Harry couldn't breathe. The courtyard shook, silver light splitting the stone, but the captain with the eyepatch just laughed like this was the best day of his life. The soldiers were scattered, some staring at Harry, some frozen, some ready to strike again.
Then… the pressure changed.
It hit harder than before, crushing down on them all. Naruto fell to one knee with a grunt. Spider-Man gasped, mask-eyes wide. Flash staggered, speed cut short. Even Jinwoo's shadows rippled, uneasy.
And then he appeared.
Not rushing. Not shouting. Just walking. Calm, steady steps across the white stone. Black robes, captain's cloak, glasses glinting under the sun. His presence was quiet, but it was heavier than the man with bells, heavier than all of them.
Aizen.
Harry didn't know the name. But the second the man looked at him, at the dagger glowing in his hand, Harry's whole body locked. His scar seared. The whispers in his head surged louder.
Aizen smiled.
"It seems you've brought something interesting into our world." His voice was smooth, kind almost, but every word crawled under Harry's skin. "The fracture key… I've read about it. But I never thought I'd see it."
Harry tried to speak but nothing came out.
The captain with the eyepatch growled, blade still raised. "Don't interfere, Aizen. He's mine."
Aizen didn't even look at him. "Yours? No. He belongs to no one. That blade doesn't choose masters. It chooses vessels." His eyes slid back to Harry. "And you, boy, look like a perfect vessel."
Spider-Man stepped forward fast. "Yeah, okay, bad vibes! Super bad vibes. Can we not let creepy glasses guy narrate my nightmares?"
Naruto bristled. "Harry's not anyone's vessel!"
Aizen tilted his head, still smiling. "Ah. So you think you know him? You think this is your first time meeting? Funny. Fate works differently around the key."
Harry's stomach lurched. That was the exact thing he feared.
Jinwoo's shadows rose higher, forming a wall between Harry and Aizen. His voice was low, sharp. "Stay away."
Aizen glanced at him, amused. "Shadow monarch, is it? You don't belong here either. None of you do. And yet… don't you feel it? As though we've done this before?"
Dokja's voice cut in, calm but heavy. "We haven't. But you'll say whatever makes us doubt ourselves, won't you?"
Aizen's smile deepened. "Perceptive."
The eyepatch captain spat. "Talk all you want. I'll cut them down anyway." He lunged at Harry again.
This time, Aizen just lifted a hand. The air shimmered. For a second, Harry swore the captain froze mid-step. His sword dropped a fraction, his eye blinked, confused.
"What—" he started, but then Aizen's blade was already at his throat. No one even saw it move.
The courtyard went silent.
Aizen didn't strike. He just held it there, calm, casual. "Kenpachi. Always eager. But brute force won't solve this puzzle."
Kenpachi snarled, backing off, eyes blazing. "Tch. Fine. Have it your way."
Aizen lowered his sword, turning back to Harry. "You're unraveling worlds, Harry Potter. And you don't even understand why."
Hearing his name in that smooth, cold voice made Harry flinch.
He tried to speak, to say I don't want this, but the whispers in his head drowned him. "Open." The dagger pulsed, silver veins burning up his arm. He gasped, clutching it tighter.
Naruto grabbed his shoulder. "Harry! Don't let him mess with you!"
Flash stepped closer too. "We stick together, remember? Don't listen to him."
Jinwoo's shadow wolf snarled low, ready to strike. Dokja's calm voice echoed: "He's trying to bend you. Not the dagger."
Harry's chest heaved. He looked at them all — people he barely knew, people he should not trust — but it felt like he'd trusted them forever.
Aizen's smile never wavered. "They'll say what you want to hear. But the blade knows the truth. Let it open. Let it show you everything."
The dagger throbbed. The cracks spread wider across the courtyard. Light bled into the air.
Harry screamed, dropping to one knee. "Stop! I can't—"
The ground shook. The sky fractured.
And Aizen just watched, calm, smiling, as the world split open again.