"Woooooooah, what the hell is this!"
The group stared out into a vast area beneath the small Candy shop owned by Urahara - the walls were painted blue and meant to resemble the sky.
"Who would have thought th~ere was such a h~uge sp~ace underneath the store?" the shopkeeper's voice echoed.
"Yes, yes, we are all very impressed, now could we please get on with it," came Yoruichi's annoyed response.
Urahara grinned as he glanced back at her, "Alrighty, then. Now, we need to see how strong Kratos-san is so Tessai, please be prepared for any medical emergencies."
"Hai, Owner-san," Tessai replied holding up a medical kit.
So far, Kratos had simply stared at the strange man. He had been wondering what thoughts had occupied his mind as Yoruichi had relayed his story to the shop owner. The man was more than he appeared to be - that part was obvious: the strange look that had come over his face and the way he hid beneath that fan and hat were an obvious give away that he was hiding something. That and the obvious idiotic way he acted to intentionally annoy people while making smart-Alec comments to get a rise out of someone.
"So then… eh… uh… how are we doing this again, Yoruichi-san?", Urahara asked, glancing down at the cat.
"Simple: you're fighting him, so move it," she replied.
Urahara almost fumbled his fan before snapping it open in front of his face again.
"EEEH, um… Yoruichi-san, does he even have a…"
"Can I kill him?" The bland question came from Kratos as he undid the ties on his cloak.
"W-w-w-wait a minute, here!" Urahara stuttered in slight panic.
"No, Kratos, you can't kill him," Yoruichi responded.
The shop-owner breathed a sigh of relief.
"Can I maim him at least?", Kratos asked.
"Go ahead," Yoruichi said with a Cheshire grin.
Urahara's eyes snapped back open, "Uuuuhhh, Now wait a minute, Yoruichi-san!"
"Urahara, think quick," Yoruichi said in a bland tone.
Urahara's eyes widened as two blazing serrated blades zipped in front of him. Glancing down he saw the top of his fan was gone and the rest on fire; glancing up, he sweat-dropped and used Shunpo to get out of the way of the next strike.
"Oh, dear: I do believe you have killed my fan."
"Yes, I do have weapons if that is what you were about to ask," was the white skinned warrior's response.
Kisuke took one look at him and a small trickle of sweat ran down his face: the Soul in front of him had discarded the black cloak and without a doubt he had one of the most impressive physical physiques that he had laid eyes on besides maybe old man Yama or that battle-happy Kenpachi.
Then his eyes found his blades.
'A dual wield Zanpakuto that's attached to the forearms and wrists - now that is interesting,' he thought as he dodged another strike.
Kratos swooped in with a flurry of strikes, throwing the blades in front of him in a straight pattern then curving his strikes upwards to get his prey into the air, trying to hit the irritatingly fast man. Urahara was in a bind: while he was indeed grateful that Yoruichi had found another powerful soul to join their merry little band, he did not appreciate being maimed. Finally, he was forced to draw Benihime and block a strike aimed at his liver.
He immediately regretted it as his muscles groaned in protest. 'Kami, how strong is he?' Urahara thought as he slid sideways to avoid getting slashed. 'He is so strong that skill might just become a null factor, though it is obvious he has that too,' Urahara thought.
Yoruichi watched as Kisuke was being driven back by the ferocity of Kratos' attacks. She noticed that Kratos did not add reiatsu to his feet to increase his movement speed, hmm, maybe that's something he hasn't quite figured out yet. Looks like I'll be training more than one person - at least for tonight.
Kisuke was eventually able to use Shunpo and get out of the way to a small hillock a small ways away.
Kratos frowned, 'I am strongly beginning to dislike that move,' he thought as flicked his wrist blades back to his hand.
"If dodging is all you are capable of, then you might as well give up," Kratos growled, striding towards his enemy.
Urahara glanced up at him with one eye, "My, my, I was just surprised, is all; please don't think that I'm having a hard time."
Kratos raised an eyebrow, "Well, then, I hope for your sake that your speed is greater than that of Hermes, for this next attack may kill you."
