A.N: Not much to say here other than the fact that I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as you enjoy the other ones, even though this chapter won't have any cool fight scenes. But it will introduce some familiar faces, so look forward to that.

Chapter 20: Consequences

The battle ended shortly after the leaders vanished with Kakō. Without their leaders, the rank and file soldiers of the Coalition were in disarray. Several escaped, but most of them were either killed or captured.

It was a great victory for Shunsui Kyōraku and the First Division. However, things still were not finished. There was still some backlash to deal with. After all, everything has consequences…

(With Jinbe and Hack)

Hack stood at Meninas McAllon's 'deactivated' corpse. He said a silent prayer. Jinbe clapped a hand on his longtime friend's shoulder. "Her torment has ended," Jinbe told him sagely.

"I know," Hack replied, "I just can't believe someone would do such a thing to their own comrade."

Jinbe nodded. "The mind of a madman—or woman—is a dark place, Hack. I don't think we should try to look into the minds of those who have no interest in changing their ways."

Hack sighed. "You're right," he said, "but this is still…disturbing."

Jinbe nodded. "Yeah, very disturbing."

(Meanwhile)

Sakura Haruno looked at Chad with regret while she healed his injuries, injuries that she caused. "I am so, so sorry." Sakura apologized repeatedly.

Chad shook his head. "It's okay, there's no need for you to apologize." He said. "You were being controlled."

Sakura, however, was still not convinced by Chad's words. I need more stamina, she mentally derided herself, I wouldn't have fallen to that girl's Zombie power.

"What the hell happened to you Chad?"

Sakura and Chad looked to see Ichigo Kurosaki walking towards them with a surprised look on his face. Katsuyu, who looked sick in spite of not having an actual face, was still perched on his shoulders.

"Ichigo!" Sakura and Chad said in unison.

Ichigo looked around, taking notice of the civilians on the battlefield. "Did I miss something important?" He inquired.

"We were attacked by a woman who used some sort of power that allows her to take control of people and make them her 'zombies'." Sakura explained.

"Sakura ended up being one of the zombies." Chad deadpanned.

"Don't tell him that!" Sakura shouted.

Ichigo rubbed his head. "Sorry I missed everything, that guy Midnight caught me off guard." He apologized.

Chad smiled. "Don't worry about it."

Sakura nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we're just happy to know that you're okay." She added. "Everyone was worried."

"If you're okay though, does that mean you defeated your opponent?"

Sanji entered the conversation, looking no worse for wear. Ichigo looked down in shame. "No," he said, "I couldn't land a single hit on him. The only reason I'm still here was that he had to retreat."

Chad's eyes widened. There was an enemy that Ichigo could not harm in the Coalition? Such a thing was unheard of for Chad. "He used some sort of weird Magic that deflected all of my attacks." Ichigo explained. "He was even able to deflect my Getsuga Jūjishō."

Ichigo clenched his fist. Sanji took a drag and looked him dead in the eye. "Calm down," he said, "I'm sure you'll get another chance."

"No," Ichigo said, "I will get another chance."

Sanji, Sakura, and Chad all looked at Ichigo in surprise. "Let me make one thing clear," Ichigo told them, "Midnight of the Oración Seis is mine. He started this between us, and I'm gonna finish it."

Chad smiled at Ichigo's resolve. Sakura looked at Ichigo in awe. Sanji smirked and took the cigarette out of his mouth. "Wasn't going to take him from you, but okay, if you say so, Ichigo." He said, grinning.

(With Zoro and Kenpachi)

Roronoa Zoro and Kenpachi Zaraki stood over a mountain of corpses. Yachiru Kusajishi was still perched on Kenpachi's shoulder. "So," Zoro said, breaking a moment of silence, "now what?"

Kenpachi shrugged. "Don't know," he said, "the only thing left I guess is to find the others."

Zoro groaned in annoyance. "I can't believe they all got lost like this." He muttered.

"Captain Zaraki! Pirate Hunter Zoro!"

Several soldiers appeared. "I can't believe we found you!" The woman in the lead said.

