A/N: Yet another chapter. I'm updating faster than I expected...
Not much else to say, so now it's time to respond to my reviewer!
Dark demon619:
You know, I was actually planning yo add Hollows. I thought it might be interesting to see how Ghosts or the the angels would interact with them.
And by canon characters, I meant named ones. Like Ichigo.
The chapter was meant to mainly just be dialogue. I felt like I needed to practice a bit with it, as well as get Coren to meet Corset.
Mainly, Chapter 3 was there to get Coren to meet the demon sisters, and Corset. That was it's point, and I think I that while it could've been done better, it did come out decently well. It didn't interest me much, as it was intros, but now that they're introduced, all that's left is their attempts at watching him, and then I can get to the stuff that really interests me. Can you guess what?
The first few pages I think are kinda 'Eh', but I'd like to know what you think of them.
Now that that's done, it is time to begin!
"Good morning, Coren Keitaro." My eyes shot open. Garter was standing there, staring at me the same way as when we first met. Simply looking down, no tilt of the neck. It's still intimidating...
"Mornin'. School time?"
"Indeed. Best to get changed into something more fitting for school." I looked down and saw I was still wearing my Shihakusho.
"Yeah, probably."
"Panty and Stocking will be leaving shortly; You'd better go quickly." I stood up and reformed my reiatsu around me. At one point, there was a guy who wore reiatsu like clothes... He was a freakin' genius. I turned my Shihakusho into some normal looking apparel. A sky blue T-shirt with a large flaming skull on the back, and in the front, huge letters that spelled out 'Who the Hell do you think I am?' I was also wearing some navy blue jeans to go along with it.
"Alright, I'm good to go." I slipped past Garterbelt, and ran out the door.
"About time! We were waiting!" I noticed that Panty and Stocking were sitting in a giant pink Jeep, that would seem military if it weren't so damn PINK. I leaped onto the top with a smile. Real men don't care about color!
"Excuuuse me, princess. Get driving, unless you want me late for my first day." I immediately regreted saying then, when she broke Mach 10 in five seconds flat. Maybe standing on the back of the car was a bad idea... Luckily, it was a short drive when you're going the speed of sound, and I could hold onto a large bar that was there.
"There, you won't be late. Ya happy?"
"Yes, but I don't think my arms or colon are."
"I don't even have a stomach, but it's still churning." My thoughts exactly Kain.
"Alright, this place seems decent." I spawned a leather jacket with the same flaming skull on it's back, and slipped it on, as well as a pair of shades. Indoors. "Damn right." Stocking managed to get Panty to actually park the car after a few minutes, reminding her of some incident with a tow truck and a camera that shouldn't have been recording. Luckily for me, my brain censors that kinda stuff for me, so I know nothing. Thank God.
I stepped off of the Jeep, which was named See-Through, and started walking. A few weird looks were tossed at me, but that's probably because I was riding a giant pink Jeep into school. Or it might be the indoor shades.
"Hey, Coren!" Hrrm? It's Brief. I took off my shades and smiled.
"Yo, what's happening?"
"Not much... I didn't know you'd be coming to this school!"
"Is there another school I don't know about? HRRRRMM!"
"Uh..." A moment of silence. Is this question really that hard?
"I'm kidding. Damn right I'm coming here. Seriously, you got two Angels and two Demons walking the halls. Kain would kill me if I didn't come here and watch for a cat-fight."
"It's funny 'cause it's true!" Shut up. Brief nodded.
"Okay. So anyway, did you hear about-" I looked behind him, and noticed a huge red carpet coming right at the two of us.
"Hey, Brief, I'm sure that's really interesting, and I'm gonna let you finish, but you might wanna step to the side." I moved out of the way, but Brief only gave a brief 'Huh?' and I sighed as the carpet flew right into the back of his head, comically sending him flying. "...I don't think physics work that way."
"Ow, my head..." I took a look down the red carpet, and saw Scanty and Kneesocks walking down it.
