Bankai Wing: When Shinigami Meet (part 1 of 2)
(Argh! Too big for LJ, I've had to break this into two parts...)
This is kind of a prologue to the main story, and MAN did we have fun writing it! XD Set in a slightly AU version of Gundam Wing where the war lasts longer and Endless Waltz never happens; it's five hundred years in the future of Bleach and draws from that canon up until the Lost Substitute Shinigami arc, though we've changed a few things - the Visored never rejoined the Thirteen Squads in this fic, though they are on reasonably good terms with their old allies.
I think it's fair to assume that practically everyone who reads our fic already understands all the Gundam Wing references. :P Therefore, here is a handy-dandy guide to the Bleach characters and references we've included:
[CLICK HERE FOR INFO!]
We're using Japanese name order for the Bleach characters, but translating titles instead of having "Soutaichou" and "Taichou" and so on pop up fifty-bazillion times (unlike in 'Fight or Foreplay', where it doesn't come up nearly as often). Bleach fans will note that the captains' lineup is different, due to five hundred years passing and the Visored not returning to their old squads.
Ukitake Juushirou - Captain of the 1st squad, overall Captain-General of the Thirteen Squads.
Kuchiki Rukia - Vice-Captain of the 1st squad, adopted younger sister of Byakuya, good friend of Renji and Ichigo.
Soi Fon - Captain of the 2nd squad and leader of the Onmitsukidou.
Abarai Renji - Captain of the 5th squad.
Rikichi - Vice-Captain of the 5th squad.
Zabimaru - Renji's zanpakutou; in his 'inner world', it takes the form of a huge white baboon (Saru) with a snake for a tail (Hebi).
Kuchiki Byakuya - Captain of the 6th squad.
Komamura Sajin - Captain of the 7th squad, he is an anthropomorphic wolf.
Hitsugaya Toushirou - Captain of the 10th squad, he looks like a teenager despite being several hundred years old.
Zaraki Kenpachi - Captain of the 11th squad.
Kurotsuchi Mayuri - Captain of the 12th squad. SERIOUSLY CREEPY.
Kurosaki Ichigo - Captain of the 13th squad.
Grimmjow - a very powerful Arrancar, sort-of friends with Ichigo.
Shirosaki - Ichigo's 'inner Hollow'; his name is a pun on Ichigo's surname 'Kurosaki' and the fact that he has pure white skin and hair. ('Kuro' = 'black', 'shiro' = 'white')
Shinigami - Not Duo. :P Spirits who guide ghosts into Soul Society and fight Hollows.
Zanpakutou - 'Soul-Cutter Sword'; a Shinigami's sword, part of his/her soul. Zanpakutou have names and separate personalities.
Seireitai - The 'Court of Pure Souls'; where Shinigami live in Soul Society.
Senkaimon - A dimensional gate between the living world and Soul Society, used by Shinigami.
Reiatsu - Spiritual power/pressure.
Kidou - 'Demon Arts'; spells, either for attack, defence, or forms of binding.
Onmitsukidou - the Secret Tactics Force.
Onmitsu - Spies/Ninja.
Visored - Shinigami who have gained Hollow powers.
Plus - An ordinary Human ghost that hasn't yet crossed into the afterlife. They generally appear as they did at death, with a broken chain dangling from a plate attached to their chest over the heart.
Hollow - Plusses that are attacked by other Hollows or didn't pass on into the afterlife soon enough turn into Hollows. They are monsters with white skull-like masks and eat human spirits; the more powerful ones eat other Hollows, or try to prey on Shinigami.
Menos - A composite Hollow. When a Hollow gets too strong for human souls to sustain it and starts eating other Hollows, it will be attracted to other cannibal Hollows and they will try to eat each other, blending into a Gillian. If one of the Hollows within a Gillian is strong enough to dominate the others, it can evolve into an Adjuchas.
Arrancar - A powerful Hollow (usually an Adjuchas) that has removed part of its mask, becoming more like a Shinigami and gaining power by doing so.
And here is the fic! :D
When Shinigami Meet (Bankai Wing)
By Mel and Christy, who do not own either Gundam Wing or Bleach, but love to torment the characters anyway.
“--and we have no explanation as yet for why this… phenomenon… keeps occurring,” Kurotsuchi Mayuri finished his report, voice sour as he had to admit ignorance. “Several theories, but no confirmed explanation.”
Captain-General Ukitake sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Thank you. Captain Soi Fon?”
