Return to Karakura Town!

(Soul Society…)

At the meeting hall, the Captains held one of their usual meetings, including a big congratulation to Logan on his victory against Wu-Shen and toppling the Omaeda clan, thus saving the Soul Society from a bunch of grief. Soifon was definitely grateful, but the young man only saw it as repaying her for saving his life when they first met. Even after they broke up, the Squad 2 Captain still loved him for his modesty, even if it sometimes got on her nerves. As per tradition with Kyoraku, they hit the minor stuff on the head, which included Omaeda being stripped of his rank, placed under house arrest, and his clan being demoted to one of the middle class clans, replaced by the Feng clan led by Soifon herself.

These events caused her to be without a Lieutenant, but she assigned Logan as her fill-in until she can get an official one, a decision that Kyoraku and Byakuya were just fine with. She knew that he was still human and that he still needed to help his team in the tournament, especially since she learned that Chun-Li was out of commission, leaving Guile, Cammy, and Abel to fight until he got back. "…Okay then, congratulations, Captain Soifon, thanks to your 'knight in street fighting armor'," he began, eliciting a snicker from Kisuke, followed by a smack to the scientist's head, courtesy of Yoruichi, "you and your clan have been promoted to join the Kuchiki, Shihoin, and Shiba families as a noble clan. I know for a fact that you'll do better than the Omaedas."

"Thank you, Head Captain. I'll do my best as both the head of the clan and as the Squad 2 Captain," she said affirmatively.

"That's good to hear. Alright, time for the more important issue at hand. It's your turn to take center-stage, Logan and Yoruichi."

"Thank you, Head Captain," Logan said before taking a deep breath. "Let me start by saying that if Head Captain Yamamoto was still here—God rest his soul—he would not consider this second terrorist organization a threat compared to Shadaloo. I'll just cut to the chase. This second threat is called 'S.I.N', which stands for 'Shadaloo Interrogation Network'." This shocked the Captains and Lieutenants, but Kenpachi still had his excited grin on his face. "These guys were said to have branched off from Shadaloo and became their own organization. This may be because one of Bison's replacement bodies was said to have had his Slave Protocol function disabled permanently during the explosion Lt. Charlie Nash died in, which caused him to have a mind of his own."

This was where Yoruichi decided to take her turn to speak. "S.I.N. has done everything Shadaloo has, but on a more secretive level, essentially making Shadaloo, Bison included, take the heat. We're still in the dark as to what the replacement body is trying to do, but we heard a rumor that he renamed himself 'Seth', which made us think that he might have a connection to Abel. Sadly, because Abel is an amnesiac, even he doesn't know the connection. All we can really do right now is fight in the tournament and search for clues," she said.

"Have either one of you come across one of S.I.N.'s agents yet?" Ukitake asked.

"No, Captain, we haven't. I think my team has, though," Logan answered. "Ironically, Bison's 'Psycho Power' overrides my 'Spirit Sense' to the point where I can't find him. I did sense a dark presence beating Chun-Li in a fight, even going as far as to cause her extreme pain. If I could find out who that dark presence was, it'd make finding them a little easier. This might be a possibility, but S.I.N. might have Ichigo and Rukia as well."

"Are you sure?" asked Shinji.

"Like I said, it might be a possibility, but I'm not too sure. Whether they are or not, though, Shadaloo is still on my hit-list. I still have to get the Sash of Eden back from Bison and I have a rematch against Vega." Yoruichi and Byakuya shook their heads at the last one, but they knew that the fight against Vega was a matter of Logan's pride.

"You better watch it, kid. From what I heard, Vega's pretty tough to deal with. You might be able to handle that idiot Balrog, though," Kyoraku said.

"Oh trust me, Balrog will be a piece of cake, even for Momo," Yoruichi joked.

"Lady Shihoin!" Momo whined.

"I can get you to the World of the Living through my Senkaimon, but it will just land you into one of two places: Karakura Town or Tokyo. I'm still working out the kinks," Kisuke said.

"Well Logan did say that he'd meet his team in Karakura. We'll take it, Kisuke," said Yoruichi.

"Alright, if there's nothing else, then meeting adjourned!" announced Kyoraku.

(The World of the Living…)

After saying their goodbyes to the other Soul Reapers (and Logan getting hugs from Momo, Nemu, and Soifon), Logan and Yoruichi went through Kisuke's new Senkaimon. There was one bug that he didn't take into account which split the two up and landing them into each of the two cities that he mentioned. Luckily, Logan was in Karakura standing on a lamppost on an overpass. Due to his 'Spirit Sense' he knew that Yoruichi was in Tokyo. Immediately, he got his cell phone out and called the others. It was a good thing they knew his number. "Hey, welcome back, kid," Guile said, answering the call.

