So, chapter 3. Alex's shikai revealed, I hope you like it, you'll see why I chose that kind of zanpakuto for him later. You might have noticed but Alex is going to be my main character for a while but never fear Ichigo and Rukia are going to come in soon, along with some of the others. Enjoy!

One week after chapter two

Squad 5 Training Ground

The squad sat resting after a long morning of training led by the lieutenant and the other high up officers. Minus the captain that is, to the squad he seemed pretty useless and he didn't really do anything, he wasn't the captain that any of the squad members had hoped for.

There was a happy and content mood in the air, the atmosphere was good with little pockets of laughter breaking out all over the place and smiles creased the faces of many. The morning had been tough but enjoyable for most, they seemed to enjoy pushing themselves, making themselves better and breaking their own personal barriers. Alex sat under one of the large trees that were dotted around the edge of the training ground, some way away from the squad, seemingly sleeping and not paying attention to anything around him.

Momo was walking around talking to the squad members, mainly the lower ranked ones and new comers. Squad five had recently gained some new recruits, fresh out of the academy and Momo had yet to get to know them all. She liked to know all those in her squad and she saw it as crucial to for a bond with them early on in their Shinigami career. She sat down to talk to a group of them, smiling at them and generally having a laugh, enjoying this time and making sure that they were all up for the task of being fully fledged soul reapers.

A soul reaper stood behind Momo, as if they were too afraid to ask if they could sit down in the presence of a lieutenant, she turned to face them and indicated for them to sit down and talk, she smiled again, once the soul reaper had nodded and turned back to the group she was sat with and continued to talk. The squad member behind her went to sit down but seemed to trip up over their own feet, falling towards the lieutenant. There was a small glint of sunlight, it looked like the effect you'd get if sunlight reflected off of something shiny, something metal…

Momo turned around quickly when she saw the shadow that was falling on the top of her and took note of the soul reaper that was falling towards her, she braced up to catch the Shinigami but the impact of their body never came. She looked around and saw that Alex was stood in the place previously occupied by the falling squad member. Alex started to walk slowly away, letting a thin, short knife fall from his grasp, it was the type of knife that was easily concealed and could deal a deadly wound if used correctly.

"You're not one of mine" Alex called out to the soul reaper who was at the other end of the training ground. 'How did he get there…?' thought Momo 'Never mind that, how did the captain get here?' she added in her mind, looking at Alex with narrowed eyes and in wonder. She glanced to where she saw Alex had sat and her eyes widened in wonder, that was quite a distance to travel in the time he did it.

The soul reaper got to his feet, brushing himself down and looked at the captain. Suddenly Alex flash-stepped forward, ripping off the knee length coat that the soul reaper was wearing. Underneath was the strangest uniform that any of the squad members had seen.

Over the top of the normal uniform was a crimson vest done up with a zip in the middle, it looked like it was made out of a thick material and it had two pouches on the chest, one on the left, the other on the right. The uniform underneath was like those worn by the rest of the squad, the sleeves were short, on the right one there was a symbol stitched in; a crimson raven, its eye black.

Alex's eyes widened in recognition and shock. The way he stood had completely changed, no longer were his shoulders hunched up, his back was completely straight, the squad looked on, too astonished and surprised to do anything

"Everyone, get back. Now!" he voice had lost all its lightness and playful tone. It was strong, clear and full of authority. He raised his hand over his left shoulder slowly, never taking his eyes off of the strange soul reaper. The shadows cast by the trees all around jumped to his hand and swirled around, revolving quickly, flickering like a candle in the wind. As one the shadows solidified leaving Alex holding a hilt of a zanpakuto. The scabbard was completely and utterly black along with the hilt, the only colour was the thin grey ring around the top of the scabbard and the silver rectangular hilt guard.

He walked forwards, his steps graceful, he was showing the squad what he was really like, gone was the stumbling useless captain that didn't do anything. Gone was the person that fell over the flat ground. His spiritual pressure steadily increased. The lower squad members started to find it difficult to move, breathing became strained. Some even fell to their knees, this spiritual pressure was insane! Alex drew his sword swiftly, its blade glinting in the sunlight. It didn't look like anything special, it was of normal length and completely straight but the more Momo looked at it the more she was convinced that it was indeed special in some way.