“I regret to report that the Onmitsukidou have discovered nothing obviously useful,” she said crisply. “Agents arriving on-scene after the Hollows have dispersed sometimes pick up traces of unusual reiatsu -- copies of their reports have been despatched to Twelfth Squad offices,” she added as Mayuri’s mouth opened, and he snapped it shut again, expression an interesting mix of eagerness and annoyance. “Agents arriving on-scene before the Hollows disperse tend not to survive. It is therefore my intent to send a combined squad--”
“Hell with that,” the captain of the Fifth Squad snorted, red hair bristling even more than usual. “Send some seated officers. Fuck, go yourself! Better yet, send me!”
“Captain Abarai.” Ukitake didn’t raise his voice, but Renji subsided, muttering an apology. “Please let Soi Fon finish.”
She shot a glare in Renji’s direction, then looked pointedly away, ignoring him. “As I was saying; the next time one of these assemblies of Hollows is detected, I intend to send a combined squad to observe, including at least two seated officers, with instructions to keep their distance if at all possible. They will attempt to gather intelligence on the Hollows’ strength, behaviour, and objectives without engaging them in combat.”
“Thank you.” The white-haired Captain-General looked down the row of captains, gaze settling on brilliant orange hair. “Captain Kurosaki? Have the Visored answered our request for information yet?”
Kurosaki Ichigo, captain of the Thirteenth Squad and semi-unofficial liaison to the Visored (and numerous other groups that had more-or-less friendly relationships with Seireitai) grimaced, scratching at the back of his head. “Yeah, but they don’t know much either. They haven’t run into any of these Hollow parties themselves, so all they could suggest was that maybe they’re being drawn to scenes of mass death. That kinda makes sense, I guess, since a lot of the time they show up a couple of days after one of those ‘colony terrorist attacks’ in the living world, but… it’s not consistent, y’know?”
Mayuri snorted. “If it were that simple, we would know it! There’s no correlation between the number of deaths and Hollow appearances, they’ve shown up after attacks that caused only property damage, they’ve shown up independently of any attack--”
“Yeah, yeah, we heard you the first time! Don’t pull out the damn graphs again, sheesh!” Ichigo glared Mayuri back into silence, then turned back to Ukitake. “Like the face-paint freak says--”
“Hmph!”
“--it doesn’t match up that way. One more thing, though.” He hesitated, looking uncomfortable. “I got a message from Grimmjow.”
There were murmurs of surprise, and Zaraki Kenpachi laughed. “He’s still alive? Hadn’t heard anything about him for what, a hundred years?”
“About that, yeah.” Ichigo’s mouth twitched up in a wry smile.
Zaraki’s grin bared too many teeth for comfort. “Bet he wants a fight.”
“How did you guess? Yeah, he wants a rematch, but for him that’s like talking about the weather. The interesting part was--”
“What, the challenge wasn’t interesting? Yer gettin’ soft.”
“--shaddap. He also said-- Zaraki, shaddap, this is serious!” Ichigo scowled, looking uncharacteristically grim. “He said there’s something in the living world that smells tasty enough to tempt even him out. Don’t ask me what, I sent back a message asking for details but haven’t got a reply yet.”
“…Well,” Ukitake said after a long pause. “That may be the most useful information we’ve obtained yet, and it fits with the reports of ‘unusual reiatsu’. Captain Kurotsuchi, please do your best to analyse whatever readings Captain Soi Fon’s squad members have managed to obtain for you.
“As for everyone else…” He paused again, then went on decisively. “This is a general order. All Shinigami on patrol in the living world are to retreat and request assistance immediately upon detecting three or more Hollows in one location. When such a transmission is received, Captain Soi Fon’s reinforced squads will be despatched--”
Renji scowled.
“--accompanied by either Captain Kurosaki or Captain Abarai.”
Renji grinned.
“…Not that I’m complaining, Ukitake-san, but why me?” Ichigo asked, a little uncertainly. “Renji’ll whine like a little bi-- kid if you don’t send him, fair enough…”
“I would like you to have first-hand experience of this reiatsu,” Ukitake said gravely. “Examine it from your… unique perspective.”
The orange-haired shinigami snorted. “Let Shirosaki have a sniff and see if he drools, you mean?”
“Eloquently put. Dismissed.”
* * * * *
“Duo? Have you got a moment?”
