In a pinch I might've been able to help the last two, but Orihime never asked me and Chad found a much better partner in Renji since the added pressure of his Reiatsu would stimulate Chad's own growth.
I had resolved to keep an eye on Orihime since I knew at one point Ulquiorra was supposed to kidnap her but it became harder as more of my time was taken up with my other projects and responsibilities. Soon, daily checks became weekly, and then they became just when I found time. It got so bad that by the time I noticed, she had already been captured and written off by the Soul Reapers.
Ichigo and his friends had already left to retrieve her.
I stayed because there was simply no point in going to Hueco Mundo with them. Aizen would come to the World of the Living and I had a trump card to try against him.
"Done for the day, Alexandria?" Yoruichi asked when I walked outside my lab.
"Yeah. I'm as far as I can get before the final confrontation. No point losing sleep at this point. I only have the drive system left to go then the ship is fully operational."
"And then you'll be leaving us." It wasn't a question.
"Yeah, I know Urahara has been looking into it in his spare time -what little there is- but whatever is going on with my soul unraveling is beyond what he can handle. I'm going to need to find somewhere else if I want help with that."
I cracked my neck and stretched out a bit.
"I figured out how to leave a marker though. I can't guarantee how long I'll be gone once we finish up with Aizen and his whole mess, but I'll be able to come visit once I'm fixed."
Yoruichi smiled. "So confident we're going to win, hmm? You know something I don't?"
"Quite a bit by now, unless you got a degree in dimensional mechanics when I wasn't looking" I snarked. "But honestly, it's win or lose now and I prefer to be optimistic about our chances."
"Not going to hang around for a victory party then?"
"You just want to see me drunk again." I joked.
I had delved into some sake bottles after a particularly stressful day. Turns out, while it takes a lot of alcohol to get me drunk, once I'm there I lose any semblance of balance.
"But no." I said, growing more serious. "This is just the last straw with Soul Society. Soi Fon passed a message back to us about the investigation into the Nobles. It's getting bad and the only reason they haven't ordered a few captains to capture me so they can figure out how the Zanpakuto copying works is because they alienate you all if they do it. Once that's passed, they simply won't care."
Yoruichi nodded. "I figured. Rest well. No telling when Aizen is going to start things off."
"Take your own advice. I know you haven't gotten much rest either."
The assassin just flipped me off as she walked away. It made me laugh and that was enough for now.
Now then, I had an important meeting with my bed.
-o-
A couple days later I was spending some downtime reading a book for the first time in weeks. Reading used to be one of my favorite hobbies, but between trying to learn everything I could from the Archive, building up my tech base, and practicing my abilities, -even excluding all the stuff Urahara had me doing- I simply didn't have time for it.
I was trying to recapture some of that enjoyment while waiting for the final battle to start but it wasn't working as well as I'd hoped. Even sitting still, I was filled with a kind of nervous energy that refused to settle down. The anticipation was completely preventing me from enjoying the book I had picked out.
Eventually I gave up and shut it with a sigh. It wasn't even that good. The plot was generic and uninspired and the big twist was obvious from a mile off. It was okay enough for wasting time, but I simply couldn't get drawn into the story.
I wandered around the shop for a while, not really paying attention to what I was doing.
Was I really so used to frantically training that I couldn't relaxy anymore? I needed to get more hobbies.
My introspection was cut off by the arrival of Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Tessai.
"It's time." Urahara said seriously. "We're activating the Tenkai Kecchuu."
"Oh good. And I was just getting bored too." If my smile was a little shaky, no one pointed it out.Spirit 4.5
I glared at Urahara.
He ignored me.
I glared harder.
On the screen in front of us another battle played out between the Soul Reapers and Aizen's forces. Both of which were quickly being slimmed out by the battles. The Soul Reapers were winning, but most of the time winning simply meant the Hollow died and the Soul Reaper was too injured to move.
If Urahara had let even just me go out as support several of those duels could've been handled quicker, but no, he had a plan.
That plan seemed to be; bleed Aizen's forces as much as possible and dogpile him with whatever remained, but he was sacrificing the Captains that would help with that by allowing them to face off with equal level opponents. Even if they won, they were too injured to be more than a slight distraction for someone on Aizen's level.
Which I brought up several times with my nominal boss, to which he replied 'The Shinigami demanded we stay out of things as long as possible.'
Then he locked me in a barrier when I tried to ignore that bout of stupidity and join the fight.
Oh, I understood their reasoning. It's just that I found their reasoning stupid.
The Soul Reapers were going to handle as much of this mess as possible to placate their nobles, because who cares about the thousands of dead humans if they could prove they were the most powerful faction around. And if they needed help? Well then they would 'allow' our group to give them a hand.
Which was dumb because as far as they knew the only people around judging the strength of Soul Society, was Soul Society themselves.
I was seriously tempted to break out of the barrier and just join the fight on my own but I held back because while I was planning on ditching this place and it's annoying noble caste, Kisuke and Yoruichi would have to deal with them in the future. Causing my friends that kind of trouble just to jump into a fight that had practically been decided already, alone, didn't sit right with me.
It wouldn't stop me from letting Kisuke know exactly what I thought about this plan though.
Often and repeatedly.
The screen flickered from the scene of a wolf headed captain and a scarred lieutenant standing over the hollowfied fallen form of the former 9th division captain to where Aizen was still standing midair.
Aizen's forces were down to basically himself and Gin at this point. So really just himself, but it also meant that we were finally preparing to move.
As the barrier collapsed and we started walking toward the exit I tried one last time to alter the plan.
"You sure you don't want me fighting with you? We both know three on one still might not be enough to weaken Aizen enough."
Kisuke waved me off. "Nah, no point. Aizen already has us under his zanpakuto's sway. If we started winning then we might wind up fighting you. Better keep you as the follow up if we need it."
"I told you I took care of that already!"
"You mean you think you did. Besides you'll just cramp our style. Keep Ichimaru off of us and we'll handle our part."
-o-
When we arrived at the battlefield it was obvious Karakura Town had seen...better days.
What buildings hadn't been crushed, burned, or exploded looked like they had been split horizontally by a single attack that had just...cut a line in the city scape.
I also noticed Ichigo had made an appearance in the time it took us to get here. He was in the middle of fighting Gin on his own and not doing a terrible job, but he also wasn't attacking to kill so at best it was a stalemate, at worst he was slowly losing. A fact that was reinforced when Ichigo barely blocked a stab that sent him crashing into a building close to where Aizen was facing off against Isshin Kurosaki, who had shown up at some point. The other captains must have been defeated while we were on our way over.
I hung back while the others began confronting Aizen. They were right in that I would get in the way at this stage in the plan. The opening was going to be all Kido attacks and since I couldn't use them I had no place here. Instead I stayed just far enough that Aizen and Gin shouldn't pick up on my presence, but also close enough that I could be in front of the silver haired traitor if he tried to interfere at all.
Kisuke launched into a truly stunning display of Kido. Restraining Aizen with layered Bakudo spells before firing a fully encanted Hado in the nineties. Overall it did very little damage, in fact it seemed to merely accelerate the rate Aizen was mutating into a new form as he was covered by a white clothlike material, but it did allow Kisuke to place a seal that basically fried Aizen from the inside out using his own power.
Aizen exploded in a massive column of light, but once again it wasn't enough to do any major damage.
