Author Notes: Since this is Bleach, the "Ghost busters" will be understandably much stronger than the original ones. Also their names will be different in order to not make this a total legal issue.
Also a surprise appearance of two characters that you didn't expect to appear this early to help Isshin.
Also, more clarification on what the World Sword organization is.
Also giving hints on how strong Isshin really is in this fanfic AU.
Chapter 26: Class IV Target
The four men went to the box containing Chad's current demonic form and pressed a button on the side- it shrunk enough so it would fit in a pants pocket. The pants pocket of the more casual man of the group.
They seem to be professionals of some kind that deal with whatever Chad turned into just now. It's better to get in close enough to get the container they put Chad in and then hurry away from here as soon as possible in order to avoid a direct fight. I don't know how strong their Full-Bring is, but from what I can tell from their massive Spiritual Pressure- it's likely to be something devastating., Isshin thought with a strategic mindset.
Suddenly, one of the four men then drew out a strange device, it was a rectangular shaped object with a small black screen, mounted on a handle, which had a pair of folded wing like protrusion on either side. If one looked closely, the wings had colored lights on them.
When the man pointed this device at Isshin, the wings extended outwards the lights, flashed and made a buzzing noise that annoyed the stubbled bearded man.
"Um. What're you doing?," Isshin asked with a raised brow in irritated confusion to the odd technology being used.
"It's a procedure to tell if we have to capture you as a hostile or let you be. You don't seem to be a normal human being to arrive here without a car. To...wherever this empty field is. It's kind of nice to see some greenery when all we got back we're from is crowded parks. Makes you appreciate the simpler things in life.," explained the more jovial sounding of the four men.
Eventually, the wings extended to their full outstretched length and a louder beeping noise was heard that made Isshin and the Royal Guard cover their ears. The four men seemed to be more used to the sound than the Soul Reapers were.
"Over 20 years and you still haven't updated that noisy piece of junk?," said the casual man to the one holding the loud device.
"I'm waiting for science to progress enough to have it be more advanced in order to lower the sound frequencies for human hearing to tolerate. Though, it may be long after we've died given our country's current level of technological enhancement- especially, given how our president is running the country.," said the holder in a somewhat humorous, yet stoic tone.
"Crazy noise here! Total Discord!," Oetsu said loudly. The other three were groaning in pain. They then looked at Ichibe- he had already written the 静か on the Kūki Tsūro around himself in a large circle using his sealed brush Zanpakuto. Due to its spelling, the powers of the character made it so that Ichibe did not have to hear the loud sound.
They followed into the circle and sighed in relief.
"Seriously, what the hell is that?!," said Isshin who was still hearing the loud noise until the man put it away. The identity of the user was the stoic man who seemed to be the analyst of the group.
The man then spoke to his colleagues in an analytical tone as he put the object away.
"He's a Class IV with a definite human shape and retaining his original personality. I want to see if we can do a background check on him and later engage possible communication to see if he's hostile or not, if he is- we'll contain him."
"A Class what? Why does this seem like something the 12th Division would do to me if they had the chance.," Isshin asked with a raised eyebrow of bafflement and irksomeness.
"Eugene. Come on, I'm guessing he's a regular Joe like us, he pays his taxes and gets time off work when his shift's done. Well, he's a Ghost, but I assume he's a well respected person of his trade- whatever he does. Maybe, I don't know- we can have lunch with after this Nephillim business is all over.," his colleague said in a laid-back and casual tone to his colleague named Eugene.
"Yeah, I actually work at a small medical clinic but, if you're thinking we'll have coffee after what your juniors tried to do to my family- it ain't happening.," said Isshin with a sigh to the four men to get their attention.
You're aware of it right? Trying to kill little girls in cold blood.," Isshin continued with a tone of intense fury in those words.
The four men then noticed that in his right hand, he was dragging the collars of a black,a white/blue and yellow T-shirt of three unconscious older teenagers. They all wore trousers of dark, mid and light colors. On their heads were a light green, dark green and grey beanie hats respectively. What made them different from one another was their facial features. The one with the grey hat had black hair, a mustache, a gold nose ring, necklace, and bracelets. The one with the light green hat had a black goatee, as well as rings on his nose and left eyebrow. And finally, the one with the dark green hat had no piercings or facial hair.
