Bleach Dark Dawn Ch17, Protector? or Avenger?

"Torin!" Aurora screamed as Torin's grip loosened and he began to slump to the ground. Torin only groaned in response as he held himself up on his knees. His backside looked like it had been grilled in a volcanic eruption. It was charred black, and smoke streamed from cracks in the skin that had formed when the superheated air had dehydrated it to the point of breaking apart before getting thoroughly toasted.

Torin weakly gestured behind him, alerting Aurora to the presence of their assailant. It was a male arrancar with jet black hair, a long crooked nose, and golden eyes with flecks of red in them. The man stood a shocking 11 feet tall, and wore a heavily modified uniform that only covered his shoulders and lower body, revealing a body so muscular it was monstrous. The man had a 12 pack and biceps the size of Torin's head. Aurora looked positively miniscule before the beast

The arrancar smirked, revealing a set of jagged teeth more suited to the mouth of a shark than that of a man. "heh heh, just as weak as before, they let anybody become captain these days eh Torin?" it chuckled

"Who…?" Torin asked

"tsk tsk, after our last encounter I'd think you'd recognize me, though my new form might be confusing," the man said

"I don't…" Torin began, but Aurora stepped in front of him and interrupted

"save your strength Torin, you've been hurt bad, you shouldn't even be conscious at this point, if you get agitated you might go into shock" she said "I'll handle this."

The arrancar smiled even wider at this "So Torin got himself a new girl hm? She's as beautiful as the last one was, let's see if you scream as beautifully too!" it said as it leapt into the air with surprising nimbleness for his size, descending towards her with alarming speed.

"Hado 58: Tenran!" Aurora said, instantly a tornado like whirlwind erupted from her hand and slammed into the arrancar, knocking him away and making him spin like a pinwheel. "Hado 33! Sokatsui!" Aurora continued, the wave of blue flame from the spell mixing with the tornado to turn it into a fiery tempest that engulfed the arrancar.

Moments later the flames around the arrancar exploded outwards and the arrancar landed on the ground completely unscathed. For a brief instant his left arm appeared faintly green, but the color soon returned to normal.

The arrancar smirked "that all girl? I deflect attacks like that in my sleep!" he taunted

"Hado 31! Shakkaho!" Aurora said, firing a sphere of red energy at that arrancar, nailing him square in the chest and exploding. Flames danced around his massive body, but when they cleared the man's skin was a metallic grey. The color receded into the man's chest, where it could be seen that he had a tiny hollow hole, right where his heart should have been.

The man yawned "that all? Can I kill you now?" he asked,  the skin on his right arm turned green and he began to raise the arm to point at Aurora when another red sphere shot from her hand and sailed towards him.

For an instant the arrancar seemed panicked, the change in color on his arm reversed and returned to normal and the arrancar dodged the sphere instead of blocking it again, jumping aside and rolling to his feet.

"Insolent wench!" the arrancar spat "you found it out already?"

Aurora smirked "of course, all you're doing is changing the atomic structure of your body to suit your purposes, when you attack your arm becomes green and somewhat scaled, like a dragon's head almost, and that enables you to shoot flames. When you defend you change the structure of your skin to a coat of diamond hard carbon, making you almost impervious to attack."

Aurora raised her hands "but you still have a weakness, your body can only serve one of these purposes at a time, and that last attack proved you can't transmute it directly from one purpose to another, you always have to revert to normal first, and that takes time, meaning I just have to hit you when you attack"

The arrancar chuckled "well aren't you a clever one? Now that you've figured that out though I have no choice but to get serious" he said as the skin on his shoulder bulged and broke apart, revealing a bone hilt-like protrusion. The arrancar grabbed the hilt with his left hand and drew a sword of solid bone from his shoulder. Grinning maliciously, the man held the sword close to his face, blood dripping down the blade and staining it black.

"Become the stuff of nightmares… Akumu yona ejji!" the man said, then his entire body exploded into a shower of blood, revealing a new form.

