Chapter 2: Possession
"So, I bet you thought you could get away, my archenemy!"I gripped my scythe on my back.
"'Why bother getting away? I'll just finish you off right here and now!'" after that was said, I slashed backwards.
"Cut the soliloquies, man. Words won't save your sorry hollow butt!" my blade windmilled over my shoulders in a chain attack that I like to call the Infinity loop, because it makes that figure eight pattern.
"Rest! In! Peace!" I yelled as I made the three final slashes, leaped to the other side of my scythe, and stabbed forward with the blade fully opened.
"Are you really that eager to start fighting?" a voice called. My face went red from humiliation as I looked up to see Ichigo Kurosaki laying casually on the roof watching me the whole time.
Yeah...there actually wasn't any opponent that I was slicing up. It was just me shadow boxing in the back yard, trying to envision the perfect victory which I craved for. But sadly, such was not going to happen anytime soon, so I would have to resort to imaginary battles to fuel my over-adventurous spirit, like I always have, but in a very different way. But I hated when people spied on me in the middle of "combat".
"You gave us quite a surprise two days ago", he continued, "I never thought that there was such a thing as a half-breed soul before."
"Anything else about soul reaping that I ought to know now? You seem experienced enough", I strapped my scythe to my back and he folded up.
"Actually I'm just a substitute reaper. I'm completely human, but Rukia gave me her power in order to save us both. But she lost her powers in the process. I've actually only been in the business for maybe half a week."
"Fascinating", I said with little emotion in my tone, but a gleam in my eyes, "So are you here to alert us of hollows or are you just dropping by?"
"Actually, I'm here to thank you. You saved Rukia back there, probably me too. But Rukia needs to talk to us about some recent apparitions in the city." I assumed my spirit form, the first thing that my mom taught me as a new reaper.
"I don't see why not. I wanted to have a word with Rukia anyways", I leaped up to the roof, and we both hopped back to his house, "She said something about my mom and the so-called court guard captains. You know what she's talking about?"
"She'd mentioned the captains of the Soul Society's guard squads before. Her brother is one from what I hear. Maybe your mother was a captain at some point."
I thought on this in silence as we returned to Ichigo's house (also a small medical clinic) and Ichigo returned to his real body (conveniently hidden in a nearby bush), while I assumed my physical form once more.
"Oh, I almost forgot", Ichigo said glumly with his palm on his face, "Brace yourself for impact." He opened the door and stepped out of the way as fast as possible.
"HELLO! ICHIGO!" a voice hollered and I was sent to the ground by a roundhouse kick!
"I'm over here, Dad!" Ichigo whirled his foot around and sent him rolling back into the house, "Knock it off already! You hurt my friend!"
"You...win this round, kid!" his father struggled to say in a rather comical way as hi body twitched at the bottom of the staircase. I stood up but the world was still spinning.
"I get it. He's that kind of parent. Man, I haven't been this dizzy since that rattlesnake bite." I shook off my dizziness. We went up to Ichigo's room and he locked the door.
"Finally", the closet opened up behind me and my soul nearly jumped out of my body in fright. If there is one thing that ticks me off more than anything else, its a jumpscare.
"Dang it!" I whirled around, "Don't just jump out like that! You scared the living crap out of me!"
"My apologies", Rukia said bluntly, getting down from that bed hidden in Ichigo's closet, "For someone who attacked a hollow unarmed, you scare easily."
"It's not a matter of being afraid. I wasn't scared then because I could see the hollow. If that hollow had attacked me from behind, that would have been a very different story."
"So it's more of a surprise factor", Ichigo elaborated, "You hate surprises?"
"Tell that to the coyote that sneaked up behind me while I was out camping. Yes I hate surprises!" Ichigo raised an eyebrow.
Blah blah blah. we talked about that "surprise factor for the next five minutes. Not worth going into, so I'll just skip to the important stuff.
"Alright! Enough of the coyote!" I ended the conversation, "What I'm really here for is information on my mother. She didn't fill me in on everything. Who is she?"
"I'll tell you in a moment. But I want to know what you know", she poked my forehead, "What did she tell you?" So I told them the story that my mother told me, about how she had met my father, he saved her, and how I came into the picture.
