"Kenpachi Zaraki is debriefed about Faer Pleigh's personal crusade against an old, ancient enemy known as Jadow the Ragnarok Beast. The King of Darkness whom all had assumed defeated during the peak of Acnologia's slaughter of dragon kind has returned and is making an active push to terrorize the land of Ishgar. Agreeing to fight him on the idea of being able to kill a godly being akin Yhwach to make up for his lack of involvement in the War of the Quincy, Kenpachi allies himself to Faer much to the avowed Black Wizard's delight.

"Meanwhile, the Magic Council discovers that Queen Hisui has disappeared and finds her presence completely evaporated within a scorched bedroom. Agreeing to discover if anything had transformed or kidnapped her, let alone left her alive, the Council separates in attempt to busy themselves with more important matters than pursuing the Shinigami who came to their world or the alleged madman who caused so much havoc in their country.

"In other developments, Jellal Fernandes and his Dark Mage Hunter Guild, Crime Sorcière, had entered the Dangai Precipice World to find out where Kenpachi comes from and discover what the Gotei 13 is for themselves. There, Erik -code-named Cobra- had detected a faint trace that largely kept itself concealed and went one way while the trail of Reiatsu Kenpachi Zaraki left behind went the other. Splitting up their forces to discover the truth for themselves, Cobra led one team into the Living World that we know of and Jellal to the Soul Society.

"Shortly before, Sado Yasutora or better known as simply 'Chad' had found himself observing a supernatural entry and fight between servants of the King of Darkness, Jadow. After rescuing someone named Morgan, he openly engages her attackers and makes a stand to fight them on his own. Does one Fullbringer have what it takes to combat the eerie specters of evil?

"Find out, now!"

Chapter 10 - Falling Inside the Black

Their entrance into the Soul Society was a bizarre one. One moment their forms had entered a film, an atmosphere meant only for the likes of Pluses and Shinigami, their own natural Ethernano filled bodies had a reaction akin to dizziness. After a minute or so, it passed. Looking up at the sky where the Sun was high noon, they could tell they arrived in the outskirts of what looked like where the Gotei 13 were based.

The Crime Sorcière Master looked on with narrowed eyes. A series of what looked like cheaply made shacks were hobbled together, housing what looked like tens of thousands at the minimum per district. It was a large city that was an enormous white wall that separated the huge majority of people out of it. Beyond was a high-rise set of skyscraper equivalent of towers and structures all clustered together to be higher than most cities, even matching the splendor of Crocus.

Now, he needed to confirm which way to go in this particular world.

"Richard?"

"Understood, Master Fernandes," The block-bodied, mustache adorned Earth Wizard replied with a respectful bow of his head. Raising a pair of bulbous fingers beneath his eyes, he activated his trademark ability; Heaven's Eyes. Scanning the horizon for traces of the magical residue from which they identified as Kenpachi Zaraki's trail, he found a number of tracks that indicated he had been to a couple of places other than the city before them. "It appears we have a destination perhaps worth looking at in the east, nearly twenty kilometers away from this foundation. The other lies beyond what looks like a magic repelling field that surrounds the circumference of the hall; both in the air and underground as well."

"That's a pain. Repulsion field? How are we supposed to get through that?" Sorano asked incredulously with a wave of her arm.

"Perhaps we could try punching a hole through it with sheer force?"

"No, that would draw far too much attention," Meredy chided one of the hooded figures.

"I could burn it up!"

"Hey, didn't you hear what I said?" The pink pony tailed magician inquired dryly.

"Forgive them, my fair lady," A shade-adorned silhouette bowed his head with a concealed flamboyant smile. "They're just excited to see a challenge set before them. Old habits die hard, after all!"

"Tch," She rolled her eyes with annoyance. "I swear, your friends aren't helping by just acting like a peanut gallery."

"Hey, that hurts, broad! Want me to burn you up?!"

"You have no sense of battle, that's for sure."

"LIKE I SAID! PEANUT GALLERY!" She cried out in a shrill tone.

"It's fine, Meredy," Jellal admonished in an assured tongue. "I'll deal with it when we get there. For now, we need to split up our forces accordingly. Richard, you'll go with Sorano and Rustyrose. The rest will come with me."

