Man, it's been forever since I've been over here...um, sorry for leaving all you guys in the lurch! I, uh...guess I've just been having a lot more fun on Spacebattles? Still, I'm back, and I'm here to bring you the latest story springing from my head! ...Now, let's hope I actually finish this one...
Number One Specter
Episode 01 - Death and...the Specterberry?
Today's story...begins in a very familiar place…
"If you wish to save your family, you must become a Shinigami!"
The story of one Kurosaki Ichigo...how many times has it been retold? Countless times it has, with many changes to the tale.
...And today...it is retold once more...a very different way...Oh so different…
Today was not what Kurosaki Ichigo would have called normal; not by any stretch of the imagination.
It had started normal, what with him having to beat up a bunch of thugs who had been disrespecting a little girl's grave.
And then making them apologize to the girl's ghost about it. That was all fine and dandy.
And then there was his old man kicking his face in because he came home late. Again, that was all fine, despite the bastard making him come back at 7 PM like he was 10 or something.
He should have realized something weird was going on when ol' Goat-Chin gave him some random bauble, claiming it to be a good luck charm from Mom.
As if. Ichigo knew what his mother considered lucky, and some random white orb wasn't it.
Now this chick who claimed to be a Shinigami had appeared, chasing a monster that was apparently after him because he could see ghosts. And now the only way out of this was to become a Shinigami himself…
...He didn't care what happened to him, honestly. That monster...that Hollow...it had attacked his sisters and father because it was after him. It was his fault! And he had to do something; anything to make up for it! As long as he could protect his family...nothing else mattered!
"...Give me the sword, Shinigami...let's see if this works!" he decided.
"It is not Shinigami...my name is Kuchiki Rukia," the petite, injured Shinigami finally introduced herself.
"I'm Kurosaki Ichigo...for all our sakes, let's hope this works!" Ichigo declared, grabbing the sword in his hands. Rukia concentrated her spiritual power into her blade, seeking to give Ichigo half of her own powers to defeat the Hollow so that they could get out of this.
The Hollow was approaching them; there was no time for hesitation. Together, the two sunk the blade into Ichigo's chest. As soon as it passed through...a shining light shone from where the two of them were. The Hollow was blinded by the light, stumbling backwards in pain.
And once the light died down...Ichigo stood there, exactly the same as before.
And Rukia had been reduced to wearing a simple white outfit, as opposed to the black robes she had been wearing before.
"W-What? It...did not work?" she said in shock. And...she had only meant to give half of her power, so why was all of it gone?!
"W-Well...that's a problem," Ichigo decided, fear starting to creep back into his heart. Just then, light shone out from his pocket, drawing his curiosity.
...Well, they were dead anyway. Might as well see what it was. Drawing it out, the source was…
"That bauble Goat-Chin gave me?" he said in confusion, drawing the white orb out. It was indeed the source, glowing a faint golden color.
Rukia drew in a breath. "The entirety of my spiritual power...it has been drawn into that orb!" she realized, using what little of her senses remained.
"Just what the hell did you give me, Pops?!" Ichigo demanded. Because if she was right, then it didn't work because of this stupid thing!
The orb flashed, stunning both...before changing shape.
"Oh, what the hell now...now it's an eyeball?!" Ichigo said incredulously. The orb indeed resembled an eyeball now, the front very clearly showing a blue iris staring out of the inside. The front was still white, but the back part of it was now black. And on top was a sticker of some kind, showing a blue face, the letter S, and a word in English. Specter.
"That's it...this is all a horrible nightmare!" he decided.
That wasn't even the end of it. Ichigo himself did not notice, but when the orb had changed into an eye, an orange belt suddenly appeared on his waist, with a large buckle that resembled a bedsheet ghost and an orange lever.
Rukia did notice, however. "From where did this large object suddenly appear?" she questioned.
"Wait, what?" Ichigo said in confusion, before looking down. "WHAT THE HELL?! WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?!" He didn't remember putting some gaudy belt on!
Just then, the Hollow finally recovered. It heard Ichigo's yelling, and let out a roar of its own in challenge, before starting to lumber towards the pair.
"Damn it! Forgot about that guy…" Ichigo realized, taking a step back.
"What are you doing?! Did you not wish to be able to protect your family?!" Rukia demanded of him.
"Yeah, but our big plan didn't work! What do you want me to do, ya midget?! Throw you at him or something?!" Ichigo demanded.
'MIDGET?!' Rukia seethed in her mind.
