[REMINDER: This is where I start mixing DxD and the Fate series into Awakens. At the same time, Ichigo is in the Akame ga Kill world and that will be covered in Ichigo Awakens: Soul Conviction. Burn the Witch is already a part of Bleach canon.]
(With Uryu)
The Quincy was not happy, not happy at all. How long has he spent in Europe as a whole? Traveling from one country to another, following lead after lead, only to be disappointed with information they already knew, intelligence that was not helpful at all, and no opponent that could give him a proper challenge. For all the hype of dragons in myths and legends, the ones he fought were disappointing. Then again, these were mostly domesticated livestock and not beasts of legends. He was curious of a few names though; Ophis, Albion, and Ddraig were not names he recognized in any legend.
The only other thing that was going his way was his research into the dragons in Reverse London's care and how they could help back home. Unfortunately, spirit energy and whatever it was that resided with the members of Wing Bind, the name of Gotei's western counterpart, was not as compatible as he'd like. He did find some dragons that could help with spirit material, but not many and resources were precious for him. But, he did manage to create a very powerful weapon with what he had. He was in a taxi when he pulled out the revolver he made.
It was fashioned from material he got from Hammerback mineral dragons, thus rendering it invisible to anyone not spiritually aware or not touched by dragons. The gun itself was gleaming silver with a mid-length barrel and a rather hefty chamber, each one holding a 'Schneider Bullet'. He was still shocked that he managed to make any of it, but it was still a prototype and in need of real world combat testing. Maybe Reverse London would send a team of Conservation Rangers and dragons to Japan and Soul Society to see if it could bring about a positive change. He was brought out of his thoughts when he suddenly sensed a strong presence in the city, the taxi finally reaching London.
"Stop the car." The Quincy suddenly ordered, making the driver stop. "Here's 50 pounds, keep the change." He quickly ran into an alleyway, getting out of public sight, and used Hirenkyaku to make his way to where he felt the presence. While moving at high speeds he tried to fine tune his senses, finding the strongest presence somewhere in the sewers near the Thames and a stronger concentration over at Camden. Deciding to err on caution, he headed for Camden and found five cloaked figures surrounding a young girl.
"Come on, just grab her and we can be done with this!" One of the figures said, sounding agitated and scared. "The sooner we get her back to him, the more likely we can avoid that." They moved in one the young blonde girl, who held a look of defiance in her eyes despite the numbers against her. Uryu felt one of the Seele Schneiders on his hip before dropping down between the girl and the group. "Is that... the traitor!" He heard them yell in anger.
"Vandenreich." Uryu growled as the figures removed their cloaks, revealing themselves as Soldats. The Quincy member of the Soul Reapers tried, for the longest time he could, to avoid killing his own people because he kept telling himself that he could and would eventually bring honor back to the Quincy. If it ever even existed under Yhwach that is. But this? Turning their arms on a young, defenseless girl? That was too much for him to tolerate and he cut them down faster than they could even react. "Are you alright?" Uryu asked the young girl, his kind smile blocking the view of the five Soldats falling to the ground dead.
"I... I'm fine sir." She said, nodding her head. She was a cute blonde girl in a white dress with a black bow and black stockings. "I am grateful for your rescue, and it shows I am lacking in my skills as a knight." Uryu chuckled, finding the sense of innocence in the girl to be adorable. He also kept focusing on the being behind him because even though he cut and pierced vital points on each one, their life forces held strong. "By my honor, as Artoria Pendragon of the esteemed line of King Arthur, I simply must invite you to my home to repay my debt." She declared, surprising the Quincy.
'THE Arthur Pendragon!?' He thought in amazement. 'The king of the Knights of the Round Table and king of Camelot?' Dozens of thoughts flooded his mind in that instant, various possibilities on the who and the why. Did the Vandenreich know she was related to King Arthur? What were the odds of actually meeting a member of that illustrious line? What importance does this information have? The best chance of getting his answers would likely come from meeting with the girl's family. "I'm grateful for the offer and would love to come. Just wait a moment." He said as he felt Reishi spike behind him. He quickly grabbed Artoria and flashed out the alley by jumping above the buildings, looking down to see what could only be described as demonic starfish.
