Face Your Hell Within [Cinematic]

[Alexander Kuma-Hebi]

OOC: This is solo cinematic thread. Despite being placed in wilderness, it actually takers place in multiple locations, and it follows several stories that are of vital importance to understand the changes in Alexander Kuma-Hebi.

[Alexander Kuma-Hebi]

It was a windy night. Windy, but silent. Deep in the wilderness of Soul Society, in a dense wood, not even a leaf moved on the wind, creating eerie, creepy atmosphere. Stars were barely visible, and there was no moon. Somebody might expect that something dark is happening. Something evil. Something dark. But, the truth is, it cannot be simply classified. What transpired on that night, it was a dark deed. Darkness attempted to find its way into Soul Society. And yet, no external evil came. No invaders, no traitors. But that night, Alexander Kuma-Hebi, Captain of Squad 3, was present. Under a pine tree, he was sitting on a boulder, meditating. He was There, deep in meditation, shut out of outside world, not hearing anything. One could perhaps mistake him for a statue or something similar. But he was not merely meditating. He was doing his duty. To Soul Society. To Gotei 13. To Shinigami race. For he was fighting a war. War far more vicious than any before. He faced great threats. He fought monsters, monsters like Kuroi Naito. Despite not perhaps being always victorious, he always returned. He saw the depths of Hell even, and laughed in its fires. He returned, victorious. And yet, he was now unsure. For it may have been better if he remained. If he chose to condemn his soul, to remain beyond the gates of Hell. For he brought a piece of it within him. It was a painful lesson that Eternity decided to teach him, by implanting him with a piece of Discord's own Eternity. It was cruel measure, and it imprinted a tiny piece of Discord on Alexander. And that hideous voice, that corrupting, dirty presence, which made Alexander feel unclean. it was always a step behind, only a short step behind, the voice whispering him madness and chaos, forcing him, dragging him down into it. Alexander knew he had to resist, but he could not merely fight it. For it was not a tangible opponent he could face off against. So, he pondered for days, researching. And he found a method that might work. Every Shinigami could use it and Alexander was no exception. Despite not ever needing it since he murdered his Zanpakuto, he still could do it. He still could do Jinzen.

And that is why he was alone, in the woods in the middle of the night. He had to try this, to stake his hopes, and his life, and his future on impossibly small chance that it will work. That he will be able to enter his Inner World, and that he could be able to do something about Discord within him. And if he could do that, then perhaps, he could get back to the way things were. Before everything. He could perhaps extinguish this dreaded voices, and finally silence the infernal madness within him. He could perhaps then finally sleep again at night. He could perhaps go back to what was normal for him. But all of that depended on him being even able to do this. And that is why he was here, seemingly meditating. But he was attempting something... else. To enter his Inner World. And his concentration was flawless, every bit of his mind focused on it. It was hard. As he attempted to focus enough to enter, he drifted away slowly, into the darkness and mist, and he heard voices. It was chaos and he could not understand it. It was not what he expected. But he tried more. He strengthened his resolve, hardened his willpower even more. And he tried to push through. It was hard, and more he tried, louder the voices were, but no words were there for him to make out. Nothing that he could understand, just a murmur of hundreds of voices, word with no meanings, of languages old, of languages dead. A lesser man would perhaps break, or turn away. Or go mad. But Alexander was Alexander. He was mentally tough. He would fight through this, to merely enter his own Inner World. Alexander was in do or die position, and death was not his choice really. He pushed forward, and his own mind was in agony, merely from trying. If it could it would scream. He mentally pushed through the barrier in his mind. With everything he had. Voices filled his mind, louder, and louder, rising and melting in one scream, and suddenly, scream was gone, and Alexander found himself in a rather bleak and desolate terrain. He was in. He entered his Inner World.

