Necessary Evil

Rukia was on the verge of panicking right now. Then again, who wouldn't be if that person was being chased by an insane skeletal Hollow who only had to BREATHE on you from a distance to rot away your flesh and bone? If it weren't for Hachi putting up barriers left and right, Rukia knew she'd surely be dead by now.

Please, hold him still! My attacks are dances for a reason, it takes a moment to set them up! "Get him trapped, if only for a moment!" Rukia called out desperately, a plan formulating in her head.

The large Vizard clapped his hands together, murmuring under his breath as he materialized four barriers, which quickly closed into a box around Baraggan, who simply filled the box with his Respira, breaking it down rapidly. "You've only got seconds before it breaks!"

"Buying time for an attack? Hmph. Against me, buying time is like spitting in the face of Kami. Useless, and ultimately makes things worse for you!"

"Harribel! Use your Cascada!" Even as the Arrancar responded, Rukia Shunpo-ed over to the opposite side of Baraggan from the water-using ex-Espada. "Tsugi no Mai! Hakuren!"

The barriers broke a mere instant before the pair of ice and water attacks could connect, but in that instant Baraggan vanished into Sonido, evading the attack and going after Hachigen, who promptly put up enormous, nigh-unbreakable barriers. "Do you really think you can stop me, the Lord of Hueco Mundo?"

Suddenly a trio of ice dragons erupted out of seemingly nowhere and forced Baraggan to slice them down with his axe. "You're not in Hueco Mundo anymore," a familiar voice stated calmly. Rukia spun around and damn near passed out in relief; Hitsugaya-taicho had returned, fully healed, in Bankai, standing on the roof of a nearby building.

But then she saw someone else next to him. "Orihime? Why are you here?" She Shunpo-ed down, ready to carry her friend away from the mortal danger. "Let's get out of here!"

"No. Here is where I'm needed," Inoue replied quietly.

"You'll get killed!" Rukia argued, eyes wide and pleading.

"… Do you know the true nature of my powers?"

The Shinigami was thrown off by Inoue's tone; her usual kindly voice, reflective of her gentle spirit, had just the hint of steel in her words. Even so, she responded. "Not really… I know you're a healer though."

Of all things, she didn't expect Inoue to shake her head, negating the assertion. "No, that's just what I use them for most of the time. Like Kido can be used for healing, binding or destruction, my powers have different uses. Now please, Rukia-chan, I need to concentrate… Hitsugaya-kun has explained what Baraggan can do, and I need to focus to counter him."

Rukia could only step back and stare at her friend. When did she… how did she grow so much? She's so confident she can finish him, but she only got her powers a year ago! She shook her head. Rukia had to admit she didn't know the details of Inoue's powers; it was entirely possible that she had somehow been blessed with a power capable of countering Baraggan's hellish mastery of time dilation and his lethal Respira. She stepped back a little further, Sode no Shirayuki at the ready, just in case.

"You've returned. I admit I thought you had run, but I see you lack even the most basic of wisdom and primal instinct of self-preservation," Baraggan taunted in an observatory tone. "Do you think you can trap me again?"

"Oh, I'm sure I could," Hitsugaya told him coolly. "However, not only would it kill some of the people in the area, but it would not rid our world of you forever. It might be days, it might be years, but you'd return thanks to your time dilation powers. By inverting it, years could pass for the world around you, but only minutes or hours for you…"

Baraggan laughed. "Oh, so the ant shows some intelligence! So, now that you see the inevitability of death, just what is your plan for defeating me?"

"I won't be the one to defeat you. She will." Hitsugaya indicated Inoue on the building, who was staring up at Baraggan with eyes devoid of fear.

There was a pause. "A human? A HUMAN? You dare to think a human, a flea to the smallest of Shinigami ants, could harm me, let alone defeat me?"

"I know she can," Hitsugaya said with a small smile. "Go ahead, try to kill her. I won't stop you."

Hachigen looked at him incredulously. "Are you insane? She's only human!"

"She may be human, but she's far stronger than you think," came the response. "Let her show you what she can do. Trust me."

Baraggan laughed. "Oh, now you've caught my interest. Very well, your death has been delayed. Let's see what this oh so mighty human can do against my Respira." He turned to face Inoue and let loose his rotting breath, waiting with interest to see how the weak human would react. Will she flee before my might? Put up some useless shield? Just stand and die?

"ORIHIME!" Rukia screamed, taking her arm and about to Shunpo, only to have Inoue roughly pull her arm away.

