03 ☾ video | i'm the face that you have to face | mirrorin' your stare
[Ichigo's badge has fallen out of his pocket, and switched on to record all the following at a dizzying angle. In fact, everything's upside down as well as crooked, but that can be easily remedied by flipping your own screen over. Then again, the sense of disorientation is not aided by the fact that the entire place that's being recorded seems to be on its side. It's hard to say if he's inside or outside: it looks as if he's on the side of a skyscraper composed entirely of mirrored panels, but the clouds moving vertically alongside him could be shifting images painted on the walls. He's both inside and outside, right side up and upside down.
And he isn't alone.
The being leering down at him looks precisely like Ichigo, except that he's robed entirely in white, and his skin is void of color, to the point of looking purely skeletal. Instead of bright orange, his hair is a powdered white as well, and his slitted yellow eyes carry amusement as well as malice.
Ichigo, on the other hand, doesn't look amused at all. Neither does he look surprised, really, or disoriented by the encounter. In fact, the way he looks at the Shadow makes it quite clear that he's intimately familiar with the image in front of him already.
And surprised to find him here.]
What's th' matter? Ya act like you ain't even glad t'see me alive! After everything me and that Old Man did, that dumbass glare is yer idea of gratitude!
[Ichigo's teeth clench together, his hand balling into a fist]
That's all over! You're gone!
Now, that's a bit o' a dilemma, ain't it, cuz obviously I'm right here. Which, in this place, is kinda telling, don't ya think, when you can make anythin' you want to happen happen. [His grin widens and he leans forward] Why, it's almost like you wanted me here.
Shut up! [Ichigo's v. mature response] You don't know anything about it!
Don't be ashamed - we all know without me, you're just a LOSER. Look at you - you can't even Bend up so much as a spoon to throw at me! You're weak without me! Washed up! Like I always tried to beat into that thick excuse for a brain o' yours.
And that's the part you're too scared to admit to anybody, least of all yerself: I'm your BETTER HALF. You want me back. Cuz without me, you're worthless, and when your friends are in trouble, all you can do is sit there and shout about it.
PATHETIC.
I said SHUT UP!!
[The more Ichigo gets visibly angry, the wider the Shadow's smile seems to get. And right now he looks like the goddamn Chesire Cat.]
You know that's why she hasn't come back, dontcha? [Ichigo tenses even further, his eyes widening.] She doesn't need anythin' from a sniveling loser like you. You're nobody's hero anymore, Strawberry. You thought you wanted a "simple life"? Yer foolin' yourself! Fighting's what we DO. It's who you are. You ain't livin' unless you're TEARIN' SHIT APART!
[That seems to be the last straw, and Ichigo flies forward, lunging for the Shadow, who effortlessly rips the sword off his back and holds it up horizontally in front of him so that Ichigo's chest smacks against the flat part of the blade. Ichigo grips the sword, which cuts into his hands, blood spreading out down his palms as he glares across it at the Hollow, who just smiles back]
What d'ya think yer gonna do: slap fight me?! I've got all the power here, knuckle head! You really are shit for brains, aintcha?
[Ichigo grunts a bit at the pain, but it doesn't lesson his resolve] I'll find some way to fight you!
Suuuure you will. [And with that, Hollow!Ichigo shoves the blade forward, knocking Ichigo backwards, where he goes sliding off the edge of the building. His hands slick the mirrored surface with blood, making them slip when he tries to find purchase, but he manages to finally grab hold of the edge. The Shadow walks over there, swinging the sword and grinning, and looks down at him, hanging there.] Y'know, that gives me a great idea. How about you stay here in La La Land, and I go back to yer life? I'd love to see the dumb looks on everybody's faces when I showed up and they all learned just what you really are.
And he isn't alone.
The being leering down at him looks precisely like Ichigo, except that he's robed entirely in white, and his skin is void of color, to the point of looking purely skeletal. Instead of bright orange, his hair is a powdered white as well, and his slitted yellow eyes carry amusement as well as malice.
Ichigo, on the other hand, doesn't look amused at all. Neither does he look surprised, really, or disoriented by the encounter. In fact, the way he looks at the Shadow makes it quite clear that he's intimately familiar with the image in front of him already.
And surprised to find him here.]
What's th' matter? Ya act like you ain't even glad t'see me alive! After everything me and that Old Man did, that dumbass glare is yer idea of gratitude!
[Ichigo's teeth clench together, his hand balling into a fist]
That's all over! You're gone!
Now, that's a bit o' a dilemma, ain't it, cuz obviously I'm right here. Which, in this place, is kinda telling, don't ya think, when you can make anythin' you want to happen happen. [His grin widens and he leans forward] Why, it's almost like you wanted me here.
Shut up! [Ichigo's v. mature response] You don't know anything about it!
Don't be ashamed - we all know without me, you're just a LOSER. Look at you - you can't even Bend up so much as a spoon to throw at me! You're weak without me! Washed up! Like I always tried to beat into that thick excuse for a brain o' yours.
And that's the part you're too scared to admit to anybody, least of all yerself: I'm your BETTER HALF. You want me back. Cuz without me, you're worthless, and when your friends are in trouble, all you can do is sit there and shout about it.
PATHETIC.
I said SHUT UP!!
[The more Ichigo gets visibly angry, the wider the Shadow's smile seems to get. And right now he looks like the goddamn Chesire Cat.]
You know that's why she hasn't come back, dontcha? [Ichigo tenses even further, his eyes widening.] She doesn't need anythin' from a sniveling loser like you. You're nobody's hero anymore, Strawberry. You thought you wanted a "simple life"? Yer foolin' yourself! Fighting's what we DO. It's who you are. You ain't livin' unless you're TEARIN' SHIT APART!
[That seems to be the last straw, and Ichigo flies forward, lunging for the Shadow, who effortlessly rips the sword off his back and holds it up horizontally in front of him so that Ichigo's chest smacks against the flat part of the blade. Ichigo grips the sword, which cuts into his hands, blood spreading out down his palms as he glares across it at the Hollow, who just smiles back]
What d'ya think yer gonna do: slap fight me?! I've got all the power here, knuckle head! You really are shit for brains, aintcha?
[Ichigo grunts a bit at the pain, but it doesn't lesson his resolve] I'll find some way to fight you!
Suuuure you will. [And with that, Hollow!Ichigo shoves the blade forward, knocking Ichigo backwards, where he goes sliding off the edge of the building. His hands slick the mirrored surface with blood, making them slip when he tries to find purchase, but he manages to finally grab hold of the edge. The Shadow walks over there, swinging the sword and grinning, and looks down at him, hanging there.] Y'know, that gives me a great idea. How about you stay here in La La Land, and I go back to yer life? I'd love to see the dumb looks on everybody's faces when I showed up and they all learned just what you really are.