And within, he found something unlike anything before. Now, before him stood one dark place, grim and bleak. Nothing but a plain for as long as he could see, and nothing there, not even a single grass or a tree. The ground smells of ash and fire, and smoke can be seen here or there. There is no sun, and no moon, yet the darkness is not entirely complete. Alexander could see, despite it. And he was surprised. And shaken, at the same time. For this place is strangely... familiar. Yes. Reminiscent. For it was very much alike landscapes of Hell where he was. It is not pleasant. Alexander can sense it. This is his own Inner World, but it has been somehow twisted, corrupted. A slow breeze carries foul smells of death, and Alexander suddenly becomes aware - that he is not alone. He is being watched, and that feeling made him shiver a bit. For the very thought is scary, that there was something within his Inner World able to corrupt it like this, and that that something is also hostile. But Alexander knew who was there, he knew whom to expect. And he knew where. He turned on his heel, and there he found, some ten yards away from himself, another presence. He frowned and grinned at the same time. Alexander knew who was there. And he knew why. Now it was only a matter of... exchange.

"So, you really are here... Now, now, I don't like what you did to this place. I guess it's eviction time." Saying that, Alexander drew his blades - both of them. The person he addressed, a tall figure obscured by the darkness, stepped forward. It took a few steps before coming into the light, so to say, and after those few steps, its features could be seen. Alexander gripped his blades tightly as the figure appeared entirely in site. He knew what to expect, but nothing could entirely prepare him. Because in front of Alexander was another Alexander. However, at the same time, it was and it was not Alexander. The entity opposite to him looked just like him, but Alexander could see many differences. Other him looked more like decaying corpse, with grey, almost dead skin, and other him also looked thin, and sickly. The clothes other him wore were a little bit more than dirty rags, being extremely damaged, and two blades his other self held were chipped and rusty at many spots. Only thing that looked alive on Alexander's alter ego were eyes. They were bright, lit by some inner light, and they were the color of rainbow.

Other Alexander spoke. "You are stupid, oh yes you are. You really think you can get rid of me? I can easily destroy you! I can consume you! You do not understand that you should have stayed in Hell, do you? FOR YOU BROUGHT ME OUT!" Alexander grinned. "Oh boy, you seem to be unable to comprehend your situation. You are not Discord. He was slain, and he is gone, for good. You are merely a shard, an echo, a splinter. You cannot do anything. And I will destroy you now." With that, Alexander took off, using Shunpo to attack. He held his both blades for a stab, and he simply aimed to slam into Discord, and to run him through in quite a brutal manner. But Discord, despite not really being Discord, was not helpless. He had enough speed and skill obviously, and those rusty swords he held were not weakened by rust apparently, for he crossed his blades in 'X' shape and blocked Alexander's wild attack. However, despite digging his feet into the dirt slightly, blocking such attack was hard, and entirely stopping it was impossible. As sparks flew from the points where blades met, Alexander's Shunpo was still going forward, but with a barrier like that, it caused bot him and Discord to skid in in the direction of the Shunpo at high speed, their blades still locked.

As they slowed down, their blades still locked, Discord broke the blades' lock, and slashed violently at Alexander. "Oh, but I know what I am roomie. I am merely a shadow of myself. But, if I can take you over and gain a body... then not only would I be resurrected, but I would be free, out of Hell, WHERE YOU BROUGHT ME!" With relative ease, Alexander parried those slashes, for a swordsman like him, it was a child's play. "Well, then I will make sure you won't do it. I will just kill you!" With that, he slashed downwards with both of his blades, and simultaneously, not only he caused a powerful air shockwaves, but he also fired two Sakugen, which were, thanks to his powers, massive. However, Discord managed to slash horizontally once, also releasing a massive Sakugen on par with Alexander's. When those collided, it resulted in a massive explosion that pushed them both away violently, sending them flying away. Alexander landed softly, on his feet, skidding only a bit before stopping. Discord however landed on his knees, skidding away with no real control, however, he quickly stabbed both of his blades into the ground, using them as brakes to stop himself. As he stopped, he rose up. A wide grin was on his face. "I can see roomie, that you are hellbent on killing me here and now. But you are stupid as fuck, roomie. You cannot kill me! Nothing can! I CAN EVEN OUTLIVE YOU!"

