Chapter 46: Ghosts of the Past
(Squad 1 Meeting hall)
It was moments like these that many of the main forces of the Shinigami were glad that the Fullbringers became allies. Tsukishima's Fullbring, Book of the End, allows him to alter a person's memories to his liking and gain comprehensive knowledge of their memories. He didn't need to interrogate anyone, just cut into them. Using this, Ichigo and Uryu distracted the Spyritters while Tsukishima did his thing, letting them figure out what some of the enemies' abilities were and how to manipulate them. Tsukishima took some time to fill out a report on the useful information he collected, then Yamamoto called a meeting to go over the data and figure out what to do next.
"Okay, this is what I got from those three." Tsukishima started, almost acting like a teacher with how he was presenting the information. "The Quincy have been plotting for the past 1000 years on their revenge, against the Soul Society and the Soul King himself. For many, the aging process was slowed down immensely to keep them as able fighters when they could begin their assault. The bulk of the army is made of Soldats, who seem on par with your average seated officer, a separate hunting group called Jagdarmee, and 26 elites called the Sternritters, four of which serve as the personal guard of Yhwach himself, and one is the grandmaster, second only to the emperor. At minimum, they're as strong as powerful lieutenants, but what really sets them apart is their abilities." Urahara started up the hologram table to show images reconstructed from Tsukishima's descriptions.
"Firstly, the strongest state of a Quincy was their Letz Stil form but came as the cost of their powers." The image showed Uryu in that state during the fight on Sokyoku hill. "They have since changed that to attain a form called the Vollstandig." The image shifted to show Uryu with wings of Reishi and a halo. "Not as strong as the Letz Stil, it's power is still significant enough to make them powerful opponents. Not without drawbacks, the technique is not natural and one must train in order to attain it. Imagine Letz Stil as using 100% of one's strength while being so full of adrenaline you can't feel the damage you do to yourself. Vollstandig is using close to the same level of power, but they feel the strain of using that power." Ichigo looked over to Uryu, who seemed to be contemplating how he could attain that level of power. Something he had to admit was very tempting.
"They use that form along with their unique ability called the Schrift, powers based on the letter Yhwach writes on their soul. That's why there's that many Sternritters, one for each letter. Yhwach seems to have A, and here's the rest in the order of rank. Jugram Haschwalth is B and is the Sternritter grandmaster, second only to Yhwach." A blonde man appeared while the Fullbringer started. He was switched with a dark skinned man with an X over his left eye. "Lille Barro, Sternritter X and leader of Yhwach's royal guard." Next were a hooded figure, a man with a thin face and pronounced cheekbones, and some kind of Nordic gladiator. "C, Pernida Parnkgjas. D, Askin Nakk Le Vaar, who seems to have something to do with poison if what I've seen is any indication. And M, Gerard Valkyrie. They are the royal guard, so we can assume they are the most dangerous." Then a man with round glasses and cropped black hair appeared. "J, Quilge Opie, who is the leader of the Jagdarmee." He continued, showing a description, name, and letter for each major member of the Vandenreich's army, before getting to the three spies.
"Bambietta Basterbine, E the Explode," The Fullbringer said as the spies were displayed, "Candice Catnipp, T the Thunder, and Bazzard Black, H the Heat. Bambietta can release balls of Reishi that can turn anything they come into contact with into bombs, she acts sadistic and lures guys to her bedroom in order to kill them to vent her frustration. Her weakness is that she hates being alone, puts up a strong front when she's really quite submissive and is afraid to die. Candice Catnipp, can manipulate electricity to fry her opponents, easy to anger, and is incredibly vain about her appearance, taking hours to make sure she looks the way she does every day. Advise that you manipulate that to your advantage. Through these two I identified the powers of the other female Sternritters. Meninas is the Power, gaining incredible strength. Liltotto is the Glutton, able to eat anything and manipulate her mouth to devour anything she wants, much like Ichigo's Hollow tendrils. Finally, Giselle, the Zombie, able to manipulate corpses and uses her blood to gain control of her opponents. She's the most disturbing one among them so far, so crazy that I'm not sure how to properly manipulate her." He explained before bringing up Bazz-B.
