Hello guys, and welcome back!
Now, I want you all to remember that this story, while officially cross-over of Bleach and Code Geass, has Psyren in it as well. If you don't know what Psyren is, then think of it as timey-wimey wobbly-rolley-boo of epers(telekinetics, pyrokinetics, mind readers, etc), going back and forth between timeline to find out about the apocalypse that has taken over the future. Of course, in my story, characters of Psyren have been transplanted to the Royal Guards instead of Drifters and W.I.S.E, their original groups.
With that in mind, please also note that this is a sequel to the story, Black Dragon Slayer, Kurosaki Ichigo, meaning that Fairy Tail magic will certainly make its appearance in here.
Thanks for reading the note, and on with the story.
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Chapter 2: Scouting
Ichigo blinked.
"So this is your place, huh?" he asked Lelouch/Zero, who stood to the right of him and half a step ahead as they walked down the coast of the Penglai Island.
Along their way to the headquarter of the Black Knights and the first territory of the United States of Japan, Zero had explained to Ichigo the history and the current events circulating around the planet. Most of it had to do with the Britannia Empire, as it was Lelouch's main goal to destroy, but what Ichigo heard about the place sounded very much like some over-dramatized Napoleon … who actually succeeded in taking quite a chunk of the world.
Unfortunately, even with the ample knowledge of this world, Lelouch did not have any -any as in ZERO- information on the flying assaulters whose ass he kicked to next weekend. Or grave for some. It was during that part of that conversation that Ichigo realized that Lelouch had yet to fight anyone like them. Which meant trouble for the boy, as they declared themselves as the Royal Guard.
"Yes, it is," Zero replied as he gave a passing saluting Black Knight a nod. Ichigo looked about.
The place seemed very much like a ghetto... except very maintained and properly set in place by some authority. The people here were all refugees, and many of them included children... who seemed to rush out of their homes and follow him like he was some kind of … hero.
"I see that the children are following us. Or rather you," Zero said as he gave the children a glance. "They all saw your little stunt at the Viceroy's Palace. How do you feel about that?"
"I feel as if someone had violated me rather publicly. But then again, I'm the one who decided to go ahead and do that to myself, so I must be an asshole," Ichigo replied with a scowl. Hollow, who had been surprisingly silent up until now, cackled inside.
"Oooooh, I love this attention! People love me!" he cackled inside Ichigo's head, giving his landlord a headache.
'It's been a while, Hollow, but do you need to start migraine with your introduction?' Ichigo asked his hollow half mentally.
"Is something wrong?" Zero asked as they came to a stop in front of a giant submarine with … a helmet? Zero looked between where Ichigo was staring and the frown and made a connection, though the frown had a different origin.
"This is Ikaruga, Black Knight's sole heavy aerial battleship. It's one of the most advanced piece of technology that exists today. Unfortunately, most of its advance systems were scavenged from a knightmare I used to pilot, which is smaller than this giant thing," Zero said proudly "It's not finished as of yet, and needs some more work on it, which means if a battle were to occur now, Ikaruga would be a liability, not an upper hand."
Ichigo nodded. "Something tells me that you don't have the resources or the manpower to manufacture any more of its class," Ichigo wisely pointed out. "You'll have to take a real good care of this girl."
Zero chuckled. "Of course. After all, it will be our floating fortress. Come now," he said, urging Ichigo to follow him. "We're going to meet the core members of the Black Knights now."
"Yeepee..." Ichigo declared sarcastically; he didn't like meeting people in high position.
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On the other hand, maybe not.
"This is the core members of the Order of Black Knights," Zero said as he and Ichigo walked into Ikaruga's bridge.
There was a red headed girl, a stoic-looking man in his thirties?, a red headed man with a headband just like the girl, a Japanese man with a … mini pompadour?, a green haired girl with a plushie, and Japanese girl in semi-traditional dress with two ornamental shoulder guard. It was an odd-looking bunch.
"Woah, when I thought you said we have a important guest, Zero-sama, I was thinking more in terms of a political guest," Kaguya voiced her shock for the rest of the group before them.
Zero chuckled. "Well, it isn't the first time I've surprised you all," he said as he led Ichigo to where the group was on the lower deck of the bridge. "This here is Kurosaki Ichigo, a Japanese like the most of us."
