Hey guys! Welcome back! I'm almost done with school! Just a few days to go and then graduation! Unfortunately, for those of you who read and haven't submitted any OC, I will no longer accept original characters. I've designed the rest of the vacant captain and lieutenant positions, so I do not need anymore. Anyway, this will be the arc where several of the OCs will be introduced. I hope you guys enjoy it!
Ch. 11 CHANGE: Laws of the Strongest Pt. 1
Opening: "My Dearest" by Supercell
The cold wind shook the shark-dog Hollow hybrid, Shard, as it limped through the deserts of Hueco Mundo. After its curb stomp battle with Arrancar Juuda Tsubaki, in which it was utterly defeated, it has since then recovered and continued to travel Hueco Mundo in search of a powerful opponent that it could fight so that it could one day have a rematch with him.
Suddenly, a black line horizontally stretched in the dark sky before opening up to reveal a black void. Shard leapt back in surprise and pointed its sharp tail at it in defense.
Within the black void, Shard realized someone was standing inside. It was a tall woman of about six feet, with long, dark, red hair that stretched down to the back of her knees. Her eyes were colored a greyish-green and her skin was caramel-colored. She wore a ragged, loose-fitting robe that showed some of her cleavage and a white cloth over it that resembled a haori. At her side was a katana with a black and red striped hilt and a circular tsuba.
"Are you a Shinigami?" Shard demanded. "What are you doing in Hueco Mundo?"
"Hmm... the air is quite nice. Is this a result of the abundance of Reishi in the atmosphere?" The woman wondered aloud, stepping onto the sands. "Though, the exterior could use a bit of work."
"Answer my question," Shard growled, pointing its blade-tail at the woman.
She glanced at the Hollow and smiled. "Ah. I didn't expect to find one so soon. It makes my job easier, I suppose."
"It looks like you won't answer my question," Shard replied, starting to circle the woman. "No matter. A Shinigami is not welcome to Hueco Mundo, regardless of reason. You will be exterminated shortly."
"Fool," She said, grinning. "I'm here for you."
Shard's yellow eyes widened in horror as the Shinigami used Shunpo to appear right next to it and jabbed it in the back. In less than a second from where she concluded her sentence, she had managed to disable the Hollow and render it unconscious.
"That was easy," She mused, placing the fallen Hollow on her shoulder. As she walked back through the black gate, she said, "I hope that man was correct about this experiment, because we will need all the help we can get."
In a dark laboratory, two people walked down the hallway, looking into the tubes of writhing souls. The naked bodies looked at the two in terror, pleading for their lives through their actions. Despite that, the two looked at them with observing faces, not caring for their suffering.
The one on the left was a man five-feet and nine inches. He has extremely pale skin that made him seem like a ghost, with wrinkles on his face and long, white hair that matched his gray eyes. Despite that, his face seemed young and his body youthful, albeit quite skinny. He wore a flowing, black shihakusho and a haori, but both were tied with a long, white sash. His Zanpakuto was a wakizashi strapped behind his waist with a white hilt wrapped with white wrapping, as well as a white, square tsuba.
The one on the right was a young man standing at five-feet and seven inches. His skin was light-brown and he had short, black hair and dark, brown eyes. His body was youthful like his partner. He wore the standard shihakusho and haori, but he also had a white choker around his neck. Strapped to his side was a katana with a black hilt and a golden, decagonal tsuba.
"I've sent Mitsuru Akashi to Hueco Mundo to find a Hollow for the cyborg experiment," The man on the right said as the other person listened. "I've also sent Kanji Sendou and Bakitaro to the Rukongai to retrieve more souls for the weapon. The Zakus and Sazabi are completed. All we need is to begin the mission, Yurio Shirochiro."
Yurio nodded, then teased, "You'd do well to stop calling us by our full names, Akihiko Kiriyama."
"Very well, then. Though, I feel like I had to," Akihiko said. "I do not know why."
"Is this necessary?" Yurio asked. "What we are about to enact will cost the lives of millions."
"Wasn't it you who said that life passes, just like everything else?" Akihiko asked. "Despite the heavy costs, the outcome will come at a fraction of the time it would usually require. Why? Are you not fully committed to this cause?"
