Act Three: Requiem

“You have two choices: One, you give up and maybe I’ll banish you to the outskirts of Las Noches. Or, you can put up a fight and things get messy. Your pick.”
“Yeah, you’ll let me go. Good one. Choice Two.”
He was gone. Tosen narrowly avoided the stab from behind and slashed with his own sword. Far too slow, he missed and Acelerar went in for a killing blow. His blade was parried by Shinso and Tosen kicked him a ways. Leveling his fingers, he pointed them at Acelerar.
“Hado 54: Haien!”
A fireball shot at the Espada. Dodging by inches, he was impaled through the shoulder by Shinso. He pulled back and the wound healed rapidly. Aizen still continued merely to watch. Acelerar leveled both hands at the group and reiatsu filled the room.
“Gran Rey Cero!”
Not needing blood as a catalyst, the two massive blasts erupted from his hands and blasted toward them. Gin and Tosen leapt aside and Aizen simply parted the beam with his tremendous reiatsu output. Tosen regained his posture only to have his arm cut off by a lightning quick swipe. Leaping aside, Shinso shot past Acelerar, grazing his cheek. Tosen gasped in pain and clutched his bleeding stump. The stump then grew another arm, replacing the lost one.
“What?”
“See? Szayel got Tosen too!”
Acelerar sighed.
“Great. More work for me.”
Tosen clutched his blade.
“No. No more. I’m ending this now. Bankai:  S u z u m u s h i   T s u i s h i k i :   E n m a   Korogi.”
Aizen didn’t protest, but he stepped back as the rings shot across the room. Blackness enveloped both Tosen and Acelerar and his eyes widened in shock. So this was Tosen’s Bankai! Formidable! His senses were completely offline! How was he going to do this? He flinched as Tosen’s blade cut through his shoulder. Beginning to panic just a little, he swung his arms wide, blasting Cero in a massive circle. His stomach was cut open as Tosen ducked under the blast. How could a blind man fight so well? Relying on touch, he was only barely able to avoid Tosen’s vital strikes. Organs did not grow back, and he did not want to stress his ability. Flash stepping randomly, the attacks stopped. He had found a way to disrupt Tosen’s strikes, but the effort would eventually wear him out and he needed to shut down this Bankai now. Powering up two more Gran Reys, he shot them in a wide arc as he sprinted across the limits of the space. Flipping in the air, he shot dozens more from his mouth, fingers, and any other body part he could. Tosen’s eyes widened as he realized what Acelerar was doing. He recognized Cero by its sound and reiatsu feel. With dozens being fired at once, he could not pinpoint their exact trajectory or where they would end up! He hardened his reiatsu and prepared for the worst.
Acelerar’s plan was going to ruin. He had expected to find the one Cero that parted to reveal Tosen, but even the Ceros vanished as soon as they left his hand, vanishing into the blackness. Suddenly, a crack appeared in the dome. Acelerar immediately blasted at full speed toward the last Cero and performed a combo that not even Tosen could dodge. Ace felt three of his stroke connect and fired a ramped-up Cero directly at the estimated location of Tosen. The dome exploded and Acelerar regained his senses, much to his relief. Tosen’s head was completely gone, vaporized by the tremendous blast. The head did not regenerate, and the body slumped to the ground. Aizen looked in mock amusement as Gin whistled.
“Ruthless.”
Aizen shrugged.
“His own fault for being so hasty. My turn. Gin, step in if you wish. I grow tired of watching children play.”
Gin nodded and backed up quickly. Bye bye, Espada. Acelerar bit his finger and allowed blood to leak into his palm. Smearing it onto his other one, he clapped his hands and leveled them at Aizen. Gin vanished instantly and Aizen raised an eyebrow. This was new. The reiatsu that followed made Aizen purse his lips in mock shock.
“That feels nasty. Care to elaborate?”
“All you need to know is that it’s a Cero I invented just for you, Sosuke Aizen. Block this.”
The blood fused into a tiny ball, which was engulfed in silver and gold light. His eyes blazing, Ace fired it.
“Cero Piadosa!”
Whatever remained of the room was obliterated. A two-mile radius was gone instantly, and the shockwave blasted another three miles. The canopy cracked open and shattered. Ichigo and Rukia were thrown forward with the force and slammed into the ground, unharmed but knocked unconscious. Chad, Rudbornn, Tosen, and Uryu were annihilated and Gin survived by the skin of his teeth. Ace dropped his smoking arms, panting from exhaustion. That blast drained him, but it was worth it. Not even Aizen could come out of that unscathed. The blast parted and Aizen walked through, his cloak not even singed. Acelerar’s eyes widened in horror. No.
“Did you think anything like that could hurt me? An amusing concept.”
