The Universal Villain

Multiple footsteps protruded through the halls of Las Noches. Walking in front of Shen and Rukia was the Espada however they seemed completely zoned out compared to normal. Their faces were expressionless as the glare of the Sharingan replaced their eyes. This is one of the reasons Shen ever bothered getting Babadi's magic.

While Shen's Sharingan lets him control people, all the same, it also turns the people it controls into deadpan servants, which in a Shinigami's case would cause issues when it comes to communicating to their Zanpakuto. While a Zanpakuto might not care if its master stands on the side of good or evil, they can't hear or lend their help to a master who ignores them.

'But in the end their Espada so that doesn't apply to them. Though it is a little strange how easy it was to control them like this.' The Espada were extremely strong before to the point Ulquiorra could survive Ichigo's Vasto Lorde form even if it was only for a bit. But looking at them now, Shen had to guess they were weaker than they were original.

'Stopping Aizen from obtaining Urahara's Hogyoku was a good move.' As Shen thought to himself for a few more moments, he noticed the four in front of him stopped moving as they approached the entrance to a room within one of the five towers on top of Las Noches. The dark yet well-lit room had pillars lining the walls extending from the roof all the way to the ground in the dozens. Along with that, the floor was glossed over as its black surface reflected the world.

Although its size couldn't be compared to the last room they were in, it was still rather big. Turning his gaze to the center of the room, Shen's head slowly rose as a long row of stairs led up to a smoothed out plateau. And sitting at the very top of that plateau was Aizen smiling down at Shen. Standing next to were Gin and Tousen, who was smiling while the latter had an indifferent look on his face.

"Well, this is interesting." Looking at Shen Aizen looked towards the Espada, who parted to two sides allowing Shen to step forward. "I didn't expect the Espada who I gathered to betray me so quickly. Though it seems that this is quite different from what you did to Rukia and Urahara." As Aizen spoke, he allowed his spiritual pressure to fall as he glanced at Rukia, making her subconsciously take lower her head.

"So, do you plan on relying on them to defeat me?" Listening to Aizen silently, Shen didn't respond right away before chuckling slightly. "Rely on them to defeat you? I think we both know how pointless that would be. Even if you never revealed your full strength to them, you were able to suppress each Espada here with your ability alone."

Saying that Shen knew relying on the Espada to fight Aizen would be useless after all, that's not why he decided to control them in the first place. Hearing Shen Aizen kept his indifferent face as he stood up. "Since you already know what my plans are, then I won't continue taking them." Listening to Aizne, Shen agreed as he looked towards Barragan and Ulquiorra along with Stark and Harribel.

"Deal with those two." Pointing towards Gin and Tousen, Shen wanted no interruptions during this. As much as Shen didn't want to admit it, Tousen and Gin were problems. If it were just them serving under Aizen, then the other Espada would have never stood for weaklings looking down on them. Even though Shen might be overestimating, Toushen but Gin was no joke.

Hearing Shen, the Espada didn't hesitate as the groups of two immediately locked onto their targets. Barragan, along with Ulquiorra, attacked Gin, and Stark and Harribel attacked Tousen. The duo's sudden attacks left Aizen unfazed as the sound of rocks hitting the ground apart, and explosions erupted from behind the throne.

"I was surprised when you suddenly appeared. Although you delayed my plans, this is still acceptable. After all, you did you brought the key to bringing my goals to fruition to me." Taking steps down the long set of stairs, Shen couldn't help but take a deep breath. This was going to be a difficult fight compared to the others. Even without the Hogyoku just basing around characters revealed so far, Aizen is second to only Yamamoto.

'But even so, it's only going to make finally bringing him down that much more gratifying.' Smiling, Shen met Aizen's gaze as he spoke. "You mean trying to replace the Soul King? Or your sub-goal of creating the Oken, you're going to have to be more specific." Hearing Shen Aizen's steps paused for a moment as his voice echoed along with the sound of fighting in the background.

"You really do know about my plans, after all. If that's the case, you should know why I'm doing this. The fact I must allow myself to be controlled by that thing is something I find unacceptable. However, with the Hogyoku, I will be able to rise even above him. I'll be the one sitting on the throne at the very pinnacle of this world." Raising his head up slightly, Aizen continued.

"However you have an enigma, a being who seems to be separated from even the Soul King himself, you are worthy." Holding his hand out to Shen, Aizen spoke calmly. "You understand my ideals, and even without the Hogyoku's abilities, you already exist closer to the pinnacle than anyone in this world, including myself. Join me and we ca-"

Aizen was cut off by Shen as he interrupted him. "Oh please like I would ever trust you, let alone give you the Hogyoku. I'm not an idiot like those Espada who blindly follow the strong. Like you yourself sad, I have the ability to stand at the top with or without Hogyoku's help. And the one who stands at the top can have no equal." Glaring at Aizen with a provocative smile Shen continued.