"In the end, conflict will continue because a human's purpose inevitably involves conflict," Yurio answered, glancing at some souls. "It is the path of death I have chosen, as only the strongest will survive. However, what you said about ending is intriguing because I do believe that you have the capacity to do it. And to that end, we will support you to fulfill that goal."
"You are right, of course," Akihiko replied. "Since the beginning of time, humans have fought for temporal objectives, slaying the weak in the process. And for what? Some measly pride? Glory? Peace? Some of the greatest conquerors created an empire for them to rule, only to die, their works crashing down along with them. And during and after, the conflict continued. But, being in this ethereal, everlasting form that I am now, I hold the key to creating a peaceful world."
Yurio nodded. "And for that, CHANGE must be fully charged."
"Only by destroying the Seireitei will our final barrier to revolution be knocked down," Akihiko said. "After that, the world is ours for the taking. I will change the world."
Early, EARLY in the morning, the hall of the 1st Division Captain-Commander opened to show the ground made of gold-colored wood and purple-satin pillows at the sides for them to sit on. Because the captains have complained that the Captain-Commander is allowed to sit down while the rest of them are forced to stand, he finally got around to getting pillows for them to sit on. The captains go from the highest number (left) to the lowest number (right).
At the very left, sat a young woman with long, black hair that went slightly past her shoulders and bangs next to her emerald-green eyes. Her skin was of a grayish-white color and stood taller than most Japanese at five-foot, seven-inches. Her Zanpakuto, a short, black-hilt wakizashi was strapped to her side. She is 13th Division Captain, Saeko. She was unique among the captains in that she was orphaned within the Rukongai and unable to remember her name, so she left herself without a surname.
Next to her, sat (because he couldn't stand) a man with blonde, wavy hair,deathly, pale, white skin and violet-colored eyes. He wore the three layers of clothing: a shihakusho underneath his haori underneath a large, white labcoat. Under his shihakusho, he hid the fact that he was missing his legs (as a result of an experiment involving jumping off a cliff with no means of safety). His Zanpakuto was a long nodachi strapped to his back, with a white hilt, tsuba, and a picture of a black skull right underneath the tsuba. He is 12th Division Captain, Kamiki Kyoyasu, Seireitei's resident head researcher.
After him, sat a man quite tall, standing at over six feet. He had a spiky mohawk hairstyle with green eyes to make him stand out from most of the long-haired captains. His haori was draped over his shoulders and he had a gourd filled with sake hanging from his sash with a thread. His Zanpakuto was also a nodachi, but unlike Kamiki, he was tall enough to strap the weapon to his side. His nodachi was a long blade with black wrapping covering the red hilt, with a star-shaped tsuba. He is 11th Division Captain, Vergil Cross, considered to be one of the Gotei 13's most fearsome fighters.
Next, a very young man that seemed to have just reached the age of adulthood sat, blowing his scruffy brown hair out of his eyes. Despite his dark hair, he had bright-blue eyes and a tanned skin tone. He wore the standard shihakusho and haori, with a orange bandana around his neck. Strapped behind his waist was his Zanpakuto, a kodachi with a navy blue hilt and yellow, circular tsuba. He is 10th Division Captain, Hikaru Saotome, the youngest captain in the Gotei 13.
Then there was a fairly tall man with curly, blonde hair and midnight blue eyes, with very nice skin tone and a good build, something that made people consider him to be 'very handsome.' His customized, long-sleeved haori had a hood that he rarely wore and remained to make him look even more good-looking. His Zanpakuto was at his side, with a hilt wrapped with white lace and a rectangular tsuba colored golden. He is 9th Division Captain, Takumi Hibiki, the only captain to be part of a high noble family.
Takumi glanced at the captain besides him, the main thing unique being that he was the only black captain. Besides that, his eyes were colored golden that contrasted with his black color, with a shorter, black fohawk than Vergil. His sleeveless haori had a collar that stretched a long, red cape down his body and silver-armored shoulder pads. His Zanpakuto was at his waist, it being a katana with a crimson hilt, gold butt, and no tsuba. He is 8th Division Captain, Keruno Zaizen, and he is addicted to cake.
The second-youngest captain by just one year sat next to Keruno. He had long, spiky, black hair and a scar on one of his blue-colored eyes. His shihakusho had red flame patterns cut into it's sleeves and pants. His nodachi was quite long, stretching to five-feet, with a red hilt. Because of it's length, he was forced to carry it around with one hand. He is 7th Division Captain, Ryu Samsara, a very lazy captain, and the complete opposite of the other youngest captain, Hikaru.
