Take on the Throne for the Crown
By BukkakeNoJutsu
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Disclaimer: I can own the shit out of this, but I donÆt own the shit out of this
Author's Note: This arose from an idea I've had for years that Watashiwa, Marthf1, and I discussed at the TFF meetup in San Jose yesterday. It's a little rough, but I hope it gets the point across.
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And I've seen what happens to the wicked and proud
When they decide to try to take on the throne for the crown.
-ôJaws Theme Swimmingö by Brand New
"When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers."
- Oscar Wilde
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Kyoka Suigetsu, the crystallized form of the soul of the infamous Soul Society traitor Sousuke Aizen, pierced the stunned Inoue Orihime. The sword casted no illusions, but instead twisted viciously through viscera and vertebrae. Words desperately tried to escape from the young womanÆs lips, but remained piteously strangled in transit. Her legs went limp with only the brown-haired manÆs katana keeping her upright.
A butterfly pinned to a pressboard by an avid collector.
In a flash, Kyoka Suigetsu sliced upward towards heaven.
Clad in the tattered remnants of his Bankai robes, Kurosaki Ichigo watched in horror as the face of the girl who loved him, who cheered for him through thick and thin, who could not bring herself to harm others but could only offer comfort to the afflicted, split in half vertically, flopping open like a hardbound book on a coffee table.
Aizen slashed to the side, sending the blood that had previously coated his blade arcing through the air.
Ichigo had heard from his father Isshin, a doctor running a local clinic and also a former shinigami, that during times of severe trauma, time can appear to dilate, either speeding up or slowing down.
ôAfter these traumas,ö Isshin remarked, one day when Ichigo volunteered at the clinic, ôIncoherent or even innocuous thoughts can remain amongst the most vivid recollections.ö
The first stray thought the shocked Ichigo considered after witnessing the tragedy before him was ôOrihimeÆs funeral will have to be closed casket.ö
It came to him as matter-of-fact as a newspaper headline.
Tears ran down IchigoÆs face, leaving tracks as red as rose petals. His eyes burned black, the whites of them vanishing like his hope for the future. A roar tore itself through his throat---the sound of a soul being shredded to give way for a crackling abyss. A skull-like mask appeared under the teenÆs skin, its curling horns punching through the skin of his temples. His now clawed hands reached to cast off the ragged remains of his human face like wet tissue paper. A gaping void appeared in center of his chest, over his heart where no light could ever reach or escape.
Instincts told the creature to tear the grinning manÆs throat open with its needle-like teeth, to feel that manÆs neck snap as the one once known as Ichigo twisted AizenÆs head off his body.
The heavens shook as titans trod upon the earth.
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Kurosaki Ichigo lay on the ground supine with his hollow mask, limbs, and spirit broken. His hair was longer from his bestial transformation and his torso was staked to the earth by AizenÆs zanpakuto.
Sousuke Aizen rubbed at his own unmarked throat, reveling at the phantom pains.
ôEver strongeràö nodded the traitor to himself.
ôW-why?ö spat out the impaled substitute god of death, mouth and lungs beginning to fill with blood.
The man clad in crimson-spattered white considered the question sagely.
ôBecause time and time again, you have remained a constant source of amusement,ö replied Aizen, smiling sublimely instead of opting for a customary grin, ôAs thanks, I will let you remember. For a change.ô
Stepping on his adversary, Sousuke Aizen tugged the blade of Kyoka Suigetsu none-too-gently out of IchigoÆs battered body.
ôEnjoy your time with your loved ones. But remember, what I give you, I can also take away.ö
The God of All He Surveyed drove the tip of his sword downward between IchigoÆs brown eyes and far into the floor beneath the boyÆs head.
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Kurosaki Ichigo woke up in his room with a start, scattering math worksheets and sending a textbook crashing to the floor.
The eldest child of Isshin and Masaki dashed through his house wrenching bedroom doors open to find his sisters and his father slumbering peacefully.
Not attempting to cling to one another. Not in pieces, great and small, on the walls, floor, or ceiling.
Ichigo ran.
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Orihime Inoue woke to sounds of her doorbell ringing frantically, opening her door to see an exhausted Kurosaki Ichigo collapsing at her doorstep. His bare feet were cut and bleeding badly.
He was one of Tatsuki-chanÆs oldest friends, and truth be told Orihime had a bit of a crush on the teen.
He was always so stoic, but also very kind. Nothing ever seemed to faze Kurosaki-kun. Not bullies. Not schoolwork. Nothing.
What had happened to Kurosaki-kun to send him barefoot and weeping to her door?
At a loss, she pulling him into a comforting embrace like her older brother Sora used to provide.
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Ever since his mother died when he was 9-years-old, Ichigo wanted to be able to save his loved ones. It defined him to the core. He took pride in the fact his very name could be interpreted to mean ôOne who protects.ö
It was the bedtime story his mind whispered to itself at night.
He loved being the protective older brother. He hated bullies---those who couldnÆt pick on someone their own size.
He liked being the hero, and all it entailed, such as the thrill of the fight and satisfaction of a good deed done.
He could do what others could not, gaining strength at unprecedented rates and far outpacing his comrades to defeat impossible odds.
One of the funny things about being a hero is that it requires innocents and loved ones to be in peril. The storybook knight had no princess to rescue without the assistance of a damsel-eating dragon.
What would happen if that dragon really just wanted that knight to become the best knight he could ever be?
Ichigo had nothing to look forward to but opportunities to be a hero and chances to protect his loved ones.
Over, and over, and over again.
Past. Present. Future.
Future. Present. Past.
Amen.
