The Heir Apparent
Chapter 26: Beach part 3: Ending a Holiday

As the blue orb shot towards her, Chad stepped in front and punched it. There was a large explosion, but the young giant stood his ground. The Quincy woman who wasn't a Quincy jumped high over his head, and sent two more bombs at him. Chad blocked them, but was driven to his knees by the force of their combined detonation.

As the woman landed, Rukia flash stepped past her. 'First dance, Tsukishiro,' she cried, and sprang out of the way as the ice started to form. The ice pillar caught the woman solidly in its grip as it shot into the sky. Rukia breathed a sigh of relief, and turned to Chad. 'That's over. So, can't you form your Devil and Giant arms in this world?'

'It would appear not,' said Chad, clenching and unclenching his fist, 'There aren't enough spirit particles for me to draw upon.'

'Oh, I… what!'

The pillar had started to shake violently, bits of ice breaking off. Then it shattered, and Rukia and Chad had to quickly evade the falling blocks. The woman stood on the broken base looking smug.

'Ha, such a weak attack. It did help cool the slight sweat I'd formed, thank you.'

Rukia gritted her teeth, if she'd been at even half power it would definitely have killed her. Why couldn't they have made the limiters just a little bit flexible. 'We attack together,' she said to Chad.

At that point her phone began to ring. She opened it and put it to her ear. Meanwhile Chad rushed forward to engage.

'Lieutenant Kuchiki, Captain Kurosaki and yourself have permission to release your limiters.'

'About time,' said Rukia, and snapped it shut. Actually that was pretty quick considering that they'd had no prior warning, the twelfth division had had a lot of training in following the procedure quickly during the war. They hadn't mentioned Renji, but that was just too bad. 'Ichigo, we've got permission,' she called.

'Good,' he called back.

They both reached inside their fronts to tap the summer snowdrop shaped limiters. 'Limit release,' they cried together, and Rukia felt her power flood back into her. She could feel Ichigo's reitsu spike.

Chad had been engaging the woman on his own, and was constantly being thrown back by her blasts. He didn't seem hurt, but it was obvious that he couldn't possibly get close enough to her to do damage, his attacks she easily dodged.

'Sado, get out of the way,' she cried, and marked four spots with her sword, 'Second dance, Hakuren.'

Ice launched from the tip of sword at the woman, whose eyes widened as she saw it coming. She jumped high to avoid the wave and almost got clear, almost. Her foot was caught in it, and she was knocked back with the momentum of blast, flailing with her arms to keep balance and prevent getting sucked into the wave; an event she didn't entirely succeed in either. When it finally stopped she was left with one leg and one arm stuck inside the frozen mass, hanging off at a comical angle.

'Damn you, bitch Shinigami!' she screeched.

Rukia ignored her and looked up, where Ichigo and Renji were fighting the man. 'Finish him off quickly, will you,' she ordered.

'Couldn't we take him prisoner?' Ichigo called back.

'He can't talk, and we've got the woman. If you're feeling squeamish, just beat him to a pulp and let Renji finish him.' She had to be practical, it was no time for him to be pathetic.

Suddenly she felt a rise in the reitsu of the woman. She stared at her as she started to glow with power. That couldn't be right, there was no way she should be feeling this. Quincy's didn't power up like this, and even when they drew in large amounts of spirit particles it didn't feel like this. It was impossible, it felt like… if she had her eyes closed she would have sworn it was coming from a Shinigami. What was she?

The woman burst free of the ice with a visible effort. 'Shit, I didn't want to use this,' she said, 'But I guess I don't have any choice. Hibiki, use your fusion.' As Rukia felt the enemy above her blaze with power, she focused on the woman in front of her. She was drawing a short blade from behind her back, it looked like a wakizashi with too much curve. Then she stabbed it through a glowing orb in her hand. 'Bludgeon, trap and slice, Bose Stahl,' she cried.

The metal and the orb merged, and glowed brightly as it changed shape. Then it solidified to the shape of a hammer and sickle, connected by a long chain. The woman held the sickle in one hand, swinging the round hammer in the other.

