Force of Souls Chapter 17 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans, Kairomaru is bringing you another Force of Souls Chapter! The sky breaks and unleashes a Hollow of titanic proportions! Can any of them stop the behemoth? There are still the seemingly endless hordes of Hollows to deal with too. What can the four Shinigami do to stop this madness?

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 17 – Tearing the Sky, Menos Grande

Control is sought to ease our fear,
But in letting go, we can find freedom.

“There’s no…fucking end…to all of them.” Tatsuki had sweat dripping down her face as she panted for breath. Around her were the disintegrating forms of almost a dozen Hollows.

“Raaaaahhhh!” The howling roars of almost two dozen more Hollows rang through the air. The soul-eating monsters were closing in on the exhausted Martial Artist turned Shinigami.

“Come get it…” Tatsuki raised her wakizashi Zanpakutō with a glare at the horde. She’d take them down and then go meet up with the others. No way in hell was she dying today.

“Hmm, I like your spirit, but you should learn your limits better.” A masculine voice spoke up as a slight weight landed on Tatsuki’s right shoulder.

“The fuck?” Tatsuki stared at the black cat that was suddenly sitting on her. “Did a cat just talk to me?”

“You’re a human girl that turned into a Shinigami and have been fighting Hollows for a couple of months…but a talking cat is too much for you to believe?” The black cat looked at her with amusement in its golden eyes.

“I…well…” Tatsuki floundered for a moment before releasing a heavy sigh. “What the hell is my life anymore?”

“Graaaaahhh!” The Hollows rushed forward at the duo and Tatsuki ground her teeth as she took up her stance. She didn’t even notice that the black cat had left her shoulder until she saw it sitting on the head of the Hollow closest to her.

In the next instant, the black cat was gone, no blur of motion that Tatsuki could see, just gone. A split second later and the charging Hollow’s head exploded into a bloody mess and its body collapsed to the ground. Tatsuki gaped as she saw the black cat seemingly in three places at once, each place being on the bone-like mask of one of the charging Hollows. As soon as the images faded however, the masks all exploded into gore as if they’d been hit with a powerful force. In less than ten seconds, every Hollow had been slain by the talking black cat in the same way.

“H-How…you…what are you?” Tatsuki looked at the cat warily as it was suddenly sitting before her without her seeing it approach.

“I’ll tell you later, probably.” The cat replied in its masculine tone.

“You moved…and then you were in multiple places…the Hollows…you killed them just by pushing off their heads, right?” Tatsuki was still trying to work through what she’d just seen. The speed alone made her head spin, but that kind of speed would have to generate an equal amount of force on whatever surface the cat launched itself off of. The Hollows never stood a chance against the talking feline.

“Oh ho,” The black cat sounded pleased. “You figured that out quickly. Most would assume that I made them explode by touching them and using a Kidō or something.” The golden eyes appraised Tatsuki for a moment. “Yes, I think I like you quite a bit.”

“…thanks?” Tatsuki wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

-Orihime-

“Hah…hah…hah…” Orihime was breathing hard and her legs felt shaky. She’d been doing everything in her power to continue the fight, but there was no end to the Hollows. Her Reiryoku was running out and she could barely swing her Zanpakutō anymore.

“Mmmrrraaaahhh!” The Hollows growled and shrieked as they moved in to devour the exhausted Shinigami.

“Hadō #12: Fushibi.” A somewhat familiar voice spoke and the almost three dozen Hollows stopped in their tracks as a red net of Kidō became visible. The fallen souls howled and roared as they tried to free themselves from the trap spell. However, none of them could move as the Hadō had been cast in such a way that it wrapped around them multiple times. “Hadō #31: Shakkahō.” Tessai snapped his fingers and the red fireball was launched into the Kidō net. What followed was a massive fiery explosion that turned the dozens of Hollows to ashes.

“Mr. Tessai?” Orihime blinked up at the tall man in confusion.

“Are you alright, Miss Inoue?” Tessai turned to smile at the girl. “You’ve done quite well so far.”

