Ch5 Part 3 Aftermath.

-Ichigo-

He signed up for invading another realm to save his friend.

He signed up for working with Urahara Kisuke.

Hell, he signed up to fighting half-mad captains who disappeared in the middle of the fight!

That memory still irked him! The sight of that bell wearing weirdo not only taking his strongest swing, offered by the damn man no less, without a wince but to utterly start laughing like a lunatic... And then disappear...

Even still.

Kurosaki Ichigo had signed up to that and more! All to save his friend!

But this? He considered as he watched, a sweat drop slowly making its way down his head, the meteor slowly making it's way down towards them...

This was pushing it.

And then he heard that voice... And saw the being it was coming from...

Immoral, coldblooded reapers were one thing...

Insane blonde terrorists were another thing entirely.

Though he was certainly grateful for the distraction, he felt somewhat bad for leaving the Shinigami to fend for themselves...

Maybe this 'Aizen Sosuke' could help them out...

The blonde weirdo was certainly demanding his attention.

...

-Aizen-

I briefly considered the available options I had as I stared out from my hiding spot.

"Show yourself Dammit!"

I ignored the shrill voice, my attention focused on the meteorite heading towards soul society, at a rather leisurely place I must admit.

Can he not simply will you to show yourself with his ability?

Probably.

Why hasn't he?

I don't think you have any right to question anyone about how they use their powers.

Aizen?

I sighed as I suddenly got to my feet, my blade in hand already. I was currently hid ontop of one of the captain barracks. I wasn't sure which, I'd yet to actually memorise each one.

"You have one minute! One minute before everything burns!" Gremmy's voice tore through the air. His manic laughter echoing out, attracting everyone's attention.

I am surprised no one's tried to fight him-

I felt their presence a second before they arrived.

Three Captains.

One Commander.

I grinned at their arrival. I'd flared out my reiatsu to attract their attention. Evidently Gremmy didn't bother searching for me by said reiatsu.

He probably thought I'd try to hide it.

Too bad for him.

I don't use logic.

Understatement of the century.

The Hogyoku definitely works fast... Aizen's humour was already evolving.

I don't think you understand what humour actually means...

Do you?

I named Hinamori my lieutenant, did I not?

That's cold man. Seriously, just cold.

I turned towards my fellow captains, a grin appearing on my face.

Your ability to hide your emotions is frankly frightening.

I wasn't sure how I felt about that... I mean I don't think I am hiding anything...

That in itself is worrying,

"It seems the captain meeting will have to be postponed," Yamamoto remarked earning my attention, his eyes lazily appraising the blonde Quincy raving in the sky. I'd been about to speak before Yamamoto turned his gaze towards me. "Is there a particular reason this dangerous individual is currently seeking your death?"

I swear I could practically feel the sarcasm rolling out of the commander.

Even with a meteor slowly making its way towards us, dude gave absolutely no shits.

I am asking you to keep those thoughts to yourself. Nicely.

So long as you play nice! 'Cos I've got another plan!

"We had a conversation-" I started to answer only to be interrupted.

"I understand," Yamamoto deadpanned. "I take it you have a plan?" He questioned rhetorically.

Ignoring that jab, I turned towards the other captains beside the commander, one Shunsui and Ukitake and gave them said plan.

I am beginning to see a pattern here.

That is literally impossible.

...

-Hitsugaya-

Hitsugaya was a reasonably abled captain, young for his age for sure, but his abilities on the matter have never been in question. His history alone would have people double-checking themselves before speaking to him on his captaincy.

And so, due to this, he wasn't necessarily prepared for the sudden, complete, dismissal by the blonde intruder.

"You're not Aizen, get lost," Gremmy drawled the moment he'd appeared within view.

Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes, his Zanpakutō out in his hands as he heard the sudden sound of his lieutenants flash step appear behind him. "I am going to have to-" he started, about to release his sword before he saw the stranger merely wave his hand, a blinding flash suddenly filling his view causing him to wince.

When he reopened his eyes, he felt himself twitch at his location.

'OOf!' His lieutenant exclaimed as she landed beside him, a wide-eyed expression on her face. She briefly looked around, her head comically turning as she tried to figure out what part of the Rukongai they'd been thrown into...

"Are we in district 80!?"

"..." That maniac is so going to pay...

...

-Ichigo-

Ichigo found his attention momentarily taken away from the white tower they'd managed to reach. He knew just behind that door stood, a likely rather long climb given the shinigamis fixation on long staircases, Rukia... He ignored the sudden commotion as Hanataro searched around his uniform for some sort of key. His focus on the distance. He could just about make out another person in front of the blonde from earlier.