"Toudou," the ex-military colonel replied. "I'm happy to meet a fellow Japanese man fighting by our side."
"Karin Kouzaki."
"Tamaki."
"C.C." The girl said before heading off to a chair on the edge of the command deck of the bridge and setting herself down on it. Perhaps the oddest of them.
"Kaguya, Zero-sama's future wife." Maybe not.
"Ohgi." The pompadour said.
Then it was Tamaki that got the group engaged into a lively conversation.
"Damn man! You're buffer than what I saw on the TV!" Tamaki said with a sense of awe. He gave Ichigo a friendly backslap... and ending hurting himself. He yelped unceremoniously, pulling out a grin from Ichigo. "Damn, your back is like solid piece of rock or something."
"Is it?" Ichigo replied innocently. "Maybe those thousand push-ups are a bit weak."
Toudou recognized the joke when he saw it and let the edge of his lips curl up a bit. "As I said, I'm glad to have such an … extraordinary fighter amongst us," he said as he extended his hand. Ichigo took gesture of welcome with a firm grip and a stoic face. "I am, however, curious as to why I haven't heard of you before."
Ichigo blinked. Right, he either had to make up a story or just refuse to talk about it. He was not a fan of telling lies, though...
"His past identity is to be treated like how you treat me."
Everyone's attention fell to Zero who stood upon the command post of Ikaruga's bridge.
"More secrets?" C.C., who was on the back of the command deck with the giant yellow plushie, voiced out.
"It is necessary, for he is someone … no one would believe."
"Is he one of the Britannian prince or something?" Tamaki asked with a raised eyebrow. Then everyone laughed at how impossible that suggestion was.
Zero cringed underneath the mask.
Ichigo laughed at the absurdity of the connection between Tamaki's innocent suggestion and Zero's almost imperceptible cringe. "No, no. Actually, I can tell you something about me," he said as he twirled his sheathed and paper-runed sword. "With each paper I rip, my power increases," he said. "Which means if you have seen the TV when I fought against those guys when I was taking my nap," he growled out. "My Getsuga Tensho would have been bigger and stronger had I ripped these seals off."
"I am also interested in that," Toudou said. "How does that work?"
Ichigo blinked. "Huh. I never exactly thought about that in physical terms."
Ichigo had always listened to explanations in terms of spiritual-physical terms or magic-related theories during his time in Earthland but he never actually tried to think about how it worked in this world. How was his reiatsu being converted to affect this world's populace-?
A sudden fear crashed down on him. How far had he unleashed his reiatsu?
'Zangetsu-!'
'I've already checked it for you, Ichigo.'
"Ke, stupid King. You're still dense about what kind of effect you have on people, don't ya?" his hollow chided within his head again. Ichigo growled mentally at the Hollow. "Well excuse me if I can't voice my opinion about your inept abilities, King," Hollow retorted sarcastically.
"Kurosaki-san?" Toudou called, obviously concerned about the dazed look the man was giving the rest of them. "Kurosaki Ichigo-san?"
Ichigo snapped out of the daze that he was in while paying attention to his inner world selves. "Ah, sorry. I had to control something in me."
Toudou frowned. 'Control something? Does he have issues with his mentality?' He turned to glance at Zero. While the man trusted the masked leader of the liberate-hopefuls, it was hard to think about them
"It seems that I don't know how to explain my … peculiarities.." Ichigo replied with a frown. "I hope that doesn't offend anyone."
"No, Zero-sama has his own ways of doing that we can't understand, so we do understand," Kaguya said energetically.
Ichigo smiled. The girl reminded him of Lucy from Earthland... He cringed inwardly as did Zangetsu and Hollow when several images of his life there resurfaced.
"Oi, King! It's starting to pour again!" Hollow roared angrily.
'Alright, alright, I'll think about something else,' Ichigo replied. He cleared his throat before he spoke up. "So, Zero, what will my role be in this fight against Britannia Empire?" he asked. Suddenly, the room's mood turned serious and everyone's attention was on Zero.
