A/N: So I've rewritten things... again... and hopefully for the better... Well anyway, I haven't deleted the story, which might make it easier? Eh, please drop a review to tell me what you think of these changes
I've moved to a new, much-nicer house than our old apartment, and we haven't had time to fix up the wifi, so in those days without wifi I've managed to rewrite the first several chapters, and then we got wifi, but I wanted to finish rewriting the rest...
And then we went on a cruise for 8 days, and I've been away from my laptop and wifi, so it's been rough... Well for writing at least. I had to use my phone.
Ok I'll shut up now... Enjoy ^u^
INFO: A truce is made between Hueco Mundo and Soul Society, and a trio of fairly mad scientists resurrect the Arrancar through unknown means. We explore mild chaos and go into the daily (or not so daily) events of Shinigami and their new family. But not everything is sunshine and rainbows as some Arrancar are not-so-good. Mainly GgioSoi, SzayNemu, with various pairings, some unusual and some not! Pairings will be explored in later chapters, and we find out how the human gang are doing.
The Big News
"Alright!" Yamamoto barked, stamping his foot on the wooden floorboards to grab everyone's attention. All the captains were dozing and spacing out, their gazes unfocused and fiddling with things. Kenpachi was having a silent quarrel with Yachiru. Kurotsuchi was tinkering with something, watched interestedly by Yachiru. Every now and then Kyoraku took a swig of sake from a hip-flask, ignoring the anxious-but-disapproving look Ukitake shot at him as he did so. Soifon herself was deep in thought. Fuming, Yamamoto roared, "Pay attention, miserable younglings!" That got their attention, and Kyoraku hastily pocketed the flask. Luckily Yamamoto didn't notice.
"What's the problem?" boomed Komamura, one of the only Shinigami who had actually been paying attention, and always paid attention. No one else did, seeing as the Captain-Lieutenant meetings were usually Yamamoto rambling on about financial problems, which no one gave a damn about. Very rarely it was something big. There had been nothing big until the announcement of the reinstated Vizard captains, 12 months - a year - after the war against Aizen and his Arrancar. And even then, it had been 12 years since that. It had been 13 long, quiet years since the Winter War. "Why have you called us here today?"
Kurotsuchi suddenly perked up, a smug grin forming onto his odd, if not grotesquely-painted face. He handed Nemu the strange contraption, anticipation slowly washing all the smugness out. Yamamoto ignored him. "Kurotsuchi has been working on a huge project, one that will benefit Soul Society, and," he paused for a dramatic silence, "Hueco Mundo." He raised his hand before anybody could speak. "It has come to our attention that Tia Halibel, a survivor of the Winter War and now queen of the Hollow World wanted an alliance."
"But why?" Iba broke in. He suddenly turned silent as a chastising glance was aimed at him from his captain. Hitsugaya mumbled something to Rangiku, and she nodded, a grave expression on her pretty features. Soifon blinked, the only thing that gave away her surprise and her growing irritation. Why did the Hollows want an alliance with the Shinigami, even though Shinigami killed Hollows? Behind her, Omaeda shifted; sharp rustling noises emitted from his pocket as his bag of rice crackers crinkled. Soifon elbowed him in the side.
"Not all the Hollows have been satisfied with Aizen's reign, he rumbled, "And Tia Halibel herself was cut down by him. You'd think that would make someone bitter, hm? After she'd been so loyal." Everyone took a moment to consider this not-so-new piece of information. Yamamoto continued, "I have already signed the papers, and I have them right here." He drew a rolled-up scroll from his shihakusho, the scroll fastened with a red ribbon. "Our civilizations will help each other out in times of need, and," his brows furrowed slightly, "This is where Kurotsuchi's experimenting comes in." The captain in question was almost rocking on his heels with excitement, acting uncharacteristically like a small child. Nemu was stony-faced and silent as per usual around her captain, though she betrayed a little surprise at his antics with the slightest crease in her usually smooth brow. Yamamoto nodded at Kurotsuchi.
"Nemu and I, along with…" his lip curled, extinguishing his glee, "Urahara Kisuke, have been collecting bodies and Reishi particles and resurrecting the Arrancar, as the, how should I put this… To seal the deal between Hueco Mundo and Soul Society." His grin was back in place, although slightly strained. "It took a lot of work to piece those Hollows together, and a lot of work to explain to them what had happened. And it was also a lot of work actually working with that insufferable," Soifon allowed a small smile at his choice of wording, "Urahara guy."
