HEROIC LEAGUE EPIC 11: THE SUBSITTUE REAPER
Theme Song: Traveling Far From The Past by Sylvin Wallace
I know what it is like,
To live alone.
Family gone for good, and friends too.
But, yet, I'm…
READY TO START MY NEW LIFE!
The door is open,
I'm ready to go!
A brand new day is waiting…
Me and my friends are moving forward!
Together, we shall…
…push forward!
Our pasts live inside of us,
But they're more like nightmares.
But yet,
We can't forget…
…the place we come from.
Even if we can't go there again!
The gateway is ajar,
And we're off!
Tomorrow is coming,
Me and my friends are moving forward!
Together we shall…
…fly far!
Yesterday…
All my troubles came on that day…
They're here to stay…
..but...
I must remember one thing…
Never forget…
…never forgive.
The path is ready,
And off we go!
Next day is just around the corner,
But I don't care!
Just me and my friends…
…go on!
I'm starting to run out of things to say in the intro and the outro. I guess there isn't much for me to say.
One thing I SHOULD say is 'people, I need reviews. I need to how I'm doing.'
Like always, I don't own most characters. Just the obvious ones.
In order to prevent people from being spooked by the sight of a giant spaceship, they had to land in the deepest and thickest part of the woods. Sora finally remembered where the cloaking button was and activated it, leading to at least twelve people to run into the invisible ship. Syl set up a camera to watch them later. And the first one was Luffy, as a test.
Karakura Town lay just ahead only a mile away. When they entered, they ran into a familiar face, Chad. He currently was buying groceries, and held all the bags in one hand. He waved with his other hand as the group approached.
"Hey, guys." He said we they all approached him. After introducing the others, the group helped carry his groceries home. He listened patiently to Syl as he explained the League and if Ichigo was available.
"Actually, I haven't seen him since yesterday." He said.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Asked Yoh.
"He said something about visiting someone. He seemed to be in a rush." Chad shrugged. Syl sighed. "Did he mention anything else? General direction, holding something, anything?"
"Sorry." Syl walked outside and lay down on the steps. He was currently thinking. Link sighed and went out to have a talk with him. The rest talked with Chad for a bit before Orihime walked in, holding a note. She waved hi, to even the people she didn't know. She gave the note to Chad.
"I found this on my doorstop. It's from Ichigo, and it says 'Urgent!'" She said. Chad quickly read the letter. Orihime walked over to Mario.
"Wow! So many new faces! Hi, I'm Inoue Orihime, and who're you?" She shook Mario's hand rather fast and tight. Mario retracted his hand in mild pain and the others stepped back. Orihime didn't take the hint and tried to introduce herself to everyone. She did manage to do them all, but it took some time. Chad placed the note in his pocket and walked out.
"Where ya going?" Asked Yoh.
"Ichigo wants me and Orihime to come to the Soul Society. He and Uryu are helping the Gotei 13 with some disappearances happening."
"Mind if we come?" Asked Syl. Chad nodded and locked the door as he, Orihime, and the League walked to the Urahara Shop together.
Tessai currently was sweeping the front porch when they arrived.
"Oh, hello. Uryu is waiting downstairs." He pointed to the stairs leading down.
"Thanks." Chad said.
"We also have a deal on fish today. Just came in…"
"Not now." Tessai sighed and continued to sweep.
"Hey, why are you sweeping anyway?" Asked Sora. "It looks clean."
"…It's a slow day." Answered Tessai. "Inoue-chan, will you buy something?"
"I don't know…I didn't bring any money with me. But I'll come back later." Tessai bowed, and went back to sweeping.
Urahara was discussing something with Uryu when the group came down. "Oh, hello all you weirdoes! Sado, where did you find these people?" He got closer to Sonic and Mario and looked over the two, a blue hedgehog and the midget plumber. The two looked at each other, and then decked Urahara together. He just fell back, rolled, and leapt to his feet, holding a 'ta-dah!' pose at the end. Sonic and Mario looked at each other and silently agreed to not pursue this any further.
"Ahem, moving on. Now that we're all together, I explain to our new people what is going on."
" People in the Soul Society have disappeared in the last few days. It started rather slowly, but it suddenly picked up in rate. At first, it was people from the lower class, a district police thing. But then it started to grow, going up the food chain. There is no pattern between any of the victims, but they all vanished into the nights, like ghosts."
"Err…quick question." Luffy asked. "Aren't you people ghosts to begin with?"
Urahara stroked his beard. "In a way…well…oh, never mind. That's not important to begin with!"
"And I believe that the next targets are the Gotei 13, if there is a pattern. This guy, or gal, or thing, has managed to make a Lieutenant Captain disappear recently, so nothing is out of this guy's, or gal's, or it's range. And THAT, THAT is all we know. We know nothing else. Uryu just filled me with everything I just explained."
"Ichigo is looking into the Lieutenant." Uryu said. He had been in thought while Urahara was talking; processing different bits of evidence in his head. His brow showed that nothing was clicking. "Oh, the Lieutenant is Omenda, in case you were wondering."
"Not really." Chad said.
"Hey, where's Youruichi-chan?" Asked Orihime.
"She's taking a vacation." Urahara pulled out a travel brochure detailing a stock image of a beach. "It's unusual for her, but hey, she asked, and I gave."
"…can we please go?" Uryu interrupted. "Ichigo probably needs us, and you people can join us." Sonic looked up from his magazine and nodded. The others got up and walked to the entrance to the Soul Society. Urahara waved good-bye and tapped the door, opening it and sending the League, Chad, Orihime and Uryu away.
They landed on the entrance of Yamamoto's office. As soon as they all arrived, the doors opened, and both Ichigo and Yamamoto stood there, as if expecting them. Uryu, Chad, and Orihime walked in normally, but the League had to stumble in; the doorframe wasn't big enough.
"Yes…you may come in." Yamamoto said in a mocking tone. "And who are you anyway?"
"WE'RE…" Syl started to begin the phrase he hadn't said in a long time, but got stampeded by the Jump characters to greet their old friend. Ichigo took a second to recognize them, but he still embraced them never the less.
"Guys! Whoa…how did you guys get here?" He asked.
"Though the door in that crazy guy's store." Answered Luffy.
"Yeah, what I meant was to his world."
"By the flying pieces of Gummi blocks." Syl answered, walking up to shake Ichigo's hand. The shake is awkward; Ichigo didn't know the guy who talked about something he didn't know about. Syl caught on, and introduced himself. "Name's Syl. I could explain what a Gummi is, but I don't know why it is called Gummi in the first place!"
Ichigo wondered that the man he was talking to was mentally insane.
"Oh, okay. The people behind me are the Heroic League. I'm currently recruiting heroes from different worlds, as you can tell."
"I see." Ichigo looked around at the different heroes. "I guess you want to recruit me?"
"Why, yes. Yes I do. Will you?" Syl smiled.
"…" Ichigo remained in silence. Everyone else also joined in. Syl looked around and got the idea that this was a bit too sudden.
He spoke. "Yeah, I guess I came out a bit too sudden, huh?" He shook the back of the head.
A smile forced upon Ichigo's face. "Yeah. I guess that is a bit awkward." The two shared a shaky laugh. The room remained in silence until Syl cleared his throat.
"Anyway, just hold on to that for now, okay? This whole thing is optional, so you don't have to join. But still, we would like to help you with your mystery, if that is okay with you." Syl walked forward with his hand open. Ichigo shook it, and two faced Yamamoto. The 1st Captain looked at Syl for a moment and nodded.
"It's good to have some new hands around here. It might help if the kidnapper, if there is one, just targets people on this world." Yamamoto's assistant Chōjirō walked in, holding a poster and a stand. He set the stand up and unrolled the poster. It showed all of the vanished people, with lines connecting to different people. Chōjirō bowed, and exited. Yamamoto grabbed a pointer and he whacked it against one of the pictures. The picture showed a dirty man, a low class worker.
"This is our first victim. A Hamada Goro. He worked at a textile shop owned by a Mr. and Mrs. Nakasone." He moved the pointer down a line to the couple. A very ugly couple if I may add. "We looked into the couple first, and discovered that Mr. Hamada was having some problems with the shop owners. Unfortunately, we got that far before the second victim reached our ears." He handed the pointer to Ichigo who followed a second line from Goro to a young girl.
"This is Iida Fumi, a young girl who just happens to be Goro's cousin. Vanished during school hours." Ichigo stopped for a moment. Goku looked at Fumi a little closer. She sorta resembled Yuzu, Ichigo's younger sister, though with red hair. "This led us to the idea that someone or a group of people were after Goro's family. We looked around, and hit a little too many dead ends."
"Dead ends?" Naruto asked.
"Nothing connected. Just nothing." Ichigo threw the pointer onto Yamamoto's desk. "We looked around everywhere, but we found no enemies, no old grudges, no debts. We found nothing that connected to Fumi to Goro's disappearance." Yamamoto sighed. He picked up the pointer and moved it back to Fumi's photo. Several small lines connected to several small photos showing both people and locations.
"We traced everything we could everywhere. We found nothing." Yamamoto looked down, as if in shame. Link looked closer at the board. He followed another line down to the third victim, a Watanabe Masaso. He connected back to Goro's employers. He was a supervisor for a well-known construction company, and personally built all the buildings on the block. Notes that Uryu had tacked on went to a theory that Masaso had built secret basements under several buildings and was hiding something, or someone.
Link traced his finger down several lines, connecting everyone to someone. A teacher from Fumi's school. Nakasone's ex-wife. A man who screwed Goro over a large sum of money years ago. The headmaster to the school that Fumi's mother attended. A mayor who worked with Masaso. The list continued on, connecting different people that a previous victim or anyone related to a victim. The only known pattern between the victims was that every victim rose up in the social ranks.
Yamamoto flipped the board over, revealing photos of the Gotei 13.
"This person went after you guys?" Naruto asked.
"And won." Rukia walked in, throwing some papers on the table. Yamamoto started to look at them while Rukia talked with the others. The League introduced themselves, and then Rukia began speaking about her side of investigation. She had to grab one of the papers to remember something.
"Me and Renji…"
"Where is he?" Asked Ichigo. Rukia held her hand up.
"…discovered that the perpetrator is a man."
"Hmm." Yamamoto sat in thought.
"He doesn't care for Seated Officers, just those with the rank of Assistant Captain and above."
"Omenda definitely counts as Assistant Captain." Uryu said.
"Why not the Seated Officers?" Yamamoto asked.
"Renji wondered the same thing, and we actually found some evidence!" She pulled out a small card and threw it on the table. Yamamoto picked it up and read it out loud.
"For the captain's hard work:
I care only for the big shots. In order. Not anyone who sits down.
"In order." Yamamoto repeated and reached for his phone and began dialing numbers. Rukia turned back to the others.
"All right, where is Pineapple?" Asked Ichigo. Rukia shuffled uncomfortably.
"He was looking into a lead." Rukia sat down. "Six days ago."
"Crap." Ichigo turned around and shook the back of his head. He turned around and asked, "What was the lead?"
"He wasn't too clear. Just something about finding out who the kidnapper was."
"And he went alone?"
"He told me to report back with the note."
Yamamoto slammed the phone back down. Everyone turned around to look at him.
"He did it."
"Huh?" Syl said.
"All of them. All of the Assistant Captains are missing. The reason they weren't reported missing was because they were either out of the town or on a mission. But according to their captains or official, they went missing, one every day for the past two weeks. This means that Chōjirō is next." Yamamoto rose up and went through the door that Chōjirō came in earlier.
He, with the League and others on his trail, went to the room that Chōjirō often used to make his English tea.
There wasn't even a single speck of a black tea leaf.
And now, for the Renji fan girl's enjoyment, a part about Renji.
Renji groaned. He got up and found himself…somewhere. Barren, like a desert. And it was night.
Did he go out drinking with Matsumoto again?
