a/n - Wow, bit of a break between this chapter and the last one... sorry, I've been focusing on my schoolwork a little but i had sometime to free for this when my grandfather did half my engineering assignment for no reason at all lawl
Moll and Isane were the only ones on duty at that point in night, the injuryless spree had continued and no one had any earthly idea why
"Could be that 11th have all been replaced by normal people" Moll commented out loud "Now that would be a nice life, not working long hours with obnoxious bastards like Ikkaku, Yumichika and Jankz, eh Isane?"
Isane giggled a little, but didn't reply
Moll stole a glance at the room where Layne was sleeping
"He must really have been missing out on sleep or something" she mused "It's unlike him to sleep for a week, get up and then go back sleep after a few hours, and he's not snoring, so it means he's dreaming"
Someone clapped a hand on Moll's shoulder and she turned around startled, to see Isane smiling at her
"Rone-san, we're done here"
"Eh? Oh right, I forgot that we don't need a night watch cause no one's sick, that idiot Layne just collapsed in a bed before we even thought of letting him stay in 13th barracks"
Moll took a quick look around and shut the door leading into Layne's room
"Come on Isane, let's blow this joint"
"Shit!" Jankz cursed
"Quiet you idiot" Ren hissed at him "That was about as stealthy as Zaraki after a fight"
"But I just realized that we didn't bring anything to make a distraction with"
Ren was silent for a couple of seconds and then sighed
"Admitting that you're right would just shatter my faith in the world"
"Oi"
"And that is why I'm glad to admit your wrong… Consume in Darkness, Tsukiyomi"
His katana morphed yet again, this time into a vague sword shape, which from the tsuba to halfway up the blade, was wavy and pointy and then from the end of that the top of the blade was just a double edged sword tip
Ren looked up at the building they were hiding behind and smirked
"This will do nicely"
He slashed straight through a small wooden pole and watched as the black fire immediately began to eat away at the building, spreading in both directions
"Nothing like a bit of a fire to get things started"
"So what happened to Rukia?" Moll asked "We healed her up, but she didn't stay at the 4th for too long"
"She's resting up at the Kuchiki manor" Isane replied "Her Hakusui was damaged, but that's an injury that will only recover with time, not care"
"Eh, means we get to go out early, so I'm cool with it"
Moll and Isane were walking away from the isolated hospital building that they had been cleaning in, when they heard the sounds of a commotion
They turned around the see the building engulfed in black flames, and a bunch of unseated Shinigami running around attempting to put it out
"Shit!" Moll exclaimed "That's the building we just came from!"
Moll and Isane glanced at each other and immediately began running towards the building
I hope that idiot isn't sleeping through this too
"Look at these idiots!"
Ren jerked back, surprised by Jankz' outburst
"Are you fucking retarded, we are supposed to be quiet!" he hissed angrily
"They won't hear us anyway, making so much noise trying to put out your fires" Jankz replied "I can be as loud as I want"
Ren facepalmed then glared at Jankz
"Won't they interpret it as cries for help….seeing as we are inside the building?"
"Why are we in here anyway? Seems like a stupid idea to set a building on fire and then go right in as its burning to the ground"
"Don't worry, Tsukiyomi protects me and those I choose with from its flames, you won't get burned as long as you stick close and shut the fuck up"
Jankz finally got the point, and shut his mouth
"Listen, something's coming"
A nearby door burst open and Moll went flying through
"Come on Isane, we're nearly there!"
Ren willed the flames to surround himself and Jankz so they couldn't be seen
"Lucky" he breathed "That's just who we were after"
Moll and Isane ran down the hall to Layne's room, Ren and Jankz following covertly by using the flames as cover
"I don't fucking believe it!" Moll cursed "HE IS STILL FREAKIN ASLEEP!"
