Ahh, I don't stop posting!
Nope, this isn't an update to my Karin story. Something else that I wrote randomly.
Title: Ichigo: Checkmate
Rating:The much beloved T, where characters may swear and possess sexuality, but not so much that I will be banned for posting this.
Summary: Ichigo has fallen in battle and is at the mercy of his darker self. And Ichigo's Hollow has no mercy.
Series: Bleach
Genre: Dramatic introspective dialogue with abundant chess metaphors
I give credit this time to Saigo no Hajime at FFN, whose story Reincarnation Chronicles helped inspire this particular story. I'm too lazy to provide a link to it, though.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Bleach.
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Ichigo: Checkmate
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“Nothing else you can do now, is there? Even a loser like you knows what this means-you’re dead, King.”
Dead? What the hell is going on? I try to understand how I got here, but I don’t even know where here is. I can’t even see; it’s too dark. All I understand is that bastard is talking to me.
“Hey, come on now, King,” he taunts me again. “Would it hurt you to say anything? Come on, I want to hear your last words.” His laughter makes my skin crawl.
It hits me then and I comprehend what’s going on. My eyes open and I realize I’m back in that place inside my head. I’m standing upright on the side of a checkered black-and-white building, impossible though that is. As soon as I think that, I realize that something is wrong with this world.
“Yeah, that’s right, King!” he chuckles. “Your universe is falling apart. Old man Zangetsu split town ages ago. Took you long enough to notice.”
The skyscraper beneath my feet is crumbling apart. I need to jump from window to window to keep myself from falling. Assuming that I can fall here. I don’t want to even imagine what would happen if fell into the abyss below.
He follows me, grinning sardonically. “You know, I thought you would have been ready for this, King! I told you that you’d never keep your throne.” Would he ever stop laughing? “The mighty never conceive that they may fall, even long after they hit the ground.”
Leaping back and forth, struggling to find stability, I glare at him. I’ve had enough of his bullshit. “What the hell are you talking about?” I snap at him.
His smile twists into something evil. “Oh, the king has lost, but I see he hasn’t lost his crown yet.”
“Stop talking shit!” I command him. His earlier earlier words tug at my mind. “What do you mean, I’m dead?”
“Are you stupid, King?” he grins wildly. An insane zeal invades his eyes. “Dead is dead and dead is what you are.”
I come to a halt and nearly slip when the cement below my feet disintegrates. I scramble to a new ledge-I’m fast running out of places to stand. “Don’t you mean you’re stupid?” I reply, grinning myself. Yeah, we’re opposite sides of the same mirror, all right, and I’m happy for that now. “If I’m dead-which I’m not!-then so are you, jackass. We live and die together.”
His smile remains, much as I expected it to falter. Why is he so calm? Why do I get that impression that he knows something I don’t? Sweat rolls down my face and not because I’m working desperately to stay on top of this shrinking black-and-white building.
“You forgot…didn’t you?” He licks his lips, as though this information was a succulent treat. “No, you made yourself forget!”
Made myself forget what? I’m wise enough not to ask out loud. In the brief silence, it comes to my attention that he isn’t jumping about like me. The building doesn’t fall apart where he stands. Only where I am.
A slow cackle leaves his mouth. Ecstasy widens his black eyes and his golden pupils dilate. “Yes, you don’t remember!” he surmises easily enough. “Shall I tell you what your mind tried so hard to block out?” His tone is filled with manic glee.
The distance I have to jump each time has increased dramatically. I do my best to get further away from him, but only now do I notice that the few ledges left are close to the bastard. Slowly, I’m being forced to get closer to him. Dammit!
“Go to hell!” I curse him and his pasty-white skin. I don’t give a shit about what he has to say.
“Hell?” He laughs harder than ever. “King, you think this isn’t hell?"
Soon I’ll be able to count the number of concrete blocks left to jump on with one hand. Before long, this whole building will be gone and me with it. My only solace is that I’ll finally be away from this asshole since I’m fed up with him.
“Fine!” I brashly say, “What is it I refuse to remember?”