No, he hadn't had a drink in a week. He spent the past few days tracking the kidnapper, that's all he remembered. Where was he yesterday? Some…where. Damn. His thoughts were so scrambled; he couldn't think what 2+2 equals without getting a small headache. He drew hiszanpakutō and walked around the area, a barren rock area with no landmarks to determine where he was. As far as he knows, he got dumped a thousand miles away from the nearest area of population.
He growled. It was going to be a LONG walk. He held his zanpakutō in one hand looked around, looking for something to determine a direction to walk in. There were no stars out, so he couldn't tell where north was. He checked his pockets, nothing. Not even lint. He growled a bit louder, the kidnapper had stolen not only his notes, but his wallet, a couple of small items, and his lead….
…no. It was still there. A small bit of a newspaper that held only the front page main story's title,
THE MAGICIAN MUST TELL HIS SECRETS.
All he got was that a famous magician made two people disappear and they never came back. The story happened when he and Rukia were kids…
Rukia. Thank god. If the kidnapper stayed true to his 'word', she would be fine and be able to report back and get some help.
How long had he been out? Hours? Days? God help everyone, weeks? He had to make tracks fast regardless.
"Where do you think you're going." Something with a low monotone voice whispered into Renji's ear. He turned around, no-one.
"You can't see me. Well, try harder." The voice came from behind him, again. The same thing happened with the same result. He considered of unleashing his Shikai, just to reassure himself. He turned in 180 degrees every three seconds, hoping to catch his visitor.
"Don't bother looking for me." Renji stopped, deciding to rather determine where the voice was coming from and who or what was speaking. He carefully replayed the last three statements. There was nothing in its voice that gave any details away. Was it an actual ghost? He replayed the last statement and finally found something worth noting. His visitor is a woman.
"Good. You're smart." Finally, the woman appeared in a small flash of light. That best word for her is 'white'. Long pale-white hair that reached to her hips, her eyes were a plain grey, a silver circlet on her forehead, a flowing white dress with various grey flowers design with sleeves reaching to her hands, and a cloak that covered her shoulders and went down to her hips in the front and all the way down in the back. She had no shoes.
"Hello, Abarai Renji." She held out her hand as if expecting a shake. Renji stared at her and she retracted her hand back to her side. None of her body parts moved, only her mouth. "You're never the formal one Abarai Renji."
"Who are you?" Renji tapped his zanpakutō against his side. The woman blinked. Her face, like always, was emotionless. She held her hand up at a 90 degree angle from her body and drew a circle in the air. A shimmering, white circle appeared as the circle got completed. Renji stood back. The woman placed her hand in the circle and the circle changed to a picture of…
"Assistant Captain Sasakibe Chōjirō. What's going on?" It showed Chōjirō in his tea tower, making his English tea. (A small explosion destroyed a kettle.) A being in black with a black gaucho hat suddenly 'jump-cut' in. Chōjirō looked up, and before he could draw his sword or say anything, everything in the tower just vanished. What I mean by 'jump-cut' is the man just appeared. There is his, and now he isn't.
"That's the kidnapper?" Renji pulled out the newspaper clipping and showed it to the woman. She nodded.
"Who is he…she…it?" The clip played again, but only the back of the kidnapper could be seen.
"He has no name. Just referred to him as the Magician." A blue card appeared in the circle. The Roman Numeral 'I' laid on the bottom, with the images of two hands, a black fire, two eyes, and an infinity symbol.
"A tarot card?" Renji questioned.
"Yes. He is the first of many." She waved her hand, and the circle showed a quick image of all of the tarot arcana. Renji became amazed. Over twenty people? Strength could wield mountains like a baseball bat. Death could flick his finger and kill someone. He didn't know if they could do that, but who knows? This Magician guy, what else could he do?
"You will fight against them. All of them." She pointed to him.
Renji decided to point his zanpakutō at her. He didn't mean to, but the next moment the zanpakutō suddenly flew out of his hands and returned to his side in its sheath. She slowly shook her head, but stopped. She looked at him very closely and went back. She retracted the circle and then spoke.
"The Magician just tried to use you. He is aware of my presence. I'm sorry, but I must leave. We will talk later. For now, you must head north." She pointed north. "Once you meet the League, I will meet you in the tower where the last Assistant Captain vanished from." She handed him a card, a real one. The Fool, with the number zero, a jester laughing very close to a cliff, accompanied with a dog at his heels, and holding a satchel across his shoulders. Renji examined the card.
"What do I do with this?" He asked.
"This card will determine not just your fate, but possibly the fate of several worlds."
"W-Worlds?"
"This card is useless on its own." The card glowed a small light. "Your power shall grow once you handle some of the arcana. Once all are vanquished, you and I shall handle a great task."
"What sort of task?"
"…I can not answer at this point. We will talk at the tower, alone. Hold up the card once you're ready to talk. Understand."
Renji didn't, like anyone would, understand. But he nodded anyway. He just wanted to go home and catch the kidnapper before he went after the captains. A very faint smile appeared on the woman's face. Renji forced back a smile; the entire conversation with her didn't make much sense to him, and she had kept the same face all the way though. It reminded him of Nemu. Did that mean out there existed another Mayuri, possibly with god-like powers? Renji didn't want to get on any Mayuri's bad side.
She disappeared the next instant, the same way she appeared. Renji almost shouted out 'what is your name?' but he knew that he wouldn't be answered. He sighed. All of this just got dumped on him in the last five minutes. A 'Magician' making people disappear, a task to defeat others like the 'Magician', a lady who she expected his complete trust in this, and something about a League.
"Oh. You have guests." The lady's head floated behind him just to say that, once again unnerving the poor man. She spoke true, as two tank-sized lizard Hollows appeared on the rocks. A weird sort of black mist seemed to surround them. Renji suddenly remembered that when he found the kidnapper, the black mist surrounded him. He had the feeling that some of it traveled to him.
The Hollows licked their chops. Renji once again drew his zanpakutō, and it felt…right. He smiled. He didn't need his Shikai for this. The Hollows didn't notice or care, but they circled around him, waiting for the best moment to strike. Renji just stood, smiling. He finally gave the monsters a chance, and they leapt…
…right into the zanpakutō and going all the way down to the hilt. Renji lifted his right foot and kicked them off, their bodies vanishing in a cloud of black smoke.
He stood back, not wanting to be near the black fog/smoke. He walked in the direction that the lady pointed in. North? He couldn't tell. All he knew that he just had get home and get back to Rukia and the others. He decided to start a brisk run, to get the blood flowing.
And then he ran like hell. The rest of the Hollow pack decided to get revenge.
Revenge IS the most worthless of causes…
An emergency meeting had been called, with the disappearance of all the Assistant Captains and all. All 10 remaining captains were there, along with Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, Orihime, and the League. While the captains discussed the issue, the League stood at the doors, standing guard. Yamamoto calmly poured tea to everyone before beginning the meeting. Everyone, regardless of taste or preference of tea, took a cup.
"The Soul Society is in dire trouble, as you know." Yamamoto opened the meeting, stating the obvious truth. No one spoke or move. "If this man or thing can kidnap an Assistant Captain without any trouble and remove any trace of the captain's, he may come after us." Kenpachi rose up. He kept his cool until now. "Are you sure? As far as we know, he's a coward! He comes after those with backs turned! Just keep a constant watch out and we will have him."
"That maybe true, seeing of how little we know." Yamamoto sighed. "However. Someone of this, say, prowess is probably hiding his true powers." Kenpachi continued to scowl. Remember, Yachiru is his Assistant Captain, and she disappeared right under his nose, in his own Division building. He didn't want to admit that he failed to fight an enemy that appeared in his training grounds. He sat down, but remained scowling.
"All we can do now is wait and train." Yamamoto spoke as soon Kenpachi sat down. "We can't go after the kidnapper. We have nothing to go after him or her or whatever is doing this. All we can do is prepare. Any objections?" No one rose their hand. "Good. For protection, we shall train here. It's unknown if the kidnapper will attack today, tomorrow, or next week, we can't ever drop our guard. Four guards, changing every hour. But do get some sleep. We shall sleep in here."
Uryu came forward. "I offer that I, Chad and Orihime investigate around a bit more. We're safe from the kidnapper, so we can travel without the fear of disappearing. If we find anything, we'll come back and report." Yamamoto nodded. He turned back to others.
"No one shall leave this building. Is that understood?"
Everyone agreed. Their enemy could appear anywhere and take anyone. Nobody knew anything on the kidnapper. This was a dire time.
"Come on! Fight!" Kenpachi yelled. He swung his zanpakutō right at Link, who barely dodged. Link was scared for the first time in a long time. At a glance, Kenpachi looked like a serial killer. But his skill with the sword went unrivaled. Not since the Super Smash Bros. tournaments had he seen such a blade dance in a fashion akin to a ballet, graceful, swift, and surprisingly amazing to watch. The sword might have been a third arm.
But still. The guy who looked like a serial killer pretty much acted like one.
"Hey! Don't run away! Don't be a bastard, get back here!" Link regained his courage and now had a plan in mind. He had seen Kenpachi fight just a second ago with Syl, which ended with Syl having to be coaxed down from a flagpole, and Kenpachi seemed to be the kind that swings before thinking. So Link now ran backwards, hoping to lead the insane captain into a trap. What kind of trap it was going to be hadn't been decided yet. He still had to run from the man swinging a sword who seemed to get closer with every stride.
A quick thought later and Link readied himself. He did a big back-flip, and landed in the center of the training ground. Kenpachi ran straight towards him, screaming some sort of battle cry, and holding his blade above his head in a menacing fashion. Link at first held his sword forward over his head, ready to strike. But that plan anywhere else would have gotten him killed. As Kenpachi bought down his zanpakutō, he felt a huge pain in his stomach.
That was the pain that came from the shield punching his gut.
He doubled back, stunned. He stumbled, but quickly regained his balance. Link took this chance to attack. Screaming his usual cries, he swung hard several times, getting blocked every time by the still recovering captain. Kenpachi continued to walk back, using one hand to wield his zanpakutō and the other clenching his stomach.
Link had a good streak going on. The point of the match was to disarm your opponent. Though the zanpakutō in Kenpachi's hand could be considered glued, the punch in the gut did slow him down enough to have Link get in a couple of strikes. After one powerful upper swing, he felt the zanpakutō had gotten a bit weaker in its blocks, meaning victory came a bit closer.
But Kenpachi returned a favor, kicking Link in the gut.
Now everything got back to normal. Kenpachi's stomach pains ended, and he took advantage of the winded Link to go crazy in swinging around aimlessly. Not that Link knew anything about that. He thought that the captain is trying to kill him. He almost retreated, but held his ground. This didn't work, as Kenpachi, with one hand, swung hard to send Link flying into a wall just by hitting the Master Sword.
"Pretty good. For a beginner." Kenpachi said, flashing his best slasher smile.
"I've been doing this longer than you!" Link shouted as he came out of the wall.
"Kid, I'm a hundred years older than you."
"…I meant something else, but that doesn't matter." Link pointed a clock. "Our time is up. We better let the next people in…" Before Link could get the door open, Kenpachi blocked him. "Let me though. The others need to train too." Kenpachi held his zanpakutō up to his face. He didn't said anything. Link glared, but all the captain did was stand there. Link decided to ignore him and open the door. Unohana, Sora and Syl walked in.
And Syl ran out in terror when Kenpachi tried to kill Link for leaving early.
Shunsui snored. Yoh snored.
The two of them had guard duty in two hours, and Shunsui had agreed to actually do an entire night watch. Yamamoto found it weird, but he agreed to it. Yoh also agreed, and the two formed a quick friendship. However, there was a secret behind the night shift. Shunsui had bought some sake from his private storage and other party favors, despite Yamamoto not wanting anyone to be drunk or in any way addled.
So…we shall cut to that instead of watching them sleep.
"Damn! This shall be good stuff!" Yoh had consumed a fourth of a bottle and already got drunk. Shunsui, a steady drinker, had already downed two bottles but nearing a drunken stupor. And somewhere in the world, Nanao got the feeling that Shunsui was doing something stupid. And she felt a sense of despair; the 8th Division may look a lot different when, and if, she got back.
"Yes. The best." Shunsui's mind had started to slow down, and he could only make short sentences.