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ôSince the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of deathùthat is, the devilù ô
ûHebrews 14
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**Never the End**
By BukkakeNoJutsu
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Disclaimer: I can own the shit out of this, but I donÆt own the shit out of this
Author's Note: This arose from an idea I've had for years that Watashiwa, Marthf1, and I discussed at the TFF meetup in San Jose yesterday. It's a little rough, but I hope it gets the point across.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
And I've seen what happens to the wicked and proud
When they decide to try to take on the throne for the crown.
-ôJaws Theme Swimmingö by Brand New
"When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers."
- Oscar Wilde
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kyoka Suigetsu, the crystallized form of the soul of the infamous Soul Society traitor Sousuke Aizen, pierced the stunned Inoue Orihime. The sword casted no illusions, but instead twisted viciously through viscera and vertebrae. Words desperately tried to escape from the young womanÆs lips, but remained piteously strangled in transit. Her legs went limp with only the brown-haired manÆs katana keeping her upright.
A butterfly pinned to a pressboard by an avid collector.
In a flash, Kyoka Suigetsu sliced upward towards heaven.
Clad in the tattered remnants of his Bankai robes, Kurosaki Ichigo watched in horror as the face of the girl who loved him, who cheered for him through thick and thin, who could not bring herself to harm others but could only offer comfort to the afflicted, split in half vertically, flopping open like a hardbound book on a coffee table.
Aizen slashed to the side, sending the blood that had previously coated his blade arcing through the air.
Ichigo had heard from his father Isshin, a doctor running a local clinic and also a former shinigami, that during times of severe trauma, time can appear to dilate, either speeding up or slowing down.
ôAfter these traumas,ö Isshin remarked, one day when Ichigo volunteered at the clinic, ôIncoherent or even innocuous thoughts can remain amongst the most vivid recollections.ö
The first stray thought the shocked Ichigo considered after witnessing the tragedy before him was ôOrihimeÆs funeral will have to be closed casket.ö
It came to him as matter-of-fact as a newspaper headline.
Tears ran down IchigoÆs face, leaving tracks as red as rose petals. His eyes burned black, the whites of them vanishing like his hope for the future. A roar tore itself through his throat---the sound of a soul being shredded to give way for a crackling abyss. A skull-like mask appeared under the teenÆs skin, its curling horns punching through the skin of his temples. His now clawed hands reached to cast off the ragged remains of his human face like wet tissue paper. A gaping void appeared in center of his chest, over his heart where no light could ever reach or escape.
Instincts told the creature to tear the grinning manÆs throat open with its needle-like teeth, to feel that manÆs neck snap as the one once known as Ichigo twisted AizenÆs head off his body.
The heavens shook as titans trod upon the earth.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kurosaki Ichigo lay on the ground supine with his hollow mask, limbs, and spirit broken. His hair was longer from his bestial transformation and his torso was staked to the earth by AizenÆs zanpakuto.
Sousuke Aizen rubbed at his own unmarked throat, reveling at the phantom pains.
ôEver strongeràö nodded the traitor to himself.
ôW-why?ö spat out the impaled substitute god of death, mouth and lungs beginning to fill with blood.
The man clad in crimson-spattered white considered the question sagely.
ôBecause time and time again, you have remained a constant source of amusement,ö replied Aizen, smiling sublimely instead of opting for a customary grin, ôAs thanks, I will let you remember. For a change.ô
Stepping on his adversary, Sousuke Aizen tugged the blade of Kyoka Suigetsu none-too-gently out of IchigoÆs battered body.
ôEnjoy your time with your loved ones. But remember, what I give you, I can also take away.ö
The God of All He Surveyed drove the tip of his sword downward between IchigoÆs brown eyes and far into the floor beneath the boyÆs head.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kurosaki Ichigo woke up in his room with a start, scattering math worksheets and sending a textbook crashing to the floor.
The eldest child of Isshin and Masaki dashed through his house wrenching bedroom doors open to find his sisters and his father slumbering peacefully.
Not attempting to cling to one another. Not in pieces, great and small, on the walls, floor, or ceiling.
Ichigo ran.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Orihime Inoue woke to sounds of her doorbell ringing frantically, opening her door to see an exhausted Kurosaki Ichigo collapsing at her doorstep. His bare feet were cut and bleeding badly.
He was one of Tatsuki-chanÆs oldest friends, and truth be told Orihime had a bit of a crush on the teen.
He was always so stoic, but also very kind. Nothing ever seemed to faze Kurosaki-kun. Not bullies. Not schoolwork. Nothing.
What had happened to Kurosaki-kun to send him barefoot and weeping to her door?
At a loss, she pulling him into a comforting embrace like her older brother Sora used to provide.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ever since his mother died when he was 9-years-old, Ichigo wanted to be able to save his loved ones. It defined him to the core. He took pride in the fact his very name could be interpreted to mean ôOne who protects.ö
It was the bedtime story his mind whispered to itself at night.
He loved being the protective older brother. He hated bullies---those who couldnÆt pick on someone their own size.
He liked being the hero, and all it entailed, such as the thrill of the fight and satisfaction of a good deed done.
He could do what others could not, gaining strength at unprecedented rates and far outpacing his comrades to defeat impossible odds.
One of the funny things about being a hero is that it requires innocents and loved ones to be in peril. The storybook knight had no princess to rescue without the assistance of a damsel-eating dragon.
What would happen if that dragon really just wanted that knight to become the best knight he could ever be?
Ichigo had nothing to look forward to but opportunities to be a hero and chances to protect his loved ones.
Over, and over, and over again.
Past. Present. Future.
Future. Present. Past.
Amen.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
ôSince the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of deathùthat is, the devilù ô
ûHebrews 14
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**Never the End**