'What is that?' said Rukia. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Renji tumble, his massive Bankai falling with him. He was hurt, but judging by his spiritual pressure not too badly. However he didn't get up after he hit the ground.

'Like I'd tell you,' snorted the woman, and launched the hammer part at her. It shot forward like a bullet, seeming to gather power as it went, sending shockwaves through the air. Rukia raised her sword and used an ability she'd only learned recently, during her Bankai training.

'Fourth dance, Byatate.'

A tall shield-shaped wall of ice appeared in front of her. The hammer struck solidly just off the centre, opening long cracks, but didn't penetrate. Rukia hopped over it, and rushed to attack. If this woman's abilities were anything like Renji's this would be her weak moment, on recoil. Her downward slash was blocked by a length of chain, then she had to duck as the hammer came from behind. Apparently her opponent could control its motion even without hurling it, though its speed in that case was significantly lower.

Suddenly Chad was there, punching at their enemy. His blow was caught easily on the chain, then the woman slashed his armoured arm open all the way up to his shoulder. It happened in an instant, Chad's eyes widened with surprise and he gasped aloud. Then she ripped her cruel hooked blade out, and aimed at his neck. She hit the air, Rukia had grabbed him and flash stepped away.

'You idiot, you're out of your league,' she said as she dropped him near to where Orihime and Ishida were watching. 'Inoue, take care of him. And help Renji too if you can.'

'Ah, Sado-kun. Of course, Kuchiki-san,' said the girl, looking anxiously over Chad's grisly wound.

Rukia flash stepped again, returning to the battle. After trading a few blows she had a fair inkling of her enemy's true strength. It was somewhere around a third or fourth seat Shinigami, quite a bit below her level now that she had access to all her abilities. If it had been just her and Ichigo she would have used her Bankai just to show it off to him, she still hadn't had the chance to tell him that she'd achieved it. As it was, with their friends on the sidelines, she couldn't risk them getting killed.

The woman was trying to wrap her chain around Rukia's blade, so she let her. But as she did so, Rukia released one hand off her sword and cried, 'Third dance, Shirafune.' She had learned during her training that that attack wasn't limited to repairing her broken zanpakutou. A copy of her katana made of pure ice formed in her left hand, meanwhile the real one emitted so much cold it started freezing her opponent's chain. Then she stabbed with her left.

The Quincy who wasn't a Quincy screamed as the ice blade pierced between her breasts, her scream weakened and stopped as she started to freeze from the wound outwards. Rukia quickly withdrew her blade, she wanted her alive, but by then her lungs and heart had already frozen. The woman fell to the floor with horrified eyes staring. Rukia cursed under her breath, then remembered Orihime's power.

'Inoue, come here a moment,' she called. By now she'd stopped Chad's bleeding, although she hadn't fully healed him yet.

Orihime came, took one look at the recently deceased, and shook her head. When Rukia protested she explained, 'My power is different to Sado-kun and Ishida-kun's, but it still helps to have spirit particles around. Even healing wounds here is difficult.' She glanced down apologetically, and walked back Chad.

Rukia sighed and looked up to where Ichigo was still battling the man, Hibiki. It was obvious that he was far more powerful, why was taking him so long? She was glad he hadn't finished him, it meant that they still had one potential prisoner to interrogate. Despite what she'd said before interrogating a mute was possible, just very difficult.

'Ichigo, change of plan,' she called, 'Capture him.'

'Huh?' he said, turning to her and noticing the dead woman. 'Hell, Rukia, couldn't you have held back just a little?'

Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance, 'Just do it!'

Actually, considering that she'd just made the jump from twenty percent to full power, it was difficult to hold back. Added to that she was considerably stronger now thanks to Urahara's training, even without releasing her ultimate. She needed time to settle into this new level she was on.

'Aye aye captain,' he said sarcastically, and attacked with such speed she barely saw what he was doing. His luckless opponent had his boomerang-like weapon shattered in seconds, it reverted back to the energy-bow state, and received two slashes from the shoulder down. Ichigo then grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and hurled him crashing into the sand below. 'That what you wanted?'