"Hello, you two." I bowed curtly to them. They were the daughters of the Mayor, in public views, I don't think the Mayor has devil children, and I always enjoyed the formalities. Never figured out why, though.
"There's no need to bow," Scanty said quickly, "We're just students after all."
"Even so, it would be disrespectful to do otherwise." I walked over to Brief and helped him up. "You two should probably apologize for smashing into his head with that carpet. It looked kinda painful." The demon sisters looked a little surprised. Didn't they notice him soaring through the air majestically, like an eagle? Piloting a blimp? They bowed deeply, and apologized quickly. If I didn't know better, I'd assume they're trying to get on my good side...
And I don't know any better.
"I-It's nothing, I'm fine!" Scanty and Kneesocks rose from their bow.
"Alright then." Huh, they got over that quick. "Coren, would you like to walk with us?"
"Actually, I'm going with the Angels. They did drive me here after all."
"You don't have a car of your own?"
"I fought you two a couple minutes after I came to this world. Not really much time for that, is there? Besides, it's not like I need one. I can walk on air, or use Shunpo after all." The two of them tilted their heads in confusion. "Shunpo is just moving faster than the eye can perceive." I shot a look at the clock. "Which is something I might need if I don't wanna be late for class, actually."
"Well, you'd better hurry. It wouldn't be good if you were late to the first class of your first day."
"Too true." I sprinted to the classroom, and made it there a minute before class began. Lucky me... I ended up nearly falling asleep mid-class, but apparently this teacher can shoot daggers with his eyes, making me bolt upright. I should be able to catch some Z's later. Like, next class...
The bell for lunch rang quickly, and jolted me out of the tiredness I felt. Maybe sleeping would've been a better idea than roaming around last night...
"Coren?"
"Hmm?" I turned and saw the demon sisters, yet again. How odd. "What's up?"
"Would you like to eat with us?" Hrrm. This raises suspicion... They might be up to something...
"Sure. Just give me a minute." They smiled. Is there a better way to find out if they're planning anything? Probably, I just can't think of it.
"Alright. We'll be in the cafeteria." They spoke in unison, before leaving. I slipped my books inside of the bag I made, before Brief stopped me.
"What are you doing? Aren't those two our enemies?"
"...I'm going to eat lunch with them. And yes, they are...I'm pretty sure you knew that though." My tone must've surprised him, because his tone changed.
"If they're our enemies, why're you going to eat lunch with them?"
"Being their enemy is no reason for bad manners; And it would be impolite to decline their request without good reason. Besides, I'm hungry, and there's food." I slung my bag over my shoulder, before walking out the door, and right into Panty, knocking us both down.
"Fuck! Watch where you're going!" I coughed a bit, seeing as she accidentally slammed her forehead into my chest.
"Sorry Panty." I stood up, and offered her my hand. When she took it, she nearly dragged me down to the ground as she got up, but seeing as I'm a mawn, I stood my ground.
"We came here to ask you if you wanted to have lunch with us. Seeing as you're new, you probably don't have anybody to eat with, after all!"
"Sorry, but I'm taken for this lunch period." Panty looked surprised, and I noticed Stocking also was there, just not being surprised. "Is it really that odd? Personally, I think it's the jacket." Panty shook her head, and returned to reality.
"No way, you've been here for less than a day! Who'd go to lunch with you?"
"That would be the demon sisters, actually." And cue even more surprise. "Brief, just tell them what I said to you, about politeness and stuff. I'm lazy, and off to the cafeteria." I walked past them, and walked around. It took me a few minutes to finally find the cafeteria, but when I finally did, I was welcomed with a decent aroma.
Not good, mind you, just decent.
"Coren!" There they are. Wait, when did we get to first name terms? "We're over here." I walked towards their table, and noticed that the odd flower centerpiece. It was odd in that it was in a school cafeteria, yet the flowers looked somewhat... Regal. It might be the purple. Yeah, it's probably the purple.
"Yo, what's up you two?" I pulled out my seat before sitting. "Anything interesting happen while I was wandering?" Scanty shook her head.