"Though I do not doubt that you can fight your way across hundreds of knightmares, Ichigo, I do want to take precautions, and as such, I'll have Rakshata design a knightmare that best suits you," Zero said with his deep voice. "But aside from that, we will possibly face a new threat that is the Royal Guard. They don't seem to be stronger than a knightmare in person, but I want you to perform a information dig on what they are, if you can."
"Nothing much I can do," Ichigo muttered quietly. Then something clicked in his head, and his eyes widened slowly but surely to the point where everyone thought the eyelids had flipped over. "I actually know how to get information on them," he said before storming out of the bridge, not waiting for dismissal from his 'boss' or the meeting's end.
"...Well, isn't he active," Tamaki said sarcastically, somewhat jealous of the newcomer for getting a personal mission so soon when he had practically … none.
Zero sighed before he turned to the core members of the Black Knights.
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Now, had any of the Black Knights knew what Ichigo was doing, they would protest passionately about the morality, or the lack of, with Ichigo's current plan of action.
He was shunpo'ing across the vast ocean between the Penglai Island and Area 11, where he knew that -after his "introduction"- the Royal Guard would be stationed.
:What are you doing, Kurosaki?:
Ichigo stopped and placed his hand on the small device in his ear; it was a long-range radio that Zero had given him few minutes after arriving upon the Penglai Island. At the same time, it was a tracking device.
That meant that Zero knew where Ichigo was. "Going back to Area 11 to get some information. Why?"
:When were you planning on telling me?:
"After I make my second introduction."
:...What?:
Ichigo smirked before he muted the radio and continued his way to Area 11.
Yes, that was his plan. Another big ruckus.
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"Sir!"
Grana shifted his big mane towards the operator to his right manning the scanners. Like before on the Pacific Ocean, he wore the Royal Guard's grey underneath his white bell-sleeved haori.
"What do you see?" he asked the operator in boredom.
"We're catching Signature 4123. It's the man who took out our division in Area 11! He's coming in from the Chinese Federation by the Kyushu's coast!"
Grana blinked. What? The bastard was coming back to Area 11, blaring himself like a beacon? That was interesting. Yes, it was very interesting. But he had to wonder, why was he coming in by Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands that made up Area 11? Had he gone around the southern islands and made his way around the -.
Ah, Grana grinned. The bastard wanted them to know where he was. Telling them that he was there, come get him. 'He's probably a member of the Black Knights who's been keeping his profile low. Makes sense,' he thought to himself. 'And now that he realizes there are others like him, he wants to come out and greet them, maybe even recruit. At the same time, he's probably scouting us out.'
He shrugged.
"Where's Teleporter at? I wanna go there and give the kid a scare."
The operator flinched. Grana calling for Shiner, the Teleporter, meant one thing: he was going to war. The man who can create solar beams with his telekinesis as easily as throwing a measly punch was going to war. And that scared the tiny operator. He fumbled as he tried to get into communication with Shiner. "S-Sir-"
"I'm here."
Grana turned to his left, where a blond man stood. He wore the Royal Guard's gray like Grana himself, and had the similar shoulder guard that only the Espers of the Royal Guard had. "Teleport me to Area 11. I want to meet this Strawberry."
Shiner raised an eyebrow at the nickname Grana gave the perpetrator in Area 11. It made sense, if one judged a man by his hair color. "Alright then, but make a bet with me."
"What kind of bet?"
"He can survive your Sunfall," Shiner smiled.
Grana's eyes widened. His Sunfall was a concentrated beam of energy that was result from gathering the solar energy in the atmosphere and striking it down on his target. His Sunfall was strong enough to take out Avalon if he really wanted to, but to make such a bet...
"Did you already check up on him?" Grana asked his junior commander with a poke to the man's shoulder. Shiner chuckled at the prodding but kept his mouth shut. "Che. I'll bet against that. The only person that survived it only did so after getting his entire body carbonized..."
"Alright then. Off to Area 11, we go."
With a flash, both were gone, leaving the operators in the room wary. The horrors they were to soon witness.
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Ichigo stopped only a few kilometers from the coast of Area 11. Two large presence had appeared within Area 11. They had not been there only a moment ago. He frowned.
"They must be those weak ass bastards' leader," Hollow commented within his head.
Ichigo nodded slightly. "They seem strong."