“Mmph! Nrr hmph m’rmph-- peh!” Duo’s response became intelligible as he took a screwdriver out of his mouth, wrinkling his nose at the oily taste. “Yes, I have a moment. I even have several minutes if you don’t mind talking to my rear end while I recalibrate this. Wassup?”
“Have you… I mean, lately…” Quatre’s voice was suddenly uncertain, and Duo backed out of the access panel on Deathscythe’s leg to eye him face-to-face.
“Q-bean? Spit it out.”
The blond pilot swallowed, looking around to make sure they were alone, then leaned in and lowered his voice. “Have you seen anything… different… recently?”
“Different how?” Duo asked, matching his volume.
“Not ghosts.” Quatre swallowed again. “Things. Monsters with white masks.”
“…A couple times, yeah,” the long-haired boy admitted, voice dropping even further. “I went the other way in a hurry.”
“Me too!” Quatre laughed breathlessly, sounding a little relieved. “I usually feel them before I get too near, but a couple of times I haven’t been able to double back. They feel wrong.”
“Sound wrong, too,” Duo muttered. “I didn’t want to mention it in case I was the only one seeing them, y’know? Maybe we both see ghosts, okay, they’re not just in my head, but that doesn’t mean I’m sane all the way,” he added, grinning.
Duo had always seen ghosts. For as long as he could remember, they had been hanging around on the edges of anything he was involved in; quiet, pale-faced people with broken chains dangling from their chests, drifting a few inches above the ground. Nobody else could see them, and he’d learned not to mention them long before the Maxwell Shrine took him in. After he’d met Doctor G he started seeing another, livelier spirit in and around Deathscythe, and just figured that his delusion was expanding into a personification of his Gundam.
Then one day he caught Quatre watching a teenage ghost on the sports field of a school they were attending, and discovered that someone else could see his ‘delusions’.
…Some of them, at least. Quatre couldn’t see Deathscythe.
“Just because I can’t see Deathscythe doesn’t mean he isn’t real,” Quatre said, echoing Duo’s unspoken thoughts. “You’ve seen ghosts all your life, but I only started seeing them a few months ago; maybe I just can’t see him yet.”
Duo mock-glared at his friend. “You sure you’re an empath and not a telepath, Q? ’Cause you took the words right outta my head.”
“If I were a telepath, intelligence gathering would be a lot easier,” he sighed. “So. We’re both seeing the white-masked monsters, so they’re real too. Somehow I’m not enormously happy about that.”
“Yeeeah, I wouldn’t really mind if they were hallucinations. Not sure what we can do about ’em if they aren’t…”
Quatre grimaced. “Me neither. Maybe we don’t need to do anything?” he went on, looking hopeful. “The ghosts don’t do any harm.”
A leather-clad arm draped itself around Duo’s neck, and long loose hair tickled his cheek. “The masked jerks do harm all right,” Deathscythe’s deep voice purred in his ear. “You can feel it. They’re hungry.”
Duo sighed, one hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Uh, yeah, Q? Given that you’re willing to believe that ’Scythe might exist? He says the mask-thingies are not harmless.”
“Oh, lovely. Does he have any useful advice on what to do about them?”
Duo twisted to eye the tall spirit smirking back at him. “Well?”
Deathscythe shrugged. “Guns won’t work. You need to put your heart into the strike. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine,” he grinned, and faded out of view before Duo could swear at him.
Quatre winced when Duo passed that helpful tidbit on. “I suppose I’d better borrow a couple of knives from Trowa, then. Just in case…”
* * * * *
When the Senkaimon opened, Ichigo had to jerk to a halt to avoid running straight over Renji.
“Well?!” the red-haired shinigami demanded, arms crossed over his tattooed chest. “Didja catch anything?”
“No,” Ichigo growled, stiff-arming him in the shoulder. “Outta the way, Renji, I gotta go report. You might as well come too, I’m gonna have to tell you anyway.”
Renji eyed the crease between Ichigo’s eyebrows as they walked, long practice at judging the younger shinigami’s mood telling him all was not well. “You look pissed,” he said bluntly, and was rather surprised when Ichigo laughed.
“Nah, this is Shirosaki,” he explained, bringing one hand up and rubbing his thumb over the wrinkle. “He’s being an asshole, won’t shut up. I’m just kinda tired. Going to the living world always feels like I’ve got a blanket wrapped around my head or something.”
Renji grunted sympathetically. “Yeah, that seal’s a bitch,” he muttered, punching his friend in the shoulder as they swung into the First Squad’s compound.
