Chapter 2: Eroberung
Kisuke Urahara turned the key to his shop's front door, closing up early for the day. The store owner went to his storage room and checked his inventory.
"Tessai, I'm closing up early!" he called out.
"Take Jinta and Ururu somewhere. You guys have the rest of the day off."
Jinta's cheering could be heard as the three employees left through the back door.
"You're an awfully gracious employer," Otto Richter commented from behind Urahara.
The blonde glanced back from under the rim of his bucket hat, then continued rummaging through his storage. "That's a very polite statement. I wasn't expecting you to be so courteous."
"So you've been aware of our surveillance on you?" the masked man asked. "You're as clever as people say you are."
"While I'd love to stay and chat, I know that I'm not the only person being targeted. So if you'll excuse me…" Urahara dashed out of the room, grabbing his cane. Otto didn't even move a muscle. As he lifted his finger, Urahara sensed something moving towards him. As if there were an oversized invisible hand, Urahara had been pushed through the flooring, falling down into his underground landscape. Otto walked to the newly made hole and jumped through. He landed in front of Urahara, who had unsheathed his cane blade.
"What did you do just now?" Urahara questioned, more curious than interrogating. "And who exactly are you?"
"As if I would tell you my ability so easily. But to answer your second question, I'm part of an elite fighting force known as the Gottesengel (God's Angels). We operate under the Black Sun, an organization of the Schattenreich (Shadow Empire) To give you my name, I am Gottesengel 'P', Otto Richter.
Urahara's ears perked up. "This all sounds fairly similar to the Vandenreich. Would you happen to be a Quincy?"
Otto had turned his attention upwards. "I guess you could say that…"
Urahara followed his gaze and quickly moved out of the way as a giant disembodied hand crashed into the rocky surface.
"Awaken, Benihime!" His sword transformed into an ornate blade in an instant. A sphere of fire was hurling towards him from Otto's position. "Chikasumi no Tate!" A red hexagonal barrier appeared in front of Urahara, blocking the flames. As they cleared, Otto was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly materialising to his right, he grabbed Urahara around the wrist and threw him back. He then summoned a white composite bow of Reishi and fired at the airborne man. "Disperse!"
The arrow he fired multiplied into ten more that all struck Urahara. Otto thought he got him, but his body suddenly deflated; a body double. Caught off guard, Otto left his back exposed to Urahara, who slashed down with Benihime. "Nake!" An arc of red Reiatsu hit Otto, blowing him away. Turning himself in midair, he pointed a finger at Urahara. A shot of electricity fired from his finger towards the ex-Shinigami. Urahara dodged it and jumped to the left. Suddenly, the taste of salt in the air fell on his tongue. A wave of saltwater swept him and slammed him against a boulder.
'This one's ability is dangerous,' Urahara thought to himself. 'At this rate, I won't be able to help Ichigo.'
Meanwhile, Ichigo was evading Yosiah Grimmlocke (Gottesengel 'N') and Nicolle Dassler (Gottesengel 'M'). He swung the smaller of his dual swords, Zangetsu, as the duo fired a barrage of Heilig Pfeil. "Getsuga Tensho." Blue energy burst from Zangetsu and screamed towards Nicolle and Yosiah, the latter activating Blut Arterie and managing to go around it. The former raised her hand.
"Blut Schild!" Blue veins spread along the arm of her uniform and shot into the open air, forming a sort of shield. It was successful in stopping the oncoming attack, but the force of the resulting blast pushed her back a few feet.
Yosiah fired his Reishi flatbow at Ichigo, who blocked it with the larger of his blades, White. His eyes flicked to the side when he saw a sphere of Reishi form by his head.
"Lichtbombe," Yosiah said. It exploded, sending Ichigo towards the ground as he spun violently, crash landing into a tree. Picking himself up, he looked up at the two Quincies as they stood in the sky. "We just want to talk, Kurosaki!" Yosiah called down. "You lower your weapons, we lower ours."
Deciding now would be a good time to get information, Ichigo complied, sheathing his weapons. Yosiah and Nicolle dispersed their bows and descended to the ground.
"Who are you two?" Ichigo questioned with a serious expression. "I remember Quincies wearing white, not whatever reddish dark gray color you guys are wearing."
"We are part of the Gottesengel," Nicolle answered.
Ichigo's expression didn't falter. "Am I supposed to know what that is?"
Yosiah scoffed. "You are being quite the rude brat aren't you, Kurosaki boy. But let's get to the point. Our queen, Margaret Xelia, wants to recruit you. Our cause, you see, is to make her the new Soul King."
Ichigo's eyes widened at the mention of this. "Sorry, but I'm not interested. 'Zelia' or whatever her name is just sounds like another Yhwach."
