Interred With Their Bones

The ground was cold, almost like ice. That was the first thing that popped into Hayashi's mind in the bleak darkness that covered him. The second thing was that he was still alive, somehow. He was sure that most of his organs were destroyed by Asuka Heart's attacks, which meant that death should have closed it's hand on him for the first and last time. He struggled to open his eyes, finding it too exhausting and sleep crept over him quickly.

"-t up. Did ya hear me? I said get up. C'mon lazy bones. GET UP!" someone was shouting and kicking him in the side, causing waves of pain to course through his body. He warily opened his eyes, revealing a crystal blue..or was it pink, orange, green? What ever color it was, 'twas the sky above him. The attacking figure was a skeletally thin man with green eyes that seemed to bore into the soul of Hayashi. He wore sickly green robes that looked a bit wet, like there was a rainstorm not long ago.

"Who the he-??" Hayashi began, but he cut off. He knew his body was damaged but his voice sounded too familar, almost years ago. His vocal cords must have been damaged in the attack. Pushing himself up, the forst thing he saw from the new vantage point was that the ground was as colorful as the sky, gems littered the area, forming a large platform with a large coal black stone in the center. ''My inner world? How the Hell'd I end up here?'' he asked himself confused. There was no possible way he could be here, at least not physically.

The stranger interrupted his thoughts. "Wonderin' how you got here? Why should I tell a kid who can't even fight?" He turned away and walked to the center. "Kid, you're not a normal person. You've undergone so many trials with only a fracture or a slight tear where most people whould have died from the stress. Hell, in only ten years, you slayed a God. Four years later, You survived your Godfather, and now, what else can stop you?"

Hayashi sat back and took a deep breath. Something in his body was way wrong. His reach didn't extend far for starters. He stood up before noticing a fact he should of seen from the start. The spirit towered over him by easily two feet. Then, he looked down and saw the second fact he should have seen from the start. His body was shrunk down to the size of a ten year old. ''Holy shit! I'm in a demented version of Honey I Shrunk the Kids''.

The stranger read his mind. "Not at all. You see, you have the power to remove pain and suffering with just a touch, but in return, you must step beyond the walls of time again. Chronos will only allow safe passage beyond if you surrender time gained, as steep a penalty as it seems, the gift itself is beyond reckoning."

Hayashi blinked a few times. "So, who's suffering did I fix? Or is that how I'm still alive?" he asked, quite confused at the events unfolding around him.

"Correct again boy. You used your power to repair your body. So, right now, you have the body of a child. Chronos took his toll by taking almost half your age back. Sure, you remember everything, but the weaker body prevents you from using whatever gifts you posess to their limits."

Hayashi turned his right hand into a large claw by gathering the Essentium Inferno. "Try me." he said, calm even in the face of the truth. His youth messed with his reation times, which were honed for the body of a teenager, not some kid with the memory to fight like a teen. He stood against someone new yet familar. Just who is he up against?

Remind Me to Never Love
In a flash, the stranger pulled out a red a black crystal sword and jumped Hayashi like a mad cat aiming to grab it's next meal. What he didn't expect was the oversized claw blocking the blow like nothing. "Good. You can still fight, even without your fully grown body. How about this, you land a solid hit on me, I'll tell you who I am. Deal?"

Hayashi pushed the man away like it was nothing. "I already know you. God sent you to replace Kara didn't He? No. You're the spirit that slumbered inside me, hoping for me to hear your cries. Now then, how close was my guess?"

"You sir, should be on Jeprody. That is, if you survive." the being replied. "Now, Zaigou." As the spirit said those words, Hayashi's mind was assulted by memories of his past. Now, which memory will he suffer from?

In Hayashi's mind he heard a voice he thought he'd never hear again. "Well what didja screw up now kid? Must be somethin if you need me again." Although it wasn't possible, it was him! It was Margin's voice.

But thanks to this being his inner world, even his own Zanpakto was able to do more than what it was normally able to do. Not only did his memory recreate the voice, it replicated the body and mannersims as well. "Well? It's not like you to forget me. C'mon kiddo. Come say hello."

Hayashi didn't look at the false image of his Godfather. "You're not him. You can't be him. I KILLED HIM!" he screamed in anguish. "...And I'll do it again. Just to end this farce."

Will You Revive From the Chaos In My Mind?
"You? Kill me? Pathetic. Do you remember the night we were training in the woods and you broke your wrist? You tried not to cry and yet you still did. There's no way a sniviling brat would ever beat me." Fake-Margin said with a mocking tone.

"Shut up! I'm gonna rip you to shreads!" Hayashi shouted as he sent a massive flood of Essentiam out from his body to ensnare and break the image in front of him. It wan more than enough to shatter the floor below them and send chunks on crystal upwards into the air. Taking each shard into account with his chess-grid stratagy, he wound wires around them and wrapped them into the glob of death that was the Inferno.

Did we mention it could shatter stone? Ok. Just checking. The blast did nothing to Margin, not so much as scratch a single hair or even a skin cell. "So, Asuka gave you THAT. I was wondering when the Demonic Son of God would fall so low."

Hayashi stepped back, shocked. ''How could he..Duh it's a fake. He wouldn't know that if he was the real one.'' he thought. "Now then. Where was I? Oh yeah. I said I was gonna kill ya. I'm not about to become a liar. Check your body." he said, motioning with his right hand, revealing the wires were wrapped around Margin's body, drenched in the Essentiam. "Now then. I think this is checkmate." With a simple motion, the wires shreaded the man, drenching the cracked floor in blood.

Angrily, he rounded on the spirit. "First rule of living here. Never screw with my Godparents EVER!" he roared. Somehow, the Essentiam in his body was focused through his clenched fist into a slender blade.

"FINALLY! The kid pulls it out of his ass at the last second! You now deserve to appear on whatever crappy game shows that reqire slime to be rained down upon the losers." The spirit laughed. "I guess you're ready to use me. I am Shogyō Mujō, your physical Zanpakto."

Hayashi was confused. ''Physical? What does that mean?'' he thought as he turned away. "Snap, Shogyō Mujō!" As he spoke those words, the organic looking blade became more metal-like. "So this, this is what I get? This is wicked."

Shogyō Mujō looked at him with some respect. "Whatever. I'd train you some, but it'd be best if you got up."

In the real world, Hayashi opened his eyes slowly. He moved his hand in front of his face. He was still a kid, proving he wasn't dreaming. "Well, time to get going."