The opposing soul reaper also drew his blade and dropped into a guard, his sword extended in front of him.

"Well, what a surprise, I didn't expect this. You looked so weak" Alex just looked at the man, the corners of his mouth curling up in amusement and shook his head slowly. The soul reaper didn't wait for a reply, he lunged forward with astounding speed, his blade coming around in a deadly arc. The block was casual and almost uncaring. The Shinigami pressed on, slashing and hacking at Alex. Momo looked on in wonder, the attacks were so fast she had trouble keeping track on where the weapon was coming from next but Alex's blade was always in its way. He slowly gave ground, stepping back calmly. Then he stopped.

His blade locked with his opponents and he forced the tip of it into the ground and palm-heeled his attacker in the chest with his free hand, sending him skidding back and then he went on the offensive. Momo marvelled at his swordsmanship, he had an unusual style, one that she had never seen. He was swapping the sword hand he used and kept on reversing his grip on the hilt, allowing him to execute extremely fast cuts straight after one another. He also changed from one handed to two handed strikes, making his strikes not just fast but strong as well. The enemy gave ground but not in the calm manner like Alex had but quickly with a look of panic etched in his face. He jumped away from the onslaught bleeding from multiple cuts and breathing heavily. Alex however didn't seem to have even broken a sweat.

"As fun as this has been, I'm going to end it quickly now" he said, his voice was low and calm. It sent shivers down Momo's spine, that was the voice of a person experienced in the art of killing, someone that was used to showing no emotion when in combat.

"Momo" he called without taking his eyes off his opponent "You're a Kido master right" it was more of a statement that it was a question.

"Erm… Yes captain" she replied, her voice a little shaky, she was still in shock from what she was seeing and she'd only just worked out that the blade that was on the floor in front of her would have been the weapon that ended her life if Alex wasn't there.

"Okay then, I want you to put up the strongest barrier against spiritual pressure you know. Put all your energy into it and if you have to tap into the higher seated officer's energy as well. You got that lieutenant?" Alex brought his zanpakuto in front of him, the point facing up, the edge facing out.

"Erm… Yes captain, of course" she repeated, setting about at her task, grateful for the distraction but she couldn't get over the feeling that her captain was going to do something big, very big.

Alex returned his focus to his opponent and smiled.

"Bring forth the reign of darkness. Rushifa." Momo's eyes widened as she threw up the barrier requested. Immediately she felt the massive explosion of spiritual pressure pushing her to the ground. This wasn't meant to happen, the barrier she used was the most powerful and stopped all spiritual pressure, preventing it from reaching the person or people behind it. She knew she had put it up correctly. Was her captain's spiritual energy that large and powerful? Grey reiatsu filled the air, obscuring the captain of squad five. When it dissipated it gave the squad their first view of their captain's unsealed zanpakuto, his shikai.

Darkness swirled around Alex as if it was attracted to him, his haori had changed colour to a deep black, the darkest black any of the assorted soul reapers had ever seen. A long and deep hood covered his head, concealing his face, in his left hand he held his zanpakuto loosely. The hilt guard and the hilt were completely black, merging with the grey straight blade perfectly. The only bit of colour was the bleached white eight link chain that hung from the hilt. It looked suspiciously like bone. All the shadows that were cast around the training area by the trees and buildings, even by the squad seemed to fight to reach Alex. The weapon started to flicker and change, then it completely reformed. Now it was a six-foot scythe, taller than Alex. The staff was black and the blade grey, like the sword. The chain now hung from the top, resting against the staff.

'Two forms? I've never heard of a zanpakuto that has different forms?' Momo thought. She was in wonder at the sheer power of Alex's shikai, it was in a completely different league to her own.

The enemy soul reaper stumbled back, his eyes wide with fear, his face pale and his hands shaking. "No! No! It can't be, not that zanpakuto! That's the shikai of…" he never got to finish his sentence.

It was over in seconds.

Nobody even saw the attack, one moment Alex was stood in front of Momo's attacker and the next he was behind him, sheathing his zanpakuto and his haori had changed back to its normal white. The soul reaper fell to his knees with his eyes wide open, there was a small, neat hole in the centre of his chest. He collapsed completely into the dirt and didn't move. It was truly finished.

