Chapter 23

I own nothing

Heller was sent flying back by an explosion of energy, causing him to go skidding back as he looked up panting at Ichigo in his Bankai state and Byakuya using his Shikai that was swirling around him like pink snow caught in a breeze. Heller shifted his arms to tendril and blade as he used flash step to engage Ichigo while Byakuya played support for Ichigo.

It was a few days after Heller had taken down Roland and since he had told the group what they had learned, Kisuke and father, along with ATHENA, had been trying to find new leads to follow. In the meantime, Heller had wanted gain a new handle on his powers and asked to spar with members of the group in order to sharpen his skills while keeping them on their toes. He had been training in hand to hand combat with Yoruichi, strategic fighting with Kisuke, speed and decisive strikes with Rukia grace under pressure with Byakuya, and strength and endurance with Ichigo and Renji. He had come on in all areas at a remarkable rate since he could shift his bio mass for any physical needs and he was a quick study for stratagem due to his time severing overseas. Today he had wanted to try and harness more of the Shinigami powers he had gotten from the phase 2 Orion so long ago, so he was fighting using spirit energy against Ichigo and Byakuya today.

Heller used his sword and reflexes to parry and dodge Ichigo sword strikes as he tried to use his tendrils to slow down Ichigo and his blade for his own slices, but Ichigo wasn't slowed down at all with the tendrils and his Hierro blocked most of his own blows, but still made it so he had fair size gashes on his body. Ichigo leapt back and pointed at Heller while yelling "HADO #1, SHO!" sending a sizable blast of air at Heller and blasting him back. Heller landed on his feet again and flash stepped while charging up his power into his sword. He appeared above Ichigo and slashed down ward while yelling "GETSUGA TENSHO!" sending the red blast of energy at Ichigo. Ichigo quickly charged and countered with his own, causing a massive explosion of energy and dust, causing Heller to land and quickly look around to try and find Ichigo. Then he stopped and closed his eyes as he began to feel for spirit energy like Ichigo had taught. He stood for a few seconds then snapped his eyes open and whirled around while shifting his tendril arm to hammer fist, putting that behind his sword arm as he blocked a downward slash from Ichigo.

Heller grinned and chuckled while he and Ichigo pushed back and forth, saying "close, but no cigar Ichigo."

Ichigo smirked back as he said "you sure about that Heller?"

Suddenly Heller felt the air between him and Ichigo shift. He looked down just in time to see a ball of pink blades between the two of them before they exploded at him, sending him flying backwards as he attempted to hang on. The hammer fist he had stopped most of them, but some got past and sliced up his face and body, causing him to suck in air in pain as he flash stepped away for some breathing room. He appeared 20 feet away panting as blood dripped down his face and clothes before they healed.

He shifted both arms to shields as the blades came flying at him again and covered him so they flew into the shields harmlessly. When they retreated back to Byakuya Heller broke down his shields and snarled "you guys are still going easy on me."

Byakuya looked at Heller calmly as he said "you aren't strong enough for us to fight seriously yet."

Heller felt his anger spill over as he said "and I won't ever be ready if you don't take me seriously. Since you seem to think you're so great, then why don't we see what you can do on your own? For that matter, use your Bankai."

Ichigo had a flash of déjà vu as he heard Heller say that. It was close to what he said to Byakuya when he had fought him soul society. As he looked over Heller, he saw the same look in his eyes that he was sure had been in his when he fought Byakuya.

Byakuya sighed and sealed his sword again as he said "fine. You want to me to fight you at my full strength? Then I will."

Byakuya held up his sword with the blade pointing at the ground and let it go as he said "scatter…"

As Heller watched, the blade fell through the ground like it was going through a pool of water. As Heller watched with wide eyes, the area around him became dark as 2 rows of swords appeared behind Byakuya. Heller could see they're at least 1000 blades as Byakuya finished saying"… Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

As Heller looked all the blades glowed pink then exploded into a wave of pink petal that swarmed around Byakuya. As Heller watched, the blades suddenly flew forward like a wave. Heller quickly used flash step to dodge them and shifted his arms to claws, then flash stepped towards Byakuya, slashing as he appeared in front of him. Heller's claws never reached as enough blades appeared to act as a shield against his claws then explode outwards and slicing Heller, forcing him to jump up to gain reprieve. He shifted his arm to blade and fired a Getsuga Tensho attack, only for it to be blocked as well. He suddenly noticed that the blades had been flowing around him and meeting at the top. He quickly spun around and held his blade with the flat side facing the mass above him as they rushed down and forced him into the ground. As they retreated, it showed Heller lying in the ground looking like he had been put through a wood chipper, as his wounds slowly healed and he moaned, but he seemed to be knocked out.

Heller's P.O.V

I heard a horrible moan and realized it was me as I felt the pain from my injuries finally hit me.

"I was an idiot. He's way too strong for me alone."

Heller suddenly heard a deeper voice say, "So don't fight alone."

Heller opened his eyes as he saw a clear blue sky. He slowly sat up with his head in his hands as he tried to gather his thoughts. He then stood and looked around to get his bearings and gasped. He was in a field that was filled with several flowers, mostly dandelions with a playground in the center of it and thick green trees around the edge of the field, like a hidden paradise.

Heller recognized this field all right. This was a little place that he had found when he was a kid, and later where he had taken Maya to play while he was home. But this wasn't possible. He hadn't been here for months and knew for a fact that the area it had been had been destroyed by Blackwatch.

As Heller looked around again, he noticed something he had missed before. Or rather someone. The person was wearing a black full body robe with a hood over his face so Heller couldn't make out any details about him other then he was tall and moved with the experience of a fighter, relaxed yet ready to move at the slightest hint of danger. As Heller carefully approached him the figure said, "Hello James. It's nice to finally meet you."

Heller stopped and looked with narrowed eyes as he said, "Who are you?"

The figure chuckled as he said "I'm someone who knows you very well James. I know of your hurts, your dreams, but most of all, I know what you desire."

"And what might that be?" Heller asked as he still looked at the figure.

The figure looked up enough for Heller to see that his eyes were brown, yet the thing that caught Heller's attention was how they were glowing a light red as the figure seemed to look into Heller's soul.

"Power. The power to fight mercer, and the power to protect that which is dear to you. And I can give you that power."

"How?"

"Do you remember what Zangetsu told you? On how you gained more than just a boost in power from consuming the phase 2 Orion?

Heller's eyes widened as he recalled what Zangetsu had said. Zangetsu said that when he consumed the phase 2, he had gained the powers of a soul reaper. But then that would mean that…

"You're…"

The figure interrupted Heller's thought as he said "Yes James. I am your Zanpakuto spirit. And now you have earned the right to learn how to wield my power."

Heller swallowed his amazement and whispered "How?"

The figure said "You simply need to be able to hear my name. And now that you have grown strong, I can help you take the next step. And my name is…"

Real world, General P.O.V

Ichigo and Byakuya looked over Heller as his body finished healing. He looked peaceful, but he wasn't dead. They could sense his spirit energy was still strong enough to prove he wasn't dead.

Byakuya sighed as the blades gathered around him, ready to be sealed again as he turned and said "I told him, he wasn't strong enough to…"

Whatever he was about to say was lost as there was a sudden explosion of energy from behind him. He and Ichigo quickly turned with wide eyes as they felt Heller's spirit energy begin rising at an alarming rate. As they watched, Heller's eyes snapped opened and he roared as he rose, his body rippling like snakes in a pit while his arm shifted to his sword. But something was different. Instead of his massive blade that made up his entire arm, this one was smaller, almost like Ichigo's Bankai blade, but it was a deep blood red and slightly wider, while the blade was merged with his clenched hand. And it had something engraved into the metal, something that said Shadow Shifter.

As they watched, Heller's body calmed down and his spirit energy covered him like a cloak as he looked up at Ichigo and Byakuya's wide eyes with his own glowing red ones. He smirked and said "I didn't hear no bell, boys."

Then he appeared before Byakuya and slashed with his new blade, only for it to be blocked again as the blades came to their masters defense. Heller vanished again and appeared 20 feet away as he looked at Byakuya with calm eyes and a smirk on his face.

Ichigo was the first to speak as he said "Heller, are you okay?"

Heller looked at Ichigo and said "I'm fine. Better then fine actually. I just learned something very important."

Ichigo was afraid to ask but he forced himself to say "What? What did you learn?"

"The name of my Zanpakutō."

Heller then looked at Byakuya and said, "Would you care to see its special ability?"

Byakuya didn't reply, simply stood ready with narrowed eyes as he watched Heller raise his blade before him vertically. Heller then closed his eyes and muttered "scatter, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

As they watched in disbelief, Heller's sword began to glow with a bright light as rows of blades like his appeared behind him, and then glow red and scatter like Byakuya's blade did in Bankai state. The only difference was these were red like rose petals and Heller still had his sword in his hand while the petals swarmed around him. He snapped out his left hand at Byakuya and his blades went surging forward to slice Byakuya. Byakuya got over his shock and snapped out his own hand to send his own blades to meet Heller's. The two collided in an explosion of color as they struggled back and forth for dominance, a few getting past and dealing slight cuts on the fighters but they were too focused to notice. Heller then vanished behind Byakuya and held the point of his sword to Byakuya's throat, causing him to look at Heller in renewed shock.

Heller kept the blade at his throat as he said "Senbonzakura Kageyoshi. This Bankai has well over 1 million blades that you can control with your mind and use for a combination of offense and defense at once. But if you use your hand to direct the blades, their speed can increase to twice as fast, but this Bankai also has a secret weak point. There's a hurtles zone of about 85 cm where the blades wont cross unless you allow them to. Am I correct?"

Heller didn't bother waiting for a answer as he removed his blade from Byakuya's throat and sealed his sword back into his normal sword arm, causing his own petals to vanish. As they watched, his spirit energy faded back to normal levels and his eyes became their normal color. He then shifted his arms back to normal and said "and you said I wasn't strong enough to take seriously."

