Gin was quietly sweeping the porch of the Urahara Shop. It was still morning but he was surprised when he heard footsteps approaching. He turned to suddenly see Kaien mere inches from him, grab him by the collar and slam him against the wall.
"WHERE IS HE?" Kaien roared angrily.
"Now who 're ya lookin' for, Kurosaki?" Gin asked, confused.
"Kisuke! Where is the bastard?" Kaien asked. Gin paused for a moment before he opened his eyes slightly.
"So ya lost your powers, eh? Looks like ya got caught." Gin said before getting slammed against the wall again.
"Shut up and tell me where he is, Gin!" Kaien shouted as the front doors slid open.
"Look no further, Kaien." Kisuke said as he appeared. He wasn't wearing his hat at the moment. Kaien didn't miss a beat and grabbed Kisuke by the collar with one hand and then punched him in the face with the other.
"You bastard! You planted that fake memory into Yachiru! Now she thinks she's a criminal and a traitor to the Soul Society!" Kaien yelled angrily. Kisuke, his head leaned back and blood coming out his nose, merely smiled.
"Who was it?"
"What?" Kaien asked.
"Who came to arrest her?" Kisuke asked as Kaien paused.
"My uncle and some Captain named Yamashi." Kaien said as Kisuke raised his head back up, a serious look in his eyes but a smile still on his face.
"Ah, I see. So judging by your total lack of spiritual pressure, I take it they caught you too." Kisuke said before Kaien punched him again.
"Ya really need to stop doin' that." Gin said as Tessai appeared from out of nowhere and grabbed Kaien by the throat.
"Release the manager, immediately." Tessai ordered calmly. Kaien snarled angrily but ultimately complied. Kisuke however, quietly wiped the blood from his nose.
"Tessai, I think it's time we tested experiment number zero-one-five." Kisuke said as Tessai and Gin both looked at him startled, Gin's eyes wide open.
"Ya serious, Kisuke? Ya wanna use Oh-one-five?" Gin asked as Kisuke nodded and put on his hat.
"But it's supposed to be reserved only for-." Tessai said but was cut off by Kisuke.
"I know what it's for, and I intend on using it." Kisuke said as he turned to Kaien.
"Kaien, it's time we had a little talk." Kisuke said as he turned and entered the shop. Kaien hesitantly followed after him. He followed Kisuke into a back room and sat down at the round table, across from Kisuke. Gin and Tessai had disappeared into the supply room for something.
"Now I'll bet you're probably blaming me for Lieutenant Kusajishi's arrest. You believe I planted those memories in her. Well fact of the matter is, you're partially right. I did plant some memories into her but not the ones that got her arrested." Kisuke said, picking his hat up off the table and putting it on, as Kaien scowled.
"Prove it." Kaien said but Kisuke scratched the side of his head.
"Well see that's the tricky part. I can't prove it. I can only tell you what I found when I input the memories of her whereabouts during the battle the other day." Kisuke said, Kaien remaining silent with a scowl on his face.
"I told you that the Kido spell I used is old and has gone by the wayside. Well the truth is, the spell is more than forgotten. It's downright illegal now." Kisuke said, startling Kaien.
"You used a forbidden spell? Why?" Kaien asked.
"I was initially going to try a specially designed Kikanshinki on her, but it had no effect. I've worked with that spell before and I know how it works. The Kikanshinki doesn't work when the target is under the effects of the memory replacement kido spell. So I had to analyze her myself. When I did, I found memories of her stealing records from the Soul Reaper Institute of Research and Development, handing them over to the Arrancar you encountered with the promise of gaining Hollow powers. However, I noticed the subtle signs that gave away those memories as having been planted there, and set to be triggered by a specific signal." Kisuke explained, earning a curious look from Kaien.
"Oh yeah, and what would have triggered it?" Kaien asked dubiously. Kisuke smirked and popped open his fan.
"A simple punch card from the Institute of Research and Development." Kisuke said as Kaien furrowed his brow.
"That guy Yamashi showed a punch card to Yachiru when he was accusing her." Kaien said as Kisuke smiled.
"There you go. The trigger for those memories." Kisuke said as Kaien scowled.
"That Captain is responsible isn't he?" Kaien asked.
"Oh he's involved, but he's not the mastermind behind all this. You've gotta wonder, why Lieutenant Kusajishi? What could she have done that would require her getting brought back to the Soul Society? The charges against her were merely excuses. Excuses masterfully hidden away in her subconscious set to activate like a sleeper agent. No the real reason she was arrested is for something different." Kisuke said as Kaien grimaced.
"Like what?" he asked as Kisuke tapped his chin with his closed fan.
"Too early to tell. I don't have all the facts yet. But one thing is for certain. This is all one big conspiracy set to bring about the end of the Soul Society, and you're the only one who can stop it." Kisuke said as Kaien looked at him, startled.