He inched away from the skinniest captain, sitting next to him. His long, white hair was wrapped into a ponytail, and he had heterochromic eyes (one brown and the other light-blue). He was also the only captain to be growing a white beard. He had a pair of cracked, square-shaped goggles on his forehead. His haori was placed behind his shoulders, having a feather coattail pattern. His Zanpakuto was strapped to his side, the katana being two-feet long with runes running down both sides of the blade. It's hilt was colored dark-yellow with a tsuba with two folded bird wings. He is 6th Division Captain, Takeshi Ishihara, and there is a lot to talk about regarding him.
The slightly shorter captain felt the presence of another captain next to him, just sitting down. He had his dark-brown hair combed over to the right with a build slightly greater than Takeshi, though that isn't saying much. His eyes were colored dark-blue and his skin was slightly tanned. He wore the short-sleeved version of the shihakusho and the captain's trademark haori. His Zanpakuto was a katana with a dark-blue circular tsuba and a hilt wrapped in cyan-colored wrapping. He is 5th Division Captain, Jared Frederick, one of the more peaceful, nature-oriented captains around.
He looked down to see a shorter, female captain take her seat. She had long, brown hair that was tied into a ponytail through her purple ribbon. Her brown eyes were closed due to her having the tendency to keep her eyes barely opened, and a slightly tanned skin tone to match. She wore the shihakusho and the haori, with the only difference being her sash's color being purple rather than white. Her Zanpakuto was a tachi strapped to her side with a brown hilt wrapped in white cloth. She is 4th Division Captain, Youko Sarutobi, Gotei 13's resident medical head and she is older than she looks.
She smiled at the taller captain beside her. His brown hair draped down to his chin, to which he flicked behind his ear and scratched the stubble where his chin was. His dark-green eyes gazed at the incoming captains and he flexed a bit, feeling his haori once more as it draped on his shoulders. He chewed on the piece of hay on his teeth and sighed with a smile. His Zanpakuto was a samurai set consisting of a katana and a wakizashi, both having curving hilts with green wrapping and crosshair guards. He is 3rd Division Captain, Remi Lamontaine, one of the foreign captains, yet also one of the most down to earth.
Remi blinked in surprise as the next captain suddenly appeared next to him. He had spiky, dark-gray hair slicked back, with pale-white skin and gray eyes. He wore his shihakusho and haori like everyone else, but he also had a war jacket on that hid a variety of weapons and medicines. His Zanpakuto was strapped behind his waist, it being a wakizashi with a yellow hilt and no tsuba. He is 2nd Division Captain Shouhei Hikawa, the fastest and stealthiest captain in the whole Gotei 13.
Finally, sitting in a huge purple pillow in front of them, was their great leader. It was a gigantic man, of about eight feet in height and four-feet in width because he was so overweight. His face was bloated and circular, with lots of wrinkles. His eyes were closed because he was too exhausted to open them. He had a custom-made shihakusho and haori that could fit him and only him. His Zanpakuto was a beast of a weapon, it being a zanbato of seven-feet height and five-feet width, with a wooden hilt. He is the grand 1st Division Captain and Captain-Commander of the entire Seireitei, Genbugi Umitakano, considered to be the most powerful of the Shinigami.
Yet, most of the captains thought of him as a lazy, fat bum.
"IT'S ABOUT TIME," Genbugi boomed to the populace of captains sitting before him. "YOU GUYS TOOK TOO LONG."
"Captain-Commander, with all due respect, you called us thirty seconds ago..." Takeshi began.
"OH." Genbugi nodded.
...A few seconds later, the captains frowned upon seeing their captain-commander go silent. At first, they thought he was pondering on how to apologize to the group, but then they heard him snore.
"Captain!" Keruno snapped.
"SHUUUUT UUUUP!" Genbugi roared, causing the entire area to shake. The captains, already subjected to this almost every meeting, simply sat through the earthquake and looked at the captain with anticipation.
"Captain-Commander, why exactly did you call us so early in the morning?" Youko asked. "It's barely passed midnight."
"NO. IT'S BARELY PAST AFTERNOON." Genbugi replied. "SEE? IT'S 1:01 IN THE AFTERNOON."