"Understood, Master Fernandes!" He replied in a pleased tone. Raising the earth around the designated individuals, he coasted off through the forest at record speeds. Despite him cleaving a path through the toppled trees, the Dark Wizard Hunters had a sneaking suspicion their cover was blown the moment they entered this realm. Stealth wasn't an entirely viable option in the back of their minds.

One of the other hooded silhouettes unwrapped a bundle held under his arm, revealing an elaborately designed carpet. Levitating above the ground, it was long enough to carry all of them while standing up. Leaping to a crouching land at its forefront, the Crime Sorcière mage drove it forward across the air, embarking on its journey towards the Soul Society in the horizon.

"W-We have a number of Reiryoku signatures! Yes! Five of them heading east! And the majority are heading here towards the South Gate!" R&D veteran Rin Tsubokura reported, her short pony tailed head turning to look at her present Captain.

"Hmmmm, it seems they're intent on entering the Soul Society. But I wonder what the other four are up to? Curious," Mayuri Kurotsuchi muttered while stroking his chin. Furrowing his hairless brow, he turned to look over at a bulbous researcher with pulled back lips and unblinking large eyes, who looked at his own readings. "Hiyosu! What about the abnormalities you detected in the Material World!"

"Yes," He replied calmly in a deep voice. "It appears that originally we couldn't detect their presence when they crossed the Dangai Precipice World. But after I did a thorough sweep to trace the other set of intruders, I found a particularly interesting collision of Reiatsu. One Sado Yasutora not far away from Karakura Town, in the Saitama Prefecture of the Midori Ward is combating what seems to be five anomalies. I cannot detect their strength or position, merely note an eerie field that is generated around them, affecting the physical plane in a negative way."

"Most fascinating!" The 12th Division Captain exclaimed, his gold plated teeth on full display as he grinned broadly. "An unidentified anomaly separate from those we've targeted? I must know what makes them tick!"

"You're going out yourself then?" Akon inquired from his place not far behind his superior. "What about the invaders?"

Waving dismissively, Mayuri turns to briefly look at his Lieutenant, "Dispatch Zombie Squad I to deal with those that departed from the majority. We have enough Shinigami to deal with the others should they bypass the barrier.

"Besides, I won't be alone," He reassured him, looking over to a small black haired girl with an abundance of paper work held in front of her, filling up her arms and almost covering her face. "Nemuri! You can hand that over to the Lieutenant. We'll be heading out."

"Yes, Master Mayuri!" She exclaimed loudly, annoying both Akon and Mayuri. Walking casually to hand the horned executive of the R&D Department, she turned look inquisitively up at her creator. "Are we taking our other Zombie Squad?"

"But of course," Mayuri rolled his eyes as if it was obvious. "I needed time to perfect the MK II of my zombie creation methods for these. The subjects are in much more pristine condition so it was far easier to take my time with them. Plus, in case anything does go wrong -which often does- they'll be there to mop up resistance or cover our escape."

"So you're covering your ass? I understand, Master!" Nemuri responded candidly.

"Ugh, that vulgar loud voice of yours has to be corrected one of these days," Mayuri sighed, turning to leave the researchers' room.

Followed by his quaintly sized daughter, the pair crossed multiple dimly lit rooms till they came across a room akin to a humble living quarters. Within was a number of individuals relaxing, taking a nap or listening to music. Grinning as their attention immediately turned to him, he waved his arms outward in a declarative manner.

"I have of need of your expertise. Come with me, to the World of the Living," Eyes leered as his fingers wiggled with tantalizing desire. "So I may find new subjects to dissect upon!"

The Second Generation Slayer looked out with surprise. The purity of magic was starkly different from their world. It felt more concentrated, almost insufferably to his enhanced senses. Having descended from the sky to a rooftop, the rest of his troupe landed in crouches with him before rising up with him. His single eye looked around the urban city, recognizing its layout was far more vast than any city he's seen. It stretched for as far as the horizon that he could make out.

"This world is both similar and different. I wonder why that other pack of scents left for here?" Cobra thought with a furrowed pair of brows.

A distant crescendo of explosions alerted his superhuman hearing.