They were the three Yama Brothers- Lil' Yama with the mustache, Mit' Yama with the goatee and Yama with the dark green hat. The trio that had always pestered Ichigo on his way back from school. For some odd reason, their bodies were emitting a green Spiritual Pressure like a Full-Bringer.
"And it was a nice day before that happened...," Isshin told the four as he recalled how he came to hold these three unconscious punks.
Earlier that Day
Isshin was watching television with his three children about the occurrence at the eldest child's school.
A knocking was heard at the front door.
"Hey don't you guys go anywhere. It's probably the police to check if Ichigo is doing alright after what happened. I'll tell them everything you told me, right son?," Isshin told his children in a happy tone.
"Yeah dad.," said an unusually excitable Ichigo, giving a thumbs-up to his father.
As Isshin went to the door, both Karin and Yuzu noticed something that was odd about their brother and father's conversation.
Dad never calls Ichigo son. What's going on., thought Karin with a stoic expression.
And Ichigo's never been this happy since mom died., Yuzu thought with worry.
Isshin opened the door with a gleaming smile, but was surprised who was at the door.
It was three punks wielding skateboards in the hands with an odd detail- they were emitting green Spiritual Pressure- that of which, is normally associated with Full-Bringers. This got Isshin more serious than usual.
"Is Ichigo here- want to pay him back for all the crap he's done to us. If not, your daughters- they're in the house right ?," the largest with the mustache interrogated Isshin as he placed his skateboard on the ground and rode on it.
"I'm not ready to give my daughters away that easily. And Ichigo's a little off today, why not-," Isshin said with a stern, but still smiling face as he joked with the men.
"Save it man. Kugo said they're to be disposed of since they have the damn Quincy blood- they're planning Armageddon man.," said the one with the goatee as he repeated the first's actions.
"I knew Ichigo was a freak, but now I know he gets that freaky amount of power from his bitch mother-," said the clean shaven one as he repeated the same actions as his colleagues.
Suddenly, a grim faced Isshin drew a toy dispenser with a cartoony skull head and popped from the top a green candy that he swallowed to the trio's bafflement. The body fell down unconscious and rose up to their surprise in a different expression.
"I am Alfred, the Gikon. I am very polite, but morbid. My master will be taking care of this.," said Isshin in a more sophisticated and refined tone before making his face more like Isshin's usual goofiness. He closed the front door to their confusion.
"That's Gikon, an Artificial Soul for when Soul Reapers need their Gigai faux body to function normally without suspicion. They're quirky, but with enough time- they can mimic the host perfectly so there's not as much suspicion when we do our duties.," said a familiar voice, now more serious than before.
The three turned around to see that Isshin was in a black samurai garb with a tachi at his had a white haori overcoat tied around one of his arms.
He had a shadowed face of fury as he looked at the now very nervous three.
The three then used their skateboards to move at superhuman speeds with green trails of light behind them.
It did little good- Isshin was able to predict each of their strikes and knocked them unconscious on the concrete with ease.
"Luckily, they were newbies. Not sure how I can manage with my moves rusty.," Isshin complained as he cracked his neck. He grabbed the collars of the three unconscious boys as he prepared to leap into the sky.
His eyes narrowed with his next words-
"Ichigo's friend...Chad right? His Spiritual Pressure's been weird since yesterday, and now it's weirder like he's slowly becoming less human."
He then sensed four powerful Spiritual Pressures that seemed to extremely massive in comparison to his own.
"Full-Bringers huh? And they seem to be on a whole other level than these punks. Normally, I'd ignore them if they're too much for me to handle..., but they're heading in Chad's direction.," he spoke as he observed their level of power.
"I'm going to be sore tomorrow for what I'm going to do.," said Isshin as he prepared to head in the same direction as the other four individuals.
Present Time
"Ok, then I guessing Kugo's more of the draconian method kind of guy. Really makes me not regret not doing that cult chant last night.," said the casual man as he looked at the three men with some disgust. The other three agreed with the statement.
"I wish Ichigo would be more restrained in how he deals with annoying assholes like these. Remember that big event at school yesterday? Well, they were gonna plan to ambush him when my son would leave class- along with several punks who all had the same idea around the same day. He's really popular since he got to middle school.," Isshin remarked with a dry sense of humor.
Wait a minute...that's making him think violence is always the answer! Don't encourage that kind of behavior in him. They grow up to be sociopaths if you don't teach them restraint when you can., thought the casual man with some unease at Isshin's choice of parenting.
Isshin returned to his more serious expression.
