The night air hung heavy again. The howls hadn't stopped. Aizen, still chained to the giant slab of rock in the open-air throne room of Baraggan's half-collapsed palace, drooled and yanked at his bindings like some feral beast.
I couldn't take it anymore.
"GRUOHHH!!"
[Baraggan translated: "I'm losing my damn mind, old man!"]
Baraggan glared at me from his seat, arms crossed.
"Then stop standing around like an idiot and do something about it. But if you mess up again, I'll crush your skull into paste."
That gave me an idea.
A terrible, stupid, desperate idea.
"GRRUAAHH!"
[Baraggan translated: "I'm making a fake Grimmjow!"]
"...What?"
But I was already gone.
I sprinted through the ruined halls of the palace, past walls smeared with dust, bones, and piss. I scavenged what I could find — scraps of tattered blue cloth, a few old Hollow skull fragments for hair, and a couple of broken weapons to shape into limbs.
It took hours.
But when I was done, I proudly dragged the abomination back to the throne room.
A seven-foot-tall, lopsided, nightmare stuffed figure with a mop of white rags for hair and one arm shorter than the other. Its face was a hollow skull with jagged teeth painted on with crushed stone.
+11,000 EP
Baraggan stared.
"What the actual hell is that supposed to be?"
"GRUAAHH!!"
[Baraggan translated: "Grimmjow!"]
Aizen's eyes snapped open.
The chains rattled furiously as he let out an ecstatic howl, practically foaming at the mouth.
"RRRUUUUOOOOH!!"
"See?" I grunted, giving the fake figure a proud shove toward Aizen.
Aizen tugged against his chains, eyes shining like a deranged beast. He sniffed the air, then lunged — the chains yanking him back hard.
The dummy toppled over sideways, its head rolling off.
+3,000 EP
Current EP: 96,90,500 / 100,000,000
"GRURGH…"
[Baraggan translated: "I forgot to attach the head properly."]
Baraggan sighed so hard, I thought the bones around us might crack from the weight of his disappointment.
"You are an embarrassment to Hollows everywhere."
But something strange happened.
Aizen… calmed down. His growls softened into low, confused whimpers as he tried to reach for the fallen dummy. For the first time in days, the howling stopped.
Baraggan raised a brow.
"...I hate that it's working."
I grinned, chest puffed out.
"GRRUUUAAH!!"
[Baraggan translated: "See?! I'm a genius!"]
He smacked me on the back of the head.
"Shut up before you jinx it."
For now, the palace was quiet.
No howls, no crashes, no puddles. Just the soft clink of chains and the faintest breeze drifting through the ceilingless ruins.
I decided this called for a nap.
Baraggan muttered under his breath as he watched me slump down against a stone pillar.
"Moron."
But even he didn't object.