DV: Well, another chapter. Our current projection is about one a week for the summer till we both go back to school. Sorry it's not more, but we can usually only coordinate a writing session 1-2 times a week given time zone differences.
US- so on the one hand, you get semi-frequent chapters for a change (A vast difference to my usual work), but on the other hand the chapters are smaller. Count your blessings, eh?
Disclaimer: the two of us still don't own anything of Bleach. The massive roster of characters, the improbable power ups and all the rest. Thank god the recent manga plot twists belong to Kubo, and not us. We have enough stupid plot threads of our own, thank you very much.
Ichigo I
Ichigo hadn't thought his day could get worse. It began badly, it continued to be bad, and it was still bad. The second death battle with Renji only further decreased the worth of the day. So when someone appeared out of nowhere to elbow him in the face, he really shouldn't have been surprised.
"What the hell! Who just elbows someone with no warning?" Ichigo yelled, spinning on his foot to kindly inform the person of how obnoxious they are to interrupt his fight. He hadn't been there a second ago, and it annoyed Ichigo to no ends that the first thing he had done was to accidentally elbow him.
But before the orange haired Shinigami could get a response, a second figure interrupted the fight. This time he saw their appearance in great detail. For a second the world rippled and ruptured, then deposited a new person.
While the first seemed to be some kind of bronze knight, the second looked more like a tax man.
"Well, how terribly inconvenient. I don't suppose this could have been avoided?" the man said nonchalantly, brushing down his suit while giving the sky a questioning look.
"What?" said the knight. Looking around in confusion. Ichigo only now noticed the large cut running along the armour, and the body language he was showing. Hostile and unstable, as if he'd just been running a marathon or had just come out of a battle. "What's going on? Where am I?"
Then as if the world was operating on the principle of 'rule of three', the sky opened up a third time, and regurgitated another individual.
His landing was less steady, having been dropped from a higher point, so the man in the typical attire of a Shinigami landed on Renji, causing them both to fall to the ground.
"God damn it! Where the hell are all these people coming from!?" demanded the Lieutenant angrily from beneath the Shinigami. With a showing of superior strength he shoved the confused man off him and staggered to his feet, glaring arrows at everybody.
Ichigo was sure that if Renji could produce real arrows with the same intensity, he'd have died long ago.
"Renji?" Asked the Shinigami. "What are you- you're not supposed to be here! I was just-" then his eyes narrowed, as if he had suddenly recalled something. His eyes flickered across the area and landed on the form of the knight, who was now looking intently at him.
The tax man gave a wide smile, clearly false, motioning with his hands in the universal gesture for peace, "Now, now, we're all adults here," turning to look at Ichigo, and looking at him oddly for a moment, he corrects, "Almost adults here. We don't need to settle this like barbarians."
"Indeed, Marcus! We should sit down and discuss things like gentlemen!" the knight exclaimed, clasping his hands together happily. "We're all friends here, right?"
Marcus, as Ichigo now knew he was called, looked like he'd rather vomit. Rather than charging across the space to try and stab the knight, as Ichigo thought he was about to do, he instead limited himself to merely getting back to his feet and wearily looking round again.
"Renji, explain what you're doing here rather than in Hueco Mundo." he demanded.
Before Renji could get a word in edgewise, a subtle pressure washed over the immediate area. Worried about a new threat interrupting his fight again, Ichigo resorted to his only actually working method of sensing: spirit ribbons.
The ribbons conjugate around him, almost all red. Fitting, given this is the world of shinigami. But when he found the correct red ribbon, it was tinged with silver and black. Tracing it back to its origin, he found it to be emanating from...the tax man? So much power. Ichigo had never felt so insignificant before. But regardless, if this was a new enemy, he couldn't afford to lose, no matter what.
But what was he doing? It didn't look like he was trying anything aggressive, so Ichigo let it slide for the minute.
"Hueco Mundo? Why the hell would I ever go somewhere like that? It's been centuries since Shinigami set foot there. Who the hell are you to demand things from me anyway?" Renji threatened, brandishing his Zanpakuto.
"Because he isn't Renji." stated the knight with absolute confidence. He took a step forwards, to further scrutinise the redhead. "Yup. Just look. He's a Renji, but not our's. He's a different brand altogether. Just look around. Where do you think we are?"
"The Seireitei." Identified Marcus.
"And we aren't supposed to be here, are we? Look around, Ichigo and Renji, in the Seireitei, apparently in the middle of a fight. Sound familiar?" the knight teased.
Marcus' eyes seemed to widen in realisation, or at least in partial understanding.
"Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on, or am I gonna have to beat you all up?" asked Ichigo brazenly. This tax man looked tough, but he would fight every Captain in the Seireitei to rescue Rukia. Even this new man. He looked reasonable enough though, with a look on his face kinda like Mr. Hat and Clogs. If anyone knew what was happening, he did.