“You…didn’t use a chant…and you trapped so many of them…” Orihime had sparkles in her eyes as she looked at the bespectacled and mustached man. “How did you do that? It was amazing!” The airhead was showing through again despite her exhaustion.

“Hmm, I wouldn’t be much of a Kidō Master if I couldn’t do that much, yes?” Tessai chuckled at the starry-eyed teen as he gently helped her back to her feet. “We’ve come to assist you four in dealing with the Hollows.”

“We?” Orihime looked around, but didn’t see anyone else.

-Ichigo-

“Do these guys ever end?!” Ichigo sliced through another Hollow’s mask, pivoted on his heel to backfist another Hollow, shattering its mask in the process, and then stabbed his Zanpakutō through a third Hollow’s face. The three fallen souls collapsed and began to disintegrate as a few small blue souls left them. Ichigo took a second to catch his breath and watch the souls be sent on their way to Soul Society via Konsō. Already more Hollows were surrounding him in a huge circle.

“Raaaahhhh!” One Hollow, with a mask reminiscent of a bird crossed with a dinosaur and a lamia-like body, lunged forward with a roar.

“Yah!” Ichigo split the Hollow’s mask in two with a perfect downward slash. Two more Hollows lunged forward, and Ichigo moved in a blur. The first Hollow was bisected, both halves of its body flying in two different directions. The second Hollow went for a swipe with its wickedly sharp claws. It lost the hand for the trouble, before Ichigo stabbed straight through its mask.

“Huh?” The Substitute Shinigami looked around when he noticed that none of the other Hollows were attacking him. Instead, all of the fallen souls were looking up to the sky and making various noises. Their actions kind of reminded Ichigo of devout religious people praying towards the sky. Following their gaze, he stared in abject shock at what he saw. The sky cracked apart above Karakura as two massive hands with long, sharp nails pulled apart the edges of the black void. A colossal masked face appeared, completely white with a long pointed nose and red eyes. Staring up at the monstrosity that was tearing its way into the Living World, Ichigo could only say one thing. “What the hell is that?!”

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM

The sudden sound broke Ichigo’s gaze from the immense thing forcing its way through the hole in the sky. The horde of Hollows surrounding him was being destroyed by what looked like automatic weapon fire. A closer look revealed that each shot exploded with a reddish light, almost like a Shakkahō spell.

‘Since when can you bottle Hadō into bullets?!’ Ichigo wondered as the gathered Hollows were quickly decimated.

“H-Hello…” Ururu bowed shyly to Ichigo, the weapon that had just wiped out the Hollows over her shoulder.

“Kurosaki-san! We’ve come to help you!” Urahara smiled brightly, his folding fan in hand and Jinta by his side with a large wrapped object resting on his shoulder.

“Hat n’ Clogs?!” Ichigo looked at the shop owner in confusion. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“We’re here to help, like I said.” Urahara gave a nod to Jinta. The red-haired boy pulled the covering off the object he was holding to reveal a massive kanabo-like club made of metal.

“Jinta…Home Run!” Jinta leapt into the fray with a cry and smashed his weapon into the masked face of a Hollow. The mask shattered under the force and sent the Hollow backwards to crash into two other Hollows behind it.

“We’ll take care of these Hollows, while you focus on taking care of that one.” Urahara closed his fan and used it to point at the towering behemoth that was pushing the sky apart.

“That thing is a Hollow?!” Ichigo looked between the monstrosity and Urahara.

-Rukia-

“No…no way…” Rukia stood atop a tall building near the edge of the Karakura-chou Ward. “How…how could a Menos Grande be here?” Her grip tightened on her Zanpakutō. “I’ve only seen illustrations of it in textbooks back at the Academy.” As a Seated Officer, she should have at least a chance of defeating it, in theory. Normally a group of around six Seated Officers between Tenth Seat and Twentieth Seat would be able to deal with a single Gillian. As she was alone, she’d have to aim for the mask directly, any hit to the flowing black robe-like portion of its form wouldn’t harm it at all. Only the actual body hidden within the cloak would cause it any damage. That made destroying its mask the most logical plan of attack with her lack of support.