His new form was now a solid white shell that covered him head to toe, the only color was his purple eyes which matched the Hogyoku's own color and a black cross that radiated out from where the jewel was embedded in his chest.
After Aizen neutralized the Reiatsu seal, by tearing them out of his own wrists, Kisuke moved on to physical combat. He and Isshin attacked almost simultaneously, for all the good it did. Aizen seemed to be having fun with his new level of power as he blocked Isshin's attack by catching it with his foot while easily catching Kisuke's sword with his own.
Luckily it was a feint rather than a dedicated attack. As Aizen physically overpowered them, both ex-Soul Reapers slipped a thin chain around his limbs, holding him in place long enough for an armor wearing Yoruichi to dive bomb him out of nowhere and punch him hard enough that she kicked up a dust cloud that covered the entire block.
Aizen's retaliation followed shortly after. A beam of destructive energy shot skyward, destroying the armor on Yoruichi's left leg as she barely dodged out of the way in time.
When the dust and smoke cleared, Aizen stood in the middle of a massive crater. While his body language was completely unaffected, he now had massive cracks covering his body from the force of Yoruichi's attack.
It was proof that despite his power Aizen could be hurt by the three surrounding him...if they stopped messing around and actually fought him!
I palmed my face with a sigh as Yoruichi taunted Aizen by waving her leg around in the air. And while it did seem to distract her opponent -by confusing him if nothing else- it also seemed to weird out her allies more, going by how Kisuke was leaning away from her and Isshin's expression.
I shifted my attention as Aizen went back on the offensive.
While he was undoubtedly the biggest threat here, he wasn't my objective. And it seemed Gin was about to continue his duel with Ichigo if his stance was an indicator. I could let him and the annoyance fight it out, but Gin was an unpredictable element as far as the overall plan went. He wanted Aizen dead, and that should've made him an asset. But he was also obsessive enough about that that he might actually interfere if it looked like someone else was going to do the deed first.
Which meant I needed to either keep him busy until the next phase of the plan began or kill him because I knew for a fact Ichigo wouldn't be able to do that.
My chest grew warm as I started slowly drawing in some of the free flowing Reishi Particles in the air. Unlike in the Soul Society, I was able to control the rate I drew them in so I was no longer breaking myself in the process. That wasn't the only thing I was better at either.
I blurred into existence in front of Ichigo with Haste 3.0 and batted Gin's Shinso to the side with a sweep of an arm. A little amusingly, Ichigo reacted to Gin's attack but not my arrival and dove to the ground. I gave him an amused glance, which he scowled at, before turning back to Gin.
"Hello again, Gin. I'd rather you didn't do that."
The only indication the ex-Captain was surprised by my sudden intervention was his raised eyebrows, which he quickly lowered and then smirked at me. "Well now, if it isn't little miss Cross. I was worried ya didn't survive our last encounter when we didn't see ya with the little band that went to rescue the princess."
He shifted his sword back so the hilt was cupped in both his hands at chest level and the blade was pointed at me.
"But ya know those three probably won't be enough to beat Aizen-san on their own, hm? Or are you just too weak to assist them?" He said with a smirk.
"They can handle him for now." My left hand came up to point at him, palm out. "And once everything is ready, then I'll take care of Aizen."
Gin's smirk dropped. "Hmm, how scary. Ya actually believe that. Let's see if ya can back it up. Kamishini no Yari: Buto."
His Zanpakuto extended so quickly it was essentially a flash of silver...until it was stopped by a deceivingly delicate pinkish shield made of several layered petals.
"Rho Aias." I intoned smugly. "I was watching you earlier. You might have the fastest sword around...but that's useless if it can't pierce my defenses, isn't it?"
"Hmm, is that so?" Gin drawled. "Let's see how you handle this then."
Kamishini no Yari: Buto Renjin."Spirit 4.6
If Gin's last attack could've been described as a flash of silver, this one would be a tidal wave of silver light.
It crashed into my Rho Aias like a tidal wave and I grunted with the effort it took to keep it from sweeping me off my feet. The first two layers cracked and shattered under the continuous assault but Gin's attack failed to break the third. Still, I felt the sympathetic pain that came with the first two layers breaking but I had ignored much more painful injuries than that and pushed through it easily.
Stupid shield. I mentally complained with gritted teeth. What's the point in using it if blocking an attack still hurts?
It was an idle complaint since I would take a bit of pain over trying to dodge a wide area attack as fast as Gin's every time. It had been several seconds already and he hadn't let up. There was no way I could consistently dodge something like this that long.
"Hmm, can't say anything's stood up to that attack before." Gin purred as he finally stopped his attack. "And you learned some new tricks since we saw you."
"I aim to please."
He nodded. "Of course the bigger question is-" He blurred out of existence and reappeared to my right. "-is if you can keep up with me."
I pulled my head back and felt the gust of air where Gin's sword passed by. Looks like he figured out the easiest way past my shield was to go around it. Unfortunate too. I still didn't have the control to keep Rho Aias materialised and move at the same time. I did have other tricks though.
Three swords materialised in midair, all of them glowing brightly as I overcharged the enchantments on them. It made them wildly unstable, but that was kinda the point wasn't it?
The traced swords launched at Gin like bullets but I wasn't even considering they had a chance of hitting him directly. The second they were within five feet of the ex-Captain the Trace Bullets exploded in red, blue, and green light.
As expected, a shape burst out of the resulting smoke and revealed the slightly burned form of my enemy. I mentally crossed Trace Bullets off the list of finishing attacks for this fight. Those three had been in the upper ranges I had for overcharging without using being either too slow to form or chewing through my mana reserves and they barely put a scratch on him.
"So no ya can't. Isn't that a shame."
"Tch." I really didn't like his smirk.
I let Rho Aias fade away and reached for Kanshou and Bakuya.
Gin flash stepped away again but this time I was ready for him. I followed with Haste and reappeared crouched in front of him, swords already coming for an uppercut from below. Gin blocked them before they could slice into his stomach but failed to deflect them from nicking into his shoulder when he misjudged my strength. To his credit, the light wound barely got a wince from him and I needed to bend over backwards to avoid getting stabbed in the face in retaliation.
I somersaulted away from Gin and threw my blades at him, immediately tracing another pair and throwing those. As Gin batted those four away from him I traced a third pair and dashed in close. The key to fighting this battle was going to be keeping the ex-captain so busy fending off attacks that he couldn't snipe at me with his bankai from a distance. The thrown swords circled around from behind, their nature to return to each other prevented them from simply flying off into the distance and making them basically boomerang swords played to my advantage. Anytime Gin tried to line up his sword for a stab I would disrupt the motion by throwing a blade in my hand and catching one of the ones buzzing around us. And if I happened to miss? Well it was simple enough to dissipate that particular blade and trace another one.
That wasn't to say Gin was making any of that easy. I was dodging supersonic stab wounds by the barest margin possible. The more we fought the more my outfit acquired tears and cuts and I was bleeding from a few places where I had managed to dodge the initial stab but Gin was able to move his blade to hit me immediately after. I was distracted by a particularly close miss that ended up shearing off a few loose strands of hair rather than stabbing me through the eye but it was enough for Gin to gain a second of reprieve.
He pointed a hand straight down at his feet and a red sphere of energy quickly formed.
"Shakkaho!"
