November 21 ,2014 - Friday
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Freezing. Bleach is the property of Tite Kubo, TV Tokyo, Dentsu, Viz Media, and Studio Pierrot. Freezing is owned by Dall-Young Lim, Kill Time Communication, Funimation, and A.C.G.T.
A/N: Special thanks to xbluephantomx for BETA reading.
Prelude to Nexus Saga
Nova Rising
Chapter 9: A Farewell to Arms
"Geez." Roxanne yawned, stretching her harms over her head. "It's not even noon yet and I'm already beat." She looked out the corner of her eye and smirked. "You've had that brooding look for a while now Ichigo. If you keep it up, women will start swooning when you walk by." She winked at him.
He brushed off the tease. "I don't brood. I'm just running what just happened through my mind, again and again and again."
"And?" Elizabeth asked hopefully.
"Still not getting a good feeling about it." Ichigo pinched the bridge of his nose and silently groaned. Pretty much ever problem he'd faced up 'till now had been rather simple. Slice and dice any enemy that stood before him. And if they proved too strong… well that had never stopped him from trying. But this was a different situation entirely. Was there really even a enemy to be fought? That Ohara women had managed to get on Ichigo's bad side, but that still didn't exactly make her his enemy. And slicing and dicing her probably wouldn't be in his best interest, given the situation.
The groaning in Ichigo's head grew louder. He'd never admit it out loud, but he didn't completely understand all the stuff about Mark IV to begin with. Something about compatibility level or what not.
"But this Mark IV medicine is suppose to be a big focus point in the E-Pandora Project," Chiffon added. The Student Council President walked on the other side of Elizabeth, as the four students made their way down the hallway. "It's suppose to bring the E-Pandora's compatibility with Stigmata to the same level as ours."
"It's the medicine that's bothering me the most." Elizabeth replied. Her brows narrowed with thought. It was the most serious expression Ichigo had ever seen on Elizabeth's face. "When the Stigmata in a Pandora's body is raised, it puts an unbearable strain on us. Yet they're saying this Mark IV protects the body from this strain. Kind of hard to believe."
"I agree this whole thing is shady at best," Roxanne placed her hands on her hips and turned to look at them, "The project had little funding until recently and it wasn't even official approved by the Chevalier 'till now. No matter how you look at it, even a moron could tell somethings off."
"Well, I suppose that would include you, Zombie Women."
The Immortal Pandora's eyes widened, before narrowing. I look of pure annoyance spread across her face as she looked out the corner of her eye at the source of the voice. In a irritated voice she asked, "What was that?"
Looking pass the American Pandora, Ichigo saw two girls standing a couple of paces down the hall from them. Just from the body language, its was easy to tell it had been the short blonde haired girl that had spoken. She stood with a proud, almost smug look on her face. Her arms were crossed and her posture eased.
Beside the short blonde girl was a much taller girl with dark indigo hair, pulled up in a high ponytail. Opposite to the prideful look of the shorter girl, the taller one had a sober almost bored look; as if she would rather be anywhere else.
"Who are you?" Ichigo inquired, giving them a stern look. It was clear the shorter seemed to know Roxanne; at least enough that she could openly yell an insult at her. The Immortal Pandora herself was glaring at the short girl, but then a smirk made its way across her lips.
"'Sup, half pint. It's been a while since I heard you call me that." She raised her hands up in shrug gesture and closed her eyes. "Since you seem to have such a bad memory, let me run my name by you again. It's the Immortal, the Immortal Roxanne!" She placed her hands back on her hips and laughed. In the background Ichigo, Elizabeth, and Chiffon could only look on at the laughing Pandora with dead panned expressions.
The short girl sighed. "As loud and immature as ever." She shook her head and looked over at the others.
"Wait...I think I recognize you?" Chiffon pointed at the blonde girl. "It was at the Pandora World Carnival at few years ago...yeah you're the Tempest Phoenix."
"Tempest Phoenix?" That short girl had earned a name like that? Ichigo looked the girl up and down. She had petite build like Attia, which was strange since most of the Pandora Ichigo had seen up to this point had all look supermodels oddly enough. The short girl notice Ichigo's attention on her and resumed her previous smirk.
"Yes, and you must be the boy whose name has been spreading all over the base. Ichigo Kurosaki, right?"
"That's me, but still haven't gotten your name. I doubt Tempest Phoenix is all you go by." He raised an eyebrow while he waited for her reply.
"The halfling's name is Charles Bonaparte." Roxanne replied instead. She wiped a tear from her eye, her laughing finally subsiding. "The one next to her is Julia Munberk aka "The Maverick" of Germany. They're both among the top five strongest Pandora in the world."
As soon as that information was out, Ichigo barely managed to keep a snort from escaping, earning a dirty look from Charles. For what it's worth, Ichigo felt his reaction was totally justified. He was experienced enough to know looks could be deceiving, but still...this short French girl was actually among the top super human warriors in the world.