"No, not exceedingly. Did you see anything interesting?" I shrugged.
"No, not exceedingly. But I did realize I may need a map for this place, despite this place being shaped in a cross, and being in just four...Directions... Yeah, that's kinda demoralizing, actually. Anyway, who was that guy you were with last night? The guy who questioned me?" The two of them looked at each other.
"That was the mayor. He's..." Kneesocks trailed off. Okay, never mind, I could totally see the Mayor having demon children. That guy was creepy.
"He seemed a bit odd. His scent is similar to yours, so is it safe to assume he's a demon?"
"His scent?"
"As I said to the mayor, the true power of my weapon, Kuroi Chi no Kokuo, is in diversity. In his standard state, all of my senses are augmented. My weapon was released when I walked in, so I probably could've even told you all of the ingredients in the perfume the two of you were wearing, including inactive ones, as well as where you'd been recently." Their eyes widened. Maybe that was a bit of an overstatement...
"You're quite powerful."
"Damn right I am. Oh yes, food. That's why we're here, is it not?" You know one of the perks of eating with the mayor's daughters? We get menus, and I don't have to move my lazy ass from my seat. It's awesome.
"Of course." Scanty snapped her fingers, and a student pretty much materialized next to her. "What would you like Coren?" I shrugged.
"Surprise me." I leaned back in my seat. "But whatever it is, get a lot of it." After Scanty and Kneesocks told him what they wanted, he was off sprinting to the counter. I looked over the two's faces when they turned back to me, and the expressions on their faces kinda intrigued me.
"Penny for your thoughts?" They looked to each other again, and I noticed that they did that when it came to the mayor, too.
"We're just thinking that it's a bit odd that you'd accept to have lunch with us, being that you spend so much time with those slutty angels." I tilted my head in confusion.
"It's weird. Everybody seems to think that just because someone's your enemy, you shouldn't be polite to them. Manners should extend to everyone. You may end up fighting me at some later point, but that's still a later point. We're not fighting yet, so I have no excuse to be impolite. I guess you could call that one of my own personal rules, actually." They nodded. "Hey, speaking of rules, did you two think about what I said last night? The whole 'blind obedience' thing." The once again shot each other glances yet again.
"We have, actually. But we'd prefer not to talk about it. We'd rather keep this talk upbeat." I nodded. After that, we just chatted about the random things of Daten City. Not really much... Much like the school day. I slept through one half of it, and managed to keep myself from looking bored for the other half.
Well, it could be worse. I slipped my bag over my shoulder, and walked out of class quietly.
"Yo, Coren!" I turned to see Panty and Stocking walking towards me.
"What's up?"
"Garter's calling us, he says something big's coming. And it's not a normal Ghost."
"If you call a giant boulder with a face 'normal' then I'd hate to see what isn't. Where is it? Shouldn't be too hard to beat it with the three of us." Panty and Stocking looked at each other. Why does everybody do that?
"Uh... We don't know. Garter said he needed you there before he'd tell us what the paper said."
"Paper? No, never mind. I'll ask later. Let's go." The three of us charged through school, much to the chagrin of the other students, and jumped in See-Through. Shunpo would be faster, but they need to be there too. Thanks to Panty's light-speed driving, we were there in just a few minutes. It's a damn good thing I train in Shunpo, or else my stomach wouldn't really be happy.
Oh wait, it isn't happy anyway. I walked into the church with the other two.
"Good, you're finally here." Garter turned to us, holding what looked to be a piece of singed toilet paper. "You took your time. I have received a message from God!" ...Get to the point. "He has sent us this hint! It says 'Large Hollow.' I believe when you introduced yourself to me, Coren, you said that you were here because souls weren't turning into 'Hollows'?" I nodded.
"If a Hollow is coming, then it might be best to let me handle it. I don't know if your weapons can hurt one." I ran my hand along my Zanpakuto's sheath. "It shouldn't be too hard." Garter nodded.
"We'll let you handle it, but Panty and Stocking will still be there to back you up in case of emergency."
"Sounds fair." Hrrm... This city is being devoured by darkness... Will that effect the Hollow? "Be careful though. I don't want you two dying this early in the game."
"Who do you think we are? We're not gonna lose against some two-bit Ghost!" I sighed. If it's just a Hollow, it won't be too hard. That boulder was harder than one. I won't need backup.
"Go, and destroy this unholy menace!" Garter pointed dramatically towards the door, and I sighed again. This feels more and more like some anime lately, and it's kinda annoying. I let Panty and Stocking leave before me, but before I left, Garter stopped me. "Be careful. I can feel it's energy, and it's a lot stronger than a normal Ghost." I grinned.
"I'm always careful. See you when I kill the thing." I walked out the door. "Kain, what can you see?"
"...He's right. This thing isn't a normal Hollow. It's quite powerful, but there's only one. It should be a piece of cake for a Vice-Captain like yourself." I nodded.
"Alright then. Let's go kill some things."
I felt it's energy gradually grow as I Shunpoed towards it. It was on the opposite side of the city, and as I ran, something felt wrong. I know we've been saying it a lot, but it's still true.
"Do you recognize this spiritual energy?"
"No. I think I've smelled something similar, but nothing quite like this. I think the city's corruption is fucking with my senses." I nodded. That does make sense.
"Alright. Just making sure." Thirty seconds away. Wait... Hold on. I slowed down, and looked over at where it was.
Someone was fighting it.
"Hold on, Panty and Stocking aren't here yet. You left them in the dust."
"...Damn." I increased speed a bit more, and got there in time to see a Hollow around twice my size tossing the demon sisters away like flies. "I thought so."
"Shit. Watch out, that thing isn't normal. It feels almost... Like an Adjuchas." Well, fuck me. I dashed forwards as I unsheathed my Zanpakuto. The Hollow turned to me as I drew my blade, but as I swung, it instantly disappeared.
"Behind you!"
"Energy Flare!" I released a large amount of energy, launching me out of the way, as well as leaving a nice little burn mark in the Adjuchas's chest. It roared in outrage, before speaking.
"A Shinigami? I should've expected that." What the Hell is an Adjuchas doing in the world of the living? Soul Society would've noticed it by now.
"I said 'like' an Adujchas, bro. He isn't secreting spiritual energy properly. They couldn't have noticed."
"Damn right you should've," I said, addressing the Adjuchas. I stood up straight, and looked him over. He was around 12-13 feet tall, his skin was gray, and the burn mark I made was healing quickly. One of his arms was a giant serrated blade that looked like it would hurt like Hell, and the other was an arm that was about as large as me. His legs were shaggy, and had hooves at the bottom, and his mask was shaped similar to a wolf's, but with horns. "The name's Coren Keitaro. Remember that. At least for these final minutes of yours, anyway." The Adjuchas laughed.
"You? Beat me? You have the spiritual energy of an un-seated officer." He knows the ranks for the Gotei? "Come at me with all you've got; You won't be able to scratch my skin." He crouched down a small bit, as if readying himself to pounce. Where have I seen something like this guy..?
"Coren, he's behind you!" I refocused on where he'd been standing, and noticed he was gone. Even with Kneesock's warning, I couldn't do anything but go flying across the battlefield. I looked around and noticed that in my hurry, I'd actually run to the top of one of the twin towers. That explains why the twins are here. I stood up and looked for the guy.
"Not this time." The Adjuchas tried to do the same attack again, but this time, I dodged. "Buraddokain! Darkness Wave!" I released my sword as I swung it, and released as much energy as I could in one shot. The Adjuchas exploded in dark energy, and was thrown off the side of the building.
"Nice shot." Fuck, what? "Could've been better." I dodged out of the way of the guy's leg as he swung it.
"And how did you get back up here?" The Adjuchas grinned behind his mask.