Rukia snorted, and walked up to the man, who was pulling himself onto his knees. Then he raised his bow. This wouldn't have been any worry at all for Rukia had he been pointing at her or Ichigo, or even one of their friends; for she was sure she could move quickly enough to deflect any attack. The problem was that he was pointing it at himself.

'Don't-' she cried, starting forward.

He shot himself under the chin, and dropped limply to the ground just as Ichigo and Rukia reached him.

'…Wow,' said Ichigo after a moment, plainly as impressed as she. He believed so much in his cause that he was prepared to take his own life rather than be questioned.

'Shit,' Rukia swore softly, something she didn't do often; but the occasion warranted it.

They had been attacked by an unknown and powerful enemy, and now they had no prisoner to provide them with answers. Worse still, there was no question that they'd have to return to Soul Society now to report this, effectively cutting short their leave on Earth. And then they'd probably have to write up long detailed descriptions, answer countless questions, and everybody would go onto high alert until they decided that it was an isolated incident. What had been a wonderful day was quickly turning into a terrible evening.

x

Orihime, Ishida, Chad and Renji ran over to where they were standing. Chad's arm still looked raw, but it was no longer bleeding. Renji was somewhat singed, but otherwise no worse for wear. They crowded around the body, expressing similar amazement at his zeal.

'Look at that!' said Ishida.

The dead mans eyes were melting, and dribbling into the sand. Then his body started to sag, putrefying at an alarming rate. The smell was nauseating, and somehow worse than it would have been from a normal rotting body. Orihime rushed off to be sick. Rukia felt like she might have to join her.

'What the hell is happening,' said Ichigo, alarmed, 'Is this normal?'

Rukia shook her head. 'Normally souls that die naturally or are killed by a zanpakutou simply fade, and move on to the next phase. But this… it's like his entire soul is degenerating into spirit particles.'

'That's exactly what's happening,' said Ishida grimly. 'Quincy arrows destroy the soul, completely and utterly. That's why I was so careful when I went to Soul Society not to kill anyone, despite our situation.'

'But with hollows it doesn't look like this,' said Ichigo.

'This is exactly what happens to them, only much faster. Our arrows were designed to completely erase the hollow's existence, and they are simple in structure compared to a spirit with high reitsu.'

By now all the flesh had stripped away, leaving only bones and pieces of leathery skin. Those too were eroding.

'I wonder if he realised that his death would be for eternity,' said Chad.

'Either he didn't, or he didn't care,' said Rukia.

They were silent for a while, watching the skeleton slowly disintegrate. Then Renji said, 'Ah, we'd better be getting back to Soul Society, they'll be wanting to hear about this. Though I don't doubt that the techno geeks at the twelfth division will have informed the other captains already.'

'Why are you here anyway, Renji?' said Rukia.

'It doesn't matter now,' he said.

'Lets just say goodbye to the other guys first,' said Ichigo, 'And I need to call my crazy father to tell him we're not coming back.'

Rukia nodded, and took her place by his side as he walked back to the camp. The others followed on, except for Ishida who remained to study how the erosion of the soul played out to the end. Rukia felt a pressing sadness as she looked at all the spots she'd become so familiar with, trying to form a picture to hold with her throughout the busiest times; filled with paperwork. The end of a good holiday was always bitter.

x

Predictably, as soon as they'd got back there was a captains meeting called. Ichigo was becoming used to the drill. Surprisingly the lieutenants were summoned as well, though it was plain that they weren't to play a big part in it just by the wording of the summons

Ichigo, Rukia and Renji were made to give reports on what they'd seen and heard. Ichigo was surprised to hear that Renji had been in the material world to search for Hinamori Momo. Then the twelfth division lieutenant Kurotsuchi Nemu gave a report on the spiritual energy signatures they'd detected, backing up the witness statements. Even Kyoraku looked solemn as they debated the potential undercurrents, the serious frown that creased his forehead looked oddly out of place.

'You're absolutely sure she said "Fusion"?' said Urahara.

Ichigo nodded.

'Interesting,' the blond man mused. 'In all my research, Shinigami and Quincy powers should be incompatible.'