"Maa, maa, what a resolute look on your face, Ichigo-kun. You won't have to fight me," the tax man assured, turning to look at the other two people who appeared, "You guys on the other hand. You're both unknowns."
"I'm not supposed to exist, apparently." Marcus scoffed, perhaps a bit bitterly. "And I should be just as worried about who the hell you're supposed to be, and what role you have in all of… in all of… this." he summed up, gesturing wildly around him as if it could explain every little messed up thing about the situation.
After straightening out his tie, the tax man continued, "Minato Tatsushiro. Now, this is the year 2001, am I correct?"
Ichigo and Renji nodded back hesitantly, clearly confused. What did the year have to do with anything?
"Now, since time travel is...not really intentionally workable, I can only assume the multi-verse theory. Ichigo-kun, does the name Natsumi mean anything to you?"
Ichigo shrugged, trying to recall if he knew anyone of the name, but drew up a blank, "No. Should it?"
The tax man, Minato apparently, cursed under his breath, "I didn't think it would. This is...problematic."
"Problematic," mocked the knight, with a distorted voice. "I don't really care what you have to say, as if anything, I should be the one finding things problematic. My dramatic showdown, my Master Plan… ruined!" he concluded melodramatically.
Minato cocked an eye, challenging, "Watch your tone, boy."
The spiritual pressure rolled off him like an endless abyss, vast and nearly incomprehensible without an end in sight, and Ichigo almost staggered at the weight of it. Renji was barely standing, Marcus forgot to breathe for a second, and even the knight had taken a step back at the sudden release.
This salary man…there was more to him than what he appeared to be.
"Ah." the knight said, as if wincing, though with his face hidden Ichigo couldn't be sure. Despite the fact that he couldn't allow himself to lose, Ichigo was still glad he didn't have to fight this guy. This presence he was feeling… it was like he was standing in front of Byakuya again.
"Well, you're a scary one too, aren't ya?" he scratched his metal chin, as if deep in thought. "Still…I'm defiant, not stupid. That level…the experienced way you hold yourself…I don't much feel like fighting you right now."
Marcus sneered, "Gonna run away again, coward, like you normally do?"
"I prefer to think of myself as that one stupid bad guy who shows up and menaces the hero, then repeatedly lets him escape and survive to grow stronger just so that he gets to stomp him at full power later. Jokes aside, I wasn't kidding about how troublesome sticking around here would be." he nodded his head solemnly, finally coming to a decision, "Right, well I'm out of here. It's been fun, but someone's gone and made a mess of things for me, so I'm a gonna go try and look for them, and then punch them in their stupid, plan ruining face. Until then, take care of yourself, Marcus."
"Go die in a fire, Omega." Marcus deadpanned. "I'm not letting you leave."
"Like you can stop me." the knight challenged. "You got any problems with me taking a breather either, mister Minato?"
"I don't believe so. If I want to find you, I'm sure it wouldn't take long." the businessman waved him away like a teacher excusing a naughty student from a detention.
"True." Omega nodded. "Right then, time for the usual spiel. Marcus- get stronger, plot your revenge, I will return, final showdown, and all that. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. I'll be back to finish this eventually and get us back on track with where we're supposed to be. Until then, remember my name. Remember, and etch your experiences into your very being. I am Omega, your end, and this isn't over. Not quite yet."
"Stop!" Marcus yelled, sprinting forwards so fast that Ichigo could barely follow his movements.
However, Omega was faster still. He stomped on the ground, and the world rippled. "Disrupt- space."
Then he was gone, as he'd never been there to begin with. Marcus' sword struck only empty air.
"God damn it!" Marcus cursed, scowling at the spot where Omega had been. "Again! He always does that!"
"Well, that was interesting." Minato mused, watching the space that Omega had once occupied with a clinical detachment only those seasoned in the ways of science could accomplish, "A spatial distortion technique? Those aren't terribly rare, but with so little set up before hand...I wonder how he-"
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but what the hell is going on here!" Renji interrupted, really not sorry in the slightest. "First, you three appeared out of nowhere and interfered in my fight, then you started talking about all that multi-verse crap and now one of you has just teleported! Damn it, I don't know what's going on, but I will not be ignored! I'm the Lieutenant of the Sixth Squad! Has everyone just forgotten that I was here or something?"
Ichigo didn't want to say anything, but the almost melodramatic confrontation between Marcus and the knight actually had caused Ichigo to temporarily forget why he was there while he watched the conflict between the two- the tension had been almost palpable.
Ever since Omega had first shown up and elbowed him in the face, and had been followed by those other two, his fight with Renji had kinda been forgotten.
"Yeah! Who the hell are you people anyway, and what're you doing here!? Are you here to stop me from saving Rukia, or something!?"
"Idiot! I'll be the one to save her! You just put her in trouble to begin with!"
A quick cough from Minato caught their attention, "Boys, does it really matter? You both contributed to her capture, directly or not, and you should both help in her escape if you feel so strongly about this."