“How about a clue for his Majesty?” He rubs his hands together in delight and gives me a mock bow. “You’re dead, King, but you didn’t die alone.”
Unbidden memories flash through my head before I can suppress them. I stumble and nearly fail to jump to a safe location. But I swear I saw an image of Inoue crying before dying. And another of Ishida being run through by a sword. And of Chad without his hands.
I groan involuntarily. A voice whispers that’s not all, promises that’s not the half of it. But it can’t be true, it just can’t.
Looking around, I see there’s only one other fragment of the skyscraper left (not including where he stands). I muster a half-hearted chuckle. “Is that it?”
“Oh no, of course not, dead king.” He tilts his head in amusement. “You saw all of them die, watched them while you were helpless as a babe. Even the ones that matter most are gone.”
I nearly miss my landing. Yuzu. Karin. Dad. My family, taken from me like my mom was. I can’t even describe what happened to them, the images sear my skull from the inside out.
“Yes,” he laughs. “Her too.”
Rukia.
The final shard of the building collapses beneath my feet and I plummet into the unknown depths. I welcome the void I fall into; it is nothing compared to the sense of loss inside me.
How could I fail to have protected all of them, her most of all? My name’s what I am. I’m one who protects. Now I’m nothing. My mind is crumbling.
The sound of laughter tells me that he’s falling with me. “Finally admitted it to yourself, huh? White wins and you lose. Everything that made you who you are is no longer: the king is dead.”
Fighting my descent, I grind my teeth and mutter stubbornly, “I’m not dead!”
He snickers. “Of course, you’re not dead. Your body’s a mess but your heart still beats weakly. If it didn’t, I wouldn’t be here. My point is that it’s not yours anymore. It’s my turn now.”
“You think I’m going to let you go on a rampage in my body?!” Bad enough that my friends and family died. The notion of this bastard desecrating my name on top of everything is vile. “I’d rather die!”
“Hmm? Not the wisest king, are you, King? Not surprising, considering your shitty reign, but it’s disappointing to learn that I am one in the same with a dumbass. You,” he says to me, “will welcome my regime with open arms, King. You already have ever since you died, or else we’d both be dying today.”
“What?”
“King, King, King, I’ve held control over your soul so many times that I can’t believe your blindness. You live to fight and I live because you can’t win every fight. You’re weak and would have died long ago if I wasn’t around to pull you out of the fire when things get hot. Just think for a second and you’ll know why you need me again.”
I ponder over his words and memories of friends dying assail me. Except, unlike last time, I see more faces. I recall those who killed everyone dear to me, those who live instead of Rukia and the others.
“Yes, King,” he whispers, “You can rest in peace knowing that I want nothing more than to kill them. I promise swift death to everyone you’ve ever despised. I vow to make every single one of the murders suffers immensely for the rest of their short lives.”
Against my will, I lick my lips. What he offers is tempting beyond measure. Then I scowl, hating myself for desiring the vengeance he would wrought. I’m falling, yes, but do I need to sink so low?
I don’t want to say it-I want to let my Hollow slaughter every one of those motherfuckers who gave no mercy to Rukia-but I reject everything he is with a vehement, “Fuck you!”
Suddenly, he snarls at me, “Fool! Fine, this is just as well to me, King. Even if you say you don’t want me to kill them, I’ll do it anyways! It’s more fun to do what you don’t want!”
“What do you mean you’ll do it anyways?” I feel like laughing and surprise myself when I chortle. His boasts, all of a sudden, are just too funny. “As far as I can see, you’re falling down with me.” Alarm flashes across his face. Looks like I called his bluff. “How long until we hit the bottom, anyways?” I ask him. “Didn’t you say the mighty never know they’ve fallen even after they hit the ground or something?”
His face contorts in rage. “King, you…you…”
I look downward and then all around. The sky stretches infinitely in every direction. Will I even be aware of anything when I finally die in truth? Maybe it’s already happened.
“It seems there’s nothing you can do but die with me, asshole,” I grin at my dark counterpart and laugh louder than he ever did. “You’re even worse than me at realizing you’ve lost, so let me put it bluntly: Checkmate.”
