a/n - Yo
it's holidays and i'm recovering from a post exam induced hangover... really not much to say here
The growling of a Killswitch Engage song broke through Layne's thoughts as he lay on his bed staring up at the ceiling, in his body but wearing only trackpants
Kira's last words floated through his head "I've been limited to twenty percent of my full strength for nearly two hundred years now… and of that, I only used forty percent total, until just now" she had whispered to him
Layne had to do a little math to work that one out… "Base strength one hundred units…twenty percent is twenty units…forty percent of twenty is five units of strength" he muttered, then stopped as Elias the mod soul rolled over on the floor next to his bed, sound asleep even through the screaming of Layne's music
Layne had a few odd plushies hanging around the place and had settled on a old bear that Layne's father had given him before he moved away
Satisfying himself that Elias was still asleep; Layne sat up in his bed and sighed "Five percent, No Shikai…and I was still forced to use Utsusemi…"
Layne forced himself to get up and go get a drink of water
As he flicked the light on, he caught sight of two strange things
One, even though Kira's sword hadn't touched him at all, there were all manner of cuts and bruises over his chest
"Guess that's my own fault for holding back my defense well as my offense" Layne muttered "But they are only appearing now? And my Shinigami uniform wasn't ripped at all except for the sleeve"
Two, the dark green 'X' symbol that decorated his hollowfied hand in his Shinigami form was beginning to show through on his body, looking like some wierdass tattoo
"Fuck, I thought Urahara fixed that"
The next day, unfortunately was a school day, so tired as all hell Layne dragged himself out of bed, showered , chucked on his uniform and headed out the door with a piece of toast in his mouth
He made it through Urahara's store with little incident. Aside from Tessai attempting to fob off some anti-tiredness remedy onto him.
The box itself looked like it went out of date before Layne was born, so he just tossed it aside and headed to school, sticking his earphones in his ears and tuning out the world around him.
Now this feels real familiar…tired as fuck, earphones in, walking to school…hell all I'm missing are Moll and Joel
He caught sight of Uryuu rounding a corner and jogged to catch up with him, flipping out his right earphone so he could talk to him
"Hey dude" Layne greeted, falling into step with him "Where were you yesterday?"
"Yesterday?" Uryuu replied, his tone one of confusion
"At the park… didn't you feel my fight?"
Uryuu's expression became confused for a split second before it turned into that usual Uryuu arrogance
He pushed his glasses back up his nose "I was taking care of the hollows while you and Kurosaki fooled around"
Layne detailed yesterday, not fooled by Uryuu's bluff at all. He just doesn't want to admit that he was sleeping on the job
Uryuu however, was shocked, though he was careful not to let any of that show through to Layne, who Uryuu had observed kept up that façade of laziness to fade into the background without being noticed, and was actually just as world aware as anyone.
I'd seen it on the news…but I didn't connect that everyone's reiatsu signatures at the same park could have been related.
"That woman…" Layne said, the uneasiness in his voice at odds with the calm way he walked "We'll need your help if she shows up again dude"
Uryuu blanched, what the hell was he supposed to do? Throw needles at her?
They made it to school, surprisingly early in Layne's case… who in all known instances from kindergarten to year 12, had never made it to school earlier than the bell, assuming he turned up at all that day
Unfortunately the hollow alarm sounded just as he was about to sit down
Layne sighed, white mushroom cloud style and extracted Elias' green pill from his pocket, popped it and jumped out the window in Shinigami form
"What a waste of time" Layne growled, not even bothering to unsheathe his Zanpakuto and just punching through the hollow's mask, using his hollowfied hand I gotta admit, this whole one shotting weak hollows thing is pretty boring…could it be that I'm actually feeling the urge to not be lazy!?
He returned to class, entering his body and causing him to spit the pill out , by this time class had started and everyone was in their seats, so Layne leant across and whispered to Ichigo "Next one is yours"
"So much for not being lazy"
Ok, now this shit is just weird, I'm pretty sure everyone else's head voice sounds exactly like their own, so stop screwing around
"Make me"
Layne shuddered, distracted from his conversation with himself by the feeling that Joel was doing something really, really dumb
Joel was doing something really, really dumb
Currently running like hell with an unconscious Nemu over his left shoulder and Riku's Shikai in his left hand, he wondered for the very first time, if being Ukitake's lieutenant was more dangerous that being in the 11th division
At least in the 11th division they didn't send you on the Captain ranked missions if yours was down due to illness
Kenpachi never got sick
And they couldn't send another Captain, because Joel had Bankai, so it would miraculously be ok
The one concession that Joel had been allowed was bringing Nemu along, though she hadn't been much help, the rockfall from a misaimed Cero striking her head and knocking her out.