"Rukia-chan… Watch me! I am no longer as weak as I was!" Inoue focused hard, glaring determinedly at the deadly visage of Baraggan's Resurreccion as the Respira rushed towards her. She took a deep breath and steadied her resolve, focusing on her power. This would be the biggest feat she'd yet attempted with it, but she knew, she knew in her heart she could do it. She had to. "Santen Kesshun!" she called out, throwing her arms in front of her as if to brace herself, and her shield. "I REJECT!"

An enormous triangular barrier materialized in front of her, spanning several blocks and reaching high into the sky. The Respira rushed it, impacted, but…

"Impossible!" Baraggan roared as even after several seconds, the shield showed no signs of growing weaker. "Why won't your shield rot? All things made by mortals are susceptible to time! Even Kido falls before me!"

"This is my power," Inoue announced to the awed eyes of her audience. "You may be able to rot away flesh, bone and sinew. You may be able to decompose earth and metal and even dissipate reiatsu. But my technique is based on none of those, nothing but the eternal force of my will to protect! This is my power, Baraggan, Lord of Hueco Mundo! This power that intrudes on Kami's territory! The power to reject and reshape reality! And I reject you and your power! Tsubaki! Koten Zanshun! I reject!"

The fairy practically erupted from her hairpin, resting momentarily in front of her hands as he generated a thin rejection barrier above and below him, forming an edge as sharp as Inoue's resolve. It launched at her opponent almost too fast for her eyes, accustomed to watching Ichigo's Bankai, to follow. Tsubaki slipped right through her Santen Kesshun as though it weren't there, and continued to punch through the Respira without any signs of slowing or weakening.

Baraggan quickly drew his axe and brought it down on the fairy, but suddenly, the Koten Zanshun had changed directions and was attacking from behind. To the time lord's disgruntlement, the attack seemed completely unaffected by his time dilation. Instead of paying attention to the pest attacking him, he Sonido-ed directly to the barrier and slammed his axe against it. It cracked, giving him heart as he attacked it again and again, making the cracks longer and wider.

Inoue began to falter; keeping up her shield and the attack was exhausting her quickly; the extreme mental focus it required was beginning to give her a headache, and her reiatsu was draining at an alarming rate. But then she started feeling better, and saw that Rukia was using a healing Kido on her. "But… I'm not injured?" she asked confusedly.

"Healing Kido works by restoring the patient's reiatsu first, so the healing of the body can be aided more quickly," Rukia explained. "I'm restoring your reiatsu, now finish him while I keep you going!"

"Right!" Inoue nodded firmly, turning her full attention back to Baraggan. With some focus, the shield's cracks repaired themselves, becoming as good as new as Tsubaki continued to terrorize the Segunda Espada.

Baraggan was understandably outraged that he couldn't seem to harm a measly human. "How can a human wield such a terrifying power?" he screamed. "No one can defy a Kami!"

"Maybe, but you are no Kami! Sōten Kisshun!"

Rukia immediately recognized it as Inoue's healing technique, and wondered just what she was up to, but was too occupied with keeping Inoue's reiatsu levels up to ask.

In response, Baraggan let loose another Respira… except to suddenly find himself, and all his Respira, surrounded in a golden barrier. Seeing him trapped, Inoue called back her Koten Zanshun and Santen Kisshun, knowing she'd need all her reiatsu and focus now to do what needed to be done. She had refused to show it, but the enemy had even more terrifying reiatsu than Ichigo's mask.

Hachigen took the opportunity to throw several barriers around the Sōten Kisshun as a precautionary measure in case Inoue's tactic, whatever it was, failed. Then he joined Rukia in the healing Kido, feeling that the younger Shinigami was almost completely drained. Harribel and Hitsugaya leaped down to join them, with Inoue at the front.

She looked up at Baraggan with kind eyes. "It's very sad what I'm going to have to do to you now, you know? I've never done it to anyone, and it seems far too cruel a punishment for almost anyone save Aizen himself. But… in order to protect my friends, I've learned that sometimes I have to make sacrifices…" She closed her eyes. "Even if those sacrifices haunt me for the rest of my life. Sōten Kisshun. I reject."

Suddenly knowing, knowing what was going to happen to him, fear gripped Baraggan for the first time in longer than he could remember. He poured all his power into his Respira and slammed his battle axe into the Sōten Kisshun over and over again, trying his best to break it to no avail. He even gathered and fired his most powerful Cero! But Baraggan could feel his reiatsu fading away faster than he was spending it. "No! You can't do this to me!"