He appeared behind Acelerar with tremendous speed and slashed. Ace parried with his hand, which ripped apart. Gasping with pain, Ace leapt back and Aizen appeared behind him again, tearing his other hand clean off with brute force. Acelerar’s tail wrapped around Aizen’s legs and he pulled. Aizen, with a slight grunt, was whipped off his feet and Acelerar stabbed downward, his hand gutting Aizen’s stomach. Aizen’s eyes widened in shock before his entire form split in two like…a mirror. G-------. Ace whirled around, but it was years too slow. Aizen split him in two like it was nothing, his sword cleaving through the Espada’s Ressureccion like butter. The halves dropped to the ground and Aizen turned, already bored.
“Such a pity. To think you had skill.”
A voice from behind actually surprised him.
“Not yet.”
He turned to see the halves merging together.
“What…?”
“I’m not like the other Espada, Aizen. You know that. My healing is better than even Ulquiorra’s.”
He pulled his other sword from thin air and leveled it at Aizen. Aizen almost panicked. He had never seen Acelerar’s other release, although he knew for a fact that he had one. He didn’t quite want to, and his hand whipped downward.
“Bakudo 68: Rikujo Koro!”
The beams bound Ace, but he still barked the command.
“Murder, La Impiosa!”
Black sludge blasted from his sword hilt, melting the Bakudo and coating Ace. Aizen twirled his sword and pointed.
“Hado 91: Kurohitsugi.”
The coffin erupted around Ace’s transforming form. Aizen doubted that could stop the beast inside, but it might stop the change. The coffin shattered as the creature inside broke it. Aizen scoffed. Predictable. He shouldn’t have even wasted his energy. The creature came into view and Aizen’s eyes widened ever so slightly. My my.
Pitch black, dripping, and feral, the beast was a much…grosser version of his first release. The shape was there, but the claws and teeth were exaggerated, as well as the spiked tail and frilled mane. Ace hissed and vanished. Aizen smiled as he tracked the movement. The sludge oozing on the floor was quite the give away. His speed was not of any use now. Not that it had been against Aizen, anyway. He flash stepped directly in front of the rapidly moving form and slashed diagonally. His blade never connected. He looked in mild shock as his blade melted. Whatever touched the ooze disintegrated on contact. Aizen rapidly backpedaled as Acelerar swiped with his hand. Aizen looked at the floor with confusion. That hadn’t melted. But his sword had. Was it metal? No, that wasn’t it. He leveled his hand and blasted a low-level Kido.
“Raikoho!”
As simple as it was to perform, the blast still wiped out a large portion of Las Noches. But wherever the blast touched Ace, it melted. So it was reiatsu, then. That almost made things a touch difficult. Almost. Aizen smiled. Perhaps he was actually going to have a slight workout today.
Drawing his sword in a perfect circle, Aizen vanished. Reappearing behind him, Aizen slashed with a newly formed blade. As Ace let the blade touch his poisonous body, the blade sliced through his flesh easily. Acelerar howled in pain and shock and Aizen drove his hand through Ace’s shoulder, his hand unharmed. Acelerar formed spikes through his amorphous body, driving them through Aizen’s torso. The figure shattered again and Ace cursed his foolishness. The same trick twice. Aizen tapped Ace on the forehead and pain seared through him. Without even uttering the Kido, Aizen had devastated his mind. How? Nothing made of reiatsu could get through his coating. Aizen was definitely using reiatsu. Why was his defense not working? The pain subsided, but his limbs were paralyzed. Aizen lowered his sword and thrust forward. Ace’s skin acted on its own, grabbing the blade and throwing it upward. In quick response, Aizen bisected Ace’s upper body, only for it to reform. The stress was growing, however. His body could not handle this much reforming for much longer. Aizen was butchering him.
The truth was, Aizen was not butchering anybody. The truth was, Aizen hadn’t moved since he’d fired Raikoho. Everything that Ace was experiencing was all in his mind. A rather unfair tactic, but Aizen didn’t really see much of an alternative. The truth was, Kyoka Suigetsu was truly flawless. Aizen could easily tear Ace apart from the inside out if he so chose. The mind could only handle so much, after all. He smiled as Ace continued to fight his own brain, his limbs flailing in an attempt to kill the apparition in front of him. Dodging and weaving, the fake Aizen evaded every single one of Ace’s near subsonic strikes. His speed had increased as well since his second release, but not a single one hit the supreme warrior. Growling in frustration, Ace decided to use a little power of his own. He shot a quick volley of Cero at the Ex-Captain, but he dodged that, too. The Cero erupted in a flash of light and dozens more shot out of them.
