Forget The Rails: Arc 4: Chapter 4 Part 1

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Despite having kickstarted the chain of events, he somehow still found himself unprepared for the speed everything quickly spiralled at.

He ignored the slight gulp he heard coming from Urahara Kisuke and the sudden resignation that had quickly filled the other shinigami's face.

"...We're surrounded," Urahara remarked, if for no other reason than to get a reaction he supposed.

The moment he'd echoed off his order to Grantz and by extension, Huaco Mundo, had been the moment everything in Hell shifted. Had been the moment Hell itself had finally responded to their presence.

He wasn't entirely surprised regarding that aspect- Simply because a hollow invasion of Soul Society, where his side couldn't truly perish thanks to the rules that governed Ulquiorra's world, while the other's loss pit souls into a reincarnation system that was currently held at bay meant the balance was under threat. And judging by the fact said threat existed meant Aizen Sosuke hadn't simply swatted his lesser hollows aside. Which boded well. It meant that chaotic fucker at least agreed with his decision.

And while he'd like to claim responsibility for the malfunctioning system itself, in truth it was the Soul King's own doing. The being, for whatever reason, had decided to pause it himself- Of course he'd himself known that, courtesy of the fact the going ons of the Human World were far, far too big to ignore. So long as Soya Azashiro held the Human World, no soul could truly reincarnate between or within it. So long as no soul could reincarnate, any deaths that occurred would've had to be equalised by the other realms- The problem was, for all that the Soul King had created the system in place, Aizen Sosuke's actions had changed the very definition of Hueco Mundo.

Under any other normal circumstances, the deaths of a Soul Society's soul would simply be accounted for with the deaths of hollows in equal measure but the hollow realm as it currently stood was not the same one that had been held to those rules- So long as Ulquiorra was Huaco Mundo, a hollows death was not in fact the end. A hollow's death merely ended in their return to Ulquiorra's cycle. Which meant the deaths of Soul Society's denizens were currently not being accounted for.

He wasn't sure if the Soul King had been aware of that little fact when he'd locked the Human World under Soya Azashiro, but he certainly knew now judging by how quickly Hell had responded to his action.

He stared around and took in the sudden swarm of malformed souls that crept towards them from every angle. Took in the faces of ancient warriors and demons that stared at them hungrily. They had finally noticed what their presence in this world meant. Had finally realised the three fools that had broken into Hell, were three fools that Hell did not hold a chain to. That there currently were three fools capable of leaving without the guards pushing them back down.

"...Why aren't they attackin' tho?" Ichimaru Gin questioned, his blade ready as his gaze slowly swivelled around.

It was a pointless question in truth- Both shinigami knew exactly what held those prisoner's hands.

"...Josh Groban's reiatsu," Urahara muttered. "It's keeping them at bay."

"Correction." He remarked, somewhat disappointed. "My reiatsu is merely keeping the hollows at bay." A beat passed. "After all, I am supposed to be their king."

"...And the shinigami?" Urahara questioned, evidently unsurprised at their presence- When the first of them had showcased themselves, the man had been eerily silent, while the other had openly frowned in response.

"For all that Hell has no physical access to the other realms, they can still peer into them." He answered, evidently in a giving mood.

"Makes sense," Urahara responded. "Time works differently here, if they didn't know what was happening out there, they wouldn't know when to invade."

"Correct." He nodded slightly. "The balance tends to shift quite often- The gate between realms is never truly always so tight. Without any view of the other realms, most of Hell would bash their heads against the door every time a leaf so much as shifted in the wrong direction."

"...But that doesn't explain-" Whatever Ichimaru had been about to say, quickly died off. Peering at the man's face, he found a knowing look gracing it. "...Right... Right, you can shut off a shinigami's connection to their Zanpakuto." The man crossed his arms, his blade hanging loosely in his right hand, a hint of confusion on his face. "I am guessing they're scared you'll do that to 'em?" The man paused for a moment."...So it's just a standoff then?" He added on, questioningly. "Until one of us breaks or..?"

"Until the gate opens up a little more." Urahara, quick as ever, realised. "Until they get a peek outside and realise they have nothing left to lose..." The man promptly pointed his blade in his direction. "...You still have a connection to Hueco Mundo, don't you?"