"Hey! We're out of nuts!" Yoh shook the nut can, and then started to bang the can against the floor. "Do ewe have anymore?"
"Sorry. When Nanao comes back, I make her buy an entire store of nuts! She and her glasses. More trouble than worth." Shunsui reached over to a bottle. He tipped, but nothing came out. "Damn. I must have drunk more than I thought." He threw it over his shoulder, and the bottle smacked into the wall, shattering and getting chunks of glass in the wall.
"Well. I suppose we need to work. Old Man-Yama could hit us." He tried to get up, but it took four tries to get his legs to stand firm, and two more tries to balance him straight. He walked over to the door that they supposed to guarding, with Yoh dragging himself behind. Shunsui managed to grab the handle in one go and yanked it open.
He looked out outside. An empty courtyard. "No one in sight. We're done for now." He closed the door.
"Wait here. I'm going to sneak back to my office and get some more." Yoh held up his thumb and went to sleep. Shunsui dragged his now numb left leg to go his quarters.
And he felt something wicked this way come…
But before we go further, let's go back to the training.
Mario and Sonic were once again duking it out, but this time with a teammate.
"Calm down." That was the first thing that Hitsugaya said to Mario before the match started.
"Slow down!" Rukia had to shout into Sonic's ear in order to be heard over the hedgehog's continuous revving.
"No way!" Said the two heroes as they charged into battle.
And promptly crashed into each other the next instance, knocking both out.
Both Hitsugaya and Rukia poked the unconscious forms.
"So…you want to spar?" Asked Rukia once they threw the bodies off to the side.
"Okay." So the two clashed swords for their hour. After it ended, they dragged the still sleeping heroes outside so Sora and Unohana could have their turn. The two walked in, didn't say anything about Mario and/or Sonic, and went to the middle. Sora and Unohana instantly formed a quick bond together (Desperate times bring people together) and Unohana instantly recognized the healing powers that Sora had. She decided that she should spend her hour teaching Sora to make his magic work more effectively.
But wait! How are they going to practice? Healing magic only works on targets that are wounded.
So they got a volunteer. Enjōji Tatsufusa, who just happened to be delivering dinner along with the other seated officers. He tried to escape, but Unohana quickly subdued him. They located a long wooden board, and several straps to hold him down. While Unohana readied for the exercise, Sora of course, questioned the whole thing.
"Isn't this…you, know…torture?" Unohana just shook her head.
"We will heal him. The torture will be gone in a hour. So it would be like nothing happened." Sora got taken back, but that disappeared when the smile appeared on her lips. The one can unnerve God even. He looked back at Tatsufusa; sleeping like a baby. He seemed to be a strong man who could take a couple of blows without serious or long-term pain. For some reason, Unohana pulled down a bag over Tatsufusa. He looked like a punching bag.
"Oh, Yusuke-kun." Unohana called out and the man came out running. "Could you quickly punch our bag a couple of times? Warm it up for us?" Yusuke shrugged and quickly punched the 'bag' several times all over. For some reason, Tatsufusa remained asleep. Sora just watched, holding back his horror. Yusuke left afterwards, calling for Komamura. The bag came off, and Tatsufusa continued to snore, but with new bruises all over him.
"You go first." Unohana pointed to a bruise on his arm. "Heal just that bruise the same way you always do." Sora nodded and his Kingdom Key materialized in his hand. He pointed point-blank at said bruise and called, "Heal." And the bruise vanished. Unohana clapped.
"That was good. But not very efficient." She applied some of her own healing magic on a bigger bruise and the same thing happened.
Sora asked the obvious question. "What do you mean? There is no difference."
"Tell me. How many times can you perform that at one time?"
"Ten times, twelve, fourteen? I lost count, but I can do it enough to fit the quota."
"Not good enough. My healing is the same, but I performed it to preserve energy for many more times."
"Just how many?"
"At least a hundred. We haven't had anything big enough to set a record."
"A hundred!"
Unohana shrugged. "You want to know how I do it?"
"Sure!" Sora got into a stance. Unohana just shook her head and gently took the Keyblade out of his hands.
"Your weapon is a key. A key, according to you, can unlock and loc any lock and create paths to other worlds. It possess a amazing power, doesn't it? I can feel it. A good calm power, the one of light. You could fight with astounding strength and heal even the ones on death's bed. It's no wonder that Syl-san chose you."
"Thanks, I guess." Sora said. Then he snapped back. "Hey! How are you able to hold that?" He grabbed the Keyblade back. Unohana just smiled.
"Maybe your key likes me."
"I guess. Anyway, what about making my heal powers better?"
"Oh yes. You said you just heal enough to do a battle quota?"
"Yeah."
"That sort of mindset just allows you to heal enough. But what if that is not enough? What if the enemy pulls out some sort of a back plan? A plan that could wipe out you and your friends in a instance. You can't just heal whenever you need to. You need to heal when the time is right. And you need to heal to make sure that you can do more later on. It's hard, but if you're going to continue traveling with the League, you need to learn the best way of healing."
"Said the woman who took one of her subordinates and used him as a punching bag."
"I'm a healer. I didn't hurt him. Now, for the best healing touch, you need to be calm. You can't be rushing around and fighting. Think like a healer, not a warrior. Focus on the injury. Think about the whole process on how you fix something. Go step by step. You need to slow down to help the ones in pain. It seem like a long haul, but it's important. Come on, try." She pointed to the biggest bruise on Tatsufusa.
Sora pointed the Keyblade once again point-blank. He looked at the bruise. Focused on the mending. He channeled the healing energy down his hands and into the Keyblade. The bruise vanished like before, but Sora felt the difference. Unlike before, he felt the magic took a little less out of him. Unohana clapped again, with more feeling this time.
"Thanks Unohana-taicho!" Unohana nodded and the two practiced some more healing. They finished and loosed the straps, sending the STILL sleeping Tatsufusa to the floor. Sora poked him, but he continued to snore on. Cloud Nine had nothing on this guy. Ah well, he never felt it, so no long time trauma or pain for him. He'll wake up, and try to remember what happened after he dropped off the captain's food.
The two looked at the clock. "It's time. We better let the next group in." Sora put away his Keyblade and walked inside, but Unohana pulled him back.
"What's wrong? Our time is up."
"I need to talk to you about your key." She drew him to the nearby bushes.
"What about?"
"Your key…be careful of it." Her voice was filled with dread. Sora felt something was wrong, despite the statement about his key being dangerous. Her eyes didn't betray any hidden fear, but a held a sense of dread. He pulled the key out and showed it to her. She once again gently took it, and examined a bit closer.
"The power of light in this one overweighs inside. That's not a bad thing initially, but even the light loses its way. On your ring of worlds, light and darkness are synonymous with good and evil. But everywhere else, they're not. The power of light can be paved with good intentions, but ultimately lead to destruction. And people who turn to the darkness are those who seek power. Sometimes, it just is they want power. Maybe they want to avenge someone."
"Yes, darkness actually could sway those to do evil acts, but there those who use it to save lives. And people who believe completely in the light may be thrown into a situation where their believes may be put on the line. Your weapon works for the heart. It creates light to pierce the darkness in someone's heart and unlocks the truth. But these aren't real light or darkness. They're just symbolic."
Sora worked over the information in his head. In a way, she was true. The whole 'light and darkness' theory back where he was always involved 'heart'. But Riku wielded the darkness, but worked on the side of good. It was still hard for him to believe. His Keyblade may be a time bomb? Let's say it could be. Could the Keyblade put him on forked road that would lead him to a decision that, regardless what he chose, he would regret?
He nodded; understanding.
"Thanks for listening to me. I'm not sure if it may happen, but be careful. Remember, calm, peaceful and do what you need to do to live. You're welcome to the 4th Division anytime." The two came out of bushes to get spotted by Yusuke and Komamura.
"Unohana-san." Komamura was the first to speak. "What were you doing behind those bushes?"
"Just talking. Were you implying that I was doing things that aren't nice?" Her smile appeared. Komamura immediately shut up. He turned around to face Yusuke, who got the idea not to say anything. Unohana and Sora walked out together.
"Geez…that scary, huh?" Asked Yusuke.
"Unohana-san is a nice woman. But don't ever cross her. At least she heals you afterwards."
"Noted. All right." Yusuke stretched his legs out, entering tiger style stance. "Where were we? Oh yeah, kicking your ass!"
Komamura got into his own stance. "Not today!" They two leapt and entered a fierce brawl.
I would talk about it…but something else important is going to happen...
"I do have a question." Syl asked Yamamoto.
"Yes?"
"Have you ever met any other Spirit Users?"
"Only one." Yamamoto walked over to his desk and opened a drawer. "A man who I worked on a mission a while back. He had been looking into some mysterious energy that he detected. He never gave me his name, though." He shuffled for a bit, and pulled out a old photo. It showed a younger Yamamoto (His beard was considerably shorter.) and a old black man who Syl instantly recognized him. Yamamoto took notice.
"You know him?"
"Richard Holiday. The guy who taught me to unleash my powers. My master." He looked at the picture more closely. The man looked fifteen years younger than when Syl met him. The white hair had started to grow , but by the time Syl met him, the white area would be the only area left. He looked to be strong, but a case of neuromuscular disease would settle that. He was smiling. He hardly smiled during the training. The photo showed a man that Syl both knew and didn't know.
"I take it he died." Yamamoto said with a forlorn voice.
"Yeah." Syl handed the photo back. Yamamoto put the photo back in the drawer. Syl snapped his fingers, and a blue flame came forward. He played around with it, extending and shortening, creating rings and such. "Shoot. I made myself sad."
"How long did you know him?"
"About six months. After he died, I traveled."
"And here you are."
"Yes I am…crap. I don't even know how long has it been."
"According to Link, you started at least two weeks ago. You traveled fast."
"Though it has been at least three years since the author got started."
"Pardon?"
"Nothing."
The doors opened, and in Ichigo, Soifon, Luffy, and Byakuya walked in.
"Captain." Byakuya said. "We would like to ask you a question. Would be willing to train with us?"
"All at once, eh? That barely seems fair."
"To you, or to us?"
"Depends."
"Well, in that case, could you at least join us?"
"Of course. Syl?"
"Yeah. It's my hour."
As the group walked out, Syl approached Soifon.
"You want to talk?" She asked. Out of all the captains, she didn't take too kindly to Syl. She heard or meet the other League members, but Syl was new. And she didn't exactly trust him. He did work around some famous heroes and had gathered some trust, but still, the best kind of con man are the patient ones.
"So…um…how are handling things?" He asked. It had been a while, and Syl wanted some girl interaction.
"I'm fine."
"You sure? You seem…a bit anxious."
"A little."
"Ah. So…"
"You should be quiet." Soifon walked up ahead. Syl didn't take the hint and got up to her. She glared at him.
"That's harsh."
"Do you think I want to talk to you?"
"You could be a little nicer."
"Should I?" She tried to leave, but Syl rejoined her. She moaned. Syl could be considered the Anti-Casanova.
"I'm just saying…"
"Don't you have anyone else to talk too?"
"I just want to talk to you."
"And I don't want to talk you."
"And yet, you are."
"This could be considered stalking…"
"All right, fine. Sheesh. Why so tense?"
"I'll answer to that. I don't trust you."
"I get it, I get it. I'm new, I'm young, I'm the author's persona, I got unique powers, I'm handsome…."
"Get a haircut and a shave."
"Nay to the shave!"
Soifon decided to finally ignore him and talk to Byakuya. Syl stopped for a bit, sighed, and walked behind everyone, until Ichigo decided to talk to him.
"We really haven't a chance to talk, have we?" He said.
"Yeah, with the whole business and everything, it's been a little messy."
"So I saw you trying to make some moves."
"And I went back."
"There shall be very little chance with her. She's way too strict for you and she has her eye on someone else."
"Ah." Syl didn't have much to say.
"You're not that social are you?"
"Didn't have much friends growing up. I think it had to do with the fact I moved to a new school when everyone knew me at the old school."
"Hmm. Oh, hey, we're here."