"Thanks Guile. Fill me in on what happened. I sensed that Cammy beat Cody Travers."

"Then I guess you know about Chun-Li's recent loss as well. I'll let her tell the story." Logan, in the meantime, was hearing Cammy protesting against that.

"Logan, is that really you?" Chun-Li asked, still weak from her fight earlier.

"Yeah it's me. Who did it to you, Chun-Li? I'll be sure to rip them a new one."

"She might like that. Have you heard…of the criminal Juri Han?" The question shocked Logan, as he didn't know that Juri was in the tournament.

"Don't say another word. Save your strength."

"Logan darling, we ran across some of Ichigo Kurosaki's friends as well. I believe they said their names were Tatsuki, Orihime, Keigo, Mizurio, and Chizuru," said Cammy. It was now obvious to Logan that Guile had him on speakerphone.

"So Tatsuki is in the tournament… I'm not surprised. Listen, guys, Orihime has this ability that can reverse injuries on a person's body, effectively healing them to the point where it's like the injury wasn't even there in the first place. Since Chun-Li's in worse condition, tell Orihime to heal her first. After that, she can work on Tatsuki," Logan ordered.

"How did you know that Tatsuki was injured?" Cammy asked.

"Because I sensed her Spiritual Signature and compared her injuries to Chun-Li's. Of course, that could be null and void if Orihime healed Tatsuki while Chun-Li fought Juri."

"Well…" The hesitation from Cammy signaled to Logan that he nailed it, so he laughed a little.

"I see that it's null and void then. I'm in Karakura Town now and Yoruichi was sent to Tokyo. I'll wait for you guys here."

"Alright, we'll see you later. And we'll bring that Kurosaki kid's friends with us while we're at it," Guile said. After hanging up, Logan got a text from Yoruichi telling him that she was alright. He sent back a message telling her to stay safe. After that, he jumped from the lamppost and onto the ground, only to discover that he had company.

"Whoa, check it out, Yang. It looks like we've got a ninja for our next opponent," said a voice. Logan turned around and saw one guy in a pair of black slacks, Kung-Fu shoes, a sleeveless white shirt, and a baseball cap with his hair in a ponytail.

"Now remember, Yun. He needs a tag partner to fight us," said the other guy. He had on the same style clothing as the other guy, who was identified to be Yun. The difference was that this person's shirt was colored red, his hair was long and over his eyes, and he didn't wear a ball cap. Logan figured this person to be Yang.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I hope he has a tag partner. I'd hate to fight him on my own."

'I can't believe this. I have to have a tag partner to take these guys on? They do look pretty fast, though. Where's Uryu when you need him?' Logan thought, initially shaking his head.

"I'll be your tag partner," said another voice. Logan and the brothers turned and saw a man with a traditional Karate gi that had the sleeves and the ends of the legs torn. His belt had four kanji symbols on it and he wore a red headband. Logan and Yang were surprised because this was the legendary travelling warrior Ryu. "You look like you wanted to shut these guys up," Ryu said.

"Wow, you're Ryu… Well, I wanted to shut the guy with the hat up," Logan finally said.

"I heard about you too. You're the 'Lightning Striker' Ken told me about. It's an honor to meet you, Logan." Yang was surprised that a legend like Ryu was teaming up with the infamous 'Lightning Striker' and that they were against him and Yun of all people. Yun, though, was taking it too lightly.

"Oh yeah, now it's time to have some fun!" he said excitedly. Yang shook his head in disbelief before getting ready. Since he fought Ken, Logan didn't hesitate to team up with Ryu. He wasn't going to use his 'Chidori Shoryuken' on either one of the brothers, so they'd have to settle for his 'Skydive Assault'. The fight started when both brothers rushed towards their opponents, Yun in front of Yang. Ryu and Logan found out that this was the reason they refuse to fight by their individual selves.

(Florence…)

As Tatsuki and the others were waiting on Orihime to finish healing Chun-Li, she heard some kind of beeping going off. "Hey, Major, I think your 'fight detector' thingy picked up a tournament fight," she said.

"Is that so? Well let's check it out," Guile said, picking up the tablet. "That's odd. This thing usually kicks in whenever one of our own team members gets into a fight. Logan must've found his next opponent."