"Sir, it's 1:01 in the morning," Jared replied.
"OH," Genbugi nodded, then snored again.
All the captains started to get irritated. Shouhei took the initiative, pulling a kunai knife from one of the pockets of his combat vest and threw it straight at the snooze bubble coming out of Genbugi's nose. Genbugi awoke with a jolt and looked around in horror.
"WHA- WHA- WHA?!" Genbugi cried.
"Captain-Commander, what's the purpose of this mission?!" Vergil growled.
"OH. RIGHT," Genbugi nodded. "WE'RE HERE TO DISCUSS... WHAT WAS HIS NAME AGAIN? THAT GUY WHO GOT KNOCKED OUT BY A ROCK?"
"You are talking about my lieutenant, Hebito Watakushi?" Shouhei asked.
"YEAH HIM," Genbugi said. "ACCORDING TO KUBO, WE NEED TO DISCUSS WHAT HAPPENED DUIRNG THAT MISSION. THAT SLEEZEBAG SENT A PAPER REPORT SINCE HE WAS TOO LAZY TO GET OUT OF HIS BED AND COME OVER HERE."
This irked Shouhei but he didn't say anything of it. It was common knowledge among the Gotei 13 that Hebito was hit in an area that shook his entire body and almost paralyzed him completely, if not for the 4th Division's advanced medical techniques. Hebito was close to recovery, but wasn't strong enough to get up yet.
"SOMEONE. READ THIS PAPER." Genbugi ordered, throwing the paper to the captains.
The paper landed on the head of the youngest captain, Hikaru Saotome. He cleared his throat and read, "Tsubaki and I were separated after an avalanche separated us from the rest of the team. We encountered several Gillian-Class Hollows as well as some Arrancar that that claimed to be part of an anti-Seireitei group called the Nuevo Espada. Afterwards, we held off the Menos Grande before they could invade the Rukongai."
"That's when Lieutenant Watakushi was knocked unconscious, right?" Takumi asked. "What about that Tsubaki kid? What happened to him?"
"The kid's alright, but he got knocked out as well," Keruno replied for him. "Saeko and I saw a gigantic burst of black Reiatsu fire from a hole in the ground that contained the two, but we don't know the source of it."
"A burst of Reiatsu?" Takumi questioned.
"Don't ask me. I don't know."
"Fascinating! Truly fascinating!" Kamiki exclaimed, causing everyone to turn to him. "Black Reiatsu isn't exactly a common occurrence within the Seireitei. I would imagine that it would belong to a Hollow or Arrancar!"
"But the only creatures we encountered were Menos, and I'm sure that Menos cannot come up with that kind of fearsome Reiatsu," Saeko replied. "The only other people in that cave were Watakushi-san and Tsubaki-san. Tsubaki-san was slightly conscious by the time we arrived, but Watakushi-san was knocked out stone cold."
Keruno narrowed his eyes. "Do you suspect my soldier of something?"
"Not at all," Saeko replied. "I'm just as confused as you are."
"Why are you guys taking this so seriously?" Ryu asked, lying on the floor while using the pillow as a head-rest. "That happened in the past. It was just an incident involving slightly different circumstances than what we're used to. Things happen."
"Nuevo Espada, huh?" Remi muttered. "I wonder what that means?"
"Sounds like a new enemy," Vergil said, cracking his knuckles. "Looks like things are heating up. If the Arrancar are threatening us, then bring it on."
"Hmph..." Hikaru scoffed. "You adults sound like kids."
"Looks who's talking," Remi said, chuckling.
"ENOUGH ABOUT THAT," Genbugi boomed, stopping all the captains' chatter. "OUR TALK ABOUT THIS IS OVER. WE WILL PRETEND THIS EVENT NEVER HAPPENED AND MOVE ON."
"What?!" Keruno snapped. "But what about that threat the Nuevo Espada dealt towards us! I say we should be preparing for war!"
"Second that," Vergil agreed.
"I DON'T CARE," Genbugi replied. "IF THEY COME, WE'LL BEAT THE CRAP OUTTA THEM. THAT'S IT."
"Oh my- just shut the hell up, old man!" Keruno roared, getting up and storming out of the room.
"HEY! I'M NOT DONE YET!" Genbugi yelled. "I'LL TAKE AWAY YOUR CAKE-"
The door slid shut before he could continued.