"What's so funny?" Charles asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"Nothing. Nothing at all." He quickly sobered up and nodded, "Like I said, I am Ichigo Kurosaki. I guess my name's spread all of the base by now." He rubbed his temple. "What a pain."
"Oh poor mister popular," Roxanne said in a teasing tone. She playfully poked the back of the Strawberry's head and laughed when he turned around and frowned at her. "You need to lighten up a bit, Ichigo. Most the Limiters on this base would kill to get all the attention you're getting right now. You've got nothing to complain about, so loosen up." She paused and directed attention back to the pair. "Speaking of which, what did you want anyway?"
"Well if you shut your mouth for a second I might have told you by now," The red-head growled, but Charles continued, "We just happened to be walking by and overhead you talking about your doubts of the E-Pandora project."
Ichigo shrugged. "Yeah, what of it?"
Charles smirked and closed her eyes as if it was obvious. "A soldier's job is to follow the orders they are given. Questioning the orders of the higher ups not our business nor is it our duty. As students of Genetics, it's expected of us to follow all Chevalier orders to the letter."
In those few sentences, Ichigo's mind towards the short French girl had turned from mild confusion to straight up annoyance. The way she talked reminded Ichigo of how Byakuya had been before he'd rescued Rukia. Never bend the rules and never questions orders, even if it meant watching your own sister's execution. That sort of attitude rubbed him the wrong way.
"Ha! Just what I'd expect from Miss Model Soldier." The Immortal Pandora turned around and spanked her rear at her. "Acting like a true spokesperson for the Chevalier. Just how much did they pay you for that little line?"
The short blonde sighed and shook her head. "I guess I shouldn't expect a vulgar person like you to understand. Zombies aren't know for their intelligence. On the other hand, I'm sure you two understand my point." She point as Ichigo and then at Chiffon. "Ichigo Kurosaki, the mysterious Limiter with the power to create a Volt Weapon. And you, the Unparalleled Monster Chiffon Fairchild. You must realize we were born to serve as protectors of humanity. Individualism has to be cast aside so we can think about the whole. Being prepared to be sacrificed is just part of our job. Judging from how you handled that mock battle," the orange-haired body tense when she mentioned it, "I guess you understand well. You followed through and did stop until the job was finished."
A cold chill swept over the Substitute's body. The guilt came back like a stabbing pain in his gut, the images of the E-Pandora Amelia, a near stranger to him, lying with bruises all over her body. All because he followed that damn woman's orders. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when Chiffon spoke up.
"You guys..." The four Pandora each took a step back, as the mood around the Student Council President seemed to darken into a black cloud. Even Ichigo forgot about his guilt for the moment and gulped when Chiffon made that expression that was disturbingly similar to Unohana's. "...Why do you always call me a monster?!" Ichigo and the Pandoras faceplanted. The dark atmosphere around Chiffon evaporated leaving behind an awkward scene as she continued. "I might not look it, but I do have some pride in my appearance you know! What is it? Is it my hair!? I knew I should have gone back to braiding it!"
After slowly picking himself off the floor, Ichigo could only watch a small smile, slowly shaking his head as Chiffon continued demanding what made her scary. For starters, your sudden mood swings are pretty terrifying. He thought about saying it out loud, but changed his mind when the idea of her ranting continuing entered the picture. Best just let her get it out of her system.
"You're funny." Charles wiped a tear from the corner of her eye as she regain her composure. "With all the Genetics students on base, of course there wouldn't be anyone normal." She turned her back to the group and started back down the hallway with Julia following beside. She looked over her left shoulder and gave a small wave as she departed. "Anyway there's a fair chance that we'll be watching each other's backs on the battlefield one day, so keep up the good fight."
The group watched the pair departed out of sight before Roxanne snickered. "That half pint never changes. The only thing that ever seems to be on her mind in how to be the perfect little soldier."
"Those two are part of the top five, which just mean they're strong, right?" Elizabeth questioned. The odd personalities of the duo made the notion of them being in the top Pandora sound silly.
"Well yeah, strong enough to be ranked in the top five," the American Pandora retorted. She pointed at herself and grinned. "Of course so am I." Ichigo, Chiffon, and Elizabeth only nodded with deadpanned expressions when the red-head mentioned her high achievement. Ichigo expected Roxanne to note another appealing fact about herself, but instead her lips formed into a sad smile. "Though I do have to agree with Charles to some degree." Her sudden change in tone drew back the Soul Reaper's attention. Where was side of her coming from? "Everyone of us enrolled into Genetics and gave up our happiness the moment we put on these uniforms. Us Pandora gave up our happiness as women… no we gave up our happiness as girls awhile back." Her eyes turned towards Ichigo and her expression softened. "I sure you're not different, Ichigo. Back when I saw you fighting during the mock battle, I could tell right away you didn't enjoying beating up on that E-Pandora."
