The Darkness In Our Hearts (TDiOH Bk1)

Chapter 30: I will not be defeated!

I dodged its first attack by a hair's breadth, cartwheeling away, before gaining my balance and sprinting away. My mind moved a million miles per hour, trying to think of a way to win this battle. Call upon my own Hollow? But what if I couldn't control her and she took over, teamed up with the weird dog and destroyed Karakura Town. 

I couldn't allow that to happen. A large paw thudded before me, forcing me to change directions. Clambering over several boulders, I gained no respite at the top as the Hollow leapt, jaws wide open. 

My uniform got caught on one of those razor sharp teeth, ripping all up on one side. I shrugged out of the ruined material, in nothing but a pair of boylegs and a crop top. Then I continued my reckless charge away from the Hollow. 

It seemed to toy with me, loping after me with its purple tongue out the side of its mouth. The eyes even sparkled with a sadistic amusement. 

What the hell was I going to do? 

I had nothing to help me, the only advice Kisuke gave me was control my Hollow and I still wasn't up to full soul reaper strength. And the gods be damned if I was going to listen to Kisuke after what he just pulled. This wasn't risky, it was downright dangerous! 

I was going to die in some illegal underground cavern by a Hollow because of some stupid man's idea of help. 

Yachiru's smiling face flashed before my eyes and I slid to a halt. Kenpachi's smirk appeared before my eyes too, along with all the others of the squad. My last thought was of Fury and his rare toothy grins. 

No, I couldn't give up now. I had lost too much now to give up - I needed to fix things, understand things. I needed to keep going. 

Now, think, what would be good against this Hollow? 

The Hollow howled as it slowed to a stop, which turned to a grating laughter as it tilted its head to the side and observed me. 

There were two ideas in mind: one was completely off the rails, the other stupid and crazy. I went with the first one. 

I raised a hand at the Hollow, index finger outstretched. Took a deep breath in and...

"Bad boy!" I shouted at it. 

A second passed, two, then a minute elapsed. The Hollow gave me a look. 

"Yep, of course that wouldn't work!" I screamed as the Hollow snapped its jaws at me again. 

I rolled and ended up to its side. Plan B then. I just hoped I would, a: have enough power and b: didn't blow myself up in the process. 

"Eat on this! Hado Number 33! Sokatsui!" A torrent of blue energy erupted from my palm, turning into a giant wave of crackling fire. It crashed into the Hollow and it squealed in pain, turning tail and running away from me. 

"Ha! Run while you can!" I crowed happily. "There's more where that came- ugh!" 

My body went rigid and I pitched forward. Before my face hit the floor, everything went black. 

Eyes flying open, I sat up in a strange place. A desert, sand dune rising like mountains and hills around me and a large red sun that beat down relentlessly. Sickly trees with thick twisted branches searched desperately for water and shade. A hot breeze whipped up the sand around me and I shielded my face as the grains scraped along my skin. 

Where was I?  

"Now this is more like it," hissed a voice. Cold dread filled me and I uncovered my face slowly. 

Towering over me was a human like lady, dark blue hair flowing down her back in a long plait, and half a Hollow mask covering the top half of her face, vibrant blue eyes glittering with snark amusement. Her long, lithe body wasn't covered by any clothing but dense white scales, ranging in different shapes and sizes.