It's been an entire year since I first started this story. That's a pretty big accomplishment for me. But guys, I need those reviews. I appreciate the ones who have reviewed every chapter I have published so far, but there's only a few people doing that. If you are reading Power of Three, please leave some reviews. It makes me really happy to continue my work when I see them. Just don't flame me, I will not tolerate people who attack my stories or me personally just because they don't like what I write.
To my loyal fans who have stuck with me this past year as well as during these troubling times, I thank you.
Let's get this show on the road, shall we?
Hollow speaking or thinking
Zanpakuto Spirit speaking or thinking
Normal speaking or thinking
Nothing was said by either parties as they stared each other down, intent on giving the other a beating. Renji had a shocked and angry expression on his face showing his disbelief at the two other Substitute Soul Reapers completely blasting right past his senses and his frustration at the Substitute that was opposite of him doubting his strength. He was a lieutenant, the right-hand man of a captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads, and this human was spitting on all that he and every other Soul Reaper stood for. It was unacceptable!
Meanwhile, Randy had no intention of giving the red-headed bastard a victory when he clearly did not understand the reason they had come to the Soul Society in the first place. The teen had been cut up and almost left for dead by a stuck-up prick of a nobleman who seemed to hold no place in his heart for his adopted sister, and survived to come out stronger than before and rescue said sibling from a cruel fate she did not deserve that was handed out to her by the corrupted nobility of the Seireitei. Giving in or defeat was not an option. His green eyes turned yellow, signifying his spirit energy was increasing and his hollow side was coming to the surface. The punishment he was going to give Renji would serve him right for blindly following an order that condemned their mutual friend to death.
"How are you three that fast?! Not even Captain Kuchiki can match that level of speed, and he's the fastest Flash Step user in the Soul Society! Nobody can use Flash Step and be that quick in their movements!" Renji raged at the masked blond who smiled cheekily at his words.
"Because that wasn't even Flash Step, you stupid idiot." Randy said in an all-knowing tone. Oh he was definitely going to get some entertainment out of him. Getting him riled up would amuse Randy and he would enjoy every single second of it.
"'Wasn't even Flash Step', of course it was! You're lying if you're saying otherwise!"
The blond ignored the redhead's rant. "God Step, it was God Step. The three of us are the only ones who can use it, no one else can."
"'God Step'? What the hell is that?" asked the lieutenant in confusion. He'd never heard of it before.
"The three of us created it, it combines a couple different movement techniques and makes us faster than just about anyone, even that bastard Byakuya. Which reminds me, he may have done what we had requested of him but we still intend to get payback for what the two of you did to us in the World of the Living. And I think I'll start with you by KICKING YOUR ASS!" roared Randy.
He rushed the lieutenant and slashed his larger blade at his opponent who barely had enough time to get his Zanpakuto in a defensive position to block the assault, the Substitute Soul Reaper sporting a grin at getting the jump on Renji and continuing to slash and attack the older man. Both weapons created sparks as they made contact with each other multiple times, showcasing the power behind the blond's strikes. Randy then began pushing his blade against Renji's after the initial slashing, outmuscling him and continually forcing him to stay on the defensive against his attacks.
While Renji had some physical strength in his corner, it was a laughable comparison when put to the test against the Vizard's Hollow blood coursing through his veins. Because of Randy's brute strength from the Hollow side that bled into his human body and increased his physical power in it naturally, the teenager's Soul Form was much stronger than the normal strength Soul Reapers usually had since the human body had limitations and a Soul Reaper's body was stronger than a normal human's. The redheaded man eventually realized he couldn't fight against the superior physicality of the teenager up close and prepared to jump away...
SQUELCH!
He felt a stabbing pain in his side and realized while he was occupied with trying to defend against the monster of a longsword, he had forgotten a very important detail... the dagger, which was now jammed in the side of his lower torso. 'Shit... I should have remembered his second blade. Not a good way to start this fight.'
Randy began digging the shorter blade into Renji's torso and blood started painting the man's Shihakusho red. He grunted in pain and, against his better judgment, pulled away from Randy, forcing the weapon to leave his body rather forcefully. The lieutenant retreated a bit and scowled at the smirk he saw on the blond teen's face. "Forgot about my second blade, didn't you?" Randy sang to Renji.