“Were you planning to learn to speak like a captain any time soon, Renji? It’s been nearly five hundred years; the rank has to affect you sooner or later,” an acidic female voice interrupted from behind him.
“Same time you learn how to speak like a vice-captain, Rukia!” he grinned, flipping her the bird without looking. “What happened to your high-class Kuchiki manners?”
“I don’t waste them on people who are too low-class to appreciate them,” she sniffed primly, coming level with his shoulder and walking with them towards the main doors.
“What a surprise! Me neither.”
“Ooh, well done! That was nearly witty repartee,” she snickered, cool expression giving way to a smirk. “Captain-General Ukitake is expecting you, Ichigo, and he probably won’t kick out this uninvited freeloader either.”
“Oi!”
“Give it up, Renji,” Ichigo snickered. “You’re never going to live that one down.”
Ukitake Juushirou looked up with a smile as they entered, putting a stack of paperwork aside. “Kurosaki-kun, welcome back. Any news?”
“Yeah, some,” Ichigo told him, sitting down with a sigh. “And I’m glad you’re being informal, Ukitake-san, because it’s probably quicker if I let Shirosaki make this report and he doesn’t do formal.”
“I see,” Ukitake blinked. “He -- er -- drooled, then?”
Ichigo choked on a laugh. “Oh, yeah! If he’d been in full control of our body, I’d have a wet streak all the way down my front.” He ducked his head for a moment, closing his eyes, and when he opened them again they were blazing black and yellow.
“Yeah, well if I’d been in full control of the body we mighta actually seen something, ’stead of just smelling nummy treats,” he went on, mouth stretching into a sharp-toothed grin.
Renji and Rukia shifted uncomfortably as Ichigo’s Hollow side came to the fore and his reiatsu shifted, curdling into something dark and dangerous. ‘Shirosaki’ might have mellowed considerably in the centuries since he and Ichigo had come to some sort of agreement, but he still wasn’t a restful presence to share a room with.
Ukitake nodded gravely, seemingly unaffected. “Shirosaki-kun, thank you for your help. Could you describe what you sensed, please?”
“It’s a human,” Shirosaki shrugged. “Not that that’s really a surprise. Powerful, completely untrained -- which just makes it more attractive -- and tasty.” His grin widened, long tongue flicking out to lick his top lip. “I woulda got a better sniff at it, but one of the Hollows waiting for it was fuckin’ stupid--”
“That’s why the Hollows have been gathering like this?” Renji interrupted incredulously. “They’re trying to ambush one human soul?!”
“You wouldn’t be so surprised if you could taste it the way I can,” Shirosaki snorted. “I’m talkin’ serious nummy treat here, rich as a Shinigami but with no defences. This soul’s a fuckin’ buffet. Anyway, one of the Hollows didn’t get the memo that ambushes are meant to be sneaky and howled. Nummy treat musta heard it and started goin’ the other way fast, the Hollows started chasin’ it, and King hadda be a hero an’ take ’em out instead’a going after the treat for a better look.” He shrugged, almost pouting. “By the time we’d got ’em all, treat was either out of range or shielding.”
Ukitake frowned, rubbing his chin in thought. “Are we dealing with a living soul, or a Plus?”
Shirosaki hesitated, then shook his head. “Couldn’t tell. I’d say Plus, ’cause you don’t get that kinda strength in the living often and it smelled of death, but… it smelled of life too, somehow.” His grin returned, lopsided and almost wistful. “That’s what makes it so damn attractive. Life and death at the same time, what a Hollow is and what it wants rolled up into one juicy little package…” He shivered, voice dropping to a whisper. “I don’t get hungry the way they do, but I really want a taste. Just one lick…”
He shivered again, then straightened up, expression back to his normal homicidal leer. “You got any more questions? ’Cause if not, I want a nap.”
“No, thank you Shirosaki-kun. Your assistance is appreciated.”
* * * * *
Padding quietly through the dawn twilight towards their hidden getaway car, Duo didn’t realise Quatre had stopped until he nearly ran into his back.
“Q? What’s up?” he breathed, voice pitched to carry no further than the blond’s ear.
“Masks,” Quatre breathed back, one hand sliding into his jacket to grasp a knife-hilt. “Feel them?”
“You’re the one with the space-heart, dude,” Duo groused. “I normally hear ’em first… but yeah,” he sighed. “Now that I’m looking for ’em, yeah, they’re there all right. Turn around?”