Looking over his left shoulder, he saw what looked like a confrontation. The same eerie signatures he could barely smell were making loud strings of profanity along with ripping sounds of energy clawing in the air. The enemy they fought was low toned, quiet, and only shouted when he let loose an attack. Noticing the strangeness of the situation, he turned towards the others beside him to follow quietly.

Leaping off the roof, he and the other cloaked Crime Sorcière mages moved to observe from a disclosed location. Perhaps they'd learn something here. The real question is, would they intervene or simply wait it out?

Morgan Deschain felt completely aghast. She had felt confident that, if she was cornered, she could get off a suprise attack that'd allow her to escape her mutual colleagues. However, upon demonstration of the person who knocked her out and put her in a dizzied state from the concussion she received, the idea of escaping all five of them was an impossibility. But the man who caught her and punched him away with ease was something different.

Not only was he able to fight all of them in a frontal assault, but he did so with ease. Every dashing slash, every lunging thrust, and every coordinated attack from all sides was met with indifference to professional reaction timing. The fact that he possessed so much power but didn't waste an ounce of it made him stand apart from other humans she had met.

Who was this man?

"Fuckin' dammit, you piece of shit!" The youngest, Cid, wiped away a smear of blood from his bloodied nostril and face. His crimson eyes glared hotly at Chad, who just sported some scuffs and tears on his jacket or shirt, but barely any sort of injury. Any time he did hit him it felt like hitting a statue of reinforced steel. Growling, the smog spewed from his form as a pair of claws manifested around his hands yet again. "Why won't you just fall?!"

Without batting an eye, Chad's right hand chopped on his crown when he leaped towards him, bodily slapping into the asphalt street beneath him. Wedged into the rough material, he didn't get to see the muscular one -Jorge- and the taller one -Cristoff- streak like shadowy wraiths to appear behind the human. Ducking beneath their wide swipes as they materialized out of the smoke, their arms were caught by both hands and spun around in a spiritually propelled twister that enabled them to be flung in two different directions with massive distance gained.

When a figure emerged from the shadow behind him, shooting out dozens of jagged blades from its immaterial frame, Chad's right arm transformed. From its slim red-black frame it turned into a detailed broad shield that joined at his wrist. Repelling the sharpened magical attack with ease, he backhanded it and launched a punch that caught the transparent fog in its center, knocking it out of the disembodied state and back into her physical form.

"W-What is he?!" Shuddered the woman, Rosalia, trembling as she coughed up ichor as her strawberry hair dirtied from the debris caking her scalp. "He knocked me out of my astral form! How?!"

"Maybe I just got lucky," Chad replied bluntly.

"That's not luck! That's an impossibility!"

"I hit Hollows every other day. What's so special about you?" He blankly asked.

"You-!"

"Enough, Rosalia! I'll deal with him myself!" She turned to look at the scale-cloaked leader -Fabio- of theirs step forth. His eyes changed from brown with a white sclera into a black sclera with a pair of blood irises. Emboldened with an aura of black flames, the grey haired man grinned sinisterly as the environment surrounding them became an overcast of white with black smoke coming off it.

"His injuries. They're...healing?" Chad's thoughts complemented his surprised dilating eyes, watching as the broken nose and various bloodied wounds he inflicted on him were being erased. Feeling a sense of draining from his own person, he looked down and saw a black viscous fog escape his own person. His body shook, a sense of fear being imbued into him by this unnatural phenomena.

Looking up, he failed to concentrate on the enemy in time. The antagonist's blood red eyes became pupiless in an instant; the same instant he appeared before Chad's shocked visage.

"Darkness Dragon's Fist!" Fabio gutturally howled as his abysmal shrouded fist crashed into the Fullbringer's chest, sending him catapulting backwards.

"Ngh!" Chad clutched at his middle, using his other three limbs to pull back at the soul of the street and air to slow his departure. Skidding back after twenty meters of soaring, he watched as Fabio seemed inhale a large amount of the same smoke that ebbed from the houses, street, and the sky itself. Glaring, he realized something was amiss, pulling back his right arm with his shoulder ejecting a stream of Reishi.

"Darkness Dragon's," The Slayer began to intone, fulfilled with a loud shout that broke the sound barrier along with a twisting pillar of blackness heading straight towards its target. "ROAR!"

