An Ancient Evil Arise and a Hero Descend

Somewhere above Karakura City, a little girl hovered only a mile high from the tallest building and stood there. Her purpose in the world was trivial as she has done it so many times for the past thirty million years; capture new subjects for her insidious experiments and turning them into her demonic aberrations she called her pets. Eden was her notably absent achievement as no one in Hell seemed to recognized her presence despite the feat was so great. A demon who took over something protected vigilantly by God and the Soul King. Usually she loves the mysteriousness of her being, but it seemed too long that she is left not recognized. She fabricated a letter to be sent into the Soul Society, her former stomping ground of stealthy captures in the Rukongai.

"My Dear, Captain Ichigo Kurosaki of the 13th Division in the Gotei 13,

Do mind that I know of you from rumors flowing through the realms and I was quite fond of your achievements. Now for the formality cut, I have but one little game to play with you. A riddle fashioned simply for you. Once you figure out the riddle, I'll be there to greet you. Oh and do be quick, I do have "burning" passion that may "shock" my hands into "crushing" those because you would not come. Mind "blowing" isn't it? Now now, I do wished good health to you when we meet, so I would pull all the stops to make sure no one would get in the way. For the riddle, do clear your throat, mucus is building up around the gullet.

Purify the mind with education.
Purify the soul with meanings.
What is pure for the tainted?
Wounded heart is a taint that must go.

Burn away your sorrow...
And rest in a sterile room.
A place of life they called it.
But what is life without a little mess?

They are there to purify the body.
Yet they are there to bring life anew.
What is red?
I certainly don't mind the dress.

That's it for the riddle, happy hunting!

~~TelcinVohlis, Oppressor of Eden."

With the letter wisted away by a Hell Butterfly and her grin apparent, Vohlis descended down to the rooftop of a Hospital, awaiting for the boy she heard so much about to come and play with her. The outcome may be dim for Vohlis, but she would get something out of it, probably knowledge of something important for her plans.

[Kurosaki Ichigo]



A black shadow could be seen, only with a tint of white on the back and sleeves. To a knowing eye, it was simply understandable that this was a Shinigami Captain dashing through the air of Karakura City. It was a rare sight to see one of the leaders of the Gotei outside of the Seireitei without special orders, but this time, the orange-haired man was here for his own reasons. A certain Hell Butterfly told him something that was anything but nice, and he had to hurry. There was something evil on the loose here.

Normally, he wouldn't give too much on such a note. In fact, chances were high that it was a prank someone without taste pulled. Still, he couldn't wait up or send out Shinigami in hope of it being a fraud - he had to make sure himself, so that none of his Squad got injured or killed without reason just because he was lazy. In a way, the demoness that called him out really seemed to know that Kurosaki would actually show up and face her alone.
And for once, Ichigos sharp intellect paid off. The riddle was by far too easy for him - he had it figured out after reading it just once. The only place were both new life was given, and people came to 'purify their bodies' was Karakura Hospital, the very same that was formerly run by Ishida Ryuken, the father of one of his best friends, Uryu. Not even a full minute had passed since the Captain stepped through the Senkaimon Gate.

"So you're Vohlis?" With the slight swooshing sound signalizing Shunpo, the 13th Divisions Captain appeared on the roof of the hospital. His brown eyes fixated onto the demoness, his was ready to pull Zangetsu in a heartbeat and counter or attack if need be. "Peh. Can't see the big deal behind your title." Having faced the Espada before, now facing one of the leaders of Sin Fall was nothing that could even slightly shock Ichigo. His right hand gripped onto Zangetsu, and as the cloth fell off around the blade and shortened itself, the constant Captain-level leak of Reiatsu increased slightly. Still, on a hospital, Ichigo couldn't risk to activate his full Reiatsu, or otherwise he would kill any spiritually aware human he wasn't aware of himself underneath him - and in this time and age, many humans were aware of spirits.
"You know, calling me out usually doesn't need you to take a whole hospital hostage. And now move." The tip of Zangetsus blade pointed straight ahead at the chest of Vohlis, and Ichigos voice was calm and collected. The slightly long, orange hair with the natural seeming spiked behaviour was moving in the wind, just like his black Kimono - and the wind up here seemed to increase, thanks to the flucturing energies between those individuals.
"I won't allow you to endanger Karakura any more. I'll cut you down if I have to."

"Oh? Thought it would be easy to make me move from this spot? I mainly called you here for the sole purpose of...demonstrating. Since you can play the game, how about another one?" Vohlis asked with a tone as if she was thinking ahead of time, even before Ichigo's arrival. She placed her hand around the tip of the Zangetsu and smirked, a sign that something was set up already for Ichigo. "Unlike your spiritual pressure, my powers derived from the environment like wind for example, so I don't need to boost my spiritual output to use them...unless I chose to amplify them. But for this one..." Vohlis spoke before darkness begins flaring up around her and Ichigo.

Using Zangetsu as the focus, she is able to teleport herself and Ichigo into a tainted realm that looks like a once peaceful and beautiful paradise burnt and ruined by a wildfire while infested with creatures that Ichigo never seen before except very few that is seen because of Tina Tal'Vohla's demonstration of her ability. Tina's purpose of the demonstration was to aid Captain Mayuri in researching about the Tal'Vohlan, the individuals that were nearly wiped out by the Shinigami long ago. One landmark was none other than the Forbidden Tree of Knowledge, still bearing golden apples as a memorial of Vohlis's treachery that started mankind's corruption.


