GRAVEYARD

[foundationmods]

[On the instant of your death, you're suddenly outside of your body - probably staring down at the remains it's become.

Yet, you're not alone. For all of you (except Szayel), a young man appears from behind you, his face set into a firm, yet sad, scowl. His shaggy strawberry blonde hair is pretty eye-catching, along with the black and white Shihakusho he wears and the large sword on his back, even as he gently tries to lead you back into the lobby and away from what was once your body. You can still clearly hear and see the living, if you want to try - but they can't see or hear you.

'Welcome to the world of the dead in this Resort,' he says, quietly. 'Looks like you're stuck here with the rest of us.'

He hands you a tablet, just like the one you had before. "You'll need this if you want to keep talking to them,' he explains, looking sad.

It looks like you've passed on, and yet...You still feel like you have a role to play in all of this.]

Comments

[bladeisme]

...Yeah. It's been doing that in my wounds ever since I was injured.

[THAT'S NOT A GOOD THING, ICHIGO.]

[perfeccion]

[UH.]

.... Kurosaki. I don't think you... comprehend how serious that is. Like an infection, eating away at your soul. We must remove all traces of it, immediately.

[Szayel walks back and unsheathes his sword]

I'm going to release my zanpakutou, Kurosaki. Using Fornicaras' full power, I can cleanse you of extraneous reishi. Will you allow me to do that?

[bladeisme]

Eating away at my soul? I feel fine. Actually, the pain's gone down - it used to be a lot worse.

[Yet...he would like to be totally out of pain, and even though Szayel is kind of creepy...he also knows what could happen if he breaks his promise now. So...he nods.]

Alright. Just - be careful, alright?

[perfeccion]

Probably because the damned stuff has eaten away your nerve endings -- or it's been partially neutralized by your own reiatsu. [he rubs his temples with his free hand, biting back the urge to call him a complete buffoon]

[he shakes his head and brings his sword to his mouth] Sip, Fornicaras...!

[And then Ichigo is treated to the SHOW. Whatever Renji and Ishida described, it can't begin to compare to the release in person. The grotesque bloating, the slow release, the eerie growth of tentacles. To his credit, Szayel keeps the moaning to a minimum.]

Aaahhhnn..... Alright...

[without waiting, one of Szayel's "wing" tentacles suddenly distorts, opening at the end like a toothless worm's mouth.

And with it, he swallows Ichigo whole. He is moved quickly into one of the red tear-drop like appendages, now swollen to hold the boy. It's... snug, and dark. And warm. And slimy. And certainly too tight to move. But the slime isn't completely unpleasant, tingling as it knits Ichigo's wounds and sucks out the foreign reishi while bolstering his own. The whole process takes only a minute, but probably feels like an eternity.

The strange fruit bursts, releasing Ichigo onto the ground, covered in clear ooze -- gross, but completely healed. The other red fruits on that wing-tentacle are slightly swollen and have turned an ugly shade of black, and Szayel himself looks to be in a bit of pain]

Eerrgh... it's... difficult to digest...

[bladeisme]

[The moment he hears the moaning, he knows he's made a massive mistake. As szayel's true form appears and he's sucked into the fruit, it takes everything he has not to panic and cut hisway out, but he lets it happen. It's both uncomfortable and cramped and yet pleasant and soothing, and the conflict between those two really does make the whole process feel like an eternity is slowly going by.

But when he's dropped - he coughs, wiping away the ooze from his face and eyes, trying to get it off as much as he can - and looks up to see Szayel clearly in agony from healing him.

And Despite everything - despite knowing Szayel is a terrible, awful person - he can't help but get to his feet and approach, looking worried.]

Are - Are you alright?

[perfeccion]

I'm.... urgh... [he actually looks nauseous, if we're being honest. The blackness is spreading up from the fruits to the branch, and it looks as bad as it feels] I thought I... would be able to destroy.... this... hnnngh. This reishi... but it's too foreign to me. We'll have to settle for containment.

[his mouth quirks into an ironic sneer at the use of the word. All at once, the blackened fruits fall off and land on the floor with sickening "plorp" sounds.

One of them, the most swollen and rotten-looking of the bunch, bursts open when it hits the floor]

[bladeisme]

Contain-

[But before ichigo can comment on the ironic word choice, the fruits drop - and one busts open, leaving what looks like...

A tiny, ghostly black puppy? It shakes itself clear of goo, and then runs off like a bolt before either of them can move.

Ichigo just stares at the spot where it used to be, before looking at Szayel with a flat expression.]

...I think you're a mother now.

[perfeccion]

[Szayel's mouth hangs open, slack as can be as he watches the puppy run off. He looks at Ichigo, then looks at where the Barghest puppy was]

... Ah... hm... M... mazel tov?

[he's just gonna.

pick up the rest of the fruits and go put them in the bathtub.

and close the door.]

[bladeisme]

...Yeah, no.

[Ichigo is picking up those fruits and going to the kitchen. If Szayel follows him, he'll find Ichigo asking the chef if he can use the kitchen and to temporarily harden it so he can destroy something. The Chef looks worried, but nods and moves most of the equipment in the area to the side.]

....Gotta do this before they wake up....

[Closing his eyes, he concentrates...

...and the area around him floods with power, as he hollowfies, his reiatsu swirling around him in a storm of black, red, and blue.]

[perfeccion]

[well, of COURSE he's following. He has to know what's going on here. He wisely hangs near the door (the chef could harden the kitchen? Well... if the Resort really was alive...) and watches curiously.

Then that happens. Szayel barely manages to stay on his feet from the blast of sheer power, and he actually does fall to his knees when he comprehends what he's seeing.