"He does this a lot doesn't he?" Isane asked
"I'm beginning to think he sleeps enough for me and Joel too" Moll growled "But I'll kick his ass later, let's get out of this place before the entire building collapses on us"
Ren increased the intensity of the fire so it blocked the entrance, leaving the only route of escape the window
Without bothering to complain Moll simply leapt through the window with Layne on her back, Isane close behind
Leaving Ren and Jankz in the empty room
"Ok, this is our chance" Ren quickly said "Remove their zanpakuto's and then you take them to Kira, I've got a score to settle with the sleeping one"
They leapt through the window
Ichigo and Orihime emerged from the Senkaimon on the outskirts of Rukongai and fell to the ground, obviously exhausted
"Why… do we always have to run that goddamned gauntlet" Ichigo said "Isn't there a better way to do this?"
"Umm… Kurosaki-kun" Orihime said slowly "Where's everyone else?"
A few hell butterflies flitted overhead and suddenly Hisagi, Ikkaku, Renji, Joel, Nemu and Matsumoto appeared
"What the…? I didn't see you guys running with us?" Ichigo asked quizzically
"Run… through the Koryuu currents... are you nuts?" Renji asked "That's only for people who aren't Shinigami"
"Bastard" Ichigo growled
"Anyway" Matsumoto said quickly, cutting off any potential arguments brewing in the background "Let's go get Jidanbo to let us in, we need to go stop Kira, Hitsugaya-taichou is going to be angry at me anyway, I'd rather not make it worse"
"I hear that" Joel agreed
Because they weren't expecting anything else to come out of the burning building, Moll and Isane were woefully unprepared for Ren and Jankz's emergence
Before they even realized what was happening, their sealed zanpakuto clattered to the ground and were kicked away
"Bah, that was almost too easy" Jankz said tauntingly "You talk so big in the hospital bitch, but I should of expected that you wouldn't be able to back it up outside in the real world"
"You're… Jankz… and Ren Kashira!" Moll muttered in shock "What the fuck is going on?"
"Oh dear, knowledge about Kira was restricted to Fukutaichou's and above it seems" Ren commented "Suffice it to say that some of our comrades are injured, and we require your assistance"
"Hell no"
"Oh and I'll be taking that deadweight from your back too, I have a score to settle with him"
"Just because we're disarmed doesn't mean we're defenceless! Hado no 33. Sokatsui!"
Ren dodged the blue wave of energy with ease and snorted in contempt
"As if kido matters when you're facing a man who's been hiding out in the 5th division for longer than you're likely to have been alive"
"From what I hear about your kido skills likely the only reason you weren't detected there is because Aizen was a traitor" Moll countered "Shakkaho…. Help me out here Isane!"
Jankz had already knocked her unconscious and thrown her over his shoulder
"Hurry it up Ren!" he complained "Before Unohana-taichou gets here and fucks us both over"
"If you say so"
Ren got in close to Moll and delivered a snapkick to her jaw, and followed it up with a roundhouse punch, knocking her unconscious and causing her to drop the sleeping Layne to the ground
Jankz picked her up and flashstepped off, leaving Ren with the still sleeping Layne
"Alright"
Ren gave a testing kick to Layne's gut which chucked him into the wall
"Man, if you're really going to sleep through this how in hell am I supposed to settle this score fairly?"
"Bah" Layne said standing up, still with his eyes closed and yawning "You didn't need to turn up the heat so much, and kick me so hard just to get me up Moll"
Ren sweatdropped
I've decided, he's just an idiot with some insane luck, you can't be a combat genius and be this retarded
Layne opened his eyes and glanced around, instantly comprehending the situation
"Give me two seconds"
He leapt back into the burning building, leaving Ren openmouthed at his stupidity
I don't even have to fight; Tsukiyomi's flames will take care of him for me
"Riptide Strike: Surge!"
Layne emerged from the building surrounded by water, Shikai released and looking angry
"Alright you bastard, you're going to explain exactly why this building is on fire and where Moll is"
Ren brought his zanpakuto up into a kendo stance
"No"
I want to try that new thing you taught me Roxas, I won't need it for this guy but I reckon it could be good practice
"Go for it" Roxas answered inside Layne's head "I'm ready whenever you are"
Layne directed his attention to Ren
"I obviously don't have time to deal with you right now, so I'm going to wrap this up quickly, but you can be consoled knowing that you're the first one to see this technique"
Layne stuck Oathkeeper and Oblivion into the ground diagonally so their hilts touched each other
So I only need to do this longass setup once, and then it's my choice whether to do it or not in the future… right Roxas?