"Sir, you went too far this time," Jared said. "We are being threatened by a group we know nothing about, and you expect us to do nothing?"
"...SO?"
Silence ensued.
"Damn, that old geezer really gets on my nerves," Keruno huffed. "Well, I don't feel like sleeping, so I guess I'll go check on those kids at Rukongai."
Meanwhile, it was also past midnight in the districts of Rukongai. Suda yawned and looked around at the closed houses and the pure white fog surrounding the area. Because he skipped out on his sweeping duties again, his captain Keruno Zaizen had enough and punished him to early morning duty in the Rukongai. He had his hand gripped on the hilt of his Zanpakuto just in case anything bad happened.
"This should be the meeting place..." Suda muttered to himself, arriving in the center of the two districts that he was guarding. He indicated it by a bridge that separated the two districts from one another. As if he was expecting it, he spotted two people leaning on the side of the bridge.
There was a young man fairly tall for a Japanese person, standing at five-foot eleven inches. His black hair was combed straight down, with caramel-brown skin and dark-brown eyes. He wore the simple shihakusho. At his side was a kodachi with a green hilt and a golden triangle pattern going vertically down the hilt, with a bronze, square hilt. Suda recognized him to be his own Squad 8, Seat 17, Daisuke Nanahara.
Next to him was a man taller than him, with chocolate-brown skin tone, indicating that he was African. He had very short, black hair with dark-brown eyes. He wore a shihakusho, but the skirt portion was brown with black lightning streaks going through it. At his side was a chokuto with a dark-brown hilt and no tsuba. Suda also recognized him to be Squad 8, Seat 16, Kuroji Honinbo.
"You guys got in trouble, too?" Suda asked.
"Yup," Both of them replied.
"That's alright then," Suda said, leaning against the bridge's rope as well. "Man, my life sucks. I get separated from my teammates and ambushed by Hollows in that one mission, lose the heart of the girl I like, and get embarrassed in front of an entire division! And then..." His thoughts went back to the Vasto Lorde who injected it's Reiryoku into his body. "Why do people get punished this horribly because of sweeping?!"
"That's tough, man," Kuroji said. "I got in trouble because I failed my sweeping evaluation. And I like doing the bare minimum sweeping too!"
"At least you did sweep," Daisuke said. "I didn't."
Suda grinned. "We're all the same then."
The two shook hands and walked down the bridge to the next district. The early morning was calm, with not a peep heard, save the occasional cat jumping into a trash can. The three would occasionally yawn and drift off to sleep, relying on the other two to wake him up.
Eventually, the three came across a three-section cross path, two of which would lead back to the previous district. After Suda lost the rock-paper-scissors game, he was forced to go into the middle path that would keep him in the district they were already in.
"Nothing bad is happening, so why am I forced to walk around guarding the Rukongai for nothing?" Suda said to himself, before quieting down after remembering that it was still early morning. He whispered, "This sucks..."
Suddenly, Suda felt the presence of someone appearing close to him. He immediately drew his double-bladed Zanpakuto. A familiar fragrance of peaches filled Suda's nostrils. He lowered his guard and looked around. "Um... hello?"
"Hi, Tsubaki-san."
"Ack!" Suda shrieked, jumping back. His eyes found Haruka Souma before he tumbled into the ground.
Haruka giggled. "Tsubaki-san, I never realized that you get so frightened easily."
"H-Haruka!" Suda exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!"
"I just came to visit you. I heard about your punishment from Jia Li," Haruka explained. "I wanted to apologize about what happened to you and the 1st Division. You looked so embarrassed and hurt, and I thought that I could at least visit you to make up for it and see what you wanted."
"Well, it was kinda my fault to begin with," Suda admitted. "I should be the one apologizing."
"Oh no..." Haruka said. "I don't want anyone's feelings getting hurt because of me."
"Hmmm..." Suda nodded. "How did you get here anyway? I'm sure the security over at Souma Mansion would be tight."
"It is, but my Zanpakuto is specifically geared towards illusion," Haruka said. "I managed to slip past all of them with my Zanpakuto. But I'm sure they'll eventually realize that I'm gone."
Suda blushed. 'Wow. I can't believe that Haruka would come and visit me this early in the morning just to apologize. This is my chance!'
