Sweat hung precariously from the blonde's nose as he was bent over the work station, his gloved hands carefully manipulating the nearly microscopic prods to turn the device in front of him before reaching over without looking away, turning a small plastic dial on the nearby console, listening to the soft clicks to determine how far he'd adjusted it so far. He watched the small gem-like object give pulsing glows, a soft smile crossing his face. It wasn't often that he got a response from the device, at least not as a direct result of his fiddling. He slowly removed the manipulating prongs, a small glass looking case closing around it. He gingerly picked up the case, setting it inside of a dull looking wooden case and sliding it into a hidden crevice underneath one of the tables before turning to the door. He didn't have any sort of premonition, but his guest was punctual by a fault, while also being random to anyone not specifically watching him or trying to track his movements
He counted off mentally in his head, even tapping on his thigh with his fingers going from five down to a closed fist signifying zero as three slow knocks, spaced out by a measured number of seconds sounded on the thick wooden door. Kisuke Uruhara reached over, pressing a switch that unlocked the multitude of locks that held the door in place, watching with a small smile as his willing guinea pig stepped in. In truth calling him a guinea pig was a bit inaccurate, Takeshi was much closer to a research partner as of late, offering opinions beyond simply where not to put the needle.
"Ah, Takeshi, you're punctual as always, come in! I've made some progress tod-Oh my...that look on your face, is something the matter?" he asked, his smile dissipating, but not gone entirely. He knew that Takeshi occasionally had reservations about the work they did, especially surrounding the Hogyoku, but he had quite a mind for progress.
Takeshi gave a short bow before shaking his head. "No, Captain Urahara, but an idea perhaps. The original goal of this device has been to bridge the gap between ourselves and hollows, correct?"
Kisuke gave a nod, beckoning for the tall man to sit as he poured them both a small saucer of liquor, a tradition more than anything, but it helped to sooth Takeshi's tension.
"Perhaps we've been going about it the wrong way, we've been trying to give hollows bits of shinigami power, but I think that the same method, only reversed, would work. Traditionally this would cause soul suicide, I know, but we still don't know how this device works other than on a very general level. I'm thinking, this hogyoku is a way to maintain the balance, a stabilizing agent essentially." He explained carefully, as if trying to make sure that his words made sense. As he watched his scientific mentor's eyes go down in thought he felt that he had accomplished his goal.
"And...who would you suggest for test subjects? I'll not try this on such an asset to both myself and the Gotei 13 like yourself, and a passerby on the streets of Rukongai would surely die from such a process." He said, his voice low while he thought, obviously trying to think this through fully.
Takeshi nodded his head, forgetting that Kisuke wasn't like his Vice-president in the Shinigami R&D Institute, Mayuri, who would flay somebody alive just to see why they had a faster cognitive process than normal, so the 3rd seated officer wasn't likely to be the first to go under the knife.
"The Nest."
Takeshi looked up from his reverie of thought as Urahara spoke up, a grim smile on his face. Takeshi briefly had to think what he meant, before realizing that he was referring to the Maggot's Nest, the closest thing that the Gotei 13 had to a prison. He continued to look over at the genius captain, waiting for him to continue.
"We can use prisoners from the Maggot's Nest, obviously not my first choice for stable test subjects...but testing a hypothesis like this is hardly something to be picky about where the material comes from. " He said, starting to grow hopeful. "If this works, perhaps we can find a way to mimic the process in the other direction, well done Takeshi." He chuckled, patting the man's shoulder.
Takeshi gave a very light smile. "Thank you, sir. When should we get a hold of the prisoners? I already have at least one in mind that would be relatively sane still, and if so, smart enough to take a chance at freedom. With your permission I'll collect him along with the rest of my list tomorrow."
The captain just smiled and pushed a refilled saucer of sake to him. "To breakthroughs and progress?"
"Indeed..."
She was a huntress, a demon of the shadows and angel of death in the light. 'Or hell, that's probably how Xiao would describe me..' the woman thought with an inward chuckle 'More like the baddest bitch with a blade.' Her emerald eyes staring down at the aforementioned male and the group of men around him, all of them criminals, but only one with a life worth anything.
Same Hanzo was a name that had come up as a pliable criminal, somebody who could be paid for a job here and there, keeping the squeamish Central 46 happy, and her own practical and efficient corps satisfied. However as of late, the former Makeinu advisor and enforcer had started to let his verbal invoices slip and fall on the wrong ears, that made him a liability and threat. When Yoruichi Shihoin, her captain and one of the few people that Cera would actually refer to in a proper manner, needed a loose thread removed, she called her forward. Sure there was her busy bee Soi(Sauce) Fon, and she was capable, but she was favored a bit more by her captain, her talents recognized and earning her a spot as head of her personal guard. Cera definitely liked it this way, being out in the field and stalking your prey, rather than waiting till you were being stalked and had to defend yourself.
She was snapped out of her thoughts as she saw one of the men draw his blades, before even the notoriously quick Omnitsukido assassin could move Xiao had removed the man's sword hand in a graceful, lightning quick motion, slipping his blade back into its scabbard immediately after. She gripped the branch she was perched on, ready to launch herself forward to defend her friend, only to see Same shouting orders for everybody to stand down. Cera narrowed her eyes, watching curiously as he removed his sword, scabbard and all, handing it to Xiao. The dusty haired girl tilted her head, was he giving up that easily?
Her answer came in the form of Same's sword exploding in a massive cloud of black smoke. She didn't wait, drawing her tanto shaped Zanpakuto from its harness around her bicep and making several short flash steps forward, the sound similar to a thundering line of hide-drums. Most of the men had tried to close in on Xiao, and Cera briefly felt worry run through her before bringing it in check like she'd been trained to, her body moving of its own accord as she tracked the reitsu of her target, slipping around one of his guards, her arm casually swinging up, her blade slicing through his throat easily, Cera shuddered as she felt his hot blood spray against her cheek and side of her neck. She burst through one side of the cloud, spotting Same running at full tilt. She grinned, flipping her tanto through her fingers before sending it whirling with unnatural distance and speed, straight into the base of the man's spine.