Their talk had lead them into the middle of the training grounds. The others were talking off to the side.
"I suggest teams." Said Byakuya.
"Right!" Said Luffy. "I take…Syl!"
"Eh?" Syl heard his name and walked over.
"I want you to be on my team!" Luffy pointed at him.
"Oh…kay. I doubt there will be that much room, but sure." He stood at Luffy's side.
"Hmm." Byakuya thought for a minute and looked over to Yamamoto. "Captain?"
"Alright."
"Hey, Ichigo! You want to help me?" Luffy asked. Ichigo shrugged and stood next to Syl. Soifon didn't need any direction, she walked straight to Byakuya's side. The two sides walked to the middle, and stood in position.
There was no bell. They just started. Syl and Ichigo went after Byakuya first. Their swords clashed with one sword.
"Two on one? Not very useful with two others opponents around."
"Well, I thought Syl would go after someone else!" Ichigo said between gritted teeth.
"Sorry!" Syl broke free and went after Soifon, who just managed to escape Luffy's grasp.
"Oh, so that's it." Soifon managed to block Syl's attack with Suzumebachi. "You can't get a date, so you stalk and attack the woman who turned you down!"
"It's TRAINING."
"You attacked first!" The two went at it. Soifon, despite having the smaller weapon, held the advantage. Syl tried to attack, but just beat up. He grabbed Black Wood with both hands and swung; hitting empty air. Soifon had ducked down and kicked Syl in the shins. He went down, but used his Spirit powers to boost him back up. He threw his sword like a boomerang, to which Soifon blocked easily…
…only if the projectile actually came close. Syl had rushed forward, grabbed the sword's handle, and swung with all of his might. Eve n though she did block, the force of the attack still made her skid back quite a bit. She looked up and saw Syl twirling his sword and his arm.
"Pretty good, I must admit. But do you think that I would falter so easily?"
"Not really. Worth a try." Syl threw his sword like a spear. Soifon got smart and grabbed the sword by the tip. Which lead to Syl's next trap. He ran forward and grabbed the handle, this time by going under it. With the added boost of Spirit, he swung over his head and down to his back, sending Soifon flying. She managed to roll with the blow and get to the ground in time to block Syl's next attack.
"Dirty. Your style is rather dirty."
"That's your opinion." The two dueled off for a while, with Syl gaining a bit of advantage, but not getting any hits in. At least Soifon wasn't either.
"You're going against a Shinigami." She said. "A Captain. One of the strongest people in the entire Society. Trying to outdo me isn't going to work." She effortlessly grabbed Syl and threw him off into the distance. He landed on his butt. He shook his head.
"Once again, worth a try." He did the same boomerang trick again. Soifon dodged this time. She blocked again, as Syl made a attempt at punching her.
"You lost your sword!" Soifon kicked Syl in the chest. She attempted to finish him off, but something whacked her in the head. Boomerang, indeed, Syl managed to fill it with enough Spirit power to make it come back. Yet this didn't hurt her. Just made her angry.
Syl had got up to his feet and get around her to get his sword. Soifon didn't react. She did release Suzumebachi and draw her zanpakutō.
"Swordplay to you is fun and games." She held her sword like a dagger, reverse, under-hand. "Shall I teach you what it really is?"
Syl bowed. "Training, remember?" The two clashed.
While Ichigo and Byakuya were also clashing, Luffy and Yamamoto were drinking tea.
"Shouldn't we be training, Gramps?" Luffy asked.
"Do you feel confident?" Yamamoto replied, pouring another cup.
"Of course." Luffy took a sip. He made a weird face; too strong for his tastes.
"We're fine." Yamamoto smiled. Luffy smiled back.
Byakuya knocked the sword out of Ichigo's hands. Ichigo tried to shove Byakuya out of the way, but got knocked to the ground as a result. "Have you lost your touch, Kurosaki? A while back, you could handle yourself."
"I'm just getting started!" Ichigo tried to sweep the leg, but hit air, as Byakuya kicked his back from behind. This propelled Ichigo to the area where his zanpakutō landed, allowing him to grab it and get back up. He charged, swinging his zanpakutō at all directions, hoping to catch Byakuya off guard. He blocked it all with the same face he always wore. Byakuya countered, but Ichigo managed to roll back.
The two struggled without let up from both. Byakuya definitely held the upper hand. Luffy and Yamamoto watched.
Ugh. I'm starting to fall into writer's block. Moving on.
Ichigo feinted with a side pain, and Byakuya fell for it. Ichigo grabbed his zanpakutō and threw it far away. Byakuya stood still, keeping his cool. Ichigo breathed heavy. They remained in deadlock, waiting for one to move. Both of their eyes dared the other to go first. Ichigo kept his cool, with Byakuya, you should be careful about trying to intimate him; it never ends well.
But Byakuya never did anything. He took a step back, as a Syl torpedo hit Ichigo dead on, knocking both into the bushes. Byakuya looked back at Soifon, who was red-faced. She stormed out, screaming angrish on the way out. The bushes rattled, and the two losers rolled out in a ball. Luffy ran over and untangled the two.
"What did you do?" Ichigo asked Syl. Syl turned completely red.
"I accidently….well…."
Ichigo grabbed Syl by the shoulders. "Well what?"
"Eh…hoo…."
"Is he delirious?" Asked Luffy.
"No." Ichigo said. His voice managed to out-scare Soifon in Syl.
"groped her…" Syl said very meekly.
"Excuse me?" Ichigo was slowly running out of patience.
"I…groped her…by accident." Syl's face contained fear, embarrassment, and the feeling of temporary bliss.
My school agreed to the fact that all men are perverts. We all had a good laugh.
Mayuri was stalking Naruto.
That's nothing new.
"Listen, doll." Mayuri said to no-one. He turned around, and then remembered that Nemu had been kidnapped. Or, in his deranged mind, walked in one direction and got lost. He shook his head in annoyance. Sure, capturing the ninja would be easy with his science, but that meant he would have to carry him back to the lab. What a hassle.
So he prepared the agent. He designed a special gun to handle such a job. Naruto was too easy of a target. An orange jumpsuit? Really? And he called himself a ninja. From what he gathered, he could considered a flashy brawler. In fact, the village he came from is pretty much the same!
But still. An ancient beast is perfect for creating powerful weapons and stuff. He couldn't resist.
He looked behind the corner one more time. Back still turned. He pointed at the neck and fired.
And felt nothing a second later. Naruto had re-directed the dart with a single kunai block.
"You shouldn't say your thoughts out loud." He said, before taking the dart gun.
And thus Mayuri missed his training hour.
One group left, before we move to our villain.
Ukitake and Goku decided to help prepare the food that the officers had delivered. Rukia stayed nearby to prevent her captain from over-doing portions and Goku from stealing. After having his hand frozen twice, Goku decided to actually learn how to make meals. Syl, Link, and Yusuke were the few who knew some sort of cooking (Link being the best, Syl knowing to do some general work, and Yusuke knew how to make easy food), but all failed to teach the Saiyan.
"So, I mix this…with this?" He asked. He wanted to know if Item 'A' could mix well with Item 'B'.
"Yes. But slowly. You could splatter it all over the room, and Rukia-chan could kill us." Rukia looked up. She didn't mind mess; they would be cleaning up anyway. Goku calmly stirred 'A' and 'B'. Ukitake reached into a bag and pulled out Item 'C'. He unwrapped it, and put in the bowl.
"So…what are we making?" Asked Goku.
"A chocolate cake." Ukitake showed everyone in the room the picture. It had strawberries on top, whipped cream and cherries. Goku started to drool before Rukia poked him, reminding him that stood over the bowl. "I thought that everyone could use a pick-me-up after all that happened." He prepped the oven. Goku continued to stir.
"Shouldn't we be training?" Asked Goku.
"Nah." Ukitake said.
"Why? If you guys are super strong, how come one person can take you and win?" Ukitake put down the bag he was moving to the counter. He sighed.
"The reason is…I'm next."
"Oh yeah! You want me to protect you!" Ukitake bobbed his head; confirming.
"Captain." Rukia approached him."I may not be as powerful as the League members, but I'm not a target. I could handle him. As far as we know, all he can do is make people disappear. We know about him."
"But what do we know?" Ukitake came back gently. "A good fighter plays his cards when he sees the time to play them. We can't take chances. I know you're strong. And under normal circumstances, I would throw you at him. But we know near nothing, or everything. The truth is, we can't go in with guns ablazing."
"And you need me to protect you." Goku said, still stirring.
"For now." Ukitake took the bowl and placed it in the oven. He set an egg timer to 45 minutes and decided to work on the salad.
"So now what?" Goku asked. Ukitake handed him a carton of strawberries.
"Start cutting." Goku grabbed the knife, opened the carton, and began cutting.
Rukia got bored of the last statement and walked to find someone to talk to. She couldn't believe that Son Goku and her own captain could bore her. Since when has ever that happened?
Renji ran as fast as he could; even though he had been running for an hour.
The woman's advice had proven true; HQ was in his eyesight. He got cleared with the guard, and continued on to warn the others.
The Hollows had stopped chasing him after they all died. Violently, of course. Oddly enough, no other Hollows came after him, despite traveling though a well-known Hollow nesting ground. He figured that the Magician could be trying to lure him into another trap, or possibly something even more dangerous. He should be careful, but he needed to get back to base.
The streets were empty of life. Stands that promised '24 hours service' were filled with just fruit, not people. Did the Magician take them all? Could he do that? Was he over-reacting? Agh! He screamed out loud. No lights turned on. No one came out running. This could be two things. No one heard him, or they were all gone.
Damn. Whatever he is doing, the Magician is playing mind games with him.
Something came over him. A familiar feeling.
The Magician.
"You returned?" The voice of the Magician came into his mind. Renji didn't hear until now, but he knew it could be only him.
"Foolfool…fool,fool…foolfoolfoolfoolfool…fool,fool,fool…" The word repeated throughout his brain. He fell down in pain. His brain couldn't process the intense power passing through. Though the Magician was saying a normal sentence, the simple act of anger was enough to almost KO Renji. He held on, and tried to run, but fell down. His attempts to crawl ended with him running blind into a wall.
"Hmm. Your mind is weak."
"Not strong. Not strong at all."
"You can't survive. Not to me, or not to anyone of the further."
Renji shot up. "SHUT UP." The Magician, from wherever he was, got shot back. Renji discovered that his strength came back and he got back up and continued to run. A quick blur of movement appeared in the edge of his right eye. He pulled out his zanpakutō and blocked an attack. Yet another Hollow. Renji ducked, and bought his blade around him, craving though the legs, and finished it off with a stab though the head.
"A dim hope."
"Fate is sealed."
"You may have the stern will and the unfailing determination to attain your dreams, but not enough to surpass me."
"WILL…YOU…BE…QUIET?" Renji had heard a few words from his enemy, and already grown tired of the meaningless speech on how he is foolish and doomed. He managed to place a mental block to stop the Magician, and somehow it worked. The words came though, but had no effect. At least on his physical state. His mental state was starting to break, but mostly from anger.
Two more Hollows rained down. Renji dealt with them swiftly, and continued to run. HQ laid about a mile ahead. His brain rushed with adrenaline, and he acted on instant whenever a Hollow came close. Even with the moon's dim light, he still hit like a sniper, quick and efficient. He didn't have time for this.
"You cling…to a dim hope."
"WHAT DID I JUST TELL YOU?"
"Your resilience is astounding. But can you break the chain of fate and crave your own pathY?"
"YOU MORON! I DON'T CARE!"
"You mean…you don't understand. Your fate to handle the symbols of the different sides of humanity."
"…would you like to know why? How? Whom?"
"You think I care about this? The Gotei 13 needs me! You know, to stop you!"
"But what if…"
"I'M DONE TALKING TO YOU! RUKIA…" He stopped in both his mind and feet. He made a mistake. He could just picture the Magician smiling.
"Rukia? Your friend? The one who you sent back? For her safety?"
"To report back!"
"Your bond with her is more than that."