…
Grana looked about. He stood on top of the Viceroy's Palace with Shiner by his side, and he wondered: why here?
"Isn't he supposed to coming in from the coast?" Grana asked Shiner.
The man frowned. "I didn't know that."
"Weren't you there when the operator said about Strawberry coming in by the coast?"
"No... I had only teleported in when you were calling for me. You do realize that while I may be one of the most powerful commander -stamina-wise within the Royal Guard's Esper division- using teleport halfway around the world does take up a lot of it."
"You're telling me this because?"
"You're the bastard that never ever goes out to do a mission and complains about every single detail."
Grana just shrugged at the insubordination, but fortunately, that's how the Royal Guard's Esper division ran it. Those of the commanding tier were familiar with each other, whether they wanted it or not, and talked familiarly with everyone. Of course, in a military, this should not happen, but it happens anyway with them.
"I'm here, aren't I?" Grana said with a giant grin.
"Only because you want a brawl..." Shiner jabbed at him with another personality issue.
"Oi, aside from Ageha, there isn't anyone that can stand up to me! And considering that His Majesty decided to not use us to let his damn son have some fun with his 'conquest' doesn't help either!" Grana complained.
"Complaining again, I see," Shiner muttered. "Fine. Where do we need to go?" he asked.
"South of Kyoshu, the southernmost island of Area 11."
"The big one?"
"Yes."
"Alright then, hang on."
Grana closed his eyes and let Shiner teleport them with a big flash. When he opened his eyes again, he was somewhat shocked to see a man with dark orange hair standing in midair. "My... this is new," Grana said. Standing in air was not a big deal for many of the espers, as many of them can make or use platforms that allowed midair suspension. However, this man in front of them did not have anything underneath his foot, but seemed to be standing on solid surface, if the way his footwear pointed horizontally was any indication.
He looked about. He was definitely near Kyushu, the said island was to the right of them, appearing where between them and the horizon. They were high up in the air, perhaps a hundred meters above the sea level. And there were no clouds, and their enemy decided to give them some moving ground, as the sea below them would absorb most of the shock they might cause.
"You know, it's rude to not introduce oneself after blocking someone's way," Ichigo shouted, drawing the Grana's attention
Grana turned to face the man, then turned to Shiner. "Did you bring a camera crew?"
Shiner frowned. "Why would I do that?"
"I want to watch myself fight him later. And I'd prefer it if it was also live recorded."
Shiner sighed. "I'll go get a crew." With that and a flash, he disappeared.
Grana then turned back to Ichigo. "I am Grana. Just Grana. I am the Senior Star Commander of the Royal Esper Division! I'm here to see what kind of a threat you are! Now, do you mind introducing yourself?"
…
Ichigo blinked. He never thought about that upon arriving here. What was he?
A shinigami?
A Vizard?
A new member of Black Knights?
A Black Dragon Slayer?
A warrior?
A lover?
A demon?
An angel?
A protector?
...A murderer?
Truth was that it was all of the above... But because it was all of the above, he was none of the above without anyone one of them.
'You should just tell him everything. Make it more dramatic.'
'Hollow, I do not believe that that is such a good decision. It will bring about attention Ichigo surely will not like in the end,' Zangetsu muttered. 'But you should go into shikai, Ichigo. This man... He is very strong. It is unlikely that he is stronger than Kenpachi right now.'
Ichigo nodded mentally. He knew that. This man, Grana, exerted a force of will and presence that made any captain of the Gotei 13 look like a child. 'Close to me, Yama-ji... and Aizen,' Ichigo thought. Then Ichigo face-palmed himself.
'I'm going to kick Kisuke's ass for this...'
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Urahara Kisuke, the man who had sent Kurosaki Ichigo to Earthland, sneezed as he dropped a wrench. The said wrench fell on his toe, and he let out a scream.
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He pulled on one of the seals on the hilt of Zangetsu... And when he did so, he ripped out a long strip of seals; it was the complete network of seals made in his stay at Edolas that kept his power down.
A large shockwave of energy ripped out of the area as soon as the seals were stripped from the sheath of Zangetsu, and the said zanpakuto entered into shikai wordlessly.
…
Grana grinned, much like Kenpachi. This man was strong. Not as strong as him, but strong enough.
