Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Project Fifteen

Chapter One: Project Failure

Shortly after the Thousand Year Blood War
Squad 12; R&D

Mayuri stood in front of the vat, watching with intrigue as white liquid filled the container. Multiple tubes pumped chemicals into the vat. "Very good…" he said quietly as a mass began to form inside the vat.

Walking over to the computer monitoring the vat, Mayuri hit some keys and checked the status of his experiment. The readout on the monitor told him that things were going swimmingly. On an adjacent screen was a diagram of a DNA strand, the source of his experiment. Next to the DNA there was a picture of a certain Substitute Soul Reaper. Mayuri tapped the screen and the DNA broke into several pieces, each signifying certain elements of the boy's genetics.

Tearing himself away from the monitory, Mayuri returned to his vigilance in front of the vat. A human skeleton was forming among the liquid as more chemicals are injected into the vat.

The scientist's ears perked when he heard the door open behind him. "How many times do I have to tell you? I am NOT to be disturbed when I'm in the middle of my experiment! This is too important to be interrupted!"

"Sorry. Nobody answered when I knocked so I let myself in."

Whirling around, Mayuri glared with venomous eyes when he saw Kisuke Urahara saunter into his lab. "What are you doing here?" His eyes glanced over to the subject in the vat worriedly. "How did you get in here in the first place?"

Kisuke, the marks on his face from restoring his eyesight still evident on his face, reached into the pocket of his robe and pulled out a keyring. "You know, for all your technological breakthroughs, you never bothered to change the locks in a hundred years."

"Hmph! I forgot you still had the keys…"

Walking up next to his old comrade, Kisuke crossed his arms and glared at the man while inspecting his specimen. "You seriously didn't think your experiment would escape my notice? This is a serious violation of Ichigo's privacy, you know," he scolded his former subordinate.

"Hmph!" The mad scientist turned away and put a hand on the glass vat, watching as his experiment took shape. "His privacy means nothing to me. I've put in too much effort into Project Fifteen to let something like privacy stop me."

Kisuke's scowl deepened. "And what do you think he's going to do when he finds out you're trying to clone him?!" Turning back to Project Fifteen, Kisuke saw the clone version of Ichigo Kurosaki take shape, the clone's orange hair prominent in the white matter that obscured most of its body.

Snickering, Mayuri looked at Kisuke with inquisitive eyes. "Oh please, Kisuke. Certainly you've thought of the same idea," he countered. "The prospect of taking Ichigo's power and replicating it?"

Scratching the stubble on his chin, Kisuke continued to look at Project Fifteen. He noted the tubes pumping chemicals into the vat and quickly surmised what he was giving the clone. "You're giving it Hollow matter and Quincy blood?"

"Along with Soul Reaper spirit energy and his own Human DNA," Mayuri finished. "The chemicals create the white bonding matter and constructs the clone's body piece by piece. When it's finished, I'll have my own Substitute Soul Reaper to toy with."

Kisuke's scowl deepened at the notion. He didn't know if Mayuri was simply acting on a long-standing fantasy of his or if he was just so rattled by the death of Nemu that he had gone off a very deep end. He couldn't deny that replicating Ichigo's power was an idea he'd thought about multiple times but there were multiple concerns along that line of though. "What purpose would you need to clone Ichigo?" he asked, although he knew it didn't matter what excuse Mayuri gave; he was still crazy.

"You've seen the boy's bountiful power," Mayuri pointed out, back at his monitor and hitting keys. "You yourself trained Ichigo Kurosaki. Imagine if the Soul Society had that kind of power at our disposal whenever there was a crisis?" he suggested.

"Is that what you plan on telling the Head-Captain when he finds out what you've been doing?"

"I'm certain that our new Head-Captain will appreciate the advantages of having such a powerful asset at our beck and call instead of hoping that the impudent whelp will come and save us when he deigns to show up."

"Mayuri, that's not fair and you know it."

