Chapter 26: Unexpected!
Time has since moved forward in the land of Hueco Mundo.
With Aizen's intervention into matters, things have begun to shift a great deal. The first great change came in the shape of Las Noches' great palace. The once open and spacious throne was now turned into a large domelike structure, more resembling a palace. And slowly, more and more Hollows began to assemble under its massive roof.
With his power came great change, Aizen's first change was a clear blue sky with a bright sun, to give light to the darkened dome.
It was an impressive sight to behold, especially since Hueco Mundo had always been a place of perpetual darkness.
The next change to occur within this dome? Fighting was strictly prohibited within certain designated areas, such as Aizen's throne room. Anywhere else was completely free game, but within his presence none would act carelessly.
At first, the Hollows had a hard time adjusting to Aizen's new rules. The great change from chaos and freedom to a place of order was hard. It directly went against the very nature of a Hollow. A beast without care, a beast that acted as they wished, a natural disaster.
Bikou, however, continued to live outside of the palace, disappointed that so many would rather live under the sun, instead of continuing to pursue their strength in the dark.
" Bunch of idiots." Bikou muttered. " Sucking up to Aizen and living under that dome is pathetic." Bikou blew out an exhausted sigh of frustration. The Fierceness and unpredictability of being a Hollow is what made them so dangerous. And to Bikou taking away that unpredictability made them weaker.
" They're just sitting around hoping for Aizen to use his little toy to make them more powerful. It's so lame." Bikou groaned.
Bikou was growing tired. With so many Hollows flocking towards Aizen and his power, there was becoming less and less of a reason to continue hunting in the desert.
" At this rate, there's going to be no one left to challenge here. All the strong ones are surrendering to Aizen. Either from fear of his power, or from wanting to gain immense power." Bikou halted in his movements. " I get it. The want for more power... It's what drove me to come so far. To risk my life in battles that no other Hollow would think to choose. I wanted to sit at the top. Alone, unaided by anyone other my own self.... But... As I stand here now I have only one goal to pursue. But no one to pursue it with. Aizen... He's stronger than me. I know it in the very pit of my soul. If I were to fight him now, I'd lose. Starrk... He has no ambition to grow stronger. Barragan is missing. There's no one left..." Bikou looked up to the night sky, lamenting the life he's lived.
He knew deep within himself that things were changing and maybe that meant his old way of life would change to.
Traveling nonstop, fighting nonstop against other Hollows, eating, sleeping. A constant state of progression. All changed.
He had hoped that with a monster like Aizen to chase after he would perhaps find some sense of joy. But it was quite the opposite. Hollows were now becoming more and more content with just existing. They no longer sought out power.
" Gaaaah!"
There was a sudden shout and splash of blood that had awoken Bikou from his stupor.
Looking towards it, Bikou spotted four women surrounding a large male Adjucha.
Of the women, three of them were adjucha, however the one that really stuck out was the only woman that resembled a human.
" A Vasto Lorde?" Bikou muttered.
She had long blonde hair. That was all Bikou could make out, since her entire body was covered in the same bone like-substance that once coated his own body. More intriguing was her choice of weapon.
It resembled an elongated Shark tooth, that was attached directly to her arm.
" That's interesting..." Bikou couldn't make it out, but there was a familiarity from the shark woman.
*Bzzt!
The woman and her followers had dispatched another would be assassin and were preparing to leave when suddenly, another powerful energy appeared in front of them.
Immediately the three adjucha were put on guard.
His spiritual pressure was unlike anything they had sensed before. They were quickly forced to their knees from the
" What is this guy? His spiritual pressure... It's so heavy."
" Stop complaining, Apache... We ca-"
" Apache, Mila Rose! Ah-"
The stag, the Lion, and the Snake all dropped to the ground completely, the strength in their bodies draining away in an instant.
Their leader stepped in between them and their new attacker, using her own body as a shield to take the pressure off of them, at least a little.
" Hey, you can still stand. That's pretty cool." Bikou muttered. " What's your name?"
The woman raised her sword at Bikou. But for some reason, he sensed no malice or intent behind it. It was just a gesture.
" It's... Been a long time. Do you think... You can lower your spiritual pressure?" The woman asked.