"My point is that they got caught up in the big fight at Karakura High School and they got infected with Hollow powers by Numb Chandelier and were about to die of Soul Suicide due to the incompatibility of their souls with the Hollow Spiritual Power. Then Ichigo's own unusual Spiritual Pressure got mixed in with theirs and created the catalyst for what's happening to everyone who was there at the time- they became Full-Bringers using the rare 2nd method. It seemed a little too much a consequence that happened without someone pulling the strings...like a Full-Bringer that can implant memories to make them act a certain way.," he explained in a grave tone.
"And your boss, Ginjo decided to recruit these punks to do something for him using their new powers- they would wait until Karin and Yuzu would leave the house...and murder them in cold blood. Because their mother's a Quincy right...or should I call it Nephillim like you do?," Isshin concluded with a clenched fist and beyond angry expression. He emitted a massive amount of Spiritual Pressure to force them to take action.
To his shock, they weren't intimidated- even worse, they treated it like a cold breeze to be shrugged off.
"Sigh, guess we know what you are now. Black samurai outfit with no familiar like a Death God- you're one of the Soul Reapers- the Tamashi Karitoriki as the men upstairs call it, aren't you Dr. Kurosaki?," said the casual man to Isshin with a more serious, yet casual expression on his face. Isshin silently looked at the man.
"Except for Winliser here, all of us were scientists, though I initially was a slacker who didn't study enough. I was good, but not in the orthodox way.," the casual man continued to Isshin in a relaxed tone as he criticized himself.
Isshin was surprised to hear this, to know that at least one of them had a similar attitude that he possessed back in the Soul Reaper Academy.
"Kugo Ginjo...He was one of you guys too before he left, I figure. That's why he's a murder crazed lunatic who considers doing things this really messy way. Personally, I did rather not have it happen at all- but, I was ordered by my superiors to go along with his plan, despite he being a psychopath- an enjoyable man to hang with, but still a a psycho with radical ideas. It should at least as clean as possible if its to be done at all.," said the casual speaking man with an over-dramatic tone of shame towards Ginjo's tactics, while also agreeing that Isshin's children should die.
The stubble chinned man was about to rush in and beat the man to death about discussing the death of his children. Isshin then noted while he was agreeing that his children should die- there was a great reluctance in the casual man's dramatic tone in what he was saying.
"So you're saying you're not his flunkies? What are you then? Usurpers planning to take him down?," Isshin asked the man in a stern facial expression that was less extreme than before.
"More like overseers from the United States to make sure he doesn't ignore his objective to eliminate the Nephillim as quickly as possible in order to stop an apocalypse level event on Earth. We're from a North American branch that's a special group called World's Sword. The organization is employed in secret by the United Nations to deal with the supernatural. And another secret level, there's our own bosses- super powerful demigods who answer directly to well- the closest thing we have to what we call God or Gods in this case.," said the down to earth man. Isshin's eyes widened to who he meant by those words.
They're Americans- I knew something was different about them! it means Kugo's recruiting from around the globe. He must be planning a giant invasion on the Silbern if that's the case. But, the World's Sword- that's that international organization that handles the things Soul Society doesn't want to deal with right? Gods- that doesn't sound like the Soul King. It sounds like the-, Isshin thought to himself about their explanation.
"The Royal Family! This is bad if it goes all the way to the top.," said Isshin with a tone of shock to what the down to earth man just told him.
"Yeah man. You don't want to get messed up with what we're trying to do. Some of the higher-ups are hired former psychos who wouldn't bat an eye if they deemed a country of hostile supernatural entities along with innocent bystanders if it meant to get rid of a problem. Luckily, we have help upstairs to fix most of the damage.," said the casual man to Isshin.
"If you weren't a Soul Reaper, normally you'd start laughing at us- like Malt Pickle, a discredited environmentalist who tried to shut us down- which led to an apocalypse level, extra-dimensional entity appearing in New York and him getting fired for his reckless actions. Ironically, ol' Pickle ran for office won the election to be the current Mayor of New York; he had the power to close our business till they showed up- the Royal Family, the Gods Almighty.," said the down to earth man
"You had to see the look on ol' Pickle's face when he saw them right in front of his face- he actually started bowing to them, when he'd usually call ghosts hallucinogenic illusions that we made up. He's still in the hospital recovering from the shock of what they told him about how the Earth is run by them.," said the stoic man with a undertone of dry humor.
