1: Step One

Ichigo stood over the barren wasteland at the outskirts of Karakura Town, breathing lightly. The dust settled around Aizen's remains, revealing his bisected form. Ichigo's breathing hitched as the white skin on Aizen's back stitched together in a web of goo, regenerating his body as if Ichigo's final attack was useless.

'Was the Final Getsuga Tenshō not enough?' It couldn't be possible. Holding a breath, Ichigo used Shunpo to get down into the valley with the remnants of his power. Even that much was difficult.

The madman's form had reverted close to his normal state. He no longer looked like a butterfly monster, but was still not quite human or Shinigami. Only white skin and fragments of a Hollow-like mask were left of his transformation.

"You have lost, Kurosaki Ichigo!" Aizen declared as he slowly stood up. Ichigo could only stare, unable to retort, unable to reason how Aizen had survived the attack and still had enough reiatsu to heal himself. The Final Getsuga Tenshō should have been an attack dimensions higher than Aizen's comprehension. Yet he took it head-on and lived – impossible.

Ichigo's remaining powers over darkness faded away and he slumped forward. He palmed the dusty ground for support, breathless from the shock of the sudden drop in his reiatsu, now on the level of a lieutenant, barely. Part of him wanted to chuckle. At this moment, even Renji would be more useful. He couldn't do a thing now, and no one else could either.

"Behold, my Zanpakutō is vanishing," Aizen said, holding up his crumbling Zanpakutō. "Surely you, of all people, understand what this means." Ichigo glared in response. He understood perfectly well; everyone would die if Aizen wasn't stopped. Everyone would die because Ichigo failed despite giving it his all. Was his best still not good enough? Aizen grinned maniacally as if he could read Ichigo's mind.

'Yuzu, Karin, Chad, Orihime, Uryū, Goat-chin, everyone… I'm sorry.' Ichigo thought as he slowly lost hope. In contrast, Aizen's expression turned into an ecstatic triumph.

"The Hōgyoku has decided that I do not need a Zanpakutō! You became one with your Zanpakutō and its powers, and now I am the same. No… Now that you've lost that power I will ascend to heights far above you." Ichigo tried to get up, but he just couldn't, half because of his own weakness and loss of hope, and the rest from Aizen's beyond captain level reiatsu pinning him down, like the weight of his flooded inner world.

"Aizen," Ichigo mumbled as he once again tried to push himself up. His despair boiled into hatred, burning through his core. He gathered his fading reiatsu to summon Zangetsu. He growled, clawing into the dirt, refusing to let this be the end. His reiatsu only further slipped through, leaving him with only glimmers of his previous power.

"This is the end, Kurosaki Ichigo!" Aizen roared. He moved to finish Ichigo off but was abruptly halted by a crimson nail of reiatsu erupting from his chest. To Ichigo's surprise, this wasn't part of another transformation, and for several seconds, he remained still, speechless at the development.

"What is this? Kidō!?" Aizen yelled in shock. Several more crimson nails then erupted from his torso. "Arrrrhhhh" Aizen yelled as he attempted to remove these red nails.

This was Ichigo's chance. He gritted his teeth, pushing against the ground with every strand of reiatsu left in his soul, clawing the dirt till his nails throbbed in pain. It wasn't enough to even stand though – not nearly enough. He could only watch as Aizen convulsed under the growing daggers. The red energy resembled Kidō or a Zanpakutō ability. It wasn't Ichigo's technique, he was sure of that unless Zangetsu had something planned the whole time. That was unlikely since Ichigo himself didn't even know any damn Kidō. There were only a few people he knew who could do such a thing, and they were all lying unconscious – defeated.

"When did something like this-" Aizen began but was cut off by a newcomer that Ichigo spied with the corner of his eye. Blond hair, green cloak, and clogs

"Urahara!"

"It appears to have finally activated," the shopkeeper emotionlessly stated his hat and fan nowhere to be seen. Aizen spun his head to the blonde, still convulsing under the effects of the Kidō.

"Urahara Kisuke! This is your doing?!" the brunette demanded, scowling enough to reveal the gums of his teeth. Urahara walked up to him, appearing to measure each step with precision.

"Yes. Before you achieved complete transfiguration, in your most unguarded moment, I fired that Kidō into your body on the back of another Kidō," Urahara explained, pausing as the Kidō daggers grew. A heavyweight lifted off Ichigo's shoulders. Aizen was finished. His sacrifice was worth it. The carrot top let out a long breath and relaxed into the dirt, able to sit up straight again. Even the spiritual pressure was starting to lift now.

Urahara continued with his explanation, voice stoic.

"It's a seal. I thought that if you fused with the Hōgyoku, you would most likely become all but impossible to kill. So, I developed a Kidō for sealing you away." Of course, he did. He was Urahara, the shopkeeper with a multitude of plans and backup plans.

"What…" Aizen asked with a glare, wrinkling his nose. "That's impossible." Urahara considered him with an unchanging expression as the seal grew, not showing a glimmer of worry or hesitation. The white shell of Aizen's form shattered and the brunette raised his hand, examining himself with widening eyes. "Wha-What is this…?"

Ichigo looked at him blankly, struggling to understand how he hadn't realized sooner, or at least noticed his reduced levels of reiatsu. Something else must be going on at the same time internally. Something that has to do with what he had felt in the madman's blade when he caught it during their battle. "Pain… Loneliness… And despair." Ichigo thought as he recalled the emotions he felt when he held Kyōka Suigetsu for that moment. Urahara then continued with his explanation, breaking Ichigo from his thoughts.

"This is the will of the Hōgyoku," the blonde stated, gesturing to the swirling purple orb in Aizen's chest. "The reason the seal I fired at you before has finally activated is because your power has weakened."

"Weakened from Mugetsu, that much was obvious, although…" Ichigo furrowed his brow, not sure what to make of that revelation. He disagreed with Urahara's explanation. To him, it felt like Aizen wanted to lose his power as if it was part of his plan. Lost in thought, Ichigo didn't notice a purple thread floating in the air, slowly and swiftly sneaking towards him.

"H-how?" Aizen stuttered and Ichigo glared at his words, his demeanor. Something was off. Unnoticed by Ichigo, the purple thread reached its goal and touched the carrot top.

"The Hōgyoku is saying… that it does not recognize you as its mast..."

"HHHHHHHAAAAA!" Ichigo interrupted Urahara with a yell as a purple and green light shot out of Aizen and hit him. Shortly after it ended, Ichigo collapsed and Aizen began to broke down into blue particles.

"So… the Hōgyoku did choose a new master. Good luck, Ichigo." Aizen whispered before his entire body disintegrated to reishi. Urahara grabbed the unconscious hero and took him to the Fourth Division.