‘But…I’ve used up a good amount of my Reiryoku already.’ Rukia did a quick check of her reserves and grimaced at finding them at about half at best. This whole situation had gone straight to hell now. That tiny Hollow Bait shouldn’t have been able to draw in this many Hollows. This many gathered Hollows shouldn’t have drawn in a Gillian-class Menos Grande. ‘It’s almost like this whole situation was set up to purposefully weaken Karakura’s defense…’ Rukia’s violet eyes widened at the strange string of coincidences. Was what she’d just thought even possible? No Hollow could’ve possibly planned something like this though…right?

“I can’t waste time right now.” Rukia put her thoughts to the side and blurred into a Shunpo. She was the only Shinigami in Karakura that had a chance of dealing with the Menos. At least, the only Shinigami that was legally supposed to be here at any rate. Urahara Kisuke might step in and deal with it, but as an exiled criminal, that would give away his location. “Damn it.” Rukia ground her teeth as she shot across the town as fast as she could.

-Ichigo and Urahara-

“Yes, that is indeed a Hollow, Kurosaki-san.” Urahara confirmed for the teen. “That is known as a Menos Grande. They’re formed from hundreds and hundreds of the regular Hollows that you’re familiar with.” The man’s striped bucket hat shadowed his eyes as he explained. “No average Shinigami can measure up to it in power. When one appears in the Living World, that usually prompts the Soul Society to send in one of the upper tier of their forces, usually a Lieutenant.”

“It’s so huge that it doesn’t seem real…” Ichigo muttered as he stared up at the Menos.

“You should probably do something about that, it’s emerging.” Urahara mentioned as the Gillian’s leg emerged as the gargantuan Hollow finally shoved apart the sky and took its first step into the Living World.

“Damn it!” Ichigo blurred forward with Shunpo and only the vaguest of ideas on how to try and deal with the Menos.

It was only a few seconds later that Rukia tried to blur past Urahara. The shop owner raised his hand to block her path and Rukia skidded to a halt as she dropped out of her own Shunpo. The Tenth Seat looked at Urahara like he was insane for stopping her, but the man in the black haori said nothing.

“Urahara?!” Rukia looked at the man with a sharp gaze. “What are you doing? Do you want Ichigo to die?!” She demanded of him.

“No…” Urahara replied, not looking at her, but at the Gillian.

“Then move! I have to stop him! Ichigo can’t beat a Menos!” Rukia tried to shove passed him to catch up to Ichigo. “I have a chance at least, but Ichigo has only a few months of training!”

“I’m sorry, Kuchiki-san, but I can’t do that.” Urahara raised his hand in front of her face. “Watch quietly. This battle is necessary.” A flash of light emanated from the blonde man’s hand and Rukia felt her body go limp. “For you, and for him.”

‘A Bakudō?’ Rukia would have yelled if she was capable of it. ‘My body…I can’t…!’ She fell to her knees as Sode no Shirayuki dropped from her powerless fingers.

-Ichigo-

“Eldest tree, darkest maw, flash of light. A wizened crow soars above all. Hadō #11: Tsuzuri Raiden!” Ichigo cast the Kidō onto his Zanpakutō as he leapt at the Menos Grande’s leg. He could see the white, boot-shaped foot and part of its leg, with a roar he slashed at the exposed flesh with the electrified blade. His Zanpakutō cut into the Gillian’s flesh and drew some blood, sparks of electricity leapt along the titanic Hollow’s skin from the contact as well.

“Rahhh…” The Menos barely paid attention to the attack, only looking down for a moment before moving its leg forward, sending Ichigo sailing down the street from the simple motion.

“Son of a bitch…” Ichigo groaned as he pushed himself up off the ground. “I thought the electricity might’ve messed with it a bit.” He was already breathing hard from all the fighting that he’d already done today. How the hell was he supposed to stop this thing?

“Klik, klik, klik, klik, klik, klik.” The Menos Grande had taken another step into the Living World and looked down at the single Shinigami standing before it. The clicking sound it was making was it building up its Reiryoku for a specific purpose.