"Feel bad to how the Archbishop reacted- feel unconscious at the revelation that they're technically God Almighty or this planet's closest thing to it. Though, it's not every day that you find out that the thing you've following your entire life is actually a divine family of deities that interacts with other dimensions of existence, decide everybody's reincarnation, create dimensions for especially supernatural entities, create the laws of the universe, recreate the universe, generate new life, incarnate as physical composed beings for observation and raise the dead. Really serious stuff to change your perspective on your entire religion.," said the more excitable man who became louder with each word until he quieted down with the last sentence in reverence to the priest.
"And we got our asses trained by them until we got- meager, yet high paying jobs as World's Sword employees.," the casual man concluded with sarcasm.
"So you're with the World's Sword that work under the Royal Family? Thought this was just Ginjo recruiting any hapless sap to his fanatical cause to kill all Quincy. You guys sometimes sub for the Royal Guard when they're busy with Vasto Lorde slaying and not protecting the Soul King. So you're helping Ginjo on his crusade to eliminate Quincy? You always were unpredictable.," replied the stubble bearded man.
Ichibe looked with wide eyes when Isshin mentioned World's Sword, he signaled the others to watch the fight.
"Well then, since you're so obsessed with stopping these fellows, we won't interfere. Even if you die at their hands.," said the large man in an upbeat down tone while sitting in a cross-legged position.
"Wha?," asked Isshin with a confused expression to the head of the Royal Guard.
"By the way, if you face them know this- even a student in the World's Sword academy is stronger than both the Head Captain and myself combined. Food for thought.," the large man concluded with a completely white eyed gaze in a morbid tone towards Isshin, which made the latter nervous.
"That's an odd thing to say.," Isshin said with a sigh as he dropped the Yama Bros on the ground and drew his Zanpakuto from his sheath with one hand. It was a an ordinary tachi, with a red handle and hexagonal tsuba. It was carried on a string wrapped around his belt in an iaidō style position, and worn with the edge down like a tachi instead of the edge up like a katana. The hilt's pommel had a blue tassel attached at the ends of the pommel.
"Put the sword down and let's talk like civilized people. I'm Pitter Vonk, that's Rayge Starq, he's Winliser Zaccaria and the one with the glasses is Eugene Spapoj. We're in a paranormal business in New York called Ghost-Busters that captures nasty ectoplasmic ghouls, specters and whatever bumps in the night. Occasionally, we fight ancient hyper-dimensional gods, but that's occasionally, usually every couple years.," Pitter the casual man explained to the Soul Reaper. Rayge the excitable man, Winliser the down to earth man and Eugene the odd, but serious man nodded their heads when each was mentioned.
"I'm Isshin Kurosaki, Former 10th Captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads. Now that I've giving you my name, this is now an official fight. I hope you don't hold it against me.," Isshin declared with his fully drawn sword in a grave tone.
"Oh for God's sake, I thought Japan was supposed to be peaceful.," said Winliser with exasperation as he clicked the back of her odd device, which shot out an odd shaped gun what was wielded in his left hand.
"I'm a little rusty, but here goes. Burn Engetsu (Scathing Moon).," Isshin declared as his Zanpakuto blade was engulfed in a form of flowing Spiritual Energy, which engulfed the sword's tassels, creating long, trailing streams of energy behind him. The sword surprisingly remained the same in form to the Ghost-Buster's curiosity, which was very different from their reports on Soul Reapers being able to change their weapons into odd forms.
The dark skinned man was not intimidated by the attack as he prepared to charge his odd weapon with green Spiritual Particle energy from his body into the muzzle of the object.
"The ones that look simple are always the scariest things of all. Like Zoger the Journeyer turning into that giant pillow clown- cause Rayge had to be the one who chose his avatar state. You had to think of the Pillow Clown the King of New York- cause you like the cotton candy brand that came with the Pillow Clown toy.," Winliser spoke initially with a stoic expression, but then complained to his excitable companion about the events in New York.
"I couldn't help it. I thought it would be the most harmless thing and it wouldn't destroy us.," Rayge said sheepishly in his defense.
"Well, luckily, some really powerful people helped our assess when that harmless thing almost took out New York. The North American Division of the World's Sword was generous enough to help us beat Zoger and we've been under their employment ever since. Though, it's still only enough to pay for the fire house. The low part of town is surprisingly expensive to live in New York City.," Eugene said with a dry sense of humor that shocked Isshin expecting him to be always stoic.