"Wh-what are those things?!" Artoria shrieked, surprising Uryu by her ability to see the spirit side of things. That or whatever happened to those Quincy was still in the physical plane and that's far more concerning.
"They're dead." Uryu calmly said, activating his Vollstandig and shooting a storm of feathers down on the monstrosities before firing a Seele Schneider down as well. The silver hilt of the weapon froze in mid air while a barrier of highly dense Reishi formed around all the monsters. "Geldschrank." He said, dropping a Reishi filled Ginto onto the Seele Schneider. The barrier shrank and shrank, crushing the demonic starfish before Uryu dropped back down to it and used Rasotengai to throw it skyward to explode harmlessly. No doubt it would surprise the people of London and likely alert the Sternritter or whoever those Soldats answered to, but it was the least likely to have collateral damage if he kept control.
"Is it over? Really over?" Artoria asked, holding onto Uryu's sleeve while the Quincy glared at the dissipating smoke.
"For now, yes." He told her as she began to lead him to her home.
(Timeskip)
It all seemed to pass by in a flash for the Quincy, going to Artoria's house and joining the family for dinner. Artoria was excited to introduce him to her family while also trying to project an air of confidence and strength, kind of reminded him of Ichigo when they were younger. He also met the rest of the Pendragon family; Artoria's twin brother Arthur, little sister Le Fay, and parents Heldalf and Lailah Pendragon. Young Arthur had glasses, wore a business suit on his small frame, and had shoulder length blond hair, being more calm and focused than his twin, reminding Uryu of himself. Le Fay was even smaller, being the youngest child, with shoulder length blonde curls and dressed in a more witchy aesthetic.
"I thank you for delivering my child back home safely." Heldalf said while bearing a regal appearance befitting a king, a deep voice like a lion's roar, a darker shade of blonde with a full beard, and a well kept but fierce look to him. "Please, join my family for dinner." The man offered with a smile.
"It's been ages since we've had any surprise guests." Lailah said with a smile. She had long platinum blonde hair, wore a red dress with a red and gold headpiece to hold her long flowing hair. "I'm tempted to cook desert in celebration! How about chiffon cake?" Both Pendragon daughters seem excited by the news. "But first, we must make sure to wash up. Artoria, Le Fay, we'll go first." The matriarch took her daughters and went to the washroom.
"Been a while since she made a chiffon cake." Heldalf mused with a smile. "I now have another reason to thank you, sir Ishida." Dinner went by quickly, calm but with a sense of guarded concern with both parents keeping an eye on Artoria. As if the moment they take their eyes off her she'll disappear... much like all the food she was eating. That little girl probably ate enough for half the people at the table. Afterward Uryu had received a call from Wing Bind's Saber Squad that said another Quincy was found, defeated, turned into a demonic starfish, defeated again, and was being kept in stasis for him to join in researching later.
"Good, make sure that thing, at least, stays in one piece." Uryu said as he was finishing the call. "I'm not good enough to get anything helpful from contaminated ooze." The call ended as the Quincy looked for Heldalf to announce his goodbyes, as was only decent to do. He searched around the large mansion, heavily decorated in Arthurian lore, before finding the man on a balcony.
"You're a bit of an enigma to me, sir Ishida." He said before the Quincy had a chance to say anything, continuing to watch over his family as they played together. Arthur was protecting queen and princess from a vicious and adorable 'saber lion'. "You are not an exorcist or priest I've ever seen. You don't seem like any angel. Which leaves heroic lineage, either a direct descendant like my family or inheriting the spirit and abilities of the hero in question." He faced Uryu, who was confused by quickly controlled himself to gather as much information as possible. "Did you think they were named by chance?" Heldalf asked before pointing to the twins. "My son inherited the king's skill, my daughter the ambition. My other daughter takes after Morgan Le Fay in terms of magical talent." He pointed to Uryu. "But which are you? Are you the legacy of Shiro Amakusa? Attempting to bring Christianity to Japan again?"