"Screw you, that was a cheap move, and you know it."
Randy chided, "It's my Zanpakuto, not remembering I had another blade is all your own doing. Therefore, it's a good way for me to get ahead of you."
He was right though, it was very careless of Renji to forget about his opponent's capabilities in the heat of battle. Renji felt the wound through his uniform, it wasn't a terrible one but it would possibly leak more blood as the fight continued. Shaking his head, the redhead began to slowly circle Randy like a lion stalking its prey, with Randy copying his actions to keep Renji at a distance.
They kept circling each other for a solid thirty seconds, sizing the other up to look for possible weaknesses to exploit. Then Renji slung his Zanpakuto at Randy, the weapon's segmented blades separating during the attack. Unfortunately, he didn't want to deal with the sharp protrusions of his opponent's weapon again, and because he had seen the maneuver before during Rukia's arrest, Randy batted away the extended Zanpakuto with the sharp edge of his longsword, knowing that it would be difficult for Renji to get that attack to connect when he already had a defense against it. 'That's not going to work like it did in Karakura Town. You'd better try something else before you end up making a second mistake and I make you pay for it.'
Seeing that his technique would no longer suffice as it did previously, Renji recalled his blade and charged forward on the offensive, deciding to attack before the Kurosaki teen could do so. He swung his blade at Randy who blocked the lethal instrument designed for killing with his own dual weapons. The two continued to clash Zanpakutos, the metal of each instrument of death creating a clanging sound with each exchange.
The battle between the two opposing warriors raged on and at first glance after some time had passed, it seemed like they were closely matched. However, that was not the case. While Renji was able to inflict a handful of heavy hits on the teen's body, the advantage it gave him was countered and offset by the wound in his side given to him by the small dagger earlier in the fight as well as the continuous damage done to him by Randy as the conflict went forward. The blood from that earlier wound had begun to pour out slowly at first but did not make much difference until the number of cuts and slices started to pile up and caused more blood to flow from Renji's torso as he fought harder.
Slowly but surely, Renji was slowing down and growing weaker in his movements and attacks. His swings did not have the power or speed that they originally had in the beginning, but instead were becoming more sluggish and less powerful, his slow but constant loss of blood certainly contributing to the loss of intensity in the battle. Randy was also affected by the damage he sustained as well but not as much. However, he did have a particularly nasty gash on his upper chest from a wide swing from Renji, the wound having been received due to him not expecting an extending horizontal attack from the lieutenant.
CLANG!
Renji stumbled backwards after getting knocked off-balance from a heavy but slow swing of his being hit away by Randy. He quickly grew angry after this, not being able to understand why he was getting beat by a human teenager. "Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT! How are you beating me?! That's it, one way or another, I will defeat you and make you pay for doing this to Rukia! I will not lose, not matter what!" he screamed in fury as he glared at the blond across from him, who was breathing somewhat heavily from the battle.
Randy scowled. While he fought Renji, he was able to understand why the redhead was fighting in the first place. Renji desired to help Rukia in any way possible, the two were close friends at one time in the past and he wanted to regain that closeness that they possessed. Unfortunately, Renji still had the same mindset concerning Randy and his brothers, meaning he still didn't want to believe that the three of them wanted to save her. But when the blond thought about it, he began to get the feeling that Renji actually believed that they couldn't save Rukia because they were just humans. 'I think I get it now, you feel you have no chance of helping her if you leave the job to us. Well, we'll just have to prove you wrong.' "Sorry, Renji, but I need to end this now. Maybe by doing so, you'll understand that we can save Rukia from being executed. We have to, not because we were forced to, but because she is our friend." solemnly said the teen. He stabbed his blades into the ground, the weapons humming with energy, and yelled out, "Nagareboshi Satsujin!"