-seconds earlier-
Xiao felt the scabbard grow unnaturally hot, his hand dropping it immediately as he moved to draw his Zanpakuto, the weapon that fell at his feet exploded like paper in a whirl of black smoke, obscuring the fair faced man's every sense but touch. He knew he needn't pursue Same, Cera would handle that, he just had to survive.
He turned as he heard the whistle of a blade slicing through the air, his own coming up and deflecting it to the side, sliding his up along its length in a swift, clean motion that was slowed only by the man's hands, stopping with the tip embedded in his heart. Xiao didn't know how many seconds that had taken, but he barely had time to turn before he was forced to stop a club with his hand. He yanked it down, bringing his knee up and cracking it against the attacker's face, hard enough to send him into the cool arms of unconsciousness. With the smoke barely starting to clear he spotted the shadow of another, holding his throat as if trying to stop blood from leaking out.
'Cera...long fang indeed...' he thought, knowing the efficiency of his friend very well.
An animalistic yell brought his attention to a large man who swung a massive naginata down at him. Xiao simply stepped forward and to the side, crouching low as he thrust his blade up under the behemoth's ribcage, giving a twist before pulling away.
'That's four, now where's...'
Once again he turned to the sound of an untrained thug trying to kill him, this one with pair of daggers. The short, effeminate shinigami sighed, simply raising a hand and muttering a low level incantation as blue lightning sparked from his fingertip and burned the man beyond medical aid.
By now the smoke had mostly cleared, the young man turning to the sounds of a man screaming in abject horror. He expected Cera to be involved, and was proved right as the diminutive assassin strode towards her prey. He knew that his part was done here, and that Cera would have no trouble dealing with the now paralyzed man, so he simply observed, looking at the various criminals that lay dead around them, checking them for any sort of affiliation tattoos.
Cera hummed as she moved over to her fallen target, reaching down to pull her blade out, eliciting a scream from Same, who seemed almost too stunned to speak other than in barely coherent mutters and whimpers. She doubted that she'd get much out of him right now, losing the use of your limbs was something that could do that too you. She supposed that if she really wanted she could have just got him in the leg and slowed him down, but why waste the time when a knife through the spine does it all in one go?
"Hey Gramps, remember me? Look I'm real sorry about this, the Gotei 13 super appreciate all the work you've done for us, but you've been way too chatty. So what you're gonna do, is tell me who you told, or who you think you've told. Don't worry I don't need to write this down." she said simply as she crouched in front of him, playing idly with her Zanpakuto, as if it were a large spider that she was letting crawl about her hand. "Oi, old man, you even here with me? Come on it isn't even that bad, y'ain't dead, not yet."
"M-my legs, I-I can't feel my legs..." he whimpered, apparently unable to even register that Cera was there, which was about as she'd expected.
The assassin sighed, scratching her chin with the back of her fist before shrugging and swinging down, striking the man on the top of the head with the hilt of her weapon, rendering him unconscious before grabbing him by the collar of his happi and tossing the much larger man over her shoulder, turning to Xiao.
"Oi! I'm taking this one in to be questioned, thanks for being bait!" she called, sheathing her Zanpakuto before jumping away in a blur of shunpo, making it several hundred meters before hearing her Soul Pager ring, groaning as she reached into her pocket, pulling it free and checking the number, blinking in surprise as she dropped the crippled and unconscious man, using him as an impromptu seat before answering.
"Kisuke? Ain't this a surprise? What's up?" she asked casually, wondering how the former 3rd seat was doing, but far too curious about the call itself to ask.
"Ah, well I'm actually in the need of a favor from you..." came the voice, almost sounding embarrassed to ask his replacement in his old division.
"I'm not going to get you into the Silk Garden. They'd revoke my membership if I snuck you in." she chuckled, trying to keep the mood light.
"I'm afraid it's a bit more...complicated. I need live test subjects, shinigami to be exact." he began to explain. "I need to get into the Maggot's Nest, or have some of them moved, discreetly"
Cera sat up sharply at the mention of the prison building, scratching her cheek with a interrogative hum. She wasn't too shocked or taken aback by the need for live subjects, but it was the fact that he needed people from the Maggot's Nest that started her worrying, especially after the mention of discreet movement. She had the authorization to get him in of course, but she was sure that someone would question the paperwork...if they saw it that is.
"Alright Captain, I'll see what I can do, but if this comes down on my head..." she said with a hint of warning, shutting off her pager immediately after for effect. Oh she knew he was a Captain, but she had some tricks up her sleeve that even he would be wary of in a fight. She only hoped that he knew what he was doing, whatever it was. The young assassin sighed lightly as she reached down, hauling her cargo back up onto her shoulder before disappearing again to complete her mission, and to try and figure out just what was going to become of Kisuke Urahara's test subjects.
'Oh it's gonna be a long day...'
Well there's chapter two folks, the way I think I'm gonna do each of these first few chapters is introducing any non-canon characters in some way. As always feel free to criticize and make comments, I appreciate any advice. Also a note on the Hogyoku, the source material was pretty vague on why Urahara wanted to get it made, he thought he knew its purpose, but why would he want that kind of power? I decided not to look too deep into it, but I may revisit it in a later chapter. Final note, somebody was kind enough to do a commission of one of the characters in this Fanfic: Takeshi Oka everybody: art/Commission-Takeshi-Oka-498634355
Artist was Nekozumi on deviantArt