The new form was a true monster, with the wings of a gargoyle, the claws of a demon, legs like a goat's the size of tree trunks with talons as wicked as the claws, a vaguely human chest, and the head of a black dragon, complete with horns that grew forward alongside its snout like twin spears. It also had a serpent tail that writhed and hissed with a mind of its own.

"Now girl, lets see how well that clever brain of yours works after I rip it from your skull! The monstrous thing said

Aurora immediately responded with an attack "hado 54! Haien!" she said, firing a smaller sphere of purple energy that hit the arrancar and exploded, engulfing him in purple flames, but doing no visible damage.

"That tickles, sorry girl, but my limits from before are gone now, your kido won't work on me anymore" the arrancar said

"Hado 63, Raikoho!' Aurora said, now appearing a bit worried, she fired a large stream of lightning from her palm, the stream struck the arrancar and pushed it back, but again dealt no damage. The arrancar laughed and opened its mouth, its head becoming red as a torrent of flames burst forth.

"Bakudo 39! Enkonsen!" Aurora said, forming a spinning barrier of yellow energy, but the barrier easily broke and Aurora was sent sprawling.

"Your kido can not save you here girl" the arrancar said "just accept your fate and perish"

Aurora got up, panting "bakudo 61, Rikujokoro." Instantly 6 pillars of light slammed into the arrancar's waist, its body tensed, but found itself unable to move

"what is this?" the arrancar said in confusion

"Bakudo 63! Saju Sabako! Bakudo 79 Kuyo shibari!" Aurora chanted at high speed, sending chains of yellow light to pin the arrancar's arms to its side and 8 black spheres to form around it, each emmiting a large amount of reiatsu and holding the arrancar in place.

The arrancar struggled against the bonds, but its efforts were thwarted as a ninth sphere formed in its chest.

"Hado 88! Hiryūgekizokushintenraihō!" Aurora said, this time firing a truly massive wave of blue electric energy at the trapped arrancar. The wave hit and exploded with excessive destructive force. The explosion was so violent that the wind created by displaced hot air was enough to uproot several trees.

Aurora waited, trying to tell if the arrancar had survived, seeing nothing through the smoke and hearing nothing she turned back to Torin "See! I told you I had it covered!" She said with a smile

"My my, turning your back to an enemy, perhapssss you aren't that clever after all" a hissing voice said, then a giant serpent shot from the smoke and sank its fangs into Aurora's shoulder.

Aurora screamed in pain and ripped the snake off of her, it retreated and morphed back into the arrancar's beast form instantly.

"I can do more than just harden my skin now girl" the arrancar laughed "now I can transform into nearly anything! I've devoured millions of hollows, and each of them had some sort of monstrous form, my ability is simply to take those forms and make them my own!"

Aurora stood and healed herself with a kido "doesn't matter what shape you take I'll just blow it away! Hado…" Aurora trailed off and fell to her knees, her vision blurring, and her limbs feeling like lead weights. "What's…happening? I haven't used… that much reiatsu yet! Why?" Aurora's legs gave out, and she fell face first into the ground

"Stupid girl, I was a serpent when I bit you! Serpents have venom" the arrancar said “I could just sit back and watch the venom kill you, but I have something else in mind”

Aurora's head throbbed, she couldn't speak any incantations because her throat was constricting, and she couldn't move her body at all anymore.

The arrancar walked over casually and raised a claw, then looked at Torin, who was still watching helplessly, though he was frantically trying to get up. "Do you remember me now boy? Think about where you've seen this scene before, a clearing, the one you love helpless as she dies trying to save you, ring any bells?" it said with a snarl "no matter, my revenge on you is completed either way simply by making you watch me kill this girl"

Torin forced himself to his feet to try and fight, Aurora was about to die saving him! Just like when… Realization hit him like a slap to the face "You're!" he exclaimed

The arrancar grinned, it's ghastly draconic face splitting apart to reveal its fangs "ah good, you remember now, that makes this SO much more satisfying!" it said as it slashed down towards Aurora

The claw descended, then stopped. "What!" the arrancar gasped "but how?

