(With Ichigo's group and Night Raid)
The hybrid was silent while the entire group from the Night Raid base made its way to a new location, the assassins on their flying manta-ray Danger Beasts and Ichigo's team on a platform of Reishi he made. Some of the group were enjoying the flight, some getting airsick, Susanoo didn't react, and Daidara kept challenging Bulat and Marik to arm wrestling matches. He had better luck against Bulat than Marik, who was sitting on the restrained soul of Stylish while Ichigo physically carried the human head that was removed from the mutated Danger Beast body.
"Please, lord Kurosaki, I can be of use!" Stylish continued to plead, desperate to change what he thought his judgment and sentence to be. "There are many things of this world I could teach you, make for you, just let me be your servant and-"
"Marik." Ichigo said, prompting the Arrancar to punch Stylish into unconsciousness, and leaving Ichigo to his thoughts. Ridding himself of Stylish would definitely be a negative in the practical sense, but his morals refused to allow him to have such a man at his side. Stylish was too reminiscent of Mayuri for his liking and he wasn't sure of yet who was worse, not something he wanted to consider either. Najenda eventually had them land in the 'Margue Plateau' eight hundred kilometers away from the Capital, an incredibly hostile environment for humans that remains unexplored and unknown. A good place to hide, but he wasn't sticking around for long.
"This will be a good place to train until the situation in the capital dies down." Najenda announced the game plan to her team while Bulat and Daidara helped Ichigo set up his lab, if only to get the analyzer/teleporter ready. "Thanks for honoring our deal Ichigo, but maybe you should be more careful if following you exposed us." Najenda shot at the Shinigami.
"I could just go to the Empire and make my base there." Ichigo returned just as quickly, while cutting out Stylish's brain from his skull. "I do spend a lot of time in the capital anyway. At least they've been respecting my privacy. Lubbock!" Ever since he tested that intangibility bracelet, he kept trying to sneak in and take it for more peeping. The others were also guilty of trying to sneak about his training ground and lab, but due to their weak spiritual awareness they were unable to see anything not in the physical plane... though that didn't stop Marik from punching them in the head every time they came down.
"Ichigo! It's done!" Bulat called, prompting Ichigo to ignore Night Raid from that moment on by removing his Gigai Ring. He made his way over to the computer and started it up, the machines humming to life as he supplied them with Reishi. The glass tank opened up, ready to receive the first sample. Ichigo placed Stylish's physical, and slightly mutated, brain inside and started the analysis before typing in a message.
"If this is being received by Mayuri or Kisuke, I've got more body parts for you. Let me know if you're there." He said as he typed it out and waited. Within seconds, Stylish's brain was engulfed in light and disappeared from the world with the word 'Thanks' appearing. "Next!" Ichigo called out, causing Marik to grab the squirming Stylish. The doctor woke up after they landed, but was gagged with a mouthful of Marik's shirt. "Dr. Stylish, I've ultimately decided to grant your wish. Try not to die, Mayuri is not gentle." Ichigo warned as the Arrancar stuffed Stylish into the tank, the man screaming all the while until the light flashed and he was gone.
"Well that was certainly gruesome." Daidara commented as Ichigo put his ring back on and grabbed Stylish's head, gesturing at Sheele to come to his side.
"I'm heading back to the capital for a while. Might as well tell Esdeath what happened to this guy." The hybrid said as a Reishi platform appeared under his feet, raising him and Sheele into the air. "Let's see how this goes." He said, just before they flew away at high speeds.
(Jaeger Headquarters)
It was morning at the base of the special police, Bols and Wave were cooking meals for the team with Kurome 'taste testing' the food before anyone else, Run was reading a new book, only two other members were notably distracted, Esdeath and Seryu. The latter because she was concerned for a certain doctor that hadn't made any appearance since yesterday and the former because her favorite symphony of pain and torture was slowly becoming an irritation. Ever since Ichigo gave her some of his own spiritual power, she was exposed to the spirits of the world and there was no shortage of death still in the palace. Hundreds of voices crying out in anger at the Prime Minister, at her, at the cruelty of the Empire, and she couldn't shut them out. It was the trial of her Teigu all over again, only endless and she couldn't overpower it with her own will. The sounds of pain and suffering were becoming boring and annoying. Was it because she wasn't the one causing them or because they just kept on ringing in her ears? Either way, she didn't get much sleep last night as a result. She was looking into her cup of coffee, a desperate effort to fight off her tiredness, when she felt him coming.
"Ichigo is here." She announced, quickly standing up and heading for the door. Run and Seryu followed her while Bols and Wave needed to put their cooking on pause so the meal wouldn't get ruined and joined their teammates as Ichigo descended like an angel from on high. Only Esdeath could see the construct of Reishi and the former Night Raid assassin at his side. "What prompted this visit?" The general asked before noticing a severed head in Ichigo's hands that he soon tossed to her. The hair had changed in length and color, but it was undeniably Dr. Stylish.
"He followed and attacked me." Ichigo answered the unasked question while shock and confusion ran through the rest of the Jaegers, Seryu feeling heartbreak and anger. "I fought and killed him for that, especially when he threw his remaining humanity away in an effort to kill me. His sins are manifold and the fate I subjected him to is truly a Hell for his black heart." Esdeath could only sigh in acceptance and was about to order an investigation into the doctor, when a white blur flew past her and struck Ichigo, embedding him in the wall around the base courtyard.
"KORO! KILL HIM!" Seryu roared, nothing but rage and hate in her eyes. "There is no justice with him. The Shinigami doesn't understand justice. I'LL ENSURE DEATH KNOWS JUSTICE!" Koro turned big and bulky, punching at Ichigo with furious abandon. Sheele wanted to stop this, help her comrade and commander, but Ichigo forbade her from interfereing since he expected this would happen. The Jaegers wanted to act as well, but Esdeath stopped them. This was Seryu's matter and if Ichigo didn't kill her, then she would. The poor girl fully cracked and to kill her would be a mercy. In a way, she pitied the poor soul. "Koro, numbers 2, 7, and 8!" Seryu called out after Ichigo was sent flying into the middle of the street, making the Teigu jump back to her and switch out her right arm with a massive anti-tank barrel with her left arm gaining an arm mounted missile pod and an additional four missile pods hanging on her back. "Justice Volley Fire!" She roared, firing a barrage of missiles and anti-tanks shells at the Soul Reaper.
'In the middle of the capital!? Is she THAT CRAZY!?' Ichigo wondered in shock as the attack closed in on him. "Bakudo #81, Danku." He chanted, creating three long clear walls that he used to concentrate the volley and keep the populace safe. He didn't have the chance to focus on deflecting the attack on him and strengthened his Hierro and Blut defenses instead. The tank shells struck him like a punch with every hit and the explosions engulfed him in flames with every strike, Seryu laughing madly at bathing the man in fire.
"Take that, false Shinigami!" She cackled madly, firing until she ran out of missiles. "Koro! Number 6!" The dog Teigu bit onto her entire upper body and spat her back out, with a massive armor reinforced missile with a large 6 on the body. "BURN IN THE FLAMES OF JUSTICE!" She shouted as she fired the missile, flying it straight down the path of Kido and straight to what she was sure was a pile of black viscera. The bomb exploded on contact, sending a tower of flame and pressure skyward and back to the Jaegers as the only places for it to escape. Esdeath generated a shield of ice to protect her and the others as they watched, the Jaegers and Sheele in shock, but herself with indifference. She wasn't even surprised to see Ichigo still standing and walking through the flames.
"Have to admit, that last one tickled." The hybrid said, marching down the path with a finger in his ear to quell the ringing. His body was burned and his clothes in tatters, but both were regenerating quickly. Seryu was stunned silent before growling in anger.
"Koro! Number 1!" She shouted, having Koro bite onto her right arm and replacing it with a massive spiked ball. "Die!" She roared, throwing the ball at the Soul Reaper. Ichigo took hold of Zangetsu in its sealed state and flicked the steel ball aside, shattering it in the process. Seryu was undeterred. "Number 4 and 5!" Koro bit onto her again, replacing her left arm with a four flanged hook shot and her right arm with a giant drill. Ichigo raised an eyebrow as she shot the hook past him and started flying toward him, the drill spinning at full capacity. As she closed the gap, Ichigo reinforced his right hand and caught the drill, stopping it in mid-spin. Upon doing so, Seryu released both arms and shot back seconds before the drill suddenly exploded.
"Seriously, how many explosives do you have?" Ichigo asked, making his way through the smoke and fire once again. Seryu was panting from the rage and effort that was beginning to seem completely pointless with each one of her Ten Kings broken and out of ammo. Gritting her teeth in frustration, she was about to activate her last resort before Ichigo's next words froze her. "Is killing me so important that you'd disregard everything around you?" She looked around to see that the buildings were fine, no one was dead, but the street was in pieces. "I've been containing the damage you would have caused in your rampage, so I demand you calm down." The Kido he kept up was dispelled by his will and Seryu forced herself back from using the bomb in her head, cursing herself for her rage letting her forget about the innocents that might get involved.
"Koro, number 3 and go berserk." She ordered, having her Teigu bite down on her right arm and switch it out for a large blade. Koro himself bulked up and went red, ready to fight at full force. The pair charged at the lone Soul Reaper, whose back exploded with power and cut both of them in half. Seryu fell, her last weapon broken in half, her body from the waist down was gone, and Koro was at Ichigo's mercy. The Teigu started regenerating but was slashed to pieces until the core, a red orb the size of a baseball, was revealed and snatched away. Without it power source, the Teigu's body shriveled up and withered away into dust. "Captain... doctor... father... I'm sorry." She started crying with what remained of her strength, the thought of justice failing to match the Death God flowing in her mind.
"For your sake, I hope you find Soul Society." Ichigo said as he reached Seryu's body, gently took hold of her head, and snapped her neck to end her suffering. Sheele ran up to his side and before she could say anything, he gave her his orders. "I want you to deal with her. Remember what I said about unconditional equality and kindness. She doesn't get the chance to join us." He said, rising to his feet and going over to the Jaegers. Most of whom seem conflicted about the situation.
"That's two of my subordinates you've killed." Esdeath said plainly to him. "Stylish made a stupid choice in attacking you, but you caused Seryu to crack like that. How do you plan to make up for this?" Ichigo raised his eyebrow at the general's audaciousness while she thought about how to make Ichigo pay. "If I'm going to be a proper Soul Reaper, I'll need training. Why don't we discuss that while you take me on a date?" She offered, shocking the Jaegers at the massive mood shift and surprising Ichigo.
"Say wha?" He very intelligently responded, just before Esdeath hooked an arm around Ichigo's and began to pull him away.
"Don't you remember?" She said teasingly as she dragged him away. "I choose you to fall in love with." Ichigo had to think for a moment before remembering what she wanted during their first fight.
'How does this keep happening?' He sighed before going along with her. The rest of the Jaegers were stuck with damage control in the aftermath of the fight, Kurome and Run keeping the populace calm while Wave organized the repair job. Bols was back in the kitchen when people kept running scared of him.
(With Sheele and Seryu)
"Damned Soul Reaper!" Seryu cursed as her soul left her lifeless body, gasping for breath as the struggles of a newly formed soul began. "Nothing I did worked... it was pointless... what good is justice now?" She wondered as tears started falling from her eyes. "I... I even lost Koro." She struggled to hold it back, but she couldn't and began sobbing. "I failed justice. I failed everyone." She cried out in anguish, more chains appearing and wrapping around her body while the one on her heart started pulling away and making a hole. She heard footsteps and saw someone she killed some time ago, the Night Raid assassin Sheele. Still with her purple hair and glasses, with a black Cheongsam and a katana at her side, showing that the assassin was like Ichigo. A Shinigami. "You... you're a Soul Reaper? How cruel is that Ichigo!? You should be in Hell!" She roared, getting to her feet and charging at Sheele, who pointed two fingers at the former Jaeger.
"Bakudo #1, Sai." She calmly chanted, forcing Seryu's arms to lock behind her. The action threw off the girl's balance and she fell down, roaring and growling as she struggled to break free of the spell. Sheele released a sigh in relief, thankful that her usual klutziness didn't affect her this time, and walked over to the thrashing girl. "Even now you fight to try and condemn those you call evil, Seryu Ubiquitous, even though those very emotions could turn you into a monster." She grabbed hold of Seryu's shoulder's and lifted her to eye level.
"Kill me and get it over with, but don't-" She started before freezing as Sheele hugged her. It wasn't the act itself, but the feelings she felt in that hug. Nothing less than care and comfort could be found in that embrace, so warm and gentle that Seryu felt like she could melt away in those arms, and it terrified her to no end. She tried to fight back, but couldn't even find it in her to struggle.
"When I was growing up, I lived in the lower districts of the capital." Sheele said, holding Seryu gently in her arms. "I was always clumsy and was called useless by pretty much everyone, but I did have one friend who didn't mind that part of me. One day, her ex boyfriend came and attacked us. To protect her, I killed him and discovered the one thing I was good at. So I kept killing, always aiming my blade at criminals and those that hurt others. Eventually I was scouted by the Revolutionary Army, who showed me just how corrupt the Empire is and where I should direct my blade." She squeezed Seryu a little tighter, who felt more tears escape from her eyes. "Maybe if we met sooner, we may have led different lives." Sheele reached for her Zanpakuto and performed the Konso, lightly tapping Seryu's head and sending the former police girl off on the soul's journey. "Find peace, Seryu Ubiquitous." Sheele said with a smiled, rising to her feet and following after Ichigo.
(Unknown Location)
"I'll be honest; if I didn't see your power in action first, then I wouldn't believe a single thing you just told me." A man in a hooded trench coat said to another figure clad in a white and blue military uniform. The pair were talking over a fire and roasting a boar type Danger Beast, discussing the future of the world. "But let me see if I understand this. There are powerful spirit beings in this world, with power so great that no Teigu can threaten them, and the strongest of them is currently in the capital. You tell me that this person is a Soul Reaper and pretends to be all powerful when he is just as mortal as anyone else, and that your kind, the Quincy, are trying to kill him. Am I correct?"
"That certainly seems to be the gist of what is happening." The Quincy returned. "If you are willing to help us in this mission, we will grant you the powers and abilities of the Quincy. Prove to be strong enough and our lord may find it fitting to grant you greater power." The hooded man leaned back and thought about it, looking to a decimated village that held a battalion of the rebel army. All dead by that one Quincy.
"I did get a letter from my old man telling me to bring home something stronger than a Teigu." He said before looking back to his companion, adopting a malicious grin. "Can I do whatever I want?"
"Our only desire is the death of Ichigo Kurosaki. If you can succeed with that, you can do whatever you want."
"Then I believe we have a deal."
(Illustrated Guide to Soul Reapers)
Stylish's Fate
Ichigo said he'd grant his wish, to research the realm of spirits and souls. Now here he was, in a lab with technology he never even dreamed off, more sophisticated than anything the Empire could've supplied him with. It was supposed to be his heaven, but Ichigo did warn that 'Mayuri' was not gentle, now he wondered if he was in Hell.
"I would compliment you on your accomplishments, but most of these were things I've finished before I was even a captain." The deranged skeletal clown man said before pushing another needle into Stylish's skull. "But, you might prove somewhat useful to the members of Project Spearhead. Let's see how that will go, after we test if you can be turned into an AI." Mayuri drove another needle in, making Stylish cry out in agony. "Don't worry, the data will definitely be secured. But you'll die. Painfully." The lieutenant promised before activating the device and Stylish could feel his mind getting drained, slowly. Memories, ideas, all of it was disappearing and he couldn't do a thing to stop it. He screamed in horror seconds before he began to forget the faces of the other Jaegers.
Justice Lives On
"Get back here!" Ganju yelled out, riding his boar. He was chasing a short bald thief from the lower districts and has been avoiding capture for a long time. Now they found him and Ganju wasn't about to let the little bastard escape. Now if only Bonnie was better at getting around corners. "You can't run forever you thief!" Ganju roared as the man ran into the winding alleys, laughing the whole way.
"I'll never be caught by a goof like you!" He said before getting kicked in the face and falling flat on his back.
"Filthy criminal! Have you no shame!?" A girl yelled out, quickly moving into a practiced submission hold. "I got him sir!" She called out to Ganju, who analyzed the girl. She seemed to be in her mid twenties, had auburn hair that was kept in a ponytail that reached her shoulders, and wore a green shirt and shorts.
"Thanks Miss." Ganju said as he cuffed the criminal before throwing him onto Bonnie's back, punching the man unconscious for good measure. "You seem new around here. What's your name?" Ganju asked her, killing her earlier good mood.
"I... I can't remember. I don't remember anything." She admitted, looking depressed as she couldn't recall a thing from her past. "I just know that I can't stand criminals and injustice." Ganju smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Well, if you can't remember your name, pick a new one. As for the other thing, you're in luck." He proudly announced before pointing at himself. "I'm Ganju Shiba, third seat of squad 14 and head of the West Rukon division! Our squad dedicates ourselves to keeping the peace in the Rukon districts, and there's always a need for new recruits." The girl smiled at the idea of being able to help keep the peace. "Come on, I'll take you to one of the training facilities so you can get started." He climbed onto his boar and held out a hand. The girl thought for a moment before grabbing it.
"Call me Masayoshi!" She said with a smile.