I cursed as the shockwave blew me back and I lost Gin in the resulting smoke. I was forced to dismiss the flying copies of Kanshou and Bakuya when they burst through the smoke cloud and hit nothing.
"Well now, you certainly are much stronger than the last time we fought." I snapped to see Gin standing on a pile of rubble. "In fact you clearly managed to get stronger than the kid over there." He said pointing at a gobsmacked Ichigo who was still standing around here for some reason.
Go help someone if you weren't going to fight!
"I think you're mistaken." I said as I traced my bow and strung an arrow. "I've always been stronger than him."
"Oh, that so?" Gin gave Ichigo a searching look before making an expression like he had come to a decision. "Well in that case why don't ya just run off." He told Ichigo.
What?
"What?" My thoughts were echoed by Ichigo.
"Sure, why not? He's not exactly obligated to be here. He isn't a soldier or a Shinigami. He's not a Hollow."
Gin opened a single eye with a cruel glint.
"He's not really human either."
Every word seemed to be crushing Ichigo's spirit but I couldn't figure out why Gin was doing this.
"So why not just let him go? I mean, I have no interest in him and Lord Aizen might be a little disappointed but it'd be no fun if the kid is too scared to put up a fight. Besides-" *BOOOM!* There was a massive explosion behind the two of us. I risked turning my back on Gin to see Aizen walking calmly towards us. "-the time for games is over."
Damn it, he was here too early! What were the others doing!?
"Oh? You look surprised, Alexandria Cross. Were you expecting the others to hold out longer?" Aizen said conversationally. "Unfortunately for you, they failed to be a challenge after a while."
Some of the dust settled down to reveal the battered forms of Urahara, Yoruichi, and Isshin. All of them unconscious and scattered among the rubble. At the sight of them, whatever spine Ichigo had been holding onto snapped and he collapsed to his knees. Clearly I was on my own for this.
Facing off against Aizen and Gin alone with a hindrance in the background. How nostalgic.
I was out of time. Guess I would just need to risk it.
I drew back the arrow I had and shot it at Gin, I didn't bother waiting to see if it did anything. He was either going to be distracted or I would suddenly get a sword through the back but that wasn't important at the moment. I discarded my bow as I charged Aizen and a long Katana with a purple hilt replaced it.
"Ah, that's right...you never managed to use that attack the last time we saw each other." Aizen said. "Very well. Let's see if-" "Hiken: Tsubame Gaeshi!"
Three attacks. Three blades. All in a single moment.
Both of Aizen's arms and his right leg detached from his body, yet Aizen didn't seem to be in pain or even very concerned about this. No matter. I still had one more thing to do before he retaliated.
Monohoshi Zao was discarded just like my bow and I pulled a simple metal rod from it's holster on my belt. The proto-device had been repaired since the Soul Society invasion and was ready for use. I pointed the end of it at Aizen and poured mana into the device. A brilliant yellow spell-circle formed in his face. I was still getting a handle on this type of magic but hopefully it would be enough for this.
"Nova Blast!"
A beam of magic enveloped Aizen's upper body as I fired the spell. I kept it up as long as I could but this spell wasn't designed to be sustained for long. Eventually it sputtered out. To my surprise the Aizen I faced in front of me was different than the one I shot at. His face was no longer covered by the white mask but had been torn off by my attack. His face was largely the same as pre-transformation him, even if his eyes were now white with purple sclera. The only other thing to change was the significantly longer hair flowing down his back.
"So deep down you just wished for long hair?" I couldn't help but comment.
Aizen gave me a small amused smile...then backhanded me through a building.
"Okay, ow." I pulled myself out of the rubble and wiped a hand over my face. No blood, but it still stung like a bitch.
Neither Aizen or Gin followed after me so they must have stayed by Ichigo. I would've preferred if they had split up. No use in wishing for 'ifs' though.
I used Haste to get back to where Aizen, Gin, and Ichigo were and was surprised to only see Ichigo and Isshin instead. Isshin had collapsed next to Ichigo with an arm thrown over his shoulder but there was no sign of anyone else. Where had the other two gone?
"Where's Aizen?"
"Gone. He left for Soul Society already. Looks like we were wrong about him staying to finish any opponents before moving on. Did you manage to do it?" Isshin said.
I nodded. "Yeah, almost didn't because Aizen showed up early but I pulled it off."
"Sorry 'bout that."
"It's fine. You both ready?"
"Let's go." Isshin declared. "We will protect Karakura."Spirit 4.7
Rather uncharacteristically, Ichigo did not jump at the declaration to charge headfirst into a fight to protect his town and friends.
Instead he just stared at the two of us with a shell shocked expression like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Something his dad picked up on by the look on his face. That... and the sudden vicious headbutt to the head.
"Didn't you hear me?!" Isshin yelled at his son, "I said we're going to protect Karakura!"
Again, Ichigo was uncharacteristically quiet and just looked away.
"...it's no use...there's no way we can do that…" the teenage Soul Reaper said morosely.
I said nothing and just stared at the teen disapprovingly. I knew he was rattled, anyone sane would be after what he had been through, but seeing him just give up still didn't sit right with me.
It didn't sit right with his dad either given the way he yelled.
"You don't know that!"
"Yes, I do!" Ichigo screamed right back, "You felt it, didn't you?! There's now way we can beat a freak with Reiatsu like that!"
That certainly shocked Isshin. The older Soul Reaper muttered something before brushing past his son.
"I'm going." he declared.
"Aren't you coming?" he asked when Ichigo made no move to follow.
"What will you do if you don't come?" Ichigo just lowered his head.
"Cry?"
Isshin rounded on his son and started yelling, "Will you sit there and cry that you couldn't protect anyone?!"
"...Think about what it means that Aizen is heading for Karakura Town in Soul Society." Isshin continued in a more level tone. "If you don't go, it means that everyone you wanted to protect and everyone else in Karakura, will die by his hand."
It was a harsh way of motivating someone in my opinion; to remind him that he either stepped up or allowed everyone he cared about to die. But with the situation as it was I couldn't exactly deny it wasn't needed. Or effective.
Ichigo's eyes settled as he got himself under control, the look of hopelessness and defeat losing out to a renewed determination.
He stepped forward. "Dad...open the Senkaimon."
Isshin smirked at Ichigo's renewed attitude. "I don't need you to tell me that."
I simply rolled my eyes at how little of a pep talk it took to change the orange haired soul reaper's mind. But spirits were up and we were ready to go so I couldn't complain.
-o-
The Dangai was as unpleasant as ever.
The walls still dripped a noxious purple sludge and the ground was still covered in bones. Which should be impossible because the Cleaner running through all the time should've definitely ground them to dust. But more importantly the feeling of loose Reiatsu digging into me like standing in front of a sand blaster was definitely not enjoyable.
And it was only getting worse the longer we were in here.
So when Isshin planned to stop in here to give Ichigo some last second training, I had no inclination to stay with them.
"You sure?" Isshin questioned after I had made my opinion known. "We don't have second chances after this."
"I'm sure. Besides there isn't enough space for me to really do anything."
Aizen had destroyed the Cleaner, removing the obstacle to staying in the Dangai for a long period of time and Isshin apparently had a way to stabilize the current of its walls so they wouldn't be swallowed up. The combination of these two things meant Ichigo could get approximately 2000 hours or about three months worth of training and only an hour would pass in the Soul Society.