"He's fighting a tournament fight? I thought he was looking for Ichigo!"

"You've got Chun-Li to thank for this. She's the one who got Logan in this tournament in the first place to pass some time." Guile looked at the tablet again and discovered that Logan's opponents were a pair of brothers that he didn't recognize. Having been fully healed (leg and all) by Orihime, Chun-Li sat up and looked at the opponents.

"What are Yun and Yang doing in the tournament? I thought I left them in Hong Kong," she said.

"You know these two, officer?" Tatsuki asked.

"Yes, Tatsuki, I do. One of my instructors fought in the first tournament the warrior known as Ryu participated in. His name was Lee and these two are his grandsons." Tatsuki felt that this tournament was going to hold a lot of surprises in store especially at the mention of Ryu, who happened to be one of her all-time favorites. "But why would Logan try to take them on by himself? Sure, he can handle them, but it is against tournament rules to not make sure your opponent has a tag partner."

Orihime took a look at Logan's part of the screen and saw another face. "Well it looks to me like he has one," she said. The face she pointed to happened to be Ryu's, which, again, shocked the others, especially Tatsuki.

"He's teaming up with Ryu?" Chun-Li asked in surprise. The shock on her face turned into a smile. "At least he has a good tag partner. Ryu's willing to work with anyone and Logan knows how he works from fighting against Ken. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out."

"Logan fought against Ken Masters?" asked Tatsuki. Obviously, her support group had no idea who she was talking about, even though she and Ichigo were martial artists.

"Yeah, he did. He lost against him though."

"Is this Masters guy really that tough to beat someone who could take on a Soul Reaper?" Keigo asked.

"You have no idea, Keigo. He and Ryu trained under a legendary martial arts master named Gouken and he could easily rival Kyoraku. So what does that tell you?" Tatsuki explained. Chun-Li smiled, happy that the young martial artist knew her stuff. Guile switched it to video to see the two fight Yun and Yang.

(Karakura Town…)

Yun and Yang were charging at Logan and Ryu, who got themselves ready to counter. Yun made the mistake of jumping in the air, a setup for Logan to counter. "Shoryuken!" he shouted. The dragon punch got the Assassin out of the way long enough for Ryu to counter Yang while Yun was thrown off his course.

Ryu sent Yang back and got his hands in a familiar pattern. "Hadoken!" he exclaimed, firing the energy ball at his opponent. Logan sensed that it was definitely more powerful than Ken's as it hit Yang pretty quickly. Yang recovered fast enough and circled around Ryu fast enough to where he couldn't keep up with him. With each lap he took, he kept getting closer and closer. After a while, Logan stuck his arm out and clotheslined Yang, effectively stopping him from getting to Ryu, grabbed him, and tossed him towards Yun.

Logan decided it was time to show the brothers why Ken and Dee Jay dubbed him the 'Lightning Striker'. He charged up his energy in one hand with a smirk on his face. After a few quick attacks, he sent them back a bit before attacking with a fully-charged Super Attack. "Shinku…Chidori!" he exclaimed. Like with Adon, he zoomed past the brothers while striking them and doing the same thing again, returning to the same side as Ryu. Afterwards, he fired the 'Shinku Chidori' at them like a projectile.

Ryu smiled at the scene, amazed that his temporary tag partner could be excited and stay focused during the fight. He was also amazed by his control and manipulation of one of the ancient techniques, as it would take a number of years to master it. He knew it was too early to celebrate just yet as Yun and Yang recovered from the 'Shinku Chidori'. As the duo was rushing towards them, Ryu and Logan braced themselves. "Shoryuken!" they both shouted, sending the brothers into the air. "Tatsumaki!" exclaimed Ryu, sending them back again with a 'Tatsumaki Senpukyaku'.

When he landed, he charged up energy between both of his hands. Logan recognized this as Ryu's newest Ultra Attack. "Metsu…Hadoken!" The blast hurled towards both brothers at a quick pace, but Yun was knocked to the ground while Yang jumped up to try and dodge it. He saw that his brother was K.O.'ed and that Logan was no longer on the ground.

He looked up and saw the Assassin coming down towards him in what looked like a fast-paced freefall. "Skydive Assault!" Logan exclaimed. He grabbed Yang by the face and slammed him to the ground. As he did with Ken and Rufus, he left a huge crater in the ground. Ryu also happened to pick up a bit of chi use in that attack. The dust cleared and they saw that Yang quickly stood back up. After he panted a bit, he passed out from the fight, making Logan and Ryu the winners. "Man that was fun," the Assassin said.