"Lovely is it not?" Vohlis asked while walking to the Forbidden Tree. "This is once a paradise created by God and presumably protected by the Soul King before I took over. The Soul King was here before to get rid of me, but he failed to do so. Believed you can get rid of me when the Soul King could not?" Vohlis spoke like he actually been through it all. "This is where no one other than demons can go in. So everything you are now will soon fade into a husk of yourself. Still want to hurt me even though I have the power to converge everything upon your thick skull?" Vohlis concluded as he brandish his spear and turned to face Ichigo.

[Kurosaki Ichigo]

"Soul King? God?" Ichigos eyes only wandered off for a split second. A devastated land, filled with the minions of this demon - but no sign of wavering in his stance, as Ichigo grabbed the hilt of Zangetsu with both hands. But something was strange. His Hollow Mask... it was on his face, without him donning it on. Furthermore, had it not been for his own double-layered voice, he wouldn't even have realized it at all. Was this a trick of this demon from when she touched Zangetsu? After all, Zangetsu was also his inner Hollow as well as his sword, two sides of the same coin - his source of power. He didn't quite notice yet... That his mind was slowly turning.
"Sorry, but I don't believe in fairy tales, Vohlis. There is no god, and the Soul King... Heh. Why should I care, really?"
Of course, even he couldn't deny the fact that this place together with the tree had a cunning resemblance to Eden, or what was left of it according to the bible. Not that he would know much about that, Ichigo wasn't exactly a christian. His grip on the hilt only tightened, since he felt that something was off, but not what. "I'll finish this quickly."
The burst of Reiatsu coming from the 13th Captain was the signal of what was to come now. A Reiatsu consisting out of the dark energy a hollow had and the pure energy of a Shinigami, transcending into one of the strongest known forms...

"Ban...KAI!"

The eruption of power changed, and turned into a massive pillar of black light with red outlines shooting up into the sky, before collapsing downwards, engfulling Ichigo completely. In a flash, it formed the changed Kimono in the style of his Zanpakuto Spirit, the old man Zangetsu, only missing the right sleeve - because around his right arm, a black chain was wrapped upwards up to the shoulder, starting from the black hilt with the red cloth in his hand, the completely jet-black Katana of condensed energy, the compat Bankai for which he was known...
"Tensa Zangetsu." With his double-sounding voice of a Vizard with the mask on, a slight slashing movement to the side was enough to gush up a mass of wind and dirt, leaving behind a cut mark deep in the ground, even though the sword didn't even hit it simply from the force of the wind being cut by this weapon.
The static sound was the indicator, but it wouldn't reach the ears of Vohlis before the Vizard himself who was now speeding forward with the use of Sonido, the hollow-variant of Shunpo, in which he was quite good. He learned from Yoruichi, after all. Ichigo was now right infront of Vohlis, appearing nearly out of nowhere, with Tensa Zangetsu up above his head. He was reckless while fighting with his Hollow Mask on, and the strange happenings here only enhanced that. He seemingly was too far away to strike at the demon - but should Vohlis truely believe that Ichigo missed his step that openly, he was in for a very nasty surprise.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

Swinging his sword down, Ichigos blade lighted up in bright black and red light, swirling together into a cutting and extremely potent energy blade - but now, in Bankai and with his mask on, it was more like a giant wall of darkness erupting from the blade to split Vohlis in half vertically. Blocking off this attackw as possible, but clearly not easy, and dodging upwards nearly impossible. The demon would have to take a side-step to even have a chance of getting away unharmed. That his energy attack would maybe even shatter the tree of knowledge, Kurosaki didn't care about that. The will to cut this demon down... it was overwhelming him.

Vohlis definitely noticed the change, but he stood not phased. Stranger for this ancient evil, he seemed too cocksure about what is going to happen as his chuckle echoes around the battlefield. The very moment that Ichigo was in front of Vohlis, he flickered out of sight for a mere split second before being at point-blank in front of Ichigo. "Irre!" He shouted in his man and woman double voice at the same moment he redirected the attack by pushing the charged sword with his hardened left hand and delivering a hard punch to Ichigo's exposed diaphragm. The left hand shown damage with burns and smoke from it, but punch from his right hand would normally knock the wind out of Ichigo, regardless of how powerful he is. He followed his attack with another punch to the diaphragm before ramming his right shoulder against Ichigo's chest. The punches to the diaphragm should weaken Ichigo and leave him too stunned to get into the right stance to resist the ramming. The ramming will create a distance between Vohlis and Ichigo.

"Getsuga Tensho is a predictable tactic. You managed to burn me, that makes you comparable to a Captain. Bankai was enough evidence too." Vohlis concluded while he examined his singed left hand before he holds his right hand outward as if preparing to snap his fingers like the Espada would when summoning a Garganta. However, he said, "Azure Flame" before snapping his fingers. Suddenly, blue flame erupted from his hand like a jet of water. The stream would sear anything in its path and cause devastation to anyone, even a captain, but the only problem was the stream was not wide enough to be unavoidable; it is concentrated, so Ichigo can easily dodge it if he snaps out of his stun in time. After releasing that attack, Vohlis cuts off the flame and flourishes his spear. While waiting for Ichigo to make his next move, a murmur in the air was chanting for something.