Life and Death
Like an unholy tide the dead swept in through the open gates, devouring all in their path. Hisagi's men succumbed in a matter of minutes and Matsumoto's forces failed to repel the horde. Even the generals on the ramparts stood little chance against the sheer size of the enemy force. All of Rukongai was gathered around the walls of Sereitei, waiting day after day slavering away, thirsting for the rich taste of blood. The one opening was simply blood in the water and like starved hounds they pounced upon it, seizing the opportunity to feed.
Kommamura's troops arrived in time to stop the spread past the court beyond the gate, but even so a veritable ocean of decaying bodies had already breached Sereitei's holy ground.
With a mighty battle cry, the beast charged at the incoming wave of the undead and hacked away at them with reckless abandon. His shoulders tensed and muscles bulged as his giant form swung back and forth fervently, his sword swinging like a pendulum to cut a path through their ranks.
With his troops covering his back they ensured the path their captain created would not be filled, even going so far as expanding the gap to divide the enemy ranks into three flanks. Divide and conquer, such was their plan. As the enemy was spread out Kommamura's men fanned out and fought on for their very lives...For the future of all they had ever known.
"Do not stop!" Kommamura roared, his fangs bared, "If they stand in your way, destroy them! If they draw your blood, destroy them! If they bite you and infect you with their cursed breath, destroy them! No matter what fight until your very last breath! This is not for glory or honour, this fight is for your very lives!"
Stirring his men into a frenzy of violence the battle raged on, corpses dropping in throngs by the second. Blood rained down from the sky to soak the earth as towers of flesh and bone were razed to the ground.
For the living and the dead, the eternal silence of the end awaited.
Isane screamed as the dead surrounded her in the infirmary. One pinned her down on the floor whilst another breathed its feral rotting breath across the nape of her neck, fighting the urge to sink his teeth deep into her smooth snow-white flesh. The third procured a dirty syringe and grinned, an expression unseen upon the dead thus far.
She kicked and screamed in protest, but the strength of the new strain proved too much for one lone lieutenant to handle. Nonetheless she let out her tormented cries till her throat was hoarse, hoping beyond hope that help would arrive.
But the dead were left unopposed and her captors kept her restrained while the needle was prepared. A dark viscous fluid left to stagnate in the chamber slowly oozed from the needle point, gliding down the length of the syringe and dropping upon the pallid hands of the undead surgeon.
Isane threw her body around as much as possible with little effect, but in doing so managed to shift her head within a hairs breadth of the face of the one who restrained her. With a deep breath Isane lunged forward and sank her teeth into the weak grey flesh of his cheek, drawing a long strip from his face. The ghoul momentarily relinquished his grip from the distraction and with another furious burst of adrenaline she managed to throw him off.
Nonetheless the other two remained within a short distance and the second ghoul was already pouncing on her before she could even sit up.
At the very least Isane managed to draw her legs in and push the beast back into the wall, colliding with the surgeon and sending each other stumbling back if only for a few steps before they recovered.
The terrified shinigami got into a crouch and dived out towards a bed on the other side. A tray of medical equipment lay within reach from there. Already the first ghoul was almost upon her, blocking her way past the bed.
Isane snatched up a pair of forceps and spun on her foe who was already upon her grasping her throat and throwing her against the wall. As she struggled to breathe under the crushing grip on her throat she drove the forceps through the Hell-spawn's eye and plucked it out. Even with the sickly grey orb dangling around its chin the beast pushed on as if it had merely been bitten by a mosquito.
With a disgusted grunt Isane once again drove the forceps into the now empty eye socket and pushed further inwards. With a slightly weaker skull than a healthy human even the new strain had its weaknesses. Despite their strength and reflexes being enhanced the fibres themselves appeared to be structurally weaker due to their decay.
The bone at the rear of the eye-socket inevitably crumbled under the stress and the forceps disappeared within the ghoul's head, piercing brain tissue and unleashing a torrent of fluid from his ruined face. Isane let out a defiant cry as she drove the forceps deep into the recesses of the demon's brain, pinching them together until she was sure they were deep enough inside.
Then she let go.
The forceps expanded within the beast's skull, tearing the fragile tissue of the brain apart from the inside out. The ghoul howled and stumbled back for Isane to kick it into his pursuing companions.
While keeping her eyes on her opponents her hands drifted across the surgical table, cutting through her delicate fingers blindly searching for her next weapon. She found the scalpel and leapt over the bed to get past her pursuers. She knew they would catch up the short distance, but if she could at least get outside she might find help.
Giving a last ditch effort of survival, Isane bolted for the front door, but the unarmed of the remaining two ghouls had dashed past her to block the exit. Sighting the window between them Isane charged through, ignoring the biting of pain of glass in her skin as she landed in a heap on the outside. The very movement of rolling up into a crouch only left more glass in her skin but she pushed such thoughts from her mind and focused on escape.
Her usual running gait was disturbed by a pain in her thigh, a large shard of glass embedded deep inside. Slowing to a limp she continued to move but it all became too much and the poor woman fell against the wall beside her, using it for leverage to remain upright.
The dead followed her and caught up with ease, both baying for blood now.
Even with her courageous efforts her battle had come to an end.
Knowing her struggle was all but finished the ghouls toyed with her, slowly stalking their prey, snickering and chuckling amongst themselves, once again inhibiting unusual behaviour for the undead.
The new strain was surely a force to be reckoned with.
Clutching the syringe tight within her bloodied hands Isane crumbled and fell to her knees allowing the dead to tower over her. They encroached within a few feet of her and snarled, the surgeon once again raising the syringe with a wicked grin on his decaying face.