"Me?" Kaien asked, confused.
"You have a special power, Kaien. I've analyzed your abilities carefully and you have access to a technique that can stop what I believe this conspiracy is leading up to. There are events unfolding both here in the World of the Living and in the Soul Society that are all connected. The sudden sharp rise of Hollow attacks in Karakura and their ability to hide from the local Soul Reapers causing the Soul Society step in, but their reinforcements are useless because someone has tipped off the Hollows. We take down their forces and the reinforcements are recalled save for one who is later arrested on charges of treason. Meanwhile a strange series of migraines causes your Aunt Karin to lose control of her Inner Hollow, forcing Central 46 to put her on inactive duty. These events might seem unrelated, but believe me that they are very much related." Kisuke explained, startling Kaien.
"Aunt Karin's been put on inactive duty? Is that what got my dad so upset yesterday?" Kaien asked as Kisuke nodded.
"Most likely. Add to the situation that Central 46 seems to be deliberately snubbing your dad when it comes to informing him of local events. That's why your dad didn't find out until just yesterday when the orders were issued two days ago." Kisuke said as Kaien scowled.
"Sounds like this Central 46 is to blame if you ask me." Kaien said as Kisuke pulled his hat down over his eyes a little bit.
"It certainly seems that way, but like Captain Yamashi, I don't believe they are the masterminds behind this either. No there is something far more devious than them. Someone who has had decades to plan this out, someone who the Soul Society has long forgotten about." Kisuke said as Kaien looked worried.
"Sosuke Aizen?" Kaien asked but Kisuke smirked and glanced towards the back door.
"Oh no, he's no longer a factor. Aizen is dead…very dead. Your dad's Aunt Kaichou confirmed it. Her Zanpakuto is the only one who was immune to the effects of Aizen's Zanpakuto so only she could confirm whether or not he was dead. Don't believe me? Look behind that door." Kisuke said, motioning to the door. Kaien hesitated but finally got up and carefully slid open the door, peaking inside before his eyes widened in shock. Floating in a jar on one of the shelves was the petrified head of the Soul Society's greatest enemy, Sosuke Aizen, with a look of abject disbelief on his stilled face from when Ichigo beheaded him in their final fight over twenty years ago.
"Is that-…-is that really?" Kaien asked as Kisuke nodded.
"Yep. That's Aizen's head. For a long time they had it on display in the Soul Society on the end of a spike. Too many people tried to steal it though so they shipped it here for me to keep hidden. The jar it's in is special so that anyone, even the spiritually unaware, can see it." Kisuke said as Kaien slammed the door shut.
"Okay, I believe you. But if it's not Aizen, then who is it?" Kaien asked but Kisuke shrugged.
"I'm still working that out. I've got a hunch but I'm not certain myself. No I think this scheme dates back to shortly after Aizen initially betrayed the Soul Society, back when your dad went to rescue your mother." Kisuke said, surprising Kaien.
"What?" he asked.
"Oh you've not heard the story? Oh well I can fix that easily…just not right now. Right now, we need you to get ready." Kisuke said as Kaien arched an eyebrow.
"Ready for what?" Kaien asked.
"Ready for your trip to the Soul Society." Kisuke said, surprising Kaien.
"What? Me go to the Soul Society?" Kaien asked.
"Yep. But you can't go like you are now. No, you're gonna need to be strong enough to take on the Captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, especially your uncle, Byakuya Kuchiki." Kisuke said as Kaien sighed heavily.
"How? In case you've forgotten already, my powers are gone. My uncle sealed them with a powerful seal. I can't even see spirits anymore. I couldn't even sense my own sister until she was right in front of me and normally I could tell where she was at a given time." Kaien said as Kisuke smiled at him.
"Don't you worry about that. We're gonna remedy that very soon." Kisuke said as he stood up and opened the door to the front, opening the trap door to the training area below.
"After you." Kisuke said as Kaien hesitantly started to climb down the ladder. Once he reached the bottom of the ladder, Kaien turned and saw a large building had been constructed within the training area. It looked like a large mausoleum with a pair of double doors and golden fixtures near the columns.
"What the hell is that?" Kaien asked as Kisuke approached next to him.
"That, is what we spent that week you were protecting Karakura town, building." Kisuke said, startling Kaien.
"You what? What about that disruption thing?" Kaien asked.
"Oh that? That was just a little deception to keep our real work a secret. If I tried to disable the Hollow's disruptor, it'd taken months, if not years, to do what needed to be done. The easier route was to triangulate the location of the Hollow's base and take out the signal at its source. Besides, I doubt that Lieutenant Kusajishi would've survived being a living battery for that long. More than that, the number of people and whole spirits consumed by the Hollows would have resulted in at least several Menos type Hollows." Kisuke explained.
"What's a Menos?" Kaien asked.