Alexander said nothing to that. He merely raised his blades. He was ready.

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A stream was peacefully running through ruins of a temple. Some mist was still lingering in the place despite the sun being high on the horizon, but the woods surrounding the ruins was quite alive, with birds singing and flying around, and everything seemed so peaceful, idyllic. A lizard was wandering through some of the moss that was covering a large portion of the ruins, and he was looking for a good spot to sunbathe on one of the rocks near the stream. Lizard quickly went from rock to rock, and as none were warm enough, discarded them all quickly. Approaching the biggest rock, the one that was in most direct sunlight, the lizard was obviously hoping to get the best spot. However, despite being small animal, lizard had good sight, and even better sense of smell, and those two told him that his spot was taken. Somebody else was sunbathing... or something else, on that rock.

It was true, as the man was sitting on that rock, not even a muscle of his moving, with his eyes closed, not aware of his surroundings. The man was obviously in prayer or in meditation, but not much of him could be seen, for most of his features were obscured with wide, loose robes and hood, simple in making and brown in color. The man was not moving at all, and he was there, as day passed, and as night fell, and the next day, and the next night. He was detached from the world he was in, even if it was paradise, and the man was deeply within his own meditation, within his own mind. As solid and as stationary as the rock he was seated in, he remained there for long enough that the lizard took him as a piece of rock, and would regularly climb up to the man's shoulder to sunbathe. The man would not notice, and he would never move.

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Alexander stood in the muddle of a crater. Most of his outfit was gone. Burns covered a lot of his body. And yet, he stood there, his burns hurting, and sweat caused by massive heat in Karakura that day was irritating those burns, making them more painful. But Alexander didn't care. He was going to go, and fight. Because in front of him there was a foe. Mighty Bount, Petrov, was to be his opponent. Alexander slowly breathed out, as he drew his Zanpakuto. Petrov by himself would be a piece of cake, but the fact that he summoned his massive Doll was a problem, potentially. That thing was so big, that Alexander would have to fight with his all, or fail. Something that big was bound to be heavy to take down. But, as his will pushed away the feelings of pain, so it also took away his concerns. Alexander's confidence was there. He would fight Petrov. He would simply crush his first Doll, and then second, and then third. And then, he would kill him. No matter the price. This was war, and Alexander was ready for it. He would win.

As he plotted his movements, and as he stared down Petrov, in those brief moments before the combat begun, suddenly, with no indication, the world started to change. Unexpectedly. Inexplicably. Sounds grew farther and farther. More and more silent, until they faded into complete silence, so complete that it caused slight ringing of Alexander's ears. Simultaneously, it slowed down, like a slow motion video at first, and then came to a halt. And as it slowed down, colors were lost as well. Slowly, they all faded into shades of gray. It was something, to best put it, otherworldly. But Alexander's mind was racing. He tried to move, only to discover he cannot. He could merely think. Was this enemy's trap? Or an illusion? His mind started struggling to comprehend what happened, in desperate rush to break free as quickly as it could. But, his legendary willpower could not break him out of this. For this was not an illusion. Slowly, but suddenly, Alexander felt a touch on his shoulder, and heard a whisper in his right ear, coming from behind.

"Howdy, partner..."

