Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, its characters or any of the characters that are going to appear unless stated otherwise.

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Author's Note: Longest chapter yet and a wrap-up of Thanatos HQ, along with the introductions of two Thanatos Agents. You're also about to see the clever side of me.

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-----Thanatos Initiative HQ, 3rd Floor-----

In the middle of the large room, Ichigo and his friends took a seat around the large table, with Dario, Rita, and the recently met Scott Sanders across from them. Scott broke the silence first, saying, "If you want, I'll be answering any questions you may have about the Initiative as a whole. I'm guessing it's already confusing as it is."

Rukia said, "True. I think my brain's in a mess just by looking around this floor."

"Its common for newcomers to get zoned-out when coming to this floor," stated Dario, "Best to try and brace yourself next time."

Leaning forward, Uryu said, "Then brace for our questions: how long as your organization been active?"

Scott answered, "Since the turn of the century, a good 105 years ago. My grandfather, Arnold Sanders, was a scientist and inventor in New York City, New York. During his life, he debated on the existence of ghosts and spirits with other scientists. It wasn't until 1904 that he uncovered the existence of these spirits, appearing to perform violent acts upon unsuspecting humans. These resulted in a number of ways, ranging from small scratches to full-blown murder. My grandfather tried to convince President Roosevelt at the time to start up an organization to counter against these forces. Roosevelt let my great-grandfather perform his experiment to battle the evil spirits. In less than a month, murder rates in New York City dropped 20 percent. A month later, my grandfather got the funding to form the Thanatos Initiative, named after the Greek God of Death. It wasn't until the middle of World War II that the organization became international. Since then, we've been secret funded by a majority of the countries in the world. We are practically our own country."

"Except you guys sell soldiers to fight, right?" asked Ichigo.

Nodding, Scott said, "Yes, but we confirm any attacks from these spirits before we send a squad over. We don't want a 'Cry Wolf' event happening, right?"

Ichigo and his friends just sat confused, staying silent for several seconds until Uryu asked, "So, what made you stumble into Karakura Town?"

Dario spoke first with, "We've been getting spikes in spirit energy in that town, going up and down for days on end. It wasn't until a few days ago that the entire town just disappeared off the face of the earth!" Rukia was shocked at that statement, fearing they may've discovered the battle with Soul Society and Aizen.

Scott then said, "We still aren't sure what caused it, but we're still looking for answers."

As Rukia sighed with relief, Ichigo said, "So, then you guys arrive and that brings us to here."

"Exactly," stated Scott, "you guys may prove useful to us in the near future. Maybe even as new recruits?"

"Uh…no," said Ichigo, "I'll stick to being e free agent."

Shrugging, Scott said, "I offered. Dario. Rita. Continue the tour. Then continue with the mission."

"Of course, sir," said Dario.

"Alright," said Rita. It wasn't long before everyone boarded back onto the elevator. "Next stop: the Research Department." The elevator doors closed and off they went.

As they left, Scott said to himself, "Nice group of kids." Seemingly distracted, Scott said, "Not really. You can continue." After a few more seconds, Scott said, "Just stick with the important details. We can work a way around it."

-----Sub-Level 1: Research Department-----

When the elevator doors reopened, Ichigo and his friends saw an impressive floor before them. This floor was filled with several scientists, most of them working together on devices around them. The room itself was sleek and hi-tech, mostly shaded in silver and platinum. Various mechanical devices seemed to rum amok in this area. "Let me guess: you build some crazy shit in this floor?" asked Ichigo.

"Good guess. You can see that our equipment is top of the line and pretty futuristic," said Dario.

"Is this floor also run by a Spiritual Agent?" asked Orihime.

"Give the girl a prize," called out a new voice. A guy flew in on what looks like a flying, silver disk. Landing on the ground, the man said, in a Cockney accent, "Welcome, loves, to the future." Unlike the clean appearance of the other scientists, this one seemed quite messy. Blue jeans, blue t-shirt, brown shoes, brown jacket around waist: he looked more like a mechanic than a scientist. The dark-brown, blond dreadlocks man had red goggles around his forehead, making his head look like a pineapple. His long face and brown eyes made him look laid-back, despite being the same size as Ichigo. He even sounded laid-back, saying, "Name's Alexander Henderson, ranked 3rd among the Spiritual Agents and Chief Scientist in the Thanatos Initiative." Pulling his goggles down and leaning towards Rukia, he casually said, "Do you want a private tour?"

Ichigo pushed Alexander back, saying, "Back off."

"Its alright, chap. I understand you want to protect your girlfriend."

"hey, she's not my-"

"Mr. Henderson!" shouted a female scientist near the middle of the room.