Title: Ichigo: Checkmate
Rating:The much beloved T, where characters may swear and possess sexuality, but not so much that I will be banned for posting this.
Summary: Ichigo has fallen in battle and is at the mercy of his darker self. And Ichigo's Hollow has no mercy.
Series: Bleach
Genre: Dramatic introspective dialogue with abundant chess metaphors
I give credit this time to Saigo no Hajime at FFN, whose story Reincarnation Chronicles helped inspire this particular story. I'm too lazy to provide a link to it, though.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Bleach.
---
Ichigo: Checkmate
---
“Nothing else you can do now, is there? Even a loser like you knows what this means-you’re dead, King.”
Dead? What the hell is going on? I try to understand how I got here, but I don’t even know where here is. I can’t even see; it’s too dark. All I understand is that bastard is talking to me.
“Hey, come on now, King,” he taunts me again. “Would it hurt you to say anything? Come on, I want to hear your last words.” His laughter makes my skin crawl.
It hits me then and I comprehend what’s going on. My eyes open and I realize I’m back in that place inside my head. I’m standing upright on the side of a checkered black-and-white building, impossible though that is. As soon as I think that, I realize that something is wrong with this world.
“Yeah, that’s right, King!” he chuckles. “Your universe is falling apart. Old man Zangetsu split town ages ago. Took you long enough to notice.”
The skyscraper beneath my feet is crumbling apart. I need to jump from window to window to keep myself from falling. Assuming that I can fall here. I don’t want to even imagine what would happen if fell into the abyss below.
He follows me, grinning sardonically. “You know, I thought you would have been ready for this, King! I told you that you’d never keep your throne.” Would he ever stop laughing? “The mighty never conceive that they may fall, even long after they hit the ground.”
Leaping back and forth, struggling to find stability, I glare at him. I’ve had enough of his bullshit. “What the hell are you talking about?” I snap at him.
His smile twists into something evil. “Oh, the king has lost, but I see he hasn’t lost his crown yet.”
“Stop talking shit!” I command him. His earlier earlier words tug at my mind. “What do you mean, I’m dead?”
“Are you stupid, King?” he grins wildly. An insane zeal invades his eyes. “Dead is dead and dead is what you are.”
I come to a halt and nearly slip when the cement below my feet disintegrates. I scramble to a new ledge-I’m fast running out of places to stand. “Don’t you mean you’re stupid?” I reply, grinning myself. Yeah, we’re opposite sides of the same mirror, all right, and I’m happy for that now. “If I’m dead-which I’m not!-then so are you, jackass. We live and die together.”
His smile remains, much as I expected it to falter. Why is he so calm? Why do I get that impression that he knows something I don’t? Sweat rolls down my face and not because I’m working desperately to stay on top of this shrinking black-and-white building.
“You forgot…didn’t you?” He licks his lips, as though this information was a succulent treat. “No, you made yourself forget!”
Made myself forget what? I’m wise enough not to ask out loud. In the brief silence, it comes to my attention that he isn’t jumping about like me. The building doesn’t fall apart where he stands. Only where I am.
A slow cackle leaves his mouth. Ecstasy widens his black eyes and his golden pupils dilate. “Yes, you don’t remember!” he surmises easily enough. “Shall I tell you what your mind tried so hard to block out?” His tone is filled with manic glee.
The distance I have to jump each time has increased dramatically. I do my best to get further away from him, but only now do I notice that the few ledges left are close to the bastard. Slowly, I’m being forced to get closer to him. Dammit!
“Go to hell!” I curse him and his pasty-white skin. I don’t give a shit about what he has to say.
“Hell?” He laughs harder than ever. “King, you think this isn’t hell?"
Soon I’ll be able to count the number of concrete blocks left to jump on with one hand. Before long, this whole building will be gone and me with it. My only solace is that I’ll finally be away from this asshole since I’m fed up with him.
“Fine!” I brashly say, “What is it I refuse to remember?”
