The footsteps could be heard from far away as they pounded the stone floor of the hallway. Lesser Death Gods moved to the side as Lt. Hona ran through, holding his sword steadily in his sheath at his side. He finally reached the end, where a large wooden door stood firmly closed. He approached the door cautiously and with his hand clenched in a tight fist, pounded three times. The door opened slowly as if by magic, and he found the General sitting at his desk, tapping his fingers.
"Get in here, what the hell happened!?" He barked angrily. Hona entered and bowed slightly.
"Sir," He began with a deep breath. "The Captain has aligned himself with the enemy and is protecting him." The General stood up and placed his hands firmly on the desk.
"You did not take care of them both?" He questioned. Hona lowered his head.
"I am no match for either of them, sir. I engaged the Captain and he allowed me to escape with my life and without injury." He explained softly, obviously ashamed. The Captain sighed and brought himself back down into his chair.
"Very well… Go bring me a couple 2nd Tier Captains, I'll send them. The Secret Police are officially under your command, Lt. Hona. Do what's necessary to track them." He ordered, signing a paper. He rolled it, tied it, and handed it to Hona. "Now go."
"Yes, sir!" He replied. He turned and left the office quickly. The General sat silent, waiting. He left the door open, and within a few minutes, three men walked in, all wearing different jackets, but all with white t-shirts, a contrast to the majority of Death Gods who wore black. One carried a huge sword on his back, another with a large axe, and a third with a broadsword hanging from his waist. They all stood smartly before him.
"Very good… The situation is as such: The Captain has joined sides with the enemy and has betrayed Heaven. They mean to take control for themselves, I know it. You three will prepare your squads; I'll send you out for them soon. You are dismissed." He explained. The nodded and left, without a word. The doors closed behind them, and when they slammed shut the three men stared at each other.
"Something isn't right." The tallest one said first, his huge sword hanging from his back. The one with the axe spoke next.
"I agree, we'll hunt him down and talk to him before we engage him." He declared. The other men nodded in agreement and went their separate ways to prepare their men.
"Secret Police, huh?" Urahara questioned. Jas nodded.
"That's my squad. We don't really arrest people or anything, but we do all the covert investigation. I'll bet they've already stripped me of my rank and given control of the squad to Hona." He mused. Urahara nodded.
"You really didn't have to go through all this trouble for me," He began. "After all, this might be your death sentence." Jas laughed.
"They can try." He growled after his laughter subsided.
"Or we can join you." Another voice came. The two men stopped in their tracks and quickly turned around to see a group of men, all in black shirts with different assorted weapons hanging about casually behind them.
"Who are they?" Urahara whispered. Jas grinned and walked up.
"Howdy, boys." He greeted. He then turned to Urahara. "It's alright, these are my men." One of the men hopped down from a tree and walked up. They grasped hands and grinned.
"You know," The lesser Death God began. "The Lieutenant has gone off the deep end. He's supposedly issuing us orders as the Commander of the Secret Police. We just through we'd come ask you about this."
"Hah!" Jas snorted. "He's just looking out for his future. He's supposed to become a Captain soon, and if he joins me now he'll never get that chance. I don't blame him. But you guys – any of you could become Lieutenants or even Captains one day, are you sure you want to do this?" He asked. The men all nodded in unison.
"Sure thing, boss. So we're protecting this guy, huh?" He asked nonchalantly.
"That's the plan," Jas replied. "We just have to find this infiltrator and stop him so our friend here can go back to Japan. The other men began filing in slowly behind them.
"Well then, you should also know something…" He began, hesitantly. Jas cocked his head.
"Yeah? What is it?" He questioned. The man sighed and lowered his head.
"They've sent a few 2nd Tier Captains after you." He finally admitted. Jas exhaled slowly and closed his eyes.
"Which ones?" He asked after a moment.
"I saw George, for sure. I didn't recognize the other two." He explained. Jas opened his eyes quickly.
"You saw George? Are you sure?" He quickly demanded. The man nodded. "Well then, we'll have to operate with no spirit level whatsoever. George won't want to fight me, but he won't care about getting through you guys to get to me." The men all nodded and within an instant, it was if no one was standing there except for Urahara. Jas turned to him to see his eyes closed, his spirit level gradually decreasing to nothing. Finally, Urahara opened his eyes and looked embarrassed, seeing every man staring at him as if he was late.
"What? In Japan they don't focus on teaching us how to manipulate our spirit level as fast as you!" He shouted. Jas patted him on the shoulder.
"That's fine, but let's continue moving. We have a safe-house a few miles away we used for espionage against Japan during the change of power." He said as they walked.
"You spied on us?!" Urahara blurted. Jas shrugged.
"Just in case, but yeah." He answered. Urahara sighed and shook his head as they all continued their hike. Finally, a Death God in the back spoke up.
"Hey, Captain?" He called, staring at a phone. The men all stopped, and Jas turned back.
"What is it?" He replied. The man ran up and showed him his phone. "Oh, damn…" He muttered after a moment.
"It's not Death God or Hollow… I can't tell what it is, sir." He explained, confused. Jas nodded.
"I'll bet it's our friend," He agreed. He turned to another man. "Open us a door to California – one that doesn't go through Heaven." He commanded. The man nodded and drew his sword. Within a few moments, they had a black doorway to emptiness in the middle of the trail. "Come on, everyone. We have to run very fast so they don't notice the doorway." He called. With that, the men all ran in at full speed, followed by Urahara and Jas.
When they emerged from the darkness, they stood on top of a shrub-covered hill with a few large man-made letters behind them, and a huge city below.
"Hollywood?!" Urahara shouted. "Are you kidding me?!" After a moment, the black doorway closed and the entire squad was standing around the two Captains, ready to fight anyone that might have seen them and beaten them there.
"Clear east!" One shouted.
"Clear west!" Another called.
"All clear!" Jas announced. The men took a relaxed stance and sheathed their weapons. He then turned to Urahara.
"Yeah, we felt the surge near here." He answered.
"No, you felt it here."