The Strawberry locked eyes with the Immortal Pandora for a few short moments before closing his eyes. "Yeah." he said in a low voice, barely loud enough to hear. "You can say that again."
The rest of the day after the morning announcement by Ohara went by rather slowly. All Pandora and Limiters on the base were given the day off as the Chevalier scientist got to work preparing for the Mark IV tests. Not long after the encounter with Charles, Ichigo left Elizabeth, Chiffon, and Roxanne to go look for Chad. After wandering for a few minutes, Ichigo hit a stroke of luck and found his friend in the place he'd expected too; the weight room.
"21...22...23..." It had been days since the last time Ichigo had a chance to exercise. To be honest he'd started to feel a little sluggish and needed a way to blow of some steam.
"33...34...35!" Ichigo racked the bar and sat up. He'd warmed up with an easy one hundred push ups to get started. Even in his human body that would've been a chore, but with the Stigmata enhancements it was as easy as breathing. After that he moved to the bench press. Not far away Chad was doing curls with dumbbells.
The two worked out quietly, with only the occasional sound of heavy breaths, but Chad finally broke the silence. "I guess you already heard."
Ichigo wiped his forehead with a towel. "Heard what?"
"I overheard several Pandora and E-Pandora talking about it. This new drug that Dr. Ohara mentioned, Mark IV, is the successor of an older drug called Mark III. Apparently the testing for the older version ended very badly and drug was listed a failure."
"And let me guess." Ichigo began. "Mark IV is suppose to be safer and pick up the slack that the original version was designed to."
Chad nodded. "That's basically what I've heard. What do you think?"
"Honestly this entire project gives me a bad feeling. I really want to say screw the Chevalier, the E-Pandora Project, and Mark IV. All of it." Ichigo got up from the bench, bent over and picked up a dumbbell. Chad was silent as he pondered what Ichigo had stated. He could get why his best friend didn't like what was happening. It had always been in Ichigo's nature to question and sometimes go against authority. He'd gone against the Soul Society when he, Chad, and the rest went to rescue Rukia. They'd also done the same when Ichigo, Uryu, and himself went to Hueco Mundo for Orihime.
"Have you forgiven yourself?" The Fullbringer asked out of the blue.
Ichigo stopped mid curl; the weight suddenly felt heavier than it was. He knew exactly what Chad was talking about. Not explanation was needed "I'm still trying to make peace with myself." He relaxed his arm and rested the weight down by his feet. "Amelia didn't seem like she was holding a grudge against me, though I kinda feel like she should. I wouldn't blame her."
I've never seen him this down before. Chad watched as the Substitute picked up his towel again and wipe the sweat off his neck. Slinging the towel over his shoulder, Ichigo walked towards the exit.
"Where are you going?" Chad called.
Ichigo half turned, "I think I'll head back to our room. Kisuke gave me some recordings of old Nova Clashes to look over and study. Kisuke may still be a total nut job, even in the future, but he at least gave me this classified footage. If we do end up fighting a Nova, it would pay to least know what we're getting into, right?" The Fullbringer nodded in agreement. "Not to mention I'm feeling lazy today. Think I'll just crash on my bed and watch. See you later." With that the orange-haired teen turned back towards the exit. The automatic sliding doors opened as he went, and he stepped out into the hallway.
He hadn't walked five steps down the hall, when he felt someone run into his chest. The force wasn't enough to throw Ichigo off-balance, but the girl stumbled a few steps backwards. Without thinking, Ichigo reached out and grasped her wrist to keep her from falling. "Sorry," he apologized with a mild alarm in his voice. "I didn't see you there. Are you hurt?"
The girl regained her balance. "I'm fine. Thank you for asking."
In the few short seconds before the accident, the Substitute hadn't noticed it, but the girl before him was Amelia Evans. He blinked before he recognized the platinum-haired girl and immediately released her wrist.
"Sorry it's my fault. I should've watched were I was going." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly and averted his eyes.
Amelia noticed the Substitute's odd behavior and asked. "Are you feeling okay?" She tried to put her finger on the right word. "You look… distracted."
"Got a lot on mind is all." he replied simply.
Amelia could understand that. Since the announcement early that morning, her shock at the news quickly broke down to fear and confusion. She had been the one to test out Mark III and after that failure she had hoped the project would be shelved. It seemed she'd been wrong. "So where were you going? I mean if you don't mind me asking that is?"
"Well I had planned on going back to my room." the Strawberry explained after a short pause. "There were some things I wanted to look over." He noticed she wasn't wearing her eye patch anymore and he felt a sense of relief. "Are your wounds healed. I see you're not wearing your bandages now."
"I was allowed to remove them this morning." She unconsciously rubbed her elbow that had been bruised during the mock battle. "Thanks to the Stigmata I was able to recover earlier than expected."
Ichigo raised a confused eyebrow. "Stigmata? I thought E-Pandora weren't implanted with Stigmata like regular Pandora."
