Entering the Abyss
"So, this is Hueco Mundo..." muttered Ohta, his eyes reflecting a vast expanse of white sand sprinkled with dead-looking trees made from a type of white, spiritual quartz that glistened subtly under the light of a perpetual moon. Sparse clouds meandered across the sky, and though there were no stars present, the endless void above had a strange allure that gave the impression it was descending toward you if you stared into it for too long.
"And I'm guessing that's Las Noches..." remarked Ichigo, staring intently at a megalithic structure that defied human comprehension as it towered over the horizon. According to the information Ohta had been provided, it was roughly 28km tall and nearly 140km across. With the entire structure visible, they had to be a substantial distance from its base.
"It's...unbelievable..." muttered Chad, swallowing nervously. He had been feeling strangely 'invigorated' since entering Hueco Mundo, but Ohta's casual displays of power and the sight of Las Naches made him feel small and inconsequential...
"So, what's the plan?" asked Renji. "Most of us can use Shunpo, but I get the feeling that building is a lot further away than it looks. We might want to conserve our strength by running normally..."
"Yeah, but wouldn't that take hours?" asked Ichigo, shifting his attention to Ohta, Rukia, and Orihime. He felt that even if they didn't rush over, they could save time and energy by riding atop the translucent 'beanbag' Ohta had created.
Seeing through Ichigo's thoughts, Ohta shaped the squishy beanbag into a large platform, stable enough to stand on but soft like a futon.
"You're free to hop on but keep in mind that I don't do anything for free. If you want to ride on my constructs, you'll owe me a favor," cautioned Ohta.
"Seriously, man?" asked Ichigo, his expression forming a frown. "We're here to rescue my sister, and you're talking about us owing you favors?"
"That and this are different," contended Ohta. "Your sister is something of an apprentice to me, and I owe you for risking your life to help save Rukia. However, I don't recall you carrying my ass when we were in Soul Society, so don't expect me to bend over backward when I'm holding myself back from just leveling all of Las Noches..."
"..." x4(Ichigo/Renji/Uryu/Chad)
Undercutting Ohta's statement, though he didn't say anything to contend it, Rukia waved her hand dismissively and said, "Don't take Ohta's words too seriously. For you to 'owe' him once all of this is over, Karin needs to be rescued, and Aizen needs to be defeated. Think of it as Ohta putting pressure on himself to ensure everyone makes it through alive."
Hearing Rukia's explanation, everyone but Renji became significantly less tense. Ohta felt the urge to remind Uryu of their first encounter when the bespectacled Quincy pushed up his glasses and chuckled, but he didn't want to sabotage Rukia's efforts to make him look like a good person. He definitely wasn't, but it wasn't like he was evil or overtly malicious toward those not actively attempting to harm or interfere with his life...
...
..
.
With everyone eventually boarding his psychic construct, Ohta controlled the speed to around five times Chad's running pace, 200km/h. He could go much faster, but the bigger the construct and the more wind he had to block, the greater the energy expenditure. More importantly, he found the 'ambiance' of Hueco Mundo's surprisingly pleasant, almost serene...
Voicing Ohta's thought aloud, Rukia remarked, "It's surprisingly peaceful here..." in a soft tone. "I kind of expected it to be more...chaotic..."
"I don't know..." muttered Orihime, tentatively gazing at the sky before clinging to Ohta more closely as she added, "It feels desolate and lonely. I'm worried about Karin..."
Though he was tempted to remark even desolation had its charms, Ohta held his tongue when Orihime commented on Karin. Not everyone could appreciate the stillness of a land of death, and a part of him didn't want a kind and caring woman like Orihime to get used to the transient calm that often preceded tremendous violence and acts of cruelty...
"We'll definitely rescue her..." assured Ohta, his expression calm and stoic even as a pure white sandstorm built on the horizon, gradually obscuring Las Noches. Ichigo and the others panicked when they saw it, telling him to go around or fly over it, but Ohta flew them directly into it, knowing full well that the fastest way to weather a storm was to push through without fear or hesitation...
...
..
.
Observing the progress of Ohta's group through a circular monitor, Aizen, looking much less Groban-esque, gently tapped the armrest of his throne with his right index finger. He had 'engineered' the sandstorm to throw the group off course and try to split them up, but Ohta just tackled everything he threw at him as if it weren't a big deal.
"If only you had appeared a hundred years ago..." muttered Aizen. He had encountered people with abilities similar to Ohta's, but none came close to the power displayed by the domineering youth since his transition from a human to a Shinigami. If Aizen had discovered him before implementing his current plan, he might have been able to mold Ohta into a useful pawn or a potential 'successor.'
Ceasing his rhythmic tapping, Aizen's voice resonated through his throne room as he said, "Invite our guest over. I would like to chat with her," in a calm yet penetrating tone. Less than a minute later, Karin was ushered into the throne room, looking nervous in a predominately white outfit with soot-black trim. Had Ichigo been present, he would have blown a gasket as her ensemble consisted of bottoms that covered less than a swimsuit, a zipperless vest she prevented from opening by crossing her arms over her chest, sleeve-like arm warmers, and a pair of thigh-high boots.
"Kurosaki Karin..." muttered Aizen, gesturing toward the terrified girl as he said, "Come closer..."