Quatre hesitated. “What about the car?”
“I didn't leave anything in it that I can’t live without. You?”
“Same.”
“Then we steal a new one. The base commandant’s car looked shiny.”
“And memorable,” Quatre snorted, turning to go back the way they’d come. “I say we take something boring but fast from the carpool.”
----------
“There’s two of them!”
“Keep your voice down,” one of the Second Squad members hissed. “You won’t get your precious readings if the Hollows hear you!”
The three scientists from Twelfth Squad barely seemed to notice the admonishment, hunching over their portable screens as they recorded everything possible, but they did at least keep their excited discussions down to a whisper.
The creep might have demanded we drag somebody from his squad along so they could take ‘proper’ readings, but it’s gonna backfire on him if we don’t get good data ’cause the science geeks haven’t been out in the field in decades, Renji thought, not sure whether he was annoyed or amused.
=Ambushing an ambush is tricky enough when you know what you’re doing,= Zabimaru’s deep baboon-voice agreed in the back of his head.
=The only thing they could ambush is a microscope,= the snake-voice snapped. =If that.=
=Give them credit, Hebi,= the baboon rumbled, amused. =They could do it. Their microscopes are clamped to the tables, after all.=
=Ha!=
Renji resisted the urge to fidget, feeling reiatsu from the nearby Hollows prickle along his skin. All the Shinigami had their own reiatsu suppressed as far as possible, camouflaged by kidou bindings, but it still wouldn’t take much to give them away.
=The nummy treats are going the other way,= Hebi announced, sounding bored.
Oi, don’t you start calling them that! You’re not a fucking Hollow like Shiro-- wait, what?
“They’ve turned around!” one of the scientists announced in a strangled whisper, twisting to look over his shoulder at Renji. “Captain Abarai, what should we do?”
“Captain Kurotsuchi will kill us if we don’t come back with more data than this,” one of the others muttered, swallowing hard.
And with Mayuri-the-freak involved, she’s probably not exaggerating. Renji grimaced, then made a wide circling gesture with one hand. “We’ll go around the Hollows and try to catch up with the, uh, subjects once we’re clear,” he said softly. “Give them a wide margin,” he added, looking at the leader of the Second Squad personnel and jerking his chin pointedly towards the scientists; the onmitsu nodded back, and more Second Squad members fell in between the scientists and the Hollows, ushering them along.
“One’s much stronger than the other, but they share similar qualities,” the first scientist murmured under his breath, letting himself be guided by a hand on his arm as he concentrated on his screen. “Fascinating…”
Renji and the onmitsu shared a look of complete understanding, brown eyes under tattooed eyebrows meeting steel-grey eyes over a black facemask, and silently agreed to give the Hollows a little more room.
“They’re fading,” the female scientist hissed, tapping frantically at her handheld sensor. “Some sort of stealth ability, or-- I’m losing lock on them!”
“I think I can refine the scan, now that we’ve got at least a partial profile,” the third scientist mumbled, sweat glistening on his forehead as he hammered virtual keys. “Switch to an active mode, tune it to their ki signatures -- plant a tracer once we get closer -- this should do it--” Smiling in triumphant relief, he hit one last key, and his screen flashed as it accepted the new parameters.
…And it beeped. One long, loud, piercing tone that carried like a whistle.
----------
“I don’t think they noticed us,” Quatre whispered, crouched beside a car in the base parking lot as Duo picked the driver’s door open. “They aren’t following, at least.”
“That’s because Shinigami is the god of stealth as well as death,” Duo grinned, fingers making tiny, precise adjustments. “I tiptoe in, I tiptoe out, and I tiptoe the fuck away without anyone noticing a thing. Unless I blow shit up,” he added, tugging at the door handle and smirking as it opened with a soft click. “Awright! Time to--”
Something howled, a long wail of hunger and loss sending chills down their spines.
“Time to leave,” Quatre agreed, diving across to the passenger side.
“Time to leave fast,” Duo said fervently. Abandoning finesse for speed, he demolished the plastic around the steering column with one well-targeted kick and grabbed a handful of wires, yanking some loose and twisting others together with feverish haste.
“That’s not a Mask,” Quatre gulped, twisting in his seat to stare into the night.