"This guy is Bazzard Black, the Heat. Able to manipulate fire to devastating effects and is the one I know we can get to change sides." He said, making everyone look closer as he explained. "He was once the scion of a noble family and childhood friends with Jugram. Believed himself to be a talented Quincy while Jugram wasn't and they vowed to kill the emperor after an incident caused Bazzard's home to burn down. He wanted to kill Yhwach for years until actually meeting him, where slowly he became a loyal Quincy and Jugram became devoted as Yhwach's 'other half'. But he is not blindly loyal, as he already begins to doubt Yhwach after his little talk with Ichigo and Uryu. All three are beginning to doubt, some might not be swayed, but if we play certain cards right, we can break the Vandenreich." He said, finishing the explanation of their soldiers and what powers they knew. "However, they have also created a special tool, Quincy medallions, which they plan to use to steal the Bankai of the Shinigami that have those so caution is advised. They planned to infiltrate Soul Society with 'Gates of the Sun', portals that allow fast travel throughout their city and into Soul Society while they were still one place. As of now, they remain stuck in their own separate dimension." Tsukishima said, taking a seat to show that he had nothing left to report. The gathered captains and people of interest took a moment to try to plan for the coming war with the Quincy.
"I think I know how to neutralize the medallions." Urahara said after a few moments of silence. "Mayuri came up with this theory a while ago in regards to why Quincy simply destroy Hollows and kept doing so despite the threat to the balance." Uryu and Ichigo looked confused as they thought it was simply that way, because Hollows preyed on the Quincy in great numbers. "I actually saw evidence that supported that theory with Masaki Kurosaki. That the reason the Quincy used to hunt the Hollows was not because of a grudge, but because of fear." The scientist said, earning a look of shock among the people in the room. "The reason is because, they are the most vulnerable to Hollows. Just as they destroy Hollows, Hollows can destroy them. Hollow Reishi is toxic to Quincy and they have to way to defend against it naturally. If only we could test it." He said, before slowly looking over to Ichigo and Uryu.
"Screw you!" They yelled simultaneously. "Not unless you can ensure I/Uryu won't die!" Yamamoto slammed his cane to restore order.
"Enough! Everyone continue to strengthen yourselves to prepare for the war with Aizen, then the Quincy." He yelled out, making the assembled nod in affirmation to their orders. "Ichigo Kurosaki, you stay. Everyone else, DISMISSED!" He ordered with another tap of his cane, making everyone but his student leave. "If Urahara is correct about the relationship between Quincy and Hollows, then you might have a special mission to perform. Tell me Ichigo, do you think you can gather the Arrancar as allies?" He asked, making Ichigo think over his encounters with Ulquiorra, Yammy, and Grimmjow.
"Maybe a few, but I'm unsure." Ichigo answered his teacher. "If necessary, I'll share my Hollow Reishi to the whole of Soul Society." Yamamoto nodded his head in approval.
"Return to the Living World." The dragon commanded. "It's been a stressful day for all. Get your rest." His student left the building and returned back to his home with his father and cousin, Yamamoto returned to his desk to pull out a file. The file was labeled 'Ichigo Kurosaki's Training' which he was using to chronicle and plan his student's training. He prepared to make the ink to write out the next lesson plan, when his suzuri split in half. His good humor faded as he looked at the two halves of his broken ink stone, getting a bad feeling about events to come. He abandoned his calligraphy to write a kido message telling him to check the records of the day Ichigo warned him of Yhwach's return.
(Squad 12 SRDI: Tower 7)
"Now let's see, what else should I include?" Mayuri was at one of his computers in one of the major areas of the Institute of Research and Development. One hand was typing away and documenting a record of the major projects that he and Kisuke was working on while the other was putting finishing touching on another project. He would never admit it, but he was glad Kisuke returned the way he did, letting him research and experiment to his heart's content so long as he follows certain easy rules. "Subject Senna: body is now fully formed, will continue to monitor in case of cognition and to ease concerns on where she is. Subject BG9: ready to attempt to restore as a Soul Reaper under precautions. Project-" He stopped when a sudden burst of electricity formed and the sound of cracking ground alerted him to the completion of the project he was working on, seeing a bio mechanical flower incubator rise from the floor in the room that was next to a generator. He flashed to it as the flower opened to reveal a glowing vial. "Project Reishi is completed." He said as he grabbed it, just in time for the alarms to go off.
"Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" The speakers sounded off with a siren howling. Mayuri flicked his wrist and caught the inhaler that was inside his sleeve and took in the medication, while also putting down the vial and drawing his sword. He tried to find the unidentified target until everything went blank. All of his thoughts ended in an instant as he looked around in confusion.
"Mayuri! What's happening!" Urahara demanded, coming into the room after hearing the alarms go off. "Where are the intruders?" He looked to his lieutenant who seemed to knock out of his daze and being uncharacteristically scared.
"Kisuke? What is this? Where am I!? Stay back!" The skeletal clown yelled, pointing his blade at the master assassin. "Get away from me!" Urahara gave the man a hard look before getting behind him and knocking him unconscious with a quick strike of his hilt.
