Damn…tomorrow's school! How can anyone anticipate these kinds off things? Oh well, enough about me, here's Chapter 15 titled Troubles in the Material World.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach
Chapter 15- Troubles in the Material World
"This area is pretty tame so far," Ikkaku remarked as he surveyed from atop the roof of a house.
"This is so boring!" Ryu whined, "Can't we go and check out some chicks? We're invisible to them you know!"
"Alright! Something we agree on!" Saito cheered.
"Um...we have a mission..." Hanataro tried to interuppt but Ryu and Saito were already running off,"
"Damn!" Ikkaku swore, "I like a peepshow just as much as anyone but now's not the time!"
The two seated officers chased after the two perverted shinigami but suddenly stopped as an ominous feeling of soul pressure washed over them.
"W-w-what is this!" Ikkaku gasped.
"Hey!" Saito cried, "What's with this aura!"
Ryu fell to his knees breathing heavily and Saito followed quickly gasping for air.
"T-this soul pressure...its insane!" Ryu cried as he tried to regulate his breathing.
Suddenly a fissure formed in the middle of the air. It began to split open and a dark figure stepped out.
"Tch, fodder looking for Aizen-dono?" The figure asked.
He was garbed in a ninja outfit complete with a mask concelaing his face that resmelbed a hollow mask except it was grey rather than bone white. He wore the custom light tunic like shirt with a fishnet shirt underneath along with a tight fabric stretched over both arms which ended in black gloves that seemed to be a second skin to his hands. Each wrist had a set of claws attatched to it that gleamed dangerously.
"Who are you?" Ikkaku asked as he struggled to his feet.
"I am Sub-Captain Deathgrowl of the Hell-Corps," He replied, "I serve Aizen-dono, my creator,"
"H-Hell Corps?" Hanataro stuttered.
"We are Aizen's new breed of warriors, we are a combination of hollow and shinigami blood, we are much stronger and we will crush you," Deathgrowl boasted.
"Wanna...bet," Ikkaku wheezed as he drew his zanpak-to, "Extend...Houzuki, Split!"
His blade extended thenbroke into three sections becoming a three-sectioned-spear.
In a flash his staff broke apart and various wounds from a triple bladed claw appeared all over his body.
"W-what...was that?" Ikkaku managed to whispered before he collapsed in a pool of blood.
"Ikkaku-san!" Hanataro cried as he knelt over his teammate and focused on healing his teammate's wounds.
"Damn!" Ryu spat as he whipped out his zanpak-to from his back, "Pound, Houshigami!"
His sword suddenly elongated and the top expanded then hardened until the entire sword had changed form completely. Where a fine katana once was a massive two handed sledge hammer took its place.
"I can't unleash my zanpak-to's true form but I can still fire some mean kido!" Saito thought as he raised his hands.
"Dragonquake!" Ryu cried as he slammed the head down into the pavement.
A fissure formed then suddenly a massive column of soul pressure shot out and struck the hollow hybrid directly.
"Black dog of fire, burn away the flesh and tear out the throat! Burn Spell 45!" Saito cried unleashing a ball of fire that landed where the hollow hybrid had been hit.
"Take that!" Ryu remarked confidently.
"We're not finished," Deathgrowl replied emerging from the dust without a scratch, "Well, maybe you two are,"
"Run away!" Hanataro cried, "Ryu-san! Saito-san!"
Hanataro's warning came too late as Deathgrowl stepped forward and drove his claws into the two inexperienced shinigami.
"Damn..." Saito gasped, "This...hurts..."
Deathgrowl yanked both his claws out then turned his eyes onto Hanataro who could barely even stand in the presence of such intense spirit pressure.
"I'll leave you to explain what happened," Deathgrowl snickered as another fissure formed next to him.
He stepped in and the fissure slowly began to seal itself away.
"By the way, Aizen-dono would like to let you know, that you have no chance in finding him here!"
"You mean..." Hanataro began as the truth dawned him.
"Yes, the rumour of Aizen's presence here was false," Deathgrowl chuckled, "So don't bother wasting your time,"
"What..." Hanataro began but Deathgrowl ignored the nervous shinigami and sealed the fissure behind him.
Elsewhere Zanza and Koji faced off against Yoruichi Shihoin despite she held both their zanpak-tos.