"It's one of the three classifications of the more dangerous Hollows." A voice from nearby said. Kaien turned and saw Grimmjow in his Gigai approaching.
"Grimmjow? What are you doing here?" Kaien asked as the former Sexta Espada grinned.
"I'm here to whip you back into shape Kurosaki." Grimmjow replied as he stood in his usual slouching posture, his hands in his pockets.
"How? My powers are sealed and I don't think learning my Shikai is going to work this time." Kaien said as Kisuke nodded.
"I quite agree. You see, the seal they used on your powers this time was designed to prevent a specific scenario. When your dad first gained his Soul Reaper abilities, it was from his first encounter with your mother in a situation very similar to how yours were awoken by Lieutenant Kusajishi. A Hollow snuck up on your house and attacked your Aunts Karin and Yuzu. Ichigo stepped in and tried to fight it off but Rukia took a particularly nasty blow for him, rendering her unable to fight back. In a desperate gambit, your mother gave your father his Soul Reaper powers, using the exact same method Yachiru used with you. Later on, your future uncle, Byakuya, came to arrest Rukia for staying too long in the World of the Living and for giving your dad his powers. In the process, Ichigo's soul chain was severed. Severing the soul chain results in a Soul Reaper losing their powers so Ichigo lost his. With the help of myself and Tessai, we restored his powers, but at the cost of his gaining an Inner Hollow. Similarly, your Aunt Karin gained her powers a similar way, but it happened when she was taken to the Soul Society for the first time. She gained access to her Zanpakuto while there, a process which severely damages the soul chain, allowing encroachment which in turn gave birth to her Inner Hollow. To avoid these scenarios from ever again occurring, a new set of protocols were set in place. If a human gains the power of a Soul Reaper, their powers are to be sealed by a powerful Kido spell, the kind you're afflicted with now. The one your Uncle initially put on you was the same kind only much more diluted than this one is." Kisuke explained.
"So do you know how to undo the seal?" Kaien asked as Kisuke smiled at him.
"Who do you think invented the seal?" Kisuke asked with a serious tone, surprising Kaien.
"Really?" Kaien asked as Kisuke nodded.
"Yep. Grimmjow's volunteered to be your sparring partner, along with Gin, to make sure you're strong enough. Gin was a Soul Reaper Captain before he got in trouble by siding with Aizen years ago but redeemed himself by defecting back to our side and helping us stop him. He may not be able to access some of his higher level abilities anymore, but he still knows what it'll take. Grimmjow was an Adjuchas class Menos when he became an Arrancar and Adjuchas are no easy target for a Soul Reaper. Lieutenants would have a hard time bringing them down but Grimmjow is an Arrancar, an Espada, making him even more dangerous than a normal Adjuchas." Kisuke said as Kaien looked confused.
"What's an Adjuchas? I thought he was a Hollow." Kaien said, confused. Grimmjow face palmed at this.
"Oh jeez." Grimmjow grumbled. Kisuke however smiled sneakily.
"Well then perhaps I should turn it over to my assistant. Oh Gin!" Kisuke called out. The room suddenly went dark before a spotlight illuminated a single wide stage with light green wall and a large jumbotron. Gin could then be heard saying…
"Arrancar Daihyakka."
Then Gin appeared on stage, holding a pointer. Kaien was confused and Grimmjow was burying his head in his hands.
"Seriously?" he mumbled.
"Hiya. Today we'll be discussin' the Menos." Gin said as the monitor switched to an image of a Gillian.
"There are typically two types of Hollows. The basic Hollow and the Menos. The Menos are three unique types of very powerful Hollows. The first are the Gillian. The Gillian is the result of hundreds of different Hollows feastin' on each other until they all form together to become a Gillian. From there, one personality will emerge from within a Gillian which will then start feastin' on other Gillian, eventually becomin' an Adjuchas. It should be noted that most Gillian look exactly alike." Gin said, Kaien watching with a blank stare while Grimmjow watched from between the gaps in his hands. The monitor then shifted to an image of Grimmjow when he was an Adjuchas, startling said Espada.
"What the Hell? Where did you get that?" Grimmjow freaked. Gin turned to him with a smile.
"Please hold all questions until the end." Gin said as Kaien arched a confused eyebrow.
"What's the big deal, it's just a Hollow." Kaien said, earning an enraged glare from Grimmjow.
"Doesn't that Hollow remind you of anyone?" Grimmjow asked angrily.
"Well it does kinda remind me of Yoruichi but besides that-." Kaien said with a genuinely clueless shrug, earning a loud groan from Grimmjow.
"Just-…ugh, just keep going!" Grimmjow grumbled.