Inoue said nothing, but kept her eyes and focus on the weakening Espada.

"I'm a Kami! The Kami of Hueco Mundo! You can't, you can't just erase me!" But the truth was staring him in the face even now. Before his very eyes, the tip of his battle axe had just evaporated, as though it had turned to ash and been whisked away by the wind. "I won't be defeated by a human! An ant! A mere insect to my might!"

"… Did you know, Baraggan…" Inoue whispered. "Even insects like me… can bring down the mightiest of monsters."

The axe was now almost completely gone; Baraggan had only one last card to play in his pursuit to survive. "You do realize that erasing me will erase all the souls that I've eaten, right human? How does it feel to be completely destroying the thousands, perhaps millions of souls that make up my power?"

"They'll be fine. I'm not rejecting them, I'm rejecting you. I'm rejecting the soul that holds them all captive, the being that wouldn't think twice about killing me or my friends. As soon as you're gone, my will directs that they'll go to Soul Society and rejoin the cycle of rebirth."

That was it. There was nothing left that he could do; he'd tried everything. Baraggan had to admit that he was done, he would not live past the next few minutes. So he nodded his head regally. "It seems I've been bested… It hurts my pride to admit that a human, one lowly human could defeat me, but I was never facing a human at all was I?" He turned his eyeless sockets at Inoue, seeming as though he could stare into her soul as his extremities began fading. "Regardless of your form, I was facing a Kami, someone whose powers transcend that of Shinigami and Hollow, or even that of Vizard and Arrancar. From one Kami to another… beware the machinations and betrayals of mortals." His limbs were completely gone, and his torso was going the same way. "They will try to enslave you to use your powers, or kill you for the threat you pose." Now only his head was left, and it was evaporating quickly. "Guard yourself well, young Kami." And with that, he was gone.

Inoue took a deep breath and released her Sōten Kisshun, returning her fairies to her hairpins. She turned around, facing her friends with a troubled, preoccupied look on her face. "Well… that's done… you all should go help with Aizen."

"I'll stay with you; my powers are a bit superfluous when compared against Hitsugaya-taicho's," Rukia volunteered.

The others nodded their assent, though each of them gave a respectful nod to Inoue as well. As soon as they were gone, she turned to Rukia. "Could you please bring us down to the ground? With all the fights going on, I'd rather not be on something that could collapse any minute."

Rukia smiled, bringing them down easily. Sitting on a nearby bench that had miraculously never been touched by the Respira that Baraggan had been throwing out so frequently, silence reigned for a minute. Rukia, who was used to Inoue happily jabbering about anything that crossed her mind, grew increasingly worried, and she glanced at Inoue's downcast expression. "What's eating you?"

Inoue quickly glanced around, as though checking if she were actually being eaten by something. When she realized what Rukia meant, she smiled sadly though her eyes were slowly watering. "Do you know what I just did?"

"You defeated and killed someone that even the combined forces of Shinigami and Arrancar couldn't," the short Shinigami replied as though it should've been obvious.

"I didn't kill him…" Now real tears were slowly trailing down Inoue's cheeks. "Killing him would be bad enough… I'm a pacifist, Rukia-chan. I hate fighting. I hate it when people get hurt. I never wanted to kill anyone in this war, except for that one time when Yammy nearly killed Sado-kun. When people die, then they go on to the next step of reincarnation, right? Humans and Hollows get purified and move on to Soul Society, people in Soul Society die and get reborn in the living world, right?" When Rukia nodded an affirmative, Inoue burst into sobs against Rukia's shoulder. "I was so, so happy when I found that out! Because I knew I'd see my brother again someday! Do you know what it's like for a human to know, absolutely know with proof that there's an afterlife? That there's never truly an end, just another beginning? It's such a relief, and it brings hope to those who've lost someone that maybe, just maybe, they'll be able to find each other again."

Rukia nodded as she held her friend. She could understand that, though she'd been very young when she'd died so she wouldn't know from experience. She decided not to remind Inoue of the fact that souls could meet a permanent end if they were killed by a Quincy arrow; Inoue's problem came first.

"But that soul probably didn't do anything to deserve becoming a Hollow. That soul didn't do anything to deserve being twisted into a mockery of its old self with a hunger for other souls. That soul beneath the Hollow didn't do anything to deserve being erased completely from existence. That soul will never get to see its loved ones, will never be reincarnated, will never again feel all the joys and agonies of life! Because of me! What gave me the right to play Kami with people's very souls?"