As if on cue, a screen suddenly unfolded from the ceiling. Yamamoto stumbled out of the way, his beard swishing as he did, and everyone jumped although Kurotsuchi looked resigned to it, and a little miffed that he hadn't come up with the idea. The screen crackled with static, and then played to a scene from what appeared to be Hueco Mundo. A tall, slender figure could be seen in the back, vibrant pink hair framing his angular face, and white bone-rimmed glasses perched atop his nose. "Why hello there!" the figure cried, bowing deeply, a hand extended. As if there was anyone to take it. "We are filming straight from the sands of Hueco – "
"Szayel-Aporro Granz!" Renji snarled, rushing forward, hand flying to his hip to draw Zabimaru, but a glare from Byakuya stopped him from doing so. Instead of hollering his Shikai command and demolishing the screen, Renji stepped sullenly back behind Byakuya, shooting death glares to this Szayel person on-screen. Szayel just waved, a wide smile on his face.
"I see you remember me," Szayel cooed, wiggling his fingers and chuckling slightly at the disgusted look on Renji's face. Looking around the open-mouthed stares from the other captains and lieutenants, save for Byakuya, Kurotsuchi and Nemu, he winked and spun around. Spreading his arms, he indicated to the empty sands, where the ruins of an area of Hueco Mundo could be seen. "I present to you – "
"Cut to the chase already," Kurotsuchi barked, eyes narrowed. "This is an important meeting!" Behind him, Nemu nodded in a rehearsed, robotic manner. Kenpachi just scoffed and crossed his arms, obviously bored with the meeting already; that and Szayel's flamboyant actions were starting to disturb him almost as much as the sight of Yumichika prancing around and twirling with added sparkly effects. Yamamoto yawned and muttered something about getting too old for this stuff.
Szayel pouted. "Fine – "
"Welcome everybody!" a voice cried, and suddenly lights were flashing, much to the discomfort of a bewildered Szayel who had stumbled backwards. "I give you this!" Four large iron containers, made out of what appeared to be iron, burst out of the ground in a shower of sand, Szayel scrambling away, issuing a stream of profanities and grumbling about his clothes being ruined by the debris.
Soifon's eyes narrowed. "I know that voice," she growled, but before she could draw Suzumebachi, she was stopped, like Renji, but by a finger wagging on the screen.
"No, no, this is a professional meeting," the voice commanded, and Urahara Kisuke stepped onto the screen. Kurotsuchi's eyes rolled up in his head and he fell backwards onto the floor with a thud. Nemu crouched down and examined his unmoving body rather emotionlessly, prodding it with her finger.
"Mayuri-sama, if you're dead, can I experiment on your body?" she asked.
"Oh, I like this girl," Szayel chuckled, storming over to the middle of the screen and pushing Urahara away. That was probably for the better, seeing as Urahara had swapped his usual outfit for gaudy attire resembling an Arrancar uniform, only his had several protrusions and wires around it, all coloured the same shade of green as his striped hat, which Soifon swore he never took off. She wore an expression of outright disgust as Urahara laughed and patted Szayel on the shoulder.
He paused and turned to the screen once more. "We have something magnificent to show you," he promised, and dug around in his pockets. Panic spread over his face as he realized the thing he was looking for wasn't there, and Soifon's features turned to one of smugness as she leaned back and watched him slowly crash and burn. "Where's the remote!" he wailed, "The thing's not sand-proof – "
"Here!" Szayel purred, dangling what seemed to be a small white container in front of Kisuke's face. Kisuke tried to grab for it but Szayel snatched it out of the way. "No can do, pal!" He opened the lid, revealing a large red button. Kisuke looked sulky as Szayel made a show of pressing it, slowly lowering his finger to it.
Kurotsuchi at this moment came to, sitting up and snapping, "Just get on with it, you pink-haired dipshit!" Nemu jumped backwards, but he seemed not to notice. Szayel just sighed and closed the lid, Kisuke's expression becoming that of a hopeful one as he made to grab it from Szayel's outstretched hand, but Szayel slapped his hand away and Kisuke retreated, whimpering. Soifon gave a satisfied snort.