"I apologize for any trouble however we are searching for highly dangerous fugitives from Soul Society and these two are our suspects," Zanza explained calmly.
"You mean Aizen and his goons," Yoruichi replied, "You guys are idiots,"
"How did you know?" Koji asked bewildered.
"I was there when Aizen revealed his plan to Soul Society," Yoruichi replied impatiently, "Now why does that mean you have to attack those two?
Koji felt like he was just a boy being scolded by a mother for getting dirty.
"We have reason to believe they are Aizen's subordinates inhabiting the bodies of gigai..." Zanza began.
"Aizen's subordinates?" Yoruici asked in disbelief, "Those two were with me when we entered Soul Society to rescue Rukia!"
"With all respect lady, despite your status you yourself are considered a fugitive of Soul Society," He began but suddenly Yourichi was standing in front of him with his own blade to his throat.
"With all respect?" She asked smirking, "Don't give me that crap; those two aren't the ones you are looking for!"
"What?" Koji cried.
"Idiot," Yoruichi sighed, "These two are under Soul Society protection, they possess there own spirit powers which you had seen just now, they are not Aizen's,"
"Remove the blade from my throat," Zanza ordered calmly.
"Man, doesn't anything unnerve this guy?" Koji muttered.
Suddenly in a flash Zanza used his shuunpo before Yoruichi could move and the sword disappeared from her hand.
"You should respect other's property," Zanza remarked as he raised his reclaimed sword.
Suddenly the sword disappeared from his grasp again.
"Shuunpo is it? You're not bad for your age but I can still run circles around you," She remarked as she hefted Zanza's recaptured sword.
"Damn you woman," Zanza cursed.
"Yoruichi-san!" Orihime called out, "Sado-kun is still really hurt! I can't get the bleeding to stop!"
"Damn," Yoruichi swore, "Sado must have been hurt real badly,"
Orihime struggled to lift the big guy to his feet and only succeeded in getting him to sit up and lean against her.
"You two, since this is your fault help carry him!" Yoruichi ordered.
"What!"?" Koji protested.
"We are in no position to argue," Zanza sighed, "She holds both our zanpak-tos,"
"Damn," Koji spat as he walked over to Sado's unconscious form, "You take the arms I'll carry him by the legs!"
The two managed to heft the big guy up and half carry half drag him over to Yoruichi.
"Alright now let's go," Yoruichi ordered pointing towards the direction they just came from.
"B-but we just dragged him here!" Koji complained.
"I didn't tell you to, you guys did it yourselves, now hurry up!" Yoruichi replied impatiently.
"This sucks!" Koji mumbled.
Meanwhile Urahara was busy being briefed on the matters at hand.
"Oh dear, I can't believe you would fall for something so stupid," Urahara laughed, "Aizen's definitely not here,"
"How would you know?" Rukia asked angrily.
"Aizen's spirit pressure is much too high to not be noticed around here, and no gigai could host such an intense level of spirit pressure, no captain's spirit pressure could be hosted inside a gigai!" Urahara continued.
"But…aren't you in a gigai?" Ichigo asked confused.
"Oh, well now that would be telling wouldn't it?" Urahara asked as he waltzed off.
"Damn you Hat and Clogs!" Ichigo cried, "Get back here!"
But the mysterious shop keep and his companions had already run off.
"Um…so what shall we do now?" Sakura asked.
"We'd better contact the others," Rei answered.
"I agree," Rukia nodded, "We should best hurry and locate the other teams,"
"I can't get a hold of Team Blue," Miho called out.
"And Team Green isn't replying either," Rei added.
"So now what?" Shinn asked, "Something may have happened to them,"
"Oh dear," Miho murmured worriedly, "I hope they are alright,"
Suddenly Rukia's phone rang.
"What is it?" She asked flipping it open.
"This is Cho, I think the others may have been kidnapped!" A voice broke over the view screen.
"What happened?" She asked.
"Zanza sent me to inform you of possible suspects that we were currently tailing but when I got back…they were gone!"
"Damn," Rukia cursed, "Alright give me your location and I'll send Red Team to pick you up and investigate,"
Shinn struggled up to his feet.
"Where are…" Shinn began but suddenly Ichigo punched him squarely in the jaw knocking him out cold.
"What was that for?" Rukia asked angrily.
"He's much too wounded to be moving," Ichigo replied calmly, "Trust me, I should know,"
"But…" Rei began.