-WHAM!-
"YOW!" Ichigo howled in pain, clutching his shin. For you see, despite her current state, Rukia had enough strength to kick him.
"I'M NOT A MIDGET, YOU CRETIN! YOU'RE JUST ABNORMALLY TALL!" she yelled.
"THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT RIGHT NOW?!" Ichigo pointed out in pain. What the hell was with this Shinigami chick's priorities?!
Just then, his flailing about caused him to hit a button on top of the buckle...which proceeded to open it up, revealing black machinery inside, as well as a cavity. The belt then began letting out a pulsing noise.
"Huh?" Ichigo said in surprise, forgetting his pain for the moment. He stared a little at the open belt, before looking back at the eyeball-thing in his hand. It kinda looked like...
"Wait...does this go in here?" he realized. Absentmindedly, he hit the button on the side of the eyeball, which caused the inside to flip from the iris to the same letter S that was on top of it. He placed the eyeball into the cavity, then closed the belt back up.
EYE~!
"Eh?" he said, in confusion, before immediately leaping back in shock as something flew out of the 'eye' of the belt.
"What?!" Rukia said in shock. Ichigo shared that sentiment, looking at it in confusion.
It appeared to be a floating jacket of some kind. Mainly black, but with blue lapels. That wasn't the strange part though; its hood was raised, and all they could see in it were two glowing blue eyes.
Notably, the jacket itself seemed to be confused as well, before the Hollow roared once more. Turning, the jacket's eyes somehow narrowed, and it flew at the Hollow, ramming into it again and again to attack.
As it did, the belt began singing…
Batchirimiro~! Batchirimiro~!
"Why the hell is this singing, and what's with that jacket ghost...thing?!" Ichigo spluttered.
"I...I do not know...this is beyond anything I have ever learned in my time as a Shinigami," Rukia said faintly. The power emanating from the floating clothing...it felt like...but it couldn't be-!
The belt continued to sing, and while the floating jacket's attacks were at least stunning the Hollow, it didn't seem to be doing much damage.
"Damn it, how do you turn this thing off?!" Ichigo yelled, trying to find an off switch or something.
...Wait, there was that lever. Maybe…
Ichigo pulled it out. Other than closing the 'eye' of the belt, that didn't do anything. "Ugh…" he groaned, pushing it back in. However, that did proceed to make it stop singing.
"Finally, now…" he started, before getting interrupted as the belt spoke.
Kaigan: Specter!
He made a face of confusion. "What?" he said, looking down. There he noticed that the 'eye' of the belt was showing a face similar to the one he could see on top of the the eyeball thing, which was visible through a gap in the belt.
Just then, a yellow, vaguely eye-like symbol appeared in front of him...before particles merged around him to form a black armor of some sort. It was fairly plain, other than the two-horned eye symbol from before plastered on his chest, and blue lines that seemed to resemble what he recognized as ECM patterns.
"What is-?" Rukia said in confusion herself. Just then, the floating jacket's eyes flashed, before it turned back to the now-armored Ichigo. A dawning look seemed to flash, before it beelined directly for Ichigo.
"Woah, wait a sec! The monster's over there, not here!" Ichigo frantically tried to point out. Weird armor or not, he didn't want to be attacked by-!
Except the jacket didn't attack him. It instead flew behind him and dropped onto his armor so that he wore it himself. The inside of the hood flashed...before the blank visor had a new design flip up onto it. Ichigo couldn't tell, but it was the same face that was on the eyeball, with two additional horns.
The belt then sung a short line.
Ready, Go! Kakugo! Dokidoki Ghost-o~!
Ichigo blinked in shock behind his helmet, lowering the hood as he looked at himself. "W-What is this? O-Oi, Rukia...you sure you've never heard of anything like this?"
"No...never…" the depowered Shinigami said, her eyes as wide as they could go.
And off in the distance, gazing at everything, an old man dressed in red robes and carrying a wooden staff nodded as things were set into motion. "Looks like things are coming to a head…"
As Ichigo continued to look at himself in shock, Rukia observed something else that she had finally realized.
'His power...the reason I could not sense the Hollow is because his power was smothering my senses. Just...who is Kurosaki Ichigo? I have never heard of a human with this much natural spiritual power...'
That was superfluous right now, though. She didn't even have enough power left to perform a Kido spell at the moment. While his form was bizarre beyond imagination, Rukia could feel the power brimming off of Ichigo.
...Like it or not, there was only one thing to do. "Kurosaki Ichigo... I do not know what has happened to you, but I believe this is our only chance to stop that Hollow!" she urged him.