"What the hell?" Zoro frowned. "How could all of you just get lost?"

The woman frowned. "Err, yeah, sure we got lost. Why don't you follow us? We'll get you back with the others."

"Good to see you guys get organized for once." Kenpachi complimented, not getting the woman's sarcasm, or the fact that him, Yachiru, and Zoro were the ones who were lost.

Everyone sweat-dropped at the idiocy of the two powerful men. Yachiru still cheered for Kenpachi's 'intelligence'. "You tell them, Kenny!" Yachiru cheered. "You heard him! Get organized and do something useful!"

The woman sighed. "Alright, follow us." She said, now regretting her desire to help the trio.

(Aboard Tartarus' Cube)

A tall woman with strange elf-like ears stared at a cylindrical tank with disdain. It was what was inside that was the object of her disdain.

Slave Star Kyōka of the Nine Demon Gates growled in anger at her comrade. "Really, Ezel, this early in the war and we already have to put you back together?" She asked.

"Shut up!" Ezel shouted. "That bastard Pirate Hunter got lucky, it won't happen again!"

This got Kyōka's attention. "The Pirate Hunter? As in the Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro?"

Kyōka frowned at this. "Now I'm really angry." She said. "I have a right mind to just destroy you permanently while you're in this damn tube. It was bad enough when we lost to human wizards, but to lose to just a regular human…you disgrace us with your actions, Ezel."

"Lady Kyōka!" A younger female voice whined.

Kyōka's subordinate Lamy bounded in. "Can I please, please, please reform Ezel into something more attractive? I so, so hate his current look!"

"Shut up you annoying little bitch, I am not letting you change my look." Ezel growled at the small girl.

"Considering your actions, Ezel, I might just let Lamy do what she wants. Normally, I don't considering your unique Curse, and how your body structure is used in conjunction with it, but after what's happened…"

"Don't, Kyōka!" Ezel screamed. "Don't, or I'll kill you as soon as I get out of here!"

"Like you could touch me," Kyōka narrowed her eyes, "I'm the leader of the Nine Demon Gates for a reason you know."

Ezel growled at Kyōka in anger. "Don't be so cruel, Kyōka." A new voice spoke up. "Let the poor bastard go."

Kyōka turned around and frowned at the new entry. A tall, lanky man in a white uniform with an enormous hood, an overbite, and a strangely designed blade entered the room. "Nnoitra," Kyōka growled.

Espada 5, Nnoitra Gilga, chuckled. "Sure, Ezel's actions are disgraceful, but nobody deserves to be remade in an image conjured by your little friend's demented imagination." Nnoitra said. "Not even weak old Ezel."

Ezel roared at Nnoitra in anger. "Just you wait, Gilga!" Ezel shouted. "Once I get out of here I'm going to rip that green-haired bastard apart."

Nnoitra grinned toothily. "Not if I get to him first," he said, "what did you two say his name was, Roronoa Zoro?"

Ezel narrowed his eyes at what Nnoitra was implying. "Don't you dare steal my prey, Gilga!" Ezel thundered.

"Prey is meant to be stolen, that's the thrill of the hunt after all." Nnoitra said. "So if I choose to take Roronoa Zoro's head for myself, there's nothing you can do about it, unless of course by some miracle you beat me to it.

"Why are you here, Nnoitra?" Kyōka asked.

"I was just taking a little stroll," Nnoitra said smoothly, "and to inform you that we will be receiving a few more recruits, so get those freaky machines of yours ready, that's a direct order from Lord Geer and Lord E.N.D."

Nnoitra walked away. Kyōka scoffed as she watched this. "I hate that man so much." She muttered.

She turned back to Ezel. "As for you, I think I'll give you another chance. And I won't have Lamy change your body either." Kyōka decided.

Ezel breathed a sigh of relief while Lamy whined in disappointment. "However, if you fail again…" Kyōka trailed off.

Ezel grunted in response. "There will be consequences." He said, showing rare signs of intelligence.

