Chapter One
AN- Hello all! I have had this idea in my head for a while now. I'm bored of my current One Piece story, I decided that I may as well do a first chapter of this and see what people think.
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Kubo and Oda are god! …... damn it! Nerds of the world! We must do an Aizen and overthrow god, then I... I mean we shall rule over two of the best anime and manga series ever! AH HA HA HA! (Just joking... when we kill Oda and Kubo the rights are mine!)
Shunsui Kyoraku was not normally a man to worry about things. Sure, lots of shit things had happened recently but nothing really worried him. Sure, the loss of half of the Captains and Lieutenants 100 years previously had been tough, the Quincy massacre had been a particularly unpleasant time, the Kugo Gingo incident left a sore taste in Kyoraku's mouth, even the whole Aizen fiasco never really worried Kyoraku. The Vandenreich incident... that pissed him off, not worried him. The incident he had gathered the Captains together for... this was worrying.
"Head Captain, could you inform me what was so damn important for you to call us here? I have matters to attend to." said Soi Fon, the flat chested captain of Squad Two and the leader of the Onmitsukido.
"Yeah... this bores me... at least Ikkaku can give me an okay spar back at the barracks." stated Kenpachi Zeraki, the strongest warrior in the whole of Soul Society. After the war with the Quincy's, Kenpachi had increased his strength dramatically. Comparing Kenpachi's previous maximum power to his new amount was like comparing a mole hill to a mountain, or a cup of water to a lake. With a single swing of his released sword, he managed to destroy 34 districts in the Rukon District and killed thousands of innocents and guilty alike. The memory of that battle still gave the lazy Captain goosebumps. Luckily, Kenpachi had taken to limiting his power even more than before. Things just seemed to bore the war loving captain now, he barely bothered showing up to meeting now.
"As much as I hate to agree with Kenpachi, we do have things to do. After that damn incident, we still have two Captain positions unfilled." Stated Toshiro Hitsugya. The young ice user was still relatively new to Captaincy. Despite this he had experience in two major wars. Kyoraku looked forwards to seeing how strong he would one day become. He had no doubt that the Captain of Squad Ten would be the next Head Captain.
"Very well then... I will tell you the news quickly." Said Kyoraku. The experienced Captain looked over at all his allies and companions. Soi Fon in Squad Two, Rose Otoribashi in Squad Three, Shinji Hirako representing Squad Five, the recently shaken Byakuya Kuchiki with the Sixth Squad, recently promoted Abari Renji representing Seventh, Kensei Muguruma was Ninth, Hitsugya was the Tenth, Kenpachi was obviously Squad Eleven, Urahara had taken the role of Twelfth again and Kyoraku's eternal friend Ukitaki stood for the Thirteenth Squad. Squad Four and Eight were still empty.
"There has been a major event concerning the safety of Soul Soul Society. Due to its potential for future conflict, I decided to hold off informing all of you."
"Get on with it Kyoraku! I told you, I'm bored."
"I know you are Kenpachi! You always are! For once this is serious!"
"If it was so large, why was I not informed?" Questioned Soi Fon, her face set in a scowl.
"If I told you, you would kill first, ask questions later. Only Urahara, Ukiatake and I have known."
"Shunsui... perhaps you should tell them now?"
"Ukitake, you're right."
"Just tell us, damn it!" was Renji's eloquent response.
"Fine! Fine! Tell them the details Urahara."
"What, me? But I am just a simp-"
"NO YOUR NOT!" Roared all the other Captains.
"This is the 15th time he's said that joke this month." whispered Shinji to Rose, who nodded wearily in agreement.
"Fine." Urahara pulled down his hat (Which he still wore for some bizarre reason) to show he was now being serious. "Three days ago, the Twelfth Squad's Reiatsu sensors went off the chart. It showed that 20 Ryoka entered the Soul Society that day."
"Twenty!? Why were we not informed?" Demanded Renji.