"Damn you…if you…"
"Touch her? I can't kill her, the wheel of fate might stop."
"What are you…"
"Talking about? You may not represent the Fool, but you're sure are one."
"Stop insulting me, you sack of…
"Ha. Ha ha. Ha ha ha ha ha. Your mind is vulgar and full with anger. Not the kind of person…"
"…who inherits the will of the arcana?" Renji quipped back. "You're not the only one who can pull off the mind trick." Another mental image of the smile appeared. For a minute, a small, serious laugh entered Renji's mind. It unnerved him, but kept his cool. The laugh never went up a tempo, an octave or any other wave of sound. A laugh that almost looped.
"Good. The power of the arcana is starting to flow within. Maybe you can…"
"Enough, enough!" Renji shouted out loud. "I'm tired of your endless…"
"Fine. I will get to the point. If you turn back, Rukia won't be in a great deal of pain. Killing would be too easy. She die on her own time."
"Touch her…"
"Ha ha ha. Come closer and test me."
Renji almost stopped. But he kept going. He handled whatever the Magician threw at him so far, so he could save Rukia and deal the well-deserved beatdown. He checked the Fool card. It glowed a bit brighter, meaning that the Magician laid somewhere nearby. He looked forward, and his bravado almost vanished.
Straight forward was HQ…
Ukitake placed the last dish on the table. The makeshift dinner table barely had enough room to seat everyone, but no one seemed to mind. Mayuri continued to rant on about the wonder of SCIENCE and questioning everyone from the League about their powers, another people they met, and talked the whole way though the entire meal. No one talked back to him, just had their own conservations.
"But it sounds like your ninjas are much more of the assault kind." Said Soifon.
"Yeah, so? We still get the job done!" Naruto retorted back.
"I like how you did the meat. Juicy, yet tender!" Komamura said with said meat in his mouth.
"Thank you." Ukitake said back.
"Please, Komamura-san, chew with your mouth closed." Unohana quietly whispered into the Komamura's ear.
"Hey, where is Syl?" Asked Sora. Sonic looked all around the table. Syl never missed a meal, unless he got knocked-out from a fight. And he walked inside awake. Okay, he did sexually assault a captain, but Soifon seemed to be ignoring that, for now. Syl could be hiding because of embarrassment and/or he got scared.
"Your turn." Sonic turned his head to the voice. Link pointed straight at him.
"Me? Do I look like the type for pep-talks?"
"I handled the last twelve-thousand times. I can't help him that much."
"Geez, he's like Ikari Shinji."
"Hope he doesn't become like that."
Sonic sighed. He might as well try to save Syl from being killed by Soifon. Or least get him out of the closet he had been in for three hours. It wasn't hard, just look for the closet that had slammed shut hard. And shaking. The shaking stopped when Sonic came close.
Sonic banged on the door. "Syl, it's me!"
"Me who?"
"Sonic the Hedgehog!"
"I'm pretty sure that Soifon can imitate voices, being an assassin and all!"
"Trust me, it can't be anyone else!"
"But I overheard you guys. You don't trust me."
"So what? That's not important right now! There is a Shinigami out there who might kill you if given the chance. Can you at least…" Syl opened the door and dragged in Sonic. For some reason, the closet was big enough to hold two people and have walking room. Syl looked distraught and, of course, scared. Sonic did feel sorry for the poor guy, but held a firm hand.
"I groped the Second Division Captain, a master assassin. I'm going to die."
Sonic sighed. "You're not going to die. We handle the kidnapper and leave. With Ichigo. He seems interested, and had admitted to liking the idea. We got the guy you wanted. We can leave, and you'll be safe from the scary-wary…" Syl held his hand, quieting Sonic.
"I'm not a child. But I can't keep doing this. I can't keep hurting people and get off scot-free. With Chi-Chi, I had help from our cloaked friends and their employer. But this? I'm BONED. She's going to find me, stab me everyone twice, kick my balls a hundred times, cut me up, feed my legs to the gators, my arms to the loins, my torso to the poor, and keep my head as a trophy. God. God." Sonic grabbed Syl and slapped him three times. Syl shook his head. "Thanks. But still!"
"So go and apologize. It worked well with Chi-Chi."
"I had help. Our cloaked allies used their powers to make Chi-Chi less angry. But I doubt they would help me with a sexual assault charge. I'm guilty." Sonic slapped him again, this time back-handing to the ground. He got up, rolled his head, and thanked Sonic again. Syl turned around, covered his face in his hands, sighed and turned to speak.
"Okay, okay, okay. I need to apologize the old-fashioned way. And thhiiissss is going to be hard…"
"Do you need any help?"
"See this rope?"
"No, Syl."
Syl laughed a little, in spite of events. Sonic smiled. Well, that was easy. He opened the door, and the two walked out.
"Okay, really. Flowers or chocolates?"
"Don't bribe her. She may not like that."
"Oh, wait!" He pointed to a calendar on the wall. Currently February, showing Syl that only a month has gone by since he started. Currently the 7th, he looked down the line to Friday the 11th. Soifon's birthday. Syl smiled and turned back to Sonic. "Now, what should I get for her birthday?" Sonic shrugged. Syl continued to wonder about the gift with Sonic just bearing it.
SSSSSSS…..
The two stopped. An all-too familiar sound could be heard. Quiet, but noticeable. They walked down the hall where the sound came from. The air had the scent of something burning. Down the hall laid another a closet; the door had been pried from the hinges, but placed to hide the prize inside.
"Could it be?" Syl asked.
Sonic quickly dashed down the hall and opened the door. It was, indeed, a bomb. A big one, too. Syl reached him and yelped. A wind-up clock had been placed on top, clicking down one hand to a red line. 10 minutes to go, if the timer could be believed.
"Can we get rid of it?" He asked. Sonic checked. He said under his breath an expletive; the bomb had no wires to disable the bomb, and had been bolted to the floor.
"No time! Let's get out of here!" The two ran off to get the others…
…and tripped.
"How the hell…?" Sonic said before he looked back at the bomb. The clock hand had jumped ahead a minute. Syl got up and stayed near the wall, taking careful steps, checking out for any other traps. He stopped half-way; finding a second tripwire. He pointed his finger straight at the middle of the wire, and fired a simple beam, cutting though and destroying the trap. Sonic walked forward…
…and fell down, as a pressure switch tripped him.
Another minute had disappeared. Six minutes left. Syl continued to walk near the wall, and then had a thought. What if the kidnapper (If it was it) had placed pressure switches on the floor, or hell, the walls? Sonic got up, and crawled on his stomach, careful not to put too much weight in his hands, to hopefully not to set off any more switches. Syl followed the same; and the two made slow progress, but good progress.
Syl made it first, with only four minutes left. He stopped at the far wall and took a breath.
"Hold still." Syl extended his arm, and grabbed Sonic with his Spirit powers, and pulled him across, without touching the floor.
And tripped another wire , removing yet another minute. Syl cursed.
Three minutes left. The Magician smiled.
Unohana felt something in the air. Yamamoto realized it too.
"He's here." They both said at the same time. Everyone rose up, trying to find where the kidnapper was hiding.
"EVERYONE, OUT NOW!" Sonic yelled as he grabbed Mario and ran out.
"Wait, what?" Komamura asked, confused. Syl ran in, and almost tripped, but balanced himself.
"THERE'S A BOMB! GET OUT OF HERE!" He ran out the door, with the others following. The full moon illuminated the entire ground, with the foggy black sky covering only the sky. Ichigo looked up. This is was the darkest sky he had never seen. But this was no ordinary sky. Ichigo could feel the malevolence, he could just feel it. The moonlight had its own place in the sky; the clouds left an entire gap where the moon was.
This feeling…meant something powerful and unrelenting this way come.
"How did he/it get in?" Asked Ichigo. "And how long did he…?"
"It's a trap!" Said a voice that hadn't been heard in a while.
"RENJI?"
For it was he, as he ran forward, with a big pack of Hollows following behind.
"Renji!" Rukia shouted. "What happened…"
"Get out of here!" He yelled, waving his zanpakutō around. "The Magician is trying to get you all into one place…"
"And it is done."
Everyone, including the Hollow pack, froze. They couldn't move. The monotone laughter filled the air, all but Renji immediately got spooked. Renji tried to speak, but found himself unable to do so. He looked around. The teen with the glasses and hat was glowing with a light-blue light, the blue animal (Renji couldn't tell what it is) was vibrating, and Yusuke tried to break free, but could only manage to move his fingers.
The laugh stopped. When it ended, everyone could move again. The Hollows tried to attack, but a visible blue magic wall blocked them. They clawed away, but couldn't get though. Everyone pulled out their zanpakutō, with a symphony of drawing metal. They spread out, looking for anyone, or anything.
"Hey…" Ichigo laid back-to-back to Renji, Syl, and Link. He was speaking to Renji. "You seem to know more about this than anyone else."
So Renji talked about the whole thing. He lied about how he knew about the Magician, saying he followed a small trail of clues and got caught up in a trap. He read the Magician's dairy, and managed to escape and get back. He could hear the lady's voice telling him what he should say; she wanted to tell the 'League' later herself. He didn't like lying, but he felt that this was too important and beyond him to break now.
"This guy…geez." Syl sighed, and broke group to check the area with his Spirit powers and turned up nothing. "Could we be over our heads?"
"An enemy who can bend reality?" Link said. "You may be right." Ichigo looked around. The Hollow pack continued to try to break the wall, but to no effect. The other captains and League members had grouped together in different numbers and investigated around, turning up nothing. The moon eerie light still filled the sky.
Was this the power of the Magician? Or is this reality, just bought on because of the presence of the Magician?
The laughter re-filled the air. Everyone turned to the direction where their ears heard the noise. Up. A purple/black vortex stood in mid-air. It dematerialized, and the Magician materialized. His clothes remained the same. Black gaucho hat, and an outfit in black. It remained too dark to make any disquisition to any particular clothes or see his face. He descended, and bowed.
No one moved.
"Hello. You're the remaining Gotei 13 and the incomplete Heroic League. It's time for oblivion to come." He said with a booming voice. Renji confirmed in the back of his head that there was no doubt that this is the real Magician, not a copy. His voice in physical form definitely proved his power.
"I'm Captain of the 1st Division, Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni. I guess it's safe to presume that you're the kidnapper that has causing trouble around here the past few weeks?" The Magician's hat nodded. 'Waves' of black energy with dark purple streaks at the edges and spheres of red energy expelled from its feet. The hat raised a little.
"Correct. I'm the Magician, the first Arcana. Action, initiative, self-confidence, manipulation and the power to harness one's talents are invested within me." The hat continued to go retract up, as if to tease. Yamamoto put away his zanpakutō back in his cane, and walked forward, but got pushed back by a 'wave.'
"Don't come closer. I mean to dispose you." Kenpachi stepped forward, and resisted the next wave.
"Dispose…me?" Kenpachi laughed. "You have to try a little harder than to get rid of me! Now, let's talk serious business." His laughter stopped. His voice lowered to a serious tone. "Where is Yachiru?" The Magician remained quiet. Kenpachi got closer. "I ask again. Where…ugh?"
He grunted as a knife pierced his left shoulder. The knife was held in a long, tentacle-like arm with a cartoony human hand, coming out of the Magician's chest. Kenpachi jumped back, putting pressure on his shoulder. The arm went back into the chest, but the knife deflected off and the Magician grabbed the knife with his real right hand and started to throw the knife up; it spun, and he caught it.
"That's your power?" Asked Renji. The Magician continued to twirl the knife.
"My true strength. One that I shall use if necessary." He twirled the knife one last time. He caught it, and it slid under his sleeve. He went back to the original pose that he appeared in. He quickly laughed for just two seconds before resuming to talk.
"Do you wish to be done soon?" He stared at Rukia, just to spook Renji. "Then, leave. Leave this place and never return. This place has been chosen to be a ground for the Retestament." He pointed up to the sky, at the moon.
It had changed.
The image on the card of the Magician appeared on the moon. It had been etched in. The Magician laughed again, for a whole fifteen seconds. Two knives slid back into his hands.
