The pursuing captains, Shinji Hirako and Kensei Muguruma, hurriedly climbed onto the Senkaimon, trying to catch up with the shape-shifting fugitive. With time running out, they decide to use Flash Step for a faster route. On their way, they discussed the latter's encounter with Alex Mercer
"Where did you encounter him?" Shinji was the first one to ask.
"Near the rubble where I found Lieutenant Kuchiki injured. I don't think he's the one who did her in though"
"And how can you tell?"
"There were no traces of his black substance when we moved her away to safety"
Black substance?
Pictures of his close call with Mercer flashes into Shinji's mind whenever Kensei mentions the words 'black substance'.
"Oh… that substance" He just made a nervous smile before he can further inquire the latter about his encounter
"So, aside from whatever he did that nearly killed us, what else can he do?"
"He's fast, he's smart, I don't know… underestimate us?"
"Well, that would hurt your prideful heart"
"Beat it, the last thing I can tell you about him is that his fists turned into something about half the size of Yammy Llargo's hand"
The pair were very much familiar with Yammy Llargo. He was one of Aizen's Espadas, bearing the rank of Cero Espada. From what they heard, he was defeated with ease at Hueco Mundo by Captains Byakuya Kuchiki and Zaraki Kenpachi while they were at Fake Karakura town with the rest of the Visoreds.
As they reached halfway to the Senkaimon, they sensed a grotesque distortion with the reiatsu.
"Shit we're too late"
"We need to double time"
Both of them made their way into the Senkaimon courtyard, where they were greeted with an unsightly imagery that made them think that what happened to them half a millennia ago was nothing compared to what they saw today.
Mercer stood in front of the gate, forcibly opening it with his bare hands. Behind him are the dead Kido Corps practitioners, impaled by countless spikes emerging from the ground, coming in different sizes. Most of them were missing a limb or two, a head, or anything the two could even imagine. Blood was pouring out from their corpses, flowing down on the ground
"Captain… help me…"
One of them tried to reach out for Shinji himself, begging for a quick end to their suffering.
Seeing the brutality of it made Kensei feel uneasy. Deep inside, he was very thankful that Mercer was holding back his own strength, or else he would be killed like this.
Shinji, on the other hand, developed a sense of hatred towards Mercer, barely gritting his teeth in anger which the former managed to catch on.
Finally, the doors have been pried open. Mercer takes a step when he notices the two captains watching from behind.
"Don't even try to follow me" he warned
"Are you strung on high or something? Why would we let you get away?" Shinji shot back defiantly
"Because that would be the best if both of you still value the lives of everyone around here"
Mercer took a step back into the gate, his eyes locked on Shinji.
Kensei tries to take a step forward, but the latter stops him from taking another step further.
"Fine, you can walk away through there" Shinji finally decides to let him go.
Kensei widened his eyes at the latter's answer. He understands his seemingly laid-back nature, but not to the point that he gives up pursuing an enemy.
"I'll turn a blind eye on what happened here, as long as you'll never return to Soul Society again"
What the hell, Shinji? I hope you know what you're doing because the moment you let him go, everything beyond will be doomed. Kensei's thoughts were screaming red flags at Shinji's decision to let him go
He must've some sort of trick under his sleeve–
A trick…
Come to think of it, he doesn't have Jigokucho, so he needs to traverse Dangai to get-
Dangai? Jigokucho? Wait–
THAT'S IT!!!
He finally gets a read on Shinji's intentions to let Mercer go. Staring at him, he took a step back with his guard still up. Mercer, however, had misgivings about his pursuer letting him off the hook.
He let me go too willingly… he was giving me a death stare a while ago. Besides, something is telling me not to go through the gate.
"Leave, before I'll change my mind" Shinji interrupts his train of thought as he points his zanpakuto at Mercer, probably not letting him figure out his trap
Go on you bastard, step right in
Not affording to fight blindly, Mercer has no choice but to take a step into the gate. The Soul Reapers had finally confirmed what they saw; This guy has left Soul Society–
–and into the Dangai itself.
Shinji turned away from the Senkaimon in solemnity, mourning the death of those who were present, utterly fighting in vain against Mercer.
Kensei stares distantly at the Senkaimon Gate.