"Well, if you insist," Szayel sighed, a devilish grin spreading over his face as he opened the container again and slammed a fist on the large button. There were several small explosions coming from mini cannons around the side of the large iron containers, and Kurotsuchi huffed at the extravagant display. Szayel began to laugh maniacally as smoke spread, and his cackling became that of an excited squeal often released by adolescent human girls when excited about something.
Kisuke watched in sulky silence as Szayel's breathing sped up and he began rubbing his hands together after Kisuke had snatched the button from his hands, muttering, "But I wanted to do the dramatic reveal…" The two men stood aside as doors opened from the large containers, light pouring from the openings along with a lot of smoke. Four silhouettes stood outlined inside what looked to be small iron rooms, poised in a way that suggested they had been prompted about this, until one began coughing. Soon the others followed suit, and each iron box contained a doubled-over silhouette hacking their lungs out.
"Seriously, Szayel, could you use less realistic smoke?" a male voice wheezed, "It's unleashing hell in my throat!" The speaker of this comment then fell to his knees, his coughing fit becoming wilder.
"Speak for yourself, Dordoni," a sharp female voice cut through, pausing for a moment then beginning to cough again, "My eyes! They're burning!" The speaker of voice was a short, slender yet well-endowed woman who wore a skirt and had what looked like shoulder pads.
"You guys are idiots," one higher male voice piped up. The speaker was short and had a large sleeve covering his nose and mouth. "Why don't you just cover your faces? They're already ugly anyways, so it's two birds with one stone."
"You shut up, Luppi," the female voice snarled, "You're one to talk with that ridiculous fashion sense! Who even wears those clothes?" This was followed by more coughing as the smoke continued to pur out from the boxes. "I'm going to fucking kill you, Szayel!" she shrieked.
"Cirucci is right!" another male voice cried in between coughs, "Your clothes are so fugly, and Szayel should not have used such smoke!" The speaker was tall and muscular, and stopped coughing long enough to strike a pose. "This is going to ruin my appearance!"
The smoke was clearing, and the female voice sneered, "So? It'd be an improvement, with your wardrobe stile. Don't you know your hair still looks horrendous after that Shinigami cut a large chunk of it off? Actually that's a good thing!" She laughed. "It's an improvement. Maybe you should all join the circus because that's the only place suitable for buffoons like you. What I'd give to see you in neon-coloured clown suits and red noses!"
"Cirucci, that's enough, really," Szayel commented, "You all look fine, if not with a casual flair for ugliness." Before Cirucci could pipe up again, he continued, "Now that the smoke's clearing, step out."
The four figures gladly obliged. Cirucci was an Arrancar with deep purple hair, curly and tied into two pigtails, the spiked hairpin standing out. She wore a gothic Lolita-style dress and violet make-up over her lidded eyes giving her a heavy, sensual appearance.
Luppi was short, with uneven, bowl-cut hair and long, drooping sleeves. He yawned, holding his hand to his mouth. Two large holes were cut into the sides of his uniform, and a faint tattoo of a 6 could be seen, a reminder of his former rank before being killed and disposed of.
Dordoni's hair was slicked back, and he had a van-dyke beard and mustache. His Arrancar outfit is customized, with fringes on the forearm portion of the sleeves, a red sash tied at his waist, shoulder pads, and openings down the front which reveal his black undershirt.
The last speaker was muscular, and had a long mane of dark purple, almost black hair which was frizzy and had a large chunk taken out of it. He wore a short cardigan that was lacy around the collar, had glossy lips and icy blue eyes. And he was striking a very flamboyant pose, which the other Arrancar abandoned their professional-looking postures to bend over and retch at, Luppi being the most melodramatic.
Kisuke opened his mouth to speak up but Szayel just laughed and clapped a hand over the tall blond's face, pushing him away as he introduced the Arrancar respectively. "Dordoni Alessandro Del Soccacio, Cirucci Sanderwicci, Luppi Antenor and Charlotte Cuulhourne." He gestured to them. "The first Arrancar we resurrected after me, of course." Szayel curled his lip, glancing down at Kurotsuchi's distant expression. "I stored their corpses in my lab and for earlier studies, but Captain Kurotsuchi took it upon himself to break and enter…"
Szayel glared at Kurotsuchi from the screen but Kurotsuchi only guffawed and elbowed Nemu. Kisuke took this time to speak. "We managed to piece them back together, with working organs and minds," he beamed, "And managed to make the scars from the resurrecting heal over – "
"I looked hideous for weeks!" Cuulhourne moaned.