"So. Your answer. Is it yes…or is it blood?"
Yamamoto had remained in thought since Kenpachi stepped forward. He re-drew his sword and held it forward.
"We are the Gotei 13. We're not the kind to take words that spell 'cowardice' well. Rather, we react. If you wish for us to move, then make us. The mountains bend easier then we. You can try, but I warn you, it won't be a pushover. You made a mistake of confronting us head-on." The others got ready. The Magician did a close look around and started to laugh.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
The laugh, like before, was monotone. Never went up or down in pitch.
"Come forward!"
The Retestament. Where all things that are not within shall vanish in the light, and those contained shall start again.
MUSIC: Persona 4: I'll Face Myself (Boss Battle) (Why not P3? Couldn't find a good theme.)
Kenpachi came out like a wild animal. The Magician, despite having magic, still had to block the attacks with both knives. Two hands extended from the backside with knives to block both Sora and Ukitake, as they attempted to attack. Two hands from both sides came out to the offense. All eight arms defended and attacked the two captains and Sora.
The Magician exploded, creating two clones. Kenpachi managed to slice though one, but the two halves each became their own clone. They grabbed Kenpachi by his arms, to have the original Magician shoot him with a fiery arrow. Kenpachi withstood it and slammed the two smaller clones together, putting them back together. Komamura punched the newly fixed clone, knocking it into the ground.
"He can clone himself?" He scoffed. "Whatever. I can still kill you regardless of how many you are!"
"Then start!" Komamura yelled under the entire mob of clones. Yusuke held his fist close to the tangled dome of Magicians, and blew them away with a single wave of his spirit energy. After he helped Komamura up, the mob formed into four Magicians. They each charged a giant ball of magical energy, and they threw it together, creating a giant bowling ball. The three stood their ground, and got pushed back by the giant ball. Together, the three of them picked up the ball…
…and had their legs shot by magic bullets. The ball exploded.
Unohana rushed over, avoided an arrow, and started to heal. "Sora-san, I need cover!" Sora burnt one of the clones with Fire magic, and stood near Unohana, circling around her to protect her. "I need some time. This is new to me." Sora nodded, and knocked two knife stabs away. He called down lightning, and struck two clones.
"Fool. All of you are fools." One of the clones said.
"Shut up." Renji swung around, cleaving though several heads. He knocked some flying clones, and jumped out of the way of a fireball. Ichigo stabbed though the caster and swung around, sending the corpse into another clone. Luffy's strategy mostly involved throwing around clones to bash others. Syl carefully preserved his energy, he used the hit-and-run strategy.
Ukitake stood back, somehow tried already. Soifon killed three clones at once and approached him. "You okay?" Ukitake fell down, face first, and vanished. She jumped back in surprise
"One down."
Goku followed the voice, hoping it to find the real Magician. He couldn't find one, and got swallowed up by a swarm. He broke free and flew up and fired off a few ki bombs into the continuous growing amount of clones. The clones didn't explode, they just simply got knocked back a few feet and retaliated with their own magic bombs. Goku landed and rammed though a crowd.
Mayuri had stood back from the fight and watched. He kept his eye on the original the entire time to find the weakness. The Magician's clones didn't pay any attention to him, he looked creepy rather than a threat. Mayuri noticed several things, the original never backed off from a fight, he never wasted more than a minute on one fighter, and created clones to be used as shields.
Then he saw it. A weak spot. He walked over to Soifon, who just snapped the neck of a clone. He tapped her shoulder and said,
"Hey. I know where to kill him."
"It is…" The Magician replaced Soifon and flicked Mayuri. He vanished.
"Zaraki Kenpachi. You shall be next."
"Like hell, I will!" Kenpachi threw his entire weight into a huge swing, destroying an entire crowd. He felt a presence behind him, and stabbed in the direction, killing another. More came after him, and he dealt with them as they came. They started to overcome him, but he continued to fight on, regardless of numbers and sizes. Eventually, he got swallowed; laughing his way down.
"Three. I expected more."
Syl had decided to follow Mayuri's lead and take down the original Magician. His right eye glowed with Spirit power; tracking the original became easy when the original got colored in blue. He followed him though the crowd, weaving and cutting though the crowd of look-likes. The Magician had been tracking Hitsugaya, the next captain on his list. The said captain had been freezing entire mobs at once, allowing for some breathing room. However, smashing the icicles just freed the clones.
The original approached Hitsugaya, face-to-face. Surprised, he flash-froze the Magician right in front of him, but it only gave a full three-seconds of freedom. Thankfully, that was all of the time that Syl needed to catch up. Placing his sword back in his pant's loop, he held his hands behind him, drawing energy. He long-jumped, covering the area between him and his enemy. The Magician broke free of his cold prison, prepared to attack Hitsugaya, but he turned around,
"SPIRIT PHONEIX LANCE!" Syl clapped his hands together, with the energy shooting forward like a lance, piercing right though the chest of the original. Syl landed on his face, the Magician on his back. Hitsugaya pulled Syl up to his feet.
"Thanks." Syl said.
"I should be thanking you." Hitsugaya replied. "Better yet, look! All of the clones are gone!" There was only one Magician, and he was down.
"Hey, I'm awesome! No need to thank me!" Syl laughed.
Renji wasn't celebrating. The women's voice was talking to him.
"You're not done yet."
"Why not?" Renji thought. He had a feeling that if he actually used his voice, he would look like a mad man, considering he hadn't totally grasped the whole situation he got wrangled in.
"You have to be the one to finish off each Arcana." In his mind, the card of the Magician glowed with a red light. "Is it glowing blue?"
"…no."
"Just checking. Blue means victory."
"Red means life, I guess?"
"No. Red means danger, like it always has been."
The Magician rose up, twirling up. His head rolled around, creaking the whole 180. He turned around to face his enemies. His hat had fallen off; his head was like a cotton swab, yet down to continue hiding his face. Hitsugaya and Syl were the closest to him, so they quickly tried to hack him down, but a field just knocked both of their weapons out of their hands.
"YOU FOOLS…YOU OPENED THE DOORS TO DAMNATION…"
Hitsugaya ran over to his and grabbed his zanpakutō, but the very instant, he vanished. The Magician' whispered.
"fine. i shall show you how the arcana truly fight."
His face rose. The best way to describe his face is to say the lack of. The eyes and the infinity mark of the Magician card were the only things there.
The whole body shook with violence. Twenty arms literally exploded from all over the body, each with a knife. Each arm was three times as long as before and literally extended to the sky. His hat levitated back his head and tilted down, once again hiding his face. Each of the arms extended down and held each knife close to his enemies' throats. His body grew double in size.
"The moment man devoured the fruit of knowledge, he sealed his fate..."
His voice went up a notch; it had a long echo.
Entrusting his future to the cards, man clings to a dim hope.
The knives retracted, as if to give them room.
Yes, the Arcana is the means by which all is revealed...
He raised his normal hand up, Shakespeare-style.
To attain one's dream, one must require a stern will and unfailing determination to push though.
He attacked.
The Retestament. Where 21 beings that represent humanity shall come forth, and deliver the rites.
The Magician came down with all knives at once. Everyone either rolled out of the way or blocked. Those who blocked had a second knife to the chest, and those who rolled got chopped across their faces. The Magician coordinated each of his attacks with absolute accuracy; as if he could predict what they were going to do and react accordingly.
Shunsui was still addled from his drinking, and had been supported by Yoh the entire time. Amidamaru had managed to wake up Yoh in time for the meal and the fight. Shunsui had been thrown to a far-off corner after the Magician transformed so Yoh could at least have some mobility. He snored away.
Of course he was a easy target. Four down!
Yusuke grabbed the nearest arm and with all of his strength, yanked the arm off. He grabbed the knife and threw it at the Magician's head. It went right though the head and didn't come back out. The arm regenerated along with the knife. Yusuke jumped up and grabbed two arms. He landed, and with twice his strength, yanked both clear; this time ignoring the fallen knives.
And the knives hit both of his sides.
Unohana got out of the massacre to heal herself and the others who backed out. She was the first to notice that Shunsui was gone. She looked back, Komamura was ripping arms out by the handful, five at a time. Arms kept coming out by the second, more each time. He kept pulling out arms, regardless. Ichigo (Who wasn't given enough screen time.) went straight at the Magician. He hacked away at the body, but every time his sword touched the mass, the cut just instantly mended.
"Gramps!" He shouted as he got dragged back by three knives. "Got any plans?" He ducked under the same three knives and sliced the arms. He picked up the knives and threw them back at the Magician, it was better than having them attack him.
"We can't retreat, we lost too many captains, and we can't pierce its skin. It may seem hopeless, but we need to press on. Find the weak spot and exploit it!" He drew up some fire and burned the entire body, hoping to find some sort of area that the Magician had been hiding. The arms took the full blow of the fire, and several of some burnt off. The knives flew back to the Magician's body, which now tripled in size.
"Yamamoto-taicho!" Komamura shouted, under a barrage of arms. He kept pulling them out, but now he barely enough room to move his arm in the way to pull out anything. "I need some help!" Byakuya ran over and started to hack away at the mass of arms that tried to pull Komamura away. The sword barely made a cut, even when Link and Ichigo joined in. Eventually, Komamura's arms were swallowed up, and he got dragged away, now looking nothing like the 7th Division Captain. He got sucked into the mass that is the Magician.
Byakuya held in front of him his zanpakutō and quietly said, "Scatter."
Nothing happened. Byakuya quietly stepped back, avoiding ten knives. He looked at zanpakutō, but nothing seemed out of place. He said it again, but his Shikai didn't activate. The Magician laughed, and it echoed all around. All of the arms raised in laughter, like a villain from the 1930's.
"FOOLS. FOOLS. FOOLS. FOOLS. FOOLS. FOOLS. FOOLS. FOOLS. FOOLS. FOOLS. FOOLS."
"YOU THOUGHT I WOULDN'T THINK OF STOPING YOU FROM USING YOUR POWERS? I'M SURPRISED YOU HAVEN'T TRIED BEFORE. YOU THINK YOU'RE DEALING WITH A REGULAR ENEMY? I'M FAR FROM THE REGULAR MAN OR HOLLOW. IN SPEAKING OF WHICH…"
He snapped his fingers, and the field blocking the Hollows disappeared. The Hollow pack (Who almost went to sleep) burst in, and got grabbed by a empty arm. They got swallowed like Komamura did, but they came out, they looked dark and even more empty. They rushed at the remaining heroes…
…and into a several bombs, placed by Link earlier.
"WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE? WHY ARE YOU FIGHTING A LOST CAUSE?" Syl stood even straighter than before.
"We're the Heroic League! Lost causes are our specialty!" He shouted with a heroic gusto. The rest just looked at him with the same thought. What.
Even the giant Magician took a minute to process that. He decided to direct his efforts towards the League, seeing that he wasn't after them, and they're a serious threat.
Naruto read the Magician's movements, and several kunais flew in the direction of the arms, going straight into the palms. He looked up, and saw a rain of knives coming down. He rolled to the side and continued to run away from the endless arms and knives. He jumped back, and ran along the arms. Two of his clones joined him, charging up aRasengan. He grabbed it, and threw it right at the head. It exploded, and the scream of the Magician pieced the air.
Yusuke followed up with a Reigun to the head. The screaming continued. Luffy grabbed a spinning Sonic; with Mario torching Sonic. Luffy launched the burning hedgehog right at the head. Instead of going though, Sonic hit something solid, and the screaming reached a new high. Syl turned his sword into a Spirit spear and threw it up, with Link firing a arrow to propel it up, piercing though one 'eye'. Goku grabbed the sword, pulled it out, and then right hooked the Magician, creating a hole in the eye. Sora aimed his Keyblade, and a beam of light went though the other eye. Yoh, now totally awake, gave a huge boost to Ichigo, getting him a few feet above the head. He bought his zanpakutō down, cutting though the whole way down.
"Woo!" Syl shouted as the two halves fell to their respect sides.
And vanished.
Renji looked into his mind; at the Magician card. It glowed a lighter red. He needed to do the final blow.