"We do have Stigmata, just not as much as a normal Pandora." she explained. "Because of our low compatibility, our bodies can't handle the strain like the normal ones can." That reminded Ichigo of what Urahara had said. He'd modified the Stigmata he injected into Ichigo's body so that his Soul Reaper powers didn't strain his human body. Maybe it was the same for E-Pandora. The power of the Stigmata was too great for a normal human body to handle.
"And so Mark IV is supposed to fix that?" Ichigo inquired, bringing up the topic that had been weighing on both their minds. Amelia's shoulders slumped and her looked down at the ground.
The E-Pandora simply nodded. "It's the only hope we have at reaching the Original's power level." It was because of the Mark III that she was as strong as she was now. The medicine nearly cost her her life, but it also enhance her Pandora powers til she was the strongest out of all the E-Pandora recruits. "Like Dr. Ohara said this morning, it should raise our compatibility levels to the same as a normal Pandora."
"And you believe it?" He said it more like a statement than a question.
That caught the British girl off guard. She'd never expected to be asked that question by a near stranger. Ichigo looked down at her as he patiently waited for her reply. She wanted to say "Yes of course" or "Why wouldn't it" and have complete truth in her words. However she couldn't even manage to form the words. The very though made her stomach feel sick. "Dr. Ohara herself told me Mark IV was safe. I have no reason to doubt her words."
Ichigo's unreadable expression turned into one more akin to embarrassment. The two stood in silence before the Strawberry cleared his throat. "I'll take your word for it than." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "On a completely unrelated note..." The E-Pandora gave him a questioning look. "Uhm... do you know the way to the boy's dorm by any chance?"
Amelia's eyes widened and she covered her mouth as a series of giggles shook her head and shoulders. All the held up confusing emotions that had been plaguing her vanished. "Yo-you don't know how to get to the boy's dormitory?" She bit back another giggle.
The Substitute's eye twitched. "Hey don't laugh at me! I only found this weight room by chance. It's only been a few days since I got here, so you can't really expect me to know my way around the whole base."
"I get it, I get it." Amelia said, waving her hands in front of her and doing her best to contain her laughter. Who would've thought this scowling, intimidating boy would ask for directions. There went the old belief that men never asked for directions.
The E-Pandora than proceeded to tell the orange-haired teen how to get back to the dorm. Ichigo nodded when she was finished and for the first time, Amelia saw a smile form on the boy's face. It was a pleasant smile, completely different from any expression she'd seen on the Substitute's face up 'till then. She couldn't help but smile back. "Do I need to repeat anything?"
"Nah, I got that all down." He replayed the directions over in his mind once before giving Amelia a look of gratitude. She'd made the directions as simple and clear as possible. If he hadn't run into her, he would've probably spent an hour or so walking around, searching for his room. "I owe you one."
"Don't mention it." Looking down at her watch, the girl's eye widened with shock when she noticed how much time had passed. "Oh I was suppose to have already met up with Gina and Rattle."
"I didn't know I was holding you up, my bad." Ichigo rubbed the back of his head, feeling guilty yet again. "I shouldn't have wasted your time."
"It's not your fault. I just got distracted, that's all." She rushed past Ichigo and jogged down the hallway. She looked over her shoulder and waved. "I hope me can talk later Ichigo." With that, the girl disappeared around a corner, leaving Ichigo alone in the empty hall. The brief conversation they had slowly imprinted into his memory.
"Look at me standing here like an idiot." Ichigo mumbled to himself, his mind focusing back to his task. Shaking his head, he turned and headed in the opposite direction down the hall; hands shoved in his pockets. "At least she doesn't seem to hate me." he stated with a faint smile of satisfaction.
"That's a load off my mind...now did she say take a right or a left up here?"
"Ah, so you finally picked up the phone." the cheery voice of Kisuke Urahara called through the cell phone. "So how's life in Alaska been treating you Ichigo?"
The answer came after a long pause. "You sent me to a military base in the Arctic Circle during the middle of winter. How do you think?" Ichigo growled through the phone. "I was trying to ignore you, and I hoped you would've realized that when I didn't answer the first couple times." It had been two days since Doctor Ohara had announced Mission Synchro and Ichigo's last talk with Amelia Evans. Test for Mark IV had begun and the news stations were already showing footage of end results. One of the E-Pandora, the violet-haired girl from the mock battle, was shown fighting at par with, and sometimes dominating, an Original. It was the first bit of bright news in a long line of bad.
The Substitute's cellphone had rung several times that day, but the orange-haired teen had refused to answer it. Kisuke was the only one who knew his number and he wasn't in the mood for the scientist's twisted sense of humor.