"Well, I don't think I can return right now because I'm sure security will go crazy once they spot me," Haruka said. "So, I guess I'll just stay with you to ease your punishment, yes?"
Suda's heart skipped a beat. "Um... okay?"
As soon as he concluded his sentence, a large door appeared from the sky, resembling a Senkaimon. Haruka and Suda looked up in wonder at the door.
"Is that... the Senkaimon?" Haruka wondered aloud.
"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about this," Suda replied.
As soon as the door opened, a bright light flashed before their eyes. They winced in pain, having gotten used to the dark morning. Then a large wave of Reiatsu filled the area, causing the two to kneel in subjection. Haruka screamed and Suda cringed as the weight of the spiritual pressure began to overcome them.
Two figures walked out of the "Senkaimon" and looked around. Suda gasped. "Those two! Aren't they wearing the haori signifying the status of captain?!"
One was a large man, standing at seven-feet. He was big and bulky, having creepy, gray eyes and no hair whatsoever. He wore a ragged Shinigami shihakusho with a large haori with the symbol for the 11th Division on the back, but Suda didn't recognize him as Captain Cross. Strapped to his back were two nodachi with a black hilt with gray bandages wrapped around them, with a gray tsuba each to match.
The other was a man shorter than him, standing at six-feet. Though he wasn't as bulky as the other man, he was still quite muscular. His long, black hair was tied into a ponytail. His brown eyes was fixed at the village below him. He cracked his knuckles, which were wrapped in bandages. Like the other guy, he wore the haori with the symbol for the 7th Division, but Suda knew that this wasn't Captain Samsara. Strapped to his side was an katana with a rectangular tsuba and a red hilt.
"I can sense all the souls here! It's a great relief after hunting down countless souls in the human world!" The larger man said, licking his lips. "This time, no holding back!"
"We're not here to kill people, Bakitaro Onichi," The other man said. "Though, I do smell the scent of a Shinigami. Oh well..."
The increase in Reiatsu awoke the villagers, as several doors slid open and everyone looked outside. They were shocked to see the large Senkaimon in the sky, and the two "captain" figures standing in front of them.
"What the hell? Are those captains of the Gotei 13?"
"Why are they here?"
"Is there some kind of danger?"
"It's like they're leaping into our hands for us to take them, Kanji Sendou!" Bakitaro said. "We should reward them for their hospitality."
Kanji nodded with a sleezy grin. The two gripped average-sized garbage bags that looked like they would hold crops, but there were strange skill patterns decorated all around the bag. They jumped down and started grabbing people against their will, throwing them into the bags! Suda and Haruka looked on in horror as they filled the bags with souls, but the bags didn't seem like they were getting any bigger.
"These bags are a great improvement from the normal bags. Kiriyama has outdone himself this time," Kanji said. "The bags instantly revert Souls into a spirit ball form to conserve space in the bag. This is good. This is good."
"Mama! Help me!" A child cried.
"Oh no! Hoshi!" His mother screamed as Bakitaro grabbed him and shoved him into the bag.
"Be quiet, woman! You should be grateful that your child is being used for something greater than your pathetic lives!" Bakitaro snapped, grabbing her and stuffing her into the bag.
"We have to stop them!" Haruka yelled, drawing her Zanpakuto and lunging towards Bakitaro.
"Haruka, wait!" Suda yelled.
Bakitaro glanced at Haruka running towards him and grinned. "Another soul for the taking!" Thinking that she was another soul because her pink haori covered most of her shihakusho, he dodged her blade, grabbed her and stuffed her into the bag.
"Agh!" Haruka screamed.
"No!" Suda roared, running towards her kidnapper.
Suddenly, Kanji appeared in front of him, forcing Suda to stop. With a grin, Kanji drew his Zanpakuto and clashed blades with Suda. "Nope. You have to go through me before you can save your beloved."
"Sendou! I think I've got enough souls. I'm going back!" Bakitaro announced.
"Alright," Kanji nodded.
Suda gasped and tried to get away from Kanji to get to Bakitaro. Kanji appeared in front of him, causing Suda to instinctively deliver a vertical slash. Kanji parried the blow and sent him back a bit. Bakitaro grinned and jumped straight through the 'Senkaimon' before the door slid closed. Suda roared and blindly rushed Kanji for an attack, but he blocked it once again.