A trail of spirit energy rushed along the ground and pooled in a large circle right to the side of Renji who had no idea what Randy was planning to do until the energy blasted out of the ground like a geyser. The man realized too late that he needed to get out of the attack's range and tried to dodge the column at the last minute, only to scream in pain as the energy scorched his arm and one side of his body and left painful burns on both areas of the body that were affected. Randy just looked on as Renji fell to his knees with part of his body steaming from the intense heat of the attack, his Zanpakuto reverting back to its sealed state as it slipped from his fingers and dropped to the cracked and broken street and his head dropped to his chest .
Walking up to the man, Randy listened as the ex-Rukon District resident spoke, "Alright, I concede. You win. That last attack of yours burned my one arm pretty badly, I cannot continue to fight in this state." He lifted his head slowly to look the Substitute Soul Reaper in the eyes. "How can you fight like a seasoned captain when you're just human? I don't understand how that's possible." he admitted in defeat.
"Because we're not entirely human. Though we do consider ourselves to be human, the three of us are simply contained in a human body. If you had listened to what we told you and Byakuya in Karakura Town, you would understand what I mean. But don't underestimate someone simply because they're human, they may just surprise you in a way you'd least expect them to." Randy told the older man.
"Heh... I guess you're right." said Renji. Then he got serious. "Kurosaki, you're strong, stronger than me in fact. You said you can save Rukia?" he asked as he shakily got to his feet and struggled to grasp Randy's Shihakusho.
The blond Kurosaki nodded. "We won't let her be killed because of some ridiculous law. She saved our family, that's more than enough reason to help her."
"Promise me that all of you will do everything in your power to save her. Please promise me that."
"I promise, you have my word."
"Thank you, Randy." Renji said as he slumped to the ground on his side and promptly passed out.
Randy was silent as he looked at his defeated opponent's unconscious body. 'You know, it was frustrating to deal with Renji's close mindedness about us, but in a way, I think I see why he was like that. The Soul Society believes humans to be helpless prey in the path of a ferocious predator, Hollows, and that we can do nothing about it. And people like the nobles push those beliefs onto every person here, few know better than what the bastards tell them is true. Renji may have not totally believed all of it, but I think it wormed into his mind a little and he just didn't want to believe someone else who was considered weak by their standards could do what he wanted to do but he was not strong enough to accomplish it. But this place... it's got some toxic ways of thinking to say the least. I don't know how Hat-and-Clogs, Yoruichi, Dad, or Tessai dealt with how messed up the Soul Society is.' he lamented to the voices in his head.
Gaigetsu sighed. "Believe me, I'm not sure myself. But they are not like the nobles in the Seireitei, your father raised all of you to be open minded like he was and Urahara, Yoruichi, and Tessai had good heads on their shoulders." he gave his input to his wielder.
"I don't think Nelliel would like this place, Randy. I have the feeling that those same nobles would not accept her or Tia because of their Hollow sides or the fact that they used to be Arrancars, and there may be Soul Reapers in the 13 Court Guard Squads who are like those close minded fools." Jugo added, accidentally provoking some worrying thoughts in Randy's mind.
'You're right. Renji might not be like that, but who's to say there won't be Soul Reapers who are of that mindset? Now I'm afraid for Nel and Tia's safety. That's something I don't really need to be worrying about right now.' He then remembered the task at hand and sheathed his two blades, the longsword on his back and the dagger on his hip, not seeing the point of hiding his Dual Zanpakuto any longer. "I should get moving, I don't need to get caught hanging around here and I need to find my brothers." He Flash Stepped away without another word.
Tatsuki slowly awoke to the sight of a room that looked to be reminiscent of an infirmary. Groaning as she sat up and held the bandages she felt on her torso, she caught the attention of an older woman wearing a white captain's haori with braided black hair in front of her chest. "You must not strain yourself, we wouldn't want your internal wounds to be reaggravated, would we?" said Retsu Unohana as she came to the cot Tatsuki was lying on and did a quick diagnostic Kido on the teenager's body. None of her work seemed to be undone. "I'm sure you have questions, Miss Arisawa. I believe I can answer them."
"Ugh... last thing I remember was being carried somewhere by a short woman with two braids in her hair, Soifon was her name. Everything's just a blur after that. Where am I exactly?" asked the tomboy, unsure of her current location.