"Simple. You think I forgot something as simple as Shunpo?" Fuck, what? Hollows can't know Shunpo. But then again... That would explain the teleporting. I quickly dodged below his next kick, and jumped over his punch with the giant fist. But just as soon as I was in the air, he'd just Shunpoed up, and smashed his fist into me. There was a nice, resounding crack in my spine as I was launched down several floors of the building.
"Oh you motherfucker." I stood up. "Buraddokain, element change. Fire." I leaped into the air as my sword lit aflame. The fire turned black as I swung it towards the Adjuchas. He easily dodged, but I spoke again. "Flaming Blast." The flames shot forwards from the blade, and the Adjchas howled in pain.
Didn't stop it from slamming it's fist into my face. As I flew back, I jumped off of the flames back towards him.
"Coren, duck!" My eyes shot to Kneesocks, who was holding her scythe. I used an explosion of flames to knock me downwards, forcing me into the floor as a scythe flew over my head. It lodged itself into it's chest, and Scanty pulled out her twin guns. I leaped upwards to dodge the bladed arm of the Adjuchas, which then got pelted with bullets from Scanty. Kneesocks ran forwards with her scythe, and I dodged out of her way. She tore open the Adjuchas's flesh easily, but got flung back again. Both scythes were now lodged in his chest.
How 'bout I make use of that?
I leaped forward and used fire to move me away from his fist. I then slammed my sword into his chest, and grabbed the scythes. He smashed his arm into me, sending me flying, but I'm pretty sure it hurt a lot less than the feeling of both scythes being brutally torn from his body. I tossed Kneesocks her scythes as I charged at my sword, still in his chest. Scanty provided cover-fire, and I got to my sword without getting hit, thanks to that. As I pulled out my sword, Kneesocks leaped in the air for it's throat, and almost got a clean shot of, but he slammed me from his body, and I collided with Kneesocks. We both flew backwards, but I landed with her on my chest.
Ignore the need to breath for now, that can wait. I moved Kneesocks off of me, and noticed she was unconscious. Then again, she just got hit by 200 pounds of flying muscle, so I'm pretty sure that's normal. I did manage to get my sword though, which is a plus. As I stood up, the angels finally decided to grace us with their presence.
"Yo, sorry we're late! But now we're here, Anarchy Panty and-" She was cut off when the Adjuchas punched See-Through off the building, nearly taking them with it. As it flew, I could swear I heard something say 'Chuck' loudly, though it was probably my imagination. "What the fuck! You don't just interrupt me!"
"Panty, dodge left!" She seemed surprised for a second, but still managed to move, and avoided a giant blade to the top of the head.
"Damnit! Fuck, shit, damn!" Panty grabbed her hair, and I noticed some of it had been cut off. "FUCK!" She drew out her weapons quickly and charged at the Hollow, and Stocking did the same. Scanty still covered us with her guns, and Kneesocks was still out like a light.
...Fuck it, let's roll.
"Spread fear and darkness through the minds of my foes. Bankai! Bleed Black, Kuroi Chi no Kokuo!" My sword turned pitch black with red highlights as I activated my Bankai, and another man appeared beside me. His skin was as black as the blade, his hair the same. Blood dripped from his fingertips and hair, but it less crimson, and closer to black as well. He wore Kain's trench-coat, but it was torn and frayed, and several crimson red tattoos on his chest were seen.
"Burn. Ō no Honō." Black fire erupted around the two of us, and we charged forwards. A blade identical to mine appeared in his hand, but inverted. We cleaved into the Adjuchas as Scanty and Panty shot where ever the flames weren't, and Stocking cut into the holes made by our blades, deepening the wounds.
"No... I will not die!" The Adjuchas slammed his fist directly into Stocking, and I heard something break. She was unconscious in the first hit. The second blow almost came down, but Scanty and Panty knocked it aside with their bullets. It turned to them as it roared. It's eyes turned red, and it's skin tinged black.
"It's a Ghost!" Panty was shocked for a second, and that gave it just enough time to smash into her with the force of a semi-truck. She flew off the building, and I wasn't even sure if she was conscious enough to land without dying.