'How so?' said Byakuya. He was still looking pale and weak, and at times was leaning back on Kira for support, the weight of the spiritual pressure around him almost too much to handle.

'Imagine a block placed on the floor,' said Urahara, 'In order for it to have power, it must move. Now Shinigami powers and Quincy powers exert pressure on the different sides of the block so to speak, so for it to move the one must overcome the other; and it will only be weakened for having to overcome it. Added to that, Quincy powers were made for the living, the dead can't use them. Shinigami abilities are the opposite.'

Ichigo had experienced that first-hand, when to retrieve his powers Urahara had had Tessai kill him by breaking his soul chain. He hadn't even asked!

Then the doors burst open, a man struggling inside despite the two guards trying to hold him back. '…I have to… Sir, punish me any way you see fit, but let me please make my report.'

'Very well, let him in,' said Yamamoto.

When released, the large man rushed into the room and stopped just before the two lines of captains and lieutenants, falling to his knees. 'I am the leader of the team tasked with retrieving the body of the unknown assailant in the material world. We reached the precise location, and even found the imprint of where the body lay. However it was not there, and not even a trace of reitsu to tell where it had gone.'

'Thank you, Hiyosu,' said Urahara, 'You can go.'

When the fat shinigami had left, Yamamoto cleared his throat and said, 'So, it would seem that this new Quincy order is either stationed in the material world, or at the very least they have a base of operations there. Added to this, as Hitsugaya-taicho mentioned, the disappearance of Hinamori Momo may be linked to this group. As such, I order Captains Urahara Kisuke and Shinion Yoruichi to the material world to conduct a full investigation of the crime scene, and track the threat to its root.'

'Permission to accompany them, soitaicho,' said Renji.

Yamamoto thought for a moment. 'Granted. All three of you may take a team from your respective divisions to assist you, these may not include your lieutenant.'

'We'll leave at once,' said Yoruichi, 'May we be dismissed?'

Yamamoto nodded, and the three captains flash-stepped away. He cast his stern gaze on the rest of them, 'You are meanwhile to remain at high alert. Anything that seems remotely suspicious, investigate immediately and report back on your findings.'

'Wouldn't want anything happening so close to the ceremony,' said Kyoraku.

'No,' said Yamamoto. 'Our current goal is to stabilize Soul Society, we cannot let this stand in our way.'

It was only eight days until then, Ichigo realised. Then Chamber 46 would be back, and the whole of Soul Society would know of his royal parentage. He could just imagine how much fuss that would create, Kiyone and Sentaro would probably get even worse than normal, even though they already knew. Was there any way to divorce a parent?

The meeting came to a close, they all trooped out slowly in groups. Kyoraku came up to Ichigo with Nanao close behind, 'Good to see you, Ichigo,' he said with a smile.

'And you, Shunsui,' said Ichigo, trying hard to remember his manners due to the company they were in; and the fact that Rukia was watching him closely.

Kyoraku laughed and clapped him on the back. 'So, what're you planning to do tomorrow?'

Ichigo thought about it. They'd only taken three of their four days of booked leave, so they were still entitled to one more day. They wouldn't be allowed back into the material world for it though, not in light of what had happened. 'I dunno,' he said.

'I'll take Ichigo around Rukongai,' said Rukia, 'Show him where I grew up.'

'How about you go and find a house there?' Kyoraku suggested, 'Staying near the office is convenient of course, but sometimes you just need to have somewhere to go to get away from it all.'

That reminded Ichigo about what his father had said about putting aside money in Soul Society for him and Rukia. Perhaps that would be enough for a down payment, it would be nice to be able to get a place. 'Maybe we'll do that,' he said.

'The old Shiba manor in the second district has been deserted for centuries, it's going cheap,' Kyoraku suggested. 'It needs a major cleanup, but other than that it's quite spectacular. In its day I'd put it above even the Kuchiki manor.'

If it was such a great place why had the Shiba's not returned now that they were a noble family again, Ichigo wondered. But Kyoraku swept off before he had a chance to say anything else. He was left frowning in the hall, alone except for Rukia.