“Is the Reiatsu getting heavier?” Ichigo sometimes had trouble feeling the Reiatsu of others because of his own high Reiryoku. But this time around, even he could feel the building pressure as the behemoth of a Hollow stood over him.

‘A Cero?! It’s going to fire a Cero right here?!’ Rukia stared in horror at what was about to happen to Ichigo. She couldn’t move though, couldn’t even speak! ‘Quickly! Run! If that hits you, there won’t be anything left! RUN, ICHIGO!!!’ She screamed her most desperate desire in her mind, wanting to save her lover from certain death.

With a strange sound, somewhere between a buzz and a low hum, a dark red beam of Reiryoku was fired from the Menos Grande’s open jaws. Ichigo had no time to even try to cast a Shisho and instinctively knew it wouldn’t stop this anyway. With nothing else to do, the Substitute Shinigami grit his teeth and placed his Zanpakutō between himself and the incoming blast. The ground beneath Ichigo’s feet shattered as he sank downwards from the force. The red beam forced his Zanpakutō against his raised arm as he tried to hold it back. Streaks of the Cero split off from the clash and tore up the surrounding area, creating trenches in concrete and shattering nearby windows.

“Hnngh…” Ichigo felt his knees nearly buckle from the force of the blast. The concrete below his feet was practically sand already as his feet continued to sink through it. There was a painful heat to this attack, not unlike fire, but less scattered like flames, more like a focused blowtorch. His sweat evaporated the second it formed on his body. “Damn it…”

‘Ichigo!’ Rukia cried out in her mind, the Bakudō preventing her from speaking. She saw him, standing amidst the Cero, struggling to survive against the onslaught of concentrated Reiryoku. But he was being overwhelmed and pushed lower and lower. The second that the Cero made contact with the ground, it would go off like a massive bomb.

Urahara watched on, seeing the intense struggle between Ichigo and the Gillian’s Cero. Isshin’s son was losing out, but that was because he didn’t know how strong he really was. This danger would not only make him grow further, but it would show Ichigo just how much power he really had at his disposal. ‘There’s not a single soul in existence that doesn’t have some innate control over their Reiryoku. To release it at full power all the time would see it drain away faster than it could ever be replaced. But…if you had so much that you released massive amounts unconsciously at all times even through this innate control…’ Urahara had a slight smile on his face as he felt the growing Reiatsu pushing back against the Cero. ‘…then what would happen if you actively released it all at once?’

“Damn…you…” Ichigo felt like he was about to crack a tooth with how hard he was grinding his teeth. He couldn’t believe how much power was packed into this single shot. He wouldn’t be able to stop it at this rate. There was too much. He couldn’t match this Menos Grande’s Reiryoku with his own. ‘If you let your Reiryoku spill out uncontrolled like that all the time, it will have an effect on those around you.’ Ichigo recalled what Rukia had told him when she’d first started teaching him how to be a Shinigami. ‘Once you have your Reiryoku Control to a good level, then we’ll see about teaching you some Kidō.’

“Should be about time.” Urahara commented with a grin.

‘I never let go of my control, once I had it.’ Ichigo realized that he’d always kept as much control over his Reiryoku as possible since learning how. ‘I never once let my control slip, I didn’t want to hurt them by accident.’ He thought about all of his Kidō practice with his girlfriends. ‘But right now…I don’t need control…I just need a direction to let it all out towards!’ Ichigo stopped controlling his Reiryoku…he stopped holding anything back at all, releasing even his subconscious control over his power. Instead, he focused it all in the Menos’ direction and then pushed everything forward all at once!

“HYAAAAGGGHHH!!!” Ichigo roared as he swung his Zanpakutō upwards. The red Cero split and scattered as a brightly glowing wave of Ichigo’s Reiryoku sliced straight up the Gillian’s body leaving a deep wound.

“RAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!” The Menos Grande howled in pain as smoke poured from its mouth and some blood fell from the massive laceration. A powerful shockwave tore through the area, sending Urahara’s haori fluttering and forcing him to hold his hat on his head. Rukia could only stare in total disbelief at what Ichigo had just done. The towering Hollow staggered back two steps, partially entering the massive black void in the sky again. With a pained hiss escaping from its masked jaws, the Gillian grabbed the edge of the sky and pulled it over the void. Slowly, but surely, the behemoth of a Hollow sank back into the darkness and the void disappeared.

Ichigo heaved and panted as he stared up at the slowly disappearing cracks in the sky. All of the fractures were sealing up now, closing in on the center point where the Menos Grande had retreated. “VICTORY!” He shouted loudly, raising his left arm high and holding up the ‘v for victory’ pose. A moment later and he collapsed face first to the ground in exhaustion. Sweat was pouring down him and it kinda hurt to move, but he was still alive at least.

‘A Menos Grande appeared…and was forced back…’ Rukia thought to herself as she stared at Ichigo’s collapsed form. ‘This information has no doubt already been picked up by the Soul Society. The massive outbreak of Hollows would’ve already gotten their attention…but this…’ Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt the Bakudō removed from her body. With only a short glare shot at Urahara, Rukia bolted towards Ichigo. “Ichigo…Ichigo…” She knelt next to him, worried beyond belief that he’d pushed himself too far.

“Hey…Rukia…” Ichigo gave her a small grin when she gently turned him over. “You missed it…I took on this giant Hollow called a Menos Grande…according to Hat n’ Clogs.” He chuckled even as Rukia sealed her Zanpakutō and sheathed it. She gently placed Ichigo’s head in her lap and grimaced when she noticed he was still hot to the touch.

“I saw it, Ichigo.” Rukia assured him while gently placing her hand on his chest. Her hand glowed a light-green as she used Kaidō to heal him. His Reiryoku had dropped substantially, so she’d help stabilize his depleted Reiryoku first, then move on to any other injuries he had. “You did something incredible.” She gave him a smile as her free hand gently brushed through his hair.

Ichigo’s Zanpakutō was still in hand, but it looked slightly burnt. The sudden massive outpouring of Reiryoku through it to beat back the Cero had left a mark. The katana still radiated a bit of heat, but if one looked very closely, they’d notice that the small nicks and damage to the Zanpakutō were already slowly repairing themselves. Ichigo only got a vague sense, and not one he’d readily notice, of pride from his Zanpakutō as it stayed in his hand.

“Well, let’s finish the cleanup.” Urahara muttered to Jinta and Ururu with his folding fan covering the lower part of his face.

“Yes, sir.” Both of the children agreed as they followed after him.

A few moments after Urahara left, both Orihime and Tatsuki showed up, running normally as they didn’t have enough Reiryoku left to utilize Shunpo.

“Ichigo?!” Orihime cried out in panic as she rushed to his side. She was nearly in tears as she took his hand in hers.

“Ichigo…are you okay?” Tatsuki sounded like she was questioning herself for even asking such a question. She kneeled on the opposite side of Orihime and placed her hand on his shoulder.

“I’ll be fine…” Ichigo gave all three of them a soft smile. “I’m just kinda tired.”

“Thank goodness.” Orihime leaned over to place a soft kiss on his lips.

“Don’t worry us like that.” Tatsuki was clearly holding back tears as she leaned in to kiss him too.

“Sorry…” Ichigo apologized for worrying his girlfriends. He hated to make them worry at all. Seeing tears in Orihime and Tatsuki’s eyes was almost unbearable.

-Soul Society ~ Squad Twelve-

“So, Kuchiki and three unknowns…that’s strange, they’re clearly Shinigami from their Reiatsu signatures.” Captain Kurotsuchi mumbled as he looked over the data. “A horde of Hollows numbering in the hundreds, then a Gillian Class Menos Grande appears during the incursion? That level of Reiatsu shouldn’t have provoked any response from a Menos, not even the lowest level.” The Shinigami Captain muttered as he rolled the information around in his mind while compiling the report for the Head Captain. “Who are you three?” The scientist wondered as he looked at the data on the three unknown Shinigami Reiatsu signatures. The one that had suddenly spiked and apparently sent the Menos into retreat was the most interesting in his opinion.