"EL DIRECTO!" The Fullbringer shouted back, letting loose a column of bright bluish white energy to clash with the breath spell sent at him. Both crashed into each other with an incredible intensity. One tugged at the distinct familiar colored frames of the world while the other sapped at it intently. Like a painting struggling between contrasts of palates, the power pooled forth swept up in a maelstrom of vicious opposite forces.

Eventually, the epicenter of both sides lost the luster of light and became twisted into sheer darkness. The abyss thrust itself two fold, launching forth in an ungodly roar towards Japan's strongest man. Raising his right arm with the left clutching the bicep, he braced for the impact.

What he felt was agonizing.

The wave felt like a tsunami of both physical and psychological nature. His nerve endings were on fire, his inner spirit shocking violently within and his vision consumed in the darkness. Even as he screamed out, no one could hear him as the spell continued to wrack his body with the destructive power it contained. By the time it did pass over, he was surprised that his shaking frame was still standing.

A fact that made Fabio perplexed for a few moments. But seeing Chad sport a nasty burn on his Arm of the Giant while the rest of his body had a series of scalding burns made him regain his calm. He even laughed at the quivering state of terror stricken on his face.

"This is the power our lord and master, Jadow the King of Darkness, has bestowed us!" The smoke brewing individual bellowed with glee. Stretching his arms outwards to the colorless environment continuing to smolder, he could see his allies rise up into the air, dining on the smog that ebbed from their surroundings. Buildings, streets, animals and the bystanders of the prefecture soon were caught up in a whirlpool of a draining of unnatural proportions. The more that was pulled out, the more human will was released and death closing in on them.

They too also acquired black flames of magical aura that stoked their carnal passion. Black-red eyes gleamed with madness as they swallowed up the physical plane's stark emotions. The only one who refused to partake in this unholy feast was Morgan, who merely shook with visible anger at what they did. The mere thought of it was too much to bear.

A wordless scream was released as Morgan soared through the distance to strike Fabio as he postured in such an arrogant way. When her darkened fist struck his jaw, the loud pop of air being cracked and the earth buckling from the attack was heard by her defined senses. But the only thing that didn't register, was the sound of pain from her target or his body moving in the slightest. Her eyes widened with realization as his eyes looked at her and his smile turned into a sneer.

The gap between them was too great to breach.

"You bitch!" The Slayer grasped her wrist, snarling as he made a vicious kick connect with her abdomen. In doing so he twisted and ripped off the arm that had dared to touch him. A shower of gore flowed outward as ichor stained the white environment in a contrasting pigment of burgundy. Flying from the kick, she tumbled shoulder over stump, leaving a bloodied trail as she skidded into the light pole not far away where she first leaned against.

"You should know better than to attack me when you're running near empty, dumbass," He growled out, trotting towards her as he tossed the twitching limb aside. Raising up his right hand, it became a clawed gauntlet of shimmering onyx. Grinning he swung it down to smash her face with a brutal crack. She twitched helplessly as she coughed, receiving a series of follow-up punches that made her spit out teeth and ichor with her face's left side becoming swollen and bloodied. "That should teach you a lesson. Now, to take you back to our master-"

The sudden sound of sizzling embers made his eyes widen. Turning he saw the injured Chad throwing a Reishi infused punch with his Arm of the Giant while darting for him. Ducking beneath it, he grinned maliciously, returning a Darkness Dragon Fist into his abdomen. Despite the force shearing the face off the asphalt covered earth, he felt Chad's body manage to stand firm.

"Using Fullbring, I pulled the soul of the ground to keep my center of gravity locked, even if I'm hit with an insurmountable force. Which now gives me an opening!" Sado Yasutora conceived, his bangs clearing with his dark eyes glowing emerald as his left arm transformed. With his right appendage already outstretched, he grasped Fabio's scalp to keep him from running as his white-red outlined fist formed five orbs of densely compact Reishi into a clenched fist. "LA MUERTE!"

A ghastly scream tore through the land of the Saitama prefecture. The visage of a screaming skull with hollow eyes and gnarled teeth scarring the very air itself. Following it was the shockwave of a tumultuous force that was wrought, the dense pressure released like a cannon with its epicenter being a living being.