Ichigo said "but you weren't. That sword… what on earth was that?"

Heller turned to Ichigo and said, "That was my Shikai. When I was knocked out by Byakuya's Bankai, I managed to meet my Zanpakutō spirit and learn the name of my sword, as well as all of its special ability. I can copy the abilities of my opponent's sword abilities and gain all knowledge of the swords powers and weak points. That's the power of my sword, Shadow Shifter."

Ichigo looked at Heller in shock. If that was true, then he could be at a huge advantage against the evolved and any Shinigami he fought. He said "that's going to be a huge help against mercer and the evolved."

Heller chuckled as he said "no shit. And it's a huge help in our spars."

Ichigo then took a few minutes to heal himself and Byakuya before they all left the training area and appeared back in the apartment. Just as they walked in to where father was working he looked up and said, "Good, you're back. We have a new lead."

Heller instantly moved to the computer as he watched father pull up a few files while saying, "There's a briefing that rooks has called in a few hours about what's left of Koenig's team that are being transferred to the green zone. And the replacement head of the team is a doctor archer, who just so happened to be handpicked by Koenig himself."

Heller scratched his chin as he said, "Sounds like I'll need to have a chat with archer when I get a chance. Do you know where the meeting is taking place?"

Father tapped a few keys on his computer and said "just sent you the address. You should hurry, it's staring in a half hour."

Heller nodded as he turned to the door. Ichigo began walking with him while Yoruichi and Kisuke stepped forward and Kisuke said "we'll come with you. This may get messy and you're going to need some help."

Heller nodded as they walked out the door, then flash stepped to the base. It took a few minutes to find someone who was part of the briefing, but Heller managed to consume him and get into the group that was part of the meeting. In no time he was walking with them through the base to the command room with rooks and riley walking ahead of the group while rooks jumped to the point and said while walking "my team is heading what's left of Dr. Koenig's team, which means your platoon has just become part of that detail."

Rooks spoke using the voice of the Blackwatch solider he had consumed and asked "they reporting to doctor archer now?"

Riley instantly turned, found Heller, and got in his face pointing at his face while yelling "YOUR WILL REQUEST PERMISSION TO SPEAK BEFORE OPENING YOUR MOUTH SHIT STAIN!"

Rooks paid the matter no mind as they entered the room and came to the computer table in the center while saying "thanks to recent breaches in security, you will be given only information you need. All other information will stay with Lieutenant Riley and myself. Also, since neither of us have to spend time unfucking your screw ups, lieutenant riley will commanding this mission. Dismissed" he finished with a salute, which everyone in the group returned, then departed for the roof top to the helicopter pad as they received the coordinates of the first group, except for Heller, making a excuse to leave the base for a quick minute back to the group. He then called up father.

He picked up and said "James? What did you find out?"

"The scientists are already here in the green zone, they're being flown in from the yellow zone like you said. We're on the way to 'meet' them, maybe get a new lead on archer."

"Alright, good luck James."

Heller hung up and led the way to the first team site with the rest following him. They arrived to find that the location was at the top of a 40 story building with the group having about 5 guards and a viral scanner as a extra precaution.

Heller turned to the group and said "take out the guards, but leave the scientists. I need to consume them to get their memories."

Kisuke and Yoruichi nodded then Kisuke grabbed the top of his can and twisted the top of it, then pulled it to show it was attached to a thin, razor sharp blade. Kisuke then said "Awaken, Benihime" causing his blade to morph into a sleek, medium-sized sword. The hilt's grip, which had a gentle black-decorative wrapping, bent forward at the end, with a pommel shaped overlap three times, and a crimson tassel dangling from its base, while the edge was straight and slim with a somewhat short size, and the tip ending in a slanted razor-like edge instead of tapering to a point.

Yoruichi merely cracked her knuckles and said, "let's go."

And with that they all flash stepped to the top of the building. Ichigo behead 2 guards standing beside each other while Kisuke silently stabbed his from behind, Heller snapped the neck of his and consumed the body, and Yoruichi used several lightning fast jabs to the guard's rib cage to break his ribs and rupture his heart. All the bodies that were left fell to the ground with thuds and sounded like dominoes falling. Heller wasted no time listening to the scientist pleas and used his flash step to catch them and consume them as they tried to run, even catching one when he tried to jump off the roof and commit suicide.

Heller shook his head and growled, "Damn it, they didn't know crap. Guess they weren't working for mercer."

Ichigo shook his head and said "what now?" the viral scanner would have let Blackwatch know that Heller had been here and that might make getting the second group sticky.

Heller was about to respond when he heard over Blacknet "this is riley. Site one's been compromised. I'm not sure how but Heller knew where they were."

Rooks sounded furious as he said over Blacknet "Heller cannot get to site two. Take tanks and whatever forces we have with you to site 2 and do not fuck this up lieutenant!"

Heller looked at the group and said, "Looks like it's time to take the castle."