"Fuck, not good. Kuroi, get her."
"Yes sir." Kuroi leaped off of the edge, chasing after her. My Bankai is draining me a lot faster than I want... I'm still just a Lieutenant, so I haven't mastered my Bankai yet. It still felt like someone was carving me open with a super-heated blade. The Adjuchas charging at me shot me back to reality, and I swung my blade as I spoke.
"Buraddokain, element change. Light!" With a blinding burst of light, I tore right into his flesh as he clothes-lined me.
If I were in a mortal body, I think that might've torn my head off my body. His body had a damn lot cuts all over it, as well as bullet holes. I don't think it can take much more. Then again, neither can I, so I think we're still even. I flew over the side of the building, but I managed to create a platform of reiatsu before I fell. I bounced on it, hard, before getting back up.
"Adjuchas are supposed to be on par with Lieutenants... I guess that much was right." Scanty was still shooting at it, and it finally turned it's attention to it.
"Why won't you die!" It Shunpoed behind her, and nearly took her head off with it's bladed arm, but she ducked in time. She slammed the muzzle of her gun into one of the slash wounds in his side, and filled it with a few bullets before flying away.
Right into my chest. Is it aiming these shots? I slid backwards as I coughed up a bit of blood. That's probably not good... I placed Scanty on an adjacent building, and charged back at the Adjuchas. Just as I reached the building, I noticed Kuroi coming up behind him.
"Aisukingu no Supia." Spear of the Ice King. It lodged itself into the Adjuchas's chest, but it only screamed in pain, still not falling. Kuroi went flying, but I solidified the reiatsu in the air below him, and he leaped off of it.
I've got less than a minute of Bankai left. This is far from good.
"Coren." I nodded. I have enough energy for one shot; Might as well use the biggest thing I've got.
"Kage-ō no Kyanon!" Kuroi disappeared as black energy coated my arm. "EAT THIS!" I dodged past his blade arm and giant fist, barely, and pushed every bit of energy in my Bankai into a single blast; It would probably have the force of... A few torpedoes? I slammed my arm right into his mask, and the entire thing blew the fuck up; Blood, guts, the works. It began disintegrating as I heard a chuckle.
"I see. You really are all they made you out to be... Mr. Keitaro." I dropped to my knees, and looked around for the voice. No one was in sight, but I knew better than to trust my eyes. I focused as much as I could, and felt out for any abnormalities in the reiatsu.
...There. I shot a glare two feet to my left, and around six ahead. There is absolutely no reiatsu right there; A logical impossibility, unless someone's hiding. I heard his footsteps as he began walking away. I would give chase, but I'm kinda half dead. I'm pretty sure my spinal column broke a while back, meaning I should be dead already, and my arm was burned badly where the darkness had contacted it. And then there was the fact that my skull's probably fractured from my impact into the ground earlier, and a few of my ribs are broken thanks to a flying Kneesocks, and Scanty might've got me to puncture a lung.
Thank God for super healing powers, and for already being dead. Holy fuck though, does it hurt. I let myself black out from the pain, and dropped into a painful unconsciousness.
I am gonna figure out who let a Adjuchas into the world of the living, and they are gonna regret it. A LOT.
A/N: I like this chapter... I feel like I put a large deal of emphasis on the fight, possibly too much, but I like it. It helped shine some light on Coren's powers, and gave Kain's true appearance, not just the black haired guy in a trench-coat. Right now, I have no idea where I'm gonna go with this, but I think I'll pause for a few days. I'm feeling good about this 10-page chapter, and I kinda wanna pause and re-watch PSG, and some of Bleach. Three Chapters in around 20 hours is enough, I think, especially with one being 5000 words.
Oh, and does anybody know if anybody in Bleach has a Bankai that materializes their Zanpakuto Spirit in a physical body suited for combat? I'm not sure, and it seemed like a good idea. What do you think? I'd like to know if I did anything wrong, or if there's anything I should work on. Constructive criticism ftw!