Author's Notes: I'm finally free from homework *dances like a drunken idiot* in any case I hope I didn't keep you all waiting too long, the good news is that this chapter is a long one so I hope it was worth the wait. In any case I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays.
*Plays a broken record* I don't ******* own Bleach or Devil May Cry
Please enjoy and don't forget to review.
Ch. 21 Lily of the Valley
It was a quite morning within the fifth squad's section of the Seireitei, not because there was nothing going on, but because the air was thick with a sense of nervousness as the dozen or so seated officers stood together in their squad's barracks.
"What do you think will happen, now that we have a new Captain?" a female officer asked her colleagues "I heard he was roughed up pretty badly when Captain Aizen left…"
"I'm just worried that, he and the other squads are going to drive us into the ground because of Captain Aizen's betrayal" a man standing nearby stated.
"Surely you don't truly believe that Captain Aizen be…" another officer began but was cut off when the door opened revealing a familiar figure "Lieutenant Hinamori…"
"Good morning everyone" Momo said pleasantly as she entered, her physical condition hadn't improved much; she was still incredibly pale, her body still seemed unhealthily thin, and she still had incredibly dark bags under her eyes.
"I take it you heard about…" one officer stated calmly.
"Yes, I have" Momo replied calmly "that's why I'm here, just like all of you…after all it would be rude not to greet the new Captain" she smiled weakly "how could they do this, to us?!"
Momo and the others immediately fell silent as the back door to the room with the Kanji for Five printed across it suddenly opened revealing their new Captain in his sleeveless haori with a small stack of papers in his left hand.
"My everyone's here early" Alexander stated in pleasant surprise as he walked through "that's good, I'm glad I'm working with professionals" he spied Momo out of the corner of his eye "Lieutenant Hinamori, glad to see you're out of bed, are you alright?"
"…Yes…thank you" Momo replied.
"Glad to here it" Alexander added before turning his attention to the entire room "first things first; as you all know, yesterday I was promoted to be the new Captain of Squad Five, for those of you who don't know me already my name is Alexander Dark-Heart…" he began to walk down the center of the gathered officers "…since I'm the new Captain I'd like to make a few things clear before I hand out my first orders; first of all I don't care that Aizen was your last Captain as far as I'm concerned he betrayed you all just as much as he betrayed everyone else, Secondly for the moment at least I have no intention of promoting or demoting anyone, third last night I reviewed all your records and have assigned each of you a mission, and lastly I've made some minor revisions to the Squad Five code of conduct and I ask that you all familiarize yourself with the changes as soon as possible. Any questions?"
"With all due respect sir, don't you think you're rushing things?" one female officer asked nervously "I mean you were just promoted yesterday and a lot of people in our squad are still nervous since we don't know you too well yet…"
"I understand your concern Miss…" Alexander began "…sorry I don't have your name down yet. Anyway, the reason I'm doing this is because this Squad in particular was hit pretty hard by the Aizen incident, to make matters worse Lieutenant Hinamori there found herself in a coma for about six months so this squad has fallen behind and I noticed that a lot of the buildings have fallen into disrepair. So we really have no choice but to hit the ground running as fast as we can or we risk the situation turning even worse, understand?" everyone in the room nodded "good…" he held up the papers "…when I call your name come get your orders, after that take your assigned teams fulfill your missions as quickly as you can, and whatever you do…" he took a very serious expression "…don't you dare die."
"Sir" the officers replied.
*A couple minutes later*
"Okay hopefully, this will help bring in some funds to fix up our section of the city" Alexander thought as he handed out the last of the missions and turning to his Lieutenant who was looking at him with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.
"Sir what about me?" Momo asked.
"I think it's best that you take another day or two off" Alexander stated "you don't look so hot."
"But I'm fine" Momo replied.
"I'm not a fool Momo" Alexander said calmly silencing her as he walked up to her "I don't need Retsu's medical expertise to see that you're in no shape to be working" he sighed "right now the best thing you can do for the squad is to go home, get a good meal in your stomach, and get some sleep to get rid of those bags under your eyes."
Momo was silent for several moments before saying "very well then, sir."
Alexander watched as she headed for the exit, he caught her shooting him an incredibly dark look from the corner of her eye "it would seem that Rangiku was right…"
Flashback
The bulk of Squad Ten was gathered in one of their favorite pubs accompanied by the Captains of Squads Four, Eight, and Five. The mood couldn't have been any happier as seated officers and subordinates alike drank to their Third Seat's success in the recent exam.
"It's such a shame that the boy genius couldn't be here" Shunsui sighed as he took a sip of sake.
"Well if you think about it, he was probably the only Captain who could handle this mission" Elaina stated lightly as she took her own seat.
"What do you mean by that?" Shunsui asked "at the time there were still nine other Captains to choose from."
"The old man couldn't do it because he has to manage things from here in the Soul Society, Captain Soi Fon would likely have been too focused on trying to get into Yoruichi's pants to manage the mission" Elaina began earning a chuckle from Shunsui "Captain Unohana's busy trying to prepare all the healers for the upcoming war, Captain Kuchki would likely have gotten into a fight with that Ichigo kid considering how friendly he seems to be towards his sister, Captain Komamura could work but his appearance would most likely have triggered a panic, Captains Zaraki and Kurotsuchi just flat out wouldn't be a good idea, and Captain Ukitake's health has a nasty habit of going south at a bad time."
"I see, you make a good point" Shunsui replied "what about me though?"
"You're a drunken skirt chaser, remember?" Elaina answered as if it was the most obvious thing on Earth.
"Oh yeah" Shunsui chuckled happily with Elaina, moments later a loud thud filled the bar leaving the Captain of Squad Eight lying face down in a small crater with his Lieutenant standing over him with a large book as thick as her arm, Elaina simply sipped some more tea calmly as if nothing had just happened.
"That's nothing to be proud of Captain!!!" Nanao spat at him angrily.
"Good grief, the two of you haven't changed a bit since the day I joined the Thirteen Squads" Alexander stated in clear amusement as he walked up to his first Captain and Lieutenant "It warms my heart to see that you're both alright."
"It's nice to hear that you kept us in mind Captain Dark-Heart" Nanao replied as she tried to hide a blush "I'm sorry about that, you know how he is sometimes."
"I think you mean all the time" Alexander chuckled leaving Nanao silent.
"Still though, you've come far since the day you joined my squad" Shunsui said pleasantly as he tipped his hat "you've grown quite powerful, I'm certain Esther would approve."
"Thank you Captain Kyouraku" Alexander replied.
"It's Shunsui" Shunsui added cheerfully "Alright Alex?"
"Fair enough" the new Captain chuckled before he heard a ring coming from his robe "excuse me please Shunsui" he quickly left the pub where it was more quite "this is Dark-Heart."
"Hey it's me" Rangiku said from the other end "I'm sorry but can I talk to you please?"
"Certainly Rangiku, is something wrong with Toushirou?" Alexander asked.
"Sort of" Rangiku replied "where do I begin?"
"Just take a deep breath and collect your thoughts" Alexander stated calmly.
*Minutes later*
"So let me get this straight" Alexander began "you're telling me that my Lieutenant asked Toushirou to save Aizen?"
"That's right" Rangiku answered "it really upset my Captain."
"I can understand why" Alexander replied "I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks Alex…and congratulations" Rangiku said gratefully as the two hung up.
"Damn it" Alexander swore softly.
"You've only been a Captain for six hours and you're already having problems with your Lieutenant?" Retsu stated in surprise as she emerged from the shadows "and I thought I had problems when I first became a Captain."
"It would seem that Aizen bastard did a good job of messing up her head before leaving us" Alexander sighed "I don't know if I'll be able to help her if it's true, either way I hate having to play God with people's heads…it's too much like my father would've done or what Aizen most likely still does."
"I know one thing for certain; out of the three of you I'd rather have you playing God with my head than the other two any day" Retsu replied cheerfully as she wrapped her arms around his neck before adding "Captain Dark-Heart."
"Thanks" Alexander replied before kissing her on the lips.
End Flashback
"I've got my work cut out for me" Alexander thought before heading towards the office in an attempt to catch up on the months of unfiled papers awaiting him "this is going to take a while…"
*The next day*
"Alright, good work on the missions yesterday everyone" Alexander stated with a smile as he sipped from a cup of coffee "if we can keep this up for another week or two we should be able to fix up our part of the city."