"Wait...King of New York! I heard it on the news once, it was that odd parade balloon that was hijacked with bombs!," Isshin shouted with a wide eyed realization of what he had heard on the television news back in the 80s.
"That's the press talking to cover it all up. Though, most people would be terrified of a eldritch god worshiped by an long extinct civilization just happened to be summoned by special technology in a hotel created by a nihilistic architect in the early 20th Century in the form of a giant food mascot. Yeah, a terrorist balloon bombing seems more legit an explanation,"said Pitter in his usual casual tone reminiscing on the past with sarcasm.
"That would be-Wait what am I saying?! You captured my son's friend so he'd join Ginjo in his little Quincy hunt and tried to have my kids assassinated by thugs. Sorry, but conversation's over.," said the former captain initially being casual to Pitter, coming to his senses on the current situation and resuming his serious expression as he prepared his attack.
"Ketsueki Tsuki (Blood Moon).," Isshin said as he bit his lip and spat blood onto his Zanpakuto- doing so activated a large wave of deadly spiritual energy to emanate from the sword, generating a blood red energy wave that headed towards Winliser.
"That's a shame man. You seemed to be alright in my book.," said the man as he fired the odd looking gun with a green colored blast of Spiritual Energy mixed with a ectoplasmic/proton element of static at Isshin. The Ketsueki Tsuki attack was blown away by the green sphere's speed heading towards Isshin.
"Oni Dekopin (Oni Headpoke).," Isshin said calmly as he used his free hand to pull his finger against his thumb to flick the sphere back.
To his surprise, the blast was stronger than he thought, he had to change his tactic to hold off the blast with his bare hand. The force of the strike caused him to skid several feet backwards to his shock.
"What do you put in this thing?! This things tougher than one of Aizen's spells!," Isshin asked with a genuine sense of shock at Winliser.
"Used to be positively charged ions when we started our business, but since working with the W.S. Now it's based on my Mana, what you'd call Spiritual Power in your terminology, using it to charge my Ecto Pistol. To be honest, once you've dealt with enough shit from places that can turn you white- the things made on earth seem really insignificant in comparison.," said the man in a cool tone.
Isshin initially was indifferent to the men and didn't try to observe them seriously until this moment that he saw them for what they were.
They all wore beige exterminator like uniform with a No-Entry sign over a creepy ghost on the right breast pocket, a left breast pocket name tag, elbow pads, insulated work gloves and standard issue lace-up boots. What made each different was their individual characteristics.
Pitter was a middle aged man with balding black hair with some gray patches around the sides of his head, big black eyebrows that were sloped downwards and a big nose. He was slightly stout, but was still fit. He had a laid-back, but sly charm to him despite his looks. He was the shortest of the four around 5'7
Eugene was a long faced man with brown hair with some gray patches that was shaped like a small pompadour, a thin pointed edged nose and thin eyebrows. He wore large rounded glasses over his eyes. He had a serious expression, but not of aloofness- rather of repressed emotions. He had a gaunt, yet fit body build. He was the second shortest around 5'9.
Rayge was a rounded face with thick square eyebrows, a rounded nose and brown rounded hair with gray patches on the sides. He had a rounded build, but was still fit. He had an optimistic and cheerful expression on his face. He was the second tallest at 6'0 tall.
Winliser was different from the other four in that he was African American of dark brown skin rather than Caucasian like the other three were. He was of average build, yet still fit. He had rounded eyebrows, short black hair with gray patches on the side, a black handlebar mustache and a square shaped face. He was the tallest at 6'2. He was normally level-headed, but his eyes opened slightly when he saw that Isshin had managed to hold the blast in his hand.
"Ok, so he can hold a shot that causes most evil ghosts to go unconscious? Didn't see that coming.," said the dark skinned man in a tone of shock.
"I'm actually impressed. I normally destroy Kido in 50 level with just one flick. Need all four to handle ones up to level 99. I'm guessing that if our system went higher. Your technique would be in 500 level at most.," Isshin replied with a honest tone of respect towards the man he was facing.
"...you have something absurd up your sleeves don't you?," Winliser asked the man with a flat tone of realization.
"Yeah, unlike most Zanpakuto, Engetsu is very honest in his feelings. So he doesn't like to lie about his form- so in Shikai, he's already in his released form and merely releases his power through it. Would you like to-," Isshin explained sternly to the uniform wearing man. He was then cut off by the abrupt actions of the other three.
