Chapter 24

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Heller and his group overheard that the grid search would have 5 tanks in it looking for Heller, accompanied by 4 phase ones. One of those tanks had riley, but Heller couldn't tell which, something about the tanks jammed his hunter pulse so he couldn't get a read. Heller turned and said "let's draw them out. Head to the center of the search grid and fight there. Anybody not like that plan?"

The group all shook their heads and flash stepped to the center of the grid, which had streets on all sides with a small park in the center with a few thin trees. Heller looked around and saw no civilians in the immediate area. He nodded and then said "you guys may want to get away from me. I'm about to get their attention in a big way."

The group knew that look in Heller's eye and quickly flash stepped away from his immediate vicinity. Heller then shifted his arm into sword form and took a deep breath before yelling "REFLECT IN DESPAIR, SHADOW SHIFTER!"

Well, that went off like a freaking bomb as Heller's power shoot a pillar of red light and a massive shockwave into the air as his bodied shifted yet again and his blade became his Shikai state, glowing like red hot ember from the flames of hell as Heller's power just kept sending out a red pillar.

"ALL UNITS, ALL UNITS, HEAD FOR THAT PILLAR, ITS HELLER!" They heard riley shout over black net. Within minutes, the first tank and group of phase ones appeared between some buildings. As soon as they saw Heller, the first two phase ones went charging forward and leapt up to try and deliver a crushing blow to Heller's head. As they descended though, Heller suddenly disappeared and then reappeared in the air behind them, his sword outstretched like he had just dealt a blow. He skidded on the ground and turned just in time to see the two halves of both Orion's, cut in half at the waist, fall to the ground with a thud as they moaned weakly, still alive but quickly dying from the slash.

One of them turned his head and said weakly "How… the…hell…"

He never finished his sentence as Heller suddenly vanished again and slice off their heads with no apparent effort, looking indifferent at the blood that spattered him. He turned to what was left of them as his friends came back, having seen what had happened.

Kisuke looked at the group and said "They don't look that impressive. The annacar were more powerful than them."

Heller looked at him and said "Maybe, but don't let your guard down, their punches can still hurt like hell and they broke through a Bakudō in the 60's. Any good abilities with your Shikai that can help here?"

Kisuke smirked as he said "It's got one or two. Care to see?"

Heller nodded and then quickly turned and saw that the tank was aiming right at them. He barely had time to yell "BRACE YOURSELFS!" before the tank fired, sending a massive explosive round flying at them. Heller quickly brought up his shields, so he didn't see what happened to the others but he heard Kisuke say "Scream, Benihime."

Heller felt the massive explosion hit his shield, but he felt no pain from the injury, and quickly broke down the shields to see the aftermath. He didn't see Ichigo or Yoruichi, but he turned to see Kisuke holding his sword in front of him with the tip down and a red hexagon shaped shield in front of him, glowing slightly before it dissolved and sucked into the sword. As Heller looked down, he saw the ground behind Kisuke wasn't scorched or disturbed at all. Now that was impressive.

Heller looked at Kisuke and said "Impressive."

Kisuke simply sent him a appreciative looked before he turned back to the group. Heller turned in time to see Ichigo appear behind one of the remaining phase ones and stab it through the chest, piercing the heart and killing him instantly in a spray of blood. Yoruichi took a more finesse method of execution, appearing on the phase ones shoulders, taking the head in her arms, and then giving it a sharp jerk and twist, snapping the neck with a gruesome crack before the body fell to the ground. Heller took the tank, flash stepping to the top of the turret and getting his fingers in the seam of the door with his free hand before yanking upward, then jumping in and consuming the operators inside while tuning out their pleas to live. He climbed back out and said "nope, just typical grunts. We still need to check the other 4 tanks."

And, oh sweet irony, the four tanks came rolling down the corresponding roads. As they came rolling up they heard over one of the tanks system "I WANT HELLER AND HIS GROUP OF FREAKS IN FUCKING BODY BAGS, NOW!"

"And speak of the devil, here they are. Time to cut lose guys." Heller said as he got into a stance, shifting his free arm to tendrils and his eyes glowing slightly.

Ichigo went into Bankai state, Kisuke simply held his sword in front of him with one hand while Yoruichi took of her orange over shirt, showing a black leotard underneath, but missing the back and shoulders. She then began to glow white slightly, like a halo, before she shouted "SHUNKO!"

The next think Heller knew was a massive explosion as the energy around Yoruichi blasted outward before being sucked back in, centering around the back and shoulder area and causing her ponytail to whip about like it was caught in a high wind while the light looked like a contained, roiling explosion. She then said "Let's go." and vanished.

Heller watched in awe as she appeared before two phase ones and punched them in the gut with one fist each. To say that blow was powerful would be a understatement. It literally blew a hole through their bodies about a foot in diameter and caused them to fall to the ground without a sound as they died instantly. Heller shook of his shock and shouted "SCATTER!"

And with that, each of them took one of the three remaining groups while Yoruichi took the one she had attacked. Heller took one, using simple slashes and tangling enemies in tendrils. He quickly charged a low level Getsuga Tensho and fired, slicing a phase on in half down the middle. Then he quickly used his high level speed to create a circle of clones around another, then charged and stabbed him through the chest, consuming the body. The other two, he simply beheaded and consumed. After he tore open the tank, he didn't find riley, so he used a black hole attack to destroy it as he leapt away.

Ichigo took the same approach, slicing the soldiers and weakening them before simply stabbing them. He saw one charging him and quickly pointed and said "Hadō #90, Kurohitsugi," creating the coffin around him and catching him like a rat in a trap. The box made short work of him, stabbing him in several places, including the heart and head, killing him instantly and dropping the body as the box dissolved. He turned to the last 2 Orion's and decided he might as well let the bastard have some fun. There was no one else here besides black watch and he did have an agreement with him.

"You're on, but don't destroy the tank before we know if riley is inside of not. Got it?"

The response was passing as Ichigo released control to his hollow, the hollow agreeing but Ichigo could feel his sick pleasure as he was finally let out to fight.

The Orion's suddenly felt something sinister coming from the kid in front of them, a massive amount of killing intent from him, along with the feeling of a sadistic nature as the kid bowed his head and seemed to go slack for a second. One of the Orion's tried to take advantage of the seeming weakness and charged, raising his fists to slam down on the kids head as he swung. But Ichigo lifted a single hand to meet the fists and caught them, causing the Orion to grunt in pain from the sudden stop while Ichigo didn't make a sound except to begin quietly laughing

Then Ichigo looked up, his face twisted in a maniac and sad smile as his mask slowly formed over his face and he looked up with eyes that made mercer look sane, the golden orbs sending chills to every bone in the Orion's body. He seemed amused as he said in his hollows voice "You really think you can defeat me? It seems I need to properly educate you about the difference in our skills".

And with that, Ichigo threw the fists and then kicked the Orion in the chest, causing him to go flying backwards and crash into the tanks, causing a dent to form in the thick metal and the Orion to fall to the ground, resting on his knees and hands coughing up blood before he suddenly found his arms removed for the elbows down. The limbs fell over while the Orion screamed in pain and fell to the ground, turning over in time for Ichigo to stab him between the eyes, killing him instantly, while the maniac grin never left Ichigo's face as the mask now covered the right half of it, his golden eyes glowing and shining with killing intent and sadistic pleasure. He turned to the last Orion, who was shaking like a leaf as he looked into his eyes and the wild happiness that was shining in them. The Orion tried to turn and run, but Ichigo used his flash step and Bankai speed to make his speed clones, leaving the Orion with no escape. Not that he didn't try to, but Ichigo's clones simply blocked his wild punches and jabs with a bored look on their faces before they began slicing him up until he looked like he had been attacked with a weed whacker.

Then he turned to the tank just as it fired a explosive round, causing him to be obscured by smoke and dust. When it cleared, hollow Ichigo stood there with his face covered except for his left eye and not a single scratch on him, thanks to his Hierro. Ichigo charged up a Getsuga Tensho and held it in his blade, then vanished and reappeared behind the tank, his arm out stretched as the top of the tanks barrel and rotating top fell, revealing the interior to not contain riley. Hollow Ichigo simply chuckled darkly before he charged up a small cero, maybe the size of a marble, and then fired it into the tank, causing it to explode like it had been hit by a rocket.

Hollow Ichigo laughed like a maniac as he watched the flames burn away at the bodies before he felt his 'king' begin coming back to take back control saying "I upheld my part of the bargain, now uphold your own!"

Hollow Ichigo sighed angrily as he said, "Fine, but this better not be a one-time thing, got it?"

Ichigo gave a passing response of approval as he took back control of his body, then fell to the ground panting as he felt the strain on his body from his hollows 'entertainment'. Ichigo thought "going to take a minute to get my breath back. Damn, that basted has too much fun fighting."

Over with Kisuke, he was simply knocking away the swings and jabs that the Orion's were throwing at him with little to no effort, much to their frustration. Finally one of them managed to get behind his back and charged forward, pulling back his fist to punch him in the head. Kisuke heard the sound of the Orion charging and turned just in time for the Orion to punch him in the face, blowing him backwards and plowing a trench in the ground.

The Orion that hit him grunted, "About damn time."