"Do you really think so sir?"a man with dark hair who Alexander recognized as his third seat asked.
"Yeah, I had Retsu and Shunsui teach me a couple of tricks when it comes to grabbing a little extra funding" Alexander answered as he took another sip of coffee "of course that's providing nothing too serious happens…" a loud explosion went off from a couple blocks away causing the new Captain to sigh as his subordinates took a couple steps back in surprise "…damn it, I was afraid this might happen" he crushed the cup in his hand before heading towards the sound leaving his men in slight confusion "leave this to me."
"Where is he?!" a male shinigami asked as he and over a dozen others stood with their blades draw "where is that puppet they assigned to our squad?!"
"Care to explain what you're doing?" Alexander inquired calmly as he appeared on the scene startling the rioting soldiers "in case you've forgotten, the training grounds are over there" he pointed into the distance "put your weapons down, now!"
"Shut up, you're not our Captain" the man replied as his sword hand began to shake violently "our Captain is Sousuke Aizen, the hero of justice…"
"As I feared, so it's not just Miss Hinamori that Aizen managed to sick his lies into" Alexander thought solemnly.
"This all has to be some kind of conspiracy to get rid of Captain Aizen" the another shinigami added "there's no way someone like you could be qualified to be a Captain…I bet you can't even use…"
"Bankai: Hakumeitenshi Kokuhyou and Nehan" Alexander chanted causing his Bankai to emerge, while his haori remained on his back "you were saying?" the shinigami shook nervously as they took their stances "don't make me do this."
"Get him!!!" Their leader ordered as they leapt towards the new Captain.
"I'm going to end this quickly" Alexander thought as he stuck his sword in the ground "Kokuhyou, Nehan, time for number one."
"Damn, that one's no fun" Kokuhyou whined.
"Stay focused Kokuhyou" Nehan begged before saying "were ready."
Several kidou spells shot towards Alexander before he disappeared leaving his sword behind "I call upon the darkness of the Saint's past and the light of the Sinner's future…" the shinigami turned to see Alexander standing calmly on the opposite side of them, with an orb of black energy in his right hand and an orb of white energy in his left "my right arm is the Lust that stains the hearts of the pure and my left arm is the pure Love that cleanses the souls of the stained…" he slammed them together causing them to merge and turn bright silver before chanting "…Hakumeikiseki(Twilight Miracle)" suddenly the air was filled with the gentle sound of a harp playing a calming tune and a strange yet beautiful voice rang throughout the area.
"What the hell is this?" one shinigami asked as he felt his grip loosening, the orbs Alexander had been holding had disappeared and he was approaching he tried to swing his Zanpakutou but he found that he couldn't ever raise his blade, he looked around to see that the others seemed to be having the same problem "what did you do to us?"
"That's what happens whenever someone who's spiritual is significantly weaker than me hears the song of that spell" Alexander began "my Bankai's first spell Hakumeikiseki sooths any violent impulses of all who hear it, you'll find that you won't be able to take any violent action for at least two hours…" he was silent for several seconds before he disappeared with a shunpo, he appeared next to his Bankai's sword before he changed back and shielded his swords, he immediately pointed both fingers towards the rioting shinigami before chanting "…Bakudou 63: Sajousabaku" all the rioters found themselves bound together by a chain of spirit energy.
"Damn it" a few of the rioters swore as Alexander walked up to them holding a paper fan in his left hand, before they knew it they all had massive bumps on their heads before he put the fan away which had a small trail of smoke hissing from the tip.
"Wake up" Alexander commanded calmly as they winced in pain before looking up at him in a mixture of anger and confusion "now listen to me very closely…" he kneeled in front of the nearest rioter "…your last Captain Sousuke Aizen betrayed you; he deceived all of us, he tried to kill Rukia Kuchki in order to steal the Hogyoku, he nearly killed Captains Hitsugaya and Komamura, and worst of all…he stabbed Ms. Hinamori through the chest and left her for dead…" the rebels grew silent as they looked towards the ground "…I understand the truth can be hard to swallow, but you have to face the facts, otherwise you won't have any future to look forward to."
*Five minutes later*
"My it's only your second day as a Captain and you're already brining me over a dozen wounded soldiers" Retsu stated calmly as she and Alexander stood in front of several beds "tell me, how exactly did this happen?"
"It's a mystery" Alexander replied lightly.
"Well in that case I'd like you to investigate" Retsu added as she put a hand on his shoulder and opened her eyes giving him a cold look "please don't take too long."
"Sure thing" Alexander said lightly apparently unaffected by her demeanor as she smiled and walked out.
"What the hell was that?!" one of the rioters thought in sheer shock and terror "I felt as if she was threatening to rip all our organs from our bodies with her bare hands or something!!!"
"I love that woman" Alexander stated simply as he turned to his disloyal subordinates and took a serious expression "just so you understand, if you ever try that again I will have you all court marshaled, am I clear?"
One of the rioters gulped before saying "yes sir."
"Good" Alexander replied as he headed for the exit himself, his subordinates failed to notice a wink he gave to the Captain of Squad Four.
"Compared to him and Captain Unohana…a Court Marshal doesn't sound too bad…" one of them thought weakly before lying down to sleep.
"That was very manipulative of you" Retsu stated calmly as she and Alexander walked down the hall.
"You seemed eager to play along" Alexander remarked.
"Of course, it's fun to play head games sometimes" Retsu replied as if it were the most natural thing in the known world "tell me did you really use your Bankai?"
"I restrained it back to about five percent and I only used Hakumeikiseki" Alexander answered "it had the benefit of proving that I have the release and stopping them without hurting them, that combined with the little round of head games we just played with them should make them think twice before rioting again, I appreciate the help."
"It's no trouble at all" Retsu assured him "even for a new Captain, you're finding yourself in a tricky situation."
"Remind me to thank Aizen for that this Winter" Alexander requested sarcastically before a Hell Butterfly appeared in front of him "why do I get the feeling I'm going to need another cup of coffee?"
*Back in the Fifth Division*
"Man those guys got taken down fast" a male shinigami sighed as he and a dozen others sat in a tea house.
"They obviously weren't thinking" a female squad member replied as she took a sip of tea "I mean I don't like the idea of having this guy as our Captain either, but it was obvious they wouldn't accomplish anything against someone who passed the Captain's exam."
"You're right" a calm voice stated causing them all to turn towards the doorway.
"Lieutenant Hinamori" a few of them gasped as she entered.
"It's okay" Momo assured them "I'm not prepared to accept this man as our Captain either…but what can we do?"
As if to answer her question a Hell Butterfly flew into the Tea House earning the attention of the occupants "RED ALERT…" a voice echoed from the small creature "…MENOS GRANDE SPOTTED IN THE DONGAI, ALL MEMBERS OF SQUAD FIVE ARE TO CLEAR THE DONGAI IMMEDIATELY…I REPEAT MENOS GRANDE SPOTTED IN THE DONGAI, ALL MEMBERS OF SQUAD FIVE ARE TO CLEAR THE DONGAI IMMEDIATELY…" the Butterfly then landed on Momo's shoulder and the voice switched to their Captain's.
"Attention all squad members, this is Captain Dark-Heart" his voice rang through the butterfly "I'm leaving squad four right now, meet me in front of the Senkaimon, and do NOT go in without me, I repeat do NOT go in without me!!!"
"Squad Four…he's quite far away" one soldier noted followed by a few seconds of awkward silence.
"This is our chance to prove that we don't need a new Captain" Momo stated calmly as she turned towards her comrades "let's go."
"Ma'am" they replied in unison as they rushed out the door right behind their lieutenant.
Momo pulled out her communicator as she and her troops approached the gate "this is Lieutenant Hinamori of Squad Five, please open the gate immediately."
"Ma'am, didn't Captain Dark-Heart…" the voice on the other end began but was cut off.
"I said open the gate!!!" Momo said angrily, the person on the other end didn't respond but the gate quickly opened and the Thirteen shinigami quickly rushed in accompanied by a small swarm of Hell Butterflies.
*Five minutes later*
"Lieutenant Hinamori you should be intercepting the first of the Menos in about thirty seconds, good luck" an operator from the Department of Research and Development stated through the communicator.