"So I take it you've seen the news?" Kisuke questioned, changing the subject. Ichigo picked up the remote lying on his dresser and flipped on the flat screen built into his dorm wall. The first thing to show up were replays of the violet-haired E-Pandora fighting. She was using the same bow staff she'd used in her previous mock battle, but this time she was able to deploy it herself. Plus she attack power and speed had drastically increased so much that the Original was having trouble dodging her attacks. The brute force of her attacks were so great, that her bow staff shattered the arena floors and walls whenever it hit. "Looks like the E-Pandora are the real thing after all." the shop keeper said in a cheery tone. "The public's in full support of the program now, and I hear a flood of young girls have volunteered to join." In a slightly darker tone Kisuke added. "Interesting news wouldn't you agree, Ichigo?"
"I know what you're getting at Kisuke. I'm still skeptical about it." His brown eyes shifted back to the TV screen where the mock battle had reached it's conclusion. Time had run out leaving the match in a draw. Ichigo sighed and turned off the TV. "But the footage doesn't lie. I saw that same girl get beat in seconds by a Original Pandora the second day I was on base. The fact is she's a lot stronger than she was a few days ago."
"Oh, but is that all there is to it?"
The former Captain's tone caught the teen's attention. "What do you mean? You know I don't like it when you pull the wool over my eyes, Urahara" The line went silent for a while and Ichigo wondered if Kisuke had hung up.
"Nothing." Kisuke replied in a happy tone. "Forget I mentioned it. Spreading rumors around isn't something I like to make a habit of."
"It isn't?" Ichigo asked with a deadpan expression. He felt a bit of irritation at Kisuke for leaving him hanging like that. You'd think he would've gotten used to it by now, but the shop keeper's odd behaviors weren't something that anyone could easily adjust too. The thought of demanding an answer crossed the Substitutes mind, but he quickly dismissed that. Kisuke could be tight-lipped and annoying about it when he wanted to be. Ichigo could be too, but... that was an entirely different story.
"In any case, I did call you up for another reason besides the E-Pandora news." The sound of papers being shuffled could be heard in the background. "It's been I while since I last saw you and I just wanted to check up on your Soul Reaper powers. The injection Stigmata I gave you was the product of a model created by Gengo Aoi, the head scientist of Chevalier and creator of Stigmata. Has there been any abnormal changes in your spiritual pressure or energy spikes?"
"Nothing I can think of anything. I haven't really had a chance to try out my powers." He decided not to bring up the fact that his cover had been blown because of the mock battle. If Kisuke didn't already know than it was better to keep it that way. "I've been sensing the spiritual pressure of the Pandora around me and none of them seem to above average spirit energy."
"Well of course they wouldn't. Despite the physical enhancements of the Stigmata, they are still just human."
"Stigmata." Ichigo repeated the word. "What exactly is Stigmata anyway. All I heard is how important it is to raise the E-Pandora's compatibility with Stigmata up." He felt kinda stupid for asking such a question, but in truth, he barely knew anything about it. Hell, he should at least know what kind of freaky stuff he'd been injected with.
"Stigmata is tissue created by reverse-engineering Nova cells and tissue."
"Wait are you saying the stuff that powers the Pandora and me is," Ichigo's throat suddenly felt very dry. "Nova tissue?"
"Not exactly. All the Pandora's Stigmata originally came from the body of Maria Lancelot, "The Mother of All Pandora." She was the first Pandora and the first to fight the Nova when they began appearing in the early clashes. Unfortunately she died during the 4th Nova Class. Her body was collected and from her tissue, Gengo Aoi produced the Stigmata all Pandora use." The sound of Kisuke chuckling could be heard. "This was all covered in those books I gave you to study with. Haven't you been reading them?"
"I skimmed them, okay," he replied with mild irritation, "It's hard to study something when you barely understand what it's talking about. The only material you gave me that I've really looked at is the Nova Clash footage. I looked up the attacked patterns the Nova use when they fight. Their movement is slow, but their attack speed and attack power is impressive." A tint of anger flared up inside Ichigo. "I can't believe they send young girls to got fight those "things". The footage showed everything. Even the carnage the Nova dealt to the military and Pandora."
"There was no other way it could be done. The the world's military powers are all but useless when it comes to fighting the Nova. Only the Pandora and Limiters stood a chance against them."
"I get that." Ichigo retorted through gritted teeth, "But if the Soul Society would just-." He was forced to pause when a powerful tremor, followed by the wail of sirens broke the silence of his bedroom. As the sirens grew louder, another quake shook the walls making the lights flicker. "The hell!"
"What!" Kisuke questioned, alarm in his voice. "Ichigo, what happened!"
"I don't know. I-!" Another shock wave coursed through the floor, almost causing the Strawberry to fall to his kneels. "I'll call you back!" Without waiting for a reply, Ichigo snapped the cell shut and dashed for the door. As he stumbled out into the hall, he felt a powerful blast of spiritual energy spike somewhere. It felt like nothing he'd ever felt before; foreign and eerie. Without hesitation, he quick disappeared in a Flash Step, heading straight towards the strange power spike...
Amelia woke with a start, bolting up while in bed as another tremor shook the room. For a moment she was confused, still half asleep. Her mind quickly registered that this wasn't a dream once the second shock hit.