The real Aizen frowned as six raced toward him. Lucky shot. He sidestepped easily, but they raced toward him, curling around. His eyes widened as the other Ceros honed in on his location. That was bad. To Ace, the Ceros would hit the fake Aizen. He could not see that they did nothing. But the real Ceros were a serious problem to the real Aizen. They kept spawning more when they hit the ground, and they honed in like missiles. He finally hardened his reiatsu and they exploded around him. The barrage did nothing but singe his cape a little. But Ace had felt the barrage and slowly, it dawned on him. Fury encased his mind and he obliterated the fake Aizen with his mind. The real Aizen came into focus, but it was tremendously blurry. It was enough. His speed increasing with his rage, he used Shunpo to overtake Aizen and launched a flurry of strikes, ending with a blast from his skin. Aizen gasped with shock and just managed to avoid the attacks. That was unexpected. The blast clipped his cape and eroded it. Aizen grimaced. It was good that his armor was not like Baraggan’s Respira, but the fact that he was pushing past Kyoka Suigetsu was unfortunate. He must have gotten lazy with his sword. He’d barely ever had to use it.
When Ace appeared right behind Aizen, it surprised him. When his hand missed Aizen’s skull by inches, it shocked him. When the tendrils erupted from the hand and ripped holes in his shoulder, the reality set in. His skin melted at the touch and he grunted in pain. Sliding away, he grabbed at his torn skin and cloth, his vision never leaving the Espada. How was he this powerful? Nobody should have been faster than he. Not even that bothersome Yoroichi or Sui Feng. His eyes widened as he felt the holes closing. No. No. That was wrong. He looked down and saw that indeed, the holes had closed. He was not fused with Hogyoku yet. No one knew of that. How…it hit him like bricks. Oh, Szayel, you had just made the worst mistake of your life. Aizen’s reiatsu blazed and Acelerar flinched in shock. That was not good. Aizen hadn’t been playing around before, either!
“My patience just ran out. I am going to obliterate you, and then I am going to destroy Szayelaporro Grantz completely.”
He channeled his reiatsu into his sword, preparing for the power he was about to unleash.
“Bankai.”
Acelerar howled in panic and shot toward Aizen with such speed that it stopped Aizen mid-sentence. He dodged, taking advantage of the Espada’s fear. He jabbed his fist into Ace’s stomach, utilizing the regeneration. He pushed harder and felt his fist penetrate Ace’s armor.
“Bakudo 91: Desino Ulturim.”
This sealing spell was incredibly powerful, but only worked through direct contact, which was what Aizen had just accomplished. The reiatsu paralyzed Ace’s joints and limbs. Aizen felt his hand healing and burning at the same time and used the decaying flesh as a catalyst for his attack. Completely immobile, Ace couldn’t even howl as Aizen spoke.
“Crush the stars, destroy the sea; Heavens above, hear my plea. Kill my foe and crush their mind; Leave not even dust behind. Use your gift and use your power; Kill and watch my enemy cower. Burn the ground and scorch the sky; Listen to me and heed my cry! Hado 94: Letum Velox!”
The resulting Kido was so volatile and so powerful that the reiatsu released killed every Hollow that wasn’t already dead. Only those of Menos class and above survived. Acelerar was vaporized. Not even his armor could withstand so much reiatsu at once. Aizen clutched his burning hand and watched it heal, fury raging in his mind. How dare a mere worm think himself above a god!? That rat had no idea what he had incurred.
Aizen whirled as the reiatsu hit him suddenly. Acelerar’s form had come back from obliteration. It was nothing. It was only a skeleton. But that skeleton had a sword. Aizen had no time to prepare. For once in his life, he was unprepared. And he was going to pay dearly.
Then Ulquiorra Cifer saved his life. The bat demon appeared, emerald lance in hand. With one neat stroke, Ulquiorra sliced Acelerar’s desperate form in half. Aizen was immediately on his feet. Ulquiorra looked up sharply.
“Brace yourself, Lord.”
Aizen did. The explosion that followed was immense. Unlike anything Aizen had ever witnessed from his Espada. It was surprising, really. Aizen finally felt that wretch Acelerar vanish from this plane at last. What an annoyingly durable soldier, really. Once the blast had dissipated, Aizen turned to Ulquiorra.
“That’s a truly fascinating form, Ulquiorra. How come you did not show it to me?”
Ulquiorra only stared at him with those eyes that disturbed Aizen so. The reiatsu he was emitting…well well. It reminded him of himself.
Gin appeared a few yards away.
“Wow. That was something, wasn’t it?”
“Indeed. It would appear I am in your debt, Espada Number 8.”
“That is a rare honor. I am glad I had kept this form secret, otherwise I might not have survived that Kido of yours, m’lord.”
“Speaking of Lord Aizen, that was scary! We lost a lo~t of Hollows!”
“No matter. Shall we go find Szayel? I have a few choice words I’d like to say to him.”
He turned and the reiatsu returned, blazing, evil, and truly awe-inspiring. Gin and Ulquiorra gulped. Ulquiorra shed his Segunda Etapa and followed Gin behind Aizen, his emotions completely void from showing.