Tears flowed down her cheeks as Isane sobbed, her adrenaline rush expiring and giving free reign to the agony burning throughout her entire body and the rampant fear of the walking undead. With her vision clouded by tears she would not even see the end to the battle.
She heard their snarling, their thirsty wailing cry.
Then there was silence.
Wiping the tears with her sleeve Isane glanced up to see a new figure before her, a friendly face at last.
Soi Fon wrenched her blade free from the back of the surgeon's head, her sword having pierced the back of his skull and exploding out from his forehead. The second ghoul lay at her feet, his head laying several metres away in a puddle of discoloured blood.
Soi Fon studied Isane for a moment, eyeing her up and down, then shrugged her shoulders and ran off as quickly as she had appeared.
Isane remained curled up against the infirmary wall and closed her eyes for a while, just to get some rest...
Mayuri led Ichigo slowly through the now empty corridors and halls within his fellow squad's quarters. Distant screams echoed in the wind bringing a sick smile to Mayuri's face. Although not running perfectly, his plan was certainly under way and progressing well. He felt Soi Fon's reiatsu around near the infirmary. She had stayed there for only a moment and departed towards the wall.
Mayuri cursed. He had hoped to bolster his forces with a mass production unit for the new strain, but it seemed Soi Fon had crushed that plan at least in its infant stages. The fact of the matter was, however that the virus he had lended to those minions had merely been an experimental serum. The true strain of the virus was still in his laboratory. Fortunately even when Ukitake had been using the Research and Development Facility as his base of operations he would never have found the entrance to Mayuri's secret lair. Even his fellow staff at the facility were unaware of its existence, only Mayuri knew about its existence.
The precious red apple for the Adam of the new world awaited buried underground beneath the Research and Development Facility where none would ever find it.
But while Ukitake and his fickle army of doomed shinigami were all distracted it was the perfect chance to infiltrate the facility and retrieve the precious virus.
Mayuri stepped into the facility and found Akon at the main console on the far wall. One of the other researchers was standing idly behind him, watching on in awe.
"Ichigo...I want you to kill the little one. Akon is mine. Be swift and ensure they do not raise the alarm."
Ichigo nodded and flash stepped inside, slicing the younger researcher clean in half before he could even register his presence. As Akon spun around Mayuri collided with him, throwing the researcher to the ground. Drawing his sword Mayuri summoned his shikai and quickly sliced Akon's Achilles tendon, paralysing him. The scientist fell on his back, staring up at his devious mentor with a piercing glare.
"Hmm, even when you are trapped you continue to glare like that? You're an intriguing subject Akon, I must admit. That is why I'm giving you a chance to be part of my new world. Would you like that?"
"I wish to play no part in your sick games Mayuri."
"Really? Well your insubordination is misplaced. You see, I wasn't asking for your permission!"
Akon trembled slightly but managed to hold his glare. "So the magician will finally pull his rabbit out of the hat?"
Mayuri grinned, "Why yes, for being such a remarkable assistant all these years I feel I owe you the honour of showing you my most prized creation."
Mayuri strolled casually toward the farthest corner of the room and held out his hand. A small section of the wall slid aside revealing a red button. Stabbing the button with savage glee Mayuri cackled as a partition in the floor appeared, revealing a flight of stairs leading down beneath the lab. Gesturing towards the prisoner Mayuri ordered Ichigo to carry him down below.
After descending into the abyss a weak light splayed across the small laboratory, unveiling a table in the centre which bore a vial of red fluid. Blood.
"Ha! You sure hid this well. I never suspected an underground lab!"
"Of course, nobody knew. The only way to reach God's lair is to pass beyond the limits and boundaries of mortal life and experience the unlimited potential of death. Now, let me show you my latest creation!"
His pale fingers wrapped around the vial and pressed it closer to Akon's face so he could study it carefully.
"Do you know what this is?"
"Blood but it's infected with so many contagions that it certainly can't be pure."
"Correct Akon, the virus evolves in the presence of blood and by mixing it with blood the virus can advance and reproduce and become stronger. This is the ultimate elixir, designed to transcend those who receive it well beyond the realms of life and death. This shall make you immortal!"
"Spending eternity with you? That sounds awful. Besides, without limits there is no desire to improve, no drive to search for more. You said it yourself, Mayuri, perfection is a curse to scientists!"
"Ah, that is true, but I am no longer a scientist...I am a God!"
Akon laughed bitterly and rolled his eyes, "Give me a break! If you were so omnipotent then you wouldn't have forgotten about that nasty little toy you made a few years ago...I believe it was called...The Flesh Bomb!"
Mayuri's eyes narrowed.
"Now Ukitake!" Akon roared before grinning at his foe. "Sorry Mayuri, but your grand paradise sounds like crap to me. I'd rather die with honour than live as your slave."
Akon's body erupted in a sea of blazing gore. The explosion shattered the vial and sent Mayuri flying into the cages at the other end of the lab. Ichigo was hurled back too leaving a smouldering mass of flaming flesh at the foot of the stairs which remained unsealed.
As Mayuri crawled up against the cage he noticed a shadow crawling down from the above. No sooner had the figure come into view when Mayuri roared in outrage, cursing the name of his foe as he set foot into the secret lab.
"Ukitake! Damn you! How dare you defy me when your life is at its end! You've already run your course and yet you still impede the march of progress?! You're a fool!"
The captain commander threw the Flesh Bomb detonator into the fire and scowled, "No Mayuri. You are the fool. You made an enemy of not only me, but every living thing on this earth! For the sake of progress, for the sake of the future of Soul Society and the World of the Living...I swear on my honour as Captain Commander of the Gotei 13. I'm going to kill you!"
As the end draws near the battle of life and death rages on. Do not miss the next chapter!
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