Now Ichigo might be a hot-head, but he's hardly stupid. In a more sensible level, he knew that Minato was right, that if they had Renji's help, this would go much smoother. But with all the adrenaline in his system, he couldn't really think beyond immediate goals. The current of which was defeating Renji. Mostly so he wouldn't continue to impede his path to Rukia, but a small part of him wanted payback for the grievous wound Renji inflicted the first time they met.
In a clash of flying sparks and ringing steel, Ichigo resumed his fight with Renji, all the while Minato muttering, "Boys these days. Just can't back down."
"WHICH WAY DID YOU SAY, YACHIRU?"
"THAT WAY, KENNY! THERE'S STRONG PEOPLE THAT WAY!"
Everyone paused at the sound. Ichigo quickly looked around see what he can glance from the others, as hopefully they know something about this. Renji was slowly backing away, clearly worried. Marcus didn't share his worry, but instead sighed, as if resigned to whatever was happening. Minato drew a nodachi out of...somewhere, and placed himself between the oncoming sound and Ichigo, sword resting on his shoulder.
"Am I really this unlucky?" Marcus asked aloud, manifesting his own Zanpakutō and taking a step forwards, "Actually, stupid question, Yes. Yes I am this unlucky."
And then the wall exploded, and everything went to hell again.
Ichigo should have really gotten used to strange people interfering in his battles, as the newcomers were just as odd as the older ones. A tall man in a haori, with spiked black hair and a menacing eye patch. He radiated bloodlust like a radiator gives off heat. The other was a pink bundle of sugar whose only reason for being there was to juxtapose everything of what her companion was like.
"SEE! SEE KENNY!" She shouted happily. "I told you I wasn't lost! See, I said that if we took that left turn two hours ago we'd find someone tough!"
"Heh. Guess you were right." The man said gruffly. "I can feel 'em. There are some strong enemies here."
"Captain Kenpachi, Lieutenant Kusajishi? What are you doing here?" Asked Renji.
The Captain gave a bloodthirsty grin, "I told ya. I heard that those Ryoka were somewhere around here, but I got lost trying to find 'em. And now that I'm here, I think I'll see if any of them can give me a good fight!"
Marcus sighed irritably at Minato, "Please tell me you don't enjoy fighting bloody fights to the death, or I think that I'll literally be the only non battle maniac in this group what with Ichigo, Renji and Kenpachi here together."
"No, fighting is merely a tool. A means to an end," He replied, "Though, it could be worse. Ikkaku could have shown up."
"Oh god! Don't say anything more! With my E Rank luck he'll definitely show up too!"
"Look, is someone gonna fight me, or am I gonna have to start stabbing people until I get some!?"
Minato looked over at Marcus, "Tag team?"
Marcus sighed again, but nodded. Ichigo could tell that the Shinigami was resigned but willing, "Sure, why the hell not? I've failed to kill my nemesis, so I might as well get beaten bloody by the Kenpachi. So let's do this. Tag Team."
"Two on one, huh? You two look pretty tough, so who knows? You might actually GIVE ME A CHALLENGE!" Power flooded the area, strong and thick and heavy and sharpy. Like a razor edge was being drawn, and carved into Ichigo's very being.
This Kenpachi…this feeling…it was terrifying. If this was a Captain class fighter going all out, then he was going to have to get tough quick.
Before Ichigo could realise something had moved, Minato was on Kenpachi's side with a double handed horizontal blow. Kenpachi- fast enough to put a hasty block, but not stop it dead with his monstrous strength, especially such an unexpected blow, was sent skidding back a few feet.
Eventually, a stalemate commenced, as both men fought to overpower the other.
Marcus was far from idle while this was happening. While admittedly slower in comparison to Minato, he was still at a level beyond Ichigo, and was already in motion when the first strike was made. He followed after Minato, disappearing in a burst of speed before striking Kenpachi's side with one first. "Hado No 64: Tsuyoi Tenran." (Mighty Orchid Sky). The fist seemed to twist slightly, then a concentrated gale of compact wind erupted from it. Clearly it wasn't meant to blow or cut, but rather use the massive force of the wind for other purposes. Namely, blast the Captain off in the direction of the punch. Despite his massive size, Kenpachi was still thrown dozens of meters by the attack, and was blown clean through a wall and into another street.
"Ouch." Deadpanned Marcus, shaking his wrist slightly at the pain. "That hurt like a bitch, but at least we can take this elsewhere. Well, Minato? After you."
Minato gave a look of exasperation before disappearing after the Captain.
"Charming," Marcus grumbled, following after at a much more sedate pace in comparison. Then he was gone, and it was just Ichigo and Renji.
"All for ignoring that entire thing just happened and just carrying on our fight from before they showed up?" Renji suggested.
"Aye!" Ichigo agreed, raising Zangetsu back into a ready position. He had no real idea of what the hell had just happened, but it wasn't important. The only thing he had to focus on was beating Renji, and then rescuing Rukia.