentence and by looking at the syringe, she could guess where this was going. No. No no no no nonononnonno! Of all the things that he could do, oh lord, oh gods who were merciful and were ever present, please, let him do anything but THAT. She would NEVER be able to live with herself otherwise.
"I can't rely on an inefficient method of gathering so many adjucha and force them down your throat so I will simply use a reishi source that is much more robust than any menos can ever give!" he said, picking up the syringe with his blood "Why, I am going to give you that very boost, that catalyst you need to be purified and reborn into an intellectual cut from the same cloth as me! Rejoice, my cutest little kitten!" he wailed, approaching her and removing her restraints.
"No…..no no no….stay away…! Please…Anything but that..! Pleas-" no sooner had she started to plead, the mad scientist stuck the syringe containing his life essence into her, the foul crimson fluid invading her own body fluids, merging and rejuvenating her with a robustness she had never experienced ever before from eating hollows. Tears leaked from her eyes as she could feel her entire body growing hotter and hotter, the sadistic, cruel smile pasted on the face of her worst nightmare etched into her mind as her body began to twist, morph and change. Her body expanded, stretched, became more human like, with dark maroon red fur with black spots covering her body like a fur suit. The hollow hole in her abdomen was now suited in her stomach, right where her bellybutton was supposed to be. Her front limbs changed as well, fur covering them with her thin hands becoming more human like, her beastly claws still retained on her fingers. Her hind legs grew, expanded and became akin to thin, human feet but still retaining the features of her cheetah paws. Her spine straightened into a more human looking one, with a white hollow bone material covering the exterior. The same spine also extended into a long flat tail. Her face morphed into the face of a teenage human girl, one that resembled her form from her dreams albeit looking a bit older. She had dark, shoulder length hair tinged red at the tips, silver eyes, all of which were covered by her hollow mask that resembled the skull of a cheetah, with two crimson lines going from her eye socket to the base of her mask similar to the markings on the face of a cheetah. The tears that formed from before her transformation remained on her face, trailing down through the contour of her face. The pink haired arrancar on the other hand, was drowning in ecstasy.
The cheetah adjuchas was no more, for a new Vasto Lorde had taken her place.
Meanwhile, at Tier's Lair
After days of looking, Tier Harribel was desperate. Her disappearance this time was much longer than the time she went looking for Starrk one year back. The rest of her companions had gathered as well, after their fruitless efforts in locating their beloved companion.
"Where could she have gone?!" wondered Nel in irritation. This whole thing was getting to her after their futile efforts from their days of searching. This was so unlike her, losing her cool.
"Where the fuck could she have gone?! How the fuck did she disappear without so much as a struggle?!" growled the jaguar.
Tier was shaking. She grit her teeth in frustration, anger, worry and anxiety. Why?! Why was it always her?! Why did something always have to happen with her?! That was when she felt a hand on her shoulder, calming her a bit.
"Relax, Tier" said Starrk. "Don't worry so much, we'll get through this. With this many powerful menos here, this wont take long. Nothing good comes out of frustration" he told her. She took deep, deep breaths, clearing out her mind of any degenerative thoughts.
"Right" she said. "Thanks"
"Don't mention it. I propose we look together at strategic locations after a bit of brainstorming. We should have better odds of success then" suggested Starrk.
"But where, Starrk?" asked Lily. "We've already looked at all the places we know!"
"Then we'll just have to keep thinking, find any place we might have overlooked!" said Apacci. "Don't tell me she's back at the lair or something, god's forbid, I'd be so mad if that were the case!"
"No of course not. I just checked….that's it! How could we have been so foolish?!" exclaimed Sung-sun.
"What is it? Did you remember something?" asked Nel frantically.
"God! The God king!" exclaimed the snake adjuchas. "Why didn't we think of that before?! What if she was attacked by one of his factions?!" The eyes of the rest of those present grew wide in astonishment.
"But of course! Yes, it can only have been him! Damn it, how did I miss something so obvious?!" cursed Nel.
"Well?! Let's go murder the bastard and bring her back!" snarled Grimmjow.
"We can't just storm in, it IS the lair of the King of Hueco Mundo, one who's even stronger than Harribel-nee sama!" argued Mila-rose. "We need a plan"
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that" said Lily coolly. "After all, me and Starrk are more than enough to take care of that old fart" she said. "Plus, we have the rest of us here too! This'll be a piece of cake! Let's go bring her back and be done with this once and for all!"