"The Adjuchas must continue eatin' other Hollows otherwise they run the risk of revertin' back to Gillian and havin' their personality be suppressed by the other Hollows within the Adjuchas. At this stage, Adjuchas get special abilities to help them defend themselves in the wilds of Hueco Mundo, the home of all Hollows. Eventually, provided they ain't eaten beforehand, an Adjuchas will evolve into the most powerful of Hollow. The Vasto Lorde." Gin explained, as the screen shifted to an image of Halibel before she became an Arrancar.
"Hey, that looks like Lady Halibel." Kaien said. Grimmjow groaned.
"Oh sure, her you recognize!" Grimmjow yelled as he threw up her arms.
"So that is Lady Halibel?" Kaien asked, surprised.
"Yeah, that's her, before she became an Arrancar." Grimmjow replied.
"The Vasto Lorde, are the most powerful of all Hollows. It's said that you could count the number of them in existence on your fingers. They are considered to be more powerful than a single Soul Reaper Captain." Gin explained as Kisuke joined him on the stage.
"So, those are the evolutions of a Hollow. Any questions?" Kisuke asked as Kaien raised his hand.
"Yeah, what's that building there?" Kaien asked, pointing to the strange building nearby. Gin and Kisuke paused for a moment before…
"Arrancar Daihyakka."
"Oh not again!" Grimmjow groaned, burying his head in his hands again.
"Today we'll be explainin' Kisuke's marvelous new invention, the Seishin to Toki no Heya." Gin said as a floodlight illuminated the building nearby.
"The Seishin to Toki no Heya, or the Room of Spirit and Time, is designed to operate in a similar principle to the Dangai Precipice World's unique flow of time. While the time within the chamber is accelerated to a point where an hour in the real world is equivalent to two hours inside the chamber, the chamber does not have the harmful environment of the Dangai. The chamber also generates a large amount of Reishi, allowin' anyone inside to replenish their spiritual energy quickly. Additionally, the chamber does not have any sort of agin' effect on anyone inside. You would age inside, at the same rate you would if you were outside. In other words, the rate at which you age is decreased while inside. Any questions?" Gin asked as Kaien raised his hand again.
"Didn't you steal the name for that from a similar building from Dragonball Z?" Kaien asked as Kisuke paused with a surprised expression.
"That's…absolutely CORRECT!" Kisuke exclaimed with a smile as the monitor started flashing the word "Winner" on the screen.
"But why would you steal the name?" Kaien asked.
"Eh it seemed like a good name for a building that operates in virtually the same way…only much better because it's in a superior franchise." Kisuke mumbled with a sneaky smile towards the readers. Kaien was confused.
"Huh?"
"Never mind."
"So you're gonna lock me in there with Grimmjow and Gin for…how long?" Kaien asked.
"For as long as you need. It operates similar to the Dangai Precipice World." Kisuke replied as he approached Kaien.
"What's the Dangai?" Kaien asked. Kisuke paused for a minute before…
"Arrancar Daihyakka!"
"NOT AGAIN!" Grimmjow groaned.
End Chapter 32.
LOL, I'm not really a Dragonball fan. I never really got into it. I just thought I'd poke some fun at it.
Arrancar Encyclopedia. (Just kidding)
Soul Reaper Illustrated Guide.
Jinta was begrudgingly sweeping the front stoop of the Urahara Shop when he heard someone approaching. He quickly adopted a friendly smile and turned towards the source of the footsteps.
"Hello and welcome to the Urahara Shop! Can I help-…you?" Jinta asked, his sentence dropping off in a stunned stupor at the sight of the one person guaranteed to make him react that way.
"Oh, excuse me, I'm just here to pick up a few extra items. My roommate forgot to get them when she went shopping the other day." Yuzu Kurosaki said as she walked past the stupefied Jinta, not recognizing him at all. Jinta's mind was falling apart at the seams.
"Oh of all the people to walk into the shop it has to be her! The goddess herself! I didn't think it was possible but she's grown even more beautiful! I missed my chance to tell her how I felt before Urahara sent me away so now I hope I haven't missed it! I've gotta tell her! I can't let that chance get away without my telling her!" Jinta thought to himself, gulping nervously as he peaked around the corner to see Gin serving her with his usual fox-faced expression. Jinta was about to step into the store when he stepped on something and was suddenly knocked flat on his back. When he came too, he saw Gin standing over him.
"My-oh-my. What have we here? Urahara's not going to like you laying down on the job." Gin said as Jinta quickly sat up, looking around frantically.
"What happened? Where's the go-I-mean, Kurosaki?" Jinta asked frantically.
"Oh it looks like you stepped on a loose floorboard, slipped, and fell, hitting your head. As for young Miss Kurosaki, she left about ten minutes ago." Gin replied as Jinta groaned.
"Where'd she go?" Jinta asked, grabbing Gin by the collar and shaking him violently.
"Presumably, either home or to her brother's place." Gin replied, finally being released by Jinta who was out the door in a flash. Gin merely smiled.
"Ah, love."
To be continued…