" Hm? Wait, a long time? Have we met before?" Bikou asked the woman. He relented on his spiritual pressure to give the woman a chance to speak properly.
She reeled a little, but eventually managed to stand up straight and respond. " A long time ago. Nearly a hundred years. You saved my life once."
It took a moment. A hundred years was a long time, and he had been very busy in those years..... But then it clicked. He remembered so very long ago, a very injured shark, and a little monkey.
" Ohhhhhh! Harribel?!" Bikou's eyes opened wide, and he smiled like a child waking up on Christmas. His spiritual pressure vanished, allowing Harribel and her friends to relax. " I can't believe it! Look at you. You've changed! I must say I'm very impressed."
Harribel took a deep breath, even being as strong as she was now, felt like a far cry from his strength.
Bikou apologized after seeing the sheer frustration and struggle on their faces.
" Sorry about that. I can't help it sometimes. My spiritual pressure, it's so big, that I can't properly contain it. And it doesn't help that I'm a little unfocused at the moment." Bikou muttered. " So, what's going on, little lady? You're all grown up. And might I say..." Bikou walked up to Harribel and cupped her chin. " You've grown quite beautiful."
Bikou stared into Harribel's bright green eyes, flashing the woman a gentle smile that'd melt even the iciest of hearts.
However.....
*Bonk!
Harribel dropped the top of her fist down on Bikou's head.
" Gaaah!"
Bikou felt his head spinning. She hit hard and left him dazed.
" Ow, that hurt, what the hell is wrong with you?"
" I don't like being touched." Harribel muttered.
" You could have just asked me to let go. Damn it."
" That would have been too nice. You wouldn't have learned a lesson." Harribel muttered softly. " Apache, Sun-Sun, Mila-Rose. Let's go." Harribel said to the three girls.
" Yes, Milady."
The three women all rose to their feet, and as Harribel began walking away, they followed after her.
" Ow... Hey, hold on wait up!" Bikou jumped to his feet and started following after the girls. " Come on, Harribel, it's been years... How about a little catching up, huh?"
" Why are you so interested?"
" Why? Because..... I'm bored." He said bluntly.
Harribel froze for a moment. She looked Bikou over, up and down, left and right. Taking note of all of his image, before letting out a sigh of frustration. " Very well... Let's go."
This decision quite reasonably shocked her three vassals.
" What?"
" But Milady."
" Why?"
" Because, knowing him, he'll just follow us anyway. That's the kind of person he is..." Harribel muttered. " But you can trust him to not attack us." Harribel stated.
The three girls turned to look at Bikou. All of them still felt a little unease from the man, even though their boss had just told them it was fine.
Bikou looked towards the three ladies, and in a bid to put them at ease, he smiled.
" Huh?"
Bikou appeared to be surrounded by a shining bright light. And the air around him gently heated until it felt like they were being engulfed in a nice summer glow.
The three girls were slightly taken off guard by Bikou's appearance.
" Stop smiling that, you creep. It's weird."
" Huh?!"
In one second, Sun-Sun completely shut down Bikou's attempts at being friendly.
Bikou hung his head in defeat. His wholehearted attempt at making the girls feel safe and at ease blew up in his face.
" Oh man, I'm thinking I might have rotten luck with women." Bikou muttered. He looked up and noticed that the four women were already walking off without him. " HEY?! Wait up!"
.........
Somewhere within Hueco Mundo.
Bikou followed Harribel and her gang to their hideout within Hueco Mundo.
It was an underground cave that formed out into a small room with a table made of rock.
" Wow, nice little place you got here, Harribel. Really cozy."
" Don't be smug."
" What? I was only giving you a compliment. You know. Besides, I really like it. Has a certain flair to it. Not like many other places I've seen."
Harribel scoffed, and took a seat around the table, as did the other three girls, leaving only one spot available for Bikou to sit. " Thanks for having me."
Bikou sat down and stretched out his arms and legs. " So, what's up, Harribel? How have you been in these long years, huh? Last I saw, you were still a little Shark surfing the sand."
" And you were still a little monkey, licking your paws." Harribel retorted.
" Ha! Yeah... But to be fair, I hated having blood on my hands. Hehe!"
" Bikou, you've changed, drastically. I've always known you were destined for something great, but your power... It's far too big. What are you?" Harribel asked the man.