Now Rukia knew what Inoue was going through, and now that she understood she was a little horrified too. She'd watched Baraggan fade from reality piece by piece, his last words being a warning of all things to the woman who'd destroyed him. Inoue needed someone who could understand… Rukia revoked her previous decision not to speak about the Quincy. "Orihime… you're not the first to have done this, you know?"

"Huh? There's someone else who's had these powers?"

"Not exactly… but there's someone else you know quite well whose powers also destroy Hollows without giving them a chance at reincarnation. Ishida Uryuu."

"What?" Inoue gasped.

"He's one of the last Quincy. There's a reason there aren't many left, Orihime… there was a war, a terrible war between the Quincy and the Shinigami… because the Quincy, when they slay a Hollow with their arrows, the souls that made up that Hollow cease to exist."

"Shit!" Ikkaku lunged to the side, narrowly escaping being skewered. He had quickly learned the devastating power of Gin's Bankai by receiving a cut to his arm before deflecting it with one of his own weapons, and for the first time Ikkaku wished his own Bankai had better defensive properties. He didn't want to die to this bastard! He swung down with his right arm, attempting to break Kamishini no Yari with the oversized monk spade, only to be frustrated as his target retracted long before he could connect. "This isn't good… I'm being outmaneuvered!" he muttered. I'm just not fast enough! He didn't have to glance at the center blade floating behind him to know that the faded red dragon crest was filling more slowly than usual due to the lack of injuries on either party.

Ryūmon Hōzukimaru was highly unusual for a Bankai. Aside from the standard increase in power, it didn't provide any special abilities or defensive properties. Also, it wasn't at full power immediately after releasing, unlike for instance Ichigo and Tensa Zangetsu. No, Ryūmon Hōzukimaru's power was reflected by the red dragon crest on the center axe-blade. The more blood was shed on either side, the more the Bankai would wake up and grow more powerful.

As a result, Ikkaku had a catch-22 on his hands. He couldn't hit Gin to increase his Bankai's power, and he couldn't hit Gin until he had increased his Bankai's power. He couldn't afford to let himself get stabbed and cut in half by the apparently infinitely-extending Kamishini no Yari, so letting himself get hurt was not an option. He couldn't get a moment to himself to spin the entire Bankai by the center handle, which was the only other way he knew of to quickly increase the power. And maintaining his Bankai was draining his reiatsu quickly… too quickly to last for the several minutes it would take for his Bankai to gain a significant amount more power. When he lost Bankai… I'll die, that's for damn sure.

Normally, Ikkaku had no problems with fighting to the death as long as he could keep his pride. His number one rule was to always fight one-on-one. Rule number two was to serve under Kenpachi until his death. Anything that compromised one of those conditions was unacceptable, and as a result Ikkaku had hidden his Bankai so he wouldn't get promoted out of Kenpachi's division.

However, Ikkaku had released his Bankai in public because he'd recognized that the alternative – not unleashing it and possibly resulting in Aizen's success – was by far a worse conclusion. Under the same reasoning, shouldn't he swallow his pride for this one fight and see if Yumichika would help?

The man was broken from his musings when Gin extended Kamishini no Yari and attempted to take Ikkaku's legs off with a horizontal swipe. Jumping over the blade, Ikkaku rushed at his opponent, only to be surprised when the man had nigh-instantly shortened Kamishini no Yari to the length of a short sword, re-aimed at Ikkaku's torso, and fired.

Ikkaku twisted, receiving a gash to his chest instead of being killed, but kept running at Gin, hoping that an up-close attack would keep the traitor from being able to use his Bankai effectively.

"You're too slow, Ikkaku-kun," Gin told him with a smile, merely Shunpo-ing a distance away and getting into position to spear him through once again.

The 11th Division member grimaced. I hate having to resort to this… He vanished in the tell-tale flicker of Shunpo, much to Gin's surprise, and reappeared right behind him, oversized blade already in mid-swing.

Gin's surprise at seeing Ikkaku able and willing to use Shunpo, a practice that most of the 11th Division considered too close to Kido to use, worked in concert with his previous injuries from Ichigo and kept him from being able to block effectively. Even so, he managed to leap out of the way enough to keep from losing his arm, only gaining another deep gash in his side. Cursing under his breath, Gin evaded the follow-up swing, twisting as he did so just enough to be able to block the next attack. To his horror, Kamishini no Yari cracked a little more under the pure offensive nature of Ikkaku's Bankai.

