Right. I don't own anything.Has that not been established yet? I especially do not own either Bleach or Tenchi Muyo GXP in any sense of the word and/or meaning! This story is for entertainment purposes only!
Spirit Police
Chapter Four: Primum gradum
Ship
It all ended... surprisingly pleasantly. After accepting her defeat towards enticing Ichigo into joining her crew with grace Ryoko Balta only a little longer to help herself to a buffet the trio of helmsmen, and Mitoto, she was a case onto herself that he was content with ignoring, had set up in her honor. From there she obliged them with a photo... a group photo no less at her request however. While even a freed Captain Placeholder reluctantly acquiesced, the trio's brief jubilation was murdered between a combined assault from Ic higo and Warren, adding to their mounting wounds. As such and despite this the trio, covered in fresh bruises and the like, were happily grinning away with what few teeth they had left to their names in their photo whereas Ichigo and Warren were the only ones scowling throughout the ordeal; a natural and common event and a foul mood respectively. Once it was all said and done Ryoko simply departed at her own leisure, thankfully with no fanfare either. The dour pair made sure of that, not that Ryoko seemed to have minded in the least during the final moments of her visit.
But that was then.
Now though, after performing many a jump while tolerating the once mutinous trio of pilots, what annoyance Ichigo had left gave way to sheer mind numbing awe as he beheld what was dubbed as the headquarters of the GP. Six near identical rings arrayed with one another almost like a classic depiction of an atom's electron's pathway, a distinction he was only able to make when a secondary, smaller screen popped up within eyeshot to the colossal slowly curving wall that greeted the main screen like the indomitable sight it was.
"... how big is this place?" Ichigo breathed as he tried to comprehend the mere notion of how large this space station was.
"Simply put, each ring's diameter is very capable of fitting an entire galaxy within it," Warren helpfully supplied as the pilots chatted amongst themselves about 'welcome code's and signals received from the station before them. All of which were ignored by Ichigo who turned his bulging eyes to the man. The captain's response was to only smile as he held up the same wrist which prompted the phantom screen he had used much earlier to appear. "Would you like me to give you Earth's estimation of its measurements?"
"No. No thank you..." Ichigo practically begged as he returned his attention back to the 'wall' that became the ship's horizon. His eyes however did flick over to a strange series of lights seemingly materializing in space itself much like a runway before them a moment later.
"Cohen! The line!"
The portliest member of the trio snapped himself back into attention from whatever it was he was doing and scrambled with the keys of the console before him. Even so something struck the ship and rocked it with enough force to knock Ichigo off his feet and tumble about on the ground for a brief moment.
"Connection successful. Bay doors are opening."
"Engine output is down."
"Clearing granted. Now returning to port."
"Please tell me that this isn't normal," Ichigo groaned as he pushed himself back onto his feet. By the time he focused his attention back to the primary screen, the secondary one having been deactivated, he was treated to the sight of them slowly being pulled into what appeared to be a shipping, perhaps maintenance bay with its doors wide open. Beyond that was what appeared to be one of a series of blue-white tunnels just beyond the bay doors proper whilst they slowly drifted over a few GP cruisers far larger than their own ship being serviced by what looked to be drones and automated cranes.
"No. Though to be fair everyone slips up every now and then when it comes to the E-Line," Captain Warren sighed as he sank into his chair. He then perked up, brought his sleeve up and conjured the screen up once more. A keyboard subsequently appeared afterward, his fingers already tapping at it. Whatever it was he was doing it definitely required him to skim over something before smirking to himself with a surprisingly devilish characteristic to it. The puckish kind in fact. He then took a moment to look over the screen to peer out to the main port window just as the nose of their ship entered a proper docking bay before pressing a button on the keyboard. It wasn't even a second later that a practically universal symphony began to imperiously thrum throughout the bridge, causing many a curious stare to be turned to the man as he settled into his chair, his hands steepled as a smug and surprisingly villainous grin spread across the man's closed lips.
"... so why the Imperial March?" Ichigo drawled.
"I thought it was... appropriate."
With his smirk never changing he tilting his hands so as to point out the window. Once more out of curiosity the eyes that were upon the captain were now drawn to the screen... of the sets on hand, three of which gulped in trepidation. "Is that a security team... waiting for us?" one of the crewmen whimpered.