"As our Head Captain said, secrecy. I myself personally captured them. These Ryoka claimed not to be from the world of the living. All attempts to make them talk about the modern human world failed. They went through no portal to arrive here... no... they sailed here."
"BULLCRAP! You can't sail from the world of the living to the Soul Society!" stated Kensei.
"Well of course... that would be just silly. More evidence backing up there claims were that some of them had odd powers."
"Big whoop." Said Hitsugya. "More Fullbringers."
"No, there powers are that of "Devil Fruits". I have seen them in action, they are all physical and elemental based powers, not spiritual."
"Not spiritual? How the hell can they even see us then?" asked Shinji. This made no sense to the Visored, even with his moderate intelligence.
"It took me a wile as well. These humans are all spiritually aware, while some are gaining artificial Fullbrings or other powers. According to these sailors, Soul Society is just a small part of the world."
"We know that!" snapped Kensei, tired of this patronising explanation. "there's also Hueco Mundo!"
"That is not what I meant. What I mean is that the Soul Society is only a small segment of this world. The Ryoka say we are in a supposedly blank part of "East Blue". They were sailing to a completely different location and only ended up here on chance because they took a different route."
"You expect me to believe that?! I don't see what Lady Yoruchi saw in you!" snapped Soi Fon.
"Now now! Stop picking on the defenceless shopkeeper!" joked Urahara. "I am being absolutely serious. Apart from the Rukon District and mapping the coasts, we have never really bothered seeing if there was anything out there. Now something out there has found us!"
"Hmm! Why should I care if some group of humans live on a far off island! There all as strong as ants to me!"
"Don't be so sure of that Kenpachi." Warned Kyoraku. "According to the sailors there are some very strong individuals out there. These Admirals seem especially troubling."
"Hmmm! Still don't care. I'm leaving." With that Kenpachi walked casually out of the room.
"No respect!" said the cat loving assassin with a scowl.
"Nothing we can do abut him, lets just be happy he's on our side."
A roll call of "Hear hears!" filled the room.
"The Admirals are part of a sea based pinnacle of power in the vast world... we are somehow the small fish in the pond."
"IMPOSSIBLE! We are the Gotei 13! No one makes us a small fish!"
"Alas Soi Fon, we are. The big daddy World Government seems particularly aggressive. I doubt they will leave us alone. Apparently there were originally two ships sailing when they reached here. The second has already left."
"Then that means we will soon be discovered." deduced Shinji.
"Correct!" said Urahara "You win the prize! Soon we will have the whole world after our ass! In our weakened state, we have no chance of holding out against all the enemies out there, what with more than half of our numbers decimated. The World Government will want us to join them... I know that we will not. There are too many factors at this point to make an accurate measurement of the enemies power."
"Then what the hell do we do!?" roared Renji.
"SILENCE! The old man may be dead but there is no need to loose our heads! We will carry on as normal, we shall prepare but will make no aggressions. Instead we will send some scouts, someone not associated with the Gotei 13 and Soul Society, to discover about this new world. They can make a name for themselves and show that our kind is not to be messed with."
"But who would be stupid enough to accept a mission going into the virtually unknown?" questioned Rose.
"Oh... I know just the people." and with that Urahara gave one of his signature grins.
XXXXXXXXXX
When Ichigo Kurosaki woke up to his dad kicking him in the face, he knew it would be a bad day.
Ichigo went down for breakfast with his dysfunctional family as normal, put up with Kurosaki Isshin's regular requests for grand children with Orihime and dealt with another day of work as usual.
Ichigo, now 18, could happily say that he was done with the constant shit in his life. Unfortunately the constant shit was not done with him. The third Shinigami, third human, third Quincy, still worked at the Unagiya Shop. He had tried getting a better paid job but potential employers were often put off by his orange hair. The pay was crap but it would do for now.
After his work for the day was done, he went to meet Chad and Uryu at a local coffee shop that Uryu was partial to.
"Hey, Chad!"called Ichigo to his muscular friend.
