Thousands of years ago, Central 46 authorized the formation of a contingent of elite Special Forces Shinigami to be activated in a time of war.
Their mission and their very existence are a closely guarded secret. They appear on the outside as an addition to the Special Mobile Corp, but they are an autonomous entity that supersedes even my own command authority. It makes them dangerous, and the potential to turn rogue is high, but such is the price for war.
The war with the Hollows is coming.With their new leader, Aizen taking charge, it is just a matter of time. He is mustering his forces; so shall we. The time is coming soon. We must do all we can to prepare.
Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni from his reports to the Spirit King
At the heart of Karakura, the downtown area is like any other Japanese city: busy and full of life. The liveliness was suddenly halted when a loud explosion erupted from one of the office buildings. The sound of many Hollows could be heard, if one had the ability to hear them, that is.
Below on the street, several vans raced around the corner and stopped in front of the skyscraper where the Hollows were. The doors slid open and men, dressed in military garb, filed out. There were no markings on the vans nor did these armed men have any sort of markings on them. They readied their weapons, assault rifles and handguns and put on goggles and some sort of ear piece as they rushed the building.
"Team 1, proceed into the building and secure against the enemy." A man on the radio called out, "Team 2, secure outside against all other threats."
Upon entering, they moved quietly up to the floor that was affected.
"Team one, hallway clear. Move up!" The leader of the squad ordered.
The floor was too quiet. Nothing stirred as the group of armed men sweeps the first few rooms clear.
"Where is it?" one man asked.
"Are these goggles working?" another asked as he patted the eyewear.
"Shut up…it's here…" The lead man said as the wall right next to them burst into many pieces and a large dog like Hollow appeared and pounced on one of the soldiers. "Fire! Fire!"
The rifles they were carrying weren't shooting bullets, but what appeared to be blue glowing energy bolts. The Hollow felt them, and fell backwards off the man it tackled.
The leader ran up to his down man.
"Get up, it's coming back." He said as he took aim and proceeded alone down the hall as the others checked the rest of the area they were in.
"Sir, wait for us!" one of the soldiers shouted and turned to his comrades, "This kid knows what he's doing?"
"He's not a fucking new guy. He's faced these things more times than all of us combine."
"This kid?"
The leader made it to the other room and followed what appeared to be a blood trail. He scanned the area with his eyes and saw nothing, but as he walked, he appeared not to have noticed that the Hollow was crawling on the ceiling above, stalking him.
The tail of the wolf-like Hollow was as sharp as a razor and about to stab him. Luckily the team leader sensed this and turned to fire, but the bladed tail of the Hollow sliced his rifle clean in half; it exploded in front of him.
Jumping back, the leader moved his arms in a somewhat odd position for those who were observing him. His right arm forward, hand in a fist and his left arm pulled back and bending, his fingers look like they were tying to grab something invisible.
"Oh right…force of habit." He said as he put his arms down; he pulled out his handgun as he was pounced by the Hollow and fired multiple shots until the gun was empty, as the dead Hollow lay on top of him and started to disappear. He pushed the remains off as they pretty much evaporated into nothing.
The rest of the guy's team showed up to see if they could assist him.
"Sir, we've secured the floor. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," He started to take off his head gear.
"Sir, I'd advise against taking your gear off until we are sure they are all gone. You can't see them without your optics."
"Yes I can…I just wanted to give these new toys a try."
Walking to the broken window of the office floor, the team leader held his helmet to his side and took off his headphone as well.
"Not a bad run people. Clean up and move out. I'll join you shortly."
"Yes, sir." The soldier turns to the others, "We're Oscar Mike! Let's get our asses out of here! All Hunter units check in for any remains and get to your Victors! We're on a clock, people."
The team leader looked outside as it started to snow and puts his glasses on.
"A bit odd for snow, this season." Ishida Uryū said as he holstered his sidearm and walked out. He looked at his hand and wondered, "Are my powers really gone?"
3rd Op "Tsukiakari no Michishirube" by STEREOPONY aka, Darker Than Black ~Comet of Gemini~ OP
Chapter 7
The Danger Zone
At the Adept Rogue compound, The Wolves' Lair, Sakaki walked through the main entrance. An elevator took him down to the command center, a blend of old style Japanese furniture and building design with some oddities of modern technology, like computers.