Meanwhile, Nnoitra continued to walk down the Cube with a grin on his face. "Roronoa Zoro, huh? This war just got a lot more interesting now that I've found someone to watch."

(In a desert)

A tall woman in a white uniform with black hair and a military hat whipped her hand around as another sand dune exploded. Deidara of the Akatsuki and a young looking man with blonde hair and animal like features watched her do this several times. "So," Deidara said, "do you want to tell her, hm."

"You think I want to deal with that bitch." The man replied. "I love making people feel bad, but I'm not gonna be on the receiving end of one of those explosions."

Deidara grinned. "You're heartless, Jackal," Deidara noted, "then again, so are the rest of us in the end."

Jackal of the Nine Demon Gates laughed as he walked away. "Try not to get blown up, Deidara."

Deidara smirked as he walked towards the woman, taking note of her curvaceous form. I actually wouldn't mind getting blown up if it's done by a sexy broad like her, hm. Deidara thought.

"You showed those dunes." Deidara said, prepared for the woman to turn her bombs on him.

"What do you want, Deidara?" The woman narrowed her eyes at him.

Deidara raised his hands. "Whoa, don't be so defensive, Bambi, I just wanted to give you some news."

Sternritter E, Bambietta Basterbine raised an eyebrow. "What kind of news would be important enough for you to interrupt my training?"

Deidara gave Bambietta a grim expression. "News travels pretty fast around the Coalition," Deidara told her, "word is the Worth Woodsea in Fiore has fallen, and two of those girls you used to hang with, Giselle Gewelle and Meninas McAllon are dead."

Bambietta's eyes widened in surprise at this. Deidara braced himself, waiting for Bambietta to blow up the area around him. However, much to Deidara's surprise, Bambietta started to laugh.

"Now that's karma, take that you stupid bitches!" She cackled. "That's what you get for betraying your leader."

Bambietta managed to calm down. "What, did you expect me to be upset, Deidara?" Bambietta asked.

Deidara shrugged. "A little," he admitted.

Bambietta laughed a bit again. "The only thing I'm upset about is that whoever offed those two didn't get Lil and Candy as well."

"Every action has a consequence, Deidara." Bambietta continued. "And when those four betrayed me, there were going to be consequences one day. I'm just glad they're finally facing them."

Bambietta turned her attention to another dune. "You just let me know when Candy and Lil kick the bucket and I may just do a little happy dance. Hell, I might even do a celebratory striptease for you, Jackal, and everyone else."

Deidara grinned at this. "Ooh, then I better make sure news travels real fast in the Bomb Squad, eh?"

A striptease from her might just be as explosive as my art. Deidara thought pervertedly.

Bambietta smirked. "Better keep your hands to yourself if that ever happens though, Deidara, I wouldn't want to blow up those pretty little things."

Deidara raised his hands. "Whatever you say, Bambi." He said.

Deidara walked away. That woman might just be the death of some of us. He chuckled mentally.

But, like I said before, Deidara continued, I wouldn't mind getting blown up by her. Especially if the thing she does before that is a striptease.

(Aboard Grimoire Heart's Airship)

"What, Azuma was killed? That's impossible!" Hades, Grimoire Heart's mighty Guild Master was stunned.

"I'm afraid that is the truth, Sir." A Grimoire Heart Wizard cowered, afraid that Hades would take his frustration out on him.

Hades managed to calm himself and waved the Wizard away. The man breathed a sigh of relief and ran off. Hades sank back into his chair. "Damn, Azuma was easily the second strongest member of the Seven Kin back when they were complete, losing him this early is…vexing."

A man in a white with brown hair with a small curl over his face nodded in agreement as he took a sip of his tea. Hades turned to this man. "What are your thoughts on the matter, Sōsuke? You've been quiet ever since we've finished our important matters."

Sōsuke Aizen chuckled. "As strong as your man was, Hades, it is of no consequence."

"No consequence?" Hades repeated.

Hades had once thought similarly, and that thought process resulted in his complete and utter defeat at the hands of his former guild. "Azuma was one of my best! I can ignore his failure against Titania Erza, but against some random stranger I've never even heard of? No! I will not sit here and act like that is of no consequence!"