Ichigo only grinned as the ship drifted to what seemed to be its predetermined destination. There, on the platform next to it that seemed to act as both a dividing level for other docks as well as the floor, was a team of eight people in what looked like GP's version of riot gear armed with nothing but batons, all of whom were lined up like a squad of soldiers ready to storm the ship.
"You didn't think I was going to let that go, did you?" Warren uttered with an amused, self satisfied grin.
XVX
GP Immigration Reception Area #258, minutes later, Galaxy Police Headquarters
He was stilling grinning to himself since the security team practically stormed the bridge and hauled off the trio of helmsmen before they could begin to struggle, much less run had they had the collective sense to do so in the first place. Regardless, his good mood was what kept him from being outright irritated with the apparent wait for him to pass through immigration, a must for potential recruits and even visitors. The lines were separate however depending on the purpose, thankfully. Or more accurately it kept him from frustrated from the fact that their ticket to see a GP inspection agent was composed of six digits! Granted from the shifting monitor above them, one of many that practically decorated a seemingly glass dome that kept the bubble of a garden styled reception area from being absolutely drowned by a strangely atmospheric backdrop of water that submerged said bubble for reasons unknown, the 'line' was moving at a reasonable pace despite being at an already ridiculously long, by his standards at least, number of 563,281 and counting. Sadly this was only a cold comfort considering that it was their luck that they were number 957,533 however...
The sentiment was also shared by Warren at least, alleviating Ichigo's mood if only a little with his shared exasperation. Even so, there they were at a table along the edge of the domed area. Practically counting the seconds as time passed by with little more to do than to watch the other immigrants and cadets mill on by and find other means to passing the time as they too awaited their own turn with an Immigration Inspector. "We must have came in during a rush hour," the captain sighed.
"There he is Grusoff! Quick! Quick!"
The sheer volume of the excited booming voice was enough to draw their attention as well as a few other curious tourists and would be cadets. It took them a few moments however to realize the source of this disturbance, a truly colossal man roughly twice Ichigo's height with the of a physique of a pudgy Buddha statue, if it had a full beard, mustache and wore a red fez in combination with a black and white GP uniform, was heading straight towards them with the giddy step of a five year old making a bee line for Santa's lap. Nor was this man alone. With him but not sharing his enthusiasm was what looked to be dog-like humanoid being dragged along... no matter desperate he was with his hands tugging on the giant's belt while digging his feet hard enough into the ground to plow through the dirt it was to no avail. It should be noted that he too wore a uniform similar to the giant's own, only minus a fez and with a healthy dose of brown to compliment his predominantly black uniform.
"Sir! Take it with a grain of salt! The last three didn't qualify after all!" the dog-man grit out as he continued to unsuccessfully reign the lumbering man back.
"Who are they?" Ichigo almost groaned as he squinted at them.
"I have no idea," Warren answered as he curiously eyed them as well. "Wait a minute," he muttered as he came to squint at something seemingly on the chest of the larger man. Likewise, after catching onto what Warren was doing, Ichigo quickly found an odd mark on their uniform and came to stare at it in hopes of discerning their position, and by proxy their purpose, despite being unfamiliar with GP as a whole. Despite this flaw however that was indeed what had happened when he noticed the emblems on their uniforms in lieu of a semi-decorative gem like most GP officers he had seen thus far: upon their chests was the emblem of S-Vise. It would seem they weren't content with simply waiting for him to arrive.
"Ichigo Kurosaki I assume?" the giant announced once they were close enough for him to tower over him almost like a giant puppy with a thick accent... He almost sounded like he was Russian Ichigo idly noted. Almost.
"Uh... yes?"
Almost the second he uttered his reply a massive hand was outstretched before his face , offering a handshake that would undoubtedly engulf both his hand and arm in one go if he tried to reciprocate the gesture.
"Vector Bor, your Commanding Officer, at your service!" he offered friendlily with a proud smile whereas his companion heavily and drearily sighed.
"Um excuse me—" Warren tried to edge in before being interrupted by the dog-man.