"Thank you very much" Momo replied as she put her communicator away "get ready everyone."
"Yes, Ma'am" they echoed as they leapt over a current to see roughly a dozen Gillian.
"Stay in formation and take them down one at a time" Momo commanded as they broke off into three groups of three and one group of four.
One by one the Menos fell until all thirteen shinigami were closing in on the last one.
"With this, we prove that we don't need Dark-Heart" Momo thought happily as she prepared to slash the bumbling giant.
"Fire" a cruel voice cackled causing Momo and several of her followers' eyes to open widely in shock as several cero blasts came out of nowhere and obliterated the Gillian like it was nothing "excellent" the voice hissed as it emerged from the shadows followed by about three dozen additional Gillian; the voice belonged to a hollow about three times the size of human, with a bear like body, and an incredibly large jaw perturbing from his mask.
When the smoke cleared it revealed Momo to be standing only slightly ruffled physically due to a barrier she had conjured up at the last moment; her followers however; were not so lucky, four of them had literally been blown to bits in the blast, three were lying dead, three were bleeding heavily from a missing arm or leg, and the last two were bleeding heavily from numerous cuts across their bodies.
"And Adjuchas?!" Momo thought in shock "and it used its own Gillian as bait?!"
"So you're the only one who made it out in one piece huh?" the Adjuchas asked rhetorically as Momo's barrier shattered and she took her stance "so cute…I bet you'll be even cuter in my stomach!!!" the Adjuchas rushed towards Momo at an incredible speed given his size.
"Snap Tobiume" Momo chanted causing her Zanpakutou to transform before she swung it sending a fireball towards the Adjuchas, the beast leapt before it could reach him and his jaw glowed dark red before a cero fired towards the Fifth Squad's Lieutenant.
Momo leapt away in time to avoid the blast; however her subordinates who were still alive couldn't "too bad about your friends girly" the Adjuchas chuckled.
Momo's face contorted in rage as she screamed and sent another fire ball racing towards the Bear like hollow, before she knew it the hollow had dodged her attack and pinned her to the ground.
"Looks like I win" the Adjuchas declared in delight as he looked into Momo's angry eyes "I love that look in your eyes" it added as it opened its jaw and began to move towards her neck "I bet you'll taste great…" suddenly the Adjuchas leapt away just in time to avoid being sliced in two by a large weapon being wielded by what appeared to be an angel wearing black robes and a white haori leaving Momo in absolute shock.
"Dark-Heart" Momo stated in disbelief as she stood up, the Captain only looked in her eyes darkly causing to freeze on the spot "what is this fear I'm feeling?!"
"I'll deal with you later" Alexander stated coldly "for now head back until you encounter the rest of the squad, I'm going to destroy these vermin."
"That haori…" the Adjuchas began as Momo for the first time in months did as she was told "…so you're a Captain."
"That's right" Alexander replied darkly.
"Excellent" the Adjuchas continued "I bet you'll make an even better meal than the girl!!!" the Gillian began to enclose on the new Captain "let's take him Gillian."
"I call upon the power of the despair revealed by the light…" Alexander began chanting before disappearing, the Adjuchas could only look in shock as the Captain appeared right in front of him and he was powerless to get away "…and the hope born from the Darkness…" he lunged his blade through the Menos' chest "…my Right Arm is the Gluttony that consumes the virtuous…" Alexander flapped his wings moving not only himself but the hollow he had just stabbed in the middle of all the Gillian whose mouths were beginning to glow read "…and my Left Arm is the Moderation which salvages the condemned; Hakumeigenshuku (Twilight Gravity)" he pulled out his blade and immediately flew away at full speed as the Adjuchas was consumed in a black and white sphere about twice his size, the Gillian attempted to redirect their aim towards the fleeing Captain only to lose their footing as the sphere pulled them all in, obliterating them completely as the Captain landed on the ground and sheathed his swords.
*Ten minutes later*
Alexander, Momo, and fifteen other soldiers emerged from the Senkaimon to a crowd of Squad five member who all appeared as if they had been extremely worried but were now relieved to see their Captain and Lieutenant emerge from the Dongai.
"Thank God you're all okay Captain Dark-Heart" one soldier stated as she ran up to Alexander who motioned her to stop "what happened sir?"
"Excuse us" a familiar voice requested.
"Make way" a harsher one demanded as they made their way to the front of the crowd to reveal the Lieutenants of Squads Three and Nine.
"May I ask what you're doing here, Lieutenant Kira, Lieutenant Hisagi?" Alexander asked somewhat curious about their sudden appearance.
"Please forgive us sir" Izuru begged "we heard that Momo went in ahead of the rest of you, I…we were worried about her…"
"I understand" Alexander replied "someone obviously has a crush on my Lieutenant."
"We're happy to see she's alright" Shuuhei added.
"Yes she is" Alexander stated darkly earning him everyone's attention as they pondered his emphasis, moments later several people including Izuru and Shuuhei gasped in realization "Momo, how many people followed you into the Senkaimon?"
Momo was silent for several moments before she calmly answered "twelve."
"Damn it" Alexander swore softly "why did you do it, when I specifically ordered you not to go in without me?!" Momo was silent "answer me!"
Momo's face contorted with rage before she cried "ENOUGH" she drew her Zanpakutou and pointed it towards Alexander "I refuse to acknowledge you as the Captain of Squad Five, leave now or I'll…"
"Momo" Alexander replied coldly as he turned towards her and looked her dead in the eyes "I'm not going anywhere, like it or not I'm the Captain of Squad Five and as such it is my responsibility to look out for the welfare of this Squad" he grasped the handles of his Zanpakutou "if you don't want me to hurt you put down your sword."
Without a moment's hesitation, Momo charged toward Alexander at full speed, Alexander began to draw his blades but stopped immediately as the sound of clanging metal filled the air; the source was Momo's Zanpakutou crossing blades with Izuru and Shuuhei.
"Please sir, don't" Izuru begged "I'm begging you, leave this to us."
"Momo is our friend" Shuuhei said through gritted teeth "please let us handle this."
Alexander sighed before replying "fine, but don't either of you even think about dying" Izuru and Shuuhei nodded as he turned to his soldiers "clear out" they nodded in fear before disappearing with a shunpo as three Lieutenant class spiritual pressures began to fill the air with their power.
"Izuru, Shuuhei, step aside" Momo demanded seeing Shuuhei looking at her calmly and Izuru looking at her in desperation.
"Leave this to me Izuru" Shuuhei commanded as he put his full strength into a swing sending Momo back several yards "I can tell the thought of fighting her kills you, besides she knows about your Zanpakutou already."
"Thank you Shuuhei" Izuru replied before leaping back to where Alexander was standing watching for the fight that was about to ensue.
"Why are you getting in my way Shuuhei?!" Momo demanded as she swung her sword vertically only to lock blades with Shuuhei.
"Simple, I can't allow anyone who wishes to disturb the peace do as they please" Shuuhei replied "it's my duty as a Lieutenant of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads" he forced Momo back with a swing before attempting to counter attack with a horizontal swing only for her to dodge it by leaping back "and it's your duty to follow your Captain, I was at the exam there's no question that he's qualified."
"I don't care" Momo stated before firing a blast from her free hand and chanting "Snap Tobiume."
"Releasing her Zanpakutou in a place like this…" Shuuhei thought as dodged several energy blasts from Momo "…she's dead serious about this rebellion of hers…" suddenly one last energy ball shot over his head missing him entirely before stopping in mid air "…what the hell?!" he asked himself in shock before he noticed that the other dozen or so blasts were now floating just off the ground and surrounding him, by focusing his eyes Shuuhei saw what appeared to be threads of spirit energy attached to each attack and they appeared to stretch all the way to the fingers on Momo's left hand "very clever" he stated.
"I'm not a fool Shuuhei, I know that you're much stronger than I am, and that my attacks aren't fast enough to be effective against you" Momo said coldly as she pulled the strings with her left hand drawing the orbs even closer to Shuuhei "that's why I laid this trap for you, no matter how fast you are, there's no way you can escape this; this is your last chance to surrender."
"I told you I can't do that" Shuuhei told her flatly.
