15 Evolution!

Bikou spent his time focusing on keeping his newly acquired power in check. Consuming that strange Hollow, left him feeling like a bottle full of gas, raring to explode. 

He could feel every bone in his body, rattle with force, under each step he took. It was exhilarating, but also very frightening. Almost as if he was in the middle of a hurricane, and he had to either sink or swim. 

" What is this, feeling?" Bikou asked. He dropped to his knee's holding onto his stomach in pain. When Bikou ingested the Hollow, there was something strange about it. 

It didn't taste or feel like any other Hollow he had eaten. Like it was produced synthetically. It messed with Bikou's body.

Bikou struggled to get back up to his feet, and slowly he started walking. 

Absentmindedly, Bikou travelled the desert, walking while also trying to keep himself from exploding. 

So, he was unaware of what was happening as he suddenly stumbled into a forest made entirely of thorns. 

His mask, which had been broken in the fight, had cracked further when he consumed the Hollow. It was now beginning to break even more. Starting from the top of his mouth and cracking more and more as the lines spread across his face. 

Bikou's spiritual pressure waned back and worth. Spiking and dropping constantly. One moment, his spiritual pressure would soar so high it appeared as though flames were coming from his body, and then just as the flames would reach their peak that spiritual pressure would then drop, and they would vanish. 

Any unfortunate Hollow that found his or herself within his vicinity would immediately, be reduced to a corpse. Losing their individuality, their essence. Being forever wiped from the cycle of death and rebirth. Never again to be seen or heard from again.

If he could see it, Bikou would feel ashamed.

Murder wasn't to his taste. No, it wasn't. There was no honor, or pride to be gained. No glory to earn. No improvement or growth. There was no intelligence. Nothing, but senseless killing of those weaker than him. 

Perhaps, if he could see it, he would understand a little more how Starrk and Lilynette have felt for years. 

" Hot... So, hot! I... I feel like my insides are burning!" 

Bikou grabbed and clawed at his chest of bone, scratching and clawing away at it as he walked.

The thorny spikes around him, began cutting away at the bone armor, revealing underneath Bikou's chiseled abdomen. His cracked mask began to break away more and more every moment, eventually revealing more and more of his face. 

" Gah! ahhhhhhhhH!" Bikou screamed in pain as the horrendous pressure building within continued pounding and hammering away at his body. 

His blood began soaking the ground within the forest of thorns. 

Scarily, Bikou began to wonder if maybe he was going to sink within this raging storm. His spiritual pressure began to ignite the forest around him, burning it piece by piece with every step he took. The smell of smoke burdened Bikou's nose. The smoke itself pained his eyes. 

Every part of his body was in pain. 

However, despite that, Bikou continued on, pressing forward through his sheer will power alone. He crawled and scrambled his way through the burning forest, until eventually, he reached a small pond made of reishi. An unnatural occurrence within Hueco Mundo. 

Very rarely did such a thing ever come into existence. And yet, somehow, someway, here it was. 

Bikou wandered into the pond, placing his full body at the center of the body of residual energy, and immediately it began to boil around him. 

The soothing feeling cooled Bikou down internally, but the heat that he had already built up had boiled the energy, producing a large cloud of smoke that spread out like a cloud, covering the sky of Hueco Mundo. With the sky covered, darkness blanketed the area around Bikou, putting him at ease, and helping his mind come to a peaceful rest. 

" Ah, that feels better. I feel.... I feel.... I...."

Slowly, Bikou began feeling woozy. The cool feeling that engulfed his body, helped ease his mind and was putting him in a state of rest, that he had not had often. Hollows normally were in a constant state of hunting and searching. Even when they did find time to rest, their bodies and minds so were so attuned to their environment, that it was almost impossible for them to truly be at rest. Their senses were just too sharp. 

But right here, and right now, Bikou felt like he was at peace. His muscles slowly relaxed into a state of near suspension. His senses dulled for the moment, reducing his state of awareness to the small area of space around his body. And his brain began slowly down all functions, focusing only on those that were critical to his survival. 

In other words, Bikou was slowly putting himself into a state of suspension. 

" It's nice... I think... I think I'm going to rest... A while." Were the last words that escaped his mouth, before he entered into a deep slumber.

His slumbering body made it easier for the changes that were affecting so drastically to take place. His entire mask fell off, finally shattering into pieces, revealing his softened features below.

Bikou had a smooth texture to his fare skin. His mouth hung open revealing two very sharp canine fangs. His eyebrows were the same as his hair, as bright as the color of fire. Encircling his eyes were red markings that bore the appearance of fire. 

The armor on his chest had completely broken away, as did the rest of the bone-like armor that covered the rest of his body.

Bikou shed the hair on his arms, chest, and legs, making him appear more human than ever before. In fact, if it were not for the Hollow Hole situated at the top of his chest, you would find disguising him from a normal man almost impossible. 

His red staff vanished as his control over his reishi dissipated in his unconscious state of mind. 

Finally, the last remains of his previous form slipped away, as the last vestige of his Hollow form vanished. 

Subconsciously, a tugging sensation pulled on Bikou's spirit. His very soul. That tugging continued until finally, a large portion of his power tore itself from Bikou's body.

More than half of his power escaped and began taking form outside of his body.

First, the power began taking the shape of a sword, looking close to what you would say a Zanpakuto without a spirit residing in it would look like. However, halfway through the process, it stopped. And slowly it began changing shape.

Taking the shape of Bikou's soul itself, the energy became an elongated Black staff, with gold at the end of it. Etched into the shaft of the staff were Chinese markings that read, Great Monkey King. 

Bikou's arm shout forward and grabbed the staff and brought it close to his body. " Gran Rey... Mono." 

To Be Continued!