"Lieutenant Grusoff," he sighed as he finally relented the fruitless hold on his CO's belt, walked around him and waved at the human they were addressing. "And basically I'm going to be your proctor to see if you qualify for our division or not. If you do then I'm also going to be at least one of the guya who teaches you the nuances that comes with being a part of S-Vise."
"Wait, S-Vise? What are you—wait, one of the... 'special departments?" When all three heads of those previously involved turned to look at him, Warren stammered for a brief moment. "N-not that anything is wrong with that! It's just... a little... early... for... headhunting?"
"Geez, one division embezzles and everybody suffers for it," Grusoff groused before snapping a finger in Warren's direction. "Besides, that was in a different division altogether damn it! Don't lump us in with those jackasses!"
"Now now Lieutenant," Vector pleasantly admonished before outstretching his still offered hand to the captain. "Colonel Vector Bor, Commander of Spiritual-Vise. How do you do?"
"Uh... Captain Warren Placeholder from Transportation," the shorter man replied as he took the giant's hand and shook it, half of his arm being engulfed for it when Vector enclosed his hand to shake Warren's. It was surprisingly gentle from the looks of it. "This is just... highly unusual," he muttered a moment later, earning a snort from Grusoff.
"He gets excited at the prospect of new candidates."
Warren offered an uneasy smile but a more understanding chuckle as he retrieved his arm. "Be that as it may, he still has to undergo immigration procedures first before anything is said and done."
"True! Very True. My apologies!" Vector heartily agreed. "And we would be more than welcome to walk him through it in your place if you so wish!"
At this the captain blinked rather curiously at his larger counterpart. "Uh... do you mind if I..." He lifted his arm and then gestured to the gem upon its cufflink.
"Of course! Of course!" Vector assured him.
Without further prompting Captain Warren arouse from his seat and walked away to a more secluded spot just as a screen appeared above the cufflink.
"So... I take it he's usually like this?" Ichigo asked Grusoff, drawing the dog-man's attention just as the human gestured to the giant man. At this the lieutenant snorted once more, albeit more softly despite its annoyed nature.
"Yeah... that and, well, it's been kind of a few bad years. Can't exactly blame him really for getting excited about refilling the ranks after awhile."
Ichigo's neutral scowl turned more serious. "How bad?" At this the dog-man sighed as he lazily waved a hand.
"Eight ended up having to retire for either advanced age or health conditions, another twelve ended up contracting something during their assignments and died, and another five died in the line of duty. That may not sound like a lot but we get maybe three recruits at most a year if we're lucky. Past fifteen years though? None whatsoever. Even with five hundred people in the same division with you the numbers we lose are kind of felt whether you knew them personally or not."
"four-hundred and eighty-two," Vector corrected much to Grusoff's subdued chagrin. "They were good comrades, each and every one of them."
"Save for Xerql," Grusoff muttered. In a blink of an eye the back of his head was slapped hard enough to deck the dog-man into the lawn, leaving Ichigo flabbergasted at the sheer speed in which the giant's arm had moved at. To add to the fact that it almost looked like he had never moved his arm at all, period, Vector was simply standing at attention as he seemingly waited for Warren to return whilst Grusoff grumbled to himself as he pushed himself back up. As he stood up and brushed himself off he gave his CO a flat glare. It wasn't acknowledged in the least on Vector's part.
"Alright," Warren said as he approached the group looking a tad frazzled but no worse for wear. "Everything is in order. Good luck then Cadet. Colonel." The captain snapped off a salute with a smile which was returned in kind by Vector. Ichigo simply lazily waved at him in return, not that Warren seemed to have minded it at all before walking away once more to the closest public exit. He stopped midway however before turning around and coming back to them with an embarrassed laugh on his lips. "I almost forgot!" he laughed as he handed Grusoff the placement ticket. "Have a good day!" he announced as he trotted off once more.
"Alright let's see what we have—" Grusoff started to say as he looked to the ticket only to then snap his head to nearest screen. His gaze then drove back to the ticket before again looking to the screen which just rounded off at 570,000.
"AH CRAP! WE'RE STUCK IN A RUSH!"
"Ooooh... not again," Vector deeply whined.