And so, with renewed determination and hope, Tier Harribel and her companions set out to towards the throne of the God King of Hueco Mundo.
Meanwhile in a hidden laboratory in the Soul Society
Three Shinigami captains, Aizen Sosuke, Kaname Tosen and Gin Ichimaru were having their routine meeting as usual. This meeting in particular, was especially of importance, considering their latest revelation in the soul society.
"So, what's the next step, Captain Aizen?" asked the one called Gin.
"Now that Captain Hirako and the other subjects of the hollowfication experiment are out of our way, along with Kisuke Urahara, Yoruichi Shihouin and the commander of the kido corps, the eyes of the soul society are no longer upon us. Before this incident, we were forced to lay low, which affected our hollowfication experiments. Plus, our restricted movements also meant we could no longer get access to hollows to use as our test subjects."
"You are right, Lord Aizen. We already had a very limited stock of hollows and Shinigami souls to experiment on before this incident. We will need a way to secure a renewable source of hollows" said Tosen. Aizen smirked in response.
"Now that this incident has been framed on Kisuke Urahara, we are free to move about as we please away from the prying eyes of the soul society. As they say, when looking for a tree, you search in a forest. It's time we pay a visit to the King of Hueco Mundo"
Alright, finally another big chapter! So a couple of things I wanted to clear up right off the bat as mentioned in the beginning.
1) I won't be taking the Bleach Extended Universe into account. Because I planned my story before I knew it existed and also because I imagine not many anime/manga readers are still familiar with all its contents. So if something is cannon in the extended universe, there's a high chance that's not so in my story.
2) The timeline. So, to make things super clear, the current events take place around 100 years before Ichigo's arc, a short while after the the vizards and Urahara are expelled. The events will also be drastically different timeline wise from the cannon, but not all of them. Because there's no point in writing an AU that doesn't deviate from the cannon events is there? But worry not, I will STILL stick to the lore so that it still feels like it fits into Bleach. That way, the readers will also feel like they are reading something fresh and enjoy something new while reading a series they love.
3) Regarding arrancars. Yeah, this one is a bit weird. According to bleach cannon, just about any adjuchas or vasto lorde can become arrancars by just breaking their mask with NO RISK whatsoever. Like Ulquiorra became one when he lamented his lonely existence and sank into a tree with many sharp spines, which broke his mask and made him an arrancar. I was like 'Whaat?! That's all it takes?!'. So yeah. I'm only mentioning this because I will make some small alterations to that as well, including which of the characters become arrancars with Aizen's help and which ones become arrancar on their own, but using a more LOGICAL explanation. Well, I will try atleast.
The only reason I'm even having to explain all this is because I planned my story before I knew of the extended universe and now there's all these cannon facts from the extended universe that collides with what I planned. It feels like I have to put up a disclaimer so readers don't feel like they're seeing plotholes compared to extended universe cannon. For example, in the original manga/anime, Nel, Tier and Grimmjow aren't really shown to be that close or even know each other, until much later in the 1000 year war arc. In my story, that changed because of Ruby. But in the extended universe, apparently the 3 of them were indeed like siblings. So yeah. Basically, if you know something from the extended universe, just pretend its not so here. Having said that, hope you enjoyed the chapter, I'll see you all soon!
Response to reviews:
Momentei: Yeah, that was but a small glimpse of what she goes through because of him, as you saw in this chapter.
fightingchampion: Well, as you saw, that didn't save her from her fate sadly :(
MegaElite: Well, now you know. The flashback sequence will continue to the next chapter. You'll get the full gist of things there.
The True Skill: Huh really? I'm not familiar with FT of Remnant though.
D'nnome: Nope. This is already clear in this chapter, and the flashback sequence will end in the next chapter, tying in with the ending of the last chapter to explain that better.
NEGATARO: Hmm no idea about hyperdimension neptunia. Sorry :(
5h1n Z3ro: Well, this one is even more intense I believe. Just keep watching.
The guest: Thanks for the elaborate review! Yeah you absolutely should get an account, makes it easier to keep track of things!
Astral chronicles: Nope, not a time skip. Just went ahead by a couple of days.
The-Killer-40513: Yeah kinda. Her attribute is speed and agility, not power. But she can still use a cero if she worked on it. That's why a bala is a lot easier for her, but a cero is something she needs to train for.