Isshin didn't know the chaotic nature of this place was a slow poison to me and I had no intention of telling him, but Ichigo could use the time to get a power boost.
If everything went to plan though, he wouldn't even get a chance to fight.
"I'll go on ahead. Who knows? I might finish up everything before you even get there." I joked, sparing a glance at Ichigo who was fully immersed in trying to communicate with his sword.
"If it were that easy we wouldn't be racing to Soul Society right now."
I refrained from saying I probably could have fought Aizen before he reached Soul Society but didn't simply because I did not want to rearrange the landscape in the World of the Living. Much better to leave the destroyed scenery for the Seireitei to clean up. It was the least they could do after being mostly useless.
"Well he won't be running off this time." I said as a parting shot, before rushing off down the corridor. After all, just because Aizen wasn't in a hurry, it didn't mean he couldn't cause some major damage if left unchecked. And there was one more person I needed to talk to before I fought him for real.
-o-
Rangiku Matsumoto wasn't exactly sure what she was hoping for when she confronted her childhood friend.
Scratch that. She knew exactly what she wanted. She wanted to know why he had turned his back on everyone and betrayed them, but she wasn't sure what she was expecting to come of it.
Was she hoping that Ichimaru would just laugh the whole thing off as one big misunderstanding? Or perhaps she could convince him to turn on Aizen despite them being on the cusp of winning it all?
Whatever it was, she wasn't exactly expecting him to simply attack her.
So now she was laying on her back, drained of Reiatsu, and watching helplessly as Ichimaru left her behind again…
"Leaving so soon, Gin? And after being so rough with her too..." A familiar voice called outside Rangiku's sight, and she couldn't move.
A black boot and the edge of a red garment entered the edge of her vision as the new arrival walked around her.
"Like I told her, she was in the way. I really don't know what she was thinking, trying to face Lord Aizen in such a condition if she couldn't even stand up to me for long."
"So that's why you took her as far away from Aizen as you could?"
"Don't be ridiculous. Besides she'll be dead soon at this rate."
The newcomer -Alexandria Cross, Rangiku remembered sluggishly- snorted. "I'm sure. But I'm not here to talk about your girlfriend."
"Here to continue our fight then?"
Rangiku would have gasped if she wasn't so tired. Alexandria had been the one fighting Ichimaru? That Reiatsu had been on the same level as the senior Captains, she had no idea the strange human was that strong.
"Nope~, I'm here to tell you your plan to kill Aizen won't work."
"What?!"
It took a moment for Rangiku to realise that she was the one who said that, and now both of the others were looking at her.
Alexandria's blue eyes met hers. "Well then, I wasn't expecting you to still be awake…" her hand started to reach down to Rangiku's forehead when Ichimaru's Shikai thrust between them.
Startled by the sudden action Rangiku looked to the origin of the attack and saw Ichimaru standing there with a serious expression.
Then there was a flash of purple and she only saw darkness…
-o-
"You're an idiot, you know that? I even told you what would happen."
"He he, *khack*, w-ell I couldn't exactly believe you n-now, could I? Besides...this was my only chance. Had t-to try anyway…"
I looked down on the bloody form of the former Third Division Captain.
Aizen had nearly bisected him from shoulder to waist and stabbed him through the chest for good measure. The only plus out of this situation was that my warning of what to expect meant that he hadn't lost an arm in a futile gesture as well.
It figured the second time I tried using my out-of-context knowledge to alter things went about as well as the first. Although I couldn't exactly deny it was partially my fault for trying it on two people almost completely unreceptive to people telling them what to do. Ichigo had been so used to just forging ahead on his own that me suddenly coming forward and saying he just needed to accept things was completely rejected.
I frowned.
Actually I might have hurt his training there if he was subconsciously rejecting my advice still. He should have at least been on the way by now. Not that it would matter.
And Gin had spent over a century maneuvering to a place where he could kill Aizen. Thinking about it now, there was no way he would give that up just because I told him what would happen.
After leaving the Dangai, I had taken the opportunity to teleport directly to Karakura via a destination circle I had left in the town. From there it was a quick jaunt to confront Gin as he was finishing up dealing with Rangiku.
After some quick talking to keep things civil once he had fully knocked out the lieutenant, I told him exactly what would happen if he tried to kill Aizen, going as far as to reveal the hidden ability of his Bankai. Since he had told no one of the cell destroying properties it had, it went a long way in giving me credit, but the ex-Captain refused to give up in the end and now he was quickly bleeding out in a pile of rubble.
Or at least he would be bleeding out if it wasn't for the healing Kaidō tags I had Urahara prepare for me. With those in place, Gin should be fine until Aizen was dealt with.
"Ah w-ell," Gin said with difficulty, "I guess this means I a-ccept your offer then."
"Tch, you're only saying that when there's nothing more you can do."
"It's just how...I am."
"The both of you seem to be under the impression that you will actually survive this." Aizen must have grown bored of our conversation and decided to interrupt.
I turned to face him.
Once again Aizen had changed. Now in addition to the three pairs of moth-like wings, he also had a large hole in the middle of his chest that mimicked a Hollow. Unlike them though, the Hogyoku rested in the middle of his chest connected to a cross structure.
"I admit I'm surprised to see you here, Alexandria Cross. After our last brief encounter I assumed you would know the difference between our powers. A difference that has only grown in the short time since." He continued. "And you seem to be interested in Gin? I wonder what you could possibly have planned when I've already been proven beyond him."
"Oh, I'm not counting on Gin for anything right now." I replied. "I'm recruiting him for what happens after you."
"After me? That won't happen. Ichigo Kurosaki was the only one among your group to come close to my new Reiatsu, for you to be unable to sense that just proves how far beneath me you are."
I smiled at Aizen's proclamation.
"Never have been the best sensor. Now, shall we take this elsewhere? I'd hate for anyone to get caught up in our fight." I tilted my head to the spot where several of Ichigo's friend's stood nearby. Had Aizen been chasing them?
It didn't matter. It was time to move this fight to where a town full of innocents wouldn't get caught up in things.
"A meaningless proposal." Aizen dismissed. "Those are the words of someone powerful enough to make me listen. You aren't on that level."
"No?" I raised a hand. "I think you're wrong about that."
With a snap of my fingers a bright yellow spell-circle encircled both of us, and in the blink of an eye, the world was obscured in a flash of light.Spirit 4.8
The two of us reappeared in the middle of a large open plain. This was the location I had decided would be the site of my confrontation with Aizen. Both far enough from anyone around and unimportant enough that the both of us giving it our all wouldn't be a big issue. The fact this was the lands of one of the noble families that had pressed for that 'emergency council' nonsense and would likely be reduced to a wasteland was just a convenient bonus.
I could have sent us to some rocky canyon or a place designed to give me a slight upper hand… but it would be a waste of effort for little reward.
Aizen had reached a level where factors like terrain could change in an instant and relying on that to defeat him would be a mistake. So I simply didn't bother. This would be as close to a direct conflict as possible with only our own personal skills to give us an edge over the other.
"Interesting…"
That one word was enough for me to completely focus on my opponent. I was confident in my strategy, but this still wasn't an enemy to take lightly at all.
"You managed to teleport me despite the difference in our power." Aizen inspected the remains of the destination circle that had burned itself into the ground after activating. "I suppose this is your final gambit for time? It will certainly take a while to return to Karakura from this distance, but not nearly enough for it to be meaningful."