XVX
Five hours later...
It was long, it was grueling, Grusoff even nearly managed to escape at one point after trying wait it out for two hours, but they made it. One could only read a free copy of a GP Academy student's handbook and reluctantly try to dredge up a conversation on anything that came to mind so many times respectively! Worse yet after discovering that they had phones for free use he still couldn't get a hold of his landlord back on Earth! But in the end they had made it. They. Had. Made. It! Kurosaki one! Bureaucracy... whatever! It was a shared sentiment that they just wanted it over with. As such no one commented in the slightest when he practically slammed the pad that essentially started the entire debacle in the first place into the receptor before the glass booth of the desk they reported to...
... of course, that was before he got a good look at who the inspector was when the pad essentially disintegrated within the receptacle only to reappear within eyeshot on the desk at the other side of the glass divider.
"Kiriko?"
"Oh? You know her, comrade?"
"Please tell me she's not a vengeful ex," Grusoff groaned as he screwed his eyes shut and palmed his face. "I don't want to go through that nightmare again, colonel."
"He was indeed most vindictive," Vector agreed with a squirm.
Ichigo half listened to them as he intently stared at the woman before him in a vain attempt to disprove that said woman in the red overcoat over her uniform was indeed Kiriko. Likewise he couldn't help but get the niggling feeling that the feeling was mutual on her end as she intently looked at the closed case now in her hand as if she could read through the cover and operated the keyboard at the same time with surprisingly perfect coordination.
"Inspection complete. Immigration approved," she suddenly announced. A moment later the glass door next to the window opened into the room where she was working in. Beyond that he noticed a secondary door in the back of the room opened as well, presumably leading into the depths of GP headquarters proper.
"Thank god," Grusoff sighed in relief. Likewise Vector patted him on the shoulder before rounding behind the man to saunter to the door. He of course was beaten by an otherwise reluctant cadet who all but tentatively stepped into the room first.
The two stared at one another for a moment, a natural neutral scowl matching her more professional yet neutral scowl, their expressions alike in all but gender. She however relented first, marked so by the softening of her features in the company of a gentle smile. "I'm glad to see that you're alright, Ichigo."
"Y-yeah... thanks," Ichigo muttered as he reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "... it's nice to see you too."
Her smile gained a warmer touch before fading away as she adopted a more solemn mask of concern. Regardless, she got up from her chair and stepped forth to Ichigo himself. She then reached out and gently took his hand which she held with both of hers. "I don't know why you came out here, but... as wondrous and amazing outer space can be, it can also be extremely dangerous. Merely joining the GP immediately puts your life at risk: the pirates themselves will not care if you're so much as a cadet or a custodian rather than an officer or a soldiers should they find you!" She gained a more mournful touch to her features as she looked down to his hand which she gently squeezed. "Please, just return home. Live peacefully on Earth..."
Grusoff was held back by the Commander's hand even as the man sucked in his guy, ducked down and squeezed himself into the room during the silence that followed. It was only when he was sure that Grusoff had the presence of mind not to act out rashly at that moment that he spoke up. "I apologize for interrupting, but Mister Kurosaki has indeed qualified for my division. Even if that was not the case he is more than capable of making decisions for himself. The fact that he is here should speak volumes onto itself."
"You be quiet!" Kiriko snapped as she leveled an outright fierce death glare on the giant. The sheer ferocity of which was enough to take him by surprise, causing him to stiffen if only for a moment. Grusoff in the meanwhile leveled a more deadpan glare at the scene. "Great, an overprotective girlfriend instead."
"We're not in a relationship!" she barked at the dog-man next.
"Then why are you trying to get him to leave!" he accused as he launched a finger at her. "We're the ones bleeding for recruits at the moment, damn it! At least give us a chance to kick him out to the Academy proper when it's all said and done!" He wasn't deterred in the slightest when a half hearted but reproachful chop to the head was brought down on him from his CO.
"That's enough, Grusoff."
"We are not in a war and even then the Galaxy Police are not soldiers! We are not here to just collect as many warm bodies as we can find just to simply—!"
"Kiriko."
She halted mid rant to stare at Ichigo in surprise as if he had just appeared out of thin air. It was also more perturbing for her to see how serious the young man was even if she utterly ignored his iconic scowl in place.