This time it was Urahara's turn to raise an eyebrow smiling slightly, "Regardless of who this Hermes fellow is, it looks like I might have to take this seriously, now."
…
Kratos crossed his blades in front of him and began gathering his massive Reiatsu. Urahara noticed the spike in Reiatsu pressure and released his Zanpakuto, "Nake, Benihime."
Kratos grinned as he felt the other mans spiritual pressure rise, "Drag To Hell: Claws of Hades."
Purple energy crackled as the two blades became two vicious hooks that he had snatched away from Hades in their final battle.
"Interesting - you seem to have a very barbaric Zanpakuto," Urahara commented.
"Ripped from the hands of Hades himself," Kratos commented.
Urahara raised an eyebrow at the comment - this extra bit of information was a bit much to swallow; given what he has seen so far, though…
Kratos thrust both of the hooks straight down into his shadow, the twin hooks zipped at their target. Urahara raised an eyebrow then his instinct told him to look down: he took one glance at the purple haze that suddenly surrounded his feet, "I see." The hooks suddenly burst from his own shadow forcing him to jump away at the last second. 'So those hooks can move through shadows like Kyoraku Taichou's Katen Kyokotsu' Urahara was barely able to think this before the hooks found his shadow again. It soon became a deadly game of tag; the former Captain was able to keep up with the continuously hunting hooks, although he had admittedly close calls and a several rips in his coattails.
Kratos suddenly pulled the hooks out of the shadow, "Come forth, Chimera!" he shouted, whipping both hooks into the ground when he spoke. Dragged from the ground was the shape of a vicious fiend with a goat and a lion for a head and a snake for a tail, standing tall for a moment before roaring at its enemy. Urahara was shocked to see his opponent pull something that was only heard of in myths, out of the ground. He had little time to marvel as the Chimera was on him - crouching low; the monster whipped its snake tail over its head attempting to catch him by surprise. He managed to block it with Benihime, but was still forced backwards. Springing after its prey, the monster let loose a stream of orange flame from its lion head. Urahara had no choice, "Sing, Benihime." The crimson jet of energy sliced through the flame, cutting into the monster which roared in pain.
"Well, now, I wasn't expecting a weapon to be able to call forth legendary monst…"
"Come, Cerberus."
'Oh shit,' was the only thing that Urahara could think when faced with a fire breathing, three-headed dog. The Cerberus charged, spewing fire balls from two heads the third acting as a guide. Once again Urahara was forced to dodge while throwing jets of red energy at the beast, eventually destroying it. "I admit, that was certainly unex…EH WHAT THE HELL!" Around Kratos there were at least five more chimeras and two Cerberus.
"Go."
The simple command of their master set the beasts charging at the stunned former captain who was now pushed beyond what he had intended to show. Flinging crimson jets of energy at the monsters that retaliated with fireballs, he was finally able to destroy the last one.
He landed and breathed deeply for a second.
One second to long as a powerful hand descended on his shoulder. 'You've got to be kidding me.'
Famous last words. Kratos picked Urahara up and threw his weight behind a devastating haymaker. Being off balance as he was had nowhere to dodge, Kisuke could feel his ribs snapping as he was thrown backwards through three separate hills.
Kisuke woke up to a serrated blade tickling his nose, Kratos staring down at him with a grim look in his eyes, "Give up," he stated blandly - it was not a question.
"Ok, ok, I give up!" was the frantic reply, "you didn't take me seriously."
"No, I admit I did not - a mistake I will not make again," Urahara grinned up at the bull of a man, who - with a grunt of dissatisfaction - placed the blade back on his shoulder.
"Well, now, that was a marvelous demonstration, Kratos-san…URGH," Kisuke tried to sit up but his midsection reminded him of how the 'spar' had ended.
"Please remain still, Owner-san," Tessai knelt down and began attending the wound to Urahara's midsection.
"Ah, thank you, Tessai-san," Urahara leaned back while Tessai worked his magic. Yoruichi - still in cat form - leapt down from a hillock where she had watched and padded up to the three. Taking one glance at the damage Kratos was able to do with a single punch, Yoruichi raised an eyebrow at the sitting warrior, "Alright, I admit it: I am more impressed than I thought I would be."