Bikou sighed. " I guess this is what you'd call an Arrancar. The natural progression of a Hollow's power.'
" An Arrancar? But... I didn't think those were real. I've never seen one." Harribel muttered.
" Oh, they exist alright. I know of one other. But he's such a loner that he hardly goes anywhere." Bikou spoke. " Honestly, I think he has more spiritual energy than me, but he's just so lazy. And well... Ah forget it. But they exist. We exist. The problem is getting there. It sucks so much. I don't think it was the same for me as it was for him though." Bikou explained.
" What do you mean? Who is this person you keep talking about?" Harribel wondered.
" His name? I guess I can tell you. His name is coyote Starrk. And he is quite powerful." Bikou muttered.
" Such praise from you should not be taken lightly."
" I know, right? I'm amazing." Bikou jokingly raised his arms up and stuck a pose.
" You're an idiot." Harribel muttered instantly killing Bikou's hype, making him shrink back down.
" You don't have to go around insulting people you know. It's kind of rude actually." Bikou muttered.
" Bikou..."
Bikou raised his head and looked at Harribel softly. " Hm?"
" What is it, you are seeking?" She asked.
" Hm? I don't think I quite understand what you mean?"
" What is it you're hoping to find here? I don't understand why someone as strong as you, is here sitting in a cave with people he hardly knows. You're unlike anything I've ever seen anything like you before." She said.
Bikou scratched the back of his head and sighed. His frustration was beginning to build up again.
" Honestly, I don't know if I should tell you. There's a lot going on in Hueco Mundo right now. More than you can imagine. If I'm being truthful, I'd like for you and your girls to stay out of it, but that'd be unrealistic. Just know, your lives are likely to change." Bikou muttered.
" What do you mean?"
" You haven't heard? Barragan's been ousted as Emperor of Hueco Mundo. There's someone else in charge now."
" No way!"
" Are you kiddin me?"
" That's crazy."
Harribel and her gang were left speechless.
A being such as Barragan losing was almost inconceivable. So much so, Harribel began to wonder if he had fallen to Bikou himself. He was certainly strong enough to do it, or so she believed.
" Was it you?" She asked bluntly.
Bikou shook his head no. " No. It wasn't me. It was an even bigger monster than me." Bikou muttered.
" A bigger monster... Than you?"
" There is much you haven't seen yet, Harribel. Pray the day never comes where you meet this monster. Because if you do, you'll never be the same again." Bikou explained. " I have much to do. I plan on killing it myself. But if that doesn't work then... Then I think we'll all be swallowed up in his ambitions."
" Bikou."
Any and all sense of playfulness had vanished from his very being. He was being completely serious. Her sense could tell her that Bikou was feeling the weight of it, shouldering it all alone. But what could she do about it. If there existed a being strong enough to pressure Bikou, a monster with so much power, that his mere presence could shake her confidence, then what could she even begin to hope to accomplish against this monster?
The mere thought of a beast more powerful than Barragan and Bikou frightened her. It frightened all of them.
" Maybe, I was hoping to have a little peace. Maybe I was hoping to find more people like me. Or maybe.... Maybe I was looking for a place to just exist. A home. I don't know honestly. I continue this pursuit of power, hoping to find something at the end of it. Something to make it all make sense. But at the end of the road... What'll be left? What?" Bikou gripped the table so hard, it started to crack.
" Ah, my fault. I've cracked your table." Bikou muttered. " Sorry about that."
" It's fine."
" I think, I've stayed long enough. It's about time I go. I still have something to do." Bikou spoke. He stood up from the table and stretched his muscles, cracking and popping every bine and joint he could.
" Bikou...."
Bikou stopped for just a moment and turned to look at Harribel. " Hm?"
" You don't need to try and shoulder everything. Sometimes, it's fine to count on someone else to help."
Bikou smirked and waved before leaving Harribel's cave.
Bikou heard her words, but in his mind, nothing could change. After all, how could he count on someone weaker than him to shoulder his own problems? He wanted to try, of course. But there was just no one who saw the world the way he did. No one to challenge him. No one who sought out the same power he did.
" I wish it were that easily pretty shark. I wish it were that easy. But... It's lonely at the top."
.........
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone