Monstrous Birth

Mayuri allowed the grunt from fourth squad to heal his injuries. They were only flesh wounds and nothing too sinister in comparison the doctor's idle physical experimentations over the years. It was over rather quickly, leaving the young healer to feel rather accomplished. Mayuri gave them a vague word of thanks and sent them off, watching the child leave with an intent stare.

As soon as the young warrior was gone Mayuri swiftly retired to his laboratory. Hidden away under the grounds of the main laboratory stood Mayuri's secret lair where his most prized possession awaited. The Adam of the new world, Ichigo Kurosaki.

His decay was accelerating and he was in dire need of sustenance. His skin had turned a vile blue colour; the veins under his torn, peeling papery flesh now coal black. His eyes appeared to be shrivelling and drying out, the blind white orbs staring at nothing. His skin clung to his bones and made him look like a walking skeleton. Everything about him managed to repulse even the maniacal scientist but the prospect of his success made it worth looking at the horrendous monstrosity his little pet had become.

But first, a trial was needed.

The eighteen test subjects in the back room had been unusually silent, a worrying prospect but Mayuri fearlessly tread through the door and studied the onslaught inside.

Some had turned, but not all of them. Some had managed to fight off the infection, either by remembering their training or simply going mad from the pain and fear. Whatever the reason there were scattered corpses no longer to rise left to rot in their cages. Young men with skulls split like melons. Women with faces turned to pulp, marring their once youthful looks.

As infuriating and foolish it may have been Mayuri couldn't help but admire their spirit for taking their own lives for the sake of their pride. It took a substantial amount of courage to attempt such acts even if they were idiotic.

As for the other ten captives, their parched roars and wheezing moans created a grim chorus which brought a smile to Mayuri's twisted features. Even if it wasn't the full batch of twenty he had hoped for it was still a good sample range. He would make sure to use them well.

It was simple to do his work. He dangled a finger or hand or clump of flesh from one of the dead over the door of an occupied cage and the shambling ghouls would press their bodies against their confines in a mindless attempt to escape. From there it was simple to administer injections or feed them his various elixirs.

When all his trial medicines were administered he left the baying hounds in the dark and impatiently anticipated his results.

The noise had stirred the two resting patients in the Urahara Shoten and soon enough two pairs of dry crusted eyes were sizing up the familiar strangers before them. Tessai immediately left the room and the young girl, Ururu moved to assist the others in rising up into a seated position.

Urahara stared hard at Rukia, a hint of terror in his eyes.

"You're alive." He uttered simply, posing it as more of a question than a statement.

Rukia glanced up and nodded.

"How is that so?"

Rukia blinked.

The room fell silent.

"How?" he repeated, stressing the word.

"I...I don't know." Rukia explained, crestfallen. "I simply woke up. I barely remember anything of what happened. All I know is I died back at the school...Then I woke up again..."

"That shouldn't be possible. You should have risen as one of 'them'."

"She did." Alice snapped, prompting all eyes in the room to fall on her. "Some creepy clown-looking guy was using her as a pet."

"Clown?" Urahara raised his brow.

Rukia bowed her head and snarled, "Mayuri!" The suddenly subdued store owner nodded at the mention of that name and his expression grew ashen.

"So he is behind all of this. I should have known. But why did he bring you back and then dump you back here?"

"Because I wasn't willing to play his games." Rukia's gaze burned beneath a messy fringe of black hair. "He wanted a plaything, a toy that he could manipulate. I only just remember seeing him when I first woke up. He looked so happy to see me until I spoke out against him. I can't recall what happened next but Alice and Karin were with me then."

"The bastard just dumped her in the sewer!" Alice roared, slamming her fist against the bamboo mat beneath her. "Worst of all, he has Ichigo!"

Urahara's eyes shot open in shock. The folding fan fluttering about in his hand clattered to the floor and his jaw fell agape if only for a moment before he forced himself to recover.

"Kurosaki...So he plans on resurrecting him, but he wants him to still be subservient to him. Talk about playing god..."

Alice scratched her head, reminiscing the nightmare of her first reunion with the rotting animated corpses of Ichigo and Rukia. "Mayuri...He said something about creating a new race...Ichigo and Rukia were supposed to be the Adam and Eve of a 'new world'..."

Urahara sighed, "I wouldn't put it past him. As brilliant a researcher he is I was always wary of him. I never thought he would go this far though. Even with his...Unusual ideas he never had the gall to do something so awful."

"You mean he's on your side?" Alice cried.

"Of course. He was a comrade in a life now past. But with his current actions we have no choice but to sever our ties and put an end to this!"

Rukia, whom had been deep in thought for a while suddenly shot up, moving so suddenly that everyone in the room was startled into a state of heightened alert. When they realised it was only Rukia their stances softened and they all calmed down.

Rukia approached Urahara and spoke in a voice grounded in unshaken determination, "Urahara, I need you to open a senkai gate."

"You're going after Ichigo aren't you?" he asked. Rukia didn't need to respond. The answer was clear already. Urahara crossed his arms and sighed. "Very well, but only after you rest." The young warrior was about to protest but Kisuke cut her off with a raised hand, "You only just narrowly escaped death. I may have healed your wounds but you are still weak. If you insist on going then you must rest and eat. Gather your strength and we shall depart for Soul Society together."