"Then die" Momo replied coldly as she pulled the strings violently with her left arm causing the orbs to completely engulf Shuuhei in a pink ball of fire, she turned to Izuru and Alexander "you're next…"
"Reap…" a familiar voice echoed from Momo's trap causing her to turn towards it in surprise "…Kazeshini" the fireball exploded before fading away as Shuuhei's spiritual pressure erupted revealing him to be unharmed holding a pair of double bladed scythes with a chain attaching them to one another.
"So that's your Zanpakutou?" Momo asked "I don't believe you ever told me about it."
"That's because I don't like it" Shuuhei replied earning him a confused glance from Momo "I mean look at it…" he held one scythe by the finger slot at the bottom up to his eye "…it looks like it's meant to reap life itself."
Momo's eyes opened in shock as she sidestepped just in time to avoid losing half her head as one of the scythes rushed past her right cheek filling the air with a disturbing metallic sound. Shuuhei immediately began to charge towards her, in response Momo swung Tobiume sending a large fireball towards Shuuhei who leapt backwards with all the might his legs could muster.
"Why's he leaping back?" Momo asked herself as her attack caught up with him and he dispersed it with a single swing of the scythe in his right hand, suddenly Momo noticed that the chain leading to his other scythe was retracting causing Momo to turn in a panic to see the scythe that Shuuhei had thrown earlier rushing towards her, she spun around just in time to block it with Tobiume before finishing her spin sending it back to its owner.
"You can't predict its movements, can you?" Shuuhei asked as he began to spin both blades and Momo locked gazes with him "are you afraid?"
"Of course not" Momo declared as she took her stance.
"Really?" Shuuhei replied "I am…"
"You're afraid of your own power?!" Momo asked in surprise and Shuuhei nodded leaving her silent.
"Those who do not fear the sword they wield have no right to wield it at all" Shuuhei said solemnly as his mentor's image flashed through his mind "that is what he taught me" he immediately threw the scythe in his right hand towards Momo who leapt into the air to dodge it.
"Bakudou 62…" Momo began to chant as she raised her left hand as if she were raising a spear "…Hyapporankan" she threw a spear of energy towards Kazeshini's chain before it broke apart into dozens of duplicates spears, most of them only hit the ground but one landed right in the eye of one of the links and pinned the weapon to the ground.
"Damn it" Shuuhei swore softly as Momo landed and began to run towards him "that was smart of her" he raised the scythe in his left hand preparing to intercept Momo.
"Bakudou 63: Sajousabaku" Momo chanted tying Shuuhei's left arm to his torso, thus locking both his scythes "it's over…" Momo thought as positioned Tobiume just under the left side of her waist, she was about to swing her weapon when she heard a loud clang causing her eyes to open in shock as she turned to see that Izuru had hooked his Wabisuke around one of the rods sticking out from Tobiume, without saying a word he flicked his wrist removing Wabisuke from Tobiume before tapping it a second time "Izuru?!" she thought in shock as he tapped her sword two more times "how could you?!"
"And that's strikes five and six" Izuru stated solemnly after tapping her sword two more times before removing it, almost immediately Tobiume crashed into the ground with a loud thud, Momo's free hand began to inch towards the handle before Izuru struck it once more for good measure causing Momo to fall onto her knees due to the weight "that's not a weight you can fight with Momo."
Momo looked at Izuru blankly as he held his blade up to her neck and Shuuhei broke free of her spells "Why Izuru?" she asked in disbelief as she lost her grip over her heavy Zanpakutou.
"Isn't it obvious?" Shuuhei asked "it was to stop you from starting a foolish battle, I'm afraid there will be plenty of those in the months ahead."
"But you want your Captain back too, don't you?!" Momo replied.
"Of course I do!!!" Shuuhei hissed shocking Momo "but at the same time I have to face the fact that Captain Tousen betrayed us and I may have to kill him myself; I don't want to…but we can't always get what we want…"
"Come on Momo, let's go" Izuru said calmly as he lowered Wabisuke before sealing it and returning it to its sheath.
"You shouldn't have done that Izuru" Momo stated coldly.
Izuru and Shuuhei could only gasp in shock as countless orange threads appeared around the three of them; their eyes quickly darted towards Momo who seemed to have the source of all of them extending from the Lieutenant's badge on her left arm.
"While you were busy with that little lecture I combined Shakkahou with a kidou net and Fushibi" Momo explained coldly shocking both of her fellow lieutenants.
"Momo…if you detonate that combination at this range you'll kill all of us" Izuru warned as he fought back a panic attack and the threads tied themselves around him and Shuuhei "don't do it…"
"Three…two…one" Momo counted down calmly before Alexander appeared right in front of her with a black katana raised in his right hand "when did he?!" she thought as he swung the sword vertically severing the kidou thread and her Lieutenant's badge from her left arm in an instant, moments later her entire net disappeared.
"Let this be a lesson to all three of you" Alexander began calmly as he sheathed Kokuhyou "no matter what spells you use in conjunction with it, a kidou net will disappear in an instant if you sever the source thread…" Izuru and Shuuhei let out a heavy sigh of relief while Momo was simply in a state of shock "…you're not the only one in this squad who knows a thing or two about kidou; more importantly judging by your expression I doubt you have any more tricks up your sleeve."
Without replying or even picking up her sword and badge Momo ran away as fast as she could.
"Momo wait!!!" Izuru called out as she disappeared with a shunpo, he gritted his teeth as he prepared to give chase only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
"You've both done enough, leave the rest to me" Alexander ordered as he followed with his own shunpo.
Momo appeared on a large tree branch just outside the Fifth Squad's main office, she leaned against the trunk as she began to breathe heavily.
"Bakudou 63: Sajousabaku" she heard a familiar voice chant calmly before she found herself knocked on her but and tied to the trunk by a chain made of pure energy, moments later Alexander appeared in front of her "comfy?"
"Let me go!!!" Momo demanded.
"Sorry but unfortunately for you, I'm the Captain and we need to talk" Alexander replied before looking at her calmly "let's get this over with, first off I want you tell me something, did you really ask Captain Hitsugaya to save Aizen?"
"Did Toushirou tell you that?!" Momo asked in disbelief.
"No Rangiku said she overheard you and Captain Hitsugaya" Alexander answered "so did you really ask him?" Momo looked to her right in defiance "words can not describe just how heartless that was of you, you know that."
"Just go away already" Momo said through gritted teeth.
"Wake up Momo" Alexander sighed ignoring her protest "you have to let it go."
"Shut up!!!" Momo replied angrily "What would you know about it?!" she was now looking him dead in the eyes with tears of rage in her eyes "maybe if I tried to force you to believe that the person you admired most was a monster you'd understand!!!"
To Momo's surprise Alexander smiled weakly before looking down before chuckling "that's an interesting theory you've got there, unfortunately you're a little late to put it to the test" he raised his head as he sighed before taking a much more solemn tome "that was the story of my life about one hundred and ten years ago…" Momo's eyes opened in shock "…I've been around a lot longer than you have Momo and trust me I've seen my share of trouble…"
"So what's your story?" Momo asked curiously.
"I was born and raised just outside of Washington D.C. towards the end of the 19th century; it was a time of great social and political instability due to racial tensions which would make that country's current racial confrontations look like a pair of kids fighting in the school yard" Alexander explained "the leader of my clan…my father Maximilian Dark-Heart had strong support within our clan because he claimed to have a plan to make our ideals a reality, as a result many Warlocks including myself followed his orders to steal money, enslave hollows, conduct horrifying research, and to kill anyone who saw us."
"What kind of ideal did you people feel was worth killing innocent people over?!" Momo gasped.
"The elimination of war from the world" Alexander answered leaving Momo stunned "foolish I know but I was just a teenage boy at the time, about as old as you look, and besides the man asking me to do those things was my own father…and despite the fact that I had someone who was trying to open my eyes to the truth…" he looked down at Kokuhyou "…by the time I finally opened my eyes to reality and realized what my father was planning…it was too late for me."
"What was he planning?" Momo inquired.
"He was planning to wipe Washington D.C. off the map in order to take over the country and bring all the racial and religious hate groups to the surface so we could wipe them out" Alexander began "of course this alone would have left thousands if not millions of people dead; worst part of all is that he wasn't just going to target Washington. He also had his eyes on London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, and just about every other Capital in the world; to this day I don't know if he truly wanted to eliminate war or if he just sought World Domination, either way what he was doing was wrong so I confronted him."