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Alexander was... lost. Everything in life that has led him to this point, it was all merely a preparation for the jump. Into the depths of darkness. He knew that he was indeed lost. Even at the terrible price that everybody will need to pay, he needed to be set free. Yes, to be set free at last from this infernal torment that plagued his soul. Alexander Kuma-Hebi was a man broken. A man disgraced, with his honor lost in the last battle. And all because of this demon within him. No matter what he did, Alexander was empty, yet not empty. He was not empty because within him existed a terrible demon. But he was empty in a different way. No more was he pride of his in there. No more the light shined within him. Long ago corrupted by the hatred, it still shined within him, but Discord blew out the candle. Alexander Kuma-Hebi only had darkness to fall into. Alexander thought, foolishly, that he managed to subjugate the demon within. Yet, the last battle of the war showed him how terribly he was mistaken. No matter what he did or where he went. There was, and there could be no peace for him. He was cursed. And with every day he cursed Eternity more and more for implanting him with Discord's eternity. Alexander Kuma-Hebi was condemned to suffer in life.

With the end of that dreadful day, the day of Discord's return, Alexander found himself exposed to Discord and his mental invasion on Alexander. An entire choir of voices, innumerable, singing, screaming, yelling at him, trying to reach him. To take away his control. To take away his thoughts. His wishes. To drown everything that Alexander Kuma-Hebi was in thirst for blood and madness. To break him. And then, remake him. As an agent of chaos and death, to bring about Hell on earth. Hell that was for now caged within Alexander. And Hell that he was not, at any price going to let out. So, the very same evening, barely withstanding the urge to simply draw his Zanpakuto and slaughter everyone in sight, Alexander arranged for himself a paid leave, and dashed out into the wilderness. Since then, he has been there. Some days wee good, and Discord was barely audible. Some were hard, and on those days, Alexander restrained himself with a rope. That helped him to regain control, to not give in, to never let go of little sanity he had. Simply put, to keep existing.

But it was a long time ago when Alexander had a decent day. For many weeks, without pause, he was tortured by Discord. Alexander couldn't even remember how many days passed, or when was the last time he actually was not tied, for he didn't dare to remove his restraints during any of those days. He lost weight to the point that his suit, now in rags actually, was a size or two big for him. And he was exhausted. But Alexander Kuma-Hebi, he was at his limit. Despite his legendary willpower, there was only so much he could power through. He couldn't take it no more. Today, yes, that was a different day. Finally, a day was good. Discord was barely audible, and Alexander Kuma-Hebi dared to remove the restraints. But, slowly, carefully, he allowed himself to think. To plan ahead perhaps. Alexander Kuma-Hebi was a man broken. A man destroyed. And he was the only thing that stood between Hell and the world. And yet, he only wished for one thing. For one, singular thing. For release. To be set free. Oh, he knew the way, and he knew the consequences. He knew that the worlds would burn because of his actions. And he didn't care. Not anymore. Taking the rope, he climbed the nearby tree, and then he tied the rope to a strong branch. Then, carefully, slowly, he made a noose, and placed it on his neck. One last time, he looked at the world. "Fuck it."And he jumped.

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Alexander stood, bloody, injured, but alive. His Zanpakuto were both broken, but he still wielded them. He spat the blood, and spoke: "So, you fuck, any last words?" Merely a meter away, there was his opponent. He looked exactly like Alexander, but he was not, and he couldn't be Alexander. And indeed, he wasn't, for he was Discord, demon lord of immense power. He was kneeling before Alexander, terribly injured, but alive, and defiant, with fire in his eyes yet burning, making them glow with unnatural orange color. His feet were cut off, and so were both of his arms, entirely, and blood was slowly flowing out of his body. And Alexander was there, with his Zanpakuto, or what remained off them, ready, set to perform final execution. His face was grim, and serious, and not even a muscle was moving on it. Discord on another hand remained cheery. "You know what roomie, this is your problem. you really are hard to understand. All this fight and argument about wanting me gone, and then you go and cut off my feet so that I cannot go away? You got issues, roomie, real ones..." Alexander however was not in the mood. "Enough! You talk more than you deserve. I will not give you a single word more. Now is the time to return you to Hell where you belong to, and where you shall burn!" And with a single quick motion, Alexander decapitated Discord.