"Unless there is some sort of law or bylaw in place that outright bars me from entering the galaxy at large, I'm joining the GP." Gently he withdrew his hands from hers. "Regardless if it's a mistake, regardless of my reasoning, I plan on seeing it through no matter what it entails."
"Aw. Does that mean you didn't come here just for me then? That's a little disappointing..."
All heads turned to the newfound voice who was leaning against the open door to the back of the booth. Upon seeing her catty grin a certain eye twitched...
"Amane Kaunaq," Kiriko practically growled. She did growled aloud a moment later however as the identified detective practically teleported across the room to lean against the now blushing cadet. With a sultry smile, a wicked gleam of her eye and a raised finger now caressing one spot on his chest, it was all Kiriko could do in order to not leap over and tear Amane's head off.
"It does show character though," she purred. "Perhaps when you're done with all this we could go out for dinner some time..."
"Lucky bastard," Grusoff scoffed from the side.
"That is enough," Vector finally spoke up as he reached over and plucked Ichigo off the ground by his collar much to Amane's obvious chagrin. Not to mention Ichigo's annoyance as well as he found himself partially strangle by his own shirt.
"Hey!"
"We have papers to sign, testing to do, and it would be inconsiderate to everyone else awaiting immigration procedures if we dawdled much further," the commander announced as he hefted Ichigo away to the rear door.
"Ack! Damn it! At least let me walk on my own!" Ichigo protested.
"H-hey! We're not done yet!"
"Oh back off! You already cleared him!"
"Why you—"
"That's enough!"
Like with Amane all attention was drawn to the voice of authority that barked from the speakers in the room. Not only that but everyone who was capable of it stood at attention and almost immediately saluted before a large phantom screen appeared and gave way to the image of a stern older woman with Mitoto's complexion and matching hair color.
"Kiriko Masaki and Amane Kaunaq. The chair woman wishes to see you.Please come to her office immediately.As for you, Vector Bor, Grusoff Marçer, Ichigo Kurosaki, please proceed through the enrollment process and report back to your division."
"Ma'am!" the two men snapped off before turning on their respective heel and marching out the door with Ichigo still held out like a caught fish. In the meantime Kiriko, once the screen and its video feed was canceled, turned to glare at the both of them whilst Ichigo continued to struggle and wriggle in his impromptu noose. The glare was also aimed at Amane the moment she glanced over only to catch a smug grin on her lips... said glare wasn't without challenge however.
XVX
Training Room #19, S-Vice Division Headquarters
The enrollment procedures were surprisingly simple... other than signing some paperwork, or rather electronic files and essentially standing still on a platform, as well as subsequently placing his palm on a tablet, as it presumably recorded his bio-signature, he had to be fitted with an ear piece to act as a temporary autotranslator for those moments where the apparent system in place just couldn't reach the parties involved—it helped with explaining understanding how everyone supposedly spoke Japanese for him at least. What constituted as his luggage however was taken from him with the assurance that it would be placed in his assigned quarters by the time he arrived at his dorm. Beyond that however he was simply amazed by everything: advanced technology almost straight out of a sci-fi movie was a given, not to mention the more bizarre clothing designs and hair styles he occasionally spotted amongst the surprisingly Earth comparable crowds... as far as fashion styles were concerned at least; like with the advanced technology it was also a given to see green skinned women being wooed by space captains, furred humanoid beings who could only speak in animalistic roars, dog-like people like Grusoff, insectoid creatures and so on. But that was neither here nor there. The minute he stepped into the ring shaped space station proper he was almost floor by the sheer magnitude of it all that presented itself to him once more and thensome... Trees and greenery were everywhere in either wild pockets like natural wildlife or as cultured attractions to be placed amongst the plazas and walkways they ventured through whenever they didn't take a teleporter for varying reasons. There was oceans to be beheld, OCEANS INSIDE A SPACE STATION, majestic mountains to gazed upon, all of which were brilliantly illuminated by an artificial sun slowly striding across the 'sky' above them. Were it not for the glass like paneling just above entire cinematic strips projecting a sky he would have easily forgotten that he was in a space station. The same could also be said for the almost stupefying width of the station itself where if one was far enough then no one could see either of the predominant walls that barred them from space proper do to the sheer distance from either of them. As such he was almost left breathless as he tried to once more comprehend mere size of the space station and all that implied...