"What was that?!" Rattle had already gotten out of her bed and was heading for the door. "It sounded like it was coming from out in the hall."
"Wait for me!" Amelia threw the covers off her legs and quickly joined Rattle at the door, despite the growing knot in her stomach warning her of danger. A sickly feeling dread seemed to grasp her.
The paired enter the hallway just as other E-Pandora were exiting their's. They all looked at each other with confusion and murmured questions about what was happening. Sirens blared down the entire length of the hall. The intercoms came to life and male voice came to life. "This is an emergency situation! All Pandora and Limiters are you remain at their designed locations! This is not a drill! I repeat this is not a drill!"
No sooner had that been announced, the wall directly left of Amelia began to crack. It started slowly, buy a sudden blast blew bits of concrete and dust out into the open space. Amelia shielded her eyes from the blast, the dust filling the hall and causing her to cough. Just what the hell was going on?! Waving the dust out of her line of sight, Amelia froze in place when the silhouette of figure came lumbered out of the newly made entrance. The E-Pandora grasped her hands at her mouth when the figure stepped out into her view. The female figure stood about her height, but that's where the resemblance ended. The strange figure was human, or at least had been once in its life. Now a hard crystal like structure seemed to be spreading over the creatures body, covering the once human features and leaving a crystal armor. The corrosion had already spread over her left shoulder and the left side of her head, reshaping it into an ugly deformed appearance; save for the still clearly visible shoulder length violet hair.
The appearance of that violet hair sent a wave of shock coursing through Amelia's body. Her throat felt like cotton and she struggled to form words. "G-Gina?" She wanted so badly for someone to tell her she was wrong, but there was no denying it. The partially Nova-ilized figure stand just a few feet from her was what remained of Gina Purpleton. The violet colored hair and remaining human face was all the proof that was needed.
"Ah...melia..a?" A low and struggling voice escaped Gina's lips. The sound shook Amelia to her core.
"You recognize me?!" The stinging feeling of tears began burning in her eyes. "Gina..what happened to you?"
Gina took a staggering step forward, moving closer to Amelia, step by step. "M...k...Mark...IV...was."
Before she could finish, a bright flash lit the hall and a lighting quick laser hit the floor between Amelia and Gina. Amelia shielded herself from the blast, covering her face and head with her arms as debri scattered around her. Looking out from between her arms, she looked for the source of the attack. "Who?" A glimpse of wavy blonde hair stormed past her, stepping in between her and Gina. Her eyes widened in surprise. "Elizabeth Mably?!"
"What are you doing here?!" Elizabeth demanded, a mixture of anger and surprise on her face. Her Limiter, Andre, stood behind her with a serious face. "This is a special mission for high-ranking Pandora only. Due to the Nova-fication of Subject M2, we've been given a order to neutralize it as soon as possible. You need to leave now." The British Pandora lifted her hands up, directing the two floating satellites to her side. She directed the Type-SSS Volt Weapon with amazing grace, having spent three years mastering her Volt Weapon's abilities.
"You have to stop!" Amelia pleaded, making Elizabeth pause. "You can't eliminate her, Gina is still conscious and she was trying to tell me something! Please wait!"
"She's still conscious?! But that shouldn't be possible." Before she could ask how, the Nova-vilized Gina jumped over the Amelia in the blink of an eye and aimed her spear-shaped arm straight at Elizabeth. While Amelia was caught completely off guard, Elizabeth's instincts kicked in quickly and she activated her defense barrier. The spear point smashed the force field, making sparks of energy sizzle on contact. The Mably heiress gritted her teeth, pouring all her concentration into hold up the barrier. However the former E-Pandora's brute forced was to much and the barrier cracked and shattered. Elizabeth was only given a brief second to turn her head to the side, narrowing missing the jagged point, but still received a slash across her cheek.
Turning and using Accel to place some distance between them, Elizabeth was caught by surprise when Gina appeared before her in the mist of an Accel Turn. "That speed and power...is she stronger than the Nova Forms from before?!" Seeing no other choice, she raised one of her SSS satellites creating another force field just as Gina slashed down with her arm. But again Gina's power exceeded her own, the jagged, crystalized arm coming and slicing the barrier generating satellite in half. Elizabeth's eyes widened in disbelief. "I can't believe this...my SSS was..?!"
Sliding backwards, Elizabeth deployed her SSS satellites again. "André now!"
Not missing a beat, her Limiter nodded. "On it Eli. Freezing!" In an instant, a blue field coursed out from Andre's body, spreading over the floor and engulfing the Nova-fied Gina. But once again luck seemed to favor the former E-Pandora, as she shattered the Freezing field that was meant to restrain her. With that out of the way, she once again disappeared into a Accel Turn and reappeared behind the British Pandora, slashing a long gash across her back. Elizabeth could squeezed her eyes shut as Gina pulled back her arm and prepared for another strike. But it never came.
CRASH!