"You are in the medical room of Squad 4. Captain Soifon told us you put up quite a fight against her and were to be healed and not harmed. To get praise from her is no easy feat and says a lot about how well you fought, she's the Head of the Stealth Force and highly skilled in armed and unarmed combat." replied Unohana.
"I do recall her telling the men in black uniforms around her to watch me, though they were told not to hurt me as well, " Tatsuki said. "That being said, are any of the people here going to attack me? And who are you anyway?"
"No, no one here will hurt you. Squad 4 is the Medical Corps of the 13 Court Guard Squads, we are healers first, warriors second. As for who I am, I am Captain Retsu Unohana of Squad 4," answered the captain. "Though if I may ask, what did you hope to accomplish by breaking into the Seireitei? I fail to see what your goal was."
"The Soul Reaper who is supposed to be executed, Rukia Kuchiki, is a friend of ours. My three oldest friends' family was saved by her while she was in the World of the Living. She does not deserve to be put to death for simply helping someone in need, no matter who or what says otherwise. We were going to prevent her from being killed."
'This girl, she's trying to help a person who is part of a different world while knowing she may not survive, all for the reason of them saving people close to some friends of hers. Even trying to fight a law that says the person must be punished. Miss Arisawa, you are one of the most genuine and honest people I have ever met. I wonder if the people you came with are like you,' Captain Unohana mentally commended Tatsuki. "You and your friends are very brave to venture into a dangerous place you know very little about to save another, and I can admire that about you, most people would not risk their lives to help someone else." The silver-haired woman who reported Aizen's body walked into the room just then. The First Kenpachi noticed her and asked, "Isane, could you please help with healing Miss Arisawa? I have some work I must attend to, I believe you know what exactly I am speaking of."
Isane solemnly nodded, knowing how badly her friend had been affected by the death of her captain. "Yes, Captain Unohana." She approached Tatsuki and began healing the girl's injuries.
Unohana exited the room and went to the room meant for autopsies of bodies. 'It's quite odd that Captain Aizen would be killed so easily by an unknown assassin. There was no evidence to suggest the killer was even there to begin with. There's always something left behind, no matter how clean a kill is. Kyoka Suigetsu was buried in his back, so the assailant was behind him. But how did he not sense someone directly behind him?' She frowned. 'Furthermore, I have always had a strange feeling about Aizen, like there was something more to him. His former superior certainly made his distrust of him clear, he must have seen something no one else did. Which begs the question as to what Captain Hirako didn't trust about Aizen and what he saw that created that distrust. Maybe I can glean some information from his body to get a clearer picture.'
Captain Soifon looked at the scene where Aizen's body was found. So far, nothing had found tying any individual to the murder. She had been searching for any incriminating evidence for a lengthy period of time ever since she received the alert that the captain had been killed by some unknown person and the search had continued to bring forth nothing. The short Soul Reaper knew something was very wrong with the picture she was seeing, aside from the blood at the crime scene, she could not collect any information on what happened and it frustrated her to no end. She needed something, anything, to go on to continue her investigation. But she found zero traces of evidence. 'Just what the hell am I not seeing? It's as if Aizen's murder never even happened! Ugh... I'll have to get my men to question anyone who was nearby the scene this morning and see if they noticed or heard anything suspicious. This is getting to be very irritating.'
The Head Captain sat in his office looking out into the Seireitei and contemplating the hectic day so far. He had heard the message from a Hell Butterfly concerning the death of Captain Aizen and known immediately that the traitor had begun to make his move. The Kurosaki boys told him during their conversation that his Zanpakuto had the ability to make illusions, and now that Yamamoto knew of his machinations, he didn't believe for a single moment that Aizen was really dead. 'There is a great change coming, I can feel it in these old bones of mine. Maybe it's time that a new generation makes up for the mistakes of the past. All we can hope is to come out better than we went in.'
Bennett, Yoruichi and Ichigo rushed toward the tower Rukia was being held in, careful not to stir up too much attention in the process. The two Substitutes were not using God Step but made good time using just Flash Step. Right before they reached the actual area that the tower was situated in, they ran into an obstacle...