"Floor it.," said Pitter in a serious tone to Eugene and Rayge.
To his surprise, the three released their green energy vine like energy tendrils at Isshin to restrain him with strong constrained force. They were enough to make him fall on his knees. The sparks from the vines ignited small flames onto the ground. They were slowly constricting him with their grasp
"Affable, but not stupid. What a pain.," Isshin grunted under the restraints that became tighter as he struggled.
"We try to keep the damage to a minimum at most. Though, we still cause some damages that we have to pay for from our budget.," Rayge replied in a quieter tone that was apologetic to what he was doing to the Soul Reaper.
"Sorry about this. I'd rather not have been apart of this, but you have no idea how strong the higher ups are...and I have a little lady and son to protect- the son's not mine, still love with all my heart though.," Pitter said apologetically to the restrained Soul Reaper.
Isshin sighed in surrender, knowing that they had more in common than they thought.
"If you were in charge of taking care of my children? What would you do?," Isshin asked the men with a tone of honest inquiry.
"...All things considered. Probably wouldn't kill them if it were my choice.," Pitter responded.
"We'd normally have children like them join the World's Sword because of their unique heritage to become respectful fighters the sake of humanity, however-," Eugene continued with a stoic tone of repressed sympathy, wishing things could be different.
"They have the blood of a dangerous being bent on changing everything, even if it means the end of the World of the Living, the Soul Society, the Royal Family and Hueco Mundo. And you can't be sure when the switch for that impulse will happen- when they'll try and turn their attention to the innocent when that impulse starts.," Isshin interjected with a understanding of their motives with a pained smile with a single tear in his eye.
"Sorry, man. Its natural for people to want to stop the end of the world doing whatever you can, even if you don't like it. I'll make sure that your kids won't have to go out in the way Ginjo's planning for them. Nothing too painful, I promise.," said Pitter with a bittersweet tone of repressed remorse as he tightened the vine like weapon around Isshin to crush his ribs.
The former 10th Captain nearly fell unconscious from the strain of the coils tightening around his body, he never faced professionals as powerful as this before and he was .
"Saving the World- how boring?," said an aggressive voice from the sky as if criticizing the Ghost-Busters' mission.
Bells were heard in the area.
"Isshin Kurosaki, I'm surprised you're here! Either you've gotten rusty or these guys are really strong!," the voice said again to Isshin this time.
"That voice...," Isshin said quietly in shock, which caused his eyes to widen.
"The masked man I saw from the recordings- I sensed some of the Spiritual Pressure he was emitting was similar to yours. Is he your son? Then it's expected that he's strong then!," said a voice above Isshin's shocked expression. It was deep in tone with a tinge of blood-lust in the words that were spoken.
The four Ghost-Busters looked up in the sky, confused at the sudden voice in the sky. The Royal Guard also looked to the sky as well.
A Senkaimon opened in the center of the sky, as they opened- a large Soul Reaper man with an ornate black eye patch covering, tattered haori overcoat and hair styled into pointed strands like a multi-pointed star. He had a crazed expression of joy as he unsheathed his jagged edged sword and landed with a loud thud next to the five individuals on the ground. The ground beneath him gave in under his weight. A subtle tap on was heard next to Eugene for some reason.
The large man breathed heavily as the four Ghost-Busters were hesitant to make any sudden moves with this feral looking man.
He looked towards Isshin with a mad gleam in his eye.
"So where is he? I want to fight him once I clean up these guys.," said the man to the restrained Isshin with a wide eyed expression of glee. He placed his sword horizontally on his back.
"Um. It's another door to another world opening again and a really big fella came out. Is he another one of those Soul Reapers or is this another god thing. We just got rid of one last god last week!," said Pitter with a shocked expression on his face while trying to keep his wits about him.
"11th Captain Kenpachi Zaraki. Does Head Captain Yamamoto know you're doing this? Or is he going to make you catch on fire once you're found going against orders. Though in your case, it wouldn't effect you in the slightest in whatever you do.," asked the former 10th Captain with a hint of dry humor at the new arrival.
"And if he had his way he'd have me go after that boring Aizen. To fight him, especially as he is now? He's stronger than he was before, but he's not like he was before- even if he claims otherwise. I decided to go on my own to find a better fight where that masked fighter showed up. So where is he?," Kenpachi responded with a grimace on his face.