"Hmm... your Zanpakuto certainly has a unique look to it, but your fighting style is very average," Kanji observed, easily blocking another of Suda's attacks.
"Rrgh..." Suda slid his blade down Kanji's sword and tried to slash him, but he simply moved his head to the left to dodge the attack. Then he punched Suda in the gut and kicked him away.
"You're still green!" Kanji roared, coming towards Suda.
Suda blocked the first of Kanji's slashes, but was helplessly blocking his rapid barrage of sword strikes. Compared to Suda, Kanji's body was bigger, stronger, and more durable, allowing him to easily overcome the younger Shinigami and send his Zanpakuto flying.
"No!" Suda cried, running to retrieve his Zanpakuto.
"Hmph! Still a youngling, eh?" Sendou asked, sliding his hand down his blade. "You're weak. Back when I was a captain, I trained my soldiers to be men! Not sissies like you!"
As soon as Suda grabbed the hilt of his Zanpakuto, Kanji jumped towards him with his sword raised. Suda jumped back, dodging the slash, then tried to stab Kanji, but he parried the strike by swatting the blade to the side. Suda sensed the danger emitting from Kanji and jumped back.
"I sense that your Zanpakuto yearns to fight, but your cowardly attitude holds it back!" Kanji spat. "You don't deserve that weapon!"
Suda's eyes widened as Kanji used Shunpo to appear in front of him. Kanji struck Suda's forehead with the butt of his hilt, causing the younger Shinigami to stagger backwards. Kanji pointed his blade towards Suda before stabbing him through the right side of his chest! Suda coughed up blood before Kanji pulled his blade out of his body, causing Suda to fall to the ground.
"D...Dang it..." Suda groaned, the feeling of pain fresh in his body. Despite it, he managed to get up, using his Zanpakuto as a cane. "I won't let you use Haruka for your plans. I'm gonna... defeat you..."
"I'll at least commend you for this burst of bravery, though it's most likely the result of impulse more than anything else," Kanji remarked. "I'll finish you off with everything I've got. Draw the flaming blade of death, Entsurugi!"
His katana became engulfed in fire made from his spiritual energy before the sword absorbed the flames and the blade changed colors from silver to red. The red hilt changed to a black-colored, longer hilt, suitable for a nodachi. What looked like a motorcycle gear shift appeared attached the side of the tsuba. Much to Suda's confusion, he sheathed his blade.
Suda cringed in fright. 'Oh no... He's released his Shikai! I gotta get outta here... but I need to save Haruka!' With that latter thought firmly implanted in his head, he stood his ground.
"I'm gonna defeat you!" Suda yelled, coming straight towards Kanji. "You're gonna regret sheathing your katana!"
"I think you're mistaken about something," Kanji replied. "You think my Zanpakuto's current form is a katana, but actually, it curved a bit during the transformation. It actually is an uchigatana."
"I don't care!"
Suda appeared in front of Kanji, about to unleash his fury in the form of a vertical slash. But just then, Kanji pulled the gear shift on the tsuba, engulfing the sheath in flames! The blade shot out of the sheath, causing his flame-engulfed uchigatana to come out of the sheath at an extreme speed. In one quick draw of the blade, Kanji slashed Suda!
Suda's eyes widened in horror as the two blades of his Zanpakuto were cleaved in half by Kanji's strike. Not only that, but the uchigatana still had enough force to slice Suda's body, engulfing him with flames! And it all happened in the span of one quick second. It didn't register to Suda for a couple of seconds before he saw his chest was both bloody and on fire. AS soon as he realized it, he felt the full pain surge through his body!
"Agh-AGHHHHHH!" Suda screamed, falling to the ground and rolling around in pain. "IT HURTS! IT HURTS!"
"An uchigatana is a katana, just more curved at the tip of the blade rather than at the hilt," Sendou explained to writhing Suda. "This allows me to draw and strike the enemy in one swift motion, rather than drawing and slashing being two separate actions. That is the art of Battojutsu. And it's perfect for my Zanpakuto's ability. Y'see, when the gear shift on Entsurugi is pulled, flames from my spiritual energy are spread through the blade. At that instant, the blade propels at an extreme speed for one second, allowing me to slash the enemy in a split moment."
"Gack! ARGHHHH!" Suda continued to flail about, wildly.
"Come on. At least die with a little bit of dignity," Kanji said.
