The army of masked humans slowly disappeared, as they made their way into the dark dimension between the worlds until there was only three left. As the last ones disappeared, the two of the masked ones let out pained groans as their bodies twisted and grew, becoming large and muscular, whereas the third stayed perfectly still, and remained unchanged. The reishi platform began to crack under the weight as the two finished their transformations - still humanoid in shape, but much larger, now standing at 6'10. Taking off their masks, the two transformed humans let out a sigh. Both were male, and identical facially - the only difference being their hair - one had a very simple crew cut, whereas the other twin had shoulder length black hair that was pulled back into a low ponytail, a couple of strands of hair escaping at his temples. They were very pale as if they hadn't been in contact with the sun for a very long time. Their eyes were also dark brown, which was slightly slanted, a nasty smirk on their scarred lips.
"Oi, Gray!" The crew cut male shouted to his brother, who shot him a very dirty look. "What? What do you want, Noah?" He spat back at his twin.
"Help Amelia with her mask - she must be sweating something awful under there!" With that, he shoved Samson slightly in the direction of Hunter. He leaned down and removed her mask, a glare meeting him.
"I didn't need your help, you big idiot." She growled at him. Samson clicked his tongue to himself. "You just can't be nice to some people, can you?" He straightened up and gave his head a little rub.
Underneath the female's mask, was the same face on the two males, but with some slight differences. Her eyes were more slanted, giving her a more feminine look but also a permanent glare. She was a considerable amount smaller, but in no way weaker. Her raven hair reached her slight hips. If she had a better attitude and personality most people would agree that she was in fact, very pretty. Amelia Briggard stretched slightly as she turned to face her two brothers.
"We had better get back to Jeb with his new specimen, and quickly. " Her voice was cold, emotionless. It always has been. The two brothers nodded and sprinted ahead, at an inhuman speed. They created a somewhat level crossing for their sister. Grunting, the woman lifted the boy's limp body and shifted Ichigo on her shoulders, muttering. "You better be worth this trip, kid." She then started running herself, easily managing to keep up, despite the extra weight.
The journey was a silent one, as the siblings ran in a point formation, Noah at the point, Grayson on his left and Amelia on his right. After what felt like a couple of hours, they arrive at an exit. Noah alerted his brother and sister as the skidded to a stop, the two men slightly breathless, Amelia panting heavily. Noah waved his hand in front of him, the air in front of him shimmering then becoming a black, solid wall. He waved his hand again and the wall tore apart, giving them entry into the new world.
They all stepped into the room ahead of them. It had a pungent antibacterial smell, with every surface shining. There was a counter of sorts around the room, covered with many surgical tools and other medical equipment. In the middle of the room was a metal surgical bed, with large leather straps attached to the top and bottom, where the arms and ankles would be. There were only a single exit and one window. As they stepped in, the Garganta shaped entrance snapped shut behind them.
Amelia moaned as she let Ichigo crash onto the surgical bed, the whirring instrument in his shoulder whirring like it might explode. With an agitated grunt, Hunter swiped her hand across Ichigo's shoulder, grabbing the machine. As she grabbed it, Ichigo's body suddenly moved on its own accord, his back arching. There was a splat of blood as she tore it from his shoulder, a sickening crack echoed through the room, as the boy's collarbone snapped clean in half from the force. The twins winced, sucking in air in empathy.
A pool of blood was forming on the tile floor, travelling through the gaps, reaching the corners of the room. Suddenly a door opened, and a tall man walked through, in a stark white lab coat. He wore half-moon glasses, which were perched on his long, slightly crooked nose. He had snow white hair, that was glossed back, his icy blue eyes were cold and emotionless. His face was old and worn, thanks to years of hunched over a desk, concentrating. The doctor was by no means small, standing well over Amelia's 5'10 frame. He walked swiftly into the room, his eyes falling onto the bleeding teenager. He furrowed his brow and glared at Amelia, who still held the bloody machine in her hand.
"Who are you? And what the bloody hell are you doing in my theatre?" He had a strong English accent, which was slightly shrill. He pointed to the bloody wound on Ichigo's shoulder. Amelia didn't reply but instead said. "I take it you are to be Dr Edward Aswell?" The middle-aged man nodded briskly, as he opened his mouth to ask something, Amelia talked on top of him. "We are Bounty Hunters. " She looked the Doctor straight in the eye. "Here's the deal, Dr Aswell. This boy here is a specimen that my team and I were told to collect. We do not know why he's so important, and we don't really care." She paused, sighed and carried on. "Our client is Jeb Batchelder, you may know the name. We were ordered to bring him here, and someone would be here to pick him up." She looked positively bored. The man looked shocked, then confused, then returned to his normal stern expression. "Ah yes... But, if I may ask.." He pointed to the machine in the woman's hand. "What was that? What did it do to the boy?" Hunter paused before replying. "This here is called an Atomic Reishi Converter Extractor. Or A.R.C.E for short. In the dimension we just arrived from, his species is built from a substance called 'Reishi'. What that is yet, we have yet to find out. But this little monster here.." She held up the grotesque little machine in front of her face., blood dripping down her hand. "..extracts the said reishi, and converts it into one of these." She slammed her hand against the back of the machine. Suddenly a little red pill flew out. She caught it mid-air and studied it. "That little red pill is very, very important, Doctor." She flung it at the somewhat confused Doctor, who scrambled for a second before grasping it in both of his large hands. "What…what am I supposed to do with this?" His voice was quieter than before. Hunter shrugged and replied simply. "Keep it safe, bin it...I couldn't care less."
With that, she turned and barked at Noah to open the door again. Waving his hand at the wall, the portal reappeared. "Goodbye, Dr Edward." With that, the trio disappeared. The doctor sighed as he placed the red pill in on of the many test tubes and put a stopper on the top. He turned to Ichigo as he took off his glasses, shaking his head as he wandered up to the limp body on the bed, the boys' expression peaceful. "So you're the poor bastard I've to work on….poor kid." He looked sad, before cracking his knuckles. "Might as well get it over and done with." He started to take off Ichigo's shinigami clothes, putting on a hospital gown like a garment on him. He then strapped him to the bed, the leather straps tight. The doctor walked near the door and dragged a gas canister into the room. He attached a mask to the canister and put it over Ichigo's mouth.
The doctor began the preparations as he moved to the sink rolling up his sleeves and washing his hands, a stern look on his face. The blue latex gloves snapped as they were put on. Dr Aswell grabbed a scalpel from the tray attached to the bed and made the first incision.
The blood now ran all through the floor.