Duo’s hands shook and he resisted the urge to cringe. It was like fire on his back, a presence hot as the sun, and though it didn’t feel wrong the way the white-masked things did it didn’t feel friendly either. “You wanna stick around to find out what it is?” he panted, slamming the car door shut as the engine purred to life.
“No!”
“Good, ’cause I wasn’t planning to,” he half-laughed, and floored the accelerator.
----------
“Howl, Zabimaru!”
The first Hollow was bisected in mid-air, halves dissolving into nothingness before they hit the ground, and Renji let his reiatsu flare.
=Told ya. Can’t ambush shit,= Hebi snickered in the back of his head.
The scientists were cowering and the third one was practically sweating ice, no doubt envisioning having to explain to Mayuri-the-freak that they hadn’t been able to get good data and it was all his fault, and Renji took pity on them. “You three, go after the nummy treats,” he snapped, pointing. “You, you, you, you and you, escort them. Everyone else, we’re stopping the Hollows-- what is it now, Zabimaru?!”
The snake was hissing like a teakettle, laughing so hard it was choking, and the baboon-voice wasn’t much better. =You called them nummy treats!= it chortled.
“…Oh, shut up.”
----------
The scientists and their escorts trailed back some time later, and Renji stood up from the rock he’d been sitting on to greet them.
“Manage to catch up to ’em?” he asked, stifling a yawn, and the scientists shook their heads.
“No, Captain Abarai. We did get some more readings, and we’ve confirmed that they’re almost certainly alive, though!” the woman said, looking cautiously optimistic. “We think they stole a car to escape in, and we found another abandoned vehicle with a clear ki signature on it.”
“That’s something, at least,” Renji nodded, and swung Zabimaru up to rest against his shoulder. “Think you got enough to keep your captain happy?”
They glanced at each other, shrugged, and nodded. “Probably, Captain Abarai.”
“All right then!” Renji stretched and closed his eyes, yawning openly this time. “I call this a reasonably successful mission. Hollows located and scanned to within an inch of their unlives; preliminary scans of the nu-- of the subjects obtained; subjects retreated, presumably upon sensing the Hollows; pursuit complicated by the Hollows reacting to the subjects’ movements--” One eye popped open, looked pointedly at the third scientist, swivelled to look at the lead onmitsu, then closed again. “--but detailed readings were still obtained, yay us. Anybody want to add anything?”
“…No, Captain Abarai,” the onmitsu said slowly. “I believe that is an admirably clear and succinct summary of events.”
“Good!” Renji grinned and opened his eyes, twirling Zabimaru. “Let’s get back, make our reports, then go research or poke targets or whatever floats your boat. Me, I want a beer.”
* * * * *
Duo groaned, flopping into the squishy, broken-springed chair that Trowa had hauled back from somewhere to furnish their current bolthole. “Is it my imagination, or are we getting all the field missions at the moment? Wufei’s on that long-term surveillance thing for O, fair enough, but Heero and Trowa could take some of these!”
“Heero’s doing prep for something big that Doctor J wants them to coordinate for, I think,” Quatre said tiredly. “They were supposed to start a couple of weeks ago, actually, but they’ve had to reschedule at least three times.”
“So they’re stuck doing ‘hurry up and wait’, huh?” Duo made a face. “That’s what career military are supposed to do, not dashing freedom fighters! Make the OZ grunts do it!”
“I would if I could. Speaking of us getting all the field missions…” Quatre’s voice trailed off as he looked at Duo meaningfully, and the braided pilot groaned again.
“Another one? We just got back! At least tell me I get to stomp shit in Deathscythe!”
“Sadly, no, but you do get to blow things up.”
“Well, that’s something at least. What are you doing?”
“Hacking the base computers from just outside their perimeter while you blow up the aforementioned things,” Quatre smirked, eyes glittering for a moment. “You will not believe the hole in their security I found.”
“I can believe a lot of stupid from OZ. Give,” Duo said, reaching out for Quatre’s laptop.
“…Okay, even for OZ, that’s special,” he snorted a minute later. “What bright spark came up with that idea?”
“It was probably a cost-cutting measure,” Quatre pointed out, taking his laptop back. “It does make a certain amount of sense to co-locate a lot of your computerised security infrastructure in one spot.”
“Not when that one spot is a telecommunications node outside your perimeter!”
“I said ‘a certain amount’ of sense, not ‘a lot’.” Quatre grinned, then sobered, looking down at his keyboard. “I have to wonder, though…”
“Hm?”
“Do you think we’ll run into those masked things again?”
