Babylon's Guardian
Chapter 6: Nothing Can Be Explained/Goodbye, Halcyon Days
Recap: The Karakura Substitute Team has reunited on Babylon 5, and life has gone on as usual. In short, absolute chaos. Now, nothing shall ever be the same.
Ichigo had discovered that, without Tatsuki there, Orihime was simply a stupid girl.
That could be blamed on her upbringing: her parents clearly sucked at their parenting duties if she was raised by her brother.
That also explained her taste in food.
However, with Ichigo accepting his Hollow, his patience with the girl finally came to an end.
If he had to BEAT the stupid out of her, he would beat the stupid out of her.
The day finally came when Orihime tried looking for red bean paste on the station.
At that point, Ichigo finally snapped.
"Inoue."
The orange haired girl looked at Ichigo.
"Come with me please."
Orihime paled.
That was his 'do as I say or you're fucked' tone.
So she obeyed.
To avoid killing her and solve her cooking issues, he decided to introduce her to the station's chief of security, who happened to be a good cook.
If she learned to make things properly from him, then there was hope for all of humanity.
Then there was the second issue: with his friends here, he could get back.
He would like to get home, but he had the feeling he was needed in the future, so until that day he was no longer needed, he would stay.
The past wasn't going anywhere.
That, of course, did not mean his patience wasn't tested.
The Centauri and Narn were having a pissing fest over Quadrant 37, everyone was getting ready for New Year's Eve, and the Hollows were being more of a pain in the ass then normal.
Thanks to Ishida and the others, though, they were being handled.
The Gotai 13 gave Uryū a special bracelet that turned his destructive powers to purifying ones as soon as they figured out what happened, allowing him to do what he did best.
Even so, when an extremely powerful Hollow appeared, the only ones who could kill it were Ichigo and Rukia.
Soken Ishida would've been proud to see this: shinigami and Quincy working together to defeat Hollows.
"Oi, Kurosaki!"
Ichigo turned to face Uryū.
Thankfully, no one heard Uryū call him by his real surname.
"Don't call me that here! It's Shiba! My family's dead, remember, and I don't want the Minbari on my ass."
Uryū nodded. The Kurosakis were a force to be feared by the Minbari, and they killed all of them during the three year long Earth-Minbari War.
"Alright. Still, Shiba?"
"Rukia told me that I look like her old Lieutenant. I thought it'd be fitting."
Uryū nodded.
Then again, he DID have a passing resemblance to the Shiba siblings.
'Oh, God. I hope he is NOT related to those maniacs.'
Unbeknownst to Uryū, Ichigo had the same thoughts.
"So, how's life?"
"It sucks. The Narn and Centauri are millimeters from ripping each other's heads off, I have to keep hiding from the Minbari and I have to take the midget out for a date tomorrow."
"If you're dating Kuchiki, why would you include that?"
"The Minbari, that's why. I think the Ambassador, Delenn, knows who I am."
His link beeped.
"Shiba."
"Ichigo, you have a problem. Ambassador Delenn wants to speak to you."
Ichigo looked at Uryū.
"Fuck."
"I'll inform your next of kin."
Ichigo sighed.
"If I'm gone longer then 10 minutes, send Rukia to Delenn's quarters."
Ichigo turned to leave, then entered a transport tube.
As soon as the doors shut, he armed his PPG.
If Delenn was going to kill him, he wasn't going down without a fight.
As soon as he arrived in Green 2, Ichigo walked toward Delenn's quarters.
When he arrived, he buzzed the door.
"Come in, Lieutenant."
The door opened, and Ichigo entered the Ambassador's quarters, finding the Minbari setting up a device of sorts.
"Ambassador."
"Ichigo Shiba."
She paused, then turned to face the Earthforce Lieutenant/shinigami.
"Or should that be Ichigo Kurosaki?"
Ichigo pulled out the PPG.
"If you're going to kill me, I'm taking you out with me."
Delenn shook her head.
"No. We made a mistake 10 years ago, Kurosaki. A grave mistake, one that cost Earth a family and a symbol of unity."
She looked at the orange haired man.