Two obstacles in fact, one of them very battle-hungry and the other incredibly irritated.
Kenpachi Zaraki stood in front of the three companions along with his fellow captain Toshiro Hitsugaya, both waiting for them in order to halt them in their tracks. "You must be the Ryoka, I will have to ask you to stop where you are and surrender." ordered the short, white-haired captain, holding a hand on his Zanpakuto and preparing to draw it for the inevitable fight that was coming.
"Sorry, that's not an option for us. You can either move out of the way and let us continue, or you can be moved by force. Either way, you're no longer in our way. So what's it going to be, midget?" growled Ichigo as the two brothers drew their own Zanpakutos in response to the demand by the captain. Yoruichi jumped off his shoulder and quickly ran to a location overlooking the area.
"HA, I've been waiting for a good fight! Time to see if any of you two are strong!" yelled Kenpachi as he rushed toward the two with his Zanpakuto drawn and ready to cut down the Substitutes.
Toshiro tried to stop him but he ignored the other captain. "Kenpachi, wait! Argh!" he groaned in frustration. "Reign over the Frosted Heavens, Hyorinmaru!" he called out as he released his Shikai.
'I know that sword... Dad told us about the wielder. The kid must be his old 3rd Seat, Toshiro Hitsugaya. Wait, did he just say...? Shit, he did! This maniac is Kenpachi Zaraki, Kisuke warned us about him and his nearly unmatched power,' mentally screamed Ichigo as he prepared for Kenpachi's assault. "Bennett, we need to release our Shikai, there's no other choice!"
His brother nodded. "Got it. Shugetsu!" he yelled as his Zanpakuto released into its Shikai.
Ichigo did the same with his own Zanpakuto. "Zangetsu!"
'Both of them have Dual Zanpakuto?! Impossible! I thought just one of the Ryoka had that type of Zanpakuto, not two!' a shocked Toshiro wondered in disbelief. Who were these two? They could not be just some lowly humans if they were carrying that kind of power.
As Kenpachi brought down his sword on the orangette's blade, he grinned in glee at seeing two blades in each of the brothers' hands. "So you two have Zanpakuto like that drunk and that sick old man? I knew you were strong, this makes things much more fun!" He kicked Ichigo through a wall and chased after him.
"Damn it, Kenpachi," cursed the shorter captain. "You're my opponent then. What is your name?" he said as he turned to Bennett with his sword in his hand.
"It's Benetto Kurosaki, though I go by 'Bennett'. Tell me, Captain Hitsugaya, are you surprised that two humans have Dual Zanpakutos?" inquired the mohawked teen.
"I never gave you my name, so I wonder how you know it. But to answer your question, I read the report by Lieutenant Hisagi, I knew that the one Ryoka he fought carried a Dual Zanpakuto, which must be you from the description given by him, but I did not expect another to have it as well."
"Shuhei's a good guy, he's got a good head on his shoulders and is also someone I really want to become friends with," Bennett replied. "But right now, you should be worried about fighting me! GETSUGA JUJISHO!" He launched the cross-shaped Getsuga at the captain who had to bring up an ice wall to defend himself, the wall shattering upon the attack hitting the ice.
'That attack was similar to Captain Shiba's Getsuga Tensho, even the name was similar. It also had an unbelievably high level of power behind it. Could he know the Getsuga Tensho as well as the one he just threw at me?' Toshiro responded in turn by swinging his sword and shooting off a large dragon made of ice that raced toward his opponent who dodged the frozen construct. Bursting out of the icy carnage created by the dragon, Bennett rushed Toshiro with both of his blades prepared to wreak havoc on the young captain and swung them at his body, only to be barely stopped by his singular blade.
They went back and forth with their exchanges, both mentally complimenting the other on their skill with a blade. But until someone thought of a way to overpower the other, they were going to continue to be locked in a stalemate. However, Bennett's mind was a tiny bit distracted with something. 'I wonder how Chad, Orihime, and Uryu are doing?'