The living being who had a steaming scar ebbed over his chest that had burnt through his magic scaled skin and a purple bruise from where it struck his mid center. With the scaled cloak whipping around him, Fabio's eyes were dilated and his mouth hacked up bile, blood and saliva. His aura still burned sinisterly, just as his red eyes burned like coals in a furnace, evident it didn't do as much damage as Chad would've liked.

"Bastard!" He finally shouted, his aura exploding outward in an expansive blast of shadow wreathed flames. "That fuckin' hurt! THAT REALLY HURT!"

"That's all he can say? Whatever this guy is, him and his friends isn't something I can deal with," Chad visibly sweated, still shaking from the nauseously foreboding feeling of dread he had around such energy. It was both memorable and foreign, something about it made him feel foul but also welcomed. His insides turned and his heart beat quickly. Gritting his teeth, he backed up while keeping his guard up around the enraged enemy he scarred. "I have to finish this quickly. If the others get over here, I won't be able to fight them off as they are now."

Even with his guard up, Fabio's movements were still near impossible for him to perceive. Streaking by, he let out a hoarse cry as his chest was lacerated in a pair of diagonal slashes across his chest that curved across his sides. Blood splattered on the pale brittle ground that he stumbled forward. Clutching his injuries, he turned to see the man return with a feral glare, his clawed hands dripping of freshly bathed crimson.

"Darkness Dragon's Twin Claws!" He bellowed out, swinging physical streaks of ebony dyed energy towards Chad. They cut deep gashes into his Arm of the Giant, making the burn he received earlier feel insignificant. Worse, he felt another painful emotional pulse rock him to the point of nearly falling to one knee.

That was before the wraith hit him instantaneously with a magic shrouded fist across the face, this time sending him flying off his feet. His scalp was yanked in midair, face grounded against the sidewalk and a front yard, his crown crashing through someone's living room out the other side of the structure to the street behind it. Toppling bloodily head over heel, he felt the wind knocked out of him as a kick landed in his right kidney area, sending him darting away with sonic velocity.

Waiting for him at the end was the other four powered-up servants of Jadow, each using one of their own signature attacks.

"Abyss Dagger!" Cid landed with a cloak whipping stab to his shoulder.

"Black Hell Whip!" Cristoff sang as his left leg struck his back.

"Midnight Hammer!" Jorge barked out with a laugh, his clenched fists swinging out to hit the Fullbringer in the skull.

"Limbo Spiral!" Rosalia shrieked out as space bent and a twister of force struck Chad outright, sending him reeling back in a shirtless, pants torn, bloodied wreck.

He didn't even finish the tumble as a single figure, robed in a black hooded cloak caught him. Standing upright, he turned his faceless visage towards them. After what looked like some deliberation, he took the folds of his cowl and brought it back to reveal his dagger-eared, burgundy spiked haired head. The scarred man cast an even, measured stare at the four, soon joined by Fabio at the head of them.

"Dragon Slayers, huh? Didn't think you were the ones behind that mysterious hidden presence that went to this world," Erik mulled out loud.

"Who the Hell are you?!" Cid growled out.

"And why is he talking to himself?" Rosalia murmured. "Is a crazy person?"

"Perhaps he loves the sound of his voice. I know I do."

"Shut up, Cristoff," She griped.

"It makes no difference who I am," He replied, a toothy smile spread as he stepped over Chad's unconscious form. Taking the hem of his cloak he pulled it off, revealing his yellow furred white coat that covered his red long-sleeved top with a light denim pants. An aura of dark red ebbed passively off his frame, animating his hair and apparel in constant motion as he declared outright. "Just know I decided I'm going to kill you. Slowly. Because you piss me off!"

Fabio regarded this man warily. He was instructed by his benefactor that there were such individuals in their world who were magnetically attracted to them where others were repulsed. They were the children of dragons, bearing the seed or Lacrima of such powerful beings within them, and conceived as their wards. In this case they were their natural enemies not only due to their scales resisting the magic they exuded but their very presence being dangerous to the world around them.

"Be careful with this one. He's one of the Slayers from our world," He began to instruct, gaining his four comrades' exchange of confused to alarmed glances. "Do not let your guard down. Even in this environment, he's a threat that needs to be eliminated."

"Heh, as if that's going to scare me!" Cid sneered, engulfed in a blanket of onyx tongues of intense magic. Leaping off the ground he corkscrewed bodily forth to drill into his enemy at shrieking velocity. His own technique that exceeded his prior spell, the Abyss Lance.