"Great. Another Soul Reaper and a real nasty one. I want to take a sample if he's a hostile one.," said Rayge with excitement in the prospect of studying him. Kenpachi heard these words, gave an angry expression of surprise and then saw Pitter and smiled with a expression of fight obsessed euphoria.
"I think he heard you Rayge...and he is looking at me now...with that sword pointed at me...," Pitter replied with a subtle nervousness as he noticed the large man was looking at him now with a frenzied expression.
"Don't worry, he seems to be more interested in the half Nephillim than you. Don't move he won't go after you.," Rayge assured his colleague, unaware of how Kenpachi operated to strong opponents. Pitter also knew the last time this type of sentence was spoken- he was slimed by a nasty Ghost.
Suddenly, Kenpachi with his sword raised charged at Pitter who screamed in alarmed surprise as the former slashed at the latter with a yellow slash of power, breaking his hold on the restraining vine device allowing Isshin to use Shunpo to move with enough force to entangle himself from the remaining two Ghost-Busters.
Isshin then lunged at the falling Pitter's pocket to get the containment unit that was currently holding Chad and placed it in his own hakama pocket.
It wasn't due to pure strength that he was able to do this, but rather the element of surprise that had caught the four Ghost-Busters off guard enough to loosen their grasp on him to escape the coils so he could do what he intended to do.
I hate to admit it, but their words didn't seem to be bluff. Whatever this Zoger was- it was a hell of a lot stronger than I ever was, even at my prime. What kind of stuff did these men fight throughout their careers to make them this strong?! And this stuff that they used-was made from Spiritual Power?! Nobody in Soul Society could do that without activating Bakudo or something. Anyway, I got Chad that's good for now., thought the former 10th Captain with admitted difficulty as he remarked on his escape based on luck.
"He slashed me with yellow sword stuff- how did he do that?! What the hell was that?!," Pitter noted as his uniform was cut. Thankfully, there was a armor jacket underneath made from an unknown substance that blocked the blow. Kenpachi grinned knowing that this man wasn't finished off so easily
"Actual physical contact. We need to take you to the lab in the apartment tas soon as possible.," said Rayge as he pulled Pitter to his feet. The four began to retreat away from the fight. Kenpachi was annoyed at their decision to run from the fight.
"Yeah, I draw the line when a giant man with a big sword comes out of the sky trying to kill you.," Winliser responded with a tone of relief as he followed the group and returned his Ecto-Pistol in the large Ecto-pack on his back.
"Oh no. No, you're getting away that easily.," said a creepy sounding voice that was that of a warped intellectual. This stopped the four in their tracks, shocked that another individual had followed Kenpachi. Kenpachi grimaced at hearing the voice, knowing who it was. Isshin was very shocked to hear this voice again.
Eugene noticed as he pushed his glasses a figure slowly began to materialize in front of him- no that was not it. It was more like the being had followed Kenpachi while camouflaged and was now removing the disguise as individual flakes fell away from his body to unveil his identity.
"And now a freaky skeleton man's shown up. This ain't my day today.," said Winliser with a tone of annoyance at the situation.
"Nisehada (False Skin)- it allows me to blend with the color and texture of the environment while suppressing my Spiritual Pressure and Power while in this state. I'd like to ask this of you- what do you like to do on your free time?," said the being now full manifested. He was the strange sideways pointed hat wearing, skeletal visage Soul Reaper known as the 12th Division Captain, Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
"I collect spores, molds and fungus.," said the bespectacled man to the odd individual in a flat tone to hide his shock by activating as emotionless as possible.
"Interesting. You're handling this calmly for a Full-Bringer meeting a proper Soul Reaper for the first time.," said Mayuri in a sly tone of confidence as he observed the bespectacled man.
"To be honest, I'm terrified beyond all rational thought. That said, we deal with Ghosts from other dimensions that are much more unusual than you are. I still admit my shock at seeing you show up in front of me in the current moment.," Eugene replied with a stoic expression that repressed his fear of the suddenly manifested man near him.
"Is that a fact? Tell me what these Ghosts you spoke of and how I can find them? So I may study them completely? I'm a scientist as well- Dr. Spapoj., "the 12th Captain responded with a wide eyed expression of inquisitive lunacy on his face that made Eugene take a few steps back. Rayge also took a few steps back from the 12th Captain, being very wary of the man that was very different from both Isshin and the newly arrived Kenpachi.