"I'm not sure." Uryu answered, evading the question. "But I doubt that it matters. What does matter is stopping the people that tried to take away Artoria." Heldalf shifted in place, focusing on the new task instead of the question of what is Uryu. "They've only been delayed for now and won't stop until they have Artoria."
(Timeskip)
Uryu was not happy, which was starting to seem like the theme of the month. He explained the bare minimum to Heldalf and secured the man's help with hunting and slaying the Vandenreich, and then sent a call to his friends about the heroic legacies. Orihime confirmed the story of those heroes, revealing her meeting with Jeanne and the lieutenant surmising that the girl was indeed Joan of Arc reborn. After that, Uryu was now hunting for his target in earnest. A target that has clearly had time to skirt around discovery and lay plenty of traps, stronger monsters seemed to be a favorite of the twisted freak, and had thus far evaded capture.
The Quincy finally had enough when he and Heldalf raided another hideout, finding it riddled with corpses of missing persons from all over the United Kingdom and the monstrosities that this person was so fond of. So he burned it all, set fire to everything and wrote a message for his target as clear as day. 'Meet me on the Thames.' Which brings them to now.
Uryu was standing in the middle of the river, the entire city deserted with efforts from Reverse London and the Pendragons, and thus removing any possibilities of innocent bystanders getting caught up in the coming battle. He had his Purification Cross, his Seele Schneiders, his Ginto, and his new revolver holding his Schneider Rounds, while the witches and wizards of Wing Bind's Saber unit had their dragon steeds and new modified pistols meant to damage whatever this Quincy's monsters were. Any moment now, if his target were to the challenge, then the battle would begin. He closed his eyes and too a deep breath, sensing a new presence in front of him.
"So, do I get to have the courtesy of your identity?" Uryu asked, opening his eyes to see his enemy. The man had a young face, large and bulbous eyes, shiny pale skin, had combed back black hair, was tall and had a hunch that hid a build worthy of a warrior. He wore heavy black robes with a large cassock around his collar, but the oddest and most haunting item on his person was the book in his hand. The item itself was pulsing with Reishi and smelled more foul than anything he had encountered before. The man before him smiled and gave a slight and mocking bow.
"I would go by 'Bluebeard' but I don't think I've done enough to live up to the legacy of my forebear. So for now, call me 'Sternritter M, the Monster.'" He told Uryu as he bore his gaze into the teen. "And you would be the traitor, Uryu Ishida." The Lieutenant didn't answer the provocation, instead think back to where he heard the name of Bluebeard.
"Bluebeard... if I remember my history correctly, that was the character inspired by the French knight Gilles de Rais." He said as years of study and schooling replayed in his mind.
"Yes, my forebear was the very knight you speak of." The Sternritter said, smiling all the while. "A man that worshiped the holy maiden knight, Jeanne D'Arc, and went mad after her execution." His smile turned melancholic as he continued. "And those of us that bear his legacy bear that obsession with Jeanne, desperately looking for her in this vast world. Is it to atone for past sins, because we're cursed by this desire to find her, because that knight held such strong feelings for her? I don't entirely know but I still wish to find her, and someone is getting in my way." He said with a sudden twisted smile to Uryu.
"And you think she's here in London?" The Quincy asked, resolving to not bring up what Orihime told him. "What's the plan from there? You've already sold yourself away and I doubt Yhwach would allow you to have another master."
"I can't speak for the others, but I certainly desire our maiden." Bluebeard answered. "I want to find her, keep her to myself, protected and away from all that would take her from me. And if she becomes a ripened fruit, I'll pluck her for myself."
"You intend to rape Joan of Arc?!" Uryu asked, disgusted by the thought.