It had been a just a month since the Rogues were activated by Yamamoto and Sakaki was given command. It was more or less a loose term. His rank was Captain, but the Rogues functioned almost like a mini Gotei 13, with several semi-independent squads with team leaders of their own.
He walked over to a station that was under construction. It was a new building after all.
"Nemu, please tell me you have the network database with Division 12 online."
The Vice-captain of 12th Division, Nemu, turned around. She was wearing the same light yellow haori as Ikkaku did, meaning she wasn't a full member, but on loan from Gotei 13. The Rogue couldn't suddenly take all their seated officers from Gotei 13 and just keep them.
"A few more hours." She said in her usual plain voice and then added, "You have to be patient…Captain."
Sakaki was still getting used to the rank, despite it having been a month already. Still, there was no word or intelligence on Aizen, though it wasn't like they had an open door to his base of operations.
It was going to take a while for him to adjust to everything else around there. So many transfers from Gotei 13, and some didn't like to leave their units for this somewhat secret group. There was a lot of controversy surrounding how this unit was formed and its real purpose. But none of that mattered then.
Sakaki walked over to the main room where there was a large door against one of the walls, much like the gate that took one to the world of the living. The only difference was that it hadn't disappeared yet. Usually, one summoned the gate and, after use, it disappeared.
Koto walked up to him and passed a report.
"The latest update, sir. And a message from the Commander."
Taking the data pad, Sakaki frowned.
"Another 13 missing. Replacements to the living world are being dispatched as soon as this problem is solved."
"Why are so many Shinigami going missing from the living world?"
"Think Aizen has something to do with it?"
"Maybe, sir, but investigations turned up nothing that could indicate him or anyone else. No traces of reiatsu found. It's like they just vanished from the living world while on patrol."
"Well, the old man isn't going to send replacements until we have this fixed, which means the world of the living is becoming vulnerable to Hollows. Strangely enough, Hollow activity is on the decline. It was up last week, but suddenly dropped."
"Do we have any reasonable cause? With so many Shinigami missing, who's killing the Hollows?"
"I know one place that's pretty safe from Hollows. Ichigo's got his hometown cover."
Sakaki turned back to Nemu.
"Nemu, is Ikkaku back yet?"
"No he has not. He's taking double shifts because and I quote…'I want to have some fun in the living world.'"
In Karakura town, Ichigo was doing pretty well for himself, slaying Hollows like there was no tomorrow. He rammed his sword through another and beat down a third.
Rukia had yet to return to the living world, but it wasn't like Ichigo missed her – or at least he didn't admit it.
Then suddenly, Ikkaku sprang into action and destroyed a Hollow that Ichigo had missed and was saving for last.
"Hey, my kill…Ikkaku?" Ichigo was confused. "Why are you here?"
"Doing my job."
"I can handle this. Get out of here!"
"That's not a nice way to say hi to a buddy."
"We're buddies? Then get the hell out of my turf."
"Screw you!"
"Yeah, I thought so," Sakaki said as he went to his office.
Sano was the latest member of the team, but was technically the closest thing to a second in command. He was sent on missions with more to priority.
Standing on top of a building in the middle of Tokyo, Japan, he looked at his phone, which showed a GPS screen.
"There aren't any hollows here anymore...seems like the theory is right. They're all being drawn to Karakura town. The spiritual energy over there is very rich."
"Hey, what are we doing here again?" Renji jumped up next to him.
"Renji-san, we are here to assess the levels of hollow activities. This isn't some ice cream social." Since Sanosuke was recently promoted to a rank equal to lieutenant, he could speak to Renji plainly. The oddity of it was that in the corp, almost all members had a similar or equal rank, save for Sakaki.
They saw a helicopter pass them. It looked like a Blackhawk, ready for war. Strange that a military helicopter would be flying over a major city like Tokyo… Perhaps it was American.
Sano watched it as he saw that the helicopter was carrying a large container with a huge marking of the Quincy.
"Hey, Renji. That symbol over there on that box. You recognize it?"
Renji turned and looked to see a large Blue cross within a circle stamped on the container.
"It looks like something Ishida would design."
"The Quincy? Coincidence? Maybe this is a common symbol of the living world."
"Maybe. Not our concern."
Unknown to the two shinigami, Ishida was on that helicopter. He was thinking to himself, and the events that brought him there.