"To think that you'd be able to trick him into getting into the Dangai. I don't think he'd be able to find a way into the human world without getting through Kototsu" He wryly complimented Shinji.
"That was just a gamble of mine, big lug" He responded with a doubtful look on his face as he walked away from the Senkaimon
Kensei was ticked at the 'big lug', but couldn't bring himself to complain or even rebut as he looked at the 5th Division Captain's face; one which screams anxiousness.
"The way he looked at us… that face reminds me of Aizen Sosuke"
"Which means?"
"I was very doubtful to hear it… but rumors said that… on that day me and the rest of the captains were defeated by him, after he simply took in the Hogyoku, he single-handedly destroyed the Kototsu. The moment we faced that hooded-jacket guy, I couldn't directly gauge his reiatsu for some reason, but judging from his abilities… I can guess he's as strong as him."
Kensei shuddered at Shinji's explanation. They themselves witnessed the power of the traitorous Sosuke Aizen ever since they were forcibly vanished from Soul Society. To think another person reached the same level of power as him would be more than stomach-churning.
"So, you're telling me, he's on the same level as that Aizen?" Kensei asked with a worrying tone.
"Possibly." Shinji could only utter a single word of confirmation out of that question. "That's why I took the risk of trapping him into the Dangai, because even if he can manage to destroy Kototsu, it may take forever to find his way into the Human World."
"And if he does find his way?"
Shinji can only give a wry smile of defeat as they continue to walk away from the corpse-tattered Senkaimon, giving only an answer that made Kensei close his eyes in utter sense of helplessness and despair.
"Depending of what he might do next once he does, we may have condemned the Human World to death"
Mercer took a step forward through a dark tunnel. This expands further as his eyes can reach. Throughout the tunnel lay several pieces of human bones embedded into the walls.
"From that guy that I consumed, this must be what they call the Precipice World, the 'Dangai'."
The place that this crimson eye ended up with was not the Human World, yet. Rather it was a tether world that connects the Human World and the Soul Society. Time is an extremely different story in this place. From what he can learn, an hour from any of these worlds is equivalent to 2000 here. However, time is not of the essence for Mercer, so he wouldn't even mind traversing this corridor for how long.
As Mercer continued to tread forward, his eye spotted something that caught his attention; a large, shadowy figure with a golden light shimmering on the top of it, rushing towards him at the speed of a usual express train.
"Perhaps I can stop this thing" he muttered to himself
Tempted by curiosity, he transforms both of his arms into Hammerfists, smashing to each other as the train-like figure approaches him. All of a sudden, he had thought running into his head.
How long is this thing?
He stretched his monstrous arms wide, bending his body slightly backwards…
And then…
BAM!!!
Mercer was pushed back as he wrestled with the train-like figure; his feet were dragged alongside the ground. For a monster with immeasurable strength, this train was truly a pain in his ass. Perhaps it was a bad idea for him to stop that train with his Hammerfists.
There's only one way out of this mess he created
He abandons his physical form and turns himself into black, oozing liquid as he slowly envelops the train with it. The train went on at incredibly high speed, ignoring whatever's consuming it.
It only took Mercer thirty minutes to envelop the kototsu with his biomass…
And an hour to completely consume it, down to the last bone.
Mercer returned to his human form, his eyes giving a golden glow. From now on he has full read on what the kototsu can do, and a partial control over the Precipice World. To test out what he can now do, he touches the ground and injects a spike-like figure. He then lets a part of his biomass flow into the ground.
Mere minutes later, a biomass emerges from the ground, slowly taking the shape what appears to be a subway train. A bright, crimson light emerges from the top of the train.
With a single gesture, Mercer instructs the sentient, train like being.
"Smash the gate to Soul Society"
The lights immediately submerged within the train, only to come out of the opposite side. With his command, the train immediately starts itself, gradually becoming louder by every revving of its engine. Only when Mercer walks from the opposite direction does it begin to move slowly to its intended target, gradually picking up speed becoming faster on par with the bullet train. Meanwhile, using his Whipfists, Mercer wastes no time leaping his way out of the Precipice World. He has found a light at the end of the tunnel, urging himself to follow the light.
It is uncertain where in Karakura Town would Mercer end up in