Ikkaku grinned; he'd landed a hit, and the crimson dragon mark on his Bankai had filled significantly higher due to the severity of the wound. He pressed his advantage, striking again and again, keeping Gin on the defensive, never able to properly point his Kamishini no Yari at him. Ikkaku's grin faltered slightly, however; he didn't have much reiatsu left. I need to finish this fast!

"You're better than I thought," Gin admitted, resorting to several successive Shunpo in order to get some distance between them. It worked, as Ikkaku's distaste for the technique had kept him from practicing it enough to keep up with the ex-taicho. "But you're getting slower, and your movements predictable. Your Bankai focuses on pure attack power, and it seems that it gets stronger the more that crest of yours fills. Too bad you won't be able to maintain it much longer."

"You're right," Ikkaku agreed, breathing heavily. "I've only got enough reiatsu left for one more assault, one more with full power!" He rushed at Gin and slashed with all his power!

Gin stood still until the very last moment, but then Shunpo-ed out of the way, a distance behind Ikkaku now. "Tsk, tsk. Ikkaku-kun, ya know I'm not part of the 11th Division so I'm not obligated to fight your way, and my part in this story isn't over yet. Do me a favor though, and don't die. I'm interested in seeing how you turn out." He vanished once more into high speed, escaping and presumably making his way over to Aizen.

"Fuck!" the exhausted member of the 11th Division cried out, even as his Bankai deteriorated and returned to Shikai state. Yumichika was suddenly there as Ikkaku collapsed, holding him up. "I'm too weak!"

"Well, now that you've revealed your Bankai, after this is all over you can ask Kenpachi to help you train with it," Yumichika reasoned.

"Yeah…" Ikkaku looked down at Hozukimaru in his hands. "Yeah… maybe I will."

The sky of Karakura was engulfed in black-and-red reiatsu in the shape of an enormous crescent, its power focused on the point of contact between Aizen and Ichigo. Watching carefully from a distance, waiting for his chance to finish things, Yamamoto was astounded at the raw power of that single strike. Moon-Fang Piercer of Heaven indeed. Is this it? He did not dare to hope.

Ichigo's Adjuchas mask kept all expression hidden as Aizen was revealed, horribly injured. Aizen's clothes had almost completely been burned away, only covered from his waist down in tattered remnants. His back had been cut so deeply and widely that Aizen's spine was exposed, though it hadn't been cut. But before Ichigo's very eyes, the wound was healing! "High-speed regeneration…" he observed. Behind the mask, he broke out into an insane grin reminiscent of Cazador's. "Let's test its limits then!"

But before he could once again strike Aizen down, the traitor Shunpo-ed away, facing the Vizard. "No. Do you honestly think that I would make myself a Hollow?" He indicated his stomach, where Ichigo could now see a jewel of some sort, which pulsed softly.

"The Hōgyoku?"

"Yes. I am the Hōgyoku's master, and by implanting it within me, it protects its host with its own brand of regeneration, among other things," Aizen explained with a knowing smirk.

"Whatever! Hollow or Hōgyoku, you got the regeneration! I wonder how much pain I can put you through before I kill you!" With that, Ichigo was once again dashing at Aizen, who prepared for another brutal assault.

However, Ichigo flickered into an ungodly fast Shunpo, pushing himself harder as he attempted to use a move he'd only seen once… and that one time was used against him. He appeared behind Aizen and attempted to stab backwards to pierce the traitor's Soul Sleep to rob him of all spiritual energy, permanently.

However, Tensa Zangetsu hit a barrier, and Ichigo had to use Shunpo again to evade Aizen's counter-swipe. "Another barrier? One would think that you'd expected to be caught off guard!"

"I do try to account for every possibility, and one of them was that Kuchiki Byakuya would be here. Senka is one of his favorite techniques, and the Soul Sleep is a very critical point. A barrier seemed prudent," Aizen explained with a small smile.

Ichigo cackled insanely as he swung his white Tensa Zangetsu against Kyoka Suigetsu, and he brought his masked face mere inches from Aizen's nose as he pressed all his weight against his blade. Unbeknownst to the entirely-too-calm traitor, Ichigo channeled more of his reiatsu to his black Tensa Zangetsu, and with a motion hidden by his body, swung his obsidian Zanpakuto around the both of them with a chain, tying them both together, sword against sword but otherwise completely pressed against each other. Abruptly, the ivory Bankai flared up with another Getsuga at the ready, pushing even harder against Kyoka Suigetsu.