-Squad Thirteen ~ Later-

“Captain Ukitake! We have a message from the Captain Commander, sir!” Kotetsu Kiyone called out as she entered the courtyard garden of the Thirteenth Squad. She was a petite woman with dark blonde hair and gray eyes. She wore a standard shihakushō with the collar of a white shirt protruding over her top and white gloves. Some thought she was a bit boyish, but she didn’t pay them any mind. Not like they’d ever seen her out of her shihakushō like the Shinigami Women’s Association had. Standing at only 154cm, she was one of the shorter members of her Squad, but her rank of Third Seat was well-earned and she had the respect of her subordinates, that’s what mattered to her.

“Damn it, Kiyone, I was supposed to give him the message, you snatched it away!” Kotsubaki Sentarō yelled as he chased after his fellow Third Seat. He had dark hair and a short goatee. He wore a customized version of the standard shihakushō, wearing a thin white headband and white straps around his shoulders, which were tied in a circle at his back.

“Now, now, there’s no need to fight.” Ukitake Jūshirō, Captain of the Thirteenth Squad tried to settle his two Third Seats down. He was a tall man with a somewhat worn appearance, caused by an illness he’d suffered through as a child. That illness was also the cause of his long hair being white. An especially severe period of sickness in his youth had caused his black hair to turn white over three days of suffering. He’d eventually recovered, but the damage had been done, even to this day, he wasn’t able to exert himself at his full power for very long.

“You’re too slow, an important message from the Captain Commander needs to be delivered promptly!” Kiyone commented to Sentarō before she handed the message over to her Captain with a smile.

“Why you…” Sentarō growled, his right fist raised in front of him.

One of the reasons that Ukitake had never promoted either of the two was because of these squabbles. It was better, though a lengthier process that had to be approved by the Head Captain, to allow the joint holding of Third Seat than to reward either of them with a promotion for such behavior. If they could ever settle it, then he’d actually take into account their individual merits and choose a new Lieutenant. For now, though, he’d see what the message from the Head Captain said.

“They can’t be serious?” Ukitake blinked and reread the missive a second time. “Rukia wouldn’t do such a thing.” He knew his Tenth Seat well, though she’d be higher ranked if a certain someone would stop using his authority to block any further promotions, and he knew that she wouldn’t do what was being suspected of her.

“Captain?” Kiyone got his attention.

“We’re to head to the Living World and retrieve Tenth Seat Kuchiki.” Ukitake sighed heavily, the order came from the Central Forty-Six and had the Head Captain’s seal making it an official order that would have dire repercussions if disobeyed.

“Rukia?” Sentarō looked confused at the mission. “But she’s still got almost two months left of her patrol, right?”

“Not anymore, a situation has arisen and suspicion has been cast on her.” Ukitake looked at the order in his hands with a grimace. “We’ll depart tomorrow and head for the Living World. It shouldn’t take us very long to find her, then hopefully we can get to the bottom of these suspicions.”

“Yes, sir.” Kiyone and Sentarō saluted their Captain in unison. Neither of the Third Seats felt good about this though. They’d know Rukia for many years now and couldn’t imagine what she could possibly be accused of.

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Menos Grande has been repelled! Go Ichigo! Yeah!

Our boy has a fuck ton of power and throwing it all at a single target makes for one hell of a showing, huh?

A certain black cat helps Tatsuki out! The talking feline seems to like the Martial Artist turned Shinigami quite a bit too!

Tessai shows off his own expertise. One Hollow, Ten Hollows, Dozens of Hollows? It’s nothing much to him. Cue sparkly-eyes Orihime!

But now Squad Twelve has compiled a report of all the data and sent it to the Captain Commander! Orders have been given to Captain Ukitake to retrieve his wayward subordinate.

Summer break is about to start, and it’s not looking like a fun time for our foursome.

How will the continuing changes make this all play out?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!