Duo shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Dunno. Hope not,” he admitted.
“They’re showing up all the time now. Were they always there, and we just couldn’t see them? Or--”
“Ugh, that’s a creepy thought!”
“Or,” Quatre persisted, “is there some reason why they’re turning up now? Are they chasing us?”
“Oh, man, you had to come up with something even creepier, didn’t you.” Duo bit his lip, thinking hard. “…Creepy or not, I think I prefer option two,” he said eventually. “If those things are chasing us, specifically, they’re less likely to turn up around the other guys.” Who couldn’t see them, and wouldn’t know anything about it if they needed to run, both pilots understood. “And ’Scythe says they’re hungry,” he added, voice dropping to an indistinct mumble.
Quatre looked queasy. “You accuse me of saying creepy stuff, and then you tell me that? I wanted to sleep tonight, you know!”
----------
“Captain Abarai!” Rikichi skidded through the door and crashed to one knee, breathing hard. “Mission!”
“A mission? You mean one of those Hollow parties?” Renji jerked to his feet, then hesitated. “Isn’t it Kurosaki’s turn--?”
“He’s already gone,” Rikichi puffed, waving a folded paper. “There’s two groups this time, fairly close together. Maybe because there’s two nummy treats?”
“Fuckin’ hell, not you too! We are not calling them ‘nummy treats’, okay?!”
“Er.” Eyes wide, Rikichi unfolded the paper and pointed to a paragraph in the middle. “Captain Kurotsuchi is…”
“He would,” Renji snarled, stomping out.
----------
Quatre’s side of the mission had gone well. Maybe too well, he thought; it looked like his invasion of the base computers had gone completely unnoticed, and as a result nobody was chasing him. Normally this would be a good thing, but the shouts and gunshots from the other side of the compound were making him feel rather guilty.
“Duo?” he said cautiously, moth close to his short-range scrambled com. “Would you like a distraction?”
< < I am a distraction, Q-bean, > > a laughing voice replied. < < Don’t worry about me; in about thirty seconds the OZzies are gonna have something better to think about. You good to get clear on your own? > >
“I am if you are,” Quatre sighed, smiling despite himself. “Are you sure?”
< < Yup. I can-- wups! Duck! > >
***BOOOOOM!***
< < Told ya, > > Duo said smugly, and Quatre had to laugh.
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop fussing. See you later.”
Half the base was rubble, burning, or both; emergency vehicles from the nearby town would be arriving soon, and the blond pilot decided that it was time to leave before his concern for Duo got him trapped between the civilians and the soldiers. They’d plotted out tentative escape routes through the local scrub forest, and he headed for the nearest one, picking his way carefully through the undergrowth by the light of the moon.
Five minutes later, he slid to a stop as an unwelcomely familiar feeling crept queasily over him. Oh, not again...
Clicking his com on, he took a couple of cautious steps backwards, trying to work out how close the white-masked monsters were. “Duo?” he whispered. “Be careful, those things are out and about again. …Duo?”
No answer. Duo must be out of range.
He can take care of himself, Quatre told himself firmly. He knows to be careful-- well, he knows to watch out, at least, he corrected the thought. Worry about yourself right now. Which way can I go?
If he cut left through a slightly thicker stand of trees, there was an alternate route on the other side, a lightly-used walking track that curved well out of his way before swinging back around. Most importantly, it would take him well away from the dark and hungry feeling ahead of him.
Decision made, Quatre turned and stepped forwards -- and froze, as he felt predatory eyes on him from somewhere far too close.
----------
This is kind of a prologue to the main story, and MAN did we have fun writing it! XD Set in a slightly AU version of Gundam Wing where the war lasts longer and Endless Waltz never happens; it's five hundred years in the future of Bleach and draws from that canon up until the Lost Substitute Shinigami arc, though we've changed a few things - the Visored never rejoined the Thirteen Squads in this fic, though they are on reasonably good terms with their old allies.
I think it's fair to assume that practically everyone who reads our fic already understands all the Gundam Wing references. :P Therefore, here is a handy-dandy guide to the Bleach characters and references we've included:
[CLICK HERE FOR INFO!]
We're using Japanese name order for the Bleach characters, but translating titles instead of having "Soutaichou" and "Taichou" and so on pop up fifty-bazillion times (unlike in 'Fight or Foreplay', where it doesn't come up nearly as often). Bleach fans will note that the captains' lineup is different, due to five hundred years passing and the Visored not returning to their old squads.