Mayuri looked up and glared. "Maybe so, but it still does not change facts. Besides…" his lips formed a sinister sneer. "I promised Ichigo that I would repay him for his insult back in Hueco Mundo. If I can't do it to his real body then I'll settle for a clone."

Hearing movement from inside the vat, Kisuke turned to see Project Fifteen's eyes slowly open up. "Mayuri, can it see us?" he asked. "Does it know who we are if it's Ichigo's clone?"

"Its optical and audible senses have not fully developed yet. The infusion of Ichigo Kurosaki's original DNA should be able to transmit some of his memories into the clone through the incubation matter."

"Um…Mayuri? I don't think DNA works like that…"

"Shut up! I know what I'm doing!" Mayuri yelled. "This saves me the trouble to trying to teach it from scratch."

After a few moments of waiting quietly, Kisuke's expression turned grave. "Mayuri, you said that the clone can't hear or see anything, right?"

"Yes."

"Can it feel?"

"No, why?"

"Because it looks like it's in agonizing pain."

Looking up, Mayuri's eyes widened in horror as the clone started writhing in pain. "NO!" he shouted, typing keys on the computer. "Something's gone wrong! The clone's body is breaking down!" Examining the data, Mayuri came to a grave conclusion. "It's rejecting the incubation matter!"

Kisuke had seen many horrors during his stint as a captain. But seeing the sight of Ichigo Kurosaki's in agonizing pain while its body was torn apart was a sight he wished never to see. "Let it out!" he told the captain. "It'll die if it remains in there!"

Cursing his misfortune, Mayuri slammed his palm on the big red button and stopped the experiment. The tubes detached themselves from the tank, spewing blood and white matter onto the floor. "Dammit! Dammit! DAMMIT!" he cursed over and over again as he tried to save his experiment. He hit a switch and opened the vat. "Pull it out of there!"

Kisuke stood aside as a cascade of amniotic fluid and incubation white matter splashed onto the floor. He reached for the dying clone but Project Fifteen's hand dissolved in his grasp. "It's too late…" he said mournfully.

All Mayuri could do was watch as his precious clone disintegrated into the white matter, the goo bubbling up and forming a great big clump on the floor. "GODDAMMIT!" he shrieked. "WHY?!"

"It's for the best," Kisuke told him. "At least it was quick."

"Don't patronize me!" Mayuri huffed, sitting down in the chair. He looked at the white mass on the floor and scowled. "What made the clone reject the bonding matter? It's his own DNA for crying out loud!" Sighing, he got up. "I'll go fetch the mop."

"Want me to get a bucket?"

"Oh shut up! Get out of my laboratory!"

"Actually, it's my lab."

"I don't see your name on it!"

Kisuke pointed up. Mayuri looked up at the ceiling and saw something scribbled at the corner. "This lab is property of Kisuke Urahara! Hiyori, stay out of my cupcakes!"

"I hate you…" he grumbled as he exited the lab, Kisuke following behind him.

The door closed, filling the empty lab with silence. Had the two men stayed, they would have noticed that the white matter was beginning to bubble and swell. Taking the DNA of the failed clone, the incubation goo began to reshape it in a more suitable form.

As minutes ticked by the goo began to grow like a balloon, life being breathed into the creature within. First a skeleton was formed, then organs, then muscles and tendons and finally skin was wrapped around the unknown creature. The white cocoon pulsed as its heart took its first beat. Air filled its lungs, awakening its consciousness. Amidst the sea of white, a clear image filled its vision. An image of Ichigo Kurosaki. The white matter told it who this person was. It filled the creature with knowledge of the Substitute Soul Reaper's life and his abilities.

But more importantly, it told the creature where to find Ichigo.

As it became fully formed, Project Fifteen began to feel claustrophobic. It had to escape. It had to get out of here.

The white cocoon burst open and a figure tumbled onto the cold floor. Naked and clawing at the ground from its new sense of touch, Project Fifteen opened its brown eyes, a head full of orange hair sprawling down its back. Turning its head, the finished clone looked at the picture on the screen and recognized itself.

"Ichigo Kurosaki…"

To be continued