"A menos grande?" Rukia thought out loud, "That's unheard of!"
"That's what my mom said happened. Frankly I don't even know what a menos is, but that's not important. Your turn. Court guard captains. You said something about a connection between them."
Rukia hesitated before she spoke.
"The court guard squads are the protectors of the soul society and consist of almost all soul reapers. Each has several seats, a lieutenant. Finally there was a captain to lead each of them, the strongest in all of the Soul Society. About seventeen years ago, the idea arose of adding a fourteenth court guard squad. But before that, they needed a captain. Lady Miharu was honorary nobility, and met all of the requirements of a captain with flying colors. But for reasons that remained classified to all but the head captain, she declined the offer, and the idea of the new squad was dismissed. As had no squad even before, many referred to her as the Lost Captain. Ever since, she's disappeared for months at a time, sometimes even years. But no one knew why."
Ichigo looked to me, "But now I see why. All of this time she was raising you!"
"Exactly!" Rukia nodded, "But that might prove to be a problem. Half reapers haven't been seen in centuries, and I doubt that the higher-ups will like a new one."
"What's not to like?" I sat back, "I mean, all of you soul reapers have been Japanese throughout the history of the Soul Society, right? When you think about it, I'm the first American soul reaper that ever existed!
"I doubt that would do you much good", Ichigo said.
We would have talked longer had Ichigo's father not come in and say it was time to eat. and I was sent home.
But as I got into bed that night, thinking that I was out of the woods, I received a visitor, for a few seconds anyway.
I flipped around on my bed trying to get comfortable and some guy who was just taller than me just appears in my room.
I screamed and pointed my scythe at him. But I found the handle cold, and the whole weapon shivered. The man wore a long coat with a hood, and the little skin that should have been visible was covered by some sort of armor.
We stood there in silence for a little while before I heard a voice in my mind, "You have heart." The man gave a casual two-fingered salute/wave, and vanished.
.
(The next morning)
It was Thursday, Back to school again.
I walked with Ichigo, Rukia, and Chad. Not one of us said a word about what transpired the day before
"Hey Ichigo!" a cheery voice called, and a girl with long orange hair skidded into the spot beside Ichigo. I remember her from class.
"Oh! Hey Orihime!" Ichigo brightened up. Then the girl looked to me with a smile of delight.
"Hey! You're the new student!" she said happily.
"The name's Ash. Pleasure to meet you!" I nodded with a smile. Dang, she was adorable! Not really my type, but adorable all the same.
It actually seemed like we could go a day without anything weird happening!
That changed at lunch. I walked up to Ichigo and Rukia. I didn't hear them at first. She handed him a very familiar object.
"Oh, sweet! I didn't know that they had Pez dispensers in Japan!" I opened it up, and ate one. Rukia and Ichigo both sweat dropped, and I asked, "What's wrong?"
"Ash...You do realize what you ate right?" Ichigo said.
"That was a substitute soul capsule", Rukia alerted me. The blood drained from my face as I tried to cough it back up.
"Why didn't you put it in a box instead of a candy dispenser?!" I coughed.
"Just relax, it's not going to do anything to you", Rukia assured, "It allows a soul reaper to go on duty while summoning a soul to temporarily inhabit their body." With that she popped a pill into Ichigo's mouth without even looking at him. Ichigo made a sour face and his soul was ejected from his body. The body then stood up on its own, turned to us and smiled in a cheerful way.
"Why hello there! I'm Ichigo Kurusaki!" he waved.
"That doesn't sound like him in the slightest", I deadpanned.
"Early to bed early to rise makes a man healthy and wise! That's my motto!" he continued in that same tone.
"This isn't going to end well for me", Ichigo sweat dropped.
"Me either", then I realized, "Wait a minute, why didn't it work on me?"
"Because your body and soul are essentially one in the same, you can exist with your zanpakto while in physical form. But as such, the only way that your body and soul will ever separate is if you die. So the pill won't be able to summon a substitute soul. You'll be alright", Rukia promised.
"Look, I'll be right back, " I walked away, "I forgot my lunch."