A month ago, Ichigo and company had left Soul Society and were content in waiting for Rukia to return to the living world when she was ready. Urahara had to apologize for sending them on a mission without telling them the whole story, but Ichigo didn't mind. Relieved, the exiled shinigami captain dropped everyone off on his flying carpet. The first was Ishida.
The lone and now powerless Quincy sighed a bit and waved the substitute Shinigami off.
"Didn't I tell you before? We're not friends. I did my end to help you as promised, so whatever you think we have as a team is over." Ishida puts his glasses back on, "See ya at school, Kurosaki and watch your back…"
Leaving with that comment, Ishida began walking home when all of a sudden he felt like he was being followed, but not by his comrades. Pulling out a Quincy charm of some sort, he waited.
"Whoever you are, come out. I don't like being followed." He said with an imposing voice.
From around the corner, a man, dressed like some businessman, walked out to greet him.
"Usually I'd be impressed if a kid would know I am following him, but you aren't just a kid aren't you?"
"Who are you?"
"My name is Nakatomi Shogo and I am a Quincy just like you."
"There aren't any left. My family is one of the last one. Quincies are dead."
"Yes, I suppose so, but I am part of an organization that is trying to revive the Quincy name and I need your help."
"What help can I offer you and your organization?"
"We're well aware the moment you came back from Soul Society that your powers of Quincy is virtually nonexistent right now, but we want your expertise in combating the Hollows. We've developed weapons that can destroy hollows."
Ishida was intrigued and turned back to the man.
"Human weapons that can destroy hollows?"
"Oh yes, I'm carrying one on me now." He pulled out a pistol and immediately, Ishida was cautious, "This is what was giving me away. Like the spirit bows we Quincy use, this gun is powered by spiritual energy. It looks like an ordinary gun you may find anywhere, but I assure you, it's not meant for killing people. Here, take it and think about my offer. You're going to need this thing on you if you want to continue fighting the hollows."
The illusive man smiled as he took a turn and walked away.
"My number's on the gun. Give me a call when you want to talk. You're going to also need to work on your team player skills. There's no such thing as a loner in the Quincy."
Ishida looked at the handgun in his hand. There was a glow around it, making it somewhat futuristic and also had very little tactical since it could be seen in the dark. He aimed the weapon and fired at a wall. The short burst of blue energy took the young Quincy by surprise as he made a black burn on the stone wall.
With nothing else on his mind, he joined this group of new Quincy, receiving military style training. He was doing what he'd always been doing, even though he felt there was something the organization was hiding from him. For example, the large, heavy box he was told to escort. According to the manifest, it stated that whatever was inside the crate was the power source for their weapons. It was top secret and, asking around, no one knew what really went into their guns. All they knew was that a special battery powered the weapon and channeled spiritual energy like the Spirit Bow, but where was all the abundant spiritual energy coming from?
Perhaps it's best not to wonder too much. Ishida thought to himself.
In Soul Society, Sano was reporting to old man Yamamoto about the current progress of the Rogues. Though technically he did not fall under the authority of the old master, Sano felt compelled to do so anyway.
"So you are almost fully operational?" Yamamoto asked.
"Yes, sir. We've recruited from just about every Division, both making temporary transfers and permanent ones. We've become more of an amalgam of Gotei 13."
"Except with greater autonomy. You do realize that makes your group more prone to its name right?"
"Going rogue would be the last thing on our minds. We have the best and brightest of Gotei 13 in our ranks. We will not fail."
"And how is your new captain fairing in his duties? It's only been a month."
"I can only say that he's working hard for the mission and does not distract himself from work. He barely even has time for chit-chat."
What Sano said about his captain was currently far from the truth, though, as Sakaki was not even at the Rogue compound anymore. He was actually standing in the training hall of the 2nd Division in front of Soifon, who stared at him almost hatefully.
There was a long silence between them as both struggled to find the right words to say to each other. Soifon took off her haori, tossing it aside.
"So…friends?" Sakaki asked lightly but deep within his simply question was a slight taunt in his tone as he grin at the 2nd Division captain.
It was established that there had been something between the two and it really pissed Soifon more than Sakaki, who grabbed her sword and prepared to draw.
"Hardly." She replied, blade out, for which Sakaki responded in kind.
They held their blades out, preparing to strike. Soifon attacked first, swinging her sword with one hand to aim at Sakaki's face, who twisted his wrist and was suddenly thrusting his sword straight at her. Soifon had to defend right away or risk letting herself get cut. Blocked, and his blade mere inches from her face, Sakaki tapped against Soifon's sword and managed to push her back.
