Chapter 26: The Fundamental Virulence

Mayuri Kurotsuchi was staring intently at one of the numerous monitors that inhabited his (literally) glowing beacon of science.

The spy bacteria that he had infected all of the members of the Gotei Thirteen with we're practically paying for themselves. Over the course of the invasion, he had gathered data of immeasurable worth. Most notably was that of the fight between Captain Ōtoribashi and Legion Longstride.

"Now that is interesting..." he chuckled, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

"And what might that be?" asked a disembodied voice.

"The manner of which the Sternritter was defeated," Mayuri replied. "It may hold a clue as to how the Bankais could be re-" He stopped short, when he realised just who's voice he was talking to.

"Splendid!" exclaimed Kisuke Urahara's voice. "If not a bit slow. After analysing the medallion I retrieved following Kurosaki-Kun's battle, and interrogating my Sternritter captive, I've already come up with a method to regain the Bankai!" His voice was musical and lighthearted.

"Wow, Kisuke Urahara is really amazing..." whispered a nearby member of the Research and Development institute, as he overheard the conversation. He was soon hurriedly shushed by his comrades, in hopes that the Captain had not heard him.

Mayuri ignored his statement. "How are you doing that?" he asked, his yellow eyes moving curiously.

"Oh! I implanted a communications device in your ear a while back! I forget when or how, but regardless, it's pretty useful, isn't it?"

"How dare you," Mayuri said in response. "Implanting something of this nature without my permission." Lifting his finger, he placed it over the side of his luminescent headdress.

"Wait, don't cut it off!" Urahara's voice cried. "I've got important information about the enemy!"

"Goodbye." Mayuri pulled a disinterested expression as he plunged his finger through his headdress and into his ear.

"No! Wait! St-!"

"Got youuuu~!" Urahara popped out of a small Senkaimon, behind the Twelfth Division Captain. "I was waiting in the Dangai for the perfect moment to pop out!"

Mayuri was so outraged that his expression looped right back around to completely dumbfounded.

Urahara stepped out of the Dangai portal and snapped the cell phone that he held in his hand closed. Beneath the shadow cast by his hat, he broke into a serious expression. "But back to more urgent matters... I know how we can prevent the theft of Bankais, and how to return those that were stolen." He glanced over his shoulder at the portal. "And I've brought with me some reinforcements."

Yumichika Ayasegawa groaned in pain. The force that the Bankai had struck him with was nothing to be sniffed at. He regretted putting himself out in the open, to be used as bait.

His entire right arm had been crushed, the bones inside little more than chips and fragments. Four of his ribs were broken; two of which were pressing uncomfortably into his right lung. The entire right hand side of his Shihakusho was soaked in blood.

He couldn't even hold his Zanpakuto anymore.

At least... Ikkaku managed to get her, he thought. Now all I need to do is stay under the radar, until I find a member of Squad Four to heal me.

"Look at what we have here," said a young, girlish voice.

Yumichika felt his heart lurch. If the voice belonged to an enemy, given the state he was in, he would be finished.

Aya Herz (Sternritter S) walked around the corner of a nearby building. The steel heels of her shoes tapped rhythmically against the ground. Following closely behind her, was Knight.

No way...! Two of them?!

"I couldn't be bothered to go out and look for someone to fight," Aya said, her glossy black hair fluttering behind her as she walked. "So I just decided to sit back... And what do you know, a Soul Reaper falls right into my lap."

"Young Miss," Knight said, tilting his helmet-clad head down towards her. "This man is far too badly injured to be fought fairly."

"Then I won't fight him," Aya sighed. "I'll just put him out of his misery." Her deep purple eyes narrowed. "But first..."

Yumichika's head fell back. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, and his breathi grew more and more ragged. He knew that he would not be able to fight back, in the state that he was in. Closing his eyes, he resigned himself to death.

"What's your favourite colour?" Aya asked, cheerfully. She tilted her head to the side and smiled.

Opening one eye, Yumichika's mouth hung open in dismay.

Aya walked closer and crouched down in the crater, in front of him. Her white miniskirt rose up her thighs and her chin tucked down inside the hem of her light blue turtleneck, that she wore under her white military jacket. Smiling slightly, she leaned in towards the crippled Shinigami. "What. Is. Your. Favourite. Colour?" she asked, playfully. Every word was spoken individually, and emphasised.

Yumichika began to stammer. He knew that the question's answer would not result in something as trivial as he would usually expect. His voice caught in his throat as he began to hurriedly debate with himself over what he should answer. His other eye opened, so that he was staring wide-eyed at the girl.