He may even need to go Nova...*
…
Ichigo closed his eyes as he let the familiar feeling of power wash around him like second skin. His power pulsated through the atmosphere, and he could feel Grana's own presence being overlapped by his own power.
Then he opened his eyes.
"I am Kurosaki Ichigo," Ichigo said as he slung Zangetsu over his shoulder. "I am -"
…
Shiner now had no patience. He wanted to watch Grana fight the Strawberry. It was not any other day that he got to watch two giants of power clash. So when the crew was preping helicopters and whatnot, he just decided to grab a cameraman and a camera connected to a broadcaster, and he teleported.
And they arrived just in time to see Ichigo release his sword.
"Hurry up and get that thing running," Shiner said as he used his Rise* to make a platform beneath them. The cameraman nodded nervously before doing so.
"...I am Kurosaki Ichigo. I am many things. I am a traveller of dimensions," Shiner narrowed his eyes at that one.
"I am a soul reaper."
Ichigo said as the short chain at the butt of Zangetsu glowed softly in blue light before growing in length, reaching at least five meters.
"I am a magician."
He threw his sword up into the air, and grabbed the middle of the chain.
"I am a demon."
He began spinning Zangetsu. Slowly, slowly.. faster... faster... faster... After ten spins, he was generating a heavy torrent of wind. The winds threatened to push the cameraman off of the platform that Shiner made, but the junior commander of the REGD held the man firmly.
"I am a human. But none of that matters because I'm going to kick your ass if you decide to fight me!"
…
Diethard Reid cursed as a live feed was being broadcasted through all around the world. Another fight between the Strawberry haired man and a new man. And he cursed at himself for not getting this on the scene. "Get the helicopter ready!" he shouted to the nearest operator.
…
Grana simply grinned at Ichigo's declaration.
He rolled up the sleeves of his haori. "Well, this will be fun, won't it?" he said before taking a fist back.
Then he punched the air.
…
Claudius Sunnyhill was your average man. He had a wife, a kid, and a home. He had a job as a cameraman, and he loved his job. There was a thrill in the job lately with all of the shenanigans. However, the battle before him was not something he was thrilled about. Merely watching it made his instincts go wild. Fear gripped him tightly and refused to let go of him. Hell, he was pissing himself right there! But he watched it with his company's expensive camera mounted on his shoulder.
Another shockwave ripped through the area.
He flinched.
This was too much. Watching them made him realize that he had lived in the dark for most of his life. Why hadn't he known about such powerful beings that wore human flesh? Were they government experiment? Was it an underground war?
Then he remembered the incident not too long ago with the orange haired man, and also realized that he was the one filming this.
He could tell the world what was going on. What was unfolding before him.
"L-ladies and gentlemen, this is Claudius Sunnyhill from your best news channel..." he began to talk.
…
Ichigo grinned as he dodged Grana's telekinetic punches that literally ripped the air where it struck. He put up his hand to his mouth with a fist. "Black Dragon's Roar!" he hissed. He sucked in air... and breathed out black fire-like wave of magic.
Grana narrowed his eyes as he sent a TK punch at the wave of magic.
The telekinesis flashed through the space and struck the wave … and the explosion it caused decayed from inside out.
"Decaying?" he thought outloud. "Let's test that." He looked down briefly at the ocean below them, and with a single command from his mind, let his telekinesis whip up waves of ocean. Water surged towards Grana like some sort of rising tower, spinning itself furiously as it climbed the altitude.
"Solidify!" Ichigo roared as he grabbed the last wisp of the Black Dragon's Roar with his free left hand. Then he spun that.
Grana laughed. Metal on one hand. Rot in the other. "You look like death!" he absent mindedly commented on how Ichigo.
Ichigo chuckled as well before he charged in.
Grana fired bullets of water.
Ichigo lashed out with his spinning Roar. Any water bullet that came into contact with it broke away into steam-like gas. 'It was decay,' Grana thought as he watched Ichigo charge towards him with great speed. Ichigo reached Grana few seconds after the latter had confirmed the black magic's ability, and struck out with spinning Zangetsu from above.
Grana dodged the giant clever of a sword by jumping away to his left, and in counter, threw one of his telekinetic punches at Ichigo.