But in releasing such intense sound in his approach, Erik merely needed to raise a hand and snap his thumb against his forefinger. The result was a catastrophic distortion of space, the sound waves being projected turned straight back in an explosive sonic wave of vibrating force. Shearing off the layers of magic, it rebounded Cid like a bullet, narrowly missing the adeptly dodging colleagues of his as he bowled through structures behind him in a large debris filled impact.

With his hand still outstretched, the Crime Sorcière wizard beckoned with a wry smile, "So, who's next?"

"Fabio?" Rosalia inquired with curiosity how their now composed leader would handle this.

"He's a practitioner in Sound Magic, a master even. He can use the vibrations of our voices or even the sounds given off by our own spells to transform it as a counteroffensive. It's highly possible that he can use his own sound as a weapon for the same purpose, so don't think quieting yourself will help. The best alternative is to attack a blind spot, or form a spell that doesn't generate enough sound to be potent for him to utilize," Fabio debriefed to his subordinates coolly.

Pointing his right arm straight, he formed a bow of shimmering ebony shadows into his grip. Pulling back a manifested bowstring, the Slayer released an arrow as thin as a finger, streaking forth with a dragon's head for the tip and wings outstretched from its thin frame. Barely a whisper was made during its speedy delivery towards its target.

Erik coalesced a spiraling swathe of dark red magic around his right hand and reached out to catch it. By the time his hand drew near, his eye widened with realization. Only moments to spare did he release a potent wave of his Slayer magic to erode the attack; one that pierced through his palm and escape the back of it.

"Shit!" He hissed as he bent his head to the side, his cheek becoming nicked as the arrow hissed past him and penetrate anything that was in its line of sight. Growling, he examined his red scaled hand and grimaced at the blood leaking from it. Sneering as he looked up, he saw the man pull taut the string yet again.

This time, when he let it loose, a black-red blur streaked past and made it disappear.

"What-?!" Was all Fabio could utter as his face, chest, navel and both shoulders were struck instantaneously. Stumbling back, the other Slayers moved to intercept but also received similar attacks. By the time he shook off the spasm of the painful attacks, all four could see what caused it. "A speedster, eh?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Sawyer, code named Racer, implied sarcastically with a grin while hunched over with three of his limbs touching the asphalt pavement. The other was holding the writhing, semi-sentient arrow that was discharged by its thin body and its curled wings. Crushing it in his grip, it dissolved into a black mist that dissipated into the air. "I know you wanted them all to yourself, Erik, but that's kinda irresponsible of you. I mean, think of the standard you're setting to the newbies."

"Fuck off," Cobra retorted with a snarl, biting off a piece of his sleeve and wrapping it around his soaked palm. "I told you to stay back, didn't I? Why can't you follow orders."

"'Cause, you're not Jellal, that's why," He reminded him, much to the Slayer's averting head turn signal of disgust. "Besides, you got to let other people have the fun. Or else you look like a spoiled kid."

"He's right, you know?" A voice said from behind. He didn't even need to turn to know who it was, so he stubborn laid his gaze at his enemies ahead. Her name was Jessie, and she got under his skin easily. The girl's hair was a braided pair of twin-tails, partially tanned complexion to know she's been in the Sun, with sparkling blue eyes and a gleaming smile framed by braces. Freckles adorned her cheeks and under her eyes, her neck wrapped with a purple scarf and a plaid long-sleeved shirt was covered by a furred jacket matching the slacks she wore down to spur adorned boots. With a pair of revolvers on both hips, her cowgirl outfit was only missing a hat, but made up for the black cloak she kept out of uniformity's sake to show her ties to Crime Sorcière . "You should let me take point. I'm fast enough to-"

"You're a punk who's got a few years of training under her belt. Don't compare us," The Slayer snapped.

"Says the guy with a hole in his hand."

"SHUT UP!"

A bellowing scream echoed from the background. Far away from a pile of debris that the youngest Darkness User, Cid, had exploded out of it and took to the air in a pyre of black light. Red eyes glared hotly, the fury burning around him was palpable as he formed two swirling spheres in each hand. Turning them into two spinning drills, he thrust them out towards his enemies.