Aizen's eyes widened; it didn't take a genius to know what was going to happen next. He could swear that Ichigo's mask, only inches from his own face, had impossibly widened its grin. Worse, he had no way to evade! The only thing he could do was put his faith in the Hōgyoku's regenerative abilities, and perform a self-damaging technique as well!

"Getsuga… Tenshō."

"Hado 90: Kurohitsugi!"

Given how Ichigo had not been able to swing, the Getsuga had a different effect than usual. Instead of manifesting as an enormous black, raging crescent attack, it appeared as a bubble-like technique, encompassing them both and growing ever larger. Abruptly, in the middle of the bubble, a large box appeared and black reiatsu swords promptly pushed their way inside.

When the techniques faded, both of them were very badly hurt and several meters apart; Ichigo's left arm hung uselessly from his shoulder, blood running down it, while Aizen himself had suffered more normally-crippling gashes to his chest and waist. Both also had several minor wounds all across their bodies, and the top part of Ichigo's Bankai coat had been largely obliterated, leaving him in tattered leggings and scraps on his right shoulder. Aizen's outfit had also been destroyed further. He barely had enough to cover his modesty. But to both fighters' frustration, their opponents were regenerating quickly – the Hōgyoku was taking care of Aizen, while Ichigo pumped more and more Hollow power throughout his body, focusing mostly on his shoulder. He couldn't afford any crippling wounds.

"NOW!" Yamamoto roared from the sidelines. This was the Gotei 13's chance to rid Soul Society of both threats at once!

"Bankai! Jakuhō Raikōben!" Soifon screamed, having completed her preparations. Her body was tethered to the building she stood upon using what appeared to be a heavy steel sash. Her Zanpakuto turned into what seemed to be an enormous missile launcher melded to her right arm, twice as tall as she herself was, with half a face guard for the right side of her face. The face guard also had slits which were to be used as crosshairs to aim properly, which she promptly used, hauling the massive weapon up and taking but a moment to aim. And then she fired.

Aizen and Ichigo froze, each having been about to continue their fight despite not being completely healed. They looked in Soifon's direction in unison, and saw an enormous missile heading straight for them. Understanding blossomed in Aizen's eyes. The enormous power of a taicho's Bankai condensed into a single explosive attack! No wonder I've never seen her Bankai before! He couldn't afford to be hit by that; even the Hōgyoku might not be able to regenerate him from that.

Ichigo was not in such an analytical mood at the moment, but even in his maddened state he knew that he did NOT want to get hit with that. But behind the mask, he grinned. "Oh, Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiizen…" he sung mockingly before Shunpo-ing right behind him. "Bakudo 1: Sai!"

To even Ichigo's surprise, the technique worked perfectly. For only a moment, Aizen was distracted, caught by complete surprise that Ichigo could use Kido at all. With the Vizard's massive reiatsu, awful control, and Hollowified state, Aizen would have bet almost anything that even the smallest Kido would blow up in his face. On top of that, Ichigo had been a Shinigami for so little time, it was almost inconceivable that he would bother learning the tricky arts of Hado and Bakudo when his Bankai was a pure melee type. It made no sense! Why would Ichigo learn anything about Kido when in the time it would take for him to be able to use the weakest of them, he could have grown even stronger and faster physically and played to his strengths? All in all, Aizen had never anticipated that Ichigo could and would use Kido at all.

But even with Aizen's distraction, it took only another moment for him to shrug off the Bakudo. While it was empowered by Ichigo's masked Bankai state, it was still only the very lowest level of Bakudo. Luckily for Ichigo, that single moment was enough. He promptly slashed at the air with some Hollow reiatsu and opened a Garganta, jumping in and closing it to evade the missile's detonation within the emptiness of the void between worlds.

Aizen witnessed Ichigo's escape and cursed; the missile was almost upon him, and that Bakudo, weak though it was, had robbed him of almost all the time he had to get away. He began to Shunpo as fast as he could away from the missile, which tracked him as he went. "Bakudo 81: Danku!"

A translucent white energy barrier materialized behind him as he fled from the missile, even as the Hōgyoku continued to heal his wounds. As Aizen had hoped, the missile exploded upon impact. As he had bitterly expected, the explosion was enormous, even more widespread than Kurosaki Ichigo's latest Getsuga Tenshō, and almost as powerful, though it was not condensed into a single point. Aizen threw up barrier after barrier as he attempted to outrun the explosion, and one after another, each barrier was destroyed with next to no effect on the intensity due to not being completely formed yet.