After regaining her footing, she looked up and Sakaki jumped towards her, hacking at her with his sword, She blocked and deflected, then counter attacked and Sakaki responded: block attack, defend, and counter. Sakaki pushed her back with his attacks, then she pushed him back with her own, putting him on the defensive.
Then he suddenly grabbed her sword arm and held it tight and attacked when she was defenseless. Soifon was still able to fight with her left arm as she blocked, not the blade of his sword, but his hand and wrist as he came down at her from the left and then from above. Her defense proved futile as Sakaki showed her by flipping his blade to the blunt end and hitting her in the shoulder when she missed a block. She winced, as it hurt, and she pushed him back, then jump kicked him so he would let go of her sword arm.
Freed, Soifon went on the offensive again, using her speed and agility to take him out. When she clashed with him again, he released his sword and was holding two swords as he beat her back in a whirl of blades. The sudden change without even calling out to his zanpakuto's name had surprised Soifon, but she didn't falter as she retreated, doing flips and rolls to let Sakaki chase her as he attacked. She attacked back at him, but he blocked and used his two blades to catch her sword and then held her blade to his as he threw her to the ground.
Pushing her back still, Soifon decided to turn around completely and run towards the nearest wall, running up at it.
"Sting all Enemies to Death…" She spoke the trigger command of her sword and then with all her strength, she kicked off the wall with all her strength back towards Sakaki, "Suzumebachi!"
Sakaki was taken by surprise at the counter and the force she came at him with and had no choice but to block and to his own surprise, her little stinger struck both his swords and broke his blades. Retreating a bit, but not defeated, Sakaki did his best to avoid Soifon's sting as he twisted his body to dodge and ended up behind her and kicked her in the back. Soifon did a roll and was back to her feet again as Sakaki connected the bottom of his broken swords together into one weapon and changed its form again. This time it was a spear, though more of a naginata, like Ikkaku's weapon.
Sakaki smiled at Soifon, seeming to enjoy their fight, but for the gathering crowd, it looked like a fight to the death.
Without pause, Sakaki came at her, pushing her back because of the long reach of his weapon until she stopped at a table and pushed down on it. Sakaki pulled up and came down hard with his spear and if Soifon hadn't rolled away, she would have been hurt and not just the broken table.
Soifon had adapted and caught his weapon, denying the range attacks and began to chop it into pieces, not giving him the chance to disconnect it into a sectioned staff. Sakaki pulled back at the lost of his weapon again as Soifon charged, ready to stab him in the chest. Sakaki then smiled and spun around and threw something at her with great force. She was almost blind sided by a large spike ball, which was the exact shape of her lieutenant's sword's release. He only used that form for a fraction of a second as he changed his sword into Zabimaru, though unlike Renji, Sakaki used this form more like a whip than how the 6th Division lieutenant did and whirled the weapon around, spinning his entire body with it to swept at Soifon.
Soifon did manage to block the attack; the "claw" of the sword was inches from her face as Sakaki pulled the sword back and connected the segments, taking Soifon back to him as well.
When she was within range, Soifon jumped up and kicked his hand, knocking his sword away and into the wall. Disarmed, Sakaki defended himself against Soifon's weapon and managed to grab her wrist, pulling her towards him, wrapping his arms around her he pulled her zanpakutou off and tossed it aside. He was holding her from behind and whispered into her ear.
"Had enough?" He asked.
She responded with her head to his nose and then while she still had her back to him, she back kicked him, which he blocked with his arm. Jumping forward, Soifon turned to him, fists at the ready. She didn't need her sword. He attacked first and that was his mistake, for her counter was a quick punch to his nose again, sending him down on his back. As she was about to pummel him, he launched his feet at her, kicking her in the chest and into the wall behind her, making a rather nice impression of her on it.
Getting back to his feet, Sakaki took a deep breath, ready for more. He went over and picked up his sword, and then with it, he hit Soifon's like a golf club and sent it back toward her. Both their weapons had returned to their sealed form as they prepared to continue.
The situation was tense and the cheering crowd around them had stopped talking to wait to see what happens next.
Then the two charged at each other but a hell butterfly came in between them as they were about to clash. The butterfly had stopped right in the middle of the two swords.