Even Hanataro seemed to momentarily get distracted as he turned around in the same direction.

"Aizen-taichou?" Hanataro seemed surprised. "Wow... He's way stronger than I thought... You can feel his Reiatsu here!" He seemed to exclaim in awe. Ichigo was rather glad for the kid, he'd seemed awfully despondent ever since the appearance of that meteor.

"Can you hear them?" Ichigo found himself. Straining his eyes, he could make out the form of this 'Aizen Sosuke'

"It's time to pay for what you've done! I'll let you live long enough to watch your world vanish! Would you like to give your people any last words!?" The blonde man seemed to cackle, his voice loud enough to reach even them. His sheer excitement at the prospect was rather... revolting.

Ichigo, oddly enough found his attention fixed onto the 'event.' His eyes refusing to budge.

He watched on as 'Aizen' merely raised a single hand to the side, his reiatsu flaring like a blanket as it covered as much distance as it could manage, which to him was mind-boggling.

"What is he doing?" Hanataro's whisper caught him off guard, "Why's he pouring out all of his reiatsu like that... He won't last at this rate..."

"Yes, actually," The new voice suddenly caught them unaware, no doubt empowered by the blonde.

"Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu,"

...

-Aizen-

I had to time this right.

I wasn't actually anywhere near Gremmy, I was still with same group as earlier, the three captains just ahead of me, each of their blades alight with power. They'd been building this up since the meteor first showed itself. We'd moved closer the moment I'd finished telling them what they had to do.

About 100 metres in the air stood Gremmy, his face inscrutable. 300 Metres above us was the currently falling Meteorite. Now accelerating at a much faster rate.

Though of course no one but me actually knew I was here per say. They all thought I was actually speaking to Gremmy.

Just like him.

I took in Gremmy's flabbergasted face from my position as he watched my false-self's sword for any signs of... Well, I am assuming anything. When he realised absolutely nothing had changed, he turned a scowl towards fake me's face,

Aizen's eyesight was literally 20/20 on steroids. He could probably see an insect a mile away if he focused.

"You still dare to make a mock-" He started cursing as his mind suddenly willed the meteorite into speeding up.

Perfect.

Fake me brought his free hand out before him, an amused smile on his face before he simply flicked his fingers.

Yamamoto, Shunsui and Ukitake took this as their que to launch enough firepower to take out cities.

While my Shikai, without any of them knowing, secretly covered the entirety of the event in an illusion.

From the captains view, nothing had changed, their combined reiatsu had simply crashed into the meteorite, completely vaporising it in the process.

As far as they were concerned, Gremmy had seen exactly what they had. And my job in all of this was to keep him preoccupied long enough until I figured how to use a certain, non-existent, spell I'd learned in the future to seal him.

I told you not to use that as an excuse.

Well, it's not like you gave me any.

I did.

Genocide is never the answer Aizen.

My plan was to psyche him out into retreating.

Which is exactly why from his point of view, the moment I'd flicked my fingers, his little meteorite disappeared.

...

-Gremmy-

Gremmy's face stiffened, his eyes widening as he eyed the now missing meteorite... "Cl-clear..." He whispered to himself, his mind forcibly clearing any and all enchantments in the vicinity, his voice no longer augmented as he searched for the missing meteor.

Nothing showed up. Nothing returned.

It wasn't an illusion.

His meteor had truly disappeared...

He turned his gaze towards the smirking Aizen Sosuke.

The man who'd made his meteorite cease with the flick of a finger... The man who'd made his imagination disappear.

"Do you understand what that means?" Aizen questioned, a looming aura emanating from him. His eyes practically dead to the world as he stared at him.

Gremmy Thoumeuax felt his finger twitch. He briefly floated back, for a second almost forgetting that he was currently standing on air. And then he finally noticed the attention he'd gathered... He felt the gaze of thousands on him, the flare of a thousand reiatsu's...

Thousands of them... And yet he couldn't even kill one...

And as he took in Aizen Sosuke's shimmering face, Gremmy realised that from the very beginning, he'd been playing him for a fool.

The man hadn't even deigned to meet him face to face and yet had still managed to practically shutdown his power.

And as he focused his mind on returning back, on running home. As holes ripped across reality, he figured it out, understood even, why Jugram and his lord had acted the way they did.

Gremmy knew then and there, instincitvely believed even, that Aizen Sosuke was, by any and all definitions, a monster.

...

See. Told ya it'd all work out.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Are you calling me a broken clock?

No, you've only been right once.

So you're admitting I was right?

You're insufferable.

...

Author Notes: Hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to leave feedback!