Without batting an eye, Jessie pulled out her right pistol out of its holster and shot both of the drills in the air. Upon connection, the beams of Ethernano pierced through the constructs and caused them to explode vibrantly in the sky. Amidst the blasts Cid penetrated through the fire in an arc of blackness, stretching out to dart just out of reach of Cobra and Racer's grasp to be just behind the cowgirl.

As he lashed out to her back, she fired up in the air. This time the beam made a perfect arch that hit the top of his lancing claws, scalding and knocking them down at the same time. Reflexively hissing and backing away as a result, the freckled girl didn't even turn her head as she shot over her shoulder, muttering only a single phrase.

"Setting Sun Salvo."

The result was a massive inferno of intense heat that swathed over the street, dominating the infrastructures of the town and blew out in a destructive swathe that leveled most of the buildings. What was left was a scorched crater, dipping down a dozen meters. Looking over, she pouted her lips with a frown.

Cid ebbed up from the crater as a disembodied outline of smog, reconstituting itself while showing a hint of scalded flesh and parts of his dragon-like appearance roasted. Judging by the pus layered around his left eye mixing in with tears, his gritting teeth showed nothing but undying hatred; which only served to make the fiery dark aura around him more pronounced.

A slur of indistinct profanities slipped through his mouth as he coughed up blood and spit, his hands balling up at his sides.

"Careful," Sawyer intoned lowly while Cobra refused to look in her direction. "They seem to have the ability to-"

"I was watching the fight, Racer, I know what he did," Jessie retorted with puckered lips of annoyance. "I guess that's what happens when I get cocky. I should pick the moment he attacks to pull the trigger."

"And that's why we call you Trigger, Jessie," The speedster magician concluded with a smirk.

Cid's chest swelled up, using his own aggravated state as fuel for his new offensive. Cupping his hands, he spewed out an explosion of intense black flames from his funneled digits. Jessie and Sawyer leaped to the side while Cobra's body wrapped in a rotating sphere of sound generated by the spell's attack. In the advise that was being given prior, Cid's absence made him realize his error too late.

"You must be the slowest of them," Cobra turned, a hint of crimson gas escaping his snarling teeth. "This is how you do a Roar."

It all happened so quickly. Cid's breath spell was discarded so easily and his allies just watched like spectators from the sidelines. Even as he began to disembody himself into a ghostly specter yet again, a blast of eroding magic infected him to a degree that made it impossible to entirely become static. So he screamed, and the sickening wave of toxins infected him while also burning his skin.

There was very little left of him after the eclipsing Poison Dragon's Roar had left the vicinity. Bubbling, pus seeping flesh popped and sizzled as he became nothing more than deteriorating meat. Gurgling out with an outstretched limb aching to strangle his enemy, he finally collapsed and became dissolving into the lethal gas that had overwhelmed him. His frame slowly evaporated as Cobra turned to look annoyed at the other four.

"Please tell me he isn't your best," He remarked, much to Jessie's humor and Sawyer's chagrin. "Cause that'd seriously bite if I got so worked up for a bunch of shits making all of this fuss."

"He was the weakest," Fabio stated factually, unmoved by his colleague's demise. "But he did give us some insight on your numbers and some of your capabilities. For that, I thank him, for what he was worth."

"Also, mind stop hiding your numbers? It's kind of sad to think you can conceal from our senses," Cristoff chuckled out as he rested his head against an open palm.

"Unless you rather we waste this whole space and draw them out?" Jorge inquired with a dark smog covered fist hitting an open palm, smiling cruelly all the while.

"No need for that, gentlemen and lovely lady!" A sudden shout was heard, a white gloved hand stretching out exaggeratedly from out of Cobra's shadow. Following him was what looked like a old fashioned stage magician; complete with a black bow tie, a white suit shirt overlapped with a black suit jacket and white gloves complete with dark slacks and dress shoes. A monocle rested over his left eye and a dapper mustache of black complementing his gel swept hair topped by a black top hat. In his right hand was a double-ended white magician's wand. He rang out musically with a triumphant sound to his voice that made Cobra cringe. "It is I, the Dazzling King of Drama and Deliverer of Miracles, Bal Monk!"