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Alexander was shocked. "You... I killed you! You cannot be alive!" Amidst war and ruin, Alexander was faced with the facet that he had even more dangerous enemy within his soul, one that was vanquished, killed, but yet somehow, one that was now here, to hinder him, to torture him. "KEKEKEKEKEKEKEKE! You truly know nothing partner... You see, i am eternal here. E-t-e-r-n-i-t-y. Simple word that defines me now. I may no longer have my power source which is locked back in Hell... But i sure am eternal even here! You cannot live me! In fact, I can outlive you! The moment you die, I am free to take your body, cuz' I won't be dead like you. Nothing can kill me! NOTHING! AND NOW, WAIT NO MORE FOLKS, IT'S TAKEOVER TIME!" And then, all hell broke loose, metaphorically. What Alexander faced was a tidal wave of voices screaming, of emotions unleashed, of forbidden desires revealed, all of it hitting him, trying to crush him, trying to move him. Everything in existence faded for him, and only chaos that Discord unleashed onto him was existing. It was an ocean of pure chaos and destruction, and within Alexander's own soul, something like that was unthinkable. But it was not sink or swim situation. No. Alexander would be crushed by this, unless he would somehow find the way to crush every single of those thoughts, voices, desires.

And he tried. He resisted. With his willpower that was like an iron wall, unbreakable, unbendable, he resisted. Voices called for death, thirsted for blood, images of chaos and destruction were dancing in his sight, and there was nothing that Alexander could cling on to. His very memories were being corrupted, twisted, and so did his own soul, one of strongest points of Alexander's personality, the racism, the hatred, these were merely a way for corruption to seep in faster, for what was a mere hate compared to this. Yet the voices called, screamed, unending choir, calling for him to do what he desired. To strike down and eradicate all whom he hated, to render them to less than ashes, to crush them all beneath his heels. And Alexander... he saw it before his eyes. Final realization, that he at last had an instrument of his long planned cleansing, provided to him by Hell. Nothing could oppose Hell, save for the King and his Guard, and yet, Alexander was in his service, and he actually felt proud of himself, for it would be with the tools of Soul Society's enemies that those enemies would cease to be.

But as he dived in such thoughts, the voices and the choir faded away, and everything else started to face, and the real world faded from sight, melting into pure darkness as Alexander completely retreated into his inner world. But his thoughts seemed to slow down, and his mind grew weary, tired of thinking. So distant and hard did everything seem. It would be all done, the cleansing of inferior races, the great genocide to establish Shinigami supremacy, but not now. Now Alexander wished to rest, to relieve himself from this heavy burden of thinking. He stood in deepest darkness within his own soul, and slowly, his thoughts all faded away and stopped. And in the real world, entity that was known as Alexander Kuma-Hebi was looking around, seemingly thinking about something, and then he removed his sunglasses. The eyes... they were in colors of the rainbow.

But despite victory of Discord, Alexander was still there, defeated, but not destroyed, for his soul existed, and Discord could not devour it. There he stood, thoughtless, silent, within the world of never ending darkness that his inner world has turned into. There was nothing within him. No feelings. No hate, no love, no strength, no weakness. At last, Alexander was at least relieved of all the burdens he had. No longer did he have the things that held him back. or the things that propelled him forward, for that matter. Nothing is there. But somehow. From somewhere, deep within his mind, a single thought formed. Uninvited, unexpected. "It hurt..." then it went away. Alexander remained in the darkness, standing, empty, unaware. Then it returned, that single thought, stronger. "It hurt... me." Somehow, Alexander gained a single fact back. The fact that something, sometime, hurt him. The pain was there, like a train running over him, but Alexander didn't feel it properly, like he was sedated.