" - but we didn't manage to heal the scars that were not caused by the experiment – "
"And that is why Grimmjow still has that huge-ass burn mark on his front," Szayel finished. "Not that we even needed to resurrect that fleeing bastard."
Kurotsuchi spread his arms, turning to the other captains. "We managed to piece together all the dead hollows," he announced triumphantly, "Even the disintegrated ones like old Ulquiorra, Barragan and… that other cat Arrancar? His name escapes me."
Soifon raised an eyebrow. Usually her Nigeki Kessatsu technique was irreversible, making the victim shatter into a million little Reishi particles… it did take a year for all the Arrancar to be fixed up, she supposed, and it was mainly the fact no one would ever bother going to such lengths… Maybe she had underestimated Urahara's madness, and combined with the other scientists… She didn't want to think about all the chaos they could unleash upon Soul Society, but she mentally swore that if that ever happened she would be the one to find Urahara and skin him alive.
She was jerked back into the present by Kisuke's annoying voice, and had an overwhelming desire to sew that imbecile's mouth together. "And there's something else," Urahara said, eyes twinkling. The captains and lieutenants shifted nervously in the room, wary of how sinister Urahara appeared to be. Urahara struck a pose reminiscent of Szayel's when the pink-haired Arrancar had slammed his fist on the button. "Half the Arrancar are signing up to be in the Gotei 13!"
This brought uproar, some good, and some bad. Some of the Shinigami were standing frozen, open-mouthed and gaping. Isane looked remarkably like a goldfish as she stood behind a silent, stony-faced Unohana who had her head bowed. Others like Hitsugaya were hiding their outrage behind a mask of utter disapproval. Rangiku's brows were furrowed and she seemed to be in deep thought.
Omaeda was stuttering, Rojuro had grabbed Izuru by the shoulders and was shaking them violently, babbling, Hisagi was being shaken by Mashiro and even the usually stoic Byakuya had his mouth pressed into a thin, severe line, his eyes widening just a fraction of a centimetre. Kensei had his arms crossed and looked as if he was perfecting a bulldog impersonation, and Komamura had his ears flattened against his head, his lip curling into a small snarl.
Yamamoto chose this time to speak up. "Silence!" he boomed, banging his staff on the ground. There was a resounding thud, and everyone fell silent. "Under the truce, the Arrancar are permitted to join just as a student of the Shin'o Academy would," he rumbled, his gaze drifting from one ashen-faced Shinigami to the next. "It is a condition of the treaty, and not even a bad one at that. Any questions?"
Soifon could tell that many of the captains wanted to speak up and protest, there were quite a few muttered discussions between captain and lieutenant, but none of them wanted to question the Captain Commander. Chojiro Sasakibe, lieutenant of Squad One, was nowhere to be found. Yamamoto didn't look remotely concerned, or perhaps he just hadn't noticed yet, what with his fading memory.
Suddenly the screen buzzed to life again. "Genryuusai-dono!" a voice cried, and Sasakibe slammed into the screen, gripping it. "Take me back!"
"Sasakibe?" Suddenly Yamamoto's long, untrimmed eyebrows rose and he stuttered for a moment, before demanding, "What are you doing in Hueco Mundo?! I never gave you orders to come!"
"You didn't?" Sasakibe moaned, "I was told that you had commanded me to come! I can't deal with all these rowdy Arrancar anymore! They're giving me migraines and my inner anglophile detests this place!" Sasakibe's eyes widened. "Do you know how much they actually hate tea? Especially English tea?"
Yamamoto, still recovering from his shock, shook his head. "Come back immediately, as soon as you can!" he commanded. "I still don't know when you got there, when this screen was built into the ceiling of my hall, but I will not stand for unauthorized impersonation!"
In the background, Urahara fanned himself and mumbled, "Oops," to a chortling Szayel.
Yamamoto composed himself. "Everybody out! DISMISSED!" he roared. The great doors burst open and the captains and lieutenants filed out of the hall, still murmuring quietly. Soifon ignored Omaeda's rambling and glanced back at the hall to find Yamamoto examining the screen in a less-than-pleased manner, while Sasakibe peered into the screen with the air of a kicked puppy.