"What happened then?" Momo gulped.
"When I confronted him I hesitated because I didn't want to fight him, he was furious and he attacked me" Alexander replied "and he killed my mother when she shielded me from him…" Momo gasped in shock "…after that I landed a fatal blow across his chest only for him to kill me with a kamikaze attack."
"Why are you telling me all of this?" Momo asked as the chain disappeared.
"Because unlike me it's not too late for you, you're still not a murderer" Alexander answered as he pulled out a familiar katana.
"Tobiume?" Momo thought blankly as the Captain held out her sword.
"With this sword Tobiume, you were given a gift of awesome power" Alexander explained as he placed it in front of her "that power however was never meant to be turned on your comrades and it wasn't meant to be used to fight for illusions, I think deep down you must realize what its true purpose is."
"How could I have left my Zanpakutou behind?!" Momo wondered.
"Though not as flashy as your sword you also have another mark that separates you from everyone else" Alexander continued as he pulled out her Lieutenant's badge from his kimono causing Momo to look at her left arm in absolute shock "but for now you won't be getting this back…" his expression became somewhat harsher "…I'm placing you under a mandatory leave of absence for your earlier insubordination; you should use this time to reflect on those twelve shinigami who followed you into the Dongai…as the Lieutenant of Squad Five you should have stopped them, but you didn't and as a result they died leaving behind their friends, families, and lovers…think about it" he disappeared with a shunpo leaving Momo alone to contemplate through her own tears.
*The next day*
Youmei and Elaina were walking towards the main office of the fifth squad holding a couple of bags. They knocked on the door before it opened revealing at least ten different people besides the new Captain working through a virtual sea of papers.
"What the hell is this?" Elaina asked in sheer amazement at the sight.
"I'm afraid this is the result of six months worth of unfinished paperwork" Alexander informed his daughter as he made his way to the front "thankfully these people were kind enough to offer me their assistance; so how's acting Captain duty treating you?"
"It's going well" Youmei answered "we were on lunch break, care to join us?"
"Rukia Kuchki has returned and she brought one of those friends of that Ichigo kid with her for training" Elaina added "sound interesting?"
"Yes, I would say so" Alexander replied before turning to his subordinates "okay everyone lunch break, I don't want you all to work yourselves to death" they all nodded as they headed out in their own little groups.
*Within Squad 13's training grounds*
"It's nice to see that Rukia's made some friends" Jyuushiro thought pleasantly as he sipped some tea just before three familiar shinigami appeared behind him "come to watch?"
"And eat lunch" Elaina replied as she took a seat next to Jyuushiro and opened her box "say isn't that the girl you tried to capture during the whole Ryouka incident, Youmei?"
"Yes, I must say I've never seen someone with such unusual powers before" Youmei stated as they watched Orihime create barrier after barrier against Rukia's Kidou attacks.
"So are you enjoying your new life as a Captain?" Jyuushiro asked pleasantly as his latest colleague took his own seat.
"I'm keeping busy" Alexander replied calmly "it would seem all the rioters have lost their nerve thanks to the head games me and Retsu played on them after the last attempt, me and my subordinates are starting to work quite well together, and the paper work is finally starting to die down; unfortunately I lost a dozen troops yesterday who apparently still hadn't managed to dig Aizen's mental claws out of their own skulls and I still have no idea if my Lieutenant is going to be alright or not."
"I see, you've found yourself in a position that is truly unique, even for a new Captain" Jyuushiro stated calmly "Aizen really pulled a fast one on all of us, I fear it will take quite a while for all the wounds he left to heal."
"With all due respect Captain Ukitake, some wounds never heal" Alexander said solemnly.
"I suppose your right" was all Jyuushiro could say in response.
"Speaking of Aizen, I've got something I was wanting to show you and Captain Kyouraku regarding his Zanpakutou" Alexander stated earning him a curious gaze from his fellow Captain "will the two of you have time tomorrow?"
"Certainly" Jyuushiro answered before turning to Elaina and Youmei "so how are things going in Squad Ten with Captain Hitsugaya and Lieutenant Matsumoto in the World of the Living?"
"It's gone well, thankfully we have a squad of very capable individuals so me and Fourth Seat Dark-Heart here have had a fairly smooth time as acting Captains" Youmei answered.
"We also put our names foreword to take the Captain's Exam once this whole Aizen mess is sorted out this Winter" Elaina added "can I trust you to be there to watch, Captain Ukitake?"
"Of course I will" Jyuushiro replied with a smile.
Alexander smiled as he thought "it would be nice if this peace could last forever" they continued to watch Rukia and Orihime go at it.
A few minutes later a Hell Butterfly flew out in front of them echoing "RED ALERT, ARRANCAR DETECTED IN THE WORLD OF THE LIVING, THEY ARE ALL ESPADA CLASS, ALL SQUADS REPORT TO YOUR STATIONS."
"Damn it" Elaina swore as the four of them stood up.
"We'll talk later" Jyuushiro stated before his three guests disappeared with a shunpo "I've got a bad feeling about this."
*The next day with Toushirou*
"Damn it what a mess" Toushirou swore in his mind as he was being led through the Dongai by Byakuya and Kenpachi with Rangiku, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Rukia, and Renji behind him "those bastards were just a decoy to lure out that Orihime girl and we fell for it!!! Now Aizen has her!!!" he looked at Byakuya and Kenpachi's backs darkly "and now that damn old man is just going to leave her to rot!!!" the exited the Dongai to see Alexander, Shunsui, Jyuushiro, and Retsu standing by patiently.
"What's going on here?" Rangiku asked "surely you didn't need six Captains just to bring us back?!"
"I'd like to know that myself" Byakuya stated calmly.
"Don't worry we just wanted to discuss something with our young colleague" Shunsui stated lightly "care to join us Mr. Child Prodigy?"
"You infuriate me sometimes Kyouraku" Toushirou thought in annoyance when he saw a serious look in Alexander's eyes "I think I will. Do you have any problems with that Captain Zaraki, Captain Kuchki?"
"Tch I could care less" Kenpachi replied.
"My only orders were to bring you all back from the world of the living" Byakuya explained "Rukia, Renji, come with me" he left the scene with his sister and Lieutenant in toe.
"The hell with you people, I'm out of here" Zaraki sighed in annoyance as he left, followed by Ikkaku and Yumichika.
"Rangiku, please take over in the office" Toushirou commanded "I hope to be back soon."
"Understood" Rangiku replied "what in the world do they have cooked up? In any case I hope we'll be able to get Orihime back" she left for the office with a shunpo.
"So what is it that you have to show me?" Toushirou inquired of his four fellow Captains.
"It's in my office follow me" Alexander replied as the five Captains disappeared with a shunpo.
*Squad Five Office*
"So what is it that you wanted to show us Captain Dark-Heart?" Jyuushiro asked curiously.
"I'm going to be honest with you all" Alexander stated with a very serious expression on his face "though my research gave us a way to see through Aizen's illusions…due to certain limitations, not everyone will be able to see through them" he pointed to the bag he had been carrying during the King's Seal incident lying on a nearby table "the good news is that I may have found a weakness to Aizen's shikai."
"Which is why you brought us here?" Shunsui asked clearly interested.
"Yeah, I was hoping to get your opinions on my theory before the old man calls an emergency meeting" Alexander replied as he turned to Toushirou "interested?"
"Do you really need to ask?" was Toushirou's only response.
"Very well then let me show you some footage from Aizen's little cue six months ago" Alexander began as an image appeared on a screen he had set up on the wall.
*Squad Ten Office*
"Good to see you Lieutenant Matsumoto" Elaina said as she and a number of other seated officers welcomed their Lieutenant back "I hope you and Captain Hitsugaya are alright?"
"We're as well as we can be considering our friend got kidnapped and we got dragged back here before we could try and mount a rescue operation" Rangiku stated in clear annoyance as she looked at her officers before asking "where's Youmei?"
"She said she was going out for a little earlier" Elaina replied.
*Kuchki Manor*
"Brother I don't understand" Rukia said in disbelief as Byakuya handed her and Renji a pair of brown cloaks to protect them from Hueco Mundo's desert winds.