Ichigo took the hit and flew away like a ragdoll.
He skidded to a halt after flying ten meters or so away. The Roar had dispelled, and Zangetsu hung limply. He che'd before he pulled the chain back and held the sword by the hilt. He shunpo'ed away, much to Grana's shock, and appeared above the man. Silently, he struck down on the commander.
Slash!
"Grana!" Shiner shouted, worried that his senior commander might have been beaten before he went full out.
The said man merely looked over his shoulder. "That nicked me kid," he said as he held Zangetsu in his bleeding left hand. But the arm trembled as he kept the blade from cutting him down. 'Telekinesis can't stop it...!' he thought bitterly. He let go of the sword, unable to hold unto it anymore.
…
Ichigo jumped away with a narrowed pair of eyes.
'It wasn't like hierro... It was more like how Kenpachi stopped my sword,' Ichigo thought as he spun Zangetsu again.
"Getsuga Tensho."
Blue wave of destructive energy glowed on Zangetsu's blade, but it did not fire away.
Ichigo charged in again and this time, he slung his sword like tetherball at Grana. The man dodged, unsure of the effect the blue energy will have on him by ducking below the strike. Ichigo quickly slung the sword around and struck again, this time lower. Grana simply let go of the force holding him up in midair, and fell to dodge the sword.
Before Ichigo could attack again, Grana propelled himself up and struck out with more of his punches. Ichigo, having already experienced his punches somehow managed to dodge them by jumping away. Shockwave shook the entire battleground, however, when one managed to strike Zangetsu as Ichigo put it up to block himself. Ichigo was propelled backward, but he came to a stop after only a meter or two.
"You're strong," Ichigo said as he shunpo'ed behind Grana and slashed him in the back. Grana grunted as blood spilled from his fresh wound. He turned around and struck Ichigo with his telekinetic punch. Ichigo took the hit directly to his chest, and he was flung. He once again skidded to a stop not too far away.
Ichigo shunpo'ed again, this time right up to Grana's face. The man cursed as Ichigo threw a punch at the man's chest, sending the Star Commander flying back. He also skidded to a stop.
It was only then that Grana noticed that something was wrong with the atmosphere. It smelled different. Breathing was hard, despite the fact that he was above the ocean, where the oxygen levels should not be low.
Ichig, on the other hand, grinned as he took out a lighter.
Grana was confused. 'He's going to pull out a smoke in the middle of this fight?'
Ichigo turned the lighter on, and tossed it.
Nothing happened.
And then everything happened as the entire area ruptured open like volcano. Ichigo watched the smoke, waiting for Grana to come out. "I know you're still in there, all alive and well!" he shouted.
"Che," Grana muttered as he walked out. "I forgot that little ability of yours to decay that you showed in the beginning. Black Dragon's Roar or something? You rotted the air didn't you?!" he shouted, a bit annoyed at having the front of his haori burnt. He walked out of the smoke just as the said smoke began to defuse into the air, but the damage had been done. He had few burns here and there, but he looked mostly okay. "I barely had time to put up my shields!"
Ichigo grinned back. "Of course! It was meant to catch you off-guard!"
Grana laughed. "I like ya! If only you weren't an enemy, I'd spar you day and night. It'll be so much fun..."
"I got better things to do than spar," Ichigo said as he gripped Zangetsu with both of his hands. "I know you're holding back, just as I am, so show me."
Grana grinned as he himself got into a stance, one where he had his feet slightly apart, left in front of right, and his hands doing the same. And then he hooked his fingers as white energy began to permeate his skin.
"Bankai."
"Nova: Release."
...
"Nova, bankai?" Zero muttered as he watched the live feed.
Then the speakers around the command bridge of Ikaruga, slightly vibrating its still unfinished structure.
"...That's some boom," Tamaki muttered.
Rakshata, on the other hand, was grinning. "I'm going to have to study the man," she said with a wicked smile stretching across her usually bored face. "Won't this be fun?"
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And it's done!
Nova: the Psyren equivalent of a bankai. It shows the more advance form of the user's PSI ability (EX:telekinesis = "absolute" telekinesis, psychokinesis = "inferno", etc).