And then Aizen was caught in the explosion, and searing heat nearly flash-fried his arms as the concussive blast propelled him at speeds he'd never before achieved... into and through a dozen or so buildings as he tried desperately to slow using a variation of the air-walk technique to create drag. Aizen finally managed to slow down enough to flip himself back up into an upright position, standing near the edges of Karakura as he assessed the damage. His hands and arms looked as if they'd been caught in Yamamoto's Ryuujin Jakka, with second and third degree burns running up and down his arms and his hands almost blackened. Even now, though, the dead, burnt skin was flaking off and being replaced by fresh skin generated by the Hōgyoku.

Aizen's torso was better, suffering only mild burns, a broken rib, and several scratches thanks to the several barriers he'd cast prior to battle, though they had all been destroyed. His body was far stronger than those paltry buildings, but steel supports could be extremely sharp for mortal objects, which explained his scratches.

Aizen pursed his lips; the Gotei 13 was stronger than he'd anticipated, and Soifon's Bankai was unexpectedly powerful, though it was clearly evident that she hadn't practiced it, seeing as there was no second missile coming at him now. Unless I'm out of range, he mused. Well, I need to heal up a bit before I engage Yamamoto or Ichigo-kun again.

His eyes widened as he felt more than heard the rip in the sky behind him, and he spun around with Kyoka Suigetsu at the ready just in time to find himself face to face once again with Kurosaki Ichigo, killing intent clearly blazing within his intense, Hollow-like reiatsu.

"Getsuga Ten-!" And suddenly, the mask shattered, falling into so many pieces through the air. Aizen was easily able to take advantage of Ichigo's shock to kick him into another building.

"You were quite strong," Aizen complimented. "I daresay if you had managed to complete that attack, you might have actually succeeded in killing me."

"DAMN IT!" Ichigo screamed, his body feeling weak and heavy. I HAD HIM! How is this right? But before he could continue his thoughts, Ichigo realized that his opponent was coming at him and barely managed to block Aizen's next attack, but then he was sent flying through two skyscrapers and colliding with another. He got up quickly, searching the skies for Aizen. He's so strong! I, I need more power!

Ichigo was completely taken by surprise when a mostly-healed Aizen suddenly appeared in front of him, his right hand less than a meter away. "Hado 63: Raikōhō."

The lightning Kido blast completely engulfed Ichigo's form for several seconds, but something began happening in the middle that began to slightly unnerve Aizen. A dark, bitter laugh echoed from within the Kido, and when it faded, Ichigo stood there, with several electrical burns on his arms and hands, but the majority of the damage had been averted by the X guard he'd put up with both Tensa Zangetsu, but still the man kept laughing lowly. "It's not fair," he gasped out. "I was so close to ending it, I was about to KILL you! You who arranged for my mother's death, you who are the source of so much pain! How could I have failed to kill you when I know that you're going to sacrifice all those people for your own ambition? Why couldn't my mask have lasted for just one more second?"

Aizen opened his mouth to speak, but Ichigo just kept going, his words getting stronger as his voice steadied. "But I won't let you do this, I can't let anyone else go through the suffering of losing a parent."

Ichigo met Aizen's eyes, and the latter was surprised to see the Vizard's eyes. The right eye was normal, brown iris on white sclera, but the left eye was completely Hollowified, amber on black sclera. Ichigo's voice was slowly regaining the giveaway Hollow echo, and Aizen could swear that Ichigo's skin was paling. But… he's not bleeding that badly anywhere, Aizen noted in confusion. What's going on?

"I will do anything to protect those I care about. I will ascend to the heights of heaven… or descend into the pits of hell," Ichigo vowed, not noticing how his mask was slowly materializing only on the left side of his face. "Angel or demon, those titles mean nothing to me, as long as I can fulfill my desire!" He didn't know how he knew the words that came to his lips unbidden. But then again, Ichigo didn't care either; all that he desired was to make the monstrous maestro of his mother's murder die. Ichigo smirked as his soul synced with the Hollow within. "Blacken the night, Cazador de la Luna!"

Time seemed to slow for everyone watching him as their realizations raced ahead of their thoughts towards the horrifying conclusion. His Zanpakuto was well known to be Zangetsu; that oversized cleaver was hard to miss. That left only one option: Resurreccíon. Yamamoto's expression was especially grim; a Hollow with the combined powers of Bankai and Resurreccíon could prove a very fatal opponent. Let us hope Kurosaki Ichigo can recover… or else we will be forced to kill him.