"Mayuri-," Isshin said to the strange looking captain until the latter interjected in an elitist tone.
"Before you answer that. Yes, I've already sent the information as well as given the technology to find Aizen now he's been transformed by the Hogyoku. So the Head Captain is satisfied with my duties- he's now more concerned about reports on the large number of Full-Bringers suddenly emerging in the World of the Living in Karakura and Naruki cities. Even the ones from the World's Sword realm of protection. Did you think that the Soul Society was that blind to how things are in the World of the Living- to let Full-Bringers have their way? How ridiculous."
Ichibe smirked at that statement. Kenpachi and Mayuri were currently unaware of the Royal Guard's presence, which the latter preferred to happen at the moment.
"So you realized Aizen was rotten to the core, finally. Wait, he was cornered?!- That's something Aizen would never have happen to him unless it was completely outside of his calculations.," Isshin argues with Mayuri.
"It's simple to explain. A few Arrancar were interrogated on his plans and a visual recording from yesterday showcased zombified individuals that were consequently all killed by Grand Fisher, who was consequently an Arrancar with the power to raise the dead. All of whom voiced Aizen was up to something at some point of their stay as Soul Reapers right in Karakura Town against the horned masked Soul Reaper. Everyone saw this certain detail and began to question what Aizen does on his spare time. It was simply a matter of time before he figured out he was cornered by the other Captains. The brutish Kenpachi and I decided that the Aizen containment plan would be handled by the remaining 11 Division. This current venture in the World of the Living was better to find more interesting targets to research both in the name of science...and Zaraki's idea of amusement for battle. Especially since the situation with Aizen in Soul Society requires the simple tactic of-," Mayuri retorted in a lengthy explanation, summarizing the events of Ichigo's fight with Grand Fisher.
"Attack first and study later with little guarantee that the others won't try to erase every trace of his being?," asked the former 10th Captain to the 12th Captain, concluding what he was about to say.
"Correct. And he knew that Kenpachi would be more inclined with the varied powers of these unusual Full Bringer anyway as opponents to battle against, rather than to have people attempt to stop his whims. And that I would be more intrigued with the variation of the Full-Bringers than the "perfect" power of Aizen has obtained.," responded Mayuri in a disinterested tone, noticeably harsh on the word perfect.
"So you're helping me with your goals in mind. Fine by me.," Isshin replied as he regained his confidence and stern expression from before the coils grabbed him.
"Mind if you give that back. It costs a lot to make on of those on our salary.," said Pitter and the four reluctantly prepared to fight.
"Sorry, but I feel like when I give this to a friend of mine, he'll tear it apart to see how it works.," Isshin retorted to Pitter's suggestion.
"You seem chipper, Dr. Kurosaki.," said Eugene, noting the stubble bearded man's growth in confidence.
"I didn't feel like I could win before, but with these two- I feel like the situation's more even now.," Isshin replied to the Ghost-Busters' confusion.
"The 13 Court Guard Squad ranks are based in power, that's true. But, why have 13, an unlucky number instead of an evenly balanced 10 would be enough to maintain order? It's simple- in reality, only 1-10 apply for the power scaling rule, though the 8th Captain is an exception as well- really you can't judge rankings by their cover. I mean Aizen was hiding powers that surpassed the majority of the Captains except the 1st- really wonky with this generation.," Isshin explained at first serious, but briefly took a mix of his irritated and goofy personas by the end of the explanation. The Ghost-Busters were even more confused by this statement.
My point is 11-13 are...abnormal. 13 can be both strong and weak at the same time. The 11th and 12th Divisions- they play their rules, rules that make them more dangerous than any of the other ten. 11 with absolute fighting skills and 12 with masterful preparation as well as unique techniques.," Isshin clarified in a serious tone.
"Ok, sob basically he's Hercules and he's Batman. That...is a problem.," Rayge replied as he readied his weapon.
"I will be taking apart your weaponry once we're done here.," Mayuri spoke in a scientific and proud tone as he observed the four men's weaponry with keen interest.
"Come on, I want to see what you got. I'm waiting.," Kenpachi told the Ghost-Busters with a tone of excitement for the upcoming clash.
"Ho. This became more interesting.," said Ichibe with a wide smile of madness that unnerved the other four Royal Guard as he looked down at the impending fight that was about to occur below.
Chapter 27: Independence, Battle and Egoism