'Well, I guess we should go,' she said.

They made their way slowly back to the thirteenth division offices. Ichigo grew more uncomfortable every step they took, the knowledge that they hadn't finished their conversation weighing heavily on his mind. As he opened his mouth to speak, Rukia cut him off.

'I know what you're going to say,' she said.

'…You do?' Was this woman psychic in addition to all her other abilities.

She turned her head to face him as they walked. 'Ichigo, with all that's happened my thoughts are a mess, please let me sleep on it. I'll give you my answer tomorrow.'

Ichigo felt his heart jolt with fear, he tried to appear unruffled as he said, 'Take as long as you need.'

'Thank you.'

The silence grew oppressive as they continued walking. Ichigo tried to make small talk with her, but that kept lapsing into nothingness. It was a relief to arrive at their rooms and say goodnight before retiring to a invariably troubled sleep.

x

Marx was furious. No, that wasn't the right word; he mused. For furious would imply that he was in a fury, and thus unable to fully control himself. No, he was perfectly in control, his anger making his focus as sharp as a steel blade. He pulled his black cloak behind his shoulders as he reached the large door to Takumo's wing of the fortress. There were two members of the so-called Innen Kreis standing guard.

'Lord Marx, you cannot go in,' said one of them, 'Lord Takumo left-' he stopped talking as Marx fixed his gaze on him, and he gulped. 'Please don't mention that I let you in, Sir,' he said, and walked off quickly, followed by his fellow.

Marx pushed half the huge arched door open with one hand, and walked inside. There were other members of Inner circle in the main hall, and those who were attempting to join the supposedly elite group as well. When they saw him they quickly averted their gaze and filed out. Nobody wanted to be caught in an argument between the leaders of the order.

Takumo stepped onto the balcony outside his bedroom overlooking the main hall. He didn't comment at Marxs' presence, but walked slowly down the stairs to meet him. Marx would dearly have loved to take out his frustrations on him physically, but it would be foolish to attack him. Takumo was without doubt the stronger of the two, he was the only one who was on Lord Bismark's level.

'You know why I'm here,' he said coldly.

'Do I,' said Takumo, infuriatingly slowly.

Marx forced himself to retain his composure. Takumo was on shaky ground, and he must know it. Riling him up was an attempt to turn the situation. A feeble one. 'You sent two of your groupies to take on a captain of the Soul Society!'

'What of it?' Takumo shrugged.

'You have blown our cover,' Marx said, clenching his teeth. 'Did you really think that they would succeed?'

He wasn't so much angry with his actions as much as his throwing a wench into his plans. He would have to recalculate everything now, who knew how it would turn out of it.

'I had faith in them. But don't blow this out of proportion, they still know nothing.'

'We are in our final preparation stages, couldn't you have waited just a little.'

Takumo took up an annoyingly superior tone. 'The possible benefits outweighed the potential problems. You ranked the thirteenth division captain and his lieutenant the third and fourteenth strongest fighters in Soul Society respectively. Removing them would have been a huge asset to our cause.'

'Doing that would have raised their suspicions even more,' said Marx.

'No more than stealing that girl did.'

'I was trying to convert her to our cause. And that is not even comparable with this incident, she is unstable and the Shinigami know it. They'll think she ran away.'

'Was that all you came to say?' said Takumo tiredly.

Marx gripped the five-pointed cross in his hand tightly. Then he felt a large hand on his shoulder. He hadn't felt or heard anyone approach, and there was only one person who would dare touch him like that. 'Lord Bismark,' he gasped, turning quickly.

Marx would have been counted as tall in most any society, but standing next to the leader of the Rache he felt indubitably small. Bismark was over a head taller than him and far more solidly built, he probably weighed more than twice as much. He knew that such things shouldn't intimidate him, but they did.

Bismark nodded once, 'I am inclined to agree with Brother Marx on this occasion,' he said.

'I apologise,' said Takumo quickly, 'Forgive me.'

'There will be no more excursions before the time without my or Brother Marxs' approval. This will apply to all Rache from now on, I shall be informing them presently.'