The distinct sound of metal on metal caused Elizabeth to open her eyes slowly. She looked over her shoulder, expecting to see Gina bearing over her, but instead her eyes meet the back of a tall and familiar boy.
"Sorry I'm late." Ichigo said cooly "Took me awhile to find this place." He looked over his shoulder at the wounded Pandora. "You alright?
"Ichigo." Elizabeth breathed in amazement. Where had he come from?
Not far off, Amelia looked at the scene with astonishment. Ichigo stood between Elizabeth and Gina, his massive sword blocking Gina's crystalized arm. Even from this distance, Amelia could feel the surge of power radiating from the orange-haired teen and his sword. It was powerful, unnaturally powerful. She hadn't noticed it during their mock battle, but now she truly realized the power that black and white cleaver gave off. It felt almost...otherworldy.
Gina howled in frustration, the inhuman sound making everyone else shiver, but the Substitute remained unfazed. His weapon was firmly locked with Gina's arm, and he remained unmovable, even when she put more force into her attack.
"What happened to you?" he questioned, looking her dead in the eye. Her once pink eyes were now yellow and vacant, reminding him of a certain Hollow's eyes.
"She's going Nova-fication." Elizabeth explained. She tried to get to her feet, but her wounds made even the slightest movement painful.
"Nova-fication? You mean she's turning into a Nova?!" Using his sword, Ichigo pushed Gina back, breaking contact and causing her to slide back several feet. As soon as she stop, Gina charged straight towards Ichigo. Her left arm quickly transformed into a crystal blade, like her right, which she began slashing with aimlessly. Instead of attacking, Ichigo raised his sword and blocked ever one of her swings with ease. No matter how fast they came, her swings were unable to pierce the Substitute's defense. Growling in frustration, Gina disappeared in a Accel Turn, reappearing to Ichigo's right, posed for a stabbing strike.
"Ichigo, watch out!" Elizabeth cried. Much her surprise, the orange-haired teen looked calmly at the incoming attack. Instead of dodging or blocking like most people would've done, Ichigo firmly caught the sharp tip of Gina's arm and pulled her towards him before turning around and sending her sailing into the wall.
"About a fourth seat, maybe a third. Her power is increasing." Ichigo mumbled, his eyes fixed to the dust surrounding the crater that Gina had made. Disappearing in a blur, he appeared beside the wounded Elizabeth. "How badly are you hurt?" His eyes went from her back to the dust-covered crater.
"I'm fine." Elizabeth reassured him. She tried to get up, but the pain made her realize this was her limit. She mentally kicked herself for being so weak right now. She was the second ranked Third-Year at West Genetics. She shouldn't have been defeated so easily.
"Is there anyway to get her back to normal." Ichigo asked. He raised his massive sword and took a defensive stance when Gina appeared out of the crater looking completely unscathed except for the dust covering her from head to toe. "If there is a way, I need to know right now."
The Mably heiress shook her head. "I'm sorry...she's to far gone." It was true. Even as they spoke, Gina's Nova-fication was spreading. More and more of her body was begining to crystallize into diamond like armor, the crystal spikes in her back growing in length. There was no way her body would last much longer.
"I see..." Ichigo's hair covered his eyes, making his face look as if he was remembering a sorrowful memory. Lifting Zangetsu up, Ichigo's body began glowing with light blue light. All of a sudden a powerful blast of blue energy erupted from his blade, the power from it caused the floor around him to crack and splinter. Elizabeth looked at him with a fearful expression covering her face. This was completely different level of power unlike anything she'd ever witnessed before. It was different from the power she'd seen Ichigo use in his mock battle against Amelia Evans. This power was heavy, menacing, and strangely beautiful.
"I'll put an end to this quickly." Ichigo stated, his eyes radiating with blue spirit energy. The sudden energy spark from Ichigo stunned the Nova-fied Gina for moment, but she hastily recovered and began charging up a particle beam above her forehead. The purple ball of pure energy grew bigger and bigger before being fired at the Substitute Soul Reaper. Ichigo raised the flat of his blade in front of him as the particle beam washed over him. For a brief moment Ichigo disappeared within the laser's blast, only to reappear with Zangetsu still raised up for protection, his body completely unscathed. In a sober tone he uttered "That's nowhere close to the power of an Espada's Cero." More spirit energy gushed out of his body, the pressure now making the surrounding bystander catch their breath. It was a wonder the entire ceiling hadn't collapsed.
"What are Ichigo?" Elizabeth asked in her mind, her body feeling pressed under the weight of his power. "Just what on Earth are you? You're able to handle that giant sword and make it look like weighs nothing."
"Alright, time to end this." Ichigo rested his other had on Zangetsu's hilt and began charging him spirit energy into the blade. He raised the sword over his head and ready to unleash his strongest technique. "Getsuga.."
"Waittt!"
In the blink of an eye, Ichigo stopped his attack when a pair of arms wrap around his mid-section. He looked over his shoulder in surprise to see Amelia looking back at him with pleading eyes. Tears were running down her cheeks and her lips quivered on her grief-stricken face.