But that was neither here nor there now, thankfully. In a way he couldn't help but be happy when he was eventually escorted to and confined in a large room virtually identical to Kisuke's own training room beneath his shop. In fact the only marked difference he could tell was that it lacked the plateaus and mountains Kisuke was seemingly fond of between whatever use he could find as well as thematic aesthetics. But in a way it was familiar, nor was it as grand and diverse as what the 'outside' that was the 'outdoors' of the space station proper. In fact it felt a bit more confined but not suffocatingly so. Regardless of this though he wasn't alone.
Before him was Grusoff who was in the process of cracking his neck and lazily rolling his shoulder, both of his eyes closed all the while whilst facing them. Beside Ichigo, to his left specifically, were two others. Presumably new recruits like himself. A young blond haired girl with pointed ears and wearing a blue sundress who looked no older than a middle school student at the most was trying not to fidget as she eyed everyone and everything in nervous wonder. Next to her to her own left was another dog-man much like Grusoff if the latter reminded Ichigo of a high schooler. Unlike their comrade however he looked like he was about to fall asleep on the spot instead.
"Alright," Grusoff spoke up at least as he finished with his half hearted stretching and looked at them. "I'm going to be honest, I usually give out a little speech before we get started but frankly I have a date tonight and that Immigration rush did no one any favors," he sighed. "So I'm just going to give you the short version here."
"As it stands all three of you had spiritual abilities at one point in time. Sadly though you all lost them sometime later. For the next two months we're going to do everything we can think of to either jumpstart your abilities back into working order from whatever coma they're in or bring it back to life by practically force feeding it within a feeding tube if that 's what it takes. Unless some exception was to occur to consider inducting any of you as official members of S-Vice like being some kind of spiritual vampire or the like, we're going to kick you out into the Academy itself where if you're not a pencil pusher or a package jockey then you're going to be a beat cop for all I care. Am I understood?"
"Yeah."
A nervous squeak of confirmation.
A yawn.
A throbbing vein was formed at the other dog-man's response. Instead of berating him for it like a drill sergeant, he restrained himself to reach behind himself and withdraw what looked to be a remote. "Let's get started then..."
Bip!
It happened too fast for him to register it at first. The ground gave way as if it suddenly dissolved, opening into a cavernous pit tinged red from a glow further down blocked by earthen rocks. It was when he forcibly landed on such a platform that his mind finally kicked in despite it being too late to save him much less anyone else from sprawling out on the gargantuan rock that broke their short fall.
"Let's see what you can do rookies!" Grusoff called out from above.
"Son of a—"
Krrrr...
"Crap!"
Like before the floor they were upon gave way with little warning. Needless to say they were unprepared for the drop, especially when they were all scrambling to their feet with the earnest hope of making it to safety. Unlike before however there was no shelf or ledge or catch them. Worse yet the glow's source was identified, waiting for them at the bottom of the chasm they were in...
Lava.
Panicked by the situation at hand, he didn't notice the unnamed dog-man managed to clutch onto a crevice and scurry into its safety. As for Ichigo, in his wild flailing his hand groped and caught something before he could see what it was. Instinctively he latched himself to it, slamming himself against the wall with surprisingly no pain as his arms clutched the vine he found himself holding for all that it was worth... Their third cohort wasn't as lucky however.
Perhaps because of his own survival instincts kicking into overdrive he unintentionally ignored his unnamed comrade's terrified scream as she continued to plunge straight down the chasm with utterly no hope of catching onto something like her male counterparts. Worse yet, though she was nowhere near anything nor was there anything that would come close to her, she was curled into a ball as she screamed bloody murder as she hurtled toward the lava awaiting her from below, destroying any hope at all that she could save herself if no one intervened...
It was reason enough for Ichigo to move.