"I'll take his place, you guys set to finding that other team," Ichigo instructed.
"What about Shinn?" Nanu asked.
"Take him to Urahara's, that idiot owes me one and he'll set to healing him," Rukia instructed, "Miho; go with Sakura and Nanu,"
"Yes," Miho replied bowing.
She turned around and helped Sakura and Nanu lift Shinn's unconscious form.
"Alright, let's go!" Nanu cried as she hoisted Shinn's feet.
"Um…none of us know where Urahara-san's place is," Sakura commented.
"Hmmm…thataway!" Nanu cried happily.
"Um…are you sure?" Sakura asked nervously.
"Nope, but one ways as good as any other!" Nanu replied cheerfully.
"Miho-san, maybe you should…" Sakura began only to realize Miho was already skipping happily alongside Nanu.
As they dragged Shinn's injured body down the street by his feet.
"Um…um…oh no!" Sakura wailed as she ran after the two, "Shinn-san!"
Meanwhile Ichigo dashed across the street keeping his senses alert for high spirit pressure.
"Where are these idiots?" Ichigo grumbled as he leaped from one building to the next, "I can't even sense any significant spirit pressure!"
He flipped onto the roof of a house and surveyed the streets intently.
"This is frickin annoying as hell!" Ichigo screamed, "I don't even know what they look like!"
Suddenly he noticed several bodies scattered across the street covered in blood.
"What's this?" Ichigo remarked as he hopped down onto the street.
There were three bodies lying scattered across the street and one who was treating on of the fallen's wounds.
"Hey," Ichigo called out, "What happened here?"
"I-I-Ichigo-san!" The short shinigami cried.
"Hey, how do you know me?" Ichigo asked completely clueless at how the short wimpy looking shinigami new his name.
"Um…I-Ichigo-san, I was with you and Ganju-san to help Rukia!" The boy explained.
"Eh?" Ichigo grunted as he looked at the wimpy shinigami confused.
"I took care of you every time you were injured!" He cried.
"Nope, doesn't ring a bell," Ichigo replied.
"You guys used me as a hostage and the guys still tried to kill you," He sighed.
"Oh! Hanataro!" Ichigo exclaimed, "Wow, it's been so long!"
"It hasn't even been a month," Hanataro sighed.
"How's it been…wait, what happened to you guys!" Ichigo cried.
"We were attacked," Hanataro replied sadly, "I-I couldn't do anything, all I can do is heal their wounds,"
Ichigo regarded the wounded shinigami lying on the ground with his head resting on Hanataros lap.
"T-that's Ikkaku-kun!" Ichigo whispered in shock.
"He was the first to fall, the other too didn't last much longer either," Hanataro murmured, "I'm almost done closing his wounds, that'll be all I can spare if I'm going to be able to stabilize the others,"
"How are they?" Ichigo asked as he plopped down setting his zanpak-to next to his feet.
"They'll live, but it'll be a while before any of them can fight," Hanataro sighed, "It's a miracle none of them died,"
Ikkaku began to stir slightly as Hanataro stood to get to the next in need of healing.
At the same time Rukia and Rei ran down the street looking for Cho along with the rest of Blue Team.
"Where could they be?" Rukia muttered. "Cho said he would await for our arrival but he didn't know where he was,"
"Typical of him," Rei sighed, "He is almost as annoying as Shinn!"
They leaped onto the roof of a house and scanned the area.
"No sign…wait!" Rei cried, "I sense three levels of spirit pressure, one's definitely Koji's!"
"Where?" Rukia asked.
"Reiraku ribbons indicate west!" She replied, "Let's go!"
The two took off again hot on the trail of their missing teammates.
Meahwile Koji had finished half-carrying and half-dragging Chad's beaten body over to Urahara's.
:"This guy is heavy!" Koji whined.
"Shut up," Zanza muttered, "We're almost there,"
"How would you know?" Koji asked baffled.
"There is a large sign that reads, 'Urahara's' on it," Zanza answered.
"Damn, you're smart," Koji remarked as he regarded the huge sign under the roof that identified the shop's name.
"Idiot," Zanza muttered.
"Hurry up!" Yoruichi exclaimed, "I could've carried him by myself here and back by now!"
"Then why didn't you?" Koji screamed, "This would've been so much easier!"
"Because you two were the idiots who attacked him in the first place!" She shot back.