Once again I started feeling warm as I began drawing Reishi towards me, the increased density of the Soul Society making it both faster and easier. "I've taken the time to bring you out here. Naturally it's because I have a way to beat you."
Aizen smirked with disdain. "Impossible. I'm now an existence beyond the likes of Shinigami and Hollows. How could you, a faulty experiment of a regular soul, hope to match me in power?"
"By not being the experiment of Akihiro Kanou." I replied as I focused the Reishi I gathered inward. The particles collected, joined, fused, then ignited. Not a comfortable experience, in fact it felt like I had a bonfire in my chest, but along with the heat and pain my power skyrocketed. "I'm far beyond what he could have made. Something he learned at the end too."
Aizen felt the increase but remained unimpressed.
"I see… your bout with Gin wasn't the limit you could boost yourself. But even now you are only slightly stronger than that old fool Yamamoto."
He blurred and reappeared behind me, right arm drawn back.
"And unfortunately for you, I have no desire to entertain your delusions…"
He swung, aiming to take my head off at the neck.
Given that even this casual swing had enough force in it to level a building, I don't think he was expecting me to parry it with Kanshou...or have the spare ability to counterattack with Bakuya.
The blade fused to Aizen's hand skittered over the black blade in a shower of sparks and the white counterpart whistled through the air and struck Aizen in the side of the neck...where it failed to do more than a tiny cut.
The two of us separated after the short clash. Aizen casually ran a finger over the place Bakuya hit him, the damage already undone by the quick regeneration he now had.
"...Impressive. Had we fought before my latest transformation you might have been able to kill me with that attack." Aizen dropped his hand. "Though it seems that even if you can keep up with me, your weapons lack the ability to cut me."
I was getting really annoyed at the constant condescension, but in this particular instance he was right. Kanshou and Bakuya were my favorites, they were superb swords, they also lacked the inherent power needed to kill something like Aizen even when pushed and reinforced to their limits.
So I would have to break them just a bit.
"Trace: Overedge"
The black and white blades flowed outward, nearly doubling in length and growing crystalline feathers down the spine of each blade. In addition to their new appearance, everything about the swords was enhanced. Cutting power, durability, sharpness...all of it was enhanced to new heights.
I leveled the newly changed blades at Aizen and without warning charged in close.
The first attack was blocked with the same easy disdain Aizen had shown this entire time. But the force behind it forced his eyes to widen as he quickly needed to use more strength or have his sword battered away by the second.
He was able to react in time to block the second strike, and the third, and the fourth. But as I continued to chain my attacks, parrying and dodging around his counterattacks, I managed to land a deep cut to his leg. Aizen grunted in pain and surprise at the wound and viciously swiped at me in retaliation. The power of his attack, decimating the surrounding landscape.
"A little excessive for such a small wound don't you think?" I taunted. "Or has your new strength left you with no control?"
Aizen's face twisted in outrage. "How is this possible?!" he demanded. "Even if you focused all of your Reiatsu into your swords it should still be insufficient to do more scratch me with the amount you have!"
"Simple." I replied, a smug smirk on my face. "I have never, not once, used Reiatsu, Reiryoku, or Reishi for any of my abilities. This power you sense? It's a side effect of using my powers to the limit."
"I see." he snarled. "It was a mistake to think you were the simple result of a mistake if someone like Kisuke Urahara decided to keep you around. Congratulations, Alexandria Cross. You will be the final opponent on my ascent to stand at the top of the heavens."
"We'll see about that." I said and settled into a stance.
I flung myself to the side as my instincts screamed. Aizen appeared in front of my previous position, sword slashing through where my head had been. The earth trembled as a gouge extended far past his slash. Not giving him time to recover I immediately rushed to attack.
The two of us began another furious exchange of blows. Aizen had pure physical strength on his side, the attacks I failed to parry often cratering the earth and whipping up gusts of wind, but I was faster. I used every ounce of speed and flexibility to divert the path of his sword and retaliate with a slash or stab. But the ones I did manage to land were soon fixed by his regeneration and he only needed to hit me once or twice at this rate and be the end of me.
Despite the boost Overedge gave them, Kanshou and Bakuya simply weren't enough for the job. They were on the edge of breaking anyway. Aizen's blows were simply too much for them.
I don't think he was expecting me to literally throw away my swords. Probably the result of everyone's weapon being a part of their soul, I doubt he was used to people treating their swords as disposable, but when I did there was a half second delay that allowed Bakuya to pierce his shoulder before exploding and him moving to slap Kanshou out of the air.
But that half second delay was enough.
"You're getting desperate. Or do you think a longer weapon will be enough to keep me away?"
I ignored the taunt.
"I think you rely on your new abilities too much." I said instead. "And it's time you lost one of them."
Twin spears lashed out, and while I said Aizen leaned too much on his new abilities, it didn't mean he was willingly allowing himself to be hurt. He simply allowed small hits when he was certain I couldn't cause an injury sufficient enough to create a bigger opening and counterattacked.
What he didn't expect was that my entire style changed along with the weapon swap. I might have still been dual wielding, but the skills burned into the memory of the weapon itself was completely different than before. For him it must have been like suddenly fighting a completely different person with no warning.
And it allowed me a hit.
Not a very big one. Merely a small cut on his right arm and what could generously be referred to as a scratch along his cheek. But that alone was enough to make me smile.
"I see, your fighting style is tied directly into whatever weapon you wield. Any tells I discover are useless once you change." Aizen analysed. "And if your skills remain at this level then you could theoretically last for quite some time."
He sneered when he saw the smile on my face. "But it is ultimately pointless. You might have the skill to make me bleed, even in my current state, but any injury will simply-"
He froze as the sound of liquid dripping rang out.
The cut on his face might not have been enough to bleed but the one on his arm certainly was. Black blood ran down his arm where it dripped to the ground forming a small puddle. And. it. Was. Not. Healing.
"What have you done?" it was barely a whisper but Aizen's horrified tone carried over.
"Did you think the weapons I created weren't special?" I said instead of answering. "That the best I was capable of was simply imitating Zanpakuto? When we first fought that might have been all I could do, but right now I can call on weapons beyond your wildest imagination."
I twirled the spear in my right hand and brought it to rest on my shoulder.
Gáe Buidhe.
The Yellow Rose of Mortality.
A spear that cursed any wound it made to linger, unable to be healed as long as the spear remained whole or until the curse was dismissed. It was by far the most costly weapon I had Traced to date, but that single ability was worth it. Mana was something I had a bit of a surplus at the moment.
So I made two of them.
A range of emotions played over Aizen's face before it returned to the calm facade he normally wore.
"Alexandria Cross. You truly are a unique being matched only by myself. Perhaps if I had paid you more attention this would not have been a surprise until now. In this moment you are my equal in close range combat. And perhaps if this battle was dependent on that you could possibly win."
Aizen pointed his left hand at the sky, index finger extended.
"In physical combat we might be matched, but I am the being beyond both Shinigami and Hollow and physical combat is not all there is. So how will you handle this, I wonder?
Seeping crest of turbidity. Arrogant vessel of lunacy! Boil forth and deny! Grow numb and flicker!
Disrupt sleep! Crawling queen of iron! Eternally self-destructing doll of mud! Unite!