And then time resumed, with the white Tensa Zangetsu ripping itself out of Ichigo's left hand, twisting around and seeming to stab him in the chest! Except as it reached Ichigo's skin, it seemed to melt until there was nothing but the chain left, and then everything coalesced into something that every Shinigami there recognized: Ichigo's chain of fate.

Then, the chain ate itself away as it had in the Shattered Shaft, and Ichigo threw his head back and screamed as white, foamy liquid erupted from the new hole in his chest and his own mouth. His mask grew and covered all the way around his head, twisted horns emerging as the liquid spread over his body and underneath Ichigo's Bankai. The Vizard's muscles grew taut and far more defined, the skin on his hands and feet tightened and stretched as his nails grew, until they appeared more as claws and talons.

From the Hollow hole in Ichigo's chest came a pattern of thick crimson lines, two of which reached up and met with the those on Ichigo's mask, and more that circled around his torso to meet with their brothers from the back, hidden underneath a sudden growth of Ichigo's hair that now reached down to his shoulders. The transformation seemed to take only a second, and Ichigo's scream of pain transformed into the triumphant roar of a Hollow ready for battle.

All the conscious Vizard in Karakura blinked and turned towards where they felt Ichigo's reiatsu become far more bestial and Hollow-like. Kensei, Mashiro, Love and Rose glanced once more at the slowly-dissolving corpse of Wonderweiss, then each other. The Espada-class Arrancar had been far more troublesome to deal with than they'd thought he'd be. He seemed to have a very strong Hierro, could take a beating to rival Ichigo, and attacked unpredictably, resulting in Mashiro's temporary knockout. But between Kensei's Bankai and everyone else's support, plus a surprise attack from Mashiro after she'd recovered, Wonderweiss had finally gone down only a minute ago.

Just to be sure, Kensei walked over warily, returning his Bankai to Shikai mode, and swiped off Wonderweiss's head. The dissolving sped up in earnest now, and in several seconds, the child Arrancar was gone.

"So… is that…?" Love asked.

"Yes, it's Ichigo," Kensei stated clearly. "This seems to be one of the results of his deal with his Inner Hollow."

"Another one?" Rose asked incredulously. "First his mask felt stronger, and then that super-mask? What now, Resurreccíon?"

"Maybe," Love answered quietly. "It's impossible to know without looking."

"Then let's go watch Berry-tan fight!" Mashiro chirped.

All four nodded, before Shunpo-ing out to do just that.

Nearby, Lisa decided not to go; she was waiting for an opening on Starrk in order to help her former taicho, Kyoraku Shunsui. She wasn't quite sure what kind of greeting she wanted, but Lisa wanted, no, needed closure. She'd been abruptly pulled away from her taicho due to her own incompetence, she felt, and Aizen's betrayal. That she'd never gotten to say goodbye hurt to this day, and Lisa wanted to fix everything. There was no way she could rejoin Soul Society, Lisa knew this, but she wanted at least a cordial relationship with her old taicho, and maybe with Nanao-chan. Lisa smiled softly as she remembered reading stories to the little girl who grew up to take her place as Shunsui's fukutaicho, before her face hardened. She couldn't afford to lose her concentration.

Hiyori felt the change in the air, but refused to leave her sitting position on the ground next to the unconscious Shinji, who was being patched up by Hachigen. This is all my fault… she thought deprecatingly. God damn you, Aizen! And damn me too, for not growing strong enough to do anything. "How long till he's fixed?" she demanded.

"At least another five minutes," Hachigen reported. "Are you sure you don't want to see what Ichigo is doing?"

"Of course I want to see what that idiot Strawberry's up to!" Hiyori retorted. "But… Shinji needs protection from those damned Shinigami who still see us as Hollows, and you can't heal and fight at the same time."

Hachigen nodded in acknowledgment before returning his full concentration to healing. However, in the back of his mind he was afraid of how the day would end. He could tell from Ichigo's reiatsu that he was not in control. Would Aizen be defeated, only for one of their own to a mindless Hollow of mass destruction? Or would Soul Society take the Vizard as a threat and wage war on them? Hachigen didn't want to relive those first few years on the run, always looking over their shoulders and fearing every shadow on the street. Please, Kurosaki Ichigo, he prayed, come back to yourself.