During and near the end of the fights, the five other travelers of the group carefully walked through the area of buildings without making too much noise, no one noticing their presence so far. Stopping right in front of a building that had some items next to it which were able to be climbed on, they clambered up the assorted items onto the roof of the building and began going along the roofs to reach the tower.
After going through the underground canals underneath the Seireitei, the group had found an exit that opened up right by the stairs leading to the general area where the Tower of Repentance was located. When they reached the exit and reentered the Seireitei, they found signs of a battle and traces of blood in the area. Uryu and Chad suspected the fight had involved one of the three Kurosakis, both knowing how destructive and powerful their abilities were. Orihime just put her hands to her mouth seeing how devastating the scene was and a tear trailed down her cheek. Hanataro wondered who could have been powerful enough other than the captains to cause the amount of damage they were seeing while Ganju looked around for any lingering Soul Reapers who could have been hanging around since they were in the area where a battle went down. Then they went up the stairs and stuck to the alleys. They had encountered no one the entire time and they hoped it would stay that way.
They finally reached the roof of a building that was next to the white tower, everyone noticing that there were two guards posted at the entrance of the tower. Silently, the Shiba man put a finger to his mouth to signal for everyone to be quiet as he made his move. He stealthily dropped behind the guards and knocked both of them unconscious. "Okay, now that we are here, how do we get into the tower?" he asked the group as they climbed down the wall.
"I can take care of that, I swiped a key from a room in the canals. We can unlock the door with it." said Hanataro as he withdrew a cube-shaped key from his robes and inserted it into the lock. Twisting the key in the lock, the door lifted up to reveal the inside of the tower. "Rukia, it's me, Hanataro." he called out to the Kuchiki girl.
"Hanataro?! You shouldn't be here! You'll be in serious trouble if you're caught!" said a shocked Rukia as she came to the door. She knew if someone saw them, they could be arrested for the unlawful release of a death row prisoner and punished because of their actions. Then she noticed the three teenagers accompanying the timid Soul Reaper. "Oh no, no, no, no, no! Chad, Orihime, Uryu?! How did you get here? Where are Randy, Ichigo, and Bennett?"
"They're somewhere in the Seireitei, they asked all of us to help save you from being executed. But right now, we need to get you out of here!" exclaimed the archer of the group. She began to weep silently. Her friends hadn't been slaughtered, they were alive!
The black-haired midget looked towards Ganju, taking note of the symbols on his outfit. "You're a Shiba, aren't you? You look familiar to me, have we met somewhere before?"
He grunted, "We have. You may not remember me, but you certainly remember my brother Kaien."
Rukia's eye widened to the size of dinner plates. "Y-you're Kaien's b-brother?"
Ganju nodded. "Yes, and while Kukaku doesn't blame you for his death, I'm still trying to decide whether or not I still do. But I am helping out family right now, so I will put my decision off until later."
Suddenly, they felt a tremendous spiritual pressure overtake the area. None of them recognized it, except for Rukia, who knew who it was immediately. "Byakuya?!"
All of them turned to the exit and saw a black-haired man in a captain's haori standing on the bridge to the tower with his hand gripping his Zanpakuto. "Byakuya Kuchiki, Captain of Squad 6 and current Head of the Kuchiki Clan." spat Ganju, not pleased at seeing the man. He did not like the nobleman because of his righteous attitude and obsession with keeping and upholding the pride of the Kuchiki Clan.
"You will not free Rukia Kuchiki from the sentence she deserves... not while I still carry the pride of my clan. I may have kept my word to your friends, but I will continue to carry out my duties and as such, I will deal with you swiftly. Be glad I'm allowing you to die to my blade, you won't get a higher honor." stoically said Byakuya.
This was definitely a problem. No doubt about that.
And done. As always, read and review. And no flaming please.
That's another chapter done on my new schedule. Now for some news: I think all of you will be pleased to know I have a potential story I am thinking of writing. If I do write it, it will definitely be a Bleach story (to those of you who like Randi and Benetto as characters, I don't think I will include them in this new one) and a crossover with a animated fandom that is kind of a guilty pleasure of mine and also includes a handful of characters from another anime.
Crash, out.