Sakaki reached out and touched the messenger and was well aware of what it entailed. He put his sword away and picked up his haori. This sudden interruption of their duel upset Soifon.
"We are not done yet!"
"When are we ever, Soifon?" Sakaki asked rhetorically as he used shunpo and disappeared, leaving Soifon alone with their fans.
Appearing inside his base, Sakaki walked up to Nemu.
"You have something?" he asked her.
"One of the shinigami sent to Tokyo suddenly has stopped transmitting his homing beacon. I am still determining the cause. He just simply disappeared from scans."
"Last location?"
Nemu pointed to the map on the big screen. Sakaki didn't wait and called a team together.
"Koto, Genji, with me! Combat drop now!" He walked towards the large gate in the main room as the seals slid open. He turned to the others, who nodded at him.
The gate glowed and revealed their path.
"We don't know what we're walking into. I want swords out."
His subordinates took their weapons out and released them, ready to face anything on the other side. Sakaki turned to Nemu again.
"I got a signal from the shinigami's cellphone." Sakaki picked one up and the GPS was turned on.
"Alright, let's go." And the three stepped out and into the living world.
In the world of the living, a lowly Shinigami was being chased as weapons fire score passed him. His sword was broken; leaving him unable to properly defend himself as he ran around past a corner to hide. He did not know shunpo to run away, he was relatively weak. Taking a breath, he franticly tried to call on his phone, but he let it slip and drop on the ground as he turned and saw dark figures running at him, firing something he'd never seen before.
Running around the next corner, he was spotted but failed to escape as some kind of beam caught him. It was a multi colored particle beam that stabbed through him and he started to break apart and melt, almost like he was being sucked into something. When it was done, there was nothing left of the shinigami and the men that ended him quickly ran off.
Sakaki, Koto, and Genji walked through the gate and appeared onto the other side. Sakaki and Koto had their swords out. Genji released his in the shape of another form of a rifle with a bayonet attached to the end of it. He handled his zanpakutou like it was a real rifle than a sword in the shape of a rifle.
"Focus, guys. We don't know what we're up against." Sakaki said as he moved forward cautiously.
Koto lifted his hand up to see his cell phone with the GPS tracking.
"Up ahead." He pointed out as they moved forward, with Genji covering their backs.
"So, do we know what we're going into?" Koto asked.
"Just be prepared for anything." Sakaki said as a wall exploded next to them, sending Koto back onto his ass as Genji opened fire in the general direction.
"Didn't expect that one, Captain." Koto got to his feet as he took cover. He peered over and took a good look, "It's not hollows. They're people, sir!"
"And they can see us!" Genji shouted as he took cover. "I'll cover!"
Genji changed the shape of his sword again and this time, it looked like a gatling gun, and opened fire, but then whoever was shooting stopped.
Sakaki got up and peered over, his sword at the ready.
"Think they are gone?" Koto asked, but then, they heard something click and that something was thrown at them. The object bounced on the floor and rolled next to them. It looked like a ball of sorts. "What's this thing?"
Sakaki took a second to recognize what this little ball shape thing is supposed to be.
"Grenade!" He used shunpo and disappeared.
"What's a grenade?" Koto asked before being tackled out of the way by Genji as the grenade exploded.
A soldier walked forward and from the dust as he checked his weapon around the corner. The Shinigami were no where in sight as the man gestured for his team to move forward, but suddenly found a blade to his neck.
"You've got one chance. Identify yourself and why you are shooting at me and my men." Sakaki asked ever so politely as he moved his blade closer to the neck. The armed human didn't answer the shinigami. He then raised his weapon, about to shoot Sakaki, but his throat was slashed, "Wrong answer, mortal."
There were two others that moved forward, they both saw that Sakaki had killed their comrade and took aim to shoot him. Sakaki appeared to have vanished from their sight as he appeared next to one and bisected him, leaving two halves of a person falling to the floor. The second soldier pointed his rifle to Sakaki's head, but he got taken out by Genji's sharp shooting.
Sakaki got up and turned to see anyone else left, but there were just those three. Sakaki called in the rest of his team.
"So, who are these guys?" Koto asked.
"More importantly, how can they see us? It's not commonplace to see a mortal with the gift, or curse rather, to see spirits." Sakaki said as he pushed one of the corpses over to the side and noticed the insignia. It looked almost like a five pointed star with the arms of the star stretched out and a cross over it.
"Don't recognize it." Genji said.