'Deal with that later.' He made a mental note before scanning the room. He sensed his intruders and saw what was out of place. "The Reishi convergence device is done." He said, sounding pleasantly surprised. "And missing. That's not good." From their hiding place, the intruders were about to activate the stolen device before Urahara appear before them. A tall, lean, pale man with dark lavender hair that was wielding a large red double edged scythe, and a shorter spikey, blonde haired girl. Both wearing tattered and ragged kimonos. Without saying anything, Urahara lashed out with Benihime, forcing the scythe wielder on the defensive before grabbing the shaft of the pole weapon and bringing his blade to the intruder's neck. "Neither are theives." He said, glaring at his opponent, who seemed to be struggling with staying up.
"Let go of him!" He her the girl cry out before black energy flared slightly, making the scythe wielder disappear. Honing his instincts, he charged off just as the guy reappeared and got behind him to deliver a swift palm strike. The duo's breathing became labored and they disappeared again, this time out of the tower. As Kisuke relaxed, the generator for the Reishi machine started to activate.
"Tower 7 Reishi generator, shut down." He ordered quickly, shutting down practically everything inside the tower. "Divert all power to the main computer." He said, keeping the pseudo pipe organ computer online. "Looks like we'll have to enhance the potency of the sleeping gas." He said, displeased with the failure of the security measure. He made his way to the computer as Nemu entered the room.
"Captain Urahara, all squad members are now accounted for." She said, before noticing her creator on the ground. "Is Master Mayuri alright?"
"He'll be fine." Kisuke said as he began typing at the computer. "Lock him in an examination room and I'll check him out later. Put everyone else on high alert." He typed out commands at near blinding speeds as he unlocked a copy of Mayuri's brain, a capsule full of Hollow Reishi, and sent out a message to all Captains.
I.C.O.A.
Check dates and records
(With Rukia)
Lieutenant Rukia Kurosaki nee Kuchiki of squad 13 was on her patrols when the sirens rang out. Earlier she found a letter, telling her to meet someone at the castle ruins at East 15 of Seireitei. She was wandering around for a few minutes before the commotion started. Acting on her instincts, she pocketed the letter and began to make her way to squad 12, when a tired voice stopped her.
"No, you can't go!" It was a girl, echoing in the distance of her mind. She stopped to look around, her hand on her blade and ready to fight.
"Who's there!?" She called out, glaring into the darkness. It was quiet until the same ghostly laugh return and a pale girl in ragged clothes appeared, looking as if she was about to fall asleep. It was odd, but Rukia thought she looked familiar. The girl flew in front of the lieutenant and suddenly said, in a kind and gentle tone.
"We came to erase your existence." Then her eyes became harder and malevolent. "Rukia." She whispered before floating out of range. Another figure appeared behind Rukia, wielding a white and red scythe. She turned, just in time to watch the blade cut through her neck. She slowly collapsed as her mind went blank and was caught by the male just as the girl returned. "Let's go. We have to hide." She said, earning a nod from her brother as the duo took Rukia away.
(With Ichigo)
Ichigo was drying out his hair after a nice, hot shower. The day got hectic as they dealt with trying to figure out plans to fight the Schrifts and what the other letters could mean. He tossed the towel into the laundry hamper as he froze, feeling something was wrong in the universe.
"Am I forgetting something?"
(Illustrated Guide to Soul Reapers)
What Ichigo did to Mayuri after learning he killed Soken
"Hey Mayuri." Ichigo greeted the scientist, carrying with him a large capsule filled halfway with thumbtacks.
"Ah, lieutenant Kurosaki. Just who I wanted to see." Mayuri returned, wanting to focus on the experiment he was planning. "Their are some theories I have about-" He was cut off when Ichigo grabbed his Zanpakuto, broke it at half a foot out of the sheathe, stabbed him in the throat and quickly created a barrier around the man before he exploded into blood and goo. Ichigo then raised the barrier and opened the capsule before pouring the deranged scientist into the pointy pile, closed the lid, and shook it like crazy to spread the tacks around. Ichigo then left the contents hidden in the ceiling of the female staff's changing room and left.
How Urahara got back at Soi-Fon
The petite commander of the Stealth Force had a long, fruitful day of training her troops and sparring with her idol. Now she wanted to return to one of the most secure rooms under her control for some needed R and R. Her bedroom that was filled to the brim with Yoruichi and black cat décor. She was so absent minded at the moment that she was just happy to cuddle with her plush Yoruichi, only to notice something wrong. When she looked again, she saw that her Yoruichi and cat stuff was replaced with Yuushiro and dogs. She searched her room furiously before finding a few pictures, purposefully hidden in her room, showing her Urahara while he raided her room with a smile.
'I've taken your stuff and hid it.' The note said, and she swore she could hear his irritating voice. 'You won't get it back till I feel like it.'
"MY YORUICHI~!" Soi-Fon cried out.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone