Toshiro had just entered Kisuke's shop, the sky outside turning dark, when he felt Kadaj's Spiritual Pressure rise rather sharply before dropping to near nonexistence.
"That's not good." Toshiro scowled.
Swallowing the pill and ordering the Artificial Soul to remain put, the Captain sped off towards where Kadaj had last been, hoping he was still there and was maybe just having trouble with a Hollow. But with how quickly the rise and drop had been, Toshiro knew in the back of his mind that this wasn't an ordinary Hollow.
'There are still a few Arrancars left from the war with Aizen, could it be one of them?' He mused. 'No, I would have sensed them.'
Arriving at the scene he saw Ichigo, Vincent and Cloud already there, the latter two having been close by when they felt a strange pressure and came to investigate. Kadaj seemed to be unconscious, but due to the lack of any Spirit Energy the two Soul Reapers feared the worst.
"What happened?" He demanded.
"Not sure." Ichigo said, a frown on his face as he bent down next to the Remnant but did not touch him; Hichigo demanded he refrain from touching, though why the Hollow couldn't clearly explain. "He's not dead, but I have no idea what's wrong."
Toshiro knelt next to Kadaj as well, reaching a hand out to attempt Healing Kido. His hand was snatched away by Vincent.
"Don't touch him." He warned and Ichigo nodded.
"Why?"
"Chaos and the others are very sure we shouldn't touch him." Vincent explained. "They say something isn't right."
"Hichigo is too." Ichigo seemed startled by Vincent's words. "Wonder why the Hollows can sense something wrong."
"Morinauro is against it too, though he's not as adamant." Cloud agreed. "At this rate we won't be able to figure out what's wrong."
'Master, let me try entering his Inner World. I've had practice.' Hyorinmaru spoke up.
'What? When?'
'When others were close by I attempted it silently. I managed to speak with Haineko and Tobiume to a small degree, and I managed to hear Mordofea as well.'
'It's worth a shot, since I apparently can't touch him.' He glanced at the others. "I'm going to try something, no guarantee it will work though."
The other three looked at him with confused or worried expressions but he ignored them and unsheathed his long zanpaktou. He stabbed the blade into the ground between him and Kadaj before sitting as though he was going to speak to Hyorinmaru in his Inner World. With his master focused, Hyorinmaru reached out to the dark zanpaktou within the Remnant.
Toshiro held back a gasp as Mordofea quite literally pulled them into his Inner World, concern and fear coming off the shadow spirit in waves. He wanted their help and he wanted it now.
Opening his eyes, Toshiro found himself in a large forest with trees that glowed bright white. The Ancient Forest on Gaia. However, something was off about it. Dark shadows clinged to the trees, attempting to consume them.
"Something's trying to consume him." Toshiro looked around, registering his zanpaktou's presence behind him. The giant ice dragon growled when the dark tendrils approached. "We need to find his center, that's where he'll be hiding."
Climbing onto his dragon's back, Toshiro held tight as Hyorinmaru lifted above the trees and glided around. The forest seemed to go on for miles.
A shadowed creature appeared before them, emerald eyes catching their attention with an expression of desperation.
"Mordofea." Toshiro whispered, watching as the shadow flitted about before launching off in the direction to their right. "Follow him, he's trying to help us."
The shadow led them towards a dome of black energy that held back the invasive shadows but only just. Occasionally, some would leak through and the dome shimmered, failing.
"He's in there." Mordofea said, manifesting himself next to Toshiro. The spirit was fairly humanoid and similar to Kadaj, but his hair was black and seemed to have shadows flowing off the tips, silver cat ears flat back in anger. There was a long silver tail with a black tuft of fur on the end thrashing behind him, and the spirit's pale hands ended in claws. While remaining barefoot, Mordofea's attire seemed faintly samurai styled, though with black, shadowy leather instead of the normal robes and no armor save for silver shoulder guards.
"Will he let us in?" Toshiro questioned the feline spirit.
"I'll let you in." He replied, glancing at them with slitted emerald eyes. "But this is a one-time thing, Soul Reaper. Only because that man is here."
"That man?" Hyorinmaru's voice rumbled.
"You don't have much time in here, follow me."
Morphing back into shadows, Mordofea rocketed towards the barrier, Hyorinmaru close behind. Once the spirit hit the barrier, he opened a hole just big enough to allow the dragon and his master in before he shut it tight behind him, closing off the shadows.
The sight before them shocked Toshiro immensely.
Though rather translucent, a tall man with silver hair past his waist and a thick black leather cape around his frame held tightly to the Remnant by his throat. Sinister green eyes glanced at the newcomers, eyes widening. Due to the similarities between this new man and Kadaj, Toshiro could only assume it was one person.
"Sephiroth." He breathed, scowling. How had they not sensed him?
"Ice Captain." Sephiroth frowned, dropping his tired Remnant to the ground. Mordofea took his chance and spirited his master to the barrier's edge, hissing at the Nightmare invading their world. "You really do look like one of my Remnants."
Snarling, Hyorinmaru launched himself at the silverette invader, icy teeth snapping open to take his target out in one bite. Of course, Sephiroth would have none of that, lifting a sword longer than he was tall over his head and fending off the sharp fangs with one swipe. Since this was not his Inner World, Hyorinmaru had very little power. Creating the blade form of Hyorinmaru in his hand, Toshiro leaped off the dragon's back and met the Nightmare's blade with a loud clang of metal.
"How did you get in here?" The tall man questioned, still frowning.
"I could ask you the same thing." Toshiro growled back. "How did you find him in the first place?"
"Kadaj is my Remnant." At this Sephiroth smirked. "Therefore, his power is my power."
Teal eyes widening, Toshiro understood why Sephiroth was there. With the Remnant gaining the powers of a Soul Reaper, by possessing the boy like he once did before, Sephiroth would have them too. Though, by the looks of Mordofea's hostility, it was a one way relationship. That meant Sephiroth wouldn't be able to release the feline spirit's full potential. At least one thing was good about this.
"This boy was brought back by Aerith to aid us in stopping you." Toshiro said, putting some pressure on where their blades met; it was rather difficult with the man being so damn tall. "As such he is now under my protection."
"What happens if I take control?" The Nightmare's smile became strained, not liking how the tiny Captain was managing to hold his own against his strength.
"I'll kill the both of you."
"So much for protecting him."
"It may be my duty to protect the Gaians, but my first priority remains with the Soul Society. If a Gaian threatens my world I will fight back." Teal eyes hardened. "Hyorinmaru!"
Now it was Sephiroth whose eyes widened as Toshiro Flash Stepped away. He whipped around only to see an icy tail crash into him and send him flying into the barrier. Though his pride stung, Sephiroth knew he hadn't gathered enough of his strength back to take on the Weapon, not with Kadaj fighting back against his darkness the way he was.
With a knowing smirk, Sephiroth relented in his attack and vanished from Kadaj's mind.
Outside in the real world, the three figures standing around Kadaj and Toshiro started when darkness seeped off of the former and retreated into the shadows. Cloud and Vincent recognized the feeling of it and they scowled, the former even growling somewhat at the thought that his nemesis had escaped.
His job done, Toshiro and Hyorinmaru retreated as well, teal eyes snapping open in time to see Kadaj stir from his forced slumber.
"Dammit I hate him." Kadaj spat, sitting up, albeit rather painfully.
"What did you do?" Cloud turned suspiciously to Toshiro.
"It's a skill Hyorinmaru and I found only recently." Toshiro explained, standing and replacing said zanpaktou in its sheath. "Since Hyorinmaru isn't an ordinary zanpaktou, we seem to be capable of going into the Inner World of others, but only if we're both concentrating."
"Seriously?!" Ichigo gaped. "That's pretty neat!"
"It seems to be easier with the Gaians. I'm guessing it's because Hyorinmaru is also from Gaia."
"I don't care what it is or how you did it." Kadaj grunted, managing to stand with a little, though somewhat reluctant, help from Cloud. "All I care is that you stopped the bastard."
"What did he want?" The swordsman questioned.
"Tried to take my Soul Reaper powers." Kadaj replied.
"Shit…that's bad, right?" Ichigo stood from his kneeling position, worry in his eyes.
"Very." Toshiro responded. "And the way he left without a fight…We best be on our guard."
The three nodded, faces determined.
"I don't know what he'll do next, but it's safe to say Kadaj is going to be his target for a while to try and steal his Soul Reaper powers. It's best you return to Soul Society."
"Wasn't Sephiroth there at first?" Ichigo interrupted the Captain. "How did he even get here?"
For that, Toshiro had no answer, and it showed in the way he narrowed his eyes in thought and grasped for ideas.
"He may have gotten through during one of the times that the Senkaimon was open. With no Spiritual Pressure and in this shadow form of his, his presence wouldn't activate the Restrictive Current and he could get through safely."
"Wouldn't someone still have sensed him? His Lifeforce?" Cloud argued.
"It could have been a Soul Reaper who didn't know about him or even before Urahara arrived for your training. There were two times before that when the Senkaimon was opened for a patrol into the World of the Living." Toshiro explained. "Whatever it was, he's here now, and that means we need to keep Kadaj away before this happens again."
Though disappointed about having to leave, Kadaj knew he had no choice but to go back. With Sephiroth's current goal being his new powers, he knew he wasn't safe. Training against Hollows would have to wait until Sephiroth found a different method that didn't involve possession, though that was unlikely and unwanted.
"I leave you and the others with Kurosaki for now." Toshiro said, before turning to the Remnant. "I'll bring you back to the Soul Society before I go back to my original plan of getting some paperwork done and coming back."
The Ice Captain was about to leave before he remembered something and turned back to Ichigo and Vincent.
"Why were the two of you so adamant about not touching him in that state?" He questioned.
"Dunno, Hichigo was just against it and said something weird would happen if I did." Ichigo shrugged. "He still doesn't really know, apparently."
"He was right to worry." Vincent added on. "It makes sense he wouldn't know why."
"What are you talking about?" Toshiro's eyebrow rose slightly.
"Kadaj's body does still harbor Jenova Cells." The gunman saw Toshiro's eyes light up in understanding and saw Kadaj scowl fiercely. "Sephiroth would have spread them to any of us had we touched him. You'll be safe, Hitsugaya, since you weren't in physical contact with him."
"Now I REALLY hate him." Kadaj snarled, fists tight and emerald eyes slitted in rage. "I'm not his damn puppet anymore!"
"And we intend to keep it that way, calm down." Hitsugaya snapped, having noticed the shadows stirring around Kadaj's frame as the Remnant's Spiritual Pressure rose.
Growling at the Ice Captain, Kadaj promptly turned and left.
"Oi!" Toshiro Flash Stepped to stand in front of the fuming Remnant. "You're going back with me to the Soul Society, remember?"
"Fine, then let's go!" Was the venom laced reply. The temperature dropped.
"Control that temper." Hitsugaya warned. "If you let that man get the better of you now he's already won. Calm down and think things through before you go stomping off, especially since you're a target right now. I won't have you endangering the lives of thousands for a temper tantrum."
"Captain, he's got a good reason to be mad." Cloud argued, surprising Kadaj due to the man standing up for him. "It's hard not to hate Sephiroth."
"I said nothing about not hating the Nightmare." Toshiro countered, turning from the blonde to Kadaj again. "All I said was that you letting your emotions control you like this will end in your downfall. Sephiroth will take his chance to cut you down the minute you let him, and your actions right now would have given him that."
"And what would you know?" Kadaj growled back. "You've never been used by him and left for dead!"
"But I have been tricked!" Toshiro snapped back. Cold and shadow began to mix between them, causing a black wind to rise. "I can say this to you because I have experienced it myself. The last time I let my anger control me I nearly lost my life."
Ichigo turned away, remembering the terrible wound Toshiro had received during the Winter War. Thanks to the combined efforts of Retsu and Orihime, the tiny Captain was able to keep his left arm, but he still had the scar to show for it. Vincent also remembered that scar and what he'd been told by Nero the Sable when the dark Tsviet had trapped Toshiro in nightmares of his past.
The black wind calmed as both sides began to straighten themselves out. Kadaj had caught the brief flash of pain in the white haired Soul Reaper's eyes and didn't want to argue anymore, not with someone who, as Aerith said, had gone through more pain than any child should ever experience. Sure, his own life sucked, but the Remnant knew he wasn't the only one suffering.
And Toshiro did technically just save his ass from Sephiroth.
"…Alright…Let's go." Kadaj said, his voice quiet now.
Satisfied, Toshiro nodded and unsheathed Hyorinmaru to open the Senkaimon back to the Soul Society. Once open, Captain and Remnant stepped through, leaving Cloud and Vincent with the Substitute.
"Alright then, let's go back to business." Ichigo said loudly, brushing off what had just happened as an everyday thing. "Toshiro's got that handled so I guess I get to pick up the slack here for a while."
The two Gaians shared a glance but followed the teen to the rented apartment complex to rest for the night. The others were all there except Shelke and Red, who were taking the first night watch with Ichigo. They would switch with Vincent, Cloud and Rukia, who had met them briefly upon their arrival, sometime later. They all hoped it was an uneventful night.
So, Kadaj is safe, everyone needn't worry now. But, it is a bad thing that Sephiroth can do that. What will the Soul Reapers do? Why did Sephiroth leave so quickly? Read on! Enjoy!