Rukia (Who had been held back by her brother, fearing her safety) ran forward at the area that the Magician used to stand. She turned around several times. "Where did he go?" She shouted. "Can anyone…"
"Above you."
Everybody looked up, save for Byakuya, whom fell into a portal. Rukia tried to save him, but as soon as his fingers went in, the portal closed.
"I honestly believe I wouldn't have a problem…with you. I thought I could take the Gotei 13 on my own. I guess…I was wrong." The Magician, back to his normal form, descended down, and fell to his knees. His breathing was heavy. Soifon came up to him, and pointed her zanpakutō at his throat. "Surrender.' She said.
The Magician looked up. "Never." A snap of his fingers, and the entire court were crowed with clones, leaving a small circle for the League and the Gotei to stand in.
The Magician flew up, as if to watch.
"I'm the Magician. I can move forward when no one else can. I shall never surrender to lesser beings such as you."
"Arggh! I'm sick of this already!" Goku shouted, interrupting the Magician's little dialogue. "Luffy!" He shouted to said person as he walked over to.
"Yeah?" Luffy sensed something scary in Goku's voice.
"Grab me by my legs. And swing me. Everyone else? Get down!" He yelled at everyone, and they followed. The clones didn't react. The original wondered what they were up to. Goku levitated a little, and Luffy grabbed him and started to swing him around. Luffy didn't understand at first, but then remembered what the two did years ago.
"Gum…Gum…" Luffy said, with his regular smile on his face.
"KA…ME…HA…ME…"
The clones took notice of the growing energy in Goku's hand and mobbed over each other to get to the two.
"HA!" Both heroes shouted as a massive beam of ki erupted from Goku's hands. Combined with Luffy's spinning, the Kamehameha tore though the clones. They tried to get to Goku and Luffy, but they kept tripping over each other before annihilation. The original looked on; regardless without his eyes. He couldn't understand why they think they were going to win. He was a unstoppable object. And yet, they thought they were the unmovable object.
He never surrendered.
Unohana got up. She took a look around (Like everyone else.) and found the courtyard to be littered with corpses. This was barely, most of the clones disintegrated. The original had disappeared from his spot in the sky. She quickly helped up the others and healed any bruises or cuts.
"Unohana-taicho! Look out!" She heard Yoh shout…and then she saw nothing.
The Magician dodged the array of spells that Sora fired off, but barely dodged Goku's fist. Yusuke grabbed him, and threw at Mario, who started to pummel him with burning fists. The Magician teleported back, only for his back to kicked in by Sonic. Ichigo The rest of the League ganged up, and just beat the Magician into pulp.
No, seriously. He turned into pulp.
"That's…a little overboard." Yoh said, taking very shallow breaths.
"At least we won." Sonic replied, sitting down.
"…now what?" Ichigo asked. "Where's the missing people? Where's the Assistant Captains? Where's the Captains? Are they dead?"
"far from it." The voice of the Magician seem to come from the pulp.
"You've got to be kidding me…" Yusuke said.
"i'm the magician. I never give up. why should i lose to you, those who are few and new?"
"We're the Heroic League. We don't care about your opinion." Syl announced.
"…is that going to be a recurring thing?" Asked Ichigo.
"I don't care about your opinion." Syl said with a huge smile on his face.
The Magician remained silent again. His pulp moved together and re-formed the body. He called upon the last remaining knives he had had and gave them to the last six arms he had. The League turned around to notice.
"i won't lose. i will win. give up."
"No." Goku stepped forward. "Go away. Don't come back. You never have to surrender. Just leave. We won't stop." The League, despite being the fight lasting for longer than it should have, stood together, with Ichigo standing among them. The Magician rose his many arms…
…and teleported off.
"Coward!" Shouted Yamamoto. "You coward! Come and fight!"
"Okay." A small fist punched into the face of Yamamoto knocking him down.
The fist of Rukia. Who's eyes now matched the Magician's now missing eyes.
"This body isn't perfect…but it will do." Rukia!Magician folded her arms His/her voice was a mixture of both his and Rukia's . "You won't harm a friend, would you?" He/she laughed and approached the tired and wounded Renji. "What about it, hmm? Kill the enemy, and kill a friend?" The annoying laugh again. "Now you can kill me. If her soul dies, I die. There is no other way."
Renji laughed. Rukia!Magician turned her head to the side, in wonderment.
"What's so funny?" He/she asked.
"You're little joyride is going to end early and hard, man. You think you're going to own that body?" Renji asked.
Rukia!Magician blinked. "What are you implying…"
"GET. OUT."
Rukia's real voice came out, and she punched herself. The Magician side apparently has gotten a headache.
"GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT, GET THE HELL OUT!"
Rukia continued to pummel herself, but the Magician seem to be the only one in pain. Finally, Rukia's hand went down into her throat and pulled out the soul of the Magician and threw it far away; landing with a squee. Rukia choked for a bit, getting on her knees. Renji helped her up.
"oooo…That tasted like burnt coffee. So, what happened?" She asked.
"You punched Yamamoto."
"I did? That's bad."
"Say, where did he go?"
Yamamoto had gotten up during Rukia!Magician's speech, but had…
"Wait wait wait!" Renji said. He pulled out his copy of the letter. "I thought he would only go after the captains in order!"
"CHANGE…OF PLANS. YOU FORCED MY HAND."
"But about me? I escaped, so you failed anyway!" Renji shouted to the sky. He quickly checked the card in his mind. The red had nearly disappeared. They were winning, but so was he. Only one Gotei 13 captain remained and Soifon began to check all around her, to prevent any attacks.
"YOU HAD HELP. YOU NEVER WENT TO MY PRISON. BUT I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU. YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING."
"But I CAN!" Soifon shouted, attacking the area right in front of her. A ripple later, and Soifon had stuck her blade half-way though the Magician's right vanished again. (Despite not surrendering, he sure ran a lot.) Another ripple, and the dislocated arm fell to the ground. The Magician flickered in and out and finally fell to the ground in a pool in black blood.
"Give up!" Soifon shouted. "I know that you're still alive. and finally fell to the ground in a pool in black blood.
"Give up!" Soifon shouted. "I know that you're still alive. You're immortal. So as long as you continue to fight, I continue to chop off all of your limbs. We'll see how immortal you are." She wiped the blood off her zanpakutō and threw it to the ground. The body faded down, leaving only the hat and cloak-like thing. The severed arm remained here.
"You're not kidding me. I can tell by your arm. Give up, I can handle you!"
"REALLY? SUFFER!"
The arm grew back, but not to a body, the body grew from the arm. It grabbed Soifon by the neck and lifted her up. The others tried to rush to her aid, but a magic field kept them far away. They pounded and hacked and did everything they could to help the last Gotei 13 captain. She choked and tried to pry away the thin fingers, but the Magician had very good upper body strength.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP ONE THE WILLS? THE MAGICIAN, THE ONE WHO REPRESENTS THE WILL TO GO ON? HAHAHAHA. I WILL SEND YOU TO MY PRISON ALIVE, BUT I DESIRE A LITTLE REVENGE!"
"kcak…you…t-think-k…"
"QUIET. I TIRE OF YOU. FAREWELL."
He dropped her and decided to send her away by enclosing her inside of himself. His body expanded and Soifon started to get dragged in. The Magician laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
And looked down.
Soifon was still there.
And yet he captured someone.
He looked around. They looked mortified. And then he noticed something. A hole in his forcefield.
A blue light surrounding it. Syl had been sucked in.
The Magician got angry. He had room enough to fit just the Gotei 13 Captains and Assistant Captains. Now he had only room to fit one more person. He needed to put in Soifon, the Captain mattered more than the Assistant Captain, regardless that the said A.C. could pull off Bankai. But that didn't matter. He locked the use of Shikai and Bankai. Renji may had the ability to kill him, but Renji was far behind him.
But know what? He lost. The Heroic League jut beat him twice, and now they had a better reason. Soifon wasn't going to his prison, one of the League members would take her place. He lost. Fighting back was useless. The League wasn't going to give up. He could only be killed by Renji, and he was going to have a good chance to get him with the League pummeling him.
He lost.
LOST
LOST
LOST
LOST
LOST
LOST
LOST
LOST
LOST
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LOST
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LOST
LOST
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LOST
LOST
He leapt at the League, using Soifon as a spring board. Mario pulled out his hammer, and whacked the Magician right in his face. He landed near Soifon, who kicked him in his chest, then retreated to the League. The Magician got back up, regardless that his body was nearly destroyed, his soul cracked, his powers diminished and just plain tried.
Despite him being a being that was 'will', twenty-two people beat him. He lead them into his trap, and they sprung it all right, but they reserved the situation. They trapped him. He captured the people he wanted, but now the same number of people are after him.
What else…
"BREAK THOUGH!"
"Yamamoto-taicho?" Renji knew that voice.
The portal that had bought the Magician here, now had been opened by hands. Komamura and Ōmaeda's hands appeared, holding each side to open it. Yamamoto's voice could be heard.
"ALMOST THERE!"
And finally, the Captains and the Assistant Captains all landed on the ground. The Magician just sighed.
And decided to fall to the ground. He just couldn't take it anymore.
"Huh." Kenpachi said. "He couldn't take it."
Mayuri got up and shoved off Nemu. "He may be immortal, but sure not invincible. Or for that matter, smart."
Yamamoto assisted Chōjirō to his feet. "You all right, Sasakibe-san?"
"Thank you, Yamamoto-taicho." The two shook hands. Everyone got reacquainted with each other.
"NEMU!" Mayuri yelled right in her ear.
"Yes, Mayuri-taicho?" She said without much interest, like she always did.
"Come with me! You're little vacation is over! You got ton of chores to do!"
"Yes, Mayuri-taicho." Said Nemu, speaking her second and last line in the chapter.
"Ken-chan !" Yachiru called out. She leaped over and hugged her captain and swung around his neck to latch onto his back.
"Good to have you back, partner! Ha!" He started to laugh. "I can't believe that this guy thought that we would just give up!" Yachiru started to laugh alongside him. Her stomach then growled. "I'm hungry."
"Don't worry! There is going to be a huge feast! Right, Matsumoto?"
"Yeah! With lots and lots of sake…" Matsumoto looked behind her, and yes, Hitsugaya gave her the look. The look that Matsumoto knew very well.
"Err…So, Captain! I guess I should get a broom and clean up…"
"Finish your paperwork."
"But I was gone all week!"
"Your paperwork BEFORE your kidnapping. It needs to be done."
"But what about…"
"NOW, Matsumoto."
Hisagi laid on his back, sleeping. He decided to get some sleep while he waited for the rescue, to burn time.
Shunsui was also sleeping, but in a drunken stupor. Nanao, like always, kicked him in the spot where he still had some sort of feeling. He rolled, and raised his head.
"Ehh…Nanao-chan! You've returned! But why are your glasses still broken?" She kicked him again, this time in the face. This time, she allowed him to stand up, though he barely managed to pull the energy needed to withstand standing. "Nanao-chan…come on! What's the problem with a little drink…" She just walked over, flicked him, and he returned to the ground.
"Why do I have the feeling that I need to a lot of cleaning up back at the division?" She grabbed her captain by his left hand and dragged him away. "I really need to look into locking the wine cabinet." Shunsui tried to object, but now he couldn't process and use complete words.
Iba got to his feet and walked over to his unconscious captain. Instead of using brute force, he pulled out a doggie treat (Just because) and lightly dropped it into Komamura's mouth. The feeling of bacon and chicken, despite the size, woke up the giant captain.
"Thanks." After swallowing, he tasted something else." Wait, how long has that treat been in your pocket?"
Iba tapped his head and tried to recall. "Well, I got caught last week, according to the others, and I did plan to give it to you, but you sent me on a five day mission…so say twelve days?"
Komamura quietly whimpered and went to the nearest bathroom.
Byakuya quietly got up and brushed himself off. "Renji."
"Yes, captain?"
"We need training. Empty the schedule, and fix it."
"Right away!"
"And also…that didn't happen."