"Please!" she begged, not able to hide the desperation in her voice. "Please don't kill Gina!" She squeezed the Strawberry's mid-section tighter, never once turning away from his shocked face. Her entire body shook. The tears flowed freely, showing no sign of letting up. "Please... don't..."
No sooner had she said those words, the blue aura around Ichigo began to disappear. The massive pressure that had over taken the room faded, leaving everyone exhausted and gasping for air. Ichigo lowered Zangetsu to his side. He broke his gaze from Amelia's face and turned to look at Gina. "Do what you can. I don't want to destroy her, but maybe you can reach out to her. If not..." He trailed off.
Upon hearing his words, Amelia looked at him with disbelief. She'd half expected him to ignore her pleads and continue his attack on Gina. She didn't know why, but she knew whatever he'd been about to do would have ended the fight in an instant. She nodded, slowly released her hold on him and stepping between him and Gina. She blinked back tears when she tried to smile at her old friend. "Gina...it's me. It's Amelia. Please stop, this isn't you." Her voice broke and took a moment to collect herself. "I'll protect you. I'll get you back to normal."
"A...U...Amelia." Gina croaked.
"Gina..! Yes its me. Are you back to normal?!" A small feeling of hope made its way into Amelia's voice.
"M...K...Mark IV was...all...a...big...lie."
"What?" The E-Pandora couldn't believe what she was hearing. Mark IV was a lie? "Gina, what do you mean? What do you mean its a li-?" Her sentence was interrupted when Gina released an ear-piercing scream. Her entire body began cracking and wave of red energy aluminated from her body like an angry wind. Amelia's pleads to Gina were lost in the violent howls. Without thinking, Amelia rushed towards her friend only to be stopped by Ichigo grabbing her arm. "Let me go, dammit!" she cried, trying in vain to pull from Ichigo's steel grip. "I have to save Gina! Let go of me!"
"I can't let you do that!" Ichigo explained. He growled at his inability to do anything for Gina. His name was supposed to mean 'He who protects' and yet he was powerless do anything to save the Nova-fied girl. Instead he pulled Amelia to him and wrapped him arm around her waist before Flash Stepping back to Elizabeth. Scooping her up in his other arm, he jumped a safe distance back to where André was standing. All the while Amelia was crying Gina's name and cursing Ichigo for restraining her.
The red energy that erupted from Gina's body grew brighter, as did the cracks the spread over her limbs, chest, and head.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Without missing a beat, Ichigo instinctively shield the other three with Zangetsu just a split second before Gina exploded; releasing an immense wave of crimson energy that tore through the hallway and collapsed the ceiling. A blanket dust rose up from the collapsed ceiling, shrouding the whole area and everyone there in darkness. For a few seconds no one moved. Ichigo slowly picked himself off the floor and looked to where Gina had been, shaking his head and cursing when all he saw all that remained was a smoking crater. Elizabeth and André were slow to pick themselves up, both remaining silent as Amelia quietly cried. The grey-haired girl crawled towards the smoking crater, her tears dripping on the floor, just as reinforcements began arriving at the scene. Chad, Satellizer, Kazuya, Rana, and Cathy rushed to the collapse area of the hall and stopped when they saw the aftermath of a battle.
"What happened here?" Cathy asked. Her eyes went to Ichigo, who was silently facing away from them; his weapon still in hand. "Ichigo, what happened?"
Ichigo didn't reply. He couldn't hear her. All he would hear was Amelia faintly crying her lost friend's name and the echoing of Gina's scream in his ear. For the first time since he was nine years old, he felt like his heart had been shattered. But he didn't show it, no...instead he stood tall and alive despite feeling like he was dying inside...
To Be Continued
Author's Note: Now where should I begin...I really do want to apologize for the long wait. I could come up a whole list of excuses, but I'll give you the short version. Laziness. I spent most of my summer watching anime, working, or studying. There was plenty of time to write, but I just never felt like doing it. Again I'm very sorry for the delayed update. I hope this chapter makes up for it somehow.
A couple of announcements. I think I already said this, but I'm going to break off from the Freezing story line after the E-Pandora arc and make up a more original story. I'll do a couple of OVA style chapters and a mini arc til I decide how to bring the later main story arcs into the picture.
Also last chapter I got some reviews telling me Ichigo was OC and the attraction quick attraction between him and Amelia seemed unnatural. I agree completely. I'm still trying to improve on romance writing and I'm going to try to have Ichigo and Amelia's relationship progress more slowly. Remember she is the main interest for Ichigo in this story, but there are other girls that are attracted to him and Ichigo is kinda slow on the uptake when it comes to girls.
My goal was to update four of my stories and have them posted today, but school work made that impossible at the moment (damn essays). I have not clue when the next chapter will be up. I'll try and type at least 1000 words a day and have the next chapter up ASAP. Later.