Kratos gave a small smirk, "I warned you, didn't I?"
"Yes, yes you did," Yoruichi responded.
"By the way, Kratos-san, would you mind telling me how you're able to summon mythological monsters with those hooks?" Kisuke asked eyeing the white warrior's weapons.
Kratos looked contemplatively into the distance. "When the war between the Gods and their parents ended, the three great brothers Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades - children of Kronos - drew lots for the three greatest realms of the world: Zeus claimed mastery over the heavens, Poseidon claimed the sea and Hades had command over the underworld; he was responsible for every soul that fell to his kingdom. Some called him the Silent One or the Greater of Many Guests; however, souls and their darkness remained Lord Hades' power: he was able to call upon myriads of endless undead to aid him in battle. He could also summon the souls of undead monsters to his side so no matter how many times you put them down, he could merely resurrect them and send them back to battle. It was in Hades that he formed his minions from the torments of wicked souls. Such monsters he set loose on the world for Hades had no love for mortals and especially mortal heroes."
Kratos drew the blades and changed them back to the hooks, "When I ripped these from Hades' grasp, I tore open a hole in his head and freed the souls that had been wicked or annoying enough… to him, at any rate… to warrant his personal attention. Some of them, however, had been with him too long and had become merely mindless beasts. This is what created the fiends."
"I see," definitely not the answer Urahara had been expecting. The scientist in him was dying to experiment on that Zanpakuto: to summon forth fallen souls was…an unheard of feat, even in all the history of Seireitei no one had ever attempted something like summoning something back from the cycle of reincarnation.
But if he was to swallow that explanation, it would mean he'd have to accept Kratos' explanation of his origins - that would be a frightening prospect, not in the least what it meant for Soul Society. Oh, boy, Old-Man Yama was going to have a field day with this if he ever got wind of it.
Tessai could not believe what his healing spells were telling him: almost all of the left side of Urahara's rib cage was nearly caved-in, not to mention the damage that might have been done if one of those rib fragments had punctured a lung. Luckily enough, the damage appeared to have been localized and directed away from the lungs.
"Well, I suppose I will be using a wheelchair tomorrow, eh, Tessai-san?" Kisuke commented as he felt his ribs reconnect.
"Most likely, Owner-san, or if you are walking you will be relying heavily on Benihime," Tessai replied.
"I see," Urahara thought for a moment, "then Kratos-san, I have a favor to ask you…"
"What is it?"
"Oh, nothing much," Urahara responded, "You see, I need to turn a young human back into a Shinigami and once I do, he needs to be trained to use his weapon."
Kratos raised one eyebrow, "And you have done this before?"
"Well…" Urahara looked embarrassed.
Kratos grimaced, "very well, I suppose since I put you in that position that I can train the boy."
"Ah, superb! We will begin tomorrow," Urahara said enthusiastically.
As Kratos walked to the ladder, he saw Yoruichi leaning against it in her human form… and fully clothed.
"You are strong in the physical sense of the word, Kratos, but I see you are lacking in a specific area when you fought Urahara," Yoruichi said.
Kratos raised an eyebrow at her, "and that is?"
Yoruichi smiled, "Speed… which I am going to teach you."
Kratos was silent for a moment, "Do you mean the speed at which Urahara-san moved?"
She nodded, "Yep."
Kratos grinned, "Very well. On a side note, how good are you at… "
Yoruichi smiled, "Shunpo, it's called Shunpo. As for how good I am, well…" she walked past him out into the training area, "…I wasn't called the Goddess of the Flash for nothing."
Kratos grinned slightly - he was beginning to like this woman.
Kukaku Shiba was bored, no scratch that she was bored out of her mind. Staring out at the outskirts of Soul Society brought her little comfort, only bad memories there. The latest firework orders were done and Ganju at least was behaving himself or at least staying out from underfoot. At least as far as she knew he was. Lazily she took another drag at her pipe and wondered about what she would do tomorrow. Urahara's little rebellion wasn't due to start for a few days so she had time on her hands. Damn it I want to fight something or at least beat something up she grumbled to herself. Ganju had been behaving himself so she couldn't kick him around. It was getting on toward night time and she had nearly sat here for an hour watching the sun go down. On top of that it looked as if it might rain soon.