The curly haired shinigami grumbled a complaint before helping Zanza drag the huge man inside.
At the same time Miho, Sakura, Nanu, and a badly scrapped Shinn, from being dragged across the street for far too long,
"Which way is the damn shop?" Nanu snarled as she dragged Shinn by one foot across the street.
"Um…Shinn-san is in bad…" Sakura began but a death look from Nanu shut her up quickly.
"Don't worry," Miho remarked, "Shinn-chan will not die from being dragged around all night!"
"Damn it!" Nanu screamed as she kicked Shinn down the street sending him crashing into a pile of trash cans, "Where is that place!"
"Okay that might do it," Miho said correcting herself.
Suddenly she sensed an intense feeling of dread deep in her stomach.
"Sakura-san," Miho whispered, "Do you feel that?"
"…yes," Sakura replied nervously, "It feels like…a hollow,"
Nanu too paused and regarded her surroundings.
"This is bad," Nanu murmured, "This hollow's spirit pressure is immense!"
"Hehehe…so you can sense me," The voice growled.
"It's here," Nanu muttered setting her hand to her sword's hilt.
"Where…" Miho murmured as she prepared a kido spell.
"North-west of us, exactly…eight meters away," Sakura replied, "I…think it is waiting for us to make the first move,"
"Cover Shinn-kun," Miho called out as they formed a three-point guard around their fallen friend.
"All of us will immediately attack the hollow with kido," Nanu murmured to her teammates, "Then each will release their shikai and attack, it won't give the hollow a chance to react,"
Her two teammates nodded then prepared a kido ready to fire onto the hollow.
"Hehe…you think I can lose to you guys?" The voice cackled wildly, "Then let's see you try and take me!"
Suddenly a massive spider-like hollow jumped out and landed smoothly in front of the female trio.
It had eight pitch black thick hairy legs that stood as taller than any of them. The legs bent to connect to a massive black hairy body that had multiple spikes jutting out at odd angles. The mask was white with a massive grinning smile along with eight glowing red eyes that dot its face.
"S-S-Spider?" Miho whispered as she stepped back uneasily, "W-why s-spider?"
"So looks like dinner is here," It chortled madly, "Now hold still while I eat you!"
It scrambled forward at lightning speed consumed by the intent to eat its prey.
"Unleash, Burning Spell 27!" Nanu cried firing a ball of red fire.
"Crush, Thunder Spell 12!" Sakura cried as a bolt of lightning shot out from her open palm.
"S-S-Seal, Binding Spell 2!" Miho stammered as a thin rope-like beam of energy shot out from her finger tips.
First Nanu's fireball smashed into the hollow's face sending it reeling back. Next Sakura's bolt of lightning struck into the hollow's exposed underside. Finally Miho's cord of energy wrapped itself around the hollow's legs tangling them up.
"Now!" Nanu cried, "Reflect, Shudako!"
Her sword melted away into the long dagger that was her shikai.
"S-Sing, Sakuhana!" She cried nervously as her blade transformed into the bizarre singing extendable sword she used.
"Protect, Kalindas!" Sakura cried as she unleashed her shikai.
Her sword hummed and emitted a ring of white energy that encircled her like a protective ring. Various runes glowed in a soft green light.
"Attack!" Nanu cried as she split into her two copies.
Both Nanu clones stabbed into the hairy body drawing blood.
Next Miho shot out her blade causing it to pierce one of the hollow's legs.
"Ring Shot!" Sakura called out.
The ring that encircled her tightened around the tip of her sword. She reared back then swung her blade in a wide arc sending the tiny ring of energy at the hollow. The ring expanded and cut into one of the hollow's legs severing it completely. It spun around and encircled Sakura once more.
"That was too easy!" Nanu cried out cheerfully as she wiped the sweat off her brow and hurried to her friend.
Miho nodded in agreement as she began to sheathe her sword.
"Hehe…fools…you think you killed me?" A voice sneered.
"What…" Nanu began.
Suddenly a massive web dropped down from the trees revealing at least three dozen of the same hollow-spider they just killed and one massive version of the hollow-spider that was at least twice as large as the hollow that lay dead before them.
"Now let's see if my children find your taste to their liking!" The hollow cackled as the spider immediately crept forward.
"N-n-no!" Miho screamed as she backed away in panic, "Get away!"
The hollow's laughter followed after her frantic scream.