Chapter 5
I own nothing
"Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki, Uryū Ishida, Orihime Inoue, Yasutora "Chad" Sado, and Renji
Abarai. Please report to the Captain Commander immediately. He is waiting for you in his office." This
was the message that they received as a hell butterfly flew past them. They all wondered what the commander
wanted to see them for and all quickly went to his office in the First Division Headquarters. When they arrived
they all entered and stood at attention before the commander as he sat in his desk with his hands supporting his
chin as he leaned forward.
"Thank you for coming so quickly. First, before we begin, I want to congratulate you, Ichigo, on completing
your training. Have you mastered all your lessons?"
Ichigo nodded with a little bit of pride in his eyes. "Yes sir. I now am able to use all kido spells, including
healing, sealing, and barrier spells, my flash step is now on level with Yourichi's. And thanks to you my sword
work has improved in the time you spent training me. And for that I thank you."
Uryū muttered to Chad and Orihime standing beside him "it's a miracle that he mastered anything at all."
"WHAT? WHY I OUTTA…"
The commander spoke with an edge in his voice. "Enough. I have a difficult matter to resolve and also very
little time to resolve it in. And I have decided to entrust it to you six."
That caused Ichigo to shut up with a surprised look on his face, as well as everyone else. Chad's hair hid his
eyes so no one knew what he looked like, but the grunt he gave showed his surprise as well.
Rukia was the first to speak up. "Uumm… of course sir. But if I may, what is the task and why do you entrust it
to us?" her question meet with nods all around.
"Because this is a very difficult and messy situation I'm entrusting you. And it is one that has the fate of both
soul society and the world of the living in the balance."
"Indeed."
Everyone turned to look as Kisuke walked through the door. He looked at them with grim eyes. The lack of his
usual aura of goofy happiness made everyone slightly nervous except for the commander.
"Thank you for coming Urahara. Maybe you could explain the situation better."
The former captain nodded. "Of course sir. If you would all follow me, I can show you while I explain."
They all left the room and followed Urahara as he lead the way to the head of the research and development
building
They all walked in and went to one of the labs. There Urahara walked to the screen and typed something on the
keyboard as he began explaining.
"How much do any of you know about something called the Blacklight virus?"
Everyone tensed a little as Ichigo spoke up. "That was the virus that hit New York City isn't it? It was released
by a man called Alex Mercer who was said to be a crazy scientist according to the news. They also said that he
was killed when he became trapped in Penn station after he released the virus there. It caused millions of deaths
and forced the Americans to resort to a nuclear solution. But the bomb went off over the ocean. After that, the
virus just seemed to die."
"Correct, except the news left out several key details. One was that the scientist who released the virus, Alex
Mercer, worked for a company called Genteck, who worked in partnership with the military, and the real
kicker. He wasn't killed in Penn station."
Everyone but the commander seemed shocked. "What?"
"The virus was more than the news made it out to be. The military division that worked with Genteck was
called Black Watch. There a black on black division of the military. They were created for a purpose I'll
explain later. And Mercer didn't create that virus from nothing. I couldn't create something that twisted, not
even if I used all the resources in soul society. The virus was actually created by Black Watch and modified by
Genteck."
Everyone there was stunned. Created by Black Watch and modified by Genteck?
Orihime spoke up next with something akin to horror in her eyes. "But why? For what purpose would they
make something that twisted?"
Urahara sighed, looking very old all of a sudden. "It's for the same reason Azien stole the Hykogen from me
to satisfy his, the reason he betrayed us, and the reason so many died in the winter war. Power. The Blacklight
virus was a different strain of the first virus that was created by Genteck. That strain was called Redlight. The
goal was to create a weapon that could splice together human and animal DNA to create super soldiers. When
they had created the virus they spent years testing it on animals. Then when they were ready, they released the
virus on a small town called Hope, located in Idaho. The virus wiped out the town in over 2 weeks. When the
virus infected someone they would become something akin to zombies, savage, mindless, and looking only for
food and to spread the infection. When Black Watch used a nuclear solution to recover the town they found one
survivor."
Renji asked in a whisper while looking disgusted and sadden by the loss of so many innocent lives. "Who?
Who survived that?"
Urahara spoke while he pulled up several files on the computer. One of them was a picture of a teenage girl that
looked around 18 with red hair that went down to her shoulders, light olive skin, and piercing emerald green
eyes with a sad smile on her face. "A woman called Elizabeth Green. She was the lone person that walked out
of the smoldering crater that was left of hope, Idaho. And she was the key to what happened in New York when
the infection hit."
Everyone looked confused by that stamen. "How? How could that one woman be responsible for what
happened?" Uryu asked looking collected as always while inside he was reeling like everyone else there.
"When Black Watch found Green, they made an incredible discovery. Her body had somehow become a
container for the virus. She could carry it and not be changed like the others. But she was driven insane by the
virus, and everything she touched became infected. She also produced several different viruses with a 99.999%
mortality rate. And the final key that made it possible for the Blacklight virus to be born was that Green had
been pregnant when the infection was unleashed."
They looked like they had been hit over the head with a sledge hammer. "What?"
"When Green gave birth, the child was named PIARAH, and his body was nothing but a virus producing
machine like his mother, but it only produced one strain. He was alive in the same way a virus could live.
And his blood and DNA crawled with nothing but PURE Blacklight. The company Genteck and black watch
attempted to make the virus watered down enough that humans could be infected and yet remain in control and
use the virus to enhance their physical abilities, everything from strength and speed, to enhance healing until it
could look like high speed regeneration. None of the tests worked. Until Mercer released the virus on the city."
They watched as he brought up several videos on the screen. The first showed Alex Mercer's body lying in the
morgue about to be open up by the doctor when he suddenly gasped and sat up. The next showed mercer as he
fought his way through New York, fighting the infected, the creatures that Urahara called Hunters, Hydra's,
and walkers, Black Watch soldiers and vehicles, and then Green and what had been called the Supreme hunter.
All while using weapons that appeared to grow out of his arms and looked organic, and enhanced strength and
speed on par with a 5th seat Shinigami. Finally it showed him as he hijacked the nuke meant to be used on New
York and flew it out to sea, where it detonated.
They all stood there feeling a little dizzy from what they had learned and seen. In fact when the last video was
showed they all walked to a nearby table and sat down in the chairs there. They were joined by Urahara and the
commander while they waited for them to overcome their shock and speak.
Ichigo simply looked at the table, his mind being both slow and lightning fast as he processed what he had seen.
He felt sickened from what the tapes had shown, of Black Watch gunning down innocent people that happened
to be in the infected zones, regardless of anything you could think of. The worst image from those clips was
the one where a Black Watch solider had taken his gun and shot a toddler that had been crying besides an
overturned car in the zones through the head. And the look of being scared on the child's face as the light faded
from their eyes was what had shaken him to the core. He felt Zangestu's and even his inner hallows anger at
what had been done of free will. He had looked around after that and seen tears pouring out of Orihime's eyes
while she held both cupped hands to her mouth to keep in a sob, chad looking on with tears and righteous anger
as he clenched his fists, Uryū looking on with shock at the cold calculating attitude of Black watch, and even
Rukia and Renji, who had grown up in one of the poorest and hardest places in soul society and spent more
time fighting then any of his other friends, looking on in cold anger while simply letting tears flow like rivers
down their faces. Yamamoto had not bothered to hide his anger and sorrow at the loss of innocent life while his
eyes glared at the screen and his hands clenched and almost broke the top of his cane. Even Kisuke had shown
anger that had dwarfed the fire of the nuke that had gone off.
But more than, that he didn't know what to feel as to what Mercer had done. He had been the root of so many
lives lost. He had fought Black Watch and hijacked the nuke to save all those lives yes. Yet he had consumed
so many in the fight. He had consumed Black Watch, Infected, and innocent civilians when he had to. He was
like an all-consuming hunger that could and would never be satisfied with what he had done. And he and the
virus had to be stopped. At all costs.
"Commander."
They all looked to Ichigo as he stood up with anger and determination in his face and tears in his eyes while
clenching his fists till they looked harder than stone.
"I think I speak for everyone here when I say we'll gladly take this assignment if it means destroying that evil
once and for all."
He looked at his friends and saw the same look on their faces. Even Uryu looked on in open anger and
determination to see this evil sent back to whatever level of hell it had crawled out of. They all turned and
nodded.
Ichigo asked the question they were all thinking. "When is the soonest we can leave?"
The commander looked in his face and saw that with what he now had expected to see. The anger and need to
do justice to all those who had been killed by Blackwatch. And the desire to protect others from that evil. And
nothing, not even death or god himself, would stop him until that was completed.
"Within an hour and a half. Kisuke had made special Gigai that will allow you to look human while still being
able to access your power and sword. When not needed, the sword will simply disappear. Also you will have
the power to turn invisible when needed and perform any and every spell you know. Furthermore you will
be able to understand and speak any language. As for you friends who can't use Gigai they will have small
painless modifications made to their brains to understand and speak any language as well."
They all nodded. They would do anything needed to get to New York and put an end to this evil.
Then Ichigo heard the voice of his sword's sprit, Zangestu.
"Ichigo when you have a chance, you need to visit your inner world. We have much to discuss."
'Very well.'