"You guys are too young to know it…It's the symbol of the Quincy order." Sakaki said as they continued to walk and found the cellphone belonging to their lost Shinigami. "This case just got even weirder."
Elsewhere, Ishida had returned to headquarters. It was a tall skyscraper in the middle of town. One would think a secret base for an order of demon slaying warriors would be somewhere far from the public eye, but from what the young Quincy could figure out, this new Quincy order was more interested in how the government saw them. There was a lot of private funding, but having connections with the government saw that they did their jobs without interference from the police.
As Ishida changed out of his gear, he noticed the large crate was being hauled from the helicopter and to an elevator. There, it was brought down. Ishida was curious, but didn't care; he wanted to go home and had school work to do.
Being the youngest of the bunch, he was asked to come to social gatherings, sharing in their "war stories" and the like. Ishida declined just like he usually would. Even among other "Qunicies", he needed to learn how to be a team player.
As he walked past his boss's office, he noticed the man was talking to someone on the big screen, but the room was sound proof.
"Yes, I understand sir." Shogo said, "This incident was expected. It won't be long before they start searching for us."
"They will find out about your operation here and the source of your power. Once they do, they will destroy you all. The Shinigami are not a force to be underestimated."
"I think a bunch of souls from another dimension won't stand a chance against us. This is our home, they have no business in "patrolling" our world of the living. I will handle them."
"Tread lightly Nakatomi-san, for the Shinigami is a power that has been here since the beginning of everything."
"Not for long, sir." Shogo turned the screen off as he looked to the photos. They were satellite images taken of the recent battle Sakaki and his team mates had with the Quincy soldiers. "What I hate the most…is competition."
He tossed the photos away.
Ryūken Ishida was about to call it a night. It was a long day of hard work and he wanted to go home and rest before he was called again. A doctor's work was never over. The man was about to take his glasses off when he stopped and summoned his bow and fired a shot next to his window. The other in the room had taken a step to the left.
"Is that how you plan to greet all Shinigami?" Sakaki asked "I'd hate to see Ichigo walk in here."
"Boruto? It's been-"
"15 years, yes it has been. A long time for a mortal, but a blink of an eye for me nonetheless."
"What do you want?"
Sakaki skipped the pleasantries and tossed the cross into Ryuken's hand. The Quincy looked at it with slight intrigue.
"And?"
"You're the Quincy. Would you kindly tell me the meaning of this?"
"It's similar to the original symbol of the order...over 200 years ago before the extinction of all other Quincy. Where did you dig this up?"
"Off a dead man I met this evening. He was armed with strange weapons, was able to see me and my men and wore that cross like dog tags."
Ryuken continued to look at the cross as he adjusted his glasses and looked closer. He spotted a name and raised an eyebrow.
"I'll look into it…"
"What?"
"I said, I'll look into it. Now go, come back later." Ryuken took his jacket and walked out, leaving Sakaki hanging.
"Something I said?"
At the Kurosaki resident, Ichigo was watching TV as the news came on.
"This just in, several men dressed up as soldiers were found dead early this evening. Police have not offered any comments to the subject matter and it isn't clear what had happened. A few eye witnesses had reported that the soldiers were shooting at seemingly nothing before dying. This cellphone camera footage was recovered. We've been told there are graphic images of violence. Viewer's discretion is advised."
Ichigo looked closer at the TV screen. Since a camera would not be able to record the invisible shinigami, all Ichigo could see was that the soldiers were shooting at nothing, but something WAS shooting back at them. He could tell by the impacts on the walls from missed shots. One soldier stopped in his tracks, his neck up as he looked left. There was nothing the camera could see as the soldier turned to his left but his throat was slit, blood spilling out.
Ichigo could see that it was clearly a sword cut to the throat or some kind of blade. He turned the TV off and went to his room. His little sister called to him.
"Onii-chan, dinner's ready!" Yuzu said.
"In a moment!" Ichigo said as he went to his room, where Kon was reading.
"What?" The stuff animal asked as Ichigo unceremoniously stuffed his hand into the thing and pulled the pill out. Then swallowing the pill himself, he hopped out of his body. His own body talked with Kon in it. "Hey, what's the big idea?"
"Go eat dinner. I won't be long." Ichigo said as he opened the window and was gone.
"Ungrateful punk!" Kon shouted as he smelled the air. "Mmm, orange chicken tonight."