Repulse! Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness!
Hadō #90. Kurohitsugi!"
I calmly planted the Gáe Buidhe in my left hand into the ground and Traced another weapon even as I was swallowed by the pure black structure created by Aizen's spell. Gravity began to distort as it began to activate. The last bit of light was obstructed in short order. In moments I would be caught in the raw fury of something approximating the force of a black hole, so I did the only logical thing I could do.
I took a few steps forward and lightly stabbed the 'wall' with the ornate dagger I had just created.
I greatly enjoyed the shocked expression on Aizen's face as his Kido shattered like glass without doing anything to me.
"I might not be able to use Kido. But I am not helpless because of it." I said confidently.
Aizen's shoulders began to shake. I allowed the dagger to disperse in motes of mana and retrieved the spear I had discarded.
Aizen was arrogant to the extreme. I wasn't entirely sure what he would do after seeing me destroy his spell so casually.
I certainly wasn't expecting him to burst out laughing.
"HAHAHAHAHA!" his head went back as his laughter rang out over the shattered landscape. "Incredible! No one has managed to stand at the very peak of creation, yet here, after countless years of vacancy...not one but two beings have the potential!
Well done Alexandria Cross. You have managed to overcome your artificial nature and stand just below me at the peak of perfection! And as entertaining as this encounter has been. It is time to draw it to a close."
As if on cue the 'bonfire' in my chest flared and sparked. I coughed and my heart fell at the sight of bright red flecks of blood on the back of my hand. I had nearly reached my limit for drawing in Reishi.
"Alright then." I agreed. "Since you want to end things so badly then I'll show you everything I have…"
My voice echoed out over the landscape as even the wind died down when I began my aria.
"My body is made of stars"
Stars, for as long as people had been able to look up, have been regarded as things 'beyond'. They were unattainable by any normal person and even in the most wild stories all people managed to do was travel between them. I might be a 'broken' template for what I was meant to accomplish but at my base I was still 'beyond' the limits of any normal creature.
"Unquenchable is my spirit"
"Unconquerable is my soul"
And just because I was 'broken', I would not simply accept that and fade away. I would carve my place in reality and keep searching until I found a way to fix myself and at the end of that journey the only one able to decide my path would be myself and my conscience.
"In these hands I hold the tapestry of heaven"
And since I was 'beyond' any single universe, every one of them...from the most turbulent and hostile to the most kind and nurturing...was within my reach. And I would travel them all if need be.
"With no known beginning"
"And a forever uncertain end"
No matter how long it would take. I would find my answer.
"The world will echo with my arrival"
And I would crush any enemy that got in the way of that.
"So by my command"
"Unlimited Blade Works!"
Once again, Aizen and I were surrounded by golden energy. But this time instead of a spell-circle, it was golden flames that grew higher and higher until we were both completely encased.
And then everything expanded as the true form of the Unlimited Blade Works was revealed.
"So this is the ultimate expression of your power?" Aizen asked as he looked around. His tone was somber and almost reverent at the display.
"I understand. If this is what the peak of your power looks like...then it would be insulting for me not to reply in kind."
"BANKAI"Spirit 4.9
"BANKAI"
That one word was enough to crush any sense of triumph I felt for managing to actually pull off the ultimate form of my Tracing ability.
A large part of my confidence in this fight revolved around knowing what Aizen might do. And for the most part, the fight had followed the same pattern. His attitude and words might have been different, but the abilities were largely the same. Knowing what he was able to do let me be ready with Rule Breaker the instant he tried Kido, afterall. Hell, I was even ready to swarm his next evolution with anti-demonic swords to take advantage of the strengthening of his Hollow attributes.
...only releasing his Bankai pushed his form more towards Soul Reaper than Hollow.
That wasn't to say Aizen could possibly pass for human as he was now. He had gained a third eye in the middle of his forehead, and the sclera of all three had changed to pitch black while the iris turned solid white. The skin on the outer two thirds of his face had turned an inky black and had the same flame like pattern that had started trailing down his legs and arms. Unlike before only his hands and feet remained white.
The next biggest change were the wings that had been attached to his back.
Now instead of the vaguely moth-like things they had been before, there were ones that looked more like dragonfly wings. That was until you looked closer and saw that each one shimmered and shifted as if they were a kaleidoscope.
"Be proud, Alexandria Cross. You are only the second opponent I have felt was worthy enough to see my Bankai." Aizen commented. "Think of it as thanks for this display...even if it revealed how desperate you are to finish this."
I grimaced at the truth of that.
The creation and use of a Reality Marble like the Unlimited Blade Works was just as powerful as it seemed. I was literally overwriting the rules of reality in a set area and replacing it with a manifestation of my own soul after all!
The downside to that was I was also baring the exact state of my own inner world and weaponizing it.
And mine wasn't exactly in the best shape at the moment.
Similarly to its namesake, my Unlimited Blade Works was a vast barren desert host to an uncountable number of weapons planted into the ground as if in monument. Unlike the original, there were also a number of grand towers dotting the landscape, although they looked like they didn't quite fit in. The ground around the base of each one was cracked and jutting out, like someone had dug a crude hole and simply dropped the tower into it.
Another major difference was the sky.
It was a shattered thing, like it was some giant mirror that someone had struck with a hammer. The massive iron gears that should have dominated the sky were replaced with a roiling mass of energy. Every once in a while hints of a sky peaked out from the chaos, but other than that everything was obscured behind polychromatic clouds and the cracks running through it.
Yeah, my soul was a mess. And that excluded the active damage I was doing to it with my little Reishi trick.
Glowing blue-white streams of energy were burning their way across the landscape. That was sure to cause some side effects once this fight was over.
"Despite the flaws, I will admit you have managed to accomplish a limited form of my own dream…" Aizen continued, "To remake reality around you at a whim! Incredible!"
"You seem far more excited about this than I expected for someone with your abilities." I remarked, taking the opportunity to collect myself and plan out my next move now that my current plans were scrapped.
Aizen scoffed.
"Shall I tell you a secret, miss Cross? While certainly powerful, my Kyōka Suigetsu is unfortunately limited for my liking."
I practically gaped at the person calling complete and total hypnosis for an undefined length of time 'limited'.
"You don't believe me? What else would you call something that can only control the senses other than limited? Even if I created an illusion of the entire world on fire, would that mean the world truly burned? Of course not; it is only an illusion after all."
"This Bankai fixes that flaw to a degree, allowing me to impose a bit of my will on the world. Even then, in its second release Kyōka Suigetsu has limitations."
The six insectile wings on his back detached and warped, becoming vaguely human shaped before more details started being added, quickly settling into recognizable forms.
"I may not be able to control your senses like this, but watching you deal with the forms of everyone under Kyōka Suigetsu's influence should be interesting. Let us see which is more powerful in this instant. Your control over this world or mine of the people inside it."
The six figures stopped shimmering and stepped forward. Kisuke, Yoruichi, Yamamoto, Coyote Starrk, and Gin all fanned out around Aizen.
I just stared at all of them while waiting to react to the slightest move. "Well this just seems incredibly unfair…" I muttered.
No one moved for a second and I decided waiting for seven powerful beings to try and kill me was a bad move, so I went for a kill shot.
A single sword fell from the sky like a bolt of lightning and speared Aizen through the chest. As one of the blades I had with a 'Death' aspect that should have inconvenienced him quite a bit even if his cheating marble wouldn't let it kill him straight off.