He still stood there. Motionless. But then, movement came back. Slight move of his fingers, a twitch of his toes. But a movement. A difference. Slowly, darkness was withdrawing from Alexander's mind, bit by bit. But nothing came back in its stead. Alexander, as a personality, didn't return, it was still merely emptiness, though devoid of darkness. But. A will came. An urge. A wish. A desire. Something was drawing Alexander. Drawing him to look upwards. To move his head and his eyes and look. Slowly, with movements more looking like a badly built robot's than a human's, he lifted his head up. And he looked. And in the distance, up there in the darkness, there was a tiny bit of light up there. Single dot. Alexander focused his gaze on it. He looked at it. And the light... looked back. It increased. It grew bigger and bigger. it grew to the size of a sun in the sky, and then exploded with a powerful bright flash, crushing and dispelling the darkness, turning everything into blinding white light that left Alexander unable to see anything. Save for one thing. For a brief moment, in all that light, he saw a black symbol, a kanji, that read "zero". But it all lasted for merely a moment, and then it faded away.

And in the outside world, column of Reiatsu erupted into the skies, and the ground shattered around Alexander. Reiatsu was violently leaving his body, creating many cuts and wounds on his body, which bled quite violently. And he screamed."NOOOO YOU FOOL YOU ARE RUINING EVERY- ARHGAAAAAAAAA!" Reiatsu fluctuated like it was out of control, and nearby buildings collapsed one by one, as the ground cracked and shook even more. But, slowly, the gigantic column of Reiatsu faded away, and trembling of the earth stopped. Alexander fell to his knees, panting heavily. But his eyes... were normal again. "No more, you sick fuck.", he whispered. Weakly, shaking, he got back on his feet. Slowly, he opened a Senkaimon, and returned back to Seireitei. This war... was nothing compared to his own one.

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Alexander was floating. He was nowhere. But he finally had it. He had peace. World around him vanished, a distant memory, as he descended down the depths of his soul one last time, the corruption brought on by Discord gone, all the voices silenced, all the rage and chaos gone. At last, he had freed himself. He felt peace, and nothing but peace and serenity. He was in sort of a bliss, now blissfully unaware of where he actually was, or what terrible deed he has done. He knew none of that. He was blissfully unaware of what he just condemned the world to, and what was going to happen. Alexander did not know that he was dead. He didn't know that he just hung himself and that he choked the last breath out of himself, that his brain was without oxygen for a while already, that he was hanging for almost an hour. That slowly, something started to stir within his body, within his soul, something sinister. But Alexander knew none of that. Instead, he knew peace. A peace that he was lacking for years. between all the hat, and all the rush, between everything that took place, Alexander Kuma-Hebi knew no peace. He would know at last what he was missing all along. Perhaps he would see, why he was always failing to reach his goals. Why he didn't impose the Shinigami supremacy that he so wished for, or why he hasn't exterminated all those non-Shinigami pests already. It is because he had no peace. Neither within himself nor with himself. And not only that, but his goals brought no peace. and without peace, they were never meant to be. Never would they come to reality.

But it did not matter. He was falling. Alexander was falling down the swirling vortex of white light intermingled with his memories, his dreams, his hopes. And somehow, he felt at peace. Something that he didn't have for a long time, was there. But as Alexander was falling, his mind was at ease, and he knew that this was the right thing to do. And so he descended, falling down the pits of his dying soul. "I see. You think you have the right to pass the judgement." It was not a voice, strictly speaking. It was a thought, within Alexander's mind. But it was... alien. It was not his thought. And it broke the peace he briefly found. It surprised him, but he couldn't speak an answer. At least, he could think that answer. "Who... are you?" Alexander felt something akin to a distant laughter in his mind, before the answer arrived. "That is for me to know and you to find out. As for telling you... you wouldn't comprehend it. Now answer me. Why do you think it falls to you to pass the judgement." Alexander was unsure what this was all about. Passing the judgement? That must mean taking his own life. A life he was a master of. "My life is mine to do whatever I see fit with it." As his falling accelerated, the thought came again. "I see. You fail to understand yet again. Let me show you."