Momo was panting with exertion, the strain of keeping up a barrier of that level against such a strong spiritual pressure showing. Sweat glistened on her forehead, running down her face making her hair stick to her cheeks. She fell to her knees, her breathing laboured, Alex was instantly by her side, crouched down beside her, his hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"Sorry Momo, I should have held my spiritual pressure back slightly." He looked into her eyes, seeing her exhaustion "Are you alright?" he smiled a small and sad smile and looked deeply at her. She nodded hesitantly, her breathing slowing down slightly, she returned her captain's smile and stood shakily. She tried to take a step forwards but felt herself falling, she had absolutely no strength left, the ground got closer and closer, she didn't have the energy to put her hands out to prevent herself from face planting the hard ground of the training area. Suddenly Alex was there catching her, he picked her up and walked into the shade of a nearby tree and lay her down gently.

"Don't try to move, my reiatsu had this effect on people the first time they feel it. Just lay still, this feeling will pass soon" he sat down beside her and sighed deeply, looking out at the squad. All were sitting down, still astounded by the strength of their captain and how powerful his reiatsu is.

': You know what this means don't you master?'

'Yes'

': Do you think this is a prelude to an invasion?'

'Unfortunately so, it looks like they've found a way back to this world, the Head-Captain needs to know this.'

': Yes, but I also don't think the young lieutenant here is the only target in this attack, it's my bet that there are more attacks going on right now'

'Yeah, I thought that too'

': Well of course you did, after all I am part of you, if I thought it nine times out of ten you would of thought about it'

'Only nine out of ten? What about the other one?"

': I am a woman and that means that I think more things than you'

'If you say so'

': I do'

Alex broke away from the conversation with his zanpakuto and looked out, feeling the spiritual pressure all around him. He nodded and smiled sadly.

'Looks like you were right, there's combat taking place all over the Seireitei'

': Of course I was right'

Alex laughed inwardly at his weapon's tone but then sobered at the feeling of a familiar presence.

': She was going to turn up soon, you knew that'

Alex ignored this comment and stood up

"Come on out Lieutenant, I know you're there' Alex looked out, seemingly talking to no one. Suddenly someone appeared in front of him. She wore a white captain haori with no number or symbol on it and a badge on her left upper arm, the badge had a scythe on it going through a skull, the point of the blade coming out of its eye. She was on one knee, bowing her head towards Alex.

"Your detection powers have gotten rusty captain, I've been watching you for at least five minutes." She rose, revealing herself to be just shorter than Alex. She had long, slightly wavy brown hair that came down to the middle of her back, it was simply done, with a single parting and the fringe brought over to the side and tucked behind her ear. Her face was kind but also possessed a harsh look to it, her eyes where green and seemed hard with no humour in them what so ever. A part of her fringe fell from her ear, she brushed it back into place with her left hand and gazed at Alex with her hand on the hilt of her zanpakuto, she looked agitated and continually tapped on the white wrapping of her sword.

"Sorry, I was a bit distracted" Alex returned the gaze, he heard movement behind him and broke away from the staring contest that ensued. He saw Momo sitting up, looking at the woman behind her captain, she could see how she looked at him; like she wanted to kill him. No, not kill. Hurt. 'There's history between these two' she thought. She looked at her captain

"Who is this captain? She's wearing the white haori of a captain but you called her lieutenant didn't you?" Alex smiled at the sharpness of his lieutenant

"Yes that's right, she is a lieutenant. Well, my lieutenant to be precise but she is allowed to wear the captains white because she has proven herself worthy of it" Momo threw Alex a confused look

"Your lieutenant…?"

"Yes, I intended to tell you this a little bit later but it looks like I have no choice now" he paused and smiled sadly, an expression that Momo felt like she would get used to "I am also the captain of a different squad. The proper name for it is the Special Operations Squad, but its codenamed as Karitoriki" he looked at the lieutenant next behind him

"I am Lieutenant Tessarosa Sasori of the Squad Karitoriki, it looks like I'm going to be working closely with you from now on."

Momo looked at her, confused.

Alex sighed, it was going to be a long day, a very long day.

So chapter three, might have left you with a couple of questions. Some will be answered, some won't, well, not just yet anyway. Hope you're liking the story so far!