Instead Aizen's image shattered and was replaced by Gin's as the copy began to turn black and crumble away.
Wonderful. Not only did that strike prove Aizen's copies were corporeal, but he could either switch between them at will, could disguise himself as one of them, or they automatically swapped with him if he took a lethal hit.
"...incredibly unfair…" I repeated, and then all of them attacked.
I was lucky that being in a manifestation of my soul gave me a perfect perception of everything in it or I might have lost in the first few seconds.
For some reason I was expecting Aizen's copies to be restricted to the level of their real life counterparts. Unfortunately for me, Aizen cheats.
I had to hurriedly duck before clone-Yoruichi's leg nearly crushed my head. The clone moved faster than I had ever seen the real thing, moving only slightly slower than Aizen himself could.
Before I could think too deeply on that I had to dive out of the way as clone-Kisuke began to shower the area in Kido and clone-Yamamoto bathed the entire surrounding area in fire.
If Aizen hoped the fire would prevent me from using those weapons he was mistaken.
clone-Yoruichi rushed in close to deny me the range advantage of my spears so I abandoned one and swapped it for a shortsword. The advantage of being in the UBW meant that I had no need to figure out the name or ability of the blade, simply that this one was fast enough to cut lighting. The clone barely dodged out of the way, strands of hair being severed from the near miss, and was sent flying when I battered her out of the way with the haft of Gáe Buidhe.
Not letting the clone recover I flexed my will and practically rained blades where she landed. If I managed to kill the clone, I didn't know, the instant I did that I was surrounded by ghostly wolves flickering with blue fire and the ground exploded in a beam of blue-white energy.
It hurt. It hurt alot! I was covered in burns and a good amount of my uniform was in shreds.
The blast threw me clear of ground zero even after I managed to kill the closest wolves and counter some of the explosion by breaking the sword in my hand. But even then I didn't have a second to breathe as another beacon of energy started to build in the distance.
I twisted midair and threw my remaining spear, managing to hit clone-Starrk's shoulder and forcing the forming cero to miss before it fired and immediately righting myself as Aizen slashed at me.
I was able to block it, another sword jumping to my hand at the slightest call, but my poor positioning meant that the blow caused me to crater into the ground where I struggled to push back his blade.
"Is this the extent of your power?" Aizen asked. "...Disappointing. I had hoped you would show me something impressive but simple control of the weapons around us and increasing your ability to swap them…" he trailed off.
He thrusted his left hand into my face, a glowing purple cero in his palm, and fired.
The blast failed to vaporise my head, but it must have been a near thing from my experience. Blood poured down my face and my thoughts were hazy. Despite that I could still hear Aizen talking.
"Perhaps I was too excited by the form of your ability and thought it would be stronger...no matter. Our fight is over."
I half expected him to stab me then and there, but instead he backed off and...started walking away?!
With a considerable amount of effort I pushed myself up and saw the reason Aizen walked off where he was joined by the other three remaining clones.
The sixth clone, one that I lost sight of before the fight even really began was hovering in the air on black wings. Ulquiorra Cifer might have thought Aizen was unaware of his second release form, but that was clearly not the case.
More immediately concerning was the massive amount of energy being forced into a small point in the clone's hands.
"I wonder if you were able to figure out the trick to my Bankai in your short struggle? I do not simply make clones of those under my influence. I grant them an aspect of my own abilities."
"Kisuke Urahara, for all my knowledge in Kido. Yoruichi Shihoin, for my speed. My primera espada for my Hollow abilities. The old man for my Shinigami ones. Gin...well I suppose that doesn't matter really. But this one? In this one, I've focused all of my destructive potential. In fact, as a reward for lasting even this long, I will focus every ounce of my power." With the flourish of a hand, all the clones surrounding Aizen shattered and were absorbed by the Ulquiorra clone. Once that was done the sphere in its hands grew to the size of a beach ball before being compressed back down.
"Goodbye, Alexandria Cross."
clone-Ulquiorra fired.
-o-
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the torrent of green-black energy raced towards me.
My mind was furiously trying to come up with a way to either block or destroy this attack but I was coming up with nothing.
Any weapon I could think of needed at least some time to prepare an attack strong enough to do more than slightly delay my death for a couple seconds at best. I didn't think any shield I had could block this either.
So this was it? Everything I had at my disposal and even the Unlimited Blade Works wasn't enough to win?
But I didn't use everything did I?
Well, no.
I hadn't really utilized my Bombardment Magic in any meaningful way for the entire fight, but that didn't matter since my device prototype was lost at some point.
Even if I hadn't, it wouldn't be that useful. The prototype was still not good enough to handle the variables needed to control any spell I loaded into it after switching worlds without maintenance, let alone trying to match the power output needed to threaten what was coming at me.
Does that even matter here?
Of course it mattered! Bombardment spells weren't simply an outpouring of mana! Well, the attack itself might be considered that, but they were carefully crafted structures meant to focus that raw destructive energy at its target and needed to have every aspect taken into account so the spell wouldn't simply explode on the caster! In order to do so I would need to calculate everything from my internal energy structure to the makeup of the surrounding environment, which without a device...was impossible…
My eyes widened.
It wasn't impossible.
I had made a mistake and overlooked something when I manifested a Reality Marble.
I simply thought it was the pinnacle of my FATE series of magic, and it was, but I failed to realise that it was no longer the singular expression that it was copied from. Now it also incorporated everything that was connected to my soul. That meant if I knew how to cast it, I could do so here, and that included the high level Bombardment spells that I created for fun but could never use without a serious upgrade in hardware.
This was the projection of my inner world after all. I already had the variables accounted for.
The grin that grew on my face might have been slightly feral. I didn't care though. Even if the 'bonfire' in my chest ramped up to inferno, it was all worth it as a bright spell-circle drew itself in front of me.
-o-
"Solar Burst!"
A titanic beam of yellow-white energy exploded out of the crater I was in and rose to meet the rush of green-black Reishi descending on me.
Both attacks clashed, and for a moment, struggled against each other before exploding in a massive flash of light that sent shockwaves across the battlefield.
While I made my way out of the crater I stoically watched Aizen for any sudden moves, but on the inside I was practically trembling with relief and excitement. That had been entirely too close, but at the same time I had been right.
Solar Destruction was a purely theoretical spell I had done for fun. I had made it simply as a thought exercise similarly to taking a handgun and ramping it up to the size of an artillery cannon. It was wasteful, inefficient, and probably overly complex but it was also just as easy to pull off as any other spell while I was in my Reality Marble.
That meant all my other theoretical spells should work just as well!
"So you had some additional tricks left after all." Aizen stated once I was close enough.
"Disappointed? You aren't beating me that easily." I returned.
He didn't respond as the clone-Ulquiorra descended behind him and the other five clones re-emerged. Dammit, I was hoping that he couldn't bring those back once they were dismissed.
I looked at the now healthy looking Gin clone.
And it seems that they healed themselves after some time too. Fantastic.
"Nothing to say? That's fine too..."
One versus seven was still terrible odds, even with the spells I could play around with. I would have to make sure to keep them busy so they couldn't coordinate between themselves.
I swept an arm out to my side and summoned two more Noble Phantasms while another circle bloomed to life in front of me.