"I know what you are. The Earth term is 'shinigami': Death God. More importantly, you come from the past, after defeating a great and powerful foe that threatened all of existence."
Ichigo holstered the PPG.
"You said 'we'. You're Gray Council."
Delenn took in a breath.
"Yes."
Ichigo took out the PPG again and pointed it at her head.
"You killed my family. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't put a round into your head!" "Because you can change things. Once you return to your time, things will change. Perhaps your family will never leave Earth."
Ichigo lowered the weapon, holstering it.
"That's the only reason you're still alive. And if you even THINK of telling the Gray Council-"
"What will I tell them, Lieutenant? All I see is a man who is rightfully angry, but is trying to control it. That is not important to the Council."
She turned to the device once more.
"Earlier in the year, you were visited by a man claiming he had the power to send you back to your time."
"Morden. I made him leave before he could offer me anything."
"Never accept his offers. He is an agent of the enemy: the Shadows. They control the Land of the White Sands."
'Hueco Mundo. Those bastards are the real rulers of Hueco Mundo.'
'And Aizen most likely had contact with them.'
"Got it. I knew something was off about the fucking bastard, but THIS?"
He turned to leave.
"Remember, you tell ANYONE, I shoot you and leave you for dead. Understand?"
Delenn nodded.
"I will tell no one. There was no need for the threat."
"Well, I'd rather not DIE, so don't blame me for wanting to be sure."
Delenn nodded.
"In that, you are correct, and in your position, perhaps I would do the same. Good day, Lieutenant Kurosaki."
"Ambassador."
He left.
Babylon 5: Green 1, Level 5
Rukia put her PPG in the holster.
Ichigo had went to Delenn's quarters less then five minutes ago, and if he didn't come back, there would be HELL to pay.
'Ichigo, I am not losing you a second time!'
She opened the door, and lo and behold, Ichigo was there.
"Ichigo!"
She jumped onto him, kissing the Substitute.
He was shocked, but he managed to get inside so he could land on the bed and not hurt Rukia.
'My midget.'
'We know, Ichigo. We know. It's getting rather sunny in here. Please, keep going.'
Before Ichigo could begin REALLY making out with her, she broke it off.
"What happened with Delenn?"
He got off his beloved midget, sitting up on the bed.
"She knew who I was from the start. She won't tell anyone, though."
"You threaten her?"
"I did, but it wasn't necessary. She's guilty about what happened during the war, and she thinks that she's responsible for the deaths of my family."
"Like you and Grand Fisher."
chigo's infamous scowl returned. "
Yeah, speaking of which, did someone kill that fucking bastard?"
"Your father, just after he got his powers back. He killed Grand Fisher without even trying."
Ichigo's scowl softened slightly.
"Dad got revenge for me."
Rukia hugged her Substitute Shinigami boyfriend.
"At least it was a shinigami and not a Hollow."
He hugged Rukia back.
"That's the only consolation, Rukia."
The badge then started barking out it's call.
"Fuck! Can't you Hollows leave me alone for a few hours so I can be with my midget?!"
He smacked himself out of his body, angrily leaving his quarters.
Rukia blinked.
'HIS midget? Well, if I'm his midget, he's my strawberry.'
With Garibaldi
"Son of a bitch."
The man had just been shot in the back. By who, he didn't know, but he had to get to the Commander, because he discovered who was going to get killed: Luis Santiago, President of the Earth Alliance. He heard a howl from behind him, and Garibaldi KNEW it was a Hollow.
"Fuck."
"Getsuga Tensho!"
A blue wave of reiatsu hit the Hollow, killing it.
Ichigo had just arrived.
"Fuck me. Garibaldi! Can you hear me?!"
"Ichigo, they're going to-"
"Hang on!"
He grabbed Garibaldi, shunpo'ed up access shafts and got to Medlab.
"What the hell?"
"Get the Commander!"
He knew Franklin could see spirits, so Ichigo knew the doctor could hear him.
The doctors got to the chief of security, but he wanted to deliver his message.
"They're going to...kill...the President...at the transfer point on Io!"
Ichigo turned to the door, seeing Sinclair.