Which was a shame, because for some insanely gay reason, Joel couldn't make an injury on these particular Menos and Nemu may have been able to work it out
He had tried both Riku's blade, and his Formation attack, but either these Menos's reiatsu was so well hidden that Joel couldn't sense the massive amount that would be required to reduce his attack strength to nothing, or there was something else at work
Joel nimbly dodged another Cero from one of the Menos
Alright, fuck this
Joel turned around and rose Riku into the air
"Hang on Nemu" he whispered "This might get rough"
To the Menos, who probably didn't understand at all he simple spoke one word
"Bankai"
Joel's reiatsu swirled around him and compressed tightly around his body, kicking up dust and small rocks
"Riku's Path – Way to the Dawn!" Joel intoned, holding the aptly named Way to the Dawn out in front of him
Unfortunately, Way to the Dawn bounced off them just as easily as Soul Eater had
"Aww Balls" muttered Joel
So once again he was running from these Menos
"Why can't I injure these guys" he growled as he ran down a narrow canyon, with three of them behind him "Their reiatsu signature doesn't match up with their defenses at all"
Joel was about to exit the canyon when a fourth Menos appeared from around the corner, Cero fully charged
Joel's thoughts miraculously turned back to the only useful thing that Jed had ever said to him
"When you're about to get totally fucked, the words you should use are 'Slut faced motherfucker'
Joel decided not to, and instead was totally prepared for when four Cero's hit him straight on
Inside the thick walls of earth raised by Way to the Dawn, Joel weathered out the Cero storm, looking at Nemu who he had placed on the ground
"What would you do if you were in my place Nemu…would you use that?"
The Cero storm suddenly stopped, and the presence of a familiar reiatsu nearby gave Joel pause
"What the hell is she thinking!" he exclaimed, picking up Nemu and exploding from his barriers "Oi Moll!"
Moll ignored him "Hado no 31: Shakkaho!"
A red ball of fire shot from her outstretched hands and exploded on contact with the Menos closest to Joel's makeshift fort
It's reiatsu shifted and Joel sensed that something had finally penetrated it's defense
What the hell, even my Bankai bounced right off it, what the hell has she got that can do it
"Joel!" Moll shouted at him "They are weak to Kido, so start using it"
Joel stopped dead and slammed the side of his fist into his open palm "I never thought of that" he said, an expression of surprise taking over his features
Moll sweatdropped
This guy was only without me for about a fortnight and it's already made him retarded
"Hado no 4: Byakurai!" Joel attempted to shoot it from the tip of his index finger but it curved around and exploded behind him
"Shit"
"Retard, you know you aren't any good with Kido, so don't skip the incantations" Moll screeched at him, irritated
"But there's no time for incantations" he called back, dodging another Cero "And if you don't start using them we'll be here forever"
"Well then" Moll smiled, standing up from her perch and drawing her Zanpakuto "I'll just eliminate the need for incantations"
"Rise Inside: Sora!"
Moll's standard katana vanished and Sora appeared in its place
"So you release your sword" Joel deadpanned
"Tornado!" she called, aiming it not at a Menos but blowing Joel out of the path of yet another Cero
Joel managed to gain some traction and stopped moving before he got blown into a wall
"You don't really know what Sora's abilities are, do you Joel?" Moll asked, flashstepping next to him
Joel raised walls of earth again to block the Menos' Cero's while they talked
"Been too busy to see you spar"
"I haven't actually released Sora in any of my spars, since all unseated guys I spar with would probably die"
"We should probably start fooling around, what does it do?"
Moll pretended to look hurt, but Joel wasn't falling for it
"There are Four Menos Grande out there looking to devour us, I can't hurt them, you can and all you want to do is gloat, well if you manage to defeat them, then gloat all you want but for now, just fight"
Moll dropped the façade and began to explain
"In addition to Sora's wind abilites, It also focuses and refined the power of any Kido I use, so it's pretty much the power of a Kido with incantation if I don't use the incantation"
"Ever tried using the incantation with Sora out?"
"My body can't handle the power during incantation" Moll said flatly "I can do a Sho, but anything above that is damaging tried to do Hellflame Inferno once and broke two bones in my hand"
Joel whistled, Sho was a level 1 but Hellflame Inferno was only a level 6 Hado, so he'd hate to see what would happen if she tried using Shakkaho, a 31 let alone her favorite spell, Raikouho which was a 63
"I'll distract them and try to give you some openings then"
"Expect to receive a massive gloating after this"
Joel laid Nemu on the ground and kicked a hole in his earth walls, the Menos having given up a couple of minutes ago
"Assuming I do my job well enough that is"
Joel moved out the hole he made and Moll followed him
I hope he doesn't ever find out I partially lied about my body not being able to handle the power of Sora's amplified Incantation Kido
Moll cast her mind back to a couple of days ago… That training room had collapsed, and Hellflame Inferno shoots out like a beam
Moll shook her head when Joel called angrily from outside
"I'm coming goddammit!"