With that, everything faded to nothing, and then reappeared. Alexander was still falling. But this time he was high in the skies, and he saw clouds underneath him, but not many. Skies were clear. And far below, Alexander could see something akin to a massive city, roughly circular in shape, and in the middle of it, a perfectly circular city separated by a thin ring. Alexander knew what he was seeing. "Soul Society... home." The thought came again. "Yes, this indeed is the Soul Society. The one that you passed the judgement on. Look!" And as Alexander descended, falling from the sky, it would turn bigger. He would see it. It grew larger the nearer he came. It was Soul Society indeed, just as the voice told. But it was... different. Alexander could see it. Many districts of Rukongai were nothing but piles of rubble. The thin ring separating the Seireitei and Rukongai was also, in fact, a circular pile of rubble. The walls of Seireitei were crushed. The fires were burning in Seireitei, and war was raging below. A gigantic, massive horde of some kind of monsters was laying waste to what was left of Soul Society. Alexander could see it. He came down closer, falling at great speed, and with every passing yard he saw more.

He could see those monsters, raping, pillaging and devouring everything and everyone they could find. He could see thinned forces of Shinigami attempting to stop them. He could see a bright flash of flames erupt somewhere, evidence of a combat. And directly below him, Alexander could see it. The execution grounds. Sokyoku hill. It appeared to be the site of the last stand of the Shinigami forces. A storm of Kido crushed against the waves of monsters, yet it did no good, where one fell, two came to take the place, but the Shinigami couldn't keep up, soon, it all erupted into a massive melee, one that was chaos. But even so high above, Alexander could see that it was not going well for the Shinigami. They lost the ground too fast, and soon, the Sokyoku stand was an island under siege, with Shinigami holding the monsters back from it for a moment. But Alexander could see it. It was futile. They held on for the moment, but they would fall just the same. They were outnumbered hundred to one, if not more. And in the middle of the stand, Alexander saw a glimpse of white. "A Captain!" But he couldn't discern who it was exactly Suddenly, the ground bellow started shaking violently, as the figure Alexander identified as the Captain touched the Sokyoku.

"He is desperate enough to attempt to use it." A chill went down the Alexander's spine. Sokyoku was, for reasons unknown, a great fear of his. Its true form inspired terror within him, and it was a deep fear of his, well-hidden from others, but deeply rooted within his soul. He was still falling. And he could see the ground shaking, and powerful Reiatsu being unleashed from the base of the Sokyoku. It was powerful. The spear became engulfed with white flames suddenly. The shockwave of force that it created blew off everyone near it, including the Captain that was attempting to use it. "Shit! This can't be good." And indeed it was not good. Sokyoku, without directions and guidance, turned unstable. Its power was built up, but it was not released. And its sealed form couldn't hold it in. Cracks appeared on it. Huge ones. And then, with a loud cracking sound, it broke, releasing all that power. For a split second, Alexander could see those nearest to it being reduced to nothing by that sheer power. And then came explosion, and the flash of light that turned everything white. And then there was nothing more that that whiteness.

But within it, came a single thought. "See."

And the whiteness faded, and Alexander was once again falling down from the skies. But these were not the skies of Soul Society. For these were dark, and clear, without the clouds, and deep below, Alexander could see nothing but whiteness. "Dark skies and white land... I'm in Hueco Mundo...", Alexander realized as he kept on falling down, diving through the air head on, he couldn't even move a muscle, but indeed, there were no muscles to be moved, Alexander was merely a soul within his soul, so to put it, and he was being shown something, a vision, something that he was meant only to observe not to influence. As he came somewhat closer to the ground, he could see it, still distant below him, a great desert of White Sands. But unlike the calm and silent expanse that the lore talked about, it bustled with life, and Alexander could see numerous creatures moving on its surface, new ones constantly emerged from the underground, using vast craters that broke all the way into Menos Forest as gateways, and also creatures constantly entered Menos Forest, vanishing out of sight. Alexander couldn't make out the details of the creatures, but based on their sizes, he came to the only possible conclusion. "Hollows."