Then as the dust cleared to reveal the body, the Orion charged forward again and clasped his hands together to slam them into the chest of Kisuke. But to the very great surprise of those who could see it, the body swelled like a balloon before popping, scattering pieces just like when a balloon pops. The Orion didn't have time to speak before he felt a hand on his back. He turned his head in time to see Kisuke looking at the Orion from under his hat with cold eyes as he said "nice try, but your too slow to hit me." Kisuke quickly gathered a little spirit energy in his palm, causing it to glow a light blue as he said "Hadō #33. Sōkatsui." Unleashing a flash of blue light that blasted a hole through the Orion, dropping him quickly and causing him a slow and painful death as he bleed to death. Kisuke turned to the others, who were watching in shock, and rose his sword as he said "Kamisori(Razor), Benihime." Before swing the blade at them, causing a red wave that looked similar to a Getsuga Tensho, though smaller and not as fast, came out of the blade edge and then rocketed forward while screaming like a firework, cleanly slicing the remaining Orion's heads off before they could move.

Kisuke then turned to the tank and leapt up onto the top of it, using Benihime to slice through the lock before he opened the door, looking in to see that riley wasn't in this tank either. Kisuke sighed and said "so I went to all that trouble for nothing. Pity."

He leapt off the tank and then stood behind it, then rose his sword and created his shield again before he said, "Kirisaki (shred), Benihime." Sending out spikes of red energy that flew out like a machine gun while screaming, tearing through the thick metal of the tank like tissue paper until it looked like Swiss cheese, at which point Kisuke stopped. He then turned around and walked away saying, "May you burn for eternity in hell for your sins."

The rest of the group then walked to where Yoruichi was standing among the remains of her fight, with the 2 Orion's she had engaged after she killed the first two lying on the ground, one with his head facing backwards and the other having every bone in his body shattered until he looked like a deflated balloon. The tank was completely pummeled due to Yoruichi having using Shunko to enhance her blows. She was standing with riley tied up on the ground, struggling to break free like a trout out of water with a gag over his mouth while Yoruichi looked at the group, a cocky smile on her face.

Heller looked at the remains of the Orion's and the tank before shaking his head and saying, "'Hell hath no fury' all right. Damn, how the hell did you get so strong? You never used that move in our spars."

Yoruichi's grin became wider and more catlike as she said "That move, Shunko, is a little something I developed 110 years ago. It combines hand to hand combat with the destructive power of kido, which I use to enhance my arms and legs, I can also fire off blasts of energy from my fists. It's a good move, but it's a little draining too."

Heller nodded in understanding before he turned his attention to riley. He shifted his arms back to normal as he grabbed riley by his jacket, hauled him up until they were face to face, and then ripped of the gag, which allowed riley to shout, "YOU FUCKING FREAKS, ROOKS IS GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Heller felt his anger rise as he said with a snarl "not if he thinks I'm you."

Then he took and stabbed his hand through Riley's chest before consuming him, pulling him into the web of intrigue.

Reily was walking besides rooks as rooks said "have you managed to pull up any Intel on Koening's location?"

Riley shook his head as he said "no sir."

Rooks sounded frustrated as he said "damn it. He had full access to all the white light storage facilities, and a couple times he deliberately concealed where he was going and what he was doing. Makes me question him and his team." Then Heller was pulled back out.

Heller pondered what he had learned. Koenig had been evolved, and he had concealed what he was doing while having access to white light stores. That combo did not sit well with him at all.

Ichigo noticed the look on Heller's face and said, "How bad?"

Heller looked at the group with preoccupied eyes as he said, "Bad. Reilly saw rooks saying that Koenig had access to all white light stores and concealed what he was doing. That, on top of being mercers evolved, is not a good thing."

Before they could respond, Heller's phone rang. As he looked at the display, he saw that it was rooks calling and quickly changed into his new riley disguise. He answered the phone and heard rooks say in a pissed voice "Castle, this is checkmate, where the fuck are you?"

Heller cleared his throat first before he said in Riley's voice "this is riley… uh I mean castle. Sorry, things got a little crazy for a second."

"No shit! Get your ass to a secure location, Dr. Archer is missing."

"Roger that."

Heller hung up and then called father as he shifted back to his normal form.

"Father, Archer is missing. Blackwatch has no idea where she is, but she was working on that white light program. That and being handpicked by Koenig, she has to be an evolved."

"I'll have Athena look into it, but how we would need to know where she disappeared."

"Don't worry, now that I have Riley's identity, I can get the information from rooks. Me and the gang are heading back now. We'll see you in 5."

"See you then."'

Heller hung up and looked at the group as he said "come on, we've done our damage for the day."

And with that statement, they all flash stepped back towards home.

Okay guys, I hoped you like the chapter, but I noticed that lately, I've been making the bleach characters and Heller too strong. I need ideas on how to make Blackwatch and evolved stronger, would welcome suggestions. Already planning to boost evolved speed and strength.