"Yeah"
Layne grinned "Let's go then"
Layne clapped his hands together and then grabbed the hilts of his keyblades, causing waves of light and reiatsu to expand outwards, momentarily blinding Ren who shouted "Pound to Death: Bokusi!" and activated the shield around his body
"Wow" Layne said "This does look cool"
In his hands Layne held what looked like a longer black and white keyblade, a longer hilt and no 'blade' part, instead, the teeth from Oathkeeper was on the top end of the blade, and the teeth of Oblivion was on the other side of that. Giving it the look of a double ended axe
"Not sure if the blade has a name… but this is Riptide Sword Style: River!"
Ren was unimpressed
"So you merged your blades, big fucking deal"
"We'll see just how big of a deal it is" Layne replied, leaping forwards and swinging Roxas down
Ren leapt to the side and attempted a direct punch to Layne's head which he ducked and then a punch to Layne's guts which he backflipped away from
"I remember this, blew me into a wall last time" Layne said easily "How come it isn't doing shit this time"
"I have to hit something for Bokusi's reiatsu blast to work" Ren explained, demonstrating by punching a hole straight through the wall
"Amazing" Layne whistled "So that's why I got blasted even when I blocked"
"I won't give you any more chances to be impressed!"
Ren shot forwards, but his punch was blocked by Layne's zanpakuto
Impossible…why isn't Bokusi firing?
"Heh, Roxas wasn't kidding me, this style is a hell of a lot stronger, when you think that last time I met your glove head on I got blasted away
He blocked Bokusi's blast with the blade's reiatsu?
Ren backflipped away and attempted to cool his nerves
That zanpakuto… would increase my strength exponentially if I could acquire it
Layne tilted his head from side to side, eliciting several loud cracks from his neck
"Sorry, but I've got somewhere I need to be"
Ren widened his eyes as the the point of the blade appeared in front of his face
"Riptide Strike: Torrent"
A jet of water shot forward from the point and impacted Ren directly in between his eyes
He fell backwards to the ground and Bokusi shifted back into a sealed katana
"Kill… me" Ren croaked "It'll be a lot kinder than what Kira has planned for me knowing that I lost
Layne sealed his zanpakuto and knelt down beside Ren
"Tell me about your zanpakuto first before I go, I'm interested in how it changes shape and ability"
"If you tell me what that last attack was"
"Torrent appears as a jet of water, but it's really a high pressure burst of reiatsu that pretty much enters your body and displaces your own reiatsu temporarily, it's a move that requires a lot of luck, and if you've got enough reiatsu left you'll just resist it, but I'm fair sure that recklessly using those gloves bursts left you open to it"
He said it so easily!
"You're really green aren't you?" Ren muttered
"Eh?"
"So carelessly explaining your abilities to the enemy, that's something even a first year academy student wouldn't do"
"I never attended Shinigami academy, I'm a 16 year old human, and… Roxas' element is the water, fluid and changeable, so even if you've seen, Surge, River and Torrent there are so many more abilities that I haven't mastered yet or just haven't showed you"
"Whatever, I can't deal with idiots like you anymore…but I'll tell you about Henryuuki"
Layne sat down, and listened intently
"The five forms of my zanpakuto, Band, Cameron, Tsukiyomi, Ookami and Bokusi, are all the zanpakuto of people I've killed"
Layne was reminded of Anita's Kagetsuki
"You fucking monster" Layne growled, punching the ground for emphasis
"Don't misunderstand me; I didn't go out of my way to murder them" Ren explained "We were all ambushed by hollows and they were all on the edge of death, I gave them mercy and only then found out what Henryuuki was capable of"
Layne grinned "Eh, so you aren't a bad guy in the end after all"
Layne got up and began walking away
"Oi!" Ren shouted after him "Where the fuck are you going, come back here and kill me!"
