A New Outlook (Solo)

After much more self-conducted research, Kaoseu found what he was looking for. As it turned out, there was a way to compress the size of one's Soul Crystal, but only if completely synced to it. Of late, Kaoseu was sure that he was on the verge of, if not already, completely synced. Just to be on the safe side, he decided it best to leave for a few days. He left a notice of his absence for his next in charge, took several packs, and was out the door before anyone could question him. His destination was as it always was; the cavern which, he had also come to find, was dubbed the Cavern of Souls.

After 30 minutes of non stop Flash Stepping, Kaoseu was in the cave, standing before the large, bi-colored crystal that was his own Soul Crystal. With a sigh, he stood at the center of the divide and placed his hand, centered, on it, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He felt a cold pulse emanating from within the crystal, and was mildly surprised to find that the pulse almost exactly mimicked his heartbeat, which meant it was only a mere matter of moments before he was fully synced with his Hollow self. Already, he could feel a malevolent force stirring within him. He opened his eyes, and before him, in the reflection of the glass, he saw it; his Inner Hollow.

With a start, he saw the Hollow grin and draw a blade, whilst mimicking Kaoseu's posture and placement of the hand on the crystal. Kaoseu felt his heart rate quickening, as well as the pulse of the crystal. The crystal was half a beat off from matching his own heartbeat, and Kaoseu watched in frozen horror as his Hollow self drew back with the sword and seemed to stab through the crystal and through him. As soon as the blade touched, Kaoseu felt three things;

The first was that the crystal had just synced with his heartbeat, therefore with him. The second was a mind numbing pain that burned through his body like a wildfire in mid summer. The last was something stirring within him. From the combination of the external and internal pain, Kaoseu collapsed, his vision fading to black. He reopened his eyes to find himself in a familiar landscape. He recognized it immediately as his mindscape, or his inner soul. Except Kuromeru and Shiroi were nowhere to be found.

Instead, Kaoseu whirled on a presence behind him and saw the last thing he wanted to see; it was an exact photocopy of himself, except it was as if someone had forgotten to add color to him. Nothing particularly unnerved him, except for the eyes. The eyes were an odd coloration of yellow and black. Kaoseu shuddered lightly and the being grinned.

"Scared?" Hollow Kaoseu asked.

Kaoseu snorted and drew his blades, ready for battle. Hollow Kaoseu laughed. His voice was slightly disturbing, the way it echoed and had the distinct sound of razors, as well as the slightly higher pitch. It put Kaoseu on his toes. Meanwhile, with his physical body, Kaoseu was thrashing around on the ground, a thick white substance oozing from his mouth, his nose, and his eyes, but only on his right side.

Back inside his mindscape, Kaoseu and Hollow Kaoseu were facing off, each staring the other down. Suddenly, Kaoseu Flash Stepped, disappearing from existence, it seemed. Hollow Kaoseu merely chuckled madly as he drew his own blades by the bandages and, in one smooth motion, threaded each through the identical holes in his shoulders, wounds Kaoseu had so long ago forgotten about, and knotted each in place. As Kaoseu reappeared, his blades swinging down in a double strike, Hollow Kaoseu was swinging around, his fingers laced through with the bandages, one blade wrapping around both of Kaoseu’s and the other swinging directly at his neck. With the quick close of his fist, Hollow Kaoseu ripped the blades from Kaoseu’s hands and yanked him even further into the path of both blades.

With wide eyes, the hardened Shinigami twisted in the air in mid Flash Step, reappearing just behind his own blades. As he reached out to grab the two extensions of his own body, Hollow Kaoseu planted a firm kick to the small of his back, directly to his spine, with a heinous cackle emanating from his pale lips. The air rushed from Kaoseu’s lungs as quickly as it came, and he was thrown forward. His arms reached up and took hold of the blade hilts unconsciously and as soon as they did so, Kaoseu was rolling forward, still desperately trying to take a breath. The Vice Captain level Shinigami twisted his body as he managed a breath and swiped at the bandage holding the blade to his Hollow self.

With a satisfying tug, Kaoseu felt the bandage snap beneath the sharp edge of his blade, severing the connection from Hollow Kaoseu. The blade spun in the air and plunged down, stabbing into the ground half a foot from the Inner Hollow. Kaoseu immediately Flash Stepped again, appearing just in front of the blade, arm and sword extended, stopping just short of the throat of the Hollow. Kaoseu grinned as he spoke;

”It’s over. I win.”

Hollow Kaoseu merely smiled and began laughing.

”Trust me, pal, in a few minutes, it will be. Fer now, ya got bigger fish on yer hands.” replied the Kaoseu inverse. The Shinigami’s eyes narrowed as he attempted to decipher what he meant. ”Shine in the shadows...”

Kaoseu’s heart skipped several beats as he mimicked the same words and finished the phrase in sync with his inner Hollow.

”...and hide in the light, SHIROKURO!”

Twin columns of black and white light illuminated the surroundings and decimated the ground in a 30 foot radius of the two battling entities. Kaoseu and Hollow Kaoseu both came out, blades swinging. For several moments, both matched each other’s movements, swing for swing. Their shared agitation was evident, and Kaoseu decided he’d do something about it. He bent the light in a thin skin around him so that it wouldn’t reflect any light, making him basically invisible. He grinned as he Flash Stepped to where the obviously befuddled Hollow version of himself was, blades swinging. However, he sliced through the being like it were air, which, as it turned out, it was. Kaoseu cursed and whirled around, now aware that Hollow Kaoseu had used the same means to take down his defenses and dupe him into falling into a trap.