"Mistress Shiba, WE HAVE INTRUDERS!"
Kukaku grinned to herself well how nice I ask and fate delivers, "about damn time I was getting bored. "Where," she demanded?
"In the front courtyard Mistress but please don't go out there please let your humble servants take care of this."
Kukaku scoffed, "eh, nah I been wantin' a fight all afternoon. Relax I got this."
Kukaku Shunpoed to her front courtyard, that just happened to be her design for the house this month, and looked around. The gates were open and the place looked normal.
"Hey sis," Ganju came running around the side of the house his sword in hand, "I heard about the intruders how many are there where are the…ARGH."
Kukaku kicked him in the face, "Idiot! What have I told you about running with your sword!"
"Gomen-nasai," he whimpered clutching his face.
Kukaku's eyes suddenly shot up as a spike of Reiatsu made itself known at her front gate. The ground shook slightly then again and again and again. Kukaku turned and stared.
Coming through her front gate his head almost touching the top of said gate had to be the biggest damn man she had ever seen besides Jidanbo. He had to be at the very least eight feet tall with massive arms and shoulders almost the width and girth of her gate. As he came closer and the earth rumbled harder as he did the Shiba matron could make out his features.
He was handsome in a way with brown eyes tinged with gray. His hair was black and there were claw marks on his face and across his bare chest. Around his waist he wore what looked to be leather tasseled armor shorts but little else. Kukaku snorted she doubted whether anyone in Seireitei could make a cloak big enough to fit this guy.
"Damn you're a big one," Kukaku grunted drawing her blade, "who the hell do you think you are trespassing on my home, eh?"
The giant looked down at her with a smile on his giant face, "Your pardon, milady, but could you perhaps spare a place by a fire to sleep: my mistress does not enjoy the outer elements as some of the riffraff around here do."
Kukaku huffed, "What does my place look like, a damn hotel?"
The big man just looked at her, Kukaku blew a strand of hair out of her face, "Alright look it's late and you obviously don't have any money or you would be stayin' in town so you gotta give me something of equal value pal."
"Oh," the giant asked a curious look on his face, "such as."
"If you can beat me in a straight fight then my place is open to you as long as you need it to be, you and this mistress of yours."
"Well now, I never expected to find a daughter of Athena to appear in this world."
Ganju who had just woken up looked dizzily at his sister then at the gate. His eyes widened when he saw the huge guy but his widened more when he was privy to the entrance of a Goddess.
The woman was astonishingly beautiful with white hair a heart shaped face and a bust that any woman would be jealous of. She wore white thigh high boots which clung to the curves of her legs in a way that should have been illegal. Above that was a white dress that had slits on the sides revealing the tops of her thighs in a large v pattern, the front was open revealing her cleavage and was tied by brown bindings. The dress was hemmed with an exquisite border. On the shoulders there were feather like shoulder pads which gave an exotic quality to her appearance. Her eyes had green pupils and the rest was strangely white giving her gaze an intensity that she could use. On her hands were two long gloves which came up to her elbows.
"Eh! Ah! Oh! Wow!"
For once Ganju was speechless and Kukaku could agree the woman was breath taking.
"W-who the hell are you," Kukaku just knew there had to be something wrong with this picture. For one thing what was somebody as well dressed as this woman doing in the outskirts of Rugonkai. Anybody with a face that pretty or form that beautiful should be adorning some nobleman's bed or court not wandering the darkened streets.
"My name is Gloria, daughter of Athena," the woman's voice dripped sensuality and seduction, "I do hope my bodyguard doesn't knock you about too much: you have too pretty a face to waste. Hercules, be a dear and play nice with her.
The newly named giant grinned and flexed his massive hands; it was only then that he released his full reiatsu.
"As you wish milady," he grinned down at her and Kukaku's only thought was, Me and my big mouth.
"Mayuri-sama, I think you need to look at this," an operator in the 12th division called, "we have readings of an abnormally high reiatsu reading."
"Hmm... Pull it up on the main screen," the Captain of the 12th ordered, "Hai, Mayuri-sama."
The brilliant if insane captain's eyes were riveted to the screen as the data scrolled across it.
"How interesting," he commented as he took in every detail about the reiatsu as he could, 'strange - I could almost swear I have seen these patterns of reiatsu before. The scientist looked harder at the screen straining his memory for where he had seen that pattern before. Suddenly a particular piece of data scrolled across the screen, "FREEZE THAT IMAGE!" Mayuri screamed at the operator who frantically complied. Mayuri got up and went right up to the computer screen the room going silent as he examined the frequency of the reiatsu.
"Bring up the frequency for reiatsu signature Alpha 10, on this screen, display side by side for Reiatsu comparison," he commanded.
"Yes sir," the operator replied.
Mayuri watched as the comparison matched the frequencies in different ways an almost 73% match to that signature that had been sighted in the 80th. "Get me a location on this reiatsu signature immediately!" Mayuri screeched.
"Hai, Mayuri-sama," the operator typed his request and shot it over to the communications division who in turn triangulated its location and sent it back. "We have a location."
"Excellent! Inform the communications division that they must not lose this signature or I will personally pickle them in vats of acid," Mayuri stated as he made copies of the data on to several disks.
"Yes sir," the operator sweat-dropped slightly, but then again he had seen his captain do stranger things.
The Captain's meeting hall was a bit tense: the 12th division captain had sent an urgent message desiring all captains to meet in the hall. Everyone wondered what could have possessed Mayuri enough to summon a captain's council this late at night - only the Captain-Commander was allowed to call an emergency Captain meeting unless the need was urgent; then again, the man had never really been right in the head.
Finally the door opened and the Kurostuchi Mayuri walked in and took his place.
"Kurostuchi-Taichou, explain yourself! Why have summoned the captains without my permission?" the Commander rumbled releasing a small spike reiatsu. Even Mayuri understood that he had better have a damn good excuse for his breach of protocol or the Commander was not going to be happy.
"I assure you, Soutaichou, that I have the best of reasons," Mayrui stated.
"Over two hours ago, a spike of reiatsu was detected in Rugonkai - I was in the operation room at the time and I discovered something truly fascinating," the lights dimmed and a holographic projector appeared in the middle of the room, showing the reiatsu signature frequency, "the reiatsu signature showed an almost 73% comparison to the signature frequency detected in the 80th district."
"Yeah, so…" was the question Kenpachi posed.
"I was coming to that," Mayuri said annoyed at being interrupted, "now; normally this would not mean much but this signature had matching frequency types to the 80th signature in such factors as to suggest a familial relationship."
The Captains present stirred slightly: it was a well known fact that the reiatsu signatures of family relations - especially close blood family relationships had - were distinctly similar and yet surprisingly unique, it was like a Human DNA test for reiatsu, "I therefore ordered the Communication division to obtain and maintain a lock upon this signature. Upon further study I was able to ascertain that this signature is more than likely related in some manner to the 80th killer."
The Captains present instantly grasped the meaning of Mayuri's discovery: a blood relation to the 80th killer could prove to be a valuable source of information, "Also, it seems that this family appears to share the common trait of having unnaturally high reiatsu pressure." The holo image displayed the reiatsu as strong as about a new captain.
"I see," the commander said slowly, "very well, you were right to bring this to our attention, Kurustuchi-Taichou. Does the communication division still have a fixed location upon this soul?"
"They'd better," Mayuri growled, "at its current location, it appears to be on the outskirts of Soul Society."
"Well, now, what do you want to do, Yama-ji?" Shunsui drawled.
"It is obvious, is it not?" said Kuichiki Byakuya, "We must bring this soul in for questioning."
"On what grounds, Byakuya? As far as we know, this soul had nothing to do with the 80th killer or his actions other than being related to him," Shunsui countered.
"While true, we could consider making this soul into one of us; look at these reiatsu readings - if he is amiable to the suggestion, he would make a very powerful shinigami," Ukitake said.