Eying the area below her for what it was worth he spotted a few ledges and some vines. It would take a miracle to reach them yet it was enough for his half cocked plan. Before he even knew it he had launched himself from the safety his vine provided, not that he cared. No, he spent his focus on narrowing his form as best he could to drop faster to his fellow cadet who had an ample lead on him. Who was much closer to the lava than him. Pathetic as it was he thrust his hand out despite the fact he couldn't reach her, his feet kicking at the air in an equal attempt to prevent a horrific fate suddenly cast upon them. With each second that passed however, with each kick that drove itself harder and harder into the air, with each centimeter that brought him marginally closer to him, his withheld terror and mounting frustration stemming from it wildly grew into panicked levels of excitement overrode his ability to think once more, bringing with it memories from long ago that he once fought hard to forget for the sake of trying to live a normal life: a night where a monstrous creature wearing a bone mask was holding one of his sister's within its claws. Of a shinigami stabbing him in the chest and offering him her power. Of a sword borne from his own soul being yielded to drive the monster away...
DOOMF!
He didn't know how but he startled himself when he suddenly accelerated forth and slammed into the falling cadet. Without thinking he wrapped his arms around her, her likewise returning the favor, as he stared at his impending doom as he was now hurtling toward a small section of the stone floor most decidedly away from whatever means he could use to slow himself... At least he wasn't diving into the lava itself.
"Crap..." he muttered before closing his eyes seconds before smashing into the floor. Though there wasn't much he could do, he tucked his fellow cadet's head under his own to provide it with what meager protection he could.
... to his confusion however the landing, rough was it was, didn't hurt in the slightest.
To his greater confusion he bounced off the floor like it was an inflatable castle's floor! What's more, do to his angle, he bounced off the floor and smacked into the wall only to be repelled much the same without any discomfort greater than jarring him like a ragdoll clutching onto another ragdoll and sending him skidding along the floor till he reached the edge where his head lolled back over the river of lava. Or rather what looked like lava. While not an expert in volcanic science, even he knew being this close should be giving him third degree burns! Yet there was no heat period. In fact, now that he was paying attention, the ambient temperature was no different than when they were on top of the chasm to begin with!
With a a heavy scowl he slowly turned his head and squinted at the red, inert substance that was trying to blind him instead of melt him. His scowl only grew worse when he grunted as he unwrapped an arm from his ward to reach over and touch the stuff without getting up, all the while the sounds of jubilant one man cheering that was echoing in from overhead. Regardless of that however it was finally concluded when he pressed his hand against the 'lava' only for the 'substance' to squish and bounced much like the floor he slammed into.
"Hello Cadet Kurosaki!"
Scowl still in place, he snapped his attention to the source of the noise only to see the phantom screen being deployed much like he had last seen it. Only this time instead of a middle aged woman with tanned skin and blond hair it was a brunette looking closer to her late twenties. Not only that but she had what appeared to be a blue tear drop tattoo on both of her cheeks. Nevertheless however she had quite possibly the largest, dopiest grin on her face whilst what sounded like an impromptu party was occurring right out of the camera's sight, party poppers, party whistles and all with the addition of very loud whooping.
"Manda Ires," she introduced herself. "You're probably wondering what's going on so I'll cut to the chase: like Grusoff said, we're going to play dirty if it means kickstarting your powers! And nothing quite like a near death experience gets to kick the body into pulling out all the stops! And thank s to that you, dear sir, now have your powers back!" she chuckled before glancing to something off screen and frowning for a moment. "Or at least a fraction of it. Whatever though! See you at the party, Streak Breaker! WOO!"
The screen promptly disappeared and with it the earthen coloring of the artificial chasm, revealing what looked to be a programmer's digital construction sheet of the entire scenario complete with little white lines to help emphasis certain structuring. The only thing that wasn't either blue or white was a ramp leading back up that was highlighted green to better catch the eye. Likewise solid platforms of energy were phased into existence to let their other classmate out from the crevice he found himself in.
Looking down at his chest where his rescued fellow cadet lay he found her unconscious on his chest which she continued to hold in a death grip. He then rolled his head around the chasm once more before plopping his head against the floor proper with a sigh.
"You're all psychos," he breathed.
"Screw you! I'm happy!" Grusoff barked from above. "THE STREAK IS OVER! YEAH!"