Sure, he saw it in the manga.

But it's a bit like reading about a tornado, and then being right in the middle of one.

He opens and closes his mouth, never managing to form words]

[bladeisme]

[Ichigo doesn't notice Szayel as he takes out Zangetsu - the larger one, of course - and suddenly - the air shifts, trembling with power as a ball of pure red energy forms at the tip of his horn.

That is, unmistakably - a Gran Rey Cero, a blast that only the most powerful of hollows can use. And yet, as it grows, Ichigo just raises Zangetsu, sticking the blade into the ball as the enegery flows down the blade.]

....Gran Rey Cero!

[With one quick slash, he aims towards the fruits -

And in a flash of red light, they are gone. The room around them creaks and rumbles, cracks forming in the walls and floor as it struggles to contain the energy.

And then - it's over, and Ichigo changes back, becoming just a normal shinigami again and placing his Zanpakuto back on his back.]

Ah, sorry about the damage - I just had to make sure those were destroyed.

[That's aimed at the Chef, of course - who nods, a little pale.]

[perfeccion]

[It's probably the most glorious thing he's ever seen. Such sheer power, such elegance, such perfection of hybridization...! A Cero with the power of a Shinigami behind it...? The light of the growing orb is blinding, the heat excruciating, but he can't tear his eyes away. It is all at once exhilarating and horrifying. He wants to weep, from joy and terror. And parts of him are definitely tingly. It is, undoubtedly, a Gran Rey Cero.

When the thing is actually fired, the way it completely incinerates the fruits and warps the fabric of spacetime around it, it's too much for one Arrancar to take, and Szayel collapses completely.

u made him faint, ichigo

having lost consciousness, his Resurrected form evaporates into pink reishi, then coagulates back into the shape of a katana, back safe and sound in its saya]

[bladeisme]

[Ichigo doesn't even realize until he turns around that Szayel was even there at all - when he sees the Arrancar splayed out on the floor, eyes rolled in his head and maybe kinda foaming at the mouth???

And in his own ways, he just assumes the pressure knocked him out - and he feels bad for it. After all, it'd been a while since he'd first broken into Hueco Mundo, and he'd grown stronger since then. So with a gentle apology, he excuses himself from talking with the Chef, and reluctantly picks up the fainted Arrancar - carrying him out to one of the couches in the lobby and leaving him there to recover.

He's going to go help the chef get everything back in order and get some food, now. Firing off those things always make him hungry as hell.]

[perfeccion]

[all of those things are true. He almost looks like he had a seizure or something. It's nothing so serious, but lort.

Szayel recovers on the couch, taking him about half an hour to wake back up... with a fleeting image in his mind. A beautiful image!]

... Was that real...?

[bladeisme]

Yep.

[Have a coffee being shoved in your face, Szayel. Ichigo takes a seat opposite him, placing his own mug of hot chocolate on the table between them.]

Sorry about that - I didn't realize you were there.

[perfeccion]

[Coffee? Szayel wrinkles his nose, but takes a sip anyway] I prefer tea...

[blink]

Eh? Wait... it wasn't just a crazy fever dream? I actually... I witnessed.... .... ah....

[bladeisme]

Then I'll get you tea next time.

[Huff!!!]

...Yeah, you saw it. What's wrong? I mean, I would've thought you read our Manga and everything.

[He takes a sip of his hot chocolate.]

And uh - sorry if it was too intense.

[perfeccion]

I did read it! Of course I did! [how could he resist seeing how things unfolded after he was cast into hell? ... to be honest, he's sort of happy he missed out on all the Quincy nonsense. It seemed like a hassle] But reading it and experiencing it first hand are completely different! It was.... it was....! [he makes futile grasping motions with his gloved hands before letting out a quick sigh and allowing his hand to drop] ... it was beyond words.

[bladeisme]

[Yeah, alright - that nets him A Look, because that's...really fucking odd, my dude.

Also, he'd agree on the quincy nonsense.]

Is it really that special? You're making it sound like you had a religious experience, or something. All I did was hollowfy.

[perfeccion]

[he just wiggles his fingers in that mad sciencey way]

I don't think you quite understand, Kurosaki, how important and incredibly rare you are! I once thought I was the perfect organism, capable of regenerating indefinitely. But that clown was right about one thing -- I am far from perfect. You, Kurosaki Ichigo. [he points across the table to the young man, then takes a gulp of coffee] You are perfect. You are the pinnacle that I aim for, the most powerful being our world has to offer! I should thank you, profusely, for the new direction in my life. I had forgotten... the struggle, the work, the goal of always making oneself better... It is exhilarating....!

1/2

[bladeisme]

[bladeisme]

[Just

Gets up

and moves to another couch with his hot chocolate]

You're....welcome, I guess...?

[Hlep]

[perfeccion]

[Szayel just cackles.

Aspect of death; MADNESS, indeed]

Ah... haha... Ha...

[he doesn't give chase at least. Instead he leans back on the couch and kicks up his feet]

If it puts your mind at ease, it means you're safe. You don't vivisect the golden goose, as it were.

[bladeisme]

...You know it's still really goddamn creepy to hear you go on about me like I'm some kind of perfect being, right?

[LIKE. GIVE HIM THAT, AT LEAST.]

Just because I'm safe doesn't mean I like being praised like that.

[perfeccion]

But you are! Ichigo... just the fact that you contain both Hollow and Quincy traits without your soul tearing itself apart is a miracle. The fact that you seamlessly include Shinigami and Human into the mix is simply astonishing. [he sighs and takes a drink of coffee. It's not as bad as he thought it would be...] I would have never expected that Hollow I helped to create would end up like this...