Suda's agonized position said otherwise. Kanji sighed and walked towards him, twirling his blade.
'No... NO! I can't die like this! Haruka's gonna get killed because of me! It's all my fault!'
It's...
all...
your...
FAULT...
"Sorry about this. It's just the law of the strongest that I survive and you die," Kanji said, pulling on the gear shift. The super-heated blade came at an extremely fast speed, coming down towards Suda... only for him to grab the blade with his hand! Kanji gasped. "What?! What is this?!"
"It's all your fault!" Suda roared, opening his eyes to reveal pure-gold eyeballs. His hair color and skin tone changed from brown to bleached white and his shihakusho sported black flames all over it. Kanji's eyes widened as he felt a dark Reiatsu flood the area.
"Your eyes resemble a Hollow's," Kanji exclaimed, sheathing his blade. "Are you a Hollow?!"
"Agh..." Suda groaned. To Kanji's utter shock, Suda's wound started to heal itself by closing up.
"You are a monster, you know that?" Sendou asked, preparing to unleash another Battojutsu strike. "Now, I'm really not going to hold back!"
"D...Die..." Suda whispered, but before he could do anything, he dropped to the floor.
Sendou blinked, confused as the Reiatsu immediately disappeared after he fell. Suda's bleached hair and skin changed back to black and brown respectively and the flames disappeared from his shihakusho. Suda's grip on his broken Zanpakuto loosened, causing him to drop it as well.
Kanji stared at the fallen Shinigami for a few seconds. He shrugged and drew his uchigatana, walking towards him. "Can't let a monster like you live now, can I?" He brought his blade up and prepared to deliver the final blow...
"OH NO YOU DON'T!"
Kanji immediately backed away before someone could fly into him and punch him down. Keruno Zaizen had appeared, drawing his Zanpakuto and trying to slash him, but Kanji managed to block every slash. Daisuke and Kuroji also appeared, running to Suda's aid.
Keruno looked up to have a good look at his opponent's face and gasped. "You're the former 7th Division Captain, Kanji Sendou!"
"You're a captain as well, eh?" Kanji said with a rough grin. "This could be bad."
Kanji kicked Keruno away, pushing him back while he made a mad dash back to his bag of souls. He grabbed it and flew straight towards the "Senkaimon."
"You aren't getting away!" Keruno roared, following after him.
Kanji immediately turned around and pulled the gear shift on his Entsurugi. But he didn't pull it to hit Keruno; rather, he simply activated it to produce the blade of flame to scare Keruno, which he succeeded with. Keruno froze for a split second, allowing Kanji ample time to laugh and enter the "Senkaimon." Keruno attempted to follow, but the door exploded in a burst of Reiatsu before he could do anything.
"Dammit!" Keruno snapped.
"Yo dude! You okay?" Daisuke asked, slapping Suda's face a bit.
Suda's eyes fluttered open just long enough for him to think, 'I... couldn't... save... her...'
And then, he fell unconscious.
Ending: "Reason" by Nami Tamaki
And now begins the true second arc of Shinigami Trilogy V2. It's based off a video game I really enjoy (those who've played it would probably notice the similarities). Plus, it goes along great with the theme of this story (yes, it serves a purpose rather than showing off all the cool OCs).
I'll explain Sendou's Zanpakuto in a later chapter. For now, I'm going to give the list of the OCs introduced here. Some of the OCs previously introduced will still be on this list:
Genbugi Umitakano; Shouhei Hikawa; Youko Sarutobi; Hikaru Saotome; Kamiki Kyoyasu; Daisuke Nanahara; Kuroji Honinbo; Mitsuru Akashi; Yurio Shirochiro; Akihiko Kiriyama; Kanji Sendou; Bakitaro Onichi - Flame Dragon Suda
Remi Lamontaine - CajunKing000
Jared Frederik - Lazyboredom
Takeshi Ishihara - Ten Commandments
Ryu Samsara - Iblis jr
Keruno Zaizen - K Entertainment
Takumi Hibiki - BMACBOO
Vergil Cross - Killswitch616
Saeko - Dwriter 1231
Lots of OCs on my part. However, it's because there were several open captain spots so I had to design them all. To those who still want to submit, too bad. I will open it up again later on in the story, but not for Shinigami.
Hope you guys enjoy this new arc!