Twenty minutes later Joel, Moll and Nemu headed back to the Seireitei
"Thanks for your help Moll" Joel said "I don't think I would have gotten out of there without getting injured otherwise"
"Don't worry about it"
"Now you can explain to me… Why you were out there on a Captain Rank mission, and how did you know that they would be weak against kido?"
"Idiot, I was looking for you, today's my promotion ceremony and you have to be there or I'll kick your ass from here to Layne"
"Speaking of Layne, aren't you going to get him to suffer through this as well"
"You know the only thing that could get Layne to suffer through something like this would be someone with authority and the power that Layne can respect and unfortunately none of the captains I asked to help out were willing to go along with my plan"
Joel chuckled "I guess not"
"As for how I knew… There was a small hollow yesterday, that 11th division got really busted up fighting because it could change its reiatsu so all physical attacks bounced right off it, but when I arrived on the scene to do some battlefield healing, but it was defeated when it went after me and I used Sho, to attempt to push it away"
"I don't get it"
"By forcing all your defenses into the one band, you neglect your defense for everything else" Moll explained "Shinigami don't need to do this as we are generally resilient enough to absorb anything at least once, whether it's physical or reiatsu based…but for hollows that will die from one slice of a sealed Zanpakuto or a weak kido burst, being able to become practically invincible to one particular type of attack, but extremely weak against another is good against people like you, me and the 11th division who only rely on pretty much one type of offense
"How did hollows get that smart?"
"Must be Aizen teaching them tricks and shit"
"If that's the case, there are still plenty of people that can take out one of those Menos by themselves though"
"Probably not"
"Yes there is"
"At the most, there's probably about twenty-seven"
"Only?!"
"All the captains and lieutenants, excluding yourself, Captain Kenpachi, Omaeda, and possibly Captain Komamura, and since I'm not sure whether he can do kido or not makes twenty –two, Layne, Ichigo, Chad, Yoruichi, and Urahara"
"You actually did the maths"
"Shut it"
Moll sighed, she walked right into that one
"Well, I guess we'll just have to team up against Menos from now on" Joel grinned, and grabbed Moll around the shoulders
"Idiot, Nemu can take them out by herself, stay teamed up with her"
Nemu glowed with appreciation at Moll, and Moll winked at her, but both actions went unnoticed by Joel.
Moll and Nemu returned to their respective divisions, and Joel headed to 13th where Ukitake had recovered a little, and was finishing off the day's paperwork
"Oh, Captain, feeling better?"
Ukitake smiled and gestured to Joel's own mountainload of paperwork
Joel's smile became rather fixed
It's confirmed, being Ukitake's lieutenant is more dangerous than being in the 11th squad
A hell butterfly flew through the window and landed on Joel's head, instantly transmitting it's message
"There's a combined Captain-Lieutenant meeting being called" Joel relayed to Ukitake "Says Urgent, and its combined by Captain Kyoraku and Head-captain Yamamoto… and for your ears apparently its got something to do with Kira?"
Ukitake went white(er) and Joel just looked confused "Kira? Why would we talk about him, unless he's obtained Bankai and going for captaincy of 3rd"
It had been nine days since Kira's rampage and Ichigo was going crazy
"GAH!"
Ichigo and Layne were sitting on a bench outside Urahara's store, Layne had cleverly brought a book, and his mp3 player to pass the time, but Ichigo hadn't expected to be waiting there for three hours
"Why has this bastard benched us!" Ichigo growled
Urahara had asked Ichigo and Layne to remain behind, while Chad, Uryuu and Orihime went out and did some searching
"So Kira would come straight here when she senses both of our reiatsu;s leaking like crazy" Layne said shortly, standing up, snapping his book shut and pushing himself out of his body
"Shit, a bunch of people are coming this way" Ichigo muttered, standing up and pushing himself out of his body and hiding it inside the store
Layne sighed
Is this guy really ok?
Five people appeared in the sky above the store, one of them holding Uryuu
Ready Roxas?
"As much as I can be"
Then let's get this done!
a/n - Slightly less hungover now so i think i'll speak a little more
Yeah i've been changing the ways reiatsu can be used in this fic a lot, none of it is canon at all, but i did feel the need to pump up the Menos Grande's power levels a little bit, or we could just have ordinary Shinigami running around one shotting them -_-
Hope your enjoying it, this chapter was a little harded to push out so i apologize for the length of it
uhhh... happy april fools though i'm either 1 or 2 days late depended on your timezone
Review button isn't green anymore =( but you should press it anyway =D
if in doubt change your name to steve
Cyarrs next chappy