Aya suddenly stopped leaning towards him and broke into a slight smile. Her eyes began to sparkle. "You have really pretty eyes."

"W-wisteria," Yumichika suddenly blurted out.

"A shade of purple!" Aya exclaimed, beaming. "I love purple!" She lifted one hand and pointed at her face. "Like my eyes. See?" She turned her gloved finger towards the Shinigami. "And yours! We match!"

Yumichika blinked and stared at the young girl, unable to understand what was happening.

"I did want to impress some of the others, by killing a Seated Officer," she explained, closing her eyes and tilting her head to the side, sighing. "But you have good taste. I can't kill someone who likes the same things as me! That's too cruel."

The Fifth Seat was at a loss for words.

Aya stood back up and turned back towards her armour-clad escort. "Make sure you stay out of sight. I heard someone say that Kirmie was lurking around west of here, so if I were you, I'd go east."

The young girl and the armoured giant disappeared around the street corner they had come from. Yumichika was left laying in the crater, thanking the Soul King for his good luck.

Knight looked down at the girl through the visor of his helmet. "That was very honourable of you, Miss Herz."

"Thanks," she replied, looking up at him. Aya pulled an uncertain expression. "You're going to go now, aren't you?"

Knight had been acting strange ever since the second invasion had begun. He had been listless and distracted; as if his mind were elsewhere.

"I'm sorry, Miss," Knight said, solemnly. "But His Majesty has ordered us to dispatch the enemy as quickly as possible... Up until now, I have stayed by your side and protected you, in the name of chivalry, however... I cannot in good conscience engage the enemy with you at my side. Such an action would put you in danger." He placed his hand on the young girl's shoulder, gently. "So the safest option is to leave you in a safe area."

Aya tucked in her bottom lip and looked up at Knight. "Okay..." she sighed. "Just be back soon, okay. If... If you're gone too long, I'm going to worry."

"Of course m'lady," Knight said, bowing.

Smiling, Aya curtsied.

As she returned to her standing position, Knight turned and began to walk into the depths of the Silbern. Aya put her hands into the pockets of her jacket. She felt her finger touch smooth fabric. Her body jolted as she came to a sudden realisation.

Running after Knight, Aya called for him to stop. Once she had caught up to him, she presented the giant with her pocket handkerchief. "Sir Knight," she smiled. "I pray that you take this favour as a token of my esteem."

If Aya could have seen behind her escort's helmet, he would have been smiling. Knight bent down and took the handkerchief. "It would be an honour, Miss Herz."

"Pinpoint the locations of all Captains and Vice Captains!" Akon shouted, over his shoulder at the other members of the Research and Development Division. "Hiyosu, set up a Tenteikura!" He was tapping hurriedly against the glowing white keyboard in front of him.

"On it!" Hiyosu replied, beginning to cast the Kido.

"Everyone else!" Akon continued. "Work on releasing all of the remaining modified bugs! Map out the environment!"

Behind them all, Urahara was busy explaining his new invention to Mayuri.

"Shineiyaku," he said, opening a leather bag that he had withdrawn from his cloak. Inside the pouch were at least two dozen black pills, resembling hard candy. "With these, we can completely prevent the theft of Bankais, as well as return the Bankais that have already been stolen."

"So what, pray tell, is your hypothesis?" Mayuri asked, attempting to conceal his disgust for the man in front of him.

"I had an inkling about the method of prevention when I first began my interrogation of Mr DaVinci," Urahara explained. "Through him, I learned that our enemy had already invaded and overtaken Hueco Mundo. And yet, when I ventured there to confirm this news, I discovered a very strange thing. Not a single one of the Arrancar had their Resurreccion stolen." His eyes narrowed. "As I'm sure you're aware, the nature of the Resurreccion makes it essentially the same as a Bankai. So why hadn't they been taken? It wasn't that they had no interest in Arrancar. Rather the opposite; they drafted many of them into their army to use as soldiers... So that leaves two reasons open, as to why the Resurreccion were not stolen."

"Either they couldn't steal them, or it would be detrimental to do so," Mayuri said, completing Urahara's train of thought.

"Precisely." Urahara broke into a grin. "And thanks to Captain Ōtoribashi, we have the final piece of the puzzle."

"All soldiers of Lieutenant rank and up have been pinpointed inside and outside of the Seireitei!" Akon called over his shoulder.