At the Neo-Quincy HQ, the men were gearing up for war after seeing their fellow Quincies slaughtered. Ishida had watched the camera footage and was concerned.
The men rushed to the armory to break out their weapons and gear.
"Aren't we overreacting?" Ishida asked; his point man turned to him with anger.
"These samurai ghosts came out of no where and killed our guys."
"We opened fired on them. Of course they'd be pissed at us."
One of the soldiers turned to Ishida with a glare.
"Hey, why are you taking their side? They're our enemies and we are supposed to take them out."
"I'm not taking their side, but they are shinigami, a powerful force of spirits, and they're job is to keep order with the spirits. We were actually intruding on their territory when we started to take out the hollows before they did."
When the argument was going to get even more heated, one of the higher ranked officers stepped up.
"Alright men, we have a new target. We have a new target building." The officer handed the soldiers and Ishida papers with their briefs and photos. It was a photo of Urahara's home. Ishida recognized it right away.
"What's so special about here?" he asked.
"Our target is this man and a device that he possesses that would help us in the fight against the hollows."
Ishida looked at a photo of the object that Aizen now current has in his possession, the Hogyoku.
"It's called the Orb of Distortion and it can grant people special powers. We believe we can use it to gain an edge against the Hollows and even the shinigami."
Of course not even Ishida was informed about the Hogyoku and didn't know it was in the hands of Aizen. So they geared up to go.
Back in Soul Society, Sakaki was summoned to the Commander's office. The old man was not pleased with Sakaki's recent incident in the living world. Fighting Hollows is one thing, but the new captain engaged in open combat with humans of the living world and killed them. Collateral damage is expected sometimes when fighting in the mortal world, but directly killing is almost strictly forbidden.
"You killed three people! Shinigami do not kill mortals of the living without explicit orders."
Sakaki was not fazed on the outside, but inside he is starting to be shaken by the Old Man's voice. His uniform moved a little from the sheer sound of Yamamoto's voice.
"I had no choice." Sakaki replied.
"Is that all you have to say for your actions?"
"I don't need to say anything, Yama-ji. They were a threat to me and my squad and I took care of them. Keep in mind that I am here because you asked for me, not because I take orders from you anymore."
"There is a limit on what we are allowed to do. Five minutes in the living world and you've already killed three random people."
Sakaki wasn't really getting through to the old man again. Technically he didn't take orders from him because his unit was the Special Forces and not under the direct chain of command, but since the Old Man was the most powerful Shinigami in Soul Society, it was wise and wouldn't shorten your life to listen to the guy who could set your soul on fire.
"Shinigami are disappearing. We've lost a couple dozen of them in the same general area. These New Quincies might be connected. They have weapons that can harm spirits and see them through artificial means. I am doing all I can to take care of this problem. I can try to avoid being shot at, but since these guys have openly declared that they are Quincy, direct conflict is unavoidable like previous encounters with them."
"You're already walking a fine line, Sakaki. Try not to overdo it."
"I'll do my best, sensei."
The Rogue Captain turned and left the office as Yamamoto's own Lieutenant walked up to him.
"I don't like where this boy is going with his unit. They are a menace. It's been barely a month and they've cause a lot of trouble."
"It was my own decision to recommend him the chance at this job. You think I am wrong?"
"No, sir…but these men originally take direct orders from Central 46. Now that they are all dead and replacements hasn't been elected yet, Sakaki's Adept Rogue's have all the freedom to do whatever they want. They've already outright "borrowed" the lieutenants from half of the Gotei 13 to work directly under them and pretty much robbed all the specialized equipment from 12's labs. Captain Kurotsuchi is NOT amused. In fact, how the hell he stole all of Kurotsuchi's equipment without him noticing?" In an extremely rare moment, Yamamoto actually sighed and turned to his Lieutenant. "We should try to have some faith. Sakaki is a man of action and determination. Only time will tell if he brings good results…or utter disappointment. So far…he's been impressive to say the least." *** In the world of the living, the Neo Quincy were preparing for battle, getting out of this cars as quietly as possible. Their new target was Urahara's shop, to steal an object that he no longer had. Either way, they were coming for him and what they think is in his possession and he seemed none the wiser. Above the building, the group didn't suspect that 2 black clothed figures were watching their every move and preparing to strike. "Ready, sis?" "Just try to keep up little brother." The two leaped into action and dropped towards. Too be continued