Nicolle suddenly reformed her crossbow and shot a large Heilig Pfeil at him. It slammed into his chest and rocketed him back as it detonated against him.
"How dare you compare Lady Xelia to a monster like Yhwach!" There was evident anger in Nicolle's voice.
Yosiah looked concerned and let out a sigh. "Looks like negotiations aren't going to work now."
Ichigo had been blown back into a construction site. Nicolle used Hirenkyaku and showed up in front of him firing another arrow. Ichigo didn't even have to dodge as it missed him completely, lodging itself in a steel pipe. The woman lifted to fingers and drew them towards her. The steel pipe somehow animated itself and hurled at Ichigo, colliding with his back. The teen lurched forward and groaned in pain. Nicolle fired at a pile of beams and sure enough, they flew towards him. Ichigo dashed out of the way and went for Nicolle, who shot at him. Ichigo slashed the projectile with Zangetsu. That was his mistake.
All of a sudden, the sword moved on its own and tried to stab its master. Ichigo tried to hold it back, shouting at his weapon. "Zangetsu! What are you doing?!" The spirit didn't answer.
"You have to drop him," a voice from within told the carrot top.
"White? What are you talking about?!"
"Just trust me and drop him," the inner Hollow urged. "Something's wrong with Zangetsu. When you cut through that woman's, he started to attack me. You have to let him go!"
Through gritted teeth, Ichigo did as White told and dropped the smaller blade. He unsheathed White and dodged another arrow.
"It seems like whatever those arrows touch comes under her control," White continued.
"Don't let any of them touch us." Easier said than done. Nicolle was shooting a barrage from her dual crossbows, moving in several directions to corner her target. Ichigo ducked and weaved, doing his best not to get it. While trying to avoid the Heilig Pfeils, he'd completely forgotten about Yosiah.
Three Lichtbombe formed around him and went off simultaneously. Touching down besides Nicolle, Yosiah looked over at the plume of smoke enshrouding the boy. His calm demeanor changed to an alert one abruptly as he grabbed Nicolle's hand. "Move!"
"Kuroi Getsuga!" A black Getsuga Tensho ripped through the smoke and hit Yosiah dead on, erupting in a mass of Reiatsu. Nicolle had managed to escape the jaws of the technique.
On Ichigo's face was his Hollow mask, which now had an X shaped design on it. 'How did he know I was about to do that?" he wondered to himself. It didn't matter. Ichigo felt the man's Reiatsu disappear, indicating he died. However, Nicolle did not look very alarmed by it. In fact, she was as calm as he'd been.
'Does she even care? This is pretty suspicious.'
"It's not a good idea to turn your back on an enemy, Ichigo Kurosaki." A Seeleschneider tore through his side, drawing a stream of blood that followed the Reishi blade's slash path. Ichigo fell to the ground, bleeding out. Yosiah stood over him, gazing with a chastising expression. Even though he was wounded, Ichigo could still tell that the man's Reiatsu was gone. So how was he standing up as if nothing happened, much less be alive?
"Bind his hands. We're taking him by force," Yosiah said to Nicolle. Before she could do anything, a new Reiatsu signature showed up.
"El Directo!" A blast of blue energy struck Yosiah, pushing him away from the fallen Ichigo. Chad Sado and Orihime Inoue had come to help. "Soten Kisshun." A yellow transparent film of light surrounded Ichigo, healing his wound. Chad put an arm around his shoulder and helped to his friend his feet.
"Seems like we have more players in this game of cat and mouse." Orihime glared at Yosiah.
"Ooo, you're a feisty little sweetheart," Nicolle said playfully. "Sorry honey, we'll have to play later. We're on a rather tight schedule right now." The two Quincies both readied their Licht Bogen.
"Well now, isn't that just too bad~" Urahara mused from the construction entrance.
The duo looked at him in shock. "How did you get past Otto?"
"You mean Mr. Richter? He's being preoccupied at the moment."
At the same time, Otto looked down at the lifeless body of Urahara's clone. A few minutes ago, he explained to the Quincy that he had really been fighting a special Gigai Urahara made. It simulated the techniques, personality, and fighting style while recording information on the enemy. Apparently, Otto was the one to test it for the first time.
Balling his fist, he hit a nearby rock formation in anger. "Damn it. This was just one of his experiments this whole time." He reached up to the collar of his combat vest and spoke into a receiver. "We've run out of time. Head back to the Schattenreich." On the opposite end of the line, Yosiah confirmed that he got the message.
"I'm afraid we have to leave," Yosiah told his audience. "Until next time."
"Wait! Give Zangetsu back!" Nicolle held the blade in between her hands.
"Oh, this? Sorry, I'll be taking it back as a souvenir." Ichigo charged her, but she had already disappeared into her shadow before he could get to her. The could be said for Yosiah.
"Zangetsu!" Ichigo hollered in vain.