"Oh, hey Ichigo!" Chad gave a wave from his seat at the outdoor table. The giant was dressed in a black and white business suit and carried a large, brown leather briefcase with notes for his job. When Chad officially announced he was apprenticing for an accountancy job, the entire Karakura group were surprised. They were even more surprised when he was so good at it that he soared through the ranks at the bank.
"Hows work?" asked Ichigo, a rare smile on his face.
"Fine."
"As talkative as ever." said Ichigo before he went to get a coffee. He met Uryu inside as he waited in the queue.
"Afternoon, Kurosaki."
"Afternoon Ishida. Hows the business going?"
"Not well, not well. Lace is out of fashion this season."
"Why should that matter?"
"All my exported underclothes had lace on them."
"Ouch. Why do you even make women's underclothes?"
"Good money. Girls always need a bra."
"I guess."
Uryu Ishida graduated from Karakura High with high grades in all subjects. He could have been anything. He had the brain to be a lawyer, the disposition of a politician, the precision of a brain surgeon. With the death of Ryuken Ishida, many expected the young Quincy to enter the family trade. People were initially surprised at his choice to be a fashion designer. Then again, people always had said that he seemed a little queer.
"Hey Chad."
"Hey, Ishida." said Chad as the Quincy and the Shinigami sat down at the table. They drunk their drinks for a while, in silence due to Ichigo's general grumpiness, Chad's silence and Uryu's quiet disposition. This was how it always was when the three best friends met up every Friday for afternoon coffee. They would always start off in silence, then conversation would gradually begin as the warm liquids were drunk. It was an odd sort of friendship, the kind destined to fail. After all, they were a Quincy, a Shinigami and a Fullbringer. It was like the beginning of a bad joke.
"A Quincy, a Shinigami and a Fullbringer walk into a coffee shop..."
With their drinks finished, it was time to go there separate ways. Thins went as normal until Ichigo heard the cheerful call of "ICHIGO!" Orihime rushed into the coffee shop, tripped, fell and cried out in surprise. She got up as if nothing happened and said "Hey Ichigo!" Orihime had gotten out of the habit of referring to Ichigo as "Kurosaki" thanks to a little motivation from Tatsuki.
"Didn't that, you know, hurt?"
"Nope! I have a solid head!"
"Ummmm... sure! Want to sit down?"
"No no no no no! We have to leave, now!"
"Pardon? If your having another daydream about robots destroying Karakura, then you are on your own."
"No! Its Urahara!" now Ichigo was suspicious. Whenever the ex-shopkeeper was involved, Ichigo usually ended up getting punched in the face... or a sword to the face... or a Cero to the face... come to think of it, why did Ichigo even bother talking to Urahara.?
"What did he do this time? Did he open up a wormhole to another dimension and decided he needs me to check it out?"
"No!"
"Has Aizen decided to have a comeback... again?"
"No!"
"Is Mashiro having another sugar rush?"
"No!"
"Please tell me that damn shopkeeper has been diagnosed as clinically insane?"
"No! Apparently Soul Society is in BIG trouble! The Head Captain needs to speak with you!"
"Come on! They know I'm retired!"
"He says its an emergency! He also said that if you didn't come he would post those pictures of you drunk with Yoruchi on top of you!"
"... DAMN THAT BASTARD! IT IS OFFICIAL! WE ARE GOING TO SOUL SOCIETY TO KILL KISUKE URAHARA!"
"Okey dokey! Chad, Uryu, they want you there too!"
"Sure." Was Chad's gruff response.
"I am afraid I must pass. I may have sided with Soul Society against Aizen and the Vandenreich, but I still can not help Soul Society."
"According to Tessai it was only slightly related to Soul Society! If anything its a problem for everyone really!"
"...fine. The modelling company has no need for mew designs at the moment. I can last without them."
"Okey dokey then! To Mr Urahara's old shop!"
XXXXXXXXXX
"No."
"Come on Ichigo!"
"No."
"Do it for the world! The Soul Society! Your friends! Puppies!"
"No."
"... I still have those pictures."