Torin stood before the arrancar, holding its wrist and stopping the blow in its tracks. His injuries seemingly forgotten, though they still smoked and made sounds that would make most men vomit.

"I've been waiting a long time…" Torin said as his reiatsu began to rise "to settle the score with you"

The arrancar snarled "try and settle it then, I still have to pay you back for chopping off my arms and legs back then"

"Pay ME back?" Torun said incredulously "you've got something dreadfully wrong, what I did that night was simply the beginning of MY vengeance, now I'm going to finish the job."

The arrancar's eyes narrowed "and how will you do that? You're unarmed…" it trailed off suddenly as Torin's fist hit it under the jaw and sent it flying close to 20 feet in the air. Torin jumped up after it and kicked it back to the ground, then landed between it and Aurora

"Since when do I need a weapon…" Torin said with a deceptively calm voice "to rip you to pieces?"

The arrancar crashed to the ground and stood back up "rip me to pieces? That's insane! You don't honestly plan to…" it said, then it stopped as it looked at Torin.

Torin was radiating reiatsu, the white aura around him obscured sight of everything else as it raged out of control. Torin glared at the arrancar, his face twisted into a demonic snarl of pure unadulterated hatred. The raging reiatsu around him seemed to form the face of a demon above him, glaring down at the arrancar with equally malicious intent.

"Y-you… what are you?" the arrancar said as it stepped back "you're no shinigami… you're…"

"To you… I am death!" Torin roared, causing the ground in front of him to break open as his reiatsu intensified even more.

The arrancar spread its wings and turned to fly away, but as it looked to the sky all it saw was Torin's foot kicking it back to the ground.

The arrancar got back up on all fours, its tail turning into that of a scorpion and lashing out at Torin at lightning speed, Torin batted the strike aside and dashed forward, smashing the arrancar's head back into the ground. The arrancar roared in pain and a hint of fear, then morphed into a giant spider with tall spear-like legs as tall as trees.

"DIE!" the spider roared as it shot web at Torin. Torin dodged with a shunpo, but the spider continued to fire webs and eventually Torin's feet got stuck.

The spider raised two legs and stabbed downward, only for Torin to grab them both, one with each arm, and snap them like twigs. Dropping one, Torin hurled the other like a javelin and speared the spider, which hastily morphed into a huge snake with a bladed tail before it died from the blow.

The snake lashed out at Torin with its tail, and it managed to score a grazing blow on his side, but Torin grabbed the tail and used it to throw the entire snake into the trees. "Good, keep fighting, I want this to last" Torin said "I've been waiting to avenge Serena for so long… how I've dreamed of this day, and you're making it last even longer than I thought! Fight me, struggle against my wrath. You will learn the meaning of pain, fear, suffering, despair, and then, once I’ve broken you and made you beg for mercy, I’ll kill you slowly and painfully, and listen to your screams"

The arrancar dropped to the ground and turned into an ant like creature, then spewed a green liquid at Torin. Torin jumped over the liquid and delivered an aerial axe kick to the face, but the arrancar was faster this time, it morphed into something else, a creature with thousands of tentacles and a long head filled with teeth.

The tentacles shot from all angles and wrapped around Torin from every possible direction, stopping him in his tracks. No matter how he struggled he couldn't break free. The arrancar proceeded to use the rest of its tentacles to mercilessly beat Torin, hitting him with thousands of blows a second until he was just a step above a bloody pulp

"Well I'll admit, you had me scared, but even you can't beat me bare handed" the arrancar said as it brought its head close to Torin's "how does it feel to have failed again? Now you and your friend will die by my hands, just like Serena did" it taunted, but instead of getting satisfaction from its needling it received pain, as Torin responded by biting off a large chunk of its flesh.

“Don’t you dare speak her name” Torin snarled “you aren’t worthy of it”

"Now to eat YOU! You bastard!" the arrancar roared

The arrancar opened its mouth and prepared to swallow Torin when a figure blocked out the sky.