"Hell no" Layne shouted back at him
"You said you'd kill me after I told you about my zanpakuto!" Ren cried out, outraged
"I never had any intention to kill you"
As he said his next words, images of Kieran and Aizen flashed through Layne's mind
"I won't lower myself to his level even out of nessecity, so have a nice life"
Ren growled and laid his head back down
Shit, now I owe that dumbassed greenhorn
Once out of sight from Ren, Layne broke into a full run
I can still feel their reiatsu... Moll and Isane are still alive, but if that dude wasn't lying, does that mean Kira's here? If so I slept for too damned long again
"Oi! Trell-kun!"
At the sound of someone calling his name he slowed down and turned around
"Ukitake-san?"
"Glad I caught you, Kira Reiton is here in Seireitei"
"No time, took out one near fire, going to save Moll and Isane, talk later"
And with that he flashstepped off
"…"
"You got them Jankz?"
"No problem Emi, I'll go get them started down on Daisuke"
Jankz left, and Emi turned around and walked into the building after him, going upstairs rather than down where Kira and Tsubaki were
"We'll be good to go as soon as Daisuke heals up, Kira-san"
Kira spat, surprising Emi and Tsubaki
"Ren's lost, that useless fuck, he tried to take on one of those two kids I marked"
"How can you tell?"
"Can't you feel that reiatsu getting closer; it's like standing on a beach as the little waves get closer"
Personally Emi felt that it was more like a tidal wave
"Thanks, Jidanbou"
"No problem"
Ichigo, Orihime, Matsumoto, Hisagi, Joel, Renji, Nemu and Ikkaku walked through the gate
And immediately ran into Layne, literally
"What the hell?" Layne exclaimed, from his position at the bottom of a tangle of limbs "You jerks took your sweet time didn't you?"
They untangled themselves
"Shit, I've been tracing the wrong reiatsu!"
Layne flashstepped off again
"What in god's name was that about" Ichigo asked angrily "He didn't even tell us who's reiatsu he was supposed to be tracing"
Joel clapped a hand on Ichigo's shoulder
"Forget it, last time I saw him like that he came home covered in bruises, and then the next day we saw the guys he'd chased after… in the newspaper in full body casts, Lets go find Ukitake-taichou and get the situation"
"We're going to return to our divisions" Hisagi told Ichigo, Joel and Orihime, indicating himself, Matsumoto, Renji, Ikkaku and Nemu "We need to inform our taichous, and get our orders"
Joel nodded "Yeah, no problem"
A few hours later
"So here's the story little bitches" Jankz explained "My good friend Daisuke here got fucked up by some dude with a rock covered arm, as it's described to me, I don't know who it is, because I've never witnessed any of the Fukutaichou's abilities personally, but you're going to heal him up… and then tell me who beat him up so badly, and I'm going to take my revenge, and if you don't do either of those things then you die"
"Kill us then, we'd rather not heal him, and neither of us as ever seen any of the fukutaichou's arms covered with rocks, and it's fairly likely you'll kill us after we heal him anyway" Isane said confidently
Moll however being inexperienced in situations like this was turning a distinctive shade of green, but to her credit wasn't showing any other visible signs of fear
Moll's eyes suddenly widened and she whispered something in Isane's ear
"We'll heal him then, but we still haven't heard anything about a rock covered arm"
Jankz growled but stalked off, realizing he could just ask Daisuke when he woke up
"Why Moll?" Isane asked "Why do we need to buy time"
Moll looked much improved from her condition three seconds ago
"Can't you feel it Isane? Layne's awake and he's looking for us… we need to buy time till he get's here, and healing this guy slowly will do nicely
a/n - Ahh, i haven't had to write a ending note for a while =P
wb Wulf also =P
i drew up this awesome chart detailing all the plans i've got for Layne's abilites but i can't put it up just yet
oh and Buso Renkin! oh god that was freaking awesome