Rukia wanted so much to refuse and head off at that very moment, but it dawned on her that Mayuri surely wouldn't go down easily. He was a captain after all. And he had a zombified Ichigo at his beck and call. Who knew what sick experiments he had conducted on the poor boy in her absence.

There was no other choice.

With a relented sigh Rukia sat back and waited as Tessai brought in a tray of tea for the group. He then brought in steaming hot meals for their guests.

Everyone ate in tense silence.

Outside, the grumbling chorus of the undead grew louder...

Several hours after their dosage, Mayuri returned to monitor the results of his labour. Even behind the closed door he could hear some screaming frenziedly. The madman stepped through into the testing area and ran his gaze across the cages.

The body closest to him had had no effect whatsoever. He looked the same, a grey shambling hunk of dead meat. Mayuri shook his head and looked to the closest cell on the other side of the room. The ghoul had collapsed and expelled an unknown black fluid from all bodily orifices. It did not move, certainly it was dead for good now. The next two cages in that row were also devoid of life now. One had torn himself apart in some animalistic frenzy. The other had simply gone to sleep for eternity.

On the other side of the room one had mutated. What was once a woman had now become a hideous creature with cancerous growths all over her body, swelling to immense size and then bursting, oozing a sickly pale fluid from them. The cell beside her was occupied by a ghoul gone mad. The beast threw itself against the bars of the cell, howling madly. Behind him another was uncontrollably restless being confined. It had begun to feast upon itself in its unsatiated desire for food.

Three other subjects remained. They all bore the resemblance of a healthy being, aside from black ringed eyes, shrivelled lips and skeletal frames. They were almost human it seemed. As Mayuri approached they all sat on their haunches for a moment before steadily rising up to their full heights. They stood to attention like soldiers, seemingly unperturbed by their captivity.

"Captain Kurotsuchi, where are we?"

"What happened to us?"

"What's going on here?"

Speech. Motor skills. Healthy demeanour, human appearance. They had succeeded thus far, moving beyond the spectacular failure of that blubbering Hiyosu, his former assistant. However there was one more hurdle to be crossed before he could be fully satisfied.

Obedience...

"I shall explain but first let us get you out of these cages. Sit."

Upon that single directive they all sat down without question. Mayuri ordered them to go through a short series of instructions, much like a physical exam for patients in the infirmary. When they had done so without fail Mayuri opened their cages and allowed them to assemble before him.

Mayuri pointed to the girl covered in tumours. He pointed with a skeletal finger and commanded with a rasping whisper, "Kill her."

He watched on as they systematically tore her apart, ambushing the helpless girl, snapping her neck, holding her down while they gnawed away at her barely exposed neck and ultimately pulled it free, offering it as a prize to their master.

Mayuri's grin consumed him and he clapped his hands in delight.

It was finally time.

While the others were feasting Urahara began preparations for the senkai gate. A normal gate could be opened in seconds, but to create one fit to allow humans passage was another thing altogether. Urahara had made such portals before and so he was well aware that the time needed to create one was not on his hands, at least not with the dead growing restless and hungry.

Whether it was the smell of actual food that drew them to the barricade or simply the scent of humans they were amassing outside the store, moaning in a fitful chorus of pain and longing. Those creatures were all once regular human beings.

Now they were slavering, blood-thirsty monsters.

If Mayuri indeed caused all of this then Urahara felt a strong urge to personally punish the psychopathic zealot himself.

The idea of a choice was becoming slimmer as the dead beat their fists against the blockade which consisted of rubble and burnt out cars. It wouldn't be long before they break through it, the barrier had been standing for months now and surely it would not hold forever. Little by little Kisuke had seen it crumble, had seen the cracks grow...

Escape would be necessary. Karakura town was lost. There was no shred of that thriving city anymore, only a desolate wasteland inhabited by the walking dead.

Perhaps Soul Society was the only safe haven now?

As Kisuke Urahara mused over his predicament the stammering young girl, Ururu scuttled up beside him to make her report.

"T-The monsters...They're going to...To..."

"Break through?" Urahara finished for her. "I assumed as much. Prepare your weapons. I want you and Tessai to hold the barrier while I open the senkaimon. Make sure to arm our guests too. Have them set up a line of support fire from the store front."

"Yes sir!" The young girl bowed her head and smile thinly.

Urahara continued to lay out the plan. "Alright, now when the fighting becomes too much I want you all to fall back down here. As far as I know those ghouls don't know how to use ladders so they will simply fall. That way you can easily defeat them. By then I should have the gate open and ready, ok?"

"Yes sir!" she smiled once again as Urahara placed a mock army helmet on her head and saluted the youngster. She giggled as she returned the gesture, and then scrambled up the ladder of the attic to return to the store.

Kisuke admired his 'attic' with a sidelong glance. The entire area had been set up as a training space for shinigami. However the wasteland down here bore too much of a resemblance to Karakura town now. It only made the pain worse. The bright blue painted sky and it's permanently affixed clouds brought a rare glimpse of colour to Urahara's life.

"Ah, it's a shame to see it go..." He closed his eyes and sighed a deep sigh before returning to his work.

Up above he could hear rattling and banging.

Soon enough he heard screams and gunfire.

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