Epilogue

Gin had never seen Aizen yell. He’d never even seen the former captain lose his temper. And yet here he was, watching Aizen scream at Szayelaporro Grantz until a vein stood out in his temple. The reiatsu pinned everyone to the wall and made them sweat profusely, except Gin and Ulquiorra, but they were not whole and hearty either.
“DARE TO CHALLENGE ME?! TO THINK I WOULD TOLERATE EVOLUTION OUTSIDE OF MY CONTROL?! YOU HAVE MADE A VERY GRAVE ERROR, ESPADA!!”
Gin smiled as he always did. This was fun to watch. Aizen turned sharply and drew his sword sharply.
“Kneel, Szayelaporro Grantz, and beg me for mercy.”
Ulquiorra’s eyes instinctively moved to Aizen’s sword hand. So only Gin saw Szayel pull a slim device from his waist and flip the casing. Gin could have stopped him. Could have. But he didn’t. He was a curious fellow, Gin. He met Szayel’s eye for a brief second and they knew each other. Then Aizen turned and saw the button. His eyes widened, his face distorted in rage, and Szayel pushed the button.

Blackness.

Yasutora Sado, better known as Chad, lay on the ground, bleeding profusely. Nnoitora Gilga turned away, disgusted. Such trash couldn’t even scratch his Hierro, and yet they still tried. It was sad, really. Tesla walked respectfully behind, not saying a word that could upset his master.
Rukia Kuchiki lay in a puddle of water, near death. Three massive holes bled from her stomach, souvenirs of her near-draw with Aaroniero. Her consciousness flickered in and out of reality. Nothing remained of her opponent but water and two tiny shriveled balls of flesh. Her thoughts began to die as her body began to shut down.

Ichigo Kurosaki lay dying, a perfect circle stabbed into his chest. Ulquiorra…his dying brain registered the figure’s last actions, but seemed unable to process them. He could not save Orihime. He just couldn’t, blast it. He had to. He…
Ulquiorra himself was hit with a wave of such power that even his apathetic face broke into shock. But it was gone just as quickly. What was that…? Like déjà vu, but far more powerful. He blinked off the feeling, wiped the remaining blood off his hand and went to go check on that wretched woman in the prison block.

Aizen blinked once. His eyes darted cautiously, but there was no one around but Tosen and Gin. Tosen looked up from his meditation.
“Is there something wrong, My Lord?”
“No. Nothing. I just…felt like I…well, never mind. It wouldn’t make sense.”
Tosen blindly followed Aizen’s order without question. Gin put his chin in his hand and smiled.
“Gin? Something you know?”
“Me? Of course not.”
Aizen’s brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed, but he went back to his work all the same. Gin’s smile brightened just a little as toyed with the program he was working on. He opened the Espada’s ranking system and quietly switched Szayel and Ulquiorra’s number. No one would know the difference, because technically it had never happened. And Szayel needed to stay off the radar for now. Gin slipped out of the room stealthily and called up now-Espada 8 on com.
“You were sloppy again, Szayel.”
“I know. I didn’t expect Aizen to get hurt.”
“Neither did he, so let’s be a touch more careful, hm?”
“Yes. Experiment number 19 is a failure like the rest.”
“Don’t be so glum, chum. We have all the time in the world.”
“And a few dimensions.”
“That too. Ta.”
He killed the feed, put his hands in his pockets and walked down the endless hallway of Las Noches, humming a merry tune as he went.