"I agree. Do you have a team or are you fighting solo?" Ryu asked.

"I thought Ken told you. I'm on a team with your friends Chun-Li, Cammy, and Guile, as well as an ex-mercenary named Abel. In fact, Chun-Li and I are the Co-Captains."

"Is that so? Tell me, is she as powerful as ever?"

"You better believe it. You should've seen her fighting her first opponent in the tournament. It was a Lucha Libre wrestler named El Fuerte. He also happens to run a restaurant that merits 1-star just for his creativity. Sadly, he charges 5-star prices."

"What did Chun-Li do to him?" Ryu asked.

"Do you have to ask? She toyed with him before knocking him out with her 'Kikkosho'. Ryu, I've been in love before, but I think Chun-Li is one of the women of my dreams," Logan said.

"The other one must be Cammy." The Missouri boy smirked, knowing that the martial arts master figured it out. Ryu shook his head, but he knew that his new friend had the same unorthodox fighting style as Ken did. Pretty soon a car pulled up and out of it came two more of Ichigo's friends, Chad and Uryu.

Chad surveyed the damage in the area and noticed the two brothers knocked out. "Well I'll be damned. Did you cause all of this, Logan?" he asked.

"It wasn't just me, Chad. Ryu here was a part of it as well."

"Well, I guess that's your sign to everyone who knows Ichigo and Rukia that you're back in Karakura," said Uryu. "I guess I might have to say it myself. Welcome back."

(Florence…)

Chun-Li and the rest of the team smiled at the result of the fight. They were happy of the fact that their Co-Captain and their wandering friend could work together so easily. Tatsuki was amazed as well, especially since she knew that the two had just met and they could cooperate so easily where Ichigo and Uryu knew each other since High School and they still have trouble getting along. "Okay, that's that. We need to get on the next flight for Karakura Town ASAP before Juri finds us, Logan, or Ryu," Chun-Li said. Guile, Cammy, and Abel nodded while Tatsuki frowned.

"What do you mean? What's going on?" she asked. "Where is Ichigo? Tell me!" Chun-Li saw that Tatsuki found a new resolve for entering the tournament other than proving her strength. That resolve happened to be one of Logan's missions.

"Tatsuki, we'll explain on the way to the airport."

(Soul Society…)

Soifon was in her office finishing up her paperwork, as well as working on what Omaeda should've been doing during his tenure. She heard a gentle knock on the door and figured out who it was. "Come on in, Momo," she said. Momo let herself in and closed the door. "What's on your mind?"

"Captain Soifon, do you…do you miss your father?" the Squad 5 Lieutenant asked. The question surprised the Captain, but she turned it into a gentle, if somewhat sad smile.

"Yeah, I do. Especially since he told me what his real intention was and how it was overthrown by the elders. It just goes to show that you can't trust your seniors to make good decisions all the time," Soifon answered, sharing a laugh with the young Lieutenant. "Why do you ask? Is this about the Aizen that we thought was real?"

"Well, yes it is. I thought I was over the whole Winter War ordeal, but I guess not. And with Toshiro- I mean Captain Hitsugaya in the World of the Living participating in the tournament with Rangiku, I've been thinking on that. I didn't want to talk to Captain Hirako about it since I know he'd get mad, so since Renji and I were trying to help you through this ordeal with your father, I figured I could talk to you."

Soifon smiled at her young friend, even giggled at when she corrected herself when mentioning Toshiro. "I know how you feel. Aizen was like a father to you, wasn't he?" Momo nodded. "I figured that. You came to the right place, Momo. You know full well how I felt when Lady Yoruichi left me for 100 years. If Aizen hasn't reformed by the time his sentence is up, we'll have to fight him again. I know it'll be hard for you since it was for me having to fight my mentor."

"That bad, huh?" the Lieutenant asked. "Then it looks like I'll have to train harder. Not necessarily for a Bankai, but to practice harder myself." Soifon chuckled at the resolve Momo had in her voice. They both knew that she was no Ichigo Kurosaki, but it was a nice start. Momo grabbed some of the paperwork and got to working on it.

"Well, at least it's a good start on her concentration training. And it'll cut down on the time."

CHAPTER 11 END

Alright, now I'm happy to get this one out of the way and bring Ryu in on this, as well as bring up S.I.N. I also hope you like the bonding moment between Soifon and Momo. I know I'm making the former a bit OOC, but I did that in 'Symbios-Issues' as well. I think this is a good story so far. Let me know what you think in your reviews.