"My only orders were to bring you back" Byakuya explained dryly "thus far I haven't received any orders for after I brought you back."
"Well I'll be damned Captain Kuchki" Renji chuckled to himself.
"Thank you…Byakuya" Rukia replied.
"You better hurry" Byakuya stated "I fear that if that fool is left to his own devices, there won't be any salvaging the situation."
"Right away" Rukia said as she came back to reality before running off with Renji "thank you so much…"
"Don't die Rukia" Byakuya thought to himself as his sister and Lieutenant disappeared from his sight, he turned to his side before asking "does Captain Hitsugaya wish to speak to me about something?"
"No I came here on my own" Youmei answered as she walked up beside him and smiled softly "you seem to have gotten much more mischievous since your encounter with that Ichigo boy."
"Care to elaborate?" Byakuya asked indifferently.
"You know the Head Captain isn't going to be happy when he learns that the two of them snuck off to Hueco Mundo" Youmei stated.
"I never received any orders to stop them" Byakuya explained calmly "therefore I don't care what they choose to do, if the Head Captain is to be angry at anyone it should be himself for not ordering to ensure they stay here in the Soul Society."
"I guess you're right" Youmei chuckled as she tried to fight back a blush and an awkward silence fell upon the two of them for a few moments.
"Okay that does it, this is some serious Bull Shit you've dragged me into Princess, and I can't freaking take it!!!" Savage shouted in Youmei's skull as she suddenly took control of Youmei's body and Byakuya looked at her strangely.
"Savage what the Hell are you doing?!" Princess asked in disbelief.
"Simple I'm ending this bore fest and starting something more interesting" Youmei answered before turning towards Byakuya who showed a rare expression of concern "listen closely jack ass because I hate repeating myself…" Princess' jaw dropped in sheer shock at what her other self was saying "…my little Princess loves your stoic ass for some reason beyond my comprehension but she won't stop beating around the bush, so I've decided it's time for a little something called an intervention."
"For the love of…" Princess thought in disbelief as she watched Savage grab Byakuya by the front of his kimono and leap forward causing him to fall backwards with her following closely.
"And now I return this body to you" Youmei thought smugly.
'Princess' Youmei regained control to find that she was lying on top of Byakuya with her lips pressed against his. Byakuya himself was showing an even rarer expression than one of concern; this was the expression he could only recall showing twice since he became a Captain of the Thirteen Squads, once when Ichigo Kurosaki revealed that he had in fact achieved Bankai and the other was upon learning that Yachiru Kusajishi of Squad Eleven had somehow dug a series of tunnels under his manor and along with a large number of hidden doors without being noticed by anyone, it was an expression of complete and utter shock.
"Captain Kuchki…I'm…" Youmei began to say as she released him and stood up "…so sorry about that…"
"You lying little bitch" Savage chuckled inside Youmei's head.
"Quite you!!!" Youmei ordered in her mind angrily.
"That was…different" Byakuya stated after he stood up "I must attend to my squad, excuse me."
"That went perfectly; thanks to me you just put the hook in him" Savage declared happily "congratulations Princess."
"Savage I swear!!!" Youmei thought in a mixture of rage and embarrassment.
Savage burst out laughing before replying with "this great, you want to kill me so badly; but you can't because that would be suicide" she laughed hysterically at her other half who seemed on the edge of going postal "don't worry, you can thank me later."
*Squad Five Office*
"That's an interesting theory you've developed" Shunsui said "I'll admit that would explain Aizen's odd behavior in combat."
"How confident are you in this theory of yours?" Toushirou asked.
"I'd say the odds are fifty-fifty" Alexander answered.
"Still I must admit I'm impressed" Jyuushiro added "to come up with this theory while you were in the middle of some rather dangerous research as I understand it…"
"Please don't remind me of the research" Alexander begged as he rubbed his left shoulder "I still have nightmares about it."
Retsu placed a hand on his shoulder gaining his attention "regardless of whether or not this theory of yours is correct we have you to thank for finding a way around Kyouka Suigetsu."
"Thanks Retsu" Alexander replied.
"While we're on the subject would you mind explaining to us how your method works exactly?" Retsu explained.
"Certainly; first off let me show you…" Alexander began but was interrupted by a knock on the door "what is it?"
The door opened revealing a Stealth Force operative who immediately dropped to his knees in a bow "sir, the Head Captain has called an emergency meeting and requests that all Captains report to the Captains' hall immediately!"
"I understand" Alexander replied as he grabbed the brown sack and a metallic sound echoed "sorry Retsu looks like you'll get to see what's in my bag of tricks at the same time as everyone else."
"I look forward to it regardless" Retsu assured him before turning to the agent "you may want to tell your colleagues that you sent to Squads Four, Eight, Ten, and Thirteen that we're already aware."
"Ma'am" he replied before disappearing as the five Captains left for the meeting.
They arrived to see Yamamoto standing still as a statue as he kneeled on his cane which hid his Zanpakutou. On the left side in front of him Soi Fon stood silently with her arms crossed just a short distance away from Byakuya before Retsu took her place between them while Shunsui and Toushirou took their places to Byakuya's left, while on the right Sajin was standing tall and resolute as Alexander and Jyuushiro took their spots on his sides.
Shunsui couldn't help but noticed that Byakuya seemed to somewhat ruffled despite his attempts to remain stoic.
"Did something happen to you?" Shunsui asked curiously.
"That's of no concern to you" Byakuya answered coldly.
"Sorry" Shunsui replied "I'll have to look into this later" he thought in amusement.
"Did Youmei have something to do with this?" Alexander wondered as he noticed Sajin turning to him.
"I trust being a Captain is treating you well so far" Sajin stated.
"It's been an…interesting couple of days" Alexander replied as Kenpachi and Mayuri entered the Hall.
"Thank you all for gathering on such short notice" Yamamoto began "to our latest member, Squad Five Captain Alexander Dark-Heart I must apologize, I'm afraid our current circumstances leave us no time for your official coronation."
"I'll live" Alexander shrugged.
"With that out of the way, let this Captain's meeting begin" Yamamoto continued ignoring Alexander's comment "as you all know yesterday afternoon one of our allies Orihime Inoue was taken prisoner by Sousuke Aizen."
"Did he just say 'taken prisoner'?" Toushirou thought to himself "If you know she didn't betray us then why the Hell did you declare her a traitor?!"
"Subsequently as a result the Substitute Shinigami Ichigo Kurosaki has gone into Hueco Mundo to attempt a rescue operation" Yamamoto explained "to make matters worse it would seem that Lieutenant Abarai of Squad Six and Rukia Kuchki of Squad Thirteen have abandoned their posts to help him."
"I'm surprised it took them that long to sneak out" Shunsui chuckled lightly.
"Those idiots" Soi Fon sighed.
"How uninteresting" Mayuri stated.
"This is such a pain in the ass" Kenpachi swore in his mind.
"So what's the plan?" Jyuushiro asked.
"While this situation involving the Substitute Shinigami and his friends is unexpected, it presents us with an opportunity" Yamamoto began "I'm sure you remember that Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends have a talent for causing chaos and confusion…"
"And how…" the other Captains thought as they remembered their invasion.
"…as a result I think we can assume they'll at the very least create a large amount of chaos within Hueco Mundo" Yamamoto continued "…therefore we're going to send in a team of our own to try and take out Aizen before he can attempt to destroy Karakura Town."
"It would be nice if we could keep the fighting Hueco Mundo" Shunsui stated as he rubbed his chin.
"The problem is that we obviously can't all go in after them" Toushirou replied "since this is Aizen we're dealing with we should assume he's taken precautions; not to mention there's the Espada to deal with."
"Captain Hitsugaya, you're the only one among us to face these Arrancar so far" Jyuushiro began "what can you tell us about the Espada you fought against?"
"Yesterday faced off against two of them" Toushirou began "the first one I fought identified himself as number ten, he was strong but he was also a mindless idiot…"
"Sounds like someone I know" Mayuri thought as he looked across the hall at Kenpachi who seemed to be falling asleep in boredom.
"…the second Espada identified himself as number six…" Toushirou continued as an image of Luppi flashed through his mind "…he was stronger and faster but over confident, I don't think any of us would have too much trouble defeating him, but…I don't think anyone who isn't a Captain class would be able to win against him."