"Excellent," Urahara said, eyeing the bag of pills in his hand.

Sui-Feng cried out in pain as an explosion to her left shattered her elbow.

Most of her Shihakusho had been burnt from her body, and the blood that spewed from her open wounds was dried into her skin; superheated by the numerous blasts that assaulted her. The left side of her face was so swollen and charred that her eye was closed. The skin of her back was mottled and scorched, as was her exposed right leg.

Balder maintained his distance, continuously launching artillery at the Captain. Light danced across his dark skin, thrown forth by the great blaze his weaponry had set upon the buildings.

I need to get a clean hit on him! Sui-Feng thought, as she was flung around like a rag doll by the explosions. I'm getting blown to death here... If only I could use my Bankai!

Ahem... suddenly echoed a voice inside her head. Greetings to all Captains of the Gotei Thirteen, and hello to all you Lieutenants out there, as well! My name is Kisuke Urahara! There are probably some of you out there who don't know me, but fear not, I'll make the introductions once things have... calmed down a bit.

Distracted by the sudden appearance of Urahara's voice, Sui-Feng felt a blow against her stomach. A reishi missile had caught her full on in the gut. Exploding violently, the projectile sent her hurtling through the air, and crashing into the ground below.

The Captain lifted her head, her eyes losing focus and a haze gripping her mind. Everything was beginning to grow muffled and fuzzy.

That stupid idiot... Why would he... Interrupt everyone's battles like this?

This is a very exciting time! the voice continued. I've managed to develop a method of regaining lost Bankais! And to top it off, it can also be used to prevent the theft of Bankais as well. Aren't I just the most resourceful little genius?

"W-what...?" Sui-Feng gasped, through bloodied and burnt lips.

Along with this transmission, I've sent you all a little black pill. All you need to do is touch it, and it will take effect. You can use anything you want; your hand, your foot, your sword, even your-!

Stop that right now! suddenly shouted Akon's voice, over the Tenteikura.

Sui-Feng ignored the rest of the comical arguing that was filling her head. Her entire attention, half-conscious as it was, was focussed on a small black object that had just appeared next to her.

Reaching out, her arm trembled, dripping blood onto the ground around her. Just as the strength left her shoulder, her hand dropped and touched the pill. Immediately, the medication was drawn into her body, invading her system. She could feel it grafting onto her soul.

"What's that?!" Balder laughed, launching another round of rockets at the Captain. "Some new toy to try and defeat me?!"

"No..." Sui-Feng said, weakly, as the attacks continued to scream towards her. "An old toy that I've dug out just for you... Bankai: Jakuhō Raikōben!"

Just as her Bankai manifested, the missiles collided with the ground around her, eclipsing her form in fire.

"The method is very simple..." Urahara explained, directing his attention towards Mayuri and Akon. "Quincys have no natural defences against Hollows. It's for that reason that they mercilessly hunt them like they do... One bite is enough to infect a Quincy, and begin to break down their cells. So if we insert a minuscule fragment of Hollow Reiatsu into the Captain's Bankais, no matter how small, the very nature of it will become like poison to the Quincys."

"That's why the Sternritter who stole Captain Rose's Bankai reacted to its activation the way he did," Mayuri continued. "Because Urahara's pills are providing a sudden jolt of Hollow Reiatsu, it disrupts the connection to the Quincys' medallion. However in Rose's case, the Hollow Reiatsu was already a part of his Bankai... That is why it was slowly poisoning the Quincy who stole it. And it all came to a head when he activated the stolen Bankai."

"And now that they know that the Bankais contain a little bit of Hollow-seasoning," Urahara grinned. "They won't be stealing them anymore."

Sui-Feng found herself atop a nearby building, out of range of the blast. Omaeda held her in a clumsy embrace with his shattered hands. He had pulled her out of the way of the last attack, the split second before it had found its mark.

She smiled weakly. "Hold me steady... The recoil on this is... a bit of a bitch..."

Without another word, Sui-Feng lifted her Bankai and took aim at the Quincy. The golden structure caught the light of the moon above and flames below her, shining and shimmering.

As the body of the Bankai shot from its sheath, it broke the sound barrier, leaving a sonicboom trailing in its wake. Sui-Feng and Omaeda were both swept from the roof and flung through the air.

Balder Blitzkrieg caught sight of the attack searing through the night towards him, and opened his eyes wide in horror.

Light tore through the Silbern. Windows were shattered and eardrums of anyone within a half mile radius were blown out.