Though she didn't want to, Karin found herself stepping toward Aizen as if her trembling body were being puppeteered like a marionette. She wasn't cold or anything, despite her state of dress, but the Reiatsu exuding from Aizen, even when he wasn't actively releasing it, caused her to tremble in the depths of her soul.
Once Karin was in front of him, kneeling with a wide-eyed expression, Aizen pressed a concealed button on his throne, causing a square-shaped pillar to rise from the floor. Once it reached its full height, the top opened to reveal a crystalline container, within which sat a beautifully glowing orb that emitted predominately bluish-white light, tinged with accents of pink and dark purple.
"Do you know what this is?" asked Aizen, unsurprisingly when Karin responded with a faint, quivering, "N-N-No..."
"It's called the Hogyoku. With it, the boundaries between Shinigami and Hollow can be broken down. However, after considerable research, I've discovered it has a far more important function..." revealed Aizen.
Removing the Hogyoku from its crystalline protection, Aizen held it with his index, middle finger, and thumb. As he picked it up, an intense light exuded from the Hogyoku's interior before becoming pitch like the heart of a black hole, actively absorbing light as tiny tendrils of the same black substance entangled his fingers.
"The true power of the Hogyoku is the absorption and actualization of desires..." revealed Aizen. "The greater and more primitive the desire, the more potent its effect. Now, tell me, Kurosaki Karin. What is it you desire the most at this moment...?"
Swallowing hard, Karin meekly replied, "I...I want to go home..."
"Is that truly the case?" asked Aizen, adopting a faint smile as he held the Hogyoku right before her face and asked, "Are you absolutely certain you don't desire the power to escape this situation? The ability to free yourself from the shackles that bind you and live true to your desires...?"
"I...I..."
As the darkness from the Hogyoku seemed to draw her in the longer she stared at it, Karin's voice trailed off, her eyes losing focus. Soon after, her arms slumped to her sides, exposing a length of chain with a lock bearing a skull attached to its end. Her soul had been separated from her body shortly after being brought to Hueco Mundo as she lacked the Reiryoku to endure the aspect of death permeating everything. As such, she was in a state that was neither dead nor alive, making her extremely susceptible to the influence of Reiatsu and other forms of spiritual suppression.
Narrowing his eyes, Aizen observed with fascination as the abyssal black tendrils from the Hogyoku extended to touch Karin's face. As they did so, the light from her eyes completely faded, the sclera of her eyes gradually replaced by inky darkness as her soul began cracking like glass, releasing an intense light from within...
...
..
.
Feeling a sudden shortness of breath, Ichigo clutched his chest, beads of sweat forming on his brow.
Being the closest to Ichigo, proximity-wise, Chad asked, "You okay...?" in his usual flat tone.
"I'm...fine..." replied Ichigo. "I just...it's difficult to describe, but I have the feeling something terrible just happened..."
Hearing the strawberry-blonde's groaning remark, a frown marred Ohta's face as he asked, "Should we speed things up?" while gradually doing just that.
Shaking his head, Ichigo forced a smile as he replied, "No...to be honest, this kind of thing has become pretty normal for me. Since my inner Hollow awakened, I occasionally experience bouts of dread, and my emotions go haywire. I think the atmosphere of Hueco Mundo is making it stronger..."
"I've also been feeling strange ever since we came here..." revealed Chad, holding his hands palm-sides up before balling them into fists. "It's like an infinite amount of energy is coursing through my body..."
"That makes sense," said Uryu. "From what I've seen, that red and black gauntlet you summon draws in Reishi from your surroundings instead of solely utilizing the Reiryoku in your body. The way we Quincy form our bows and arrows is very similar, so I've also been experiencing a feeling of empowerment."
"Isn't that a good thing?" asked Ichigo, largely due to Uryu having a very serious, almost grim expression.
"Ordinarily, yes," replied Uryu, pushing up his glasses as he added, "This place would make an excellent training ground if we wanted to increase our strength in a short period of time. However, while the abundance of Reishi in the environment makes our attacks more potent, we can expect it to have a similar effect on our enemies. Rather, since they are native to this land and have acclimated to it, they should have a significantly easier time manipulating the Reishi than we do..."
"Oh, well, that's just great...!" exclaimed Ichigo. He could barely hold his own against the Rank 6(Sexta) Espada back in the human world. If it were true that Grimmjow was even stronger in Hueco Mundo, they were in for a tough fight. Well, all of them, except for maybe Ohta...
Interrupting the group's discussion, one of the many dunes separating them from Hueco Mundo rose like a tidal wave before condensing into a vaguely humanoid figure with a large, greyish-white body and massive arms that grew larger as they extended past its hips, culminating in giant fists adorned with white bracelets. Its head resembled a sand castle with a mustachioed Hollow mask, and there was a massive hole in the center of its chest, within which no light could escape.
"Foolish invaders! I am Runuganga, Guardian-"
Before the sand-formed Hollow could finish its introduction, Ohta caused the psychic platform to accelerate like a slug fired from a railgun, piercing through the Hollow's chest and causing its entire body to disperse as the group continued on their way unabated. Ohta was marginally surprised to see it reform in their path, but as it took several seconds to materialize, he rammed through it a second, third, and sixth time before it simply gave up trying to block them directly, instead utilizing sand waves and tornadoes that had little effect on his psychic barrier...
...
..
.
(A/N: Aizen is over here digging the deepest of graves...)