"Whether it be the Hogyoku the Soul King or any of the other dimensions that exist within this world, they are simply stepping stones in the end. And even you with your great intellect is still limited by your creator's imagination."

Speaking to Aizen like this, Shen didn't hold hit words back. In the end, this was the truth of this world and all the others he would visit. Compared to the near-infinite universes remaining to explore, the bleach universe is small and insignificant. Even no matter how many characters the creators of these universes make, they will always be limited by their author's thought process. This only became more and more clear to Shen as he continued down his path as the villain.

No matter what, unless he showed them their actual reality, they would never know they are nothing but a bunch of characters made entertainment. Listening to Shen, even Aizen looked slightly shocked. He did not fully understand what Shen meant by his creator. While it seemed obvious, he was talking about the Soul King the way he spoke made it sound as if he was referring to an even higher power.

"I see if that's your choice, then I'm afraid this is where we will part ways." Speaking softly, Shen could tell that the talking phase had come to an end as he turned to look at Rukia. In seconds space around her began to twist as he forced her into the Kamui dimension before turning back to Aizen. Aizen could tell Shen was simply using Rukia as a way to keep him from retreating however, he had no plans to do so with Rukia here or not.

Placing his palm on his Zanpakuto Aizen disappeared from his place on the stairs appearing in front with Kyoka Suigetsu raised to his side Aizen spoke briefly. "Now, then show me the power that puts you above the existence of this world." Swinging his Zanpakuto Shen's Sharingan allowed him to guard himself quickly.

Raising both of his arms and protecting them with Haki, the force of Aizen's swing caused a shockwave to erupt as his body began to lift off the ground as he flew towards the throne room walls. But even the walls of the tower itself began to crack and collapsed from the impact of Shen's body. Soon enough, Shen was sent flying out of the throne room. Outside of the throne room was a vast expanse of desert with a sky resembling the human worlds above. This was one of the features of Las Noches.

Even places that belong outside are still within Las Noches, and its seemingly endless sky creates a strange effect. Going into a free fall, Shen didn't bother flying as he simply looked up with an excited grin on his face. 'No barriers, no constraints, no one to worry about protecting. I even have most of my power reserves at their full capacity. Finally... I can go all out for once.'

Looking up, Shen could see Aizen looking at him from above as he hoped from the hole Shen's body created within the tower's walls as he began chasing after him. Reacting to this, Shen didn't bring out the full power of one of his attacks. Pointing his palm towards Aizen, a dense amount of Ki began to gather, taking the form of a red star.

The moment the attack was charged, Shen fired it without hesitation as it created a red streak as it flew through the air. His attack was incredibly fast, and only a few moments after it fired, it had already reached Aizen as he quickly used Flash Step to avoid Shen's attack. After flying for only a few more moments, the attack achieved its peak as the entire sky above Shen lit up with a crimson light.

The force from this explosion caused the sand below Shen tp shift as it compressed itself against the floor of Las Noches. As Shen approached the ground, he quickly corrected his position, landing on the ground without slowing down at all, causing even more sand to erupt around him.

Following quickly after landing on the ground, Shen looked up only to see Aizen preparing to swing Kyoka Suigetsu from above. Summoning the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva, Shen used its speed to bring two of its hands above his head and then proceeded to coat them with Haki. With the stationary object and incredibly strong forces colliding even without Shen having Reiatsu, a voice deafening pressure immediately cracked the tower's foundation.

Seeing his attack fail, Aizen analyzed the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva more closely as he backed away back into the air only to find a white light shining over his body. Within the mouth of the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva, white light could be seen gathering however, as he grew, it also shrunk, showing it was being compressed. This was a modified version of the Zero Hand Shen created through a little bit of trial and error.

The moment Aizen saw this white light compress into a ball no smaller than a car in size, he immediately dodged to the side as a constant beam of white light shot out of the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva's mouth which was dark in a starless sky. As Aizen moved, the statue moved its head as well as dragging the beam across the sky at a sound breaking pace.

Falling the ground and dodging the constant stream of light being emitted from the statue's mouth, the sounds of an explosion finally reached the two of them. As their clothes shook in the wind from the shockwave, a row of white spherical explosions lined the distant horizon. Staring at Shen with a pleased expression, Aizen spoke. "Even now, your powers continue to intrigue me."

Suddenly Aizen held his sword in front of him as he spoke. "Shatter Kyoka Suigetsu."