"I truly enjoyed the atrocities committed by Gilles, and how better to succeed the man?" The Sternritter asked as shadows beneath them moved unnoticed by Uryu. "I care not for restoring his so called 'good' name. I want to murder and defile as I desire! Daring God to strike me down!" He said while throwing his arms to the heavens, Uryu reaching for the gun on his side.
"I'm not God." He said, activating his bow and wrapping his hand around the butt of his revolver. "But I'll be his divine sword!" He growled with every intention of killing the Quincy in front of him, when he finally sensed something in the water. As tentacles burst forth from the dark waters below, Uryu flew himself to safety and watched in horror at the abomination that was coming forth. The flesh of the beast was the darkest shades of purple that it was almost black with sickly green lumps all over its endless tentacles, dozens of which were wrapping around the Sternritter.
"Uryu Ishida!" He called out as something like a giant maw surfaced and slowly swallowed the madman. "I'm pleased to have met you! If I bring his majesty your head, he'd grant me a whole Jagdermee group to hunt down the holy maiden! Now, Uryu the traitor, die so that I may finally accomplish the ambitions of Gilles de Rais!" He cried out as the monster continued to rise and more tentacle appeared, the main body even looked like a giant squid tentacle, the whole thing was more akin to a Lovecraftian abomination than anything that should rightly exist. Uryu watched on in shock before taking a breath to calm himself.
"Keep your focus." He told himself as he readied his bow, a solid white and blue four pronged bow that vibrated with energy. His phone started to vibrate, prompting Uryu to answer it.
"Hey... you have a plan to kill this thing. Right?" He heard Spangle Ninii asked, unable to mask her fear. Herself and Noel Niihashi were promoted to Saber Squad after Uryu brought them along to put down a nest of hidden black dragons and then gave his recommendation. Guess his veteran status as a combatant was respected among the higher ups of Reverse London. They needed it now more than ever. "Our guns were modified to kill those smaller starfish things. Not... whatever that thing is."
"I might have one." Uryu admitted. "Now's as good a time as any to test my Schneider Rounds, but I'll need a clean shot. Think the whole of the Sabers can whittle that thing down enough for me to find that bastard in all that?"
"We can try. On your mark." She returned as Uryu activated his Vollstandig and flew up to the mid point of the monster's height. He took aim and shouted.
"NOW!" He unleashed a barrage of arrows at Bluebeard's monster, flaring his buzzing wings to shred any tentacle that got too close to him. Meanwhile, from all over London, members of Wing Bind came flying in on their Broombuggy dragons and began shooting at the behemoth. The good news was that the modified weapons were still effective against the creature, blasting off bits and chunks and some managing to sever entire tentacles, but the immediate bad news was that the monster easily and immediately regenerated the damage. 'It can heal... that puts us at an extreme disadvantage.' Uryu thought as he flew about, dodging tentacles and still shooting arrows at the monster. He could sense the massive concentration of Reishi, but there was so much of it that he couldn't pinpoint where in the monster was Gilles.
"NO! HELP!" He heard some of the Sabers cry out as they were caught and pulled toward the nightmare creature. Some got freed by other witches and wizards, others were devoured in the mass of flesh which soon grew eyes all over its form and seemed to start moving faster.
'We're barely making a dent!' Uryu thought as the monster continued to regenerate from the attack. 'And with it healing, I'm starting to doubt we can beat it,' He felt the creep of despair climbing up his spine before shaking his head. 'NO. Father and uncle Isshin made sure to drill determination into our skulls precisely for these kinds of conflicts. Nothing is unkillable, everything has a weakness.' He remembered as he tried to focus his senses, scanning to pinpoint where in the monster's body the Sternritter might be or, at the very least, the book powering it. Once again, all he got was the fire of the enemy's spirit energy around the massive 'head', even when he focused and refined that focus... wait... he saw something. It was small, but it was definitely near the center.