The captains in general began nodding their heads at the suggestion, "Yeah, why not? Besides, this guy might be a good fight."
All the Captains present rolled their eyes at Kenpachi's declaration.
"So be it," the Commander stated.
The group consisting this time of Ichigo, Tessai, Jinta, Ururu, and Urahara (who was leaning heavily on his cane) gazed out at the training area beneath Urahara's Candy store.
"Who would have thought th~ere was su~ch a hu~ge space beneath the sto~re!"
"Shut up, I'm impressed enough as it is, you don't have to shout for me," Ichigo said in a bored tone of voice.
Urahara just chuckled, "Let's get on with it, already - this study session or whatever..."
"Ah, as you wish," the shop owner said and punted Ichigo in the forehead with the tip of his cane and out of Ichigo's back popped his soul.
"Oi, what the hell was that *cough*," suddenly Ichigo found it hard to breath. He almost fainted due to lack of air.
"It's hard to breathe in your soul form, isn't it? Right now you're Soul Sleep, the source of your spirit power, and its booster, your chain link, are destroyed. In other words, you're a normal human soul with no spirit power. We can't even begin until the spirit power you've lost has been restored."
"Then what do I have to do?"
"Yes, well, rather than explaining, I guess I'll just go ahead. Hey," Urahara called, "You ready?"
Standing a little ways away her dress full of equipment was Ururu, "I'm looking forward to working with you."
Lesson One Canon
Kratos sat watching from a ways away suppressing his spirit power; the boy was comical to say the least. Or rather, Urahara did a good job of making him look extremely foolish. Kratos had to admit that the little girl was surprising, certainly nothing he had been expecting; but just how was he supposed to train this Ichigo kid? More than likely he wouldn't last one day under him - Spartan training was notoriously bad on the health of its participants. If the bucket-hat schemer over there thinks I'll take it easy on the boy, he will be sorely disappointed.
Kratos shook his head as he watched the boy run around getting chased by a little girl of all things; if any Spartan soldier acted like that, he would have been executed for cowardice. Amen to that, Ares commented in his head. But this isn't Sparta, he reminded himself. Things are not as harsh in this world as they were in my world. Kratos glanced back at the scene in front of him. Pathetic boy. If you've the strength to run, you have the strength to fight. Ichigo suddenly stopped and turned to face Ururu, he's finally figured it out.
Kratos smiled a bit at the simplicity of Urahara's explanation. Well, perhaps the boy is not a total loss...
Lesson Two Canon
Kratos raised his eyebrow at Urahara's explanation for his so called lesson two. It was official: that man was crazy, or at least as insane as people got around this world. How in the name of Olympus was the boy supposed to get out of a hole that deep before becoming a Hollow? Kratos supposed he could give the man the benefit of the doubt - after all, Lesson One had supposedly worked, hadn't it?
He wondered what other abilities that man Tessai was hiding when he witnessed the spells he placed upon the boy. Kratos heard the guttural screams of the hollow in the pit and stood descending from his hillock; he walked toward the mouth of the pit and stared down at the creature the boy was becoming. Fight it, boy, or I will have to put you down, he thought. He watched fascinated as the boy snapped two of the restraints put on him by the mustached man.
"Manager, it's at its limit!" Tessai shouted, "Switching to suppression style. Way of Binding Number 99: Type 2 Bankin. First Song, Shiryuu. Second Song, Hyakurensan! "
Tessai jammed his hands into the ground and long strips of white cloth appeared and wrapped themselves firmly around the still screaming creature. The second song was long green acupuncture-like needles that pierced the boy's shoulders and chest.
"Oi, Tessai-san, if you hit 'em with that he'll die!" Jinta shouted from the rim of the pit.
"At this point I have no choice," the former Captain of the Kido Corps grunted, "I have already reached the limit of simply holding him. He must be eliminated before he becomes a hollow."
Slapping his hands together Kido master performed his last spell, "Final Song, Bankin Taihou!"
A big metal slab appeared above Ichigo and gravity took over, but something was happening to the beast the boy had become - something was breaking the first two seals. A white light appeared on the boy's chest, piercing the cloths that wrapped around him.