"That's not good" Alexander sighed "especially when you consider the fact that means there are at least five Espada that are stronger than him, and somehow I get the feeling theres quite a power gap between these guys…"
"And if that's the case I might have to use Tenso Jurin in Bankai mode or use it to stand a chance against the stronger Espada" Toushirou thought to himself "I don't care for either case."
"…with that in mind it would be best if we could end this in Hueco Mundo" Alexander continued "but we face three questions; how many of us do we send to Hueco Mundo, Who do we send, and what do we do if Aizen moves on to attempt destroying Karakura Town and the team we send is stranded somehow?"
"Squad 12 Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Squad 11 Captain Kenpachi Zaraki, and Squad Six Captain Byakuya Kuchki shall be lead by Squad Four Captain Retsu Unohana into Hueco Mundo to assist the Substitute Shinigami" Yamamoto declared "be prepared to leave in three days time so ."
"Understood" Retsu replied.
"Good I'll be able to make sure Rukia is alright" Byakuya thought to himself as he calmly nodded before coldly saying "very well."
"I hope there are some strong guys to fight"Kenpachi said as he licked his lips in anticipation.
"A trip to Hueco Mundo huh?" Mayuri pondered as a creepy smile spread across his face "this could be an excellent opportunity to gather research specimens!!!"
"The rest of shall prepare to face him Karakura Town in the event that Aizen get's away" Yamamoto stated "In the mean time, Captain Kurotsuchi; I want you to explain to everyone the steps taken so that we may fight at full strength. After that Squad Five Captain Alexander Dark-Heart shall explain his findings in regards to Aizen's Kyouka Suigetsu."
"Very well" Mayuri replied with a hint of annoyance "it's really so simple why does he need me to explain it to everyone?"
"Yes sir" Alexander said in understanding.
Mayuri explained how his squad had spent the past six months constructing a replica of Karakura town and how at any moment they were prepared to knock out the denizens of the real thing and switch them out. After that was done Alexander explained what he had managed to create during his self imposed six month exile and the theory he had developed concerning Aizen's shikai (which I will reveal to you all in later chapters).
"So let me get this straight" Mayuri began after Alexander finished speaking "you spent six months on this research and this is the best you could do?" Alexander nodded "how pathetic."
"Forgive me Mayuri" Alexander replied with a smirk "I guess I should've known that you would outperform me in regards to Aizen's illusions" Mayuri twitched "come now surely the great Chief of the Department of Research and Development was able to come up with something, especially considering the fact that you didn't lift a finger on this fake Karakura town; I admit what I've come up with isn't perfect, but you sure are quick to criticize if you don't have anything."
"Damn you" Mayuri hissed.
Yamamoto slammed his cane on the ground before loudly stating "Enough!!! This Meeting is hereby adjourned."
The Ten Captains left the hall in a rush, Toushirou could only shake his head as he was about to turn a cornor only to feel a hand grab his shoulder.
"Meet me in the usual place in an hour please" Alexander requested before leaving his student to go talk to Retsu "oh and please bring Rangiku, Elaina, and Youmei."
"What now?!" Toushirou wondered as he rolled his eyes in annoyance.
*An hour later*
Toushirou arrived with the people Alexander had requested at their old training grounds; they were in the middle of the old Ghost Town Kaname had shown him during his first days as a soldier in Squad Nine. Toushirou had used the area to get used to flying after his Bankai had evolved to the point where it had wings and he suspected Alexander had used it as a practice flight zone as well, the area stretched out for miles so it was easy to train without witnesses. He found his mentor and his date towards the very center of the abandoned section of the city.
"What did you want to see me about?" Toushirou asked "why did you want me to bring these three, and why is Captain Unohana here?"
Alexander smiled softly before saying "Rangiku, Youmei, Elaina, Retsu, you already know about what me and Captain Hitsugaya here have been hiding right?"
Toushirou's eyes opened in fear before he spat out "Alex we can't talk about that in front of other people!!!"
"You told me about yourself after we started dating" Retsu answered.
"You told me as soon as soon as you were released from the hospital" Elaina stated lightly.
"I noticed that Captain's Hitsugaya's spiritual pressure changed temporarily during that mission to the satellite about a year ago" Youmei replied "I found out the details when I sat down with Captain Dark-Heart for a little chat after that mission."
"And I saw it when Captain Hitsugaya used it during that mission" Rangiku explained "he saved my life with it."
Toushirou was stunned "you all know?"
"Weren't you listening to us just now?" Elaina asked.
"If you're nervous about it, please don't be; we won't tell anyone" Youmei assured him.
Toushirou was speechless at the sudden support as Alexander made a fake cough to get everyone's attention back on him for a moment.
"In any case I decided it's time for one last throw down between me and my young pupil here" Alexander stated "and this time I want the two of us to go all out…which why I asked you ladies to join us."
"You want us to create a large barrier so the two of you can fight at full power without the Head Captain learning of your little secret" Retsu said with a knowing expression across her face.
"That sums it up" Alexander replied "sorry to trouble you."
"It's no trouble at all" Elaina said lightly as she turned to the other women who nodded in response before the four of them disappeared with a shunpo.
"What is the meaning of this exactly?!" Toushirou asked.
"That little scene with the ladies was meant to remind you that you're not alone in this struggle Toushirou" Alexander explained "as for this fight…" suddenly a large barrier appeared on all sides forming a cube with sides several dozen miles in length "…well I'll explain the reason for it soon" he placed his left hand over his heart before chanting "Seal of the Beast, Release."
"It's been so long since I've felt this spiritual pressure" Toushirou thought as Alexander's spiritual pressure began to weigh down on him, it was now much stronger than it usually was and more surprisingly yet was the fact that it was now even darker and more twisted than normal.
"This is the first time since that mission forty years ago" Alexander stated as he thought back to their encounter with an unusual group of people "I must say it feels good to release that seal" he stretched out his arms and legs before drawing his swords "don't worry, just do it Toushirou."
"Damn no choice" Toushirou swore in his mind as he placed his left hand over his heart, drew Hyourinmaru with his right, and chanted "Seal of the Beast, Release" his own spiritual pressure now increased in strength and though it wasn't as dark as Alexander's, it was still far denser and much more evil in nature.
"We'll start off light" Alexander said calmly as he slammed his blades together "Bankai!!!" he was engulfed in Black and White Spirit energy before he emerged with his ultimate weapon "Hakumeitenshi Kokuhyou and Nehan!"
"He calls this starting off light?" Toushirou thought before chanting "Bankai!!!" ice immediately enveloped his body as a dragon's head formed over his right hand, talons formed over his left arm and legs, a long tail sprang out, a dozen petals formed behind him, and a pair of dragon wings made of ice formed on his back "Daigurren Hyourinmaru!"
The two Captains flapped their mighty wings propelling them about a dozen feet into the air. Toushirou immediately flew towards his teacher at full speed and swung his blade downwards, Alexander blocked the attack by swinging his blade upwards while holding it sideways. He followed it up with a spiral swing but Toushirou dodged it by quickly flying higher into the air.
"Let's see how you handle this" Toushirou said softly as Alexander suddenly found himself surrounded by several ice pillars and Toushirou pointed his sword directly at his fellow Captain "Sennen Hyoro" he said softly before rotating the hilt of his sword ninety degrees and the pillars slammed into Alexander "did I get him?" he asked as four of his petals disappeared.
Toushirou regretted asking that question when his ice shattered into hundreds of fragments and Alexander emerged seemingly unharmed by the attack before flying towards his student at full speed.
"Ryusenka" Toushirou shouted as he dodged a downward swing from Alexander's weapon leaving him in a giant flower of ice and another full flower of petals disappeared.
"That won't work on me" Alexander stated bluntly as it too shattered into nothingness.
"I can't say I'm surprised" Toushirou thought weakly as Alexander suddenly appeared in front of him with his blade held high, Toushirou blocked his downward swing by holding Hyourinmaru horizontally; however the sheer force of the swing sent Toushirou plummeting to the ground and left a ditch the length of a city block in the ground "the cold hard fact is that my Daigurren Hyourinmaru is simply no match for your Hakumeitenshi Kokuhyou and Nehan…" the dust cleared revealing the young Captain of the Tenth Squad lying on his back covered in dirt, his wings had effectively been grounded into dust, his talons were shattered, the dragon head engulfing his right arm was missing several large chunks missing, and worst of all he had but one petal left "…I can't hope to beat you with this Bankai…"
"Quite holding back Toushirou" Alexander half ordered as he flew in front of the boy about twenty feet in front of him, Toushirou's eyes opened in shock as Alexander performed a familiar gesture causing his spiritual pressure to surge to even higher levels of power, the force was practically choking the younger Captain "And stop being ashamed of your powers."