So I sat down and opened up my lunch, Mom's beef ramen, secret family recipe. My favorite! I twirled the chopsticks around in my fingers before I tried to take a bite. But my hand froze and forcefully put the bite back into the thermos before sealing the top.
"Whatever you do don't eat that", a voice with a New Zealand accent said to me. I put my hands over my mouth. I said that! But I didn't choose to say it. I looked around to see if anyone was paying any attention to me, and thankfully they weren't.
So I whispered, "Hello?"
"G'day chum!" it responded and I shut my mouth again and briskly walked to the empty locker rooms.
"Oh good gosh. The pill actually did work!" I realized.
"Quite the contrary, partner", he replied, "The pill you ate didn't summon a soul, it was a soul! A mod soul to be precise!"
"Oh man! This is freaky on so many levels!" I leaned against the lockers and slid to the ground.
"Just relax man, I can't access your memories. It has been too long since I could use a body!" he/I stretched.
"Hold it man!" I snapped, "You are not sticking around in my skin!"
"Not until you find me a body to use. I'm not going back there again!"
"What's your name?"
"Nemo."
"Care to explain just what a mod soul is, Nemo?" I questioned.
"Souls outfitted with military enhancements, made by the Research Division of the Soul Society. A super soldier soul, if you would. But when a few tests went wrong, and the practice of using corpses was ruled immoral, they went and started exterminating all of us! My friend and I were the only ones that I know escaped. Now all I need is a body to hide in so they can't hunt me down and kill me! Look, I really don't want to stick in this body for very long anyhow. Your zanpakto is giving me the creeps!"
"You can see him? What's he saying?!" I asked.
"Your friend here hasn't spoken even a word to me, but he apparently doesn't want me in here. I've seen a lot of zanpakto in my time, and I've never seen one quite like him before. Speaking of friends, we need to grab my partner and get him in a new body. That carrot top soul reaper isn't going to like this!"
"Oh no", I moaned, "That one was a mod soul too, wasn't it?"
"Whoa! Hello! We have a massive hollow coming in from the gym! My friend is fighting it!"
"Lets go then!" I assumed spirit form and leaped out to the schoolyard where Ichigo's body was being chased by the biggest standard hollow I've ever seen! It was long and had the body of a centipede! Ichigo's body was wounded at the shoulder. Then the real Ichigo came in and both attacked at once, sending the hollow hurtling through the air. The mod dashed ahead of the monster and landed an upward kick to the monster's stomach, sending it flying upwards. I was already above it.
"Surprise!" I yelled and sliced in the same place Ichigo did before, and the hollow purified.
I dropped to the rooftop with a sigh of relief. But Ichigo was on the side of the building, trying to keep his body from falling. But he lost his footing, and I caught him. I quickly pulled out my scythe and anchored it upside down to the wall.
"You at the bottom! Grab the handle!" he said not a word and did so while I pulled Ichigo up. Then I helped him up too and reverted to physical form.
"Well, look who we have here", a voice said and I saw a man in a green robe and a green and white striped hat walking towards the mod soul, "So finally we find you. And what a picture. All beat up, worn out, and all that trouble for nothing." then using his cane, the poked Ichigo's head and the mod soul popped out in the form of a yellow pill the size of a marble which he quickly picked up, "Mission accomplished."
"Hey! What do you think you're doing with that mod soul?" Ichigo began to draw his sword.
"What else is left to do? I gotta destroy it", the man said.
"No way!" I said as we both drew our weapons, "Then tell me what he's done to deserve it! If you can't, then you have no business here!"
"I'm afraid that's not for you to decide", he began to palm the pill until it was snatched away by Rukia.
"I'll be the one who decides that, Kisuke Urahara", she corrected.
"Miss Kuchiki, you can't have that", he lowered the front of his hat.
"Why can't I, Kisuke? Are you saying that it's your policy to seize goods that your customers have already paid for?", she raised an eyebrow.
"I'll give you a full refund. How does that sound?"
"That's okay. I'm completely satisfied by my purchase. Besides, I know, and you know, that you're operating outside of the law. And I also know that it's not your job to recall this mod soul. ", Rukia finished.
The man sighed, "I just hope you know what you're getting involved in. So don't blame me if you get into trouble."