"This is the end!"
Suddenly, the entire pit exploded in yellow reiatsu that blasted up towards the ceiling. Urahara grabbed Jinta and Ururu and covered them with his body as something flew out of the pit. The yellow ball of light bounced off the walls three times before slamming into the ground about twenty feet away from the pit. Kratos merely stood there closing his eyes against the brightness of the explosion. When the light show was over, he gazed at the figure that had emerged.
"Huh, what happened?" Jinta said getting up from his crouch along with Ururu and Urahara.
The shadowy figure in the dust opened two red eyes that stared straight ahead. When the dust finally settled Jinta and Ururu gasped. Standing there was Ichigo clad in the black Kimono of a Shinigami, but covering his face was a white Hollow mask with red tribal tattoos on one side while the other side was completely white.
Kratos turned and regarded the figure curiously, 'so that is a hollow mask...'
Urahara was thinking something completely different, 'excellent! He has become like… them!'
"A Hollow mask and a Shinigami outfit," Jinta wondered out loud, "what the hell is he?"
Ichigo reached a hand to his Zanpakuto and drew it - well, what was left of it, at any rate, which wasn't much. Kratos almost burst out laughing at the tiny blade which extended only about an inch away from the guard. Ichigo flipped the hilt in the direction of his face and smashed it into the hollow mask. The mask cracked and Ichigo pulled the rest of it off. Ichigo looked down at his hand and flexed it for a few seconds as if trying to reassure himself that it was his hand. He looked up to the sound of clapping.
"Excellent," Urahara announced flipping his fan open with a smile, "you have returned to being a Shinigami right on time. Superb! Lesson Two clear!"
"Shut… your… trap!" Ichigo said slamming his hilt into the shopkeeper's face.
"GAH, my face!"
"He he he, the second I came back to life was the second your luck ran out buddy," Ichigo said with a decidedly unpleasant smile on his face, "I swore to myself that if I ever got outta that hole alive I was going to Kill you."
"I don't blame you for being angry, boy, but I think you're going to need him around for a little while longer."
Ichigo turned and saw someone he had never seen before. Kratos had gone through something of a wardrobe change than when he had been in his own world: now he wore tan khaki long shorts that stretched to just above his greaves and sandals which had remained the same. He wore a red tank top which freed his arms to fight. The long worn out fingerless gloves he had used were now replaced with newer more resistant to wear and tear red leather. His arm guards remained as they were.
Kratos had been a bit leery of getting new clothes, but Yoruichi had managed to convince him to wear something a little more modern considering his old clothes were outdated and would be instantly recognizable.
"Uh... who are you?"
"My name is Kratos, and I am going to be helping you to wage war upon heaven."
Ichigo looked a bit stunned at Kratos choice of words, 'wage war on heaven,' he thought while just staring at the strange man. "Uh... look, Kratos-san, I ain't planning on wage war on anybody - I just need to save Rukia."
Kratos almost felt sorry for the boy's ignorance of the momentous task he was about to undertake, "Listen carefully, boy: what do you think the Captains of heaven will call it when you break down their walls, fight through their men and injuring several in the process, not to mention rescue a convicted felon? Those things sound like waging war to me and believe me, boy, I have been in more war's than you have had hot meals."
Ichigo just stared, "Well, when you put it like that, I guess… but, still, how much could the Captains care about one prisoner?"
Kratos just grinned at the boy's ignorance and turned to walk away, "we shall see, boy - we shall see."
A tick appeared on Ichigo's forehead, "Oi, my name is Ichigo, okay? Use it, Albino-san!"
Kratos stopped walking, his fist clenching at Ichigo's comment: had he any hair it would have been bristling. Urahara recognized the danger sign immediately, "ON THAT NOTE, Kratos-san, you might want to stick around for this next bit because after Lesson Three he's all yours."
Ichigo whipped his head around and stared at Urahara, "Oi, Oi, what's that supposed to mean? And… uh, Lesson Three?"
Urahara nodded, "Yep! Unlike the other two lessons, Lesson Three has no time limit and it's fairly straightforward: knock off my hat and Lesson Three will be cleared."