"Erupt! Kazan no ken!" Rida said as he fell and engulfed his arm in flame as he punched the arrancar in the face. Shocked, the arrancar released Torin

"You alright bud?" Rida asked "heard the commotion, came to check on you two, good thing I did too, otherwise you'd"

"WHY DID YOU INTERFERE!" Torin roared "THIS IS MY FIGHT!"

"I saved your life! Don't yell at me!" Rida retorted

"If I can't beat this thing then I'd rather die!" Torin spat "this arrancar is the hollow that!"

"killed Serena, I know, I caught that part of your fight" Rida said "but think about who else will die if you go down! Aurora needs medical attention ASAP! Is your vengeance worth her life? Does she mean so little to you? Are you a protector or an avenger Torin? You CAN’T be both!"

Torin recoiled as if hit by a sledgehammer "no… I…"

"Now suck up your pride and thank me for saving you both!" Rida said

Torin closed his eyes "you're a pain in the ass Rida, but thank you, now go take Aurora to get help, I still have to finish this alone"

"But you need healing too idiot!" Rida protested

"Rida, if I let this arrancar live, I'll never be able to live with myself, I owe this to Serena and my friends, I'll be fine, now go." Torin said

Rida opened his mouth, then closed it and used shunpo to move over to Aurora "fine, but take this at least" he said, then tossed Torin's zanpakto to him "picked it up on the way"

Torin caught the blade in one hand "thank you, now go"

Rida took Aurora and left the area, leaving Torin completely alone with the arrancar. "I hope you enjoyed your brief advantage bastard" Torin said "cause now I'm going to kill you nice and slowly, and there isn't a form in this universe that will save you."

The arrancar got back up, finally recovering from its daze, "as if!" it roared as its tentacles shot at Torin again

"bankai" Torin whispered, the resulting explosion destroyed the tentacles around him. "Kessho Satsujinsha Yoroi"

The arrancar seemed to realize its predicament now, it had gotten its ass kicked by a barehanded Torin, and now he was in bankai. "Oh shi…" it began, but it was cut off by Torin appearing before it and grabbing it by the throat.

“Now, where was I?” Torin asked “oh, right, teaching you pain”

Torin threw the arrancar into the air, then jumped after it, throwing thousands of punches at shunpo speed and pummeling it. When he was done he grabbed it and threw it back into the ground, then shunpod down into a dive kick.

The arrancar transformed into an armadillo-like creature and curled up into a ball. “Ha, this form is my strongest defense, even a captain’s blade can’t pierce this armor!” it boasted.

Torin walked over and picked up the arrancar, tossing the ball into the sky “we’ll see” he said as he shunpod next to it and kicked it, then shunpod to where he’d kicked it too and kicked it again, sending it back and increasing it’s speed

This process repeated for a few minutes while a spire of crystal grew beneath them. Then when Torin had the arrancar moving at maximum speed, he kicked it down to the spear. The arrancar howled in agony as it was impaled by the spike, changing back to its monster form, with the spike still through its stomach.

Torin landed and began walking towards the arrancar. “No! stay away! Get away from me you monster!” it screamed

“Fear, now for suffering” Torin said as the spike in the arrancar’s stomach began branching out inside its body, tearing it apart from the inside. He purposely avoided vital organs and veins, so that the arrancar’s regeneration would keep it alive, if only barely.

The arrancar howled in pain until it lost it’s voice, writhing and trying to escape the crystal network spreading through it, but to no avail.

“No, please stop, just kill me! Please!” the arrancar sobbed

“And despair” Torin said as he stood above the arrancar’s face  and coated his arm in a blade of crystal “just as I promised, I broke you, and now I’m going to kill you… slowly”

Torin put the tip of the blade to the arrancar’s forehead, drawing a single drop of blood, and then, slowly, the blade began to grow into it’s skull. The arrancar tried to scream, but it no longer had the voice to do so, and so it simply writhed in agony for the next hour, before at long last it fell still, lifeless. Torin then proceeded to turn the rest of its body to crystal as he hopped down.


"shatter" Torin commanded, and the arrancar turned to crystal dust. "Goodbye and good riddance you bastard" he spat, then stumbled out of the clearing and towards the 4th division for healing