"CURSE YOU!" Ichigo scowled and flared his Reiatsu. "I am soooooo killing you when we get back."
"That's the spirit, Ichigo!" said Kyoraku as he patted him on the back encouragingly.
"You're dead too you know."
"Oh! You sure are a good laugh! Know any dirty jokes!" a book on decency and common respect to women was chucked at the Head Captain from off stage, by a very pissed off lieutenant.
"No, seriously. When I get back I will: release Aizen and team up with him, build up an army of Arrancar and Hollows, use my awesomeness to summon protagonists from various anime series, defeat all the Captains , kill you and Urahara, beat up Aizen and the Arrancar and then go home for tea."
"..."
"HA! We really need to invite you to some parties Ichigo!"
Thinking of "The Pictures" Ichigo said "No thanks." he then walked back to his bemused friends muttering something like "Ha! That's what he thinks! …... He won't be laughing when I stab him in the back... eating Snicker Bars... Mr T!... doom... crossover... powers of rock and role!"
Uryu sweat dropped. "I worry for you sometimes, Kurosaki."
"So do I, Ishida. So do I. I have a theory you see. The more powerful a Shinigami becomes, the more eccentric and mad they become."
"Really?"
"Look at my dad and the Zero Squad."
"I see your point."
"Ahum!" coughed Urahara. "Perilous quest to enter this new world and do the shit which needs to be done."
"The shit which needs to be done?"
"Yes. The shit which needs to be done."
"Urahara. I need to know, how long will we be gone?" Asked Uryu. "We all have jobs after all, Ichigo had family as well."
"No problem, my dear Quincy! You will probably gone for years!"
"YEARS?!"
"Yes, years. You will be paid of course. Fuck loads of money."
"How much?" Asked Chad gruffly. Urahara took out a small piece of paper with an amount of money printed on it in dark black ink.
Chad blinked once or twice before saying "That is a shit load of zero's."
"Exactly! The amount will only continue to go up for as long as the job continues."
"I still don't know." grumbled Ichigo, thinking of the family he would leave behind.
"Come on Ichigo! This is surely better than the job you currently have! Not only that but I know you are bored stiff with the weak Hollow attacks! Surely you would like one more chance to have an adventure before settling down for a normal life."
Ichigo grumbled in response to this argument. "Fine, if Chad and Ishida agree, I'll do it."
"Hey!" said Orihime, a frown on her face. "You forgot about me!"
Ichigo's face lightened. "Sorry Orihime." he turned to Urahara again. "She'll need to agree as well."
"Well of course she's coming! You'll be living on a ship! What sort of a crew does not have a medic?"
"So I'm like the doctor?"
"Well its up to Ichigo, he is the captain."
"Wait, what?"
"Yes, you will be leading this mission."
"Who's coming with me?"
"There is you, obviously, Chad, Inoue, Uryu and Rukia will be joining as well."
"Oh joy! The midget's coming."
"Of course. No Captains will be joining you, we need all the man power we can get. We can spare a lieutenant though. You will leave as soon as you are equipped with new clothes."
Uryu raised his glasses. "What is wrong with our clothes?"
"The seas you will be travelling in seem a bizarre, often having a mixture of cultures and clothes choice. You probably don't stand out, it just may be better if you try to blend in."
"I see the logic."
"Of course you do! We will be meeting at South Rukon 80, the seaside village. Your new ship is docked there. When you are changed you will meet there."
The Karakura crew nodded in agreement before leaving for individual changing rooms which could be found in the First Squads barracks.
Ichigo changed out of his Shinigami robes and put on the clothes Urahara selected. He now wore a plain white sleeveless shirt which showed off the black cross tattoos on his wrists, plain grey trousers and a long black coat. It was long enough to go down to his thighs and was a midnight black colour, it had dark red stitching around the wrists and had a small silver half moon on each shoulder.
"You can fault Urahara but damn, he has good taste in clothes." thought Ichigo as he stared at his new attire. Leaving the room he saw Chad was dressed up too. The Mexican wore a dark grey T-shirt which showed of the tattoo of a heart with a snake and wings around it, as well as black trousers and his signature coin on a chain.
