Chapter 38
"CHARGE!" roared one of the soul reapers. "Take their heads!"
The crowd charged at Hisagi and Scar. Immediately, Hisagi used shunpo and sliced three of the heartless into pieces. Scar pulled his blade out, countering one of the soul reapers.
"Who are you?" asked the soul reaper.
Instead of answering, Scar stabbed the soul reaper in the heart, killing him fast. "I don't waste time introducing myself to fools," said Scar.
The duo finished off the crowd of heartless, leaving three soul reapers left. All three of them put their right hand over their pace, palms facing their eyes.
"So, they learned how to use hollowfication," growled Hisagi.
The men started to rush towards the duo, but Scar held up his blade. "Byakurai!" He pointed his blade to the men, zapping them until they were unconscious.
"Well," muttered Kenshiro, "They took care of this problem too easily."
"How?!" said Zanzibar.
"Whatever, let's just get you guys informed of our situation." Kenshiro started to leave, but stopped and faced Hisagi. "Stay here until Mayuri gets there. Keep up the work!"
He left with the newcomers. Hisagi sighed. "We have a lot to worry about. Still," said Hisagi, "You were able to use kido so well. That training paid off."
"Somewhat," said Scar. "Anyways, is it true that many more waves of these fools are being subdued?"
"Yeah. Squad Six is taking care of it." Hisagi looked at the men, who were groaning and unable to get up. "So, how was it, training with those soul reapers?"
"I discovered my shikai," said Scar, "along with many other things about myself."
"Anything that connects yourself with that scar?" said Hisagi.
"Yes and no. It's complicated."
"Why, hello there!" Mayuri appeared along with his assistant Nemu. "We would like to take these gentlemen to the lab."
"Yes, sir!" said Hisagi. "Do you need assistance to pick them up?"
"No thank you," replied Mayuri.
Scar looked at the men again. "How come more and more shinigami are hollowfying?"
"It's the environment," said Mayuri. Surprised at the answer, Hisagi and Scar tuned in on Mayuri's lecture. "You see, millions of hollows are out in the universe. After Soul Society was taken by the neithermen, many of the soul reapers left to other worlds, often losing to the heartless. Some of them become so...but others manage to stay alive, eventually tapping into their dark side. Usually, that just means that they gain power, but then they commit something that is forbidden."
"And what would that be?" asked Hisagi.
"They take the soul of an Hollow or some living being and merge with it. Now, such a thing shouldn't happen, but within the environment, there has been a certain amount of reshi that has been increasing. They form soul strings to the target, fusing with the other soul. During this merging process, the person who initiates it tightens the soul strings that it uses to merge the other beings soul to itself."
"So...as more reshi flows within each universe..." Hisagi trailed off.
"More of these beings will appear. Also, the energy source used does not have to be reshi. Take any energetic power, such as ki, or anything like it. They work just as well."
Scar looked to the ground in horror. Hundreds, if not thousands of soul reapers, are merging with other lifeforms. What if these guys are being manipulated by someone?
"Well, it was nice chatting with you two," said Mayuri. "Nemu, take these men back to base."
"Yes, sir," said Nemu. She produced a kido net, tying the three men, and ran fast back to the lab.
"How long have you known this?" asked Hisagi.
"Oh, well...we saw some of the soul reapers fuse with hollows forcefully that way. Of course, with great power, comes great issues. These warriors lose their intellect, and their mental state starts to corrode. In the short run, these powers may seem interesting, but in the long term, they destroy themselves, unless they can bond and stabilize their souls. Well, I am off to research more things!"
Mayuri left. Hisagi and Scar sat on the ground, stunned. "This problem runs deeper than we thought," said Hisagi. "We are losing squad members from this..."
"All of those poor people." Scar closed his eyes, gritting his teeth. "They will never rest in peace again."
"Calm down," said Hisagi. "We have to report to my captain. Let's go."
The men ran towards the Seventh Squad barracks. On their way, they look at the rebuilt buildings and the soul reapers who are cleaning up the place.
"Here we are." Hisagi saw his captain shaking hands with the visitors. "Have a safe trip back, and tell Trunks about this."
"Alright! We got it." The visitors left, vanishing into a portal.
"Alright, you guys handled the situation?" said Kenshiro.
"Yes, captain," said Hisagi. "We did it. So, is there anything else that we have to do?"
"No. Anyways, those guys brought Captain Rose back. He should be fine in a hour."
"Who where they?" asked Scar.
"They are tim patrollers. It is too complicated to explain, but anyways, they come here from another universe. They are our allies."
"I hope so," said Scar.
"We got business to attend to. Captain Byakuya is fighting against a huge wave of those guys, so..."
The men used shunpo, going towards the site of the battle, only to see that Byakuya needed no help. He didn't release his blade, and yet, a dozen hybrid soul reapers were being tied up and sent to Mayuri's lab.
"Well, he is as good as always." Hisagi looked at the carnage. "Although, those guys must have tried everything on him..."
"Us captains can easily take on these clowns," said Kenshiro. Byakuya teleported in front of the trio.
"I have heard some crucial intel," said Byakuya. "These men are being controlled by the neithermen."
"What?!" said Kenshiro.
"These beings were able to control them thanks to those soul reaper's state of mind. Their new powers affect their brainpower negatively. Sadly, I do not know if they made a secret hideout somewhere."
"We'll look out for them," said Kenshiro. "Some of my squad and some of the Second Squad members are searching for intel right now. We will have their location soon."
"I hope so," said Byakuya. "Another problem is building up in Soul Society."
"What is the problem?" asked Hisagi.
"You see..." Byakuya's tone got darker. "The neithermen are gathering allies. There are many paradoxes being exploited, and if they keep doing so, they will have an army of unstoppable warriors."
"How do you know?" said Hisagi.
"Before I defeated one of the soul reapers, he kept insisting on pleasing his master. As we fought, I realized something. This man's 'master' is not a soul reaper...but a man from another universe."
"Well," said Kenshiro, "We can't keep worrying over this. We still have Ichigo. Say, why is Mayuri here?"
"He completed his 'training'," said Byakuya.
"Huh?" asked Hisagi.
"All you have to know is that soon, we will be saved by that man..." Byakuya looked at the sun with confidence. "Again..."