Forget The Rails: Arc 4: Chapter 4 Part 2

In the oppressive domain of the first Heir, where shadows stirred like ancient phantoms, Josh Groban found himself emerging first- Which in of itself wasn't strange given he was the most powerful of the three of them.

What was strange, was the aura of reiatsu his body had immediately started radiating out- an aura that for some strange reason was twisting the very fabric of the realm he'd been plunged in.

He quickly stood up tall, his eye surveying the chaotic realm before him- surveying the landscape forged from the tumultuous emotions of one Gremmy Thoumeaux.

He took in the delipated buildings of a subset of the Seireitei- Likely the one Gremmy had first ventured into. Buildings crumbled around him as the air rippled with an electrifying cackle to it.

The ground shuddered beneath his feet as he took a few steps forward, and wisps of shadows danced in response to what he figured was Gremmy's inner turmoil, reflecting the Quincy's fractured psyche. Illusions flickered and wavered around him as they took on the shadowed forms of the Soul Reapers the Visionary had probably seen in his brief entrance to the Shinigami's realm, each shadow a testament to the strife that churned within him.

“So, this is the realm of Gremmy Thoumeaux,” Groban mused, a smirk playing on his lips. “What a fascinating display of helplessness, wrapped in all this grandeur. You think yourself a creator, yet all you wield is a flimsy façade-a poor mask, hiding nothing but your own inadequacies.” He chuckled to the cackling air. He knew the boy could hear him, as well as knew he wouldn't be able to resis-

Gremmy's fracturing form rapidly appeared and proved his point. His face twisted in fury, his frame rigid with defiance. “You think I fear you, don't you, hollow!?” he shouted, his voice cracking under the pressure of his own denial.

Josh almost couldn't hold the snort that came out of him.

If those were his first words, what exactly did the brat expect him to think?

He leaned in, eager to exploit the boy's clear vulnerability, the shadows around them shifting as he relished the moment- a part of him surprised that he even could feel such a thing all things considered.

There was something very wrong with that, though he chose not to look the gift horse in the mouth. 

Still, here he'd thought he'd needed to prepare more- The brat had come to him fractured and broken already! Almost as if he'd been handed to him on a silver platter!

"You’re trembling, Gremmy," he taunted, his voice smooth as silk. "Any child can see that!" He added on, a chuckle coming out. “Is it fear of my power, or perhaps the gnawing realization that your abilities are nothing more than splatters against the wall? This manifestation of a broken Soul Society... it reflects your own failure, doesn't it?”

“Stop it!” Gremmy cried, indignant fury bubbling at the surface as he clenched his fists tighter, as his form hovered above him, as the energy around him cackled against his own- To little avail. Quincies- even those capable of manipulating reality, could simply not stand a hollow's presence- “I didn't fail! I did what I could! It wasn't my fault! What would you even know of me!?”

...How far gone was this Quincy?

He barely paid any attention to the boy's words as something clicked in his mind. As a foreboding thought filtered in- The heir might very well have been handed to him on a silver platter! Worse, once again, the Quincy might be the cause of his own undoing! Twice in the same timeline, the Visionary might've shot himself in the foot!

Josh Groban laughed, the haunting sound echoed eerily in the depths of the realm. “Oh, but I do know. I see through the layers of desperation you wrap around yourself like a shield. Every time you try to lay claim to your own realm, you only prove my point-" He spread his arms wide, his eye glinting with mischief. A small part of him wasn't even paying attention to his own words at the sheer tragedy that was the Visionary's plight! "Look at your so-called creation- Look at it quiver and fade at the slightest hint of pressure.”

And that it did as he turned his own eye towards the mounting and breaking shadows. As he fixated on the formation and rapid disintegration of light and matter that failed to truly take hold.

Gremmy's face on the other hand flushed, the sharp sting of shame mixing with fear. “No! You’re wrong! They’re powerful! I can create anything! I rule this realm!” His voice rose, each declaration sounding more like an affirmation of doubt rather than confidence.

He held in the urge to tell him that the fact he ruled the realm, and the fact he'd brought him into it was the problem itself!

“Can you? Because from where I stand, all I see are visions crumbling beneath the weight of your own fear,” He replied, his voice silky and taunting. "Shadows that flickers like a candle in the wind, a foundation that dissolves like fog with every step on it- You seek to build a world of your own, yet you cannot even control what’s right in front of you!” He let out a cackle, his laughter ringing louder with every beat that passed as it echoed all around them. The manifestation of the Shinigami realm they were in crumbled with every note.