"That random stranger is probably very well known in his world." Aizen reminded Hades.

Aizen took another sip of his tea. "Considering the tale of your greatest failure, and the way you are behaving now, you are…paranoid, yes?"

"Cautious," Hades corrected, narrowing his uncovered eye, "I am cautious."

Aizen chuckled again. "You worry too much, Hades." He insisted. "Victory is assured."

Aizen smiled darkly. "Everything is going according to plan."

(On the island formerly known as Drum Island)

A freakishly tall man in a pink feather jacket chuckled as he looked into the cage he had created with his power. This happened at the end of every week, 7 civilian prisoners were rounded up and placed in the Birdcage and nobody came out until all but one was dead. Of course, Donquixote Doflamingo did not give them a choice. He took control of a few and forced them to fight, forcing the hands of the noncontrolled.

A woman cried as she stood over the corpse of what Doflamingo believed to be her husband. She had killed him herself. This made Doflamingo laugh harder. This was his vengeance on the world for turning its back on him back in Dressrosa, when his noble blood permitted the so-called atrocities he had committed.

However, Doflamingo's laughter did not last long. "Dofy," a familiar voice spoke up.

Doflamingo turned and frowned irritably. The enormous gooey man he knew as Trébol had gotten too close to him once again.

"I don't want to interrupt your fun, Dofy." Trébol said, sniffling as a large amount of phlegm came out of his nose. "But Diamanté just brought me some sad news."

Doflamingo raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Lao G is dead, he was killed in battle. Dellinger and Pink confirmed it."

Doflamingo was stunned. The oldest member of his crew had died. While Doflamingo was a cruel man, he genuinely cared for his crew, the Donquixote Family. He narrowed his eyes with contained anger as he dispelled the Birdcage.

The woman sobbed over her husband's corpse and looked up at Doflamingo. "No more," she sobbed, "please, no more."

Doflamingo glared at her and drew a flintlock pistol. The woman did not have time to gasp. The trigger was pulled and her head whipped back from the impact. "Bring 99 more prisoners, Trébol." Doflamingo told him.

"99, Dofy?"

"For every member of our family that dies," Doflamingo said, "a hundred of these prisoners die in response."

Trébol nodded. "Do you want it to be a simple execution, or something else?"

Doflamingo smirked. "Let's just say we're going to need a bigger cage."

Trébol got the meaning. "Be he he he! Oh this is going to be fun!"

A dark haired man with armor that had 'Absolute Zero' written on it watched this with a dissatisfied look on his face.

The man shook his head. "Shameful," he muttered.

He looked up to the sky. I hope it doesn't escalate to the point where I have to step in, he thought, if it does, I hope you can forgive me…Mika. And you too…

His thoughts trailed off as Trébol suddenly appeared in front of him. "Come on Silver, let's go round up some prisoner's for Dofy's game."

Silver, also known as Absolute Zero, of the Nine Demon Gates glared at Trébol. "Go get somebody who's interested in your crap, Trébol." He said, walking away. "Because I'm not."

Trébol frowned as Silver walked past him. "By the way," Silver continued, "stop getting so close to people when you talk to them, it's kinda creepy."

Trébol narrowed his eyes, annoyed that Silver would talk to him like that. He was simply lucky that his magic would stop Trébol dead in his tracks, otherwise he would kill the bastard for disrespecting him the way he just did.

The occupant of the Club Seat in the Donquixote family snarled, then sniffled and walked away. "Nakk Le Vaar is more fun to be around anyway." He muttered.

(In an unknown location)

An androgynous looking boy ran up to a man with bandages over his mask holding an enormous blade. The man with the enormous blade was busy training, honing his skills for the upcoming battles. "Zabuza!" He called out.

Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist, looked at his partner. "What is it Haku?"

Haku of the Ice Style looked grim. "Your former comrade, Jinin Akebino is dead. I have also been informed that Fuguki Suikazan was captured as well."