"I really hope this works." He whispered, getting an idea and flashing above the monstrosity. He pulled out the revolver and took aim, hundreds of tentacles swarming up to devour him. Time slowed to a crawl the moment he fired his shot, the first true test of the Schneider Round. The bullet's form was taken from the RIP bullet developed in the United States, held in a Ginto shell that had enough Reishi in it to send the bullet for miles with enough penetrative power to go through even the strongest Hierro and Blut. The special factor of the bullet is that each fragment could generate a Seele Schneider blade and was connected by soul silver nanothread, some of the last he had on hand when coming here, which will cause the fragments to activate and turn it into a whirlwind of blades carving their way through the target.
The bullet drilled into the monster's flesh, entering it with ease, and soon erupting into a spiral of destruction. An explosion of gore followed as the blades tore the monster to shreds, the only indicator that his shot was successful was the pained cry of the Sternritter. Years of dedicated archery and marksmanship training gave his all the information for his next shot as he flashed in front of the head and fired another shot, the gaping wound from the shot revealing Rais's legacy with several horizontal gashes going from head to toe. The shot now destroyed his book and took his left arm as well, the monster now collapsing and melting into a shower of blood with the catalyst gone. Uryu lowered himself down and caught the Sternritter, bringing them to shore for a more thorough interrogation.
"Wake up!" Uryu growled, slapping the Vandenreich Quincy really hard to make him focus. "You're the legacy of Gilles de Rais, you're line has been searching for Jeanne D'Arc for generations, I've met the Pendragon family descended from King Arthur himself. Now tell me, what other legacies are there and which ones are already part of the Vandenreich?" The lieutenant demanded before a tentacle suddenly wrapped around his neck.
"You think... that after everything you've done... that I would answer you!?" Gilles roared, revealing the tentacle that was tightening around Uryu's throat was connected to what was his left arm. "Traitor Ishida, the Quincy that turned his back on his own family, my desire was to find the holy virgin. You've denied me that, so I'll take your-!" He stopped as his tentacle was chopped off and was suddenly electrocuted.
"I'll be taking this." Uryu heard someone say and his neck was released and Gilles collapsed from the sudden jolts of electritcity surging through his body. The person was a blonde woman with a single long braided ponytail and dressed like a business secretary with a hefty suitcase. She effortlessly handled Rais's body as she proceeded to stuff him into the suitcase.
"Nemu? Is that you?" Uryu asked, prompting the woman to look at Uryu and slowly shift into the familiar form that Uryu was used to seeing. "New Gigai?"
"Yes, experimental and the only one of its kind." She admitted as she returned to the blonde and flat secretary. "Research into Gigai has accelerated greatly, despite a couple hiccups along the way. Anyway, I have a mission here. Need to recover all samples and research you've completed." She then looked to the now bloodied Thames river. "Maybe I can help with the clean up."
(Illustrated Guide to Soul Reapers)
Slight Hiccups
Urahara and Mayuri just stared at the girl that was looking back at them, wrapped in bandages from head to toe and revealing her long rose colored hair that curtained over her heterochromia gold and silver eyes, with an odd energy conductor sticking out the sides of her head with a large horn in the middle of her forehead. The three sat there in silence, while Nozomi brutally beat the crap out of the person responsible for her latest head ache.
"Does this mean that the 'recycle' program works?" Urahara asked, ignoring Nozomi's ranting.
"NEVER INTERFERE WITH MY SUBJECTS AGAIN! SHE WAS IN A VOLATILE POSITION AND YOU DECIDED TO MAKE HER A LOVE DOLL YOU SICKO!" She roared as her fists beat the man every other word. "Yes! Just... don't expect her to be smarter than an attack dog. This jackass though 'stupid and silent' was all that mattered for his aims."
"Then he's fired." Mayuri finished, examining the new mod soul. "Drop him off to my 'playground' later. What are we calling this one?"
"The jackass renamed the file KinkyM1." Nozomi answered, coming over after knocking the guy unconscious. "Or we could go with 'Frankenstein' since she was pieced together with recycled body parts." There was a long pause before they agreed on Frankenstein.