Gremmy took a step forward, his heart no doubt racing as he fought to suppress the waves of doubt crashing over him. “I’m not afraid of either of you!” he shouted defiantly, trying to summon chaos from within.

Either? Josh Groban thought, somewhat amused. He was the only one that had arrived here so far- The others still hadn't appeared which meant the other person the Quincy was thinking of, had to be the same one that had broken him the first time he'd made to prove himself. 

After all this time, Aizen Sosuke still held a place in the fractured Quincy's mind.

With a flick of his wrist, he watched the brat conjure a colossal dragon, its scales shimmering like jewels, magnificent and terrifying- it would've been, had anyone else actually created it.

Josh Groban just stared at it as it coiled protectively around the brat, radiating strength as it let loose a thunderous roar.

And yet, the moment Gremmy seemed to bask in delight at the successful creation his mind had conjured, Josh Groban watched, fascinated, as his curse took hold and the beast began to flicker, its fiery breath sputtering into fading embers.

His presence in the inner realm of the Heir had broken the brat's reality- In an attempt to truly contain him and his companions, the moron had accidentally brought ruin to his own world!

Aizen Sosuke's gambit of that cursed ritual, even now, was proving to be a dagger in the heart of all of his enemies.

He truly, truly, hadn't been prepared for that monstrous shinigami.

Gremmy’s confidence wavered as the beast weakened under the weight of his own fear. “Behold!” he cried out, but it felt hollow, echoing into the vastness of the shadows. “I can create whatever I desire!” The words fell on deaf ears as the dragon crumbled in it's entirety, and the confused heir stumbled as he fell to the ground in shock.

What a colossal waste of such a versatile power.

Desperation danced in the Quincy's face as he fought to recover control.

Josh Groban watched, idly and without interest as the brat conjured a storm of ethereal wolves next- The irony not lost on him as he let out a snort. Their eyes glowed like embers as they leapt forward with feral grace. Yet, much like the dragon, they too began to falter mid-stride, their forms dissolving into wisps of smoke as Gremmy’s resolve crumbled further in his own confusion and mounting fear.

He couldn't help himself but start clapping at the pitiful show before him. “Such grand attempts,” Groban remarked, amusement dancing on his features as he watched the spectacle unfold. “What next?” His voice was playful, almost sing-song as he toyed with Gremmy’s fraying sanity. "What else will you add to this gallery of failures?"

Gremmy’s frustration mounted, but the growing feeling of helplessness only added fuel to his fire. “Stop laughing at me!” he roared, desperation pouring from his voice. “You think you can control fear? I’ll show you! I’ll summon the darkest of storms, and they will obey me!”

His eyes glinted with derision. “Do you truly believe those storms will be yours to command? Or are they yet another reflection of your fury, swirling into chaos and consuming you in the process? Try as you might, Gremmy, your own shadows will always reveal the truth!”

In an attempt to prove him wrong, he watched Gremmy summon a violent tempest- dark clouds swirling over him, lightning crackled ominously for a brief moment as thunder boomed all across the fraying realm.

This was meant to be his crowning achievement? Josh Groban couldn't help but scoff. Of all the things a reality warper could conjure, the brat didn't have an ounce of creativity in his mind.

He watched on, unmoving, as the boy's horror mounted at the rapidly disappearing storm. As the energy he'd filled into the realm drained, as the clouds thinned and mere wisps of smoke petered out.

Just as the despair threatened to swallow the Quincy whole, two new presences stirred in the air, breaking the tension with a sudden, almost nonchalant entrance- Urahara Kisuke and Ichimaru Gin fell into the realm on their backsides, their lazy smiles suggesting they'd been watching everything that had gone on.

Him personally, their arrival added nothing more to the situation.

But for Gremmy... Oh the fear in his eyes as he distinctly remembered, he had more enemies than he'd accounted for- And yet for all that, when his gaze landed on Urahara Kisuke, the creator of the very thing that had brought him low and settled it as a fact in reality- The anger in those eyes practically distorted the already corroded picture of the false Sereitei they were in.

“What a plot twist! And here I'd been worried about what an Heir could do...” Urahara quipped as he got up off his ass and started patting his clothing, his eyes sparkling with a mischievous glint. “It’s quite an impressive display of what happens when creativity is fueled by self-doubt.” He added on, very much amused.

 “Or a total lack of understanding of one’s own capabilities,” Gin chimed in, rocking slightly on his heels. "A for effort I suppose, but effort rarely wins you a fight, don' it?”