"Y-Yeah...right," Ichigo nodded, turning his gaze on the Hollow. "Alright, you...whatever you are...YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR HURTING MY FAMILY, FISHFACE!" he yelled, running at the Hollow.
"W-Wait!" Rukia yelled after him, but he wouldn't listen. "W-What a fool...charging in without any idea of what he's doing…"
"Haaaaaaaaaa-!" Ichigo roared, lancing out with a punch. The Hollow, officially known as Fishbone D (who really cares, honestly?), attempted to block with its own arm.
Ichigo's punch impacted directly onto the Hollow's arm, knocking it back and causing it pain.
"THERE! YOU LIKE THAT?! HAVE SOME MORE!" Ichigo yelled, punching out again as much as he could. He punched the Hollow back three more times, before the Hollow finally had enough.
It roared out, the noise stunning Ichigo for a moment from the sheer loudness, then it proceeded to punch him, sending him flying back in the direction of Rukia.
"Woaaaah!" he yelled as he was sent flying into the ground, cringing with pain. "Damn it…"
"Get up! The Hollow's coming again!" Rukia yelled at him.
"Do you think I can't see that myself?!" Ichigo demanded, picking himself back onto his feet. "Damn it! I need some kind of weapon! Like that sword you were using earlier!"
"If you had become a Shinigami, you too would have received a Zanpakuto, but as it stands…" Rukia shook her head. She really had no idea.
"Come on! Oi, don't you have a weapon or something, you talking belt?!" Ichigo demanded of his belt.
As if on cue, some kind of circle appeared over the belt, and out popped...something. It kinda looked like a rifle of some kind, but why did the end look like a curled up hand?
That was when the gun spoke.
Gan Gun Hand!
...Apparently that was what it was called.
"Great...first a talking belt, now a talking gun. Did I accidentally inhale fumes or something? All that hot air Keigo spouts is probably toxic or something…"
"Focus! You at least have a weapon of some kind now!" Rukia yelled.
"Fat lot of good it does me…" Ichigo grumbled. He hefted the Gan Gun Hand up, aiming at the Hollow...and then fired.
The recoil sent most of his shots flying off and missing the Hollow. A few managed to actually hit it though, including a shot directly to the mask, causing the beast to hiss in pain and stumble back.
"You fool! Aim properly!" Rukia admonished him.
"Oh gee, it's not like I've never used a gun before!" Ichigo shot back sarcastically. "These things are kind of illegal, you know!"
This was not getting him anywhere; he'd rather beat the thing to death with this thing given how crappy his aim was at the moment!
That was when he noticed some kind of slider on the side of the Hand. "What's this?" he questioned, moving it up.
In response, the curled hand unfolded...which also made the device look somewhat like a giant backscratcher with a trigger. The Hand also let off, in a robotic tone, "Nande Yanen (Translation: 'What the hell' in Japanese Kansai dialect)?!"
Ichigo's eye started twitching behind his helmet. "I agree with the talking gun; what the hell even is today?!"
This day continued to make no sense, and it was severely pissing him off!
Fortunately, he had an acceptable target right in front of him! "COME HERE, YOU!" he yelled at the Hollow, this time with the Gun Gan Hand held aloft.
The Hollow roared, attempting to punch out at him again. But this time, Ichigo blocked its arm with the Gan Gun Hand. Seeing a chance, he moved the slider again, so that the arm was trapped in the grip of the Hand.
And so that the gun barrel was pointed right at its face. "I don't need to aim...when I'm in point-blank!" he yelled, firing off incessantly, the shots all hitting the mask of the creature.
The Hollow yowled in pain, thrashing about with its other limbs. Its free arm hit Ichigo, sending him flying backwards in pain once again. But because he had the Gan Gun Hand in an iron grip…
...This also meant that the Hollow's own arm got ripped off as well. It howled in pain, thrashing about in place.
"Ugh…" Ichigo winced, getting back to his feet once more. "Alright...now you're weakened," he said in pain, his vision beginning to swim. This guy...was gonna be chum by the time he was done with him! He tried to step forward and attack again.
"You won't finish him off like that!" a voice rang out over the battle. It kinda sounded like a venerable old man.
"Huh/Hm?!" Rukia and Ichigo both started in surprise, before looking around. There, on the rooftop of a nearby building, was the old man in the red robes who had been observing them.
"Move the lever on the Ghost Driver again!" he called out.