Zabuza looked at Haku in surprise. "Who told you this?"

"Mangetsu, he came all the way here from Konton's headquarters just to announce it." Haku explained. "He kept bragging about how he has Jinin's Helmet Splitter.

"Where's Mangetsu now?"

"He left after he told me to pass on the message to you. He said something about returning to Konton's base to rest and get reacquainted with Helmet Splitter." Haku explained.

Zabuza shook his head. "That guy," he muttered, "he has no respect for the relationship between a man and his sword."

"Go on back to the others, Haku." Zabuza told him. "I want to train a bit more before returning."

"Do you want to spar instead, Zabuza?" Haku asked hopefully.

Zabuza smirked and shook his head. "Hell no," he said, "our fighting styles are not compatible for a good spar. And even if we did, you'd kill me with those damn mirrors of yours."

Haku smiled. "You have no idea how happy that makes me."

"I just hope we don't kill too many on the opposing side." Zabuza said, suddenly grim. "I was perfectly content on just staying on the other side with you, you know."

Haku narrowed his eyes. "I agree, if we ever break free from control…" He trailed off, letting the threat hang in the air.

Zabuza nodded. "I agree, and if that happens, I wanna be ready."

Haku nodded as well. "If that's the case, I should train as well."

With that, Haku walked off to find his own space for training.

Zabuza's grim look never left his face. "People just can't seem to let the dead rest, can't they?" He muttered to himself, taking another swing with his Executioner's Blade.

"Such talk is considered treasonous, you know."

A muscular dark skinned man came into view. Zabuza narrowed his eyes upon seeing him. "What do you want, Daz?"

Daz Bones, formerly known as Mr. 1 of Baroque Works raised his hand in surrender. "Easy, Momochi, I'm not here for a fight."

Of course I didn't sense him, Zabuza frowned, he has nothing to sense!

"What do you want?" Zabuza repeated.

"I just came to see what you would do after leaving to train far away from the others." Daz said honestly. "Without orders, I can assure you."

"Why do you care?" Zabuza asked.

"Discord, destroys an army." Daz explains. "And the only way to stop discord is to attack it at the root."

"Is that a threat, Daz?" Zabuza inquired. "If it is, I'd accept death."

"And as an assassin, I'd be more than happy to deliver it." Daz said, before narrowing his eyes. "But can you accept the death of Haku?"

Zabuza's eyes widened before he swung the Executioner's Blade at Daz. Daz stopped the blade with his Devil Fruit Powers. He then got a look at Zabuza's expression, and it was a livid one at that.

"Threaten Haku again you bastard, I dare you!" Zabuza shouted.

"Easy, Zabuza, I'm just trying to keep you in line for the army's sake." Daz said.

Zabuza pulled back. "Why do you even care? You're the most disinterested person I've ever met."

"Because if the Coalition succeeds, then Sir Crocodile can travel through the New World without hassle, and traveling through the New World undisturbed will go a long way towards his goal." Daz explained.

"Then why didn't you two join the Alliance?"

"Because the Alliance has too many people Sir Crocodile would rather see dead. Even better, if he kills them himself, he can remove them from standing in his way." Daz replied.

Zabuza growled in anger. "You guys are nothing but opportunists, you know that?"

"But back to the previous topic, I'll keep my mouth shut." Zabuza continued.

Zabuza then brought the Executioner's Blade close to Daz's neck. "But if you do anything to Haku, even threaten him…well, let's just say that 1-1=0, eh, Mr. 1?" Zabuza snarled.

Daz nodded. "I get the message, Momochi. Now if you'll excuse me…"

Daz moved the Executioner's Blade away and walked away. Suddenly, Zabuza did not feel like training.

(Back with the First Division)

The shouting had brought Ichigo, Sakura, Sanji, and Chad running towards the source. All three were surprised to see Elfman Strauss, along with a few wizards from different guilds, arguing with several Rock and Cloud Ninja, along with several members of Squad 11.

"You didn't have to do any of this!" Elfman shouted. "Why couldn't you just incapacitate them?"