"I understand."
Hitsugaya walked over and kindly helped up Momo.
"Thank you, Toshiro-taicho."
"Please don't call me that…"
"You're blushing…"
"Please stop…"
Unohana looked over Isane, still sleeping. She quietly woke her up. She yawned.
"Good morning Captain! I don't know how I got here, but I didn't have any nightmares! I'm ready for duty!"
"Good!"
(Geez, I'm falling into a slump again.)
Kira decided to go back the 3rd Division Headquarters to get things back on track.
The 2nd Division captains decided to walk around the grounds to find any other traps. Ōmaeda went first, wanting his beloved captain to get a bit of rest.
And all of this happened in under a minute.
If Renji had sort of experience in dealing with the Arcana, he may had gone back and stabbed the Magician in the back, finally killing him. But he continued to forget that fact.
The Magician raised his head only slightly. Nobody was paying any attention to him, but to each other. He remained perfectly still. He couldn't understand or feel fear, but if he could, he would have left to try again at a later time. He may had been nearly invincible, but his mind had been seriously deteriorated by the near endless amount of blows he received.
He lost.
No. No. Don't go back there. He needed to get over that. He needed a plan to save his original plan. All of his targets were right there. In one group. All he needed was a distraction to turn their backs and put them away. But what could be big enough to serve in his revenge plan.
The bomb. He stopped it when everyone came out.
It was still there.
Silently, and keeping his movements as subtle as possible, he reached into himself, and found the switch.
One flip…
...and boom.
Everyone turned around to see a huge fireball coming out of the top of the 1st Division. Roof tiles rained down, window shards; both small and large; went flying in all directions, and the smell of burning wood entered the air, unwelcome as it may be. Everybody turned their backs to the Magician.
Good. He needed just a second. He opened his chest…
…and something went in.
The explosion went off while Renji had been heading over to the 6th Division. He raced back and saw the Magician getting up, right behind the crowd of the Gotei 13. He reached for his zanpakutō, but a gentle hand stopped him. He looked to his side, and the lady who lead him into this was there. He looked back, and saw the same thing that he saw when he tried to draw.
Time had been frozen. He looked up. The giant fireball remained in the sky, like he had been teleported into a photo. He looked back.
"Yes. I froze time to once again help you." She let go.
"All right. How exactly do I kill this guy? Is it a special move? Do I just stab him though the chest? We thrown everything we can do right now, with him banning most of our powers!"
"Not him. The entire macroverse."
"Macroverse? That's not even a word!"
"It is. Just not a well-know word. The macroverse is everything. Every world, every galaxy, every universe, every multiverse, every dimension, alternate or original. Your world just got chosen first."
"It gets bigger and more complicated by the second. And somehow, I'm in the middle."
"Back to the power issue. When Syl traveled to Hyrule, he opened the entire macroverse to everyone. But in order for that to work, the macroverse balanced everything. The order of power stayed, but had been taxed accordingly. You will have to retrain yourself to get back your Shikai and Bankai."
"What! I just meet the guy, now I want to kill him!"
"Doesn't matter. People already traveled across the macroverse, but Syl made the biggest splash. Considering that he is the first normal human to travel."
"…okay, moving on. The Magician."
"The card of the Fool. You still have it?"
Renji nodded and pulled it out. The card sparkled. His zanpakutō also sparkled. The card and the zanpakutō both started to shine brightly. Too much, as Renji had to protect his eyes. When he could open his eyes, the Fool had disappeared. He looked down to his zanpakutō, which now had a coat of the same light.
The lady pointed with one hand, and held five fingers with another. Renji took his zanpakutō with both of his hands, and ran out. Time unfroze, and the Magician opened his chest to capture his prey. Renji aimed…
When the Magician opened his eyes, he saw that everyone was there. Well, not Renji. He forgot about him. He had went off in one direction to do some business. Yet, he felt that something went into his chest. Was it Renji, who ran back to help? No, he would have know.
Then a sharp pain came.
Renji's zanpakutō had pierced right though his matter. He unlocked his power. The power to challenge the essences of humanity.
And now…he was truly defeated.
He looked behind him. Yep, Renji had got him. He looked forward. The Gotei 13 and the Heroic League had decided to watch him die rather than watching the destruction of their HQ.
Humanity. Living or dead. They invited death. They liked to watch others die.
He smiled, in spite. He would go back, restore his mind and body and wait. He did his job. At least the one that all of the Arcana had to do. The Gotei 13 was just for fun. He did some recon, so now he could tell his others about Renji, the Gotei 13, and the Heroic League.
The Heroic League. They're might be able….
And he faded away. Along with the clouds, returning the night to normal.
But…what was normal now?
"It's settled?" Asked Yamamoto the next day.
"Yes. I arranged things to be gone for quite for some time. Kon wouldn't cause too much problems." Ichigo (Who doesn't get enough screen time.) said.
Things had quickly settled down. The night was still young, and the Assistant Captains had time to get plenty of rest during their captivity, so all but Yachiru (Who went in to raid the candy jar) got to work cleaning up the bomb damage. The feast was moved to tomorrow night, but the League wanted to move out, giving their places to the Assistant Captains.
"Have you checked in with your friends?"
"Yeah, they'll help out in the human world."
Yamamoto held his head down. He sighed. "I'm not the kind to ask this, but are you sure? You might not come back."
"The whole thing is optional. If things get too hairy, I'll come back."
Yamamoto got up, and went into his desk. He opened a drawer and withdrew a small pendant of the Gotei 13 symbol. "This will allow you to get in contact with us. If you need help, advice or talk, just say the captain or assistant captain's name and they will get in contact with you as soon as they can."
"Ah. The Gotei 13 cellphone."
"In a way."
Ichigo put it his pocket. He bowed. "Thank you, Yamamoto-taicho."
"Remember, come in if you feel like."
Link was waiting outside. When the doors closed, he spoke. "Ready?"
"Yeah."
"Well, too bad. Syl wanted to explore around, so we have to wait."
Ichigo sighed. "How long does this take?"
"Depends. How big is the village?"
"…well, better say your good-byes to everyone."
Aoi-Kogane-Kenkon (Blue-Gold-Universe).
Aoi-Kogane-Seken (Blue-Gold-World).
Aoi-Kogane-Kyohaku (Blue-Gold-Star).
The names of Syl's new swords.
Syl, looking back on his past adventures, realized that Black Wood needed to be retired for a bit. It just didn't cut. (No pun intended.) So he decided that his first trip was to pick up some new blades. Katanas, for the coolness. A backstreet blacksmith had a good deal on three swords. Universe was the longest, at 27 inches. World at 20 inches. Star was at a short 10 inches, but hey, a knife isn't supposed to long.
He put away the new swords into his infinite bag, he might as well keep Black Wood on his person. He didn't want to put his baby into the bag.
He stocked up on some items for the road. Generic RPG items, stuff like that.
And then he saw the elephant in the town.
Valentine's Day was right around the corner. The shop was colored the Valentine's colors; pink, red, purple. It was too hard to not look away. People either walked in to look and/or buy, or just stared for a minute and moved on. Nobody had any doubts that is this the most out of place shop in the entire Soul Society. Syl pondered for a bit.
"Thinking about finding the special something for that special something?" A deep voice from behind Syl came forward. The man looked like a worker, dirty and muscular. He laid his right forearm on Syl's shoulder.
"Do I…know you?" Syl properly asked.
"I heard about you. You're one of the guys who helped me." Syl took a second good look at the man. Something clicked.
"The first victim, right?"
"Yep! Hamada Goro is my name! I really should thank you, but I REALLY should thank you for saving for saving my cousin." He showed a new picture of her. She was wearing a pink kimono and carrying a pink parasol. Her smile warmed Syl up. Goro put the photo in his Syl's green shirt pocket. "Keep it. She asked me to give it to one of the heroes." Syl tried to object, but Goro's eyes and face told him to keep it.
"Thanks…I guess. It's weird, getting gifts from complete strangers."
"New, huh?"
"Yeah. It has only been a month." Syl shook the back of his head, embarrassed.
"Huh. Saved by a rookie. That's new." Goro laughed. "But it's time for my gift! I know what the ladies like, so I get to buy you something from that shop down yonder!" He pointed to the elephant. Syl got taken back. He couldn't get something for anyone on any world but his own. Celibacy on all non-home worlds.
But then he remembered Soifon.
"Yeah. You see this girl…"
Renji finally got a break from practice and now he had to deal with the lady again. She did promise him some answers.
"What are the Arcanas?"
"Humanity. They represent different sides of humanity. So, there for, humanity."
"What is their plans?"
"The Retestament. You heard about it. But only they know what it is."
"The moon."
"Asking in a statement, huh. The moon you saw. The Arcana's mark. It can only be seen if a Arcana is on a world. But only one are allowed, and the Magician won't return for a long time."
"When will…"
"…the next come. Later. This wouldn't last just a year, but rather many years."
"Ergh. How long…I mean a estimate."
"The max. At least fifteen years."
"FIFTEEN YEARS? Why was I chosen?"
"Because."
"Dammit, I want a real answer."
"I'm sorry. But not everything I can explain."
Renji held his anger in. "Fine. I'm out of questions, for now."
"Check your right pocket." Renji sighed, and listlessly went into his pocket. Two cards were now there. The Fool and the Magician. "These cards will help you handle the next Arcana, when the time comes. I will say one more thing. The next arcana will appear during this year. And you will be done for at least one year." A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"Actually, I do have one more question." Asked Renji.
"The League, right. They can be trusted completely."
"No." He waved his hand. "Am…I…supposed to join… them?"
"Nervous."
"No."
The smile went away. She waved bye, and out she went.
"HEY!" Renji sat down on the ground, tired from the information and the training. He wiped his head and rolled his head back. All that got him was things that didn't help him that much and rather gave him a headache. He got up and walked over to where she was before she vanished. Damn. He forgot to ask for her name. She probably would have said, "not yet."
And then he noticed something. A business card. He picked it up and read it.
"The Empress must fall first."
Renji just stared at the card. He wondered.
Soifon decided to not see off the League, with the whole sexual assault thing and all. Ōmaeda had been sent to the infirmary for the toe stub from hitting his toe on a rock. (He claimed that the rock was rolling right at the others and he stopped it.) So after seeing him admitted, she started to travel back to her Division to check for any damage.
And Syl was standing there. Soifon growled, and drew his zanpakutō, ready to slice his head or force him to a cell. Heroic immunity or not.
Syl bowed, holding a heart-shape box out with both hands.
"Soifon-taicho! !" He tossed the gift into her hands, and dashed off. She barely had time to attack him, yet alone to register the whole thing.
She put away her zanpakutō, but sat on a bench on whenever to open the gift. She read the note.
Dear Soifon-senpai,
I would like to apologize for my actions earlier. I won't say it just was a accident. I can't stress how sorry I am. I can't just say I'm sorry, it's has to just right. Apologizing is something that has always been a hit and miss with me. I made mistakes before, but nothing like this. So here: Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Birthday.
~Syl
She sighed and opened the box. Her eyes went right open.
Chocolate bees and cats and a bee wristring. Probably cost about thirty dollars.
And yet, she tasted one of the chocolates. It was good.
She smiled.
"All right…Syl. I forgive you."
Syl jumped from around the corner and went in the direction of the ship shouting 'I'M GOING TO LIVE!" Soifon shook her head. She held onto the wristring, not wanting to put on a cheesy item. But the chocolate was good. She would share it later with Youruichi -sensei later, once she returned. She walked to a window and watched the League ran into the portal that would take them back.
And she decided to wait for them to come back. Worth the time.
END OF EPIC 11.
COMING SOON (HOPEFULLY):
EPIC 12: THE BOUNTY HUNTER SAVIOR
This took a while. 50 pages! At least 20,000 words .Took me a while, but Happy Birthday, Soifon!
My style of writing is like cheating at a maze. I go though it with a simple plan, but when I reach a corner, I find a way to get around it. It doesn't explain most of the drops of writing talent, but that's how I see it and end up. I'm sorry.
Please review, like always.