"Relax, old girl," yelled Alexander, "and you can call me Alex."

"We're about to re-modify the D.D. Your help is required."

Shrugging, Alex turned to Dario and Rita and said, "We'll catch up later. Got a job to do."

-----Back in the Elevator-----

"Guys pretty smart."

"That's nothing, Uryu. He literally built this base from the underground up."

"That's true. He designed the command floor, sleeping quarters: everything. He considers it a hobby."

"Wow, he must be super-smart!"

"Yea, but a little too relaxed, Orihime."

"What's the matter, Ichigo? Afraid of losing position as 'top dog'?"

"Shut up, Rukia!"

-----2nd Underground Floor: Training hub-----

Upon arriving in the second floor underground, the group walked around in a small room, large enough to hold them all but with walls covered in all sorts of machines. Right across from the elevator was a wide glass window, with a new figure standing in front of it. The man turned around, revealing to be much older than everyone else in the room, between early and mid-40s in age. He sported a brown mullet, short beard, and some wrinkles across his cheeks. He wore a skin-tight, black stealth suit, complete with a knife holder around his right leg and gun on his left shoulder. The most startling feature was a black eye patch, covering his entire eye. It seemed to wrap around his head, being covered by a black headband as well. He was a sturdy man, physically fit and standing a good 3 inches over Ichigo. He also looked stern, rarely cracking a smile. In a deep, foreign accent, the man asked, "New recruits?"

"More like 'allies,'" said Rita.

Sighing, the man said, "Fine. I am Missah Gerasimov: former SPETZNAZ and 2nd in command of the Spiritual Agents."

Uryu then replied, "So you're Black Ops?"

"Former," said Missah, "I'm also a veteran here, even possessing membership long before Commander Sanders."

"So, you knew his father?" asked Chad.

"A brave comrade, and intelligent leader. He is missed," said Missah. He turned back to the glass and said, "I guess you know why I'm here, right?"

"You're a drill sergeant," said Uryu.

"Good call. I train these agents in here. We call it the Kitchen. 'If you can't stand the heat-"

"-get out of the Kitchen," finished Rita.

'Exactly. Below me are the agents, fighting with advanced holo-graphics, capable of making any battleground and any enemy." Hi-tech was nothing: the Kitchen was more sci-fi than modern. Regular agents fought across a blasted ground below the main deck, fighting against grotesque Hollow projections. "I train them to anticipate and control the situation for themselves. I even bring in part of my SPETZNAZ training as well into the routine."

"Wow," said Uryu. "So they're like elite soldiers…"

Turning back around, Missah said, "How goes the tour?"

"One more floor left, then we're heading back," said Rita.

"Fine. I'll tell Vladimir you've said hi."

"Who's Vladimir?" asked Rukia.

"Vladimir Lazar. Ranked 12th of the Spiritual Agents and our newest recruit."

"Forget I asked," said Rukia.

-----3rd Underground Floor: The Plant-----

The elevator started to open its doors, but it was still in the motion of going down. "Woah," said Ichigo, "What's going on?"

"Consider this a brief glimpse at the heart of the Thanatos Initiative," said Dario. Sure enough, the elevator doors opened to reveal a glass barrier, but what was beyond the barrier was truly astonishing: several containers, each larger than a 2-story house, lined across the ground. Each one glowed with a faint blue light. "5 years ago, we've hit a major power discover. Every time we took out an evil spirit, they'd release a build-up of energy. We've discovered how to gather that energy. Since then, we're started to collect it and use it to power the base. We haven't come up with a name for it yet but-"

"That's…pure Reishi (Spirit Particles)" said Rukia.

Thinking about that name, Dario said, "Sounds interesting. It fits, I guess."

-----Karakura Town, Karakura High School-----

It was nighttime in Karakura Town, with the clear night sky overhead. Ichigo, Chad, Orihime, Rukia, and Uyru exited the Thanatos Initiative HQ from the High School shed, followed by Dario and Rita. "So," asked Uryu, "What's your mission?"

"Hm?" Rita said.

"You guys came back, so your mission obviously is not done."

"Sorry, that's enough talking for one night," said Dario.

"Come on," Ichigo asked, "You told us about your team and stuff. How about we tell you about us?"

"Uh," Rukia started to say, "Ichigo…"

"Don't worry," said Rita. "We trust you." Sighing Ichigo and his friends took off to their respective homes looking forward to a day off tomorrow. With Dario and Rita left, Rita said, "I'm surprised you didn't tell them about the mission."

"At least not yet. Besides, they didn't need to tell us any of their secrets."

"That's true. We got enough out of them without even trying."