"Did you hear-"
Sinclair ran off, heading for C&C.
Ichigo followed him.
Outside, he was found and followed by his friends.
"What's going on?!"
"The President! Follow me to C&C!"
The Substitute Team ran to C&C, almost outrunning Sinclair.
"Can you get through to Earthforce One?!"
"All military channels are being jammed!"
"What about civilian channels?!"
Ivanova shook her head.
"The only thing we're picking up is the automatic tachyon relay station from Proxima!"
"What about the ISN feed? Are we still receiving that?"
"Yes, sir."
"Put it up, and keep trying to get through to ISN! If we can warn them-"
It was too late.
The images from ISN played the destruction of the President's personal transport. Orihime was close to fainting.
Chad had a look of shock and horror on his features.
Uryū was outraged.
Rukia was more solemn.
"More cut down before their time."
"Shut it off. Shut it off!"
The feed cut out, and Ichigo's scowl returned, full force.
Earth was falling into the hands of the Shadows now: Clark was anti-alien, and he would side with the Shadows to force them away from the Alliance.
Maybe the bastard already had sided with the ancient fuckers.
'The war has already started, and the curtain's fallen. Now we march into the passes blindly.'
Babylon 5: Medlab: January 1st, 2259
"Should I use my Shoten Kesshun to heal him?"
Uryū shook his head.
"You do that, whoever shot Garibaldi will come back and finish the job. And you would never get any rest if Franklin kept calling you. Sometimes people die, and this might be one of them."
Orihime pouted.
"Still..."
"If Franklin thinks he can't save him, then you can. It's Ichigo's call in the end, and he's...holed up."
Ichigo hadn't come out of his quarters since the President's death, as he was brooding on something. And that was a REALLY bad sign.
The year was off to a really bad start, as well.
Babylon 5 was a magnet for trouble, and Uryū was regretting ever THINKING of looking for Ichigo. And they were stuck here until Ichigo decided he wasn't needed here anymore.
'We are involved in something too big and dangerous to handle.
Dealing with the Soul Society on a limited basis, we can do, but there is a war coming. And I have the feeling one of us will die before this is over.'
"Let's get to our quarters. There's nothing we can do, and you can show us what Garibaldi-san has taught you."
Orihime barely noticed the slight insult to her cooking skills, but she did see Ichigo's point now.
'Maybe that's what Tatsuki was trying to tell me all these years.'
Orihime smiled.
She had good friends if they were trying to help her in their own way.
Babylon 5: Green 1, Level 5
Ichigo held his girlfriend in his arms while they laid in the bed.
"Nothing's the same anymore, Rukia."
Season 1 of Babylon 5: complete.
Ichigo will be involved in a lot of incidents during B5's five year run, and he'll be there when the lights go out for the last time thanks to a screw up in trying to get home using the Dangai.
List of B5 Season 2 episodes to be featured:
Points of Departure
Revelations
GROPOS
In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum
The Fall of Night
Season 2 is just the beginning. When I get to Season 3, especially Severed Dreams, all hell is going to break loose.
You'll see more then just the space battles of B5: the Shadows will invade the Soul Society, and guess who has to stop them?
Answer to a review: Isshin's still in the world of the living. He's a fucking hermit: refuses to see anyone after his children died. Hell, he barely remembers the formation of the Alliance. As for why Ichigo isn't getting flooded with visitors? Two words: Kenpachi Zaraki. After he paid Ichigo a visit, the Captain-General made sure NO ONE was going near Babylon 5. And believe me, a LOT of people want to visit B5. (The SWA, Urahara and his crew, the entire 11th Division and Renji, just to name a few) As for the second Orihime...I have plans for THAT encounter. (Evil laugh) And there aren't any surviving photos of the Kurosaki family for before Ichigo's little time travel trip, so Sheridan won't have a clue who Ichigo is until Ichigo actually tells him the day the man takes command of Babylon 5.
Next Time on Babylon's Guardian: Hollows, rouge Minbari and an insane shinigami captain trying to get more information on Orihime's powers. Just another day on Babylon 5.
Ja Ne!