But it seemed unusual. "But why would they gather in such numbers? Not even Azeru-Cho ever managed to rally them all. Who in the world would gather them all?" Alexander was rather surprised by that fact. All of those Hollows gathered... It was certainly an ill omen as far as he was concerned. But, the thought came again. "Not all is what it appears to be." This startled Alexander. "What do you mean by that?!", he demanded. But no answer came, and Alexander kept on descending. As he came closer, falling down, he could at first recognize the towering Gillian moving about, acting like walking siege towers or something, as he could see many creatures riding on them. And around them, there was an entire army of Hollows, as it seemed, so big that as Alexander descended, he could no longer see white sands, the desert was so swarming with Hollows that it was all black from their numbers. For such astonishing number of Hollows, it was unheard to gather. Descending through the air, Alexander however could manage to identify a single structure amidst that army. Las Noches. he saw it, the only defining landmark below him. Something... was off.

Contrary to Alexander's expectation, Las Noches was not the center of activity for this Hollow army. In fact, it was different. Ruined. Burnt. Destroyed. To Alexander it was obvious thing. Shinigami King of Las Noches and his Arrancar army were obviously no more. Deep, carnal desires of Hollows that couldn't be controlled by Las Noches seemingly brought about its end. Or did they? As Alexander descended further, he could see something else was off. Those Gillians... they were all in chains and they were dragged off somewhere by those chains. And something was off about the creatures riding those Gillians. Descending further, Alexander, still falling down, could see the truth unveiled before him. He came close enough. Those creatures that rode on Gillians weren't merely riding them. They... fed on them. As those were no Hollows, but were in fact monsters far more vicious and terrible, identical to those that Alexander has seen in the vision of Soul Society. Hueco Mundo has fallen as well. Suddenly, Alexander's fall accelerated, and he could quickly see that across all the Hueco Mundo, at least as far as he could see, Hollows were nothing but a livestock, a cattle to be slaughtered in order to feed this army of monsters. "So, this is what happens when purgatory falls..." And with that thought, Alexander reached the ground, and everything turned white. And then there was nothing more that that whiteness.

But within it, came a single thought. "Learn."

Again Alexander was in the air, but this time he was not falling, but rather, floating. The skies were red, he could see so above him, and below him, he could see only fires and smoke for as long as his gaze could see. Landscape above him was odd, unfamiliar, but he could at very least recognize where he probably was, despite the fact that fires and lava tortured this place. Even though reduced to rubble, Alexander could pick out remnants of a Human city, their skyscrapers and buildings reduced to little more than piles of rubble. But there was no living person anywhere. But more Alexander watched, more gruesome it became. He noticed a red river flowing in the remains of the streets. As he watched it more and more, a terrible realization came upon him - the river was not water at all. It was blood, and blood only. He could smell its foul smell. Was this truly Human World now? Or perhaps he was transported to Hell itself? No, that was not possible. But what did happen here? Alexander could see no presence, not even of demons and monstrosities as was the case with Soul Society and Hueco Mundo. "They were struck first, and not a living soul remains in this world. But even this world itself shall pay the price. Look." And indeed, slowly, cracks begun to form in the ground, and violent earthquakes were twisting and trembling Earth to the core. And above Alexander, so far above that it was outside the atmosphere, a huge rectangular shape has formed. Alexander could recognize it, to his horror. He has never seen it such big, but this, this was Hell Gate. It was so huge that it could swallow a celestial body way larger than Earth. And slowly, the Gate slid open.

Looking up above him, Alexander could see the red void inside the gate, the realm of Hell, and all the horrors it housed were there if one could keep gazing into the gate, looking into infinite dimension of evil and horror. Hell came. Alexander was watching it. So, a first line seat for the end of the world. The gate was slowly approaching. Or so it seemed to him. But it was actually that it was so big, that made it look like it was slow. Its speed was probably incredible