"Because they tried to kill us." A Squad 11 Soul Reaper replied as if it were that simple.

"Dammit, you could've waited!" Elfman growled. "Especially since that zombie-girl's life was what was keeping them controlled."

"And what if it didn't?" A Rock Ninja inquired. "Could we really take that risk? Those things kept getting up no matter what we did to them."

"Those things were civilians!" A female wizard standing next to Elfman shouted.

A couple Leaf Ninja entered the fray. "Typical Rock and Cloud Ninja, always taking the easy way out instead of doing the right thing." A veteran Jōnin frowned.

"You want to say that again?" A Rock Kunoichi asked angrily.

Ichigo, Sakura, Sanji, and Chad watched in horror as the argument continued to play out. They then noticed an exhausted Chōji sitting down. "What's happening here, Chōji?" Sakura asked.

"They're arguing about why the guys from Rock, Cloud, and Squad 11 killed a bunch of zombie civilians." Chōji replied. "Me, I personally think it was unnecessary."

"What about the survivors?" Sakura asked.

"The ones on this side were sent over to Commander Kyōraku so he could explain what happened to them." Chōji replied. "They'll get to give their dead a proper burial afterwards."

Sanji took a long drag, watching the scene play out. He then looked around, watching as several dead civilians were rounded up. Both sides have good arguments. Sanji thought. In the end, it was self-defense and those zombies were pretty durable, too durable to just incapacitate. But still, killing civilians? There had to have been another way…

It was then Sanji saw something that made him go pale. The dead body of a beautiful young girl was picked up and moved over to the many dead civilians.

The cigarette fell out of Sanji's mouth. Ichigo noticed this and looked at Sanji, but found that he was no longer in the spot he was before. He then heard Sakura scream. "SANJI, NO!"

Ichigo turned to see that Sanji had rushed into the crowd that had killed the civilians. He then noticed the look on Sanji's face: It was rage; pure, rage.

At that moment, Sanji tore through the group with a barrage of kicks, and at that moment all hell broke loose for the 1st Division. People from both sides of the argument, be it directly involved or just watching on the sidelines, leapt into action and started hitting one another.

Ichigo watched Sanji kick a Rock Shinobi in the face and Elfman punch a Squad 11 Soul Reaper in the gut. Jinbe and Hack stepped in to try and quell the fighting but were meeting no success.

"We need to stop this," he said to Sakura and Chad.

Sakura and Chad nodded and prepared to rush in. However, a voice stopped them in their tracks. And the voice was not a happy one. "ENOUGH!"

Shunsui Kyōraku appeared in the middle of all the fighting. Ichigo, as long as he had known the flamboyant man, had never seen him this angry. I guess the one thing he can't tolerate is infighting. Ichigo decided.

Then, Ichigo got a good luck at his appearance. Shunsui was bruised, cut, and heavily bandaged. Whoever did that to him must've been so powerful. Ichigo thought.

"I will not have my division behave in such a manner!" Shunsui said sharply. "Now what is the meaning of this?"

"Forgive us, Commander, it's just that we were having a disagreement over the controlled civilians." A Leaf Chūnin bowed.

Shunsui frowned, something else that was very unlike him. "I see," he said lowly, "tell me, what do you think gives you the right to behave in such a manner?"

Everyone looked at Shunsui in confusion. "You all disagree with each other and that's fine, nobody's going to have the same opinion as the other all the time." Shunsui continued. "I certainly can't tell you which side is right and which side is wrong, I just want to know why you think it's okay to behave in such a manner?"

Sanji, being the one who had started the brawl, stepped forward. "Sir," he said, bowing, "I couldn't stand the sight. All the dead civilians and these guys acting like it didn't matter."

"Oh, that's quite honorable, Sanji." Shunsui said.

Shunsui then Flash Stepped towards Sanji and looked him dead in the eye. "But what about those who knew all those people? Don't you think they have more of a right to do something like this than you do?"

Sanji did not have an answer for that one, nobody did. They all knew he was right. "When a person dies," Shunsui explained, "people have every right to be upset. However, the only ones who have any right to react, be it passive or violent, are the ones who knew and loved that person."