"And his trusty assistant, Wolfina!" A feminine voice cued in from the man's right, spawning from thin air. Adorned with a sweeping shoulder length head of Sun colored hair , extenuated yellow eyelashes to make his green eyes sparkle, his lips spread in a wide smile. With a pair of wolf ears propped out of his crown and a bushy white tipped yellow tail coming from behind, the part animal features only made him seem more exotic. Fishnet stockings covered his attractive legs as he wore performer's high heels. With a one-piece black-over white suit that hugged his waist up his torso exquisitely, his bare arms were also covered by fishnet sleeves and a pair of white magician gloves over the hands.

"...someone, kill me before I kill them..."

"Easy, Erik, calm down," Sawyer urged his partner as he held back his one-eyed friend who looked poised to claw them down. "They're a bit rambunctious, that's all."

"Their voices are like glass sliding down an asphalt slide!" He remarked with bared teeth and bulging eyes.

"You sound like your voice doesn't have that affect on others-"

"Shut up, Jessie!" He snapped back at the dry toned cowgirl.

"Believe me," A hunched over man said as he walked out from Bal Monk's other side, a depressed demeanor radiated from him as his beady eyes staring between folds of black bandages that covered his thin body from head to toe stated aloud. "I understand his sentiment. It's unfortunate that I'm incapable of dying, otherwise I'd have done myself in ages ago."

"Now-Now, my mummified friend!" Bal Monk encouraged with a smug grin. "Not everyone can be such a good cheer as I. After all, the world is my stage, and you are all my lovely assistants!"

"My name's Rick, and I'm not your friend," The darkly wrapped man snorted. "I'm just a cursed man who you happened to come upon in a tomb I found no rest in."

"Speaking of tombs, how is that big guy and the girl doing?" Jessie inquired with concern.

"I dealt with their immediate injuries so they should be stabilized," The man responded with a nonchalant shrug. "The girl seems to have an incredible healing factor, her injuries are largely disappearing once she had some quiet alone time. But, in this current environment, it's a bit hard for the other guy to heal naturally. It's up to his will to live now. Not that I envy him; I wish I could die..."

"Now that we're all here," Erik brought everyone's attention back to the fore, his aura once again present as the four remaining enemies began to slowly approach them with measured gazes of caution. He only guessed the reason they allowed them to speak was that they were delegating on the best course of action. Their approach made it clear that they were going to fight smartly, instead of brash like their comrade had done. "Let's make one thing clear. Stay out of my way and don't die."

"Really the voice of inspiration," Jessie sang out.

"I thought it was fitting; that is, if I could die," Rick groaned out.

"Yes! Let us take our battle to the villains set before our sights!"

"After you, Bal Monk!" Wolfina chimed in after Bal Monk's uplifting speech.

"Let's kick this fight into full gear, then!" Sawyer shouted out as the red lines on his jumpsuit glowed brightly.

In a moment, a cascading shockwave ripped through the Saitama prefecture as combat reignited. Explosions, blasts of light and swathes of darkness filled the proximity of battle throughout the colorless area. All those living within this vicinity had long since expired or had been rendered unconscious so none could see the war going on in their neighborhood.

The only one watching with keen interest from a considerable distance was Nemuri Hachigō and Mayuri Kurotsuchi. Flanked on either side was stark white cloaked beings with stitches enamored on odd parts of their elaborately reanimated and enhanced bodies. Obscured by hoods with bare exceptions of their shape's outlines or lower visages, they stood by stoically awaiting orders from their master and benefactor.

All the while he twitched both with rapt excitement and impatience.

"Hurry up and kill each other," He thought with a gleaming smile. "That way, I may collect your bodies for examination!"

A/N: Okay. This Chapter might be the longest yet. I hadn't intended it to be, but I wanted to give a full reveal of some of the new members of Crime Sorcière and give them some spotlight. But not all were revealed as what could be the roster of Mayuri's second zombie squad? You'll find out in the next chapter, perhaps, who knows?

To encourage those of you who are Chad fans, this won't be the last time you see him. Trust me, I'll find some way to utilize the most underused character of Bleach. At least, the one that I know of. Please let me know in the Review Section below how I'm doing, any questions as to how the plot will go or which characters stood out to you. PM for more specific details and I'll do my best to answer them.

And with that, I bid you all wonderful people adieu! I'll see you all in the next update!