Gremmy’s hands balled into fists, anger surging through him like wildfire. “Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP! I won’t let you intimidate me!” He could practically taste the boy’s internal struggle, the tendrils of desperation simmering just beneath the surface.

Urahara Kisuke likely having caught onto the reality the brat had mistakenly brought on himself let out a snort of his own. "You really have a flair for the dramatic,” he quipped, amusement dancing in his eyes. “It’s like you’re putting on a show for us!”

"Oi, can we hurry up and get this over with already?" Gin Ichimaru on the other hand, he doubted to have caught on to the reality- No that shinigami was probably just adding fuel to the fire just because. "Don't we have like four more Heirs to deal with or?"

Gremmy’s expression flared all the same as he slowly started levitating, a rictus anger growing on his face as his cheeks flushed. For a brief moment, the Quincy's gaze turned fully from him and focused solely on Urahara Kisuke, “You’re the reason I’m in this mess! Your stupid stone ruined everything!” The accusation dripped with venom and a desperate grasp at blaming someone- anyone, except himself.

Taking in Kisuke's expression, Josh Groban found him unfazed. In fact Urahara’s smile only widened. “Is it really my fault, or is your inability to control your own misgivings what’s truly to blame?” His tone suggested a teasing playfulness, but the words carried a cut of truth. “Don’t blame the toy maker if the child can’t figure out how to play with it.” The blonde shrugged his hands out.

In the midst of escalating tensions, Josh Groban felt an unmistakable shift in energy. Gremmy, in response, had further pushed his realm to its limit in an attempt to make what h assumed were clones of himself- he distinctly recalled that being an ability of his- and in doing so and failing for that matter... had truly and completely invited the curse of defeat that lingered over him.

A wry smile tugged at his lips.

It was officially over. The first Heir had been defeated- the only matter left, was how entertaining it was going to be.

“Gremmy,” Josh Groban began, his voice dripping with a mix of mockery and intrigue, “you seem to believe that anger can shield you.” He tilted his head. "As the king of hollows, I have to say, you're doing a remarkable job of proving that emotions are a detriment to one's evolution." He shook his head. "Honestly, all this fear might turn you into a hollow yourself."

In defiance, Gremmy shot back, “I don’t fear anything! You’re the one cursed to never achieve victory! You're the one that should be afraid!” The sheer irony that he knew exactly what the source of his defeat was- And yet didn't have the foresight to know that bringing it into his own personal realm, meant taking it into his own fate!

“Oh, aren’t we just being a bit melodramatic?” Gin remarked, his tone light as he leaned against a distorted column of sorrowful architecture. “All this shouting is charming, but it’s just noise if you can’t back it up.” Taking in the shinigami's expression, he found a strange realisation oozing out of it- Ah. He might've just come to the same conclusion as him and Kisuke. Or he was just needling for needling's sake. He really couldn't tell.

“Stay out of this!” Gremmy barked, veins pulsing with frustration as he turned toward Gin. “You have no idea what I’m capable of!”

“Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea,” Gin replied lazily and unfazed. “You’re just mad because the world insists on not bending to your will. It must be exhausting to cling to a narrative that doesn’t belong to you.” There was a strange tone to the man's eerily accurate point.

With a sigh, Josh Groban shook his head at the shaking reality warper and calmly said the one thing he knew he didn't want to hear. "You claim to know of my curse..." The brat rapidly zoned in his gaze towards him, fear and uncertainty in his eyes. "...Did it ever occur to you Mr Visionary, that bringing in my curse to your inner realm, was tantamount to a shinigami stabbing himself in the foot?"

The realisation that filtered into Gremmy's eyes was truly exquisite.

"Oh... that makes sense." Ichimaru Gin deadpanned. "No wonder you two are so calm..."

"...You... You didn't figure that out?" Kisuke questioned with a frown.

"Nope. I thought we were just tryna gaslight the fuck."

He wasn't really paying any attention to the two, his own gaze enjoying the sheer utter panic and fear in Gremmy's eyes as the Quincy tried to remove them from his inner realm and fail spectacularly. And with that realisation, he watched as Gremmy Thoumeaux, for the second time in eternity, succumbed to his own power. He watched as failure claimed him in truth and the world he'd created, shattered into pieces. The Quincy's final words were a distant whisper for another chance.

As the realm broke away and the next stage of Hell appeared all around them, he couldn't help but wonder if the entire trial had ever truly meant to stop them, or if it had been designed that very way because of the Soul King's anger towards the fool that had kickstarted the entire wretched timeline.

...

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