Kaoseu was at the being’s blade tip, and was grinning just as wide as ever. Again, and ever so in sync, they both uttered the same words at the same moment.

”Ban...”
”Kai!”

Black columns of light shot into the air, these decimating an even larger area than the previous bi-colored ones. Nothing could be seen of the two quarreling beings, save for the occasional afterimage. The sound of metal upon metal and clouds of dust and debris, as well as the occasional spatter of blood were the only evidence that there was even anyone present.

After 3 minutes of fighting, both beings crashed to the ground, each thwarted by the equal amount of power between the two. At the same moment, both stood and launched at each other, only to be stopped cold. Both beings had their blades at each other’s hearts and neither had the intention of moving. Kaoseu was breathing heavily, as was his Hollow self. Both, however, were grinning widely. Not one to play fairly, Kaoseu decided he wanted to end this. Silently, he was lifting a bit of shadow from the ground into a spike, directly behind his Hollow self, aimed directly at his heart. Little did he know, his alternate was doing the exact same behind him.

”It’s over, bub. All I need is 30 more seconds, and yer through; then there ain’t no way you could do nothin’ about my bein’ here. An’ I’ll be seein’ ya pretty often, best bet on that one. Any last words?”

Kaoseu had been counting down in his mind and was at 15 seconds from the time his Hollow self announced 30. He grinned and replied.

”Yeah...”
5...
”See you in Hell.”
3...
Kaoseu launched his spike straight and true at the same time his Hollow self did. The spike pierced his heart quickly and simply, causing him to lunge forward, the same action reciprocating with his Hollow self, making each of their blades stab into the other’s heart. Both fell into each other, in a completely literal sense, and became...
1...

Kaoseu regained consciousness as a bloodcurdling scream tore through his lungs, echoing about the cavern. The pain was reaching a climax, and he didn’t know if he would, or even wanted to, survive. His vision was obscured, or maybe his eyes were just clamped shut, he couldn’t tell. He was at his breaking point and felt his heart about to burst when the pain suddenly ceased altogether. He slumped forward against the crystal, or so he presumed it was due to it’s hard, smooth surface, and his forehead was halted from the cool surface by something hard. With trembling hands, Kaoseu reached up and felt the front of his face, his eyes still closed.

He felt something against his face that wasn’t flesh and his heart began to race again as he grabbed hold of it and tried to remove it. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t manage it and resolved to trying to familiarize himself with it. He could feel a smooth surface that tapered to a point at one end and felt individual points at the other. His breathing grew heavy as he slowly cracked open his eyes. The first thing he saw was that he was in his Bankai form. He decided that was the least of his worries as he saw what was on his face. A mask, seemingly made of bone, and Hollowesque in appearance and quality as well. Kaoseu sighed, realizing he had done what need be, but that it was inevitable; the Hollow within him had won in his own terms, even if they had bested one and other. It didn’t matter anyways, as he realized he felt an unusual amount of power, even for his Bankai, surging through him. It was raw, powerful, and Kaoseu realized he liked it. He chuckled lightly at the revelation and stood. Might as well test his limits while he was here.

He went through a few quick sword swings and realized they were slow. He grinned and began swinging and feinting full speed, Flash Stepping through the air fast enough to leave afterimages he could see himself. He had to admit, he seemed a bit ghastly in the mask, but it grew on him, and he began to realize it made him look like a bit of a badass. Grinning widely, he went in a sperical pattern, seeing how many afterimages he could create. At the count of 12, he decided that was enough and dove straight down. As he did so, he suddenly felt the power drain from him, like a plug removed from a bathtub. The comfortable restraint the mask provided disappeared as the mask itself crumbled away. Catching himself at the last moment, Kaoseu Flash Stepped to his starting point, in front of the large, bi-hued crystal in the center of the cavern. He was tired, more-so than usual, and he shook his head, trying to clear the fog that was enveloping it. He reverted back to his normal form, letting the 45 second power trip from his Vizard-edged Bankai fade. He stood groggily, remembering what he had come to do in the first place. He placed his hand against the crystal, right at the divide, and focused his will to it. He began to shrink that will to a manageable size and as he did so, the crystal itself began to shrink.

By the time he was done, the crystal was the size of something you’d see on a necklace, something Kaoseu thought seemed fitting, and made a mental note to find a jeweler sometime soon. He placed the crystal in his pocket and exited the cavern at a trudge. He lazily Flash Stepped all the way back to Seireitei, where he dragged his zombie-like form to his barracks and crawled into bed, clothes still on. As he lay down, he felt something alongside the crystal, and was only mildly surprised when he recognized the hollow shape as his Vizard mask. He fell asleep with a grin on his face, despite the thoughts of what was to come that plagued his mind. He was no longer a Shinigami, in his opinion. He was a mix breed, a hybrid. He was no longer Kaoseu Enjel, 7th Squad Vice Captain. He was Kaoseu Enjel, Vizard.