"Ashamed of my powers?!" Toushirou asked in confusion.
"Yes" Alexander replied "don't try to kid me, because I can tell. The real reason why you don't like to use Hyourinmaru because you're ashamed of what happened to Kusaka because he had the same Zanpakutou and the sheer danger behind using its power due to it incompleteness are just convenient excuses" Toushirou cringed slightly at his words "and the real reason you don't want to use this power is because your ashamed of your past!!!"
Toushirou was silent for a moment before he asked "and so what about you?" he looked at his teacher fiercely "do you expect me to believe that you're not ashamed of your powers after all the grief you've shown me and some of the others?!"
Alexander sighed weakly before saying "I think you're confused about something, let me explain…" he landed softly on the ground right below him "…I was never ashamed of my powers; don't forget that I was born with dark powers…so I've always been at peace with my powers regardless if it was my Warlock abilities, the powers I gained as a Shinigami, and even this power. The only things I'm ashamed of are what I did or failed to do with these powers" Toushirou closed his eyes in understanding "you need to stop living in the past Toushirou, otherwise you'll lose sight of the future" Toushirou stood up "and you'll never surpass me, the Head Captain, or Aizen if your resolve is really that weak; now show me your power!!!"
Alexander's words cut in deep into Toushirou's mind, he was silent for several moments before he finally replied "Fine I'll show you my power…" as he prepared to carry out the same gesture that Alexander had just demonstrated.
"Listen you may not have wanted this power but the fact is that you do have it, so we'll just have to make the best of it" Rangiku's voice said gently in Toushirou's memory.
"…You're absolutely right Rangiku…I don't know what I'd do without you" Toushirou thought before he performed the gesture and his own spiritual pressure sky rocketed just as Alexander's had earlier "and I simply can't thank you enough."
"Well now I wasn't expecting this" Alexander said to himself as he watched his opponent's Bankai reform, Toushirou couldn't see it but Alexander was smirking "he may actually be able to finally beat me in an honest fight."
"Thank you Alex" Toushirou said earnestly as he took he flapped his wings and flew about fifteen feet into the air and Alexander did the same "are you ready to finish this?"
"Of course" Alexander answered.
"Let's see given what I know about his Bankai's abilities it would be best if I could get him out of the air…" Toushirou thought as he waved his left hand over Hyourinmaru's blade from the hilt to the tip before chanting "Fuyuishuu (Winter Swarm)" dozens of dragons made of ice emerged from the blade, each was about the size of Toushirou's arm, unlike the projectiles that Toushirou normally fired from his sword these were full bodied dragons with wings and claws and with a swing of Toushirou's blade they immediately flew towards their target.
"Brilliant" Alexander thought after analyzing this new technique with his demonic eyes, he swung his sword in an attempt to swat the dragons but most of them managed to dodge his blade and shot him with a miniature beam of ice throwing back several yards before he regained his control, he looked towards the dragons that he had hit earlier to see that they were quickly regenerating by absorbing water from the atmosphere "he's forced my hand on this one…" he chuckled to himself before he began chanting "I call upon the power of the damned angel and the blessed demon, my right arm is the Greed that steals the souls of the affluent and my left arm is the Charity that returns the souls of the destitute; Hakumeiumou (Twilight Feathers)" Alexander's wings shattered into what appeared to be dozens of silver feathers which flew off to attack Toushirou's sprites and they engaged in continuous combat with neither attack really having any effect on the other "Congratulations you've taken my wings" he thought as he landed on the ground and looked up to his student, though he couldn't see it he could tell his Toushirou was wearing one of his rare smiles.
"I've finally got you" Toushirou said to himself before swinging his sword sending an ice attack towards his teacher on the ground.
Alexander dodged the attack as he made his way closer to below Toushirou. Toushirou then focused his energy for a moment before sending five ice dragons the size of his body racing towards Alexander. Alexander leapt towards them with all his might, his blade glowing just before they intercepted one another causing an explosion of black and white energy and ice; moments later to Toushirou's shock Alexander emerged from the tail end of his attack. The Fifth Squad's Captain was covered in ice, he had cuts across his chest, and his outfit was torn to ribbons, despite all that he was still heading straight for him.
"Looks like you still have a ways to go before you surpass me" Alexander noted mentally as he grabbed Toushirou by the front of his kimono with his left hand and raised his weapon with his; to Alexander's sheer shock the Toushirou he was holding chuckled softly before shattering into ice and snow "a clone?!" he looked to side to see Toushirou flying towards him, preparing to swing his sword downward "well done indeed" Alexander swung his sword horizontally resulting in an even bigger explosion of snow, ice, and black and white energy than before.
*Five minutes late*
"Holy crap, those two weren't screwing around" Elaina stated lightly as she and Retsu pulled Alexander out of a pile of debris while Rangiku and Youmei retrieved Toushirou from another pile nearby.
"So who won exactly?" Youmei asked not sure what to make of the sight in front of them.
"I'd say it's a tie" Retsu chuckled as the two men came to and nodded in agreement.
"Men" Rangiku sighed as Retsu and Elaina began the first aid treatment.
"Thank you Rangiku" Toushirou said with a small smirk on his face.
"For what?" Rangiku asked in surprise at his sudden display of gratitude.
"For helping me overcome my shame" Toushirou answered causing his usually happy go lucky Lieutenant to blush slightly.
The others could only laugh happily at the situation.
*Three Days later*
As planned the Seireitei sent in their team of four Captains to try and aid Ichigo and his friends. However as they feared Aizen had predicted their move and had sealed the four of them in Los Noches while he appeared in the world of the living where he met Toushirou and the others. Thanks to Yamamoto's Ryuujin Jakka Aizen was sealed temporarily along with Gin and Kaname in a sea of inferno; unfortunately that still left them to deal with the top three Espada and their subordinates. After successfully defending the four anchors which kept the real Karakura town in Soul Society the shinigami and the numerous Arrancar paired up to fight. And as luck would have it, Toushirou found himself face to face with an Espada.
The Espada he was starring down had the appearance of a young woman about the same apparent age as Rangiku; she had long blonde hair which she wore in three braids, her skin was a soft brown color, and she had rather large breasts; but the trait Toushirou found the most striking were her wild green eyes which gave off an air of intensity and intelligence at the same time. She wore the strangest garbs he had ever seen apart from Mayuri's changes over the decades; the bottom half of her outfit was basically a white version of a shinigami's robes, while all she wore to go with it was a jacket which covered all of her arms and the bottom half of her face but left the bottom half of her breasts exposed. Toushirou had a suspicion that her mask fragments must be located on her face or upper body and that she wore that outfit to draw attention away from it.
After a pair of speeches made by Yamamoto and an Espada who had the appearance of an equally ancient man the two sides attacked one another. The female Espada drew her sword from its holster on her back; it had the appearance of a short broadsword with the inside of the blade cut out. Toushirou in turn drew Hyourinmaru before the two soldiers approached each other at full speed and locked blades; after many fights, deceptions, and months of preparation the Winter War had finally begun.
Author's Notes: Okay that's Chapter 21 hoped you enjoyed it. Sorry you all had to wait so long but the holidays, end of the semester homework, and the holidays put a real stopper on this. Anyway before I update again you may want to refresh yourselves with the events from Chapter 6 'Betrayal' because next chapter you get to find out just what the hell happened and what this 'power' is that Alexander and Toushirou keep referring to. As for how they plan to get through Aizen's illusions and what the apparent problems were with Alexander's research…well you'll have to wait even longer for those answers.
In any case please read, review, and check out my profile.
Next Chapter will be "The Shark and the Dragon" and a fair warning to the faint of heart, I don't know what TK has planned for this whole war, but I can tell you that in my version people WILL DIE on BOTH sides and most of the deaths are going to have some sad elements to them.