"Hey, Uryu went on ahead with Orihime."
"Damn Ishida! Always going off on his own! Lets go catch up to them!"
"Right."
After passing through the south gate, the duo quickly rushed through the Rukon Districts. Ichigo used Shunpo while Chad had Sonido.
After about an hour of non stop travelling, Chad and Ichigo reached South Rukon 80. it was a small district, only about the size of a small village. Shacks were the house of choice and many children in rags stared hungrily at them from there positions on the floor. No one wore sandals.
"Damn it! I hate seeing kids like this, you know Chad!"
"I think so to. Kids should be happy." said Chad as he thought of his own less than happy childhood.
They kept moving until they reached the small port. It was a small strip of wooden pier, long forgotten and never used. Two ships were docked. A plain Italian style merchant ship and the other had a white robe covering it.
"Urahara's idea of suspense." thought Ichigo.
"Ahh! Ichigo!" yelled Orihime as she waved her arms above herself to catch his attention.
"Hey Orihime! You're looking good."
Orihime blushed at the unintended compliment. "Umm, thanks Ichigo."
Orihime was currently dressed in a manner similar to her uniform when she was held in Hueco Mundo. She had a tight white top on, a white jacket, which failed to conceal her enormous bust and also wore a long white and grey skirt.
"It is nice to see you arrived so soon, Kurosaki."
"Yeah, thanks for going ahead Ishida."
"Orihime has no high speed techniques. It was simpler if I took her ahead of time."
Uryu was finally out of his ridiculous cape. He now wore a grey dress shirt, a white blazer with blue stitching, the Quincy logo sewed in in dark blue thread, as well as simple white trousers. He was the image of a gentleman.
"Hey Ichigo! Didn't forget me, did you?"
"Oh, its you midget."
HEY! I am not a midget!"
"Ahh!" Said Urahara, nudging Chad humorously. "Young love."
"SHUT UP!" The two of them yelled.
Rukia was wearing a short black dress, which clung tightly to her slim form and increased her chest size. She had dark purple stockings on.
"I see we are all here." said Urahara, clapping his hands together. "Time to begin."
"Yeah yeah!" Complained Ichigo. "Get on with it!"
"Fine, fine! Now behold! Your new ship!" and with that Urahara pulled off the sheet dramatically to reveal the ship. It was a large Sloop type sailing ship. It was long and thin and was streamlined perfectly. It was made of light brown wood, although certain sections were painted a black colour, giving the whole ship a Gothic feel which was backed up by the dark blue swordfish figurehead, although the saw was replaced with a slim sword. With dark black sails it was truly a threatening ship.
"Her name is the "Midnight Cutter"! Treat her well, she is the finest in the Seireitei's navy.
"Navy of one." Muttered Rukia.
"What was that miss Kuchiki?"
"Nothing!" was Rukia's frenzied answer. This was due to a certain picture Urahara came to possess of her... come to think of it, Urahara had embarrassing photos of everyone. Most Shinigami agree that the Captain of Squad 12 probably caused those embarrassing incidents to happen, simply so that he had some blackmail material on everyone.
"As I said, she is the finest, and the only, ship to have ever been created by the Seireitei."
"Did you make it yourself?" Questioned Uryu as he studied the ship intently.
"Of course! The bottom of the ship is made out of Sekkiseki stone, the wood reinforced with Kido to make it near unbreakable! An engine has also been attached, it is powered with spiritual energy... my own design. All in all, a brilliant ship. You will need to read the instruction manual... there are a few surprises." Urahara took out a sleek manual and handed it to Rukia, who immediately began devouring the knowledge inside.
"So then Ichigo, are you ready for one last adventure?"
AN- so this was my first chapter. This is my first crossover so all advice and criticism would be appreciated. I have nothing more to say except rate and review, the sooner that happens, the sooner chapter two comes out. Anyway, Undying Soul out.