WHOOOSH
Urahara glanced up as Ichigo swept his broken blade at his head. A tiny cut appeared where Ichigo had swept his sword upwards. Ichigo leapt backwards, "Impressive. Such an attack with only a broken Zanpakuto…" Ichigo straightened and pointed his broken blade at Urahara, "Of course! If I get serious, I got plenty more where that came from! Forget the laidback no time-limit crap…" Ichigo held up one hand, "Let's settle this in about five minutes!"
Urahara looked up, "Yes, well…" taking his cane in two hands he drew a cane sword from its sheath, "Okay - in five minutes… we'll settle this."
Meanwhile Kratos was trying to ignore Ares cracking up in his head, "Hahahahahahahahahahahah … (breathe)…Hahahahahahahahaha…tha-that was f-funny as hell."
'Be silent, he might just as easily been talking about you,' Kratos frowned then smirked as dead silence followed, and then, "You let me outta here this fucking minute, I am gonna kill that brat, you hear me!"
"Oh, do be quiet, brother: the boy does not even know we exist yet," came Athena's annoyed tone.
"Sure, sis, since I am fairly certain he was talking about YOU," Kratos rolled his eyes and prepared himself for the oncoming headache. It was not easy to anger the Goddess of wisdom, but when you did - WATCH OUT.
"Kratos, be a dear and materialize me so I can RIP THAT ARROGANT LITTLE SHIT'S NUTS OFF!"
Kratos grinned, "Do not worry, Athena, we will have our time... and we will use it well."
Ichigo was once again cursing his big mouth: his Zanpakuto had lasted about half a minute against Benihime and now he was once again forced to run away. Urahara, though injured, was able to still trounce Ichigo while the latter was barely escaping with his life.
Why am I running… Is that all I've got, Ichigo wondered, Is this the measure of my resolve? This is pathetic… Pathetic… I can't fight him… If I go on like this… I am a coward…!
What are you doing...? why do you run, Ichigo...?"
Ichigo's mind stuttered over that last thought which hadn't come from him, 'you still have not called upon me.' In front of Ichigo appeared the spirit form of his Zanpakuto: he was shaped like an old lightly bearded man who wore pitch-black glasses and his ripped coattails fluttered in a nonexistent wind.
"Face forward, Ichigo… You should be able to hear it, now… That which blocks your ears is worthless fear…"
In real time, Ichigo stopped running as did Urahara.
"The enemy is one, you are one."
"What is there to fear?"
"Cast off your fear."
Urahara raised Benihime…
"Look Forward!"
"GO FORWARD!"
"Never stand still."
"Retreat and you will age."
"Hesitate and you will die."
"Shout… my name is…"
"…ZANGETSU!" Ichigo roared as he whipped around, his reiatsu surging - he had found his blade. He slashed it straight down at his enemy. Urahara's eyes widened and he wisely sidestepped the white slash meant for him.
Kratos too looked on and Ares and Athena stopped their arguing for a moment and even Zeus sitting on his white throne in his mind stared with fascination at the new blade Ichigo was holding. It had neither guard nor hilt. A slashing weapon, Kratos thought, an affective one at that …' Zeus commented.
"Well, now… seeing as how your Zanpakuto has come out, Lets really start Lesson Three …"
"I'm sorry, Urahara-san, please be sure to dodge this."
"Excuse me?" Urahara said slightly puzzled.
"I…" Ichigo lifted his blade and as he did so the last remnants of the seals Tessai had used on him shattered, "…Can't hold BACK!"
Urahara's eyes widened, "Call Out, Benihime!"
Ichigo brought the blade up clutching it in both hands and brought it crashing down…
"Well now, I do believe…" the store owner said, picking his hat up off the ground the side of which was cut off, "that you have killed my hat."
Well? What do think?
I urge you to be honest when reviewing, should you review (flames will be ignored, naturally); in any case, I realize that some of you are disappointed by the lack of action, but I'll be sure to get some fights going on in the next few chapters.
By the way, did any of you see that Hercules thing coming? It's definitely going to redefine "Brothers of Blood".
Till next time!