"A random person," Shunsui continued, "has no right to react to the death of a stranger. Why? Because such a reaction would be empty. Acting violently out of anger over someone's death is selfish! Not only is it foolish, but it takes things out of perspective. The selfish one may think he's grieving while the one's who are truly grieving, are those who loved the dead one."

Shunsui remembered his own mental breakdown during the first battle with the Wandenreich, when he had lost himself to rage during his fight with the Sternritter when he sensed his mentor, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's death.

Shunsui addressed the entire 1st Division. "I don't care how upset any of you are about this!" He said sharply. "You are soldiers, behave as such. You have no right to act in such a selfish manner when you aren't the ones who lost loved ones the way the other civilians did."

They all realized that Shunsui was right. Here they were, bickering like children when there were people grieving. Husbands who had lost wives, sons who had lost fathers, mothers who had lost daughters. Sure, some of them lost a friend already during this war, but the situation was different. None of them felt helpless, not like the civilians had when Giselle Gewelle had taken control of them.

They all felt so ashamed. Shunsui's speech had put everything in perspective. "I'm going to the Medical Divison's tents." Shunsui announced. "I'm going to check on our wounded and our dead. I want this argument out of your minds forever!"

With that, Shunsui had vanished. For a long time, nobody spoke. However, a panting sound got everyone's attention. They all turned to see Gildarts leaning against a tree. "Damn, I'm getting old." He muttered.

"Gildarts, what are you doing here?" Ichigo inquired.

"I'm trying to find Shunsui, he shouldn't push himself so hard after the number they did on him." Gildarts replied.

"They? Who did a number on Commander Kyōraku?" Chōji asked.

"Yeah, whoever they were must've been pretty strong, those injuries looked pretty nasty." Ichigo added.

Gildarts gaze darkened. "So you did see him? Which way did he go?"

"To the medical tents, why?" Sakura asked, slightly frightened at Gildarts' demeanor.

Gildarts managed to calm himself. "I see, that's good." He said. "He needs to heal up after what happened."

"Gildarts," Sanji said, speaking for the first time since Shunsui's speech, "who hurt Commander Kyōraku? Who the hell is strong enough to hurt the Commander like that?"

Gildarts sighed. "This probably isn't my place to say, but you deserve to know." He said.

Gildarts took a deep breath. "When the civilians were brought to Shunsui, they were enraged over the deaths of their loved ones. Shunsui tried to calm them down, but they refused to listen, vowing to put those who killed their loved ones in the state they were in to death."

Several people present went pale. "Shunsui then did something that surprised everyone present." Gildarts continued. "He allowed the civilians to take their anger out on him."

At this, Ichigo, Sakura, and Sanji went pale like the others. Chōji wanted to throw up what was left inside of his stomach.

"Gildarts, are you saying…" Ichigo trailed off.

Gildarts nodded. "All of those injuries were caused by the civilians." Gildarts said grimly. "And they would've killed him, had it not been for me and Kenpachi stepping in to stop them."

At that moment, any color that was left drained from everyone's face. Gildarts sighed sadly as he looked at them all. Consequences are a bitch sometimes. He thought.

A.N: This chapter exists solely to introduce dynamics between various people in the Coalition and give you an idea as to who's being controlled by Konton and who's serving him willingly. As for the conflict within the 1st Division, I like to think that the situation with the zombies is quite the moral dilemma, one that I enjoyed writing.

Now onto the Q/A.

Theburper: Vivi will be seen again.

Guest: I do have plans for some of the dead in this war, you are just going to have to wait and see.

And one more thing I feel I should add in response to my last review, this will be a long story, really long. Even I don't know when it's going to be done in terms of the time it'll take. The only thing we all can do is enjoy the fun.

Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, and everything in it. As for what happens next, probably a few downtime chapters (that may even include a day in the life of the Coalition), maybe some time spent with the Stealth Division as they try to uncover the Coalition's plans for Fiore. Until next time, peace out everyone.