'Of course.' Takumo looked as though he'd swallowed a particularly bad tasting pill.

'I am displeased, brother. You will have to work to regain my favour. Until then, Brother Marx will be my second in command.'

Both Takumo and Marx were silent as they took in their demotion and promotion. Marx felt a bubble of joy rising in his chest. Yes, yes, yes; he was even nearer to his goal. Now if Bismark were to die for whatever reason… The fact remained though that Takumo was still far more powerful than him. He would also have to fall, nothing had changed there. But now he had greater authority to potentially lead him into danger.

Takumo had recovered partially, and was protesting their leaders decision. It wouldn't work, Marx knew, not for something like this. Once Bismark had made his decision that was it. He turned his mind back to scheming. Serena, Khaan and the other Rache would have their parts to play in this coming conflict; but truly it was the three of them that were the core of the order. And whoever came out as the leader at the end of their war with Soul Society would reign over the heavens forever. That would be Marx, no matter what he had to do to get there.

While Marx might not be the strongest, he was by far the smartest. His strength was in the plans that he made, everybody knew that, but he was actually far better at it than he let on. He had formulated no less than nine strategies that would result in a complete victory for the Rache, with little damage to the order and in some of them minimal damage to the Shinigami. None of them would be used though, for they would leave Bismark in charge. Marx had served him for two centuries now, it was high time for him to rule. But he wouldn't dethrone him for Takumo to take his place, anything but that.

Bismark finished with Takumo, and led Marx out of the wing. Bismark asked how much the incident would affect their plans, and Marx answered. He was careful not to let on too much, it wouldn't do if the other man realised the depth to which he'd planned the situation. He already considered him a balance to Takumo's strength, if he knew the truth; well; everything would change.

'Those three captains that were sent to the material world,' said Bismark, 'Could we use that?'

What a stupid question, of course they could. He had always planned to seal off the severed world when they attacked, the Shinigami had allies in the material and hollow planes that they could call upon. Including them in his calculations would produce some very fluctuating variables. Marx phrased his answer carefully so in the conversation that followed it seemed that Bismark thought up that part of the plan.

When Bismark finally left him, he stopped to evaluate the pros and cons of the new situation. In all it was a definite improvement, Takumo's blundering attack had turned into a victory for him. Sure, there were complications, but nothing he couldn't deal with. He permitted himself a rare smile.

Looking for something to do, he took a walk down into the dungeon. Bismark was a traditionalist, and had insisted when they'd built the fortress that it have a dungeon. It had barely been used, and since the entrance was hidden most Rache didn't even know it existed.

Now there was a prisoner. Marx walked down and down, and finally reached a cell. There, behind sturdy bars; chained to a wall with a thick collar to seal her reitsu was a shinigami woman.

'Hello, Hinamori,' he said softly.

x

A/N: Translations: Byatate (Rukia's fourth dance) means White Shield. Don't worry, I'm not the type to give her fifteen extra abilities, this is the last one except for her Bankai. The reason I added it was because I always felt that she was missing a defensive ability, and because she's missing one kanji that means white. All the other three are covered in her respective dances.

Bose Stahl. This is German for Black (anger) Steel. I don't think it needs a further explanation. All Rache fusion weapon names are in German, like the Quincy weapons.

Why did Chad lose so easily to someone one 3rd/4th seat level when he is not that far off Captain class in the manga so far? Well, Chad's power is largely determined by the spirit particles around. He noticed his strength increase in Soul Society, and even more Hueco Mundo. His opponent would also have been stronger in a spirit-rich environment, but since she could draw upon Shinigami powers her strength wasn't quite as stilted. Added to this he's had his power sealed for quite a while now, and hasn't been training.

As for the character of Marx, I hope you noticed that he has a somewhat inflated opinion of himself. Yes, he's smart and manipulative and all that, but for example he didn't consider what would happen if Takumo tried something like he did. He's dangerous but not perfect. Certainly no Aizen. I've now focused on both his and Bismarks motives, anyone care to guess what Takumo's are? Hard one, ain't it. Lol.

Well, until next time, review Review REVIEW!