"Huaco Mundo." He corrected, earning a pair of narrowed eyes as he locked his own eye with the man. "And what exactly are you insinuating?"

"That you started a war outside. That your hollows are the reason things are getting a little too exciting." Urahara answered warily. "I fought one of your Espada... When we gave him a killing blow, he shrugged it off like it was a scratch."

"Did you go for the head?" He questioned, mockingly.

"Yes. Actually. That's exactly where Soi-fon placed her mark." The man deadpanned back.

"Even if I did start a war-" He turned around fully towards the man and felt something flow through as he took in the sudden fear and reminder that swept through the shinigami's face at the difference in their power. "-It's not like my kind could win, no thanks to Aizen-"

"Your Espada might not be able to win, but your rabid hollows have no concept of thinking let alone what a victory might be."

"And you really think the might of the Gotei thirteen wouldn't be able to handle them?"

"You obviously didn't tell them to fight captains." There was a strange, strange, anger coursing through the man's face at those words. With another darker look going through his companion.

Odd that.

He'd been under the impression that Urahara Kisuke was a pragmatic man who understood the need for sacrifices.

He simply let out a sigh and turned his gaze back toward the mounds of enemies that seemed to be growing in numbers- Their brief discussion evidently filling them with a new kind of bravery and drawing them closer.

"If you've figured all that out, then you know exactly why it must be done."

"All I know is what Aizen Sosuke promised," Urahara remarked back thinly. "He said there'd be no sacrifices." A beat passed. "This path leads to sacr-"

Anger filled him at those words. Anger that for a brief moment let loose a torrent of his reiatsu all around them. Anger that reminded all those souls that stared at him as if he were a ticket to escape of the gulf of their differences. Reminded them they wished to take a bite of one of few souls at the very peak of this unvierse.

"What could you possibly understand of sacrifices in your ivory towers?" He let a glare fill his eyes as his mouth turned thin. "The Shinigami treated my kind as livestock meant to feed this growing balance of a machine that your own kind concocted- And you dare open your mouth when the coin is flipped on your end?" He took a step toward the rapidly stiffening shinigami. "For millennia hollowkind has been treated as nothing more than a number, a resource, your kind kept track of-" He jabbed a finger against the man's chest. "- in case it ever grew too high. In case a bout of stupidity hit the human world, or the palaces they'd claimed for themselves filled too much. Kept an eye on us in case we ever needed a culling!"

The words didn't truly register in Urahara Kisuke's mind while the other shinigami wasn't even listening, his own focus on his blade as he took a step back, while his eyes fritted all around them warily.

"Hollows are monsters," Kisuke remarked back. "They devour souls, you cannot hold them to the same standard as a reincarnated human soul..." The man blinked warily as he stared at him. "Soul Society kept an eye on you because you couldn't be trusted to do what you-"

They didn't care about his point and he certainly didn't expect them to.

"Am I no hollow then?" He questioned, cutting the man off. "Am I devouring you this very moment?" He mocked and watched as a look of disbelief filled the man's eyes. "You call me rabid and yet... am I not holding a conversation with you this very moment, Urahara Kisuke?"

"An eye for an eye?" The blonde had the nerve to say to his face. "What, you think you have some-"

"Aizen Sosuke no doubt promised a lot of things." He elected to cut the man off again. "You ought to let go of a few of them if you wish to clean up the mess that your own ancestors made."

"...Not like this." The blonde muttered back. "Not at the cost of innocent soul-"

"Says the man who helped create the Hogyoku." He scoffed back-

And those words were as far as he got before he felt the sudden shift all around them as the sands beneath them collapsed and a ringing sound filtered into their heads.

As he and his shocked companions fell into the expanding darkness below, he heard the anguished scream that met them.

Evidently, the Visionary wasn't all too pleased to learn that little truth. To learn that the man partly responsible for his own... circumstances... had walked into his domain.

How unfortunate. He'd been hoping to prepare a little more before kickstarting Hell's trials, but alas his own anger at the shinigami's audacity had somewhat ruined that little plan.

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