“How about a clue for his Majesty?” He rubs his hands together in delight and gives me a mock bow. “You’re dead, King, but you didn’t die alone.”
Unbidden memories flash through my head before I can suppress them. I stumble and nearly fail to jump to a safe location. But I swear I saw an image of Inoue crying before dying. And another of Ishida being run through by a sword. And of Chad without his hands.
I groan involuntarily. A voice whispers that’s not all, promises that’s not the half of it. But it can’t be true, it just can’t.
Looking around, I see there’s only one other fragment of the skyscraper left (not including where he stands). I muster a half-hearted chuckle. “Is that it?”
“Oh no, of course not, dead king.” He tilts his head in amusement. “You saw all of them die, watched them while you were helpless as a babe. Even the ones that matter most are gone.”
I nearly miss my landing. Yuzu. Karin. Dad. My family, taken from me like my mom was. I can’t even describe what happened to them, the images sear my skull from the inside out.
“Yes,” he laughs. “Her too.”
Rukia.
The final shard of the building collapses beneath my feet and I plummet into the unknown depths. I welcome the void I fall into; it is nothing compared to the sense of loss inside me.
How could I fail to have protected all of them, her most of all? My name’s what I am. I’m one who protects. Now I’m nothing. My mind is crumbling.
The sound of laughter tells me that he’s falling with me. “Finally admitted it to yourself, huh? White wins and you lose. Everything that made you who you are is no longer: the king is dead.”
Fighting my descent, I grind my teeth and mutter stubbornly, “I’m not dead!”
He snickers. “Of course, you’re not dead. Your body’s a mess but your heart still beats weakly. If it didn’t, I wouldn’t be here. My point is that it’s not yours anymore. It’s my turn now.”
“You think I’m going to let you go on a rampage in my body?!” Bad enough that my friends and family died. The notion of this bastard desecrating my name on top of everything is vile. “I’d rather die!”
“Hmm? Not the wisest king, are you, King? Not surprising, considering your shitty reign, but it’s disappointing to learn that I am one in the same with a dumbass. You,” he says to me, “will welcome my regime with open arms, King. You already have ever since you died, or else we’d both be dying today.”
“What?”
“King, King, King, I’ve held control over your soul so many times that I can’t believe your blindness. You live to fight and I live because you can’t win every fight. You’re weak and would have died long ago if I wasn’t around to pull you out of the fire when things get hot. Just think for a second and you’ll know why you need me again.”
I ponder over his words and memories of friends dying assail me. Except, unlike last time, I see more faces. I recall those who killed everyone dear to me, those who live instead of Rukia and the others.
“Yes, King,” he whispers, “You can rest in peace knowing that I want nothing more than to kill them. I promise swift death to everyone you’ve ever despised. I vow to make every single one of the murders suffers immensely for the rest of their short lives.”
Against my will, I lick my lips. What he offers is tempting beyond measure. Then I scowl, hating myself for desiring the vengeance he would wrought. I’m falling, yes, but do I need to sink so low?
I don’t want to say it-I want to let my Hollow slaughter every one of those motherfuckers who gave no mercy to Rukia-but I reject everything he is with a vehement, “Fuck you!”
Suddenly, he snarls at me, “Fool! Fine, this is just as well to me, King. Even if you say you don’t want me to kill them, I’ll do it anyways! It’s more fun to do what you don’t want!”
“What do you mean you’ll do it anyways?” I feel like laughing and surprise myself when I chortle. His boasts, all of a sudden, are just too funny. “As far as I can see, you’re falling down with me.” Alarm flashes across his face. Looks like I called his bluff. “How long until we hit the bottom, anyways?” I ask him. “Didn’t you say the mighty never know they’ve fallen even after they hit the ground or something?”
His face contorts in rage. “King, you…you…”
I look downward and then all around. The sky stretches infinitely in every direction. Will I even be aware of anything when I finally die in truth? Maybe it’s already happened.
“It seems there’s nothing you can do but die with me, asshole,” I grin at my dark counterpart and laugh louder than he ever did. “You’re even worse than me at realizing you’ve lost, so let me put it bluntly: Checkmate.”