"Solar Bullet: Swarm Shot!"
A mass of softball sized glowing orbs poured out into the air as the second spell in my 'Solar' series of spells flared. Again it was just a scaled up version of my more practical and refined 'Nova' spells, but anything less probably wouldn't work against this opponent.
A couple hundred of them shot toward the small group in front of me homing in on six of the figures, causing the clones to scatter while I focused on the main threat. Aizen.
Whether he could swap with the clones after a major injury or if it was something else to do with his Bankai was not relevant. Giving him time to observe and think unmolested was a bad plan regardless.
There was no more banter as we fought. As much as Aizen liked the sound of his own voice, he had already declared I was dead. So when I stubbornly kept breathing, talking to me now would be admitting he was wrong again. And he had far too much pride for that.
I was simply in too much pain to think about talking at the moment.
While I clashed directly with Aizen, one of his clones would occasionally evade enough of the homing orbs of destruction chasing them long enough to launch attacks at me or get close enough to attack directly.
Most of the time they were discouraged by retaliating beams of energy out of one of several spell circles orbiting me at the moment but they did get through which led to me simultaneously fighting Aizen and one of his doubles at the same time. Unsurprisingly the Yoruichi clone had been the first simply be being to fast for me to accurately target with my attention divided but after I made a semi-sacrificial move by allowing a kick to the side that definitely broke a rib or two; I managed to stab her through the throat and kill that copy.
Moments later the Yamamoto clone was finally tripped up by the bullet swarm and took a Solar Blast to the chest, disintegrating it and removing him from the battlefield as well.
That was when I made an unfortunate discovery about Aizen's ability.
The Starrk clone had managed to get close enough to use the glowing sticks of Reishi he called swords and was using them to back up Aizen far more than I would like. Blades were being shattered by both sides, the only exception being Aizen himself, and while I had a virtually unlimited number of swords to use, so did he.
And then he got faster.
It was a sudden thing. The three of us had been slashing at each other so much so quickly the immediate surroundings were practically glowing with sparks and shards of metal coming off our blades. I had practically dedicated myself to using weapons that caused cursed injuries so all of us were bleeding somewhat.
The Starrk clone was primarily focusing on making sure to interrupt my rhythm and was doing a near perfect job of it. Just like I observed in the Yoruichi clone it wasn't quite at Aizen's level but it was close enough to demand respect. Finally, I managed to sneak a swarm bullet into hitting it behind after one of the other clones inadvertently created a smokescreen by exploding dozens of others following it.
Just as my blade was about to score a more crippling blow, the Starrk clone moved at the same speeds I had seen the Yoruichi clone move and dodged the blow.
A second later I was blown away by a blast of blue energy and sent skidding across the ground.
Panting heavily, I pulled myself back to my feet and zeroed in on Aizen and Starrk, who was standing nearby.
"I see you figured it out." Aizen said as another two clones were killed. The Kisuke clone caught a Trace bullet through the heart after the anti-magic properties finally overwhelmed it's defenses and the Ulquiorra clone was caught between three beams and almost vaporised. I had a sneaking suspicion Aizen let me destroy them.
"That you don't need the clone alive to add its aspect to another? Yeah, I got that."
"Indeed, the forms don't matter; they are simply illusions afterall. I can simply readjust what power I give each one, although the more of them there are, the more the overall power drops."
I hadn't noticed that part but I supposed it made sense.
"So are there any more tricks you wish to use? Any more powers you have hidden away? I will not give you the same chance twice." Aizen declared, only one clone standing with him now. It looked like he had seen enough of my newly displayed powers and was going to focus his own as much as possible to kill me at close range.
Not a bad idea if I was unwilling to blow myself up with my own attacks.
I smiled and raised a hand.
"Just the one more." I said as the entire shattered sky was suddenly covered in thousands of sigils and the weapons on the ground started to glow.
Aizen looked up and seemed to understand what I was about to do.
"You wouldn't…" he nearly whispered, horrified.
"I would." I replied.
"Ragnarok: Starfall!"
My hand came down and the sky followed. There was a brief moment of light and pain…
And then nothing…
-o-
The first thing I was aware of when I regained consciousness was the sky was blue.
For a while I was content to just lay on the ground. I hurt in ways I didn't know were possible. Turns out even though I shielded myself, magically nuking an entire sub-dimension isn't easy to walk off. Was it because the sub-dimension was my soul that this hurt so freaking bad? I bet it was because it was my soul.
My internal musing was interrupted by an odd hacking laughter.
With far more effort than it should've taken, I managed to push myself up on my elbows. I saw Aizen laying on the ground not far from me and in much worse condition. The majority of his limbs had been blown off at certain points, the largest remaining being his right arm and even that was charred and broken off at the forearm. The rest of him wasn't much better -even if it was slowly regenerating now that all the weapons causing the cursed injuries were destroyed- but the creepy thing was that he was missing most of the left side of his face. And it was regenerating wrong.
Instead of his human face, Aizen was regenerating and transforming to look more demonic. The small amount of skin growing back was black as pitch and his teeth were growing larger and sharper as well.
"HAHAHAHAHA," the broken creature in front of me continued to laugh, "you've lost, Alexandria Cross! Even at the cost of all your power you were unable to kill me, and now I am progressing to my next form!"
"You have NOTHING left! This is the END!"
"N-not...yet…" I gasped out, pulling myself to my feet and awkwardly shuffling towards him. "...I got...one...thing left…"
I was scraping the bottom of practically everything, mana or stamina, but I still managed to Trace what I needed.
"You think that trinket will be enough to kill me?" Aizen gloated, observing the iridescent dagger in my hand. "It may have the power to break my Kido but you would have used it earlier if it had the potential to kill me."
"True…" I replied, taking a moment to try clearing my vision as everything went blurry. It didn't work. In fact shaking my head in the attempt only meant the entire world seemed to be rocking on top of that. "But I don't...need it to kill you...just get rid of one thing."
Aizen stopped laughing when the dull tip of the athame landed on the Hogyoku. When nothing immediately happened he started chuckling again.
"Really? Did you not learn after Gin. The Hogyoku is indestructible and even if you remove it from me, it will do nothing. It is perfectly bonded to me."
"That's nice…" It was getting hard to keep my eyes open. "Too bad for you… this is a bit of a…Rule Breaker."
The dagger glowed and sank into his chest. With a tiny 'pop' the jewel-like sphere that had caused so many problems fell to the ground.
Aizen gasped as his connection to the Hogyoku was severed. I couldn't see his face -my sight was still too blurry for that- but I could hear the rage and confusion in his voice.
"How did you…?! What Have YOU DOONE?!" he screamed.
"I broke the connection." I murmured. "You aren't the Hogyoku's master anymore…"
"IMPOSSIBLE! YOU DON'T HAVE THE POWER TO DO THAT! NOTHING HAS THE POWER TO DO THAT!" Aizen raged, sounding oddly distant. "It doesn't matter, I am still regenerating. I will simply subjugate it again and you won't be able to stop me!"
His rant was interrupted by a small spike of glowing white energy bursting out his chest. Finally, it was about time.
"..." Aizen continued to scream at me, but I couldn't make out the words any more. There was a low buzzing sound that seemed to drown out everything else.
I idly noticed that what remained of my vision was slowly going black.
Recognizing what was going on, I collapsed back on to the ground, and finally passed out.