"'Ghost Driver'? Oi, old man! You know something about this crazy belt?!" Ichigo yelled at him. And what kind of name was 'Ghost Driver' anyway?
"I should think you have more important things at the moment! Just listen to me!" the old man shot back.
"...Tch! Fine!" Ichigo said petulantly, dropping the Hand. That old man seemed shady, but he clearly knew more about this belt than he did. And this Hollow had to go before he could get answers!
He gripped the lever again, and pumped it once more, causing it to spout off again.
Dai Kaigan! Specter: Omega Drive!
A blue glyph of some sorts formed behind Ichigo, before it turned into energy that flowed into his foot. Ichigo had a sudden flash of insight on what he had to do at this point, and started running forwards at the Hollow.
"THIS IS FOR MY FAMILY!" he yelled, before leaping up and aiming a kick right at the Hollow's face, his outstretched foot covered in the energy from the glyph.
The Hollow roared in defiance, attempting to bring up its remaining arm to block the attack.
But Ichigo's kick simply tore past its defense and impacted right through its head, Ichigo himself being shot out the other side!
The Hollow sparked with the energies that had been forced into it, before letting out one last howl and exploding!
As Ichigo landed on the other side, he panted in exhaustion, the armor seeming to fall apart as the adrenaline faded. The Ghost Driver spoke up once more.
OYASUMI~!
"Man...you never shut up...do you?" he questioned of the belt, before getting up.
The whole street looked completely wrecked, and Rukia was looking gobsmacked.
And then there was that old man, who was looking pretty pleased with himself for some shifty old man who came out of nowhere.
"Alright...old man...just who the hell are you?" Ichigo demanded, taking a step forwards.
"Who, me? Oh, I'm just a passing-through Sage, nothing more," the old man said innocently.
"Yeah, right...you obviously know something about this belt...given you know its name. Why do I...ugh…" But before Ichigo could demand any more answers, his exhaustion and injuries caught up with him.
Ichigo sank into unconsciousness, the last thing he saw being Rukia's concerned visage.
By the time Ichigo awoke, it was already morning, and...things were normal?
Neither his sisters or his old man remembered anything about the attack last night. Instead, they just thought a truck had crashed into the house.
He could believe that kind of stupidity from Goat-Chin, but Karin and Yuzu? No way. They really didn't remember…was this how Shinigami clean-up worked or something?
As Ichigo walked to Karakura High, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe he had just dreamed the whole thing?
"...Of course, if I did dream it...then why do I still have this?" he questioned, fishing out the eyeball thing. It still looked the same as it did after he and that Shinigami Rukia tried to turn him into a Shinigami.
...That weird old man kept coming back to his thoughts. It was obvious that he had something to do with all of this, but what? He couldn't exactly ask Rukia...she seemed to have disappeared along with all the damage and his family's memories.
"How do you find some strange old man like that, though?" Ichigo muttered to himself.
Whatever. He was already late for school because of how exhausted he was yesterday. No need to delay himself thinking about it.
...At least, that's what he thought, until he actually got to the classroom and noticed the new transfer student.
Rukia.
'WHAT THE HELL?! WHAT'S SHE DOING HERE?!'
Later, between classes, Ichigo ended up dragging Rukia up to the roof. He couldn't get answers from that old man, but he could certainly get answers from her!
Rukia, however, didn't seem to see it that way. "Why have you called me up to this suspicious place? You will abstain from any untoward actions towards my person."
...What. "Do you seriously always talk like that?" Ichigo asked blankly.
"A refined Shinigami like myself must always set a good example, both in poise, grace, and choice of language," Rukia said haughtily.
"Yeah, well, your reaction to my calling you short last night speaks otherwise…" Ichigo muttered under his breath.
Unfortunately, Rukia heard him, and immediately beaned him with her bookbag. "Be silent! I am not short! We have already gone over this!"
"Alright, alright already…" Ichigo grumbled, rubbing his head. 'Bossy midget…'
"Anyway, I've got some questions for you!" he continued. "You've got a bunch to explain right now!"
"Such as?" the Shinigami-in-disguise questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Like you, for starters!" Ichigo declared, pointing at her. "Why are you still here?! Isn't your job done or something?! Hollow's gone, house is semi-fixed, no one remembers anything...but why the hell are you in my class?! Don't you have to go back to that Soul Society place?!"
"Don't be a fool!" she snapped back at him. "I should think it is obvious enough. Only Shinigami can return to Soul Society on their own."