"I won't", Rukia turned, "I've already dealt with a lot of trouble since I've been here."
"Wait a minute, let me see that cane for a moment", I said inspecting the bottom to find a seal, "So that's all I had to do?" I folded up my scythe and put the bottom of the handle to the back of my head.
"Wait, partner! Not yet!" Nemo tried to stop me. I tapped myself and I coughed up the pill.
"I recall you saying that the pills would have no effect on me, Rukia", I glared at her with a twitching eyebrow.
"How was I supposed to know that they were mod souls?"
"How was I supposed to know that the container wasn't a Pez dispenser?!" I snapped back.
Kisuke chuckled, "I told you to go with the standard issue, Rukia. But you had to pick the one with the cute and cuddly animal top. Oh well. See you next time." He vanished behind the building.
.
We were all on our way back to my house to discuss things. For safety's sake, I let Nemo co-inhabit my body for the way home, or at least until we could find him a new body.
"You tried to wreck me!" Ichigo yelled at the pill, "Are you even listening?!"
"I must say that you look awfully silly, yelling at a pill in public", Rukia commented.
"Hey, you have to give him a body first; living or dead", Nemo spoke through me.
"Aha! So all I have to do is find a dead body, and when I find it, BAM! Is he going to get it! Oh what have we here?" he walked over to a trash can to find a stuffed toy lion.
"Now that's just now right", I said, "Who throws out a toy in such good condition like that?"
"So let me get this straight, you're saying a non-living object could work for this right?" Ichigo said picking it up.
"Ha!" Nemo laughed, "There's no way that's going to work!"
"I'm not taking your word for it", Ichigo plopped the pill in the lion's mouth.
Nothing.
"Any ideas?" Ichigo asked holding it by the paw and swinging it around. But then the toy itself resisted the spin!
"Hey that hurt! That really hurt!" I yelled at him.
"I stand corrected", Nemo admitted.
"Ichigo Kurosaki! I hereby challenge you to a no-holds-barred duel! Huh?! How'd you get sot big?! Or did I somehow shrink?! I'm in a super cute plush toy with soft paws and no muscle! This isn't fair!" the lion complained before Ichigo picked him up by the back of the neck.
"Time for some payback for what you were doing to my body earlier!" he snarled at the doll.
"Oh, wait a minute! I got an idea! Next stop, my house!" I stopped him and we all made a mad dash for my house.
"Hi Mom!" I said as I rushed past her on the stairs and I skidded to a stop in my room and I dug through my old toy chest for something I haven't played with in years.
"Here we go!" I popped Nemo out of my body and put him in the battery compartment of the toy, since it had no mouth. It was one of my old Transformer toys, a dark blue Chevy Corvette Stingray named Switchback.
"Ash!" Nemo cried with joy as the toy transformed into robot form, "You're a bloody genius! You too Ichigo! No one's going to suspect this!" He started into a kung fu frenzy shadow boxing match before he turned back into a car and sped around the room on those little rubber tires. Seriously, he was fast!" he transformed in mid drive and commando rolled over to me.
"Mate, this is even better than a false body! I love it!" he reached up and I gave him a soft fist bump.
"Hey! That's not fair!" the stuffed lion complained, "I want to be a car too!"
"So I can just let you get away? Not a chance", Ichigo squeezed his mod soul tight.
"You know", Rukia thought out loud, "when you think about it, Mod souls have a spiritual sensitivity much stronger than any soul reaper. They can detect hollows from miles away! We might be able to pick them up long before we receive a mission to find them!"
"It's official! I'm sticking around!" Nemo said jumping up to the bed.
"Well, he did steal my body for a little while, but I guess it'd be nice to have a new partner."
With Nemo in my care and the situation resolved, I felt much more secure.
It would be another two days before I heard from Ichigo again.
(End of Chapter 2)
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Beowulf here!
I'm telling you guys, ever since I saw Kon, I dreamed of doing the same thing to a Transformer toy.
Right now I'm currently working on part of the zanpakto's powers. If you have any suggestions at all, please let me know through a PM.
That's about it. Please, review, follow, favorite. Only if you want to of course.
Beowulf signing out and souled out!