'...What?!' "What are you saying?" Ichigo said in confusion. "I thought you said you were a Shinigami-"
"Emphasis on the 'were'!" Rukia cut him off, a sullen look forming on her face. "Unfortunately, I seem to have lost my Shinigami powers!"
"...WHAT?!" Ichigo said in shock, stepping back. How does someone lose powers like that?! It didn't make any-!
...Wait a minute… "Wait, are you saying that-?" He drew out the eyeball thing and showed it to her.
Recognition flashed through her eyes as she looked at it. "Yes. As I explained to you last night, I only meant to give you half of my own powers so you could fight the Hollow. However, that Eyecon somehow absorbed almost all of my power instead. Until my power returns, I am stranded in the World of the Living, reduced to hiding within this fake body," she told him, laying a hand on her torso as a visual aid.
"Fake body?" Ichigo asked in confusion. "I guess that would explain why everyone else was able to see you…"
"Indeed. Weakened Shinigami hide out among the Living in these fake bodies, so as to avoid detection from Hollows."
"Right…" That explained that, but…
...Wait, 'Eyecon'?
"What did you call this thing? An Eyecon? You mean you know what this is?" Ichigo questioned, waving the now-labeled Eyecon in front of her face.
Rukia slapped his hand away. "Get that out of my face! ...Ahem...yes, that is apparently called an Eyecon, and no, I do not have much idea of what it is. That strange elder who appeared last night is the one who referred to it as such."
"Oh yeah...that old man...he definitely knows something about all this…" Ichigo muttered, thinking back to last night. "About this 'Eyecon' thing...and about that belt...what did he call it; a 'Ghost Driver'? I bet he had something to do with the talking gun too! What kind of drugs was he on to make something like that…"
"He also referred to you by some kind of title I am unfamiliar with...does the term 'Kamen Rider Specter' mean anything to you?" Rukia questioned.
Ichigo immediately froze in shock at the question she asked. "K-Kamen Rider...he...he called me a Kamen Rider?!"
"...Apparently it does mean something to you. What is a Kamen Rider?" she questioned.
Ichigo took a few deep breathes. "Kamen Riders...they're...they're supposed to be masked heroes who defend people...the common people have no idea who they are; they just ride in, defeat the bad guys, and then leave. But...Kamen Riders are fictional! How can I be a Kamen Rider?!" he demanded.
That was it. He needed to get answers from that old man! NOW!
"Oi, Rukia...where the hell did that old man go to after last night?!" Ichigo asked hurriedly.
"I...do not know," she admitted. "One second he was there, and then he was gone. It was too abrupt for it to be the Flash Step technique...I could not tell where he went…"
"Damn it…" Ichigo seethed.
"Anyway, leaving that matter aside…" Rukia said, a very serious look on her face. "Until my powers return, you will take over my Shinigami duties for me!" she declared.
"...WHAT?!"
As the pair started arguing, a certain familiar old man was standing on the roof of a nearby building, watching them. "Things are finally starting. Here's hoping everything falls in place like it should."
"As I recall, you didn't want to have to involve him until a year from now. Let him live life and mature on his own," a second person interjected, hopping up next to him.
"Kisuke," the old man nodded to his conversational partner. "I did say that, yes. It's early, but...I think it's for the best. More time to prepare, after all."
Urahara Kisuke, the owner of a rather shady sweets shop in Karakura Town, adjusted his hat. "If he'd become a Shinigami, it would have been rather easy to predict his growth rate and power level from the amount of spiritual energy he has. Do you really think the Ghost Driver has enough of an advantage in the long run for him to start off arguably weaker, Sage?"
"What, you saying you don't have faith in me?" Sage asked faux-innocently.
"Of course not. Why do you think I've been trying to surpass that invention of yours?" Urahara mentioned cheekily.
"I look forward to the day you do, Kisuke, don't doubt that. It'd be a huge load off. Still...if there's one thing I know about that family, it's that they're tenacious. So for now, I think I'll put my trust in Kurosaki Ichigo."
"Hm...if you say so," Urahara shrugged, looking at the pair they were observing.
"...I just hope it'll be enough to deal with him..."
Episode 01 - Fin
So...yeah...Bleach and Ghost just seemed an obvious duo to cross...although this is more of a fusion fic more than anything else, something you'll be seeing plenty of as we press onwards.
Also, I know I skipped over a bunch of stuff that was actually in Bleach Chapter 1, but quite frankly, it would have just been a canon rehash if I'd done it, so...I didn't. Simple as that.
Anyway, join me next time for Number One Specter Episode 02: What It Means To Be A Rider. See you guys then!