Ukitake Juushirou - Captain of the 1st squad, overall Captain-General of the Thirteen Squads.
Kuchiki Rukia - Vice-Captain of the 1st squad, adopted younger sister of Byakuya, good friend of Renji and Ichigo.
Soi Fon - Captain of the 2nd squad and leader of the Onmitsukidou.
Abarai Renji - Captain of the 5th squad.
Rikichi - Vice-Captain of the 5th squad.
Zabimaru - Renji's zanpakutou; in his 'inner world', it takes the form of a huge white baboon (Saru) with a snake for a tail (Hebi).
Kuchiki Byakuya - Captain of the 6th squad.
Komamura Sajin - Captain of the 7th squad, he is an anthropomorphic wolf.
Hitsugaya Toushirou - Captain of the 10th squad, he looks like a teenager despite being several hundred years old.
Zaraki Kenpachi - Captain of the 11th squad.
Kurotsuchi Mayuri - Captain of the 12th squad. SERIOUSLY CREEPY.
Kurosaki Ichigo - Captain of the 13th squad.
Grimmjow - a very powerful Arrancar, sort-of friends with Ichigo.
Shirosaki - Ichigo's 'inner Hollow'; his name is a pun on Ichigo's surname 'Kurosaki' and the fact that he has pure white skin and hair. ('Kuro' = 'black', 'shiro' = 'white')
Shinigami - Not Duo. :P Spirits who guide ghosts into Soul Society and fight Hollows.
Zanpakutou - 'Soul-Cutter Sword'; a Shinigami's sword, part of his/her soul. Zanpakutou have names and separate personalities.
Seireitai - The 'Court of Pure Souls'; where Shinigami live in Soul Society.
Senkaimon - A dimensional gate between the living world and Soul Society, used by Shinigami.
Reiatsu - Spiritual power/pressure.
Kidou - 'Demon Arts'; spells, either for attack, defence, or forms of binding.
Onmitsukidou - the Secret Tactics Force.
Onmitsu - Spies/Ninja.
Visored - Shinigami who have gained Hollow powers.
Plus - An ordinary Human ghost that hasn't yet crossed into the afterlife. They generally appear as they did at death, with a broken chain dangling from a plate attached to their chest over the heart.
Hollow - Plusses that are attacked by other Hollows or didn't pass on into the afterlife soon enough turn into Hollows. They are monsters with white skull-like masks and eat human spirits; the more powerful ones eat other Hollows, or try to prey on Shinigami.
Menos - A composite Hollow. When a Hollow gets too strong for human souls to sustain it and starts eating other Hollows, it will be attracted to other cannibal Hollows and they will try to eat each other, blending into a Gillian. If one of the Hollows within a Gillian is strong enough to dominate the others, it can evolve into an Adjuchas.
Arrancar - A powerful Hollow (usually an Adjuchas) that has removed part of its mask, becoming more like a Shinigami and gaining power by doing so.
And here is the fic! :D
When Shinigami Meet (Bankai Wing)
By Mel and Christy, who do not own either Gundam Wing or Bleach, but love to torment the characters anyway.
“--and we have no explanation as yet for why this… phenomenon… keeps occurring,” Kurotsuchi Mayuri finished his report, voice sour as he had to admit ignorance. “Several theories, but no confirmed explanation.”
Captain-General Ukitake sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Thank you. Captain Soi Fon?”
“I regret to report that the Onmitsukidou have discovered nothing obviously useful,” she said crisply. “Agents arriving on-scene after the Hollows have dispersed sometimes pick up traces of unusual reiatsu -- copies of their reports have been despatched to Twelfth Squad offices,” she added as Mayuri’s mouth opened, and he snapped it shut again, expression an interesting mix of eagerness and annoyance. “Agents arriving on-scene before the Hollows disperse tend not to survive. It is therefore my intent to send a combined squad--”
“Hell with that,” the captain of the Fifth Squad snorted, red hair bristling even more than usual. “Send some seated officers. Fuck, go yourself! Better yet, send me!”
“Captain Abarai.” Ukitake didn’t raise his voice, but Renji subsided, muttering an apology. “Please let Soi Fon finish.”
She shot a glare in Renji’s direction, then looked pointedly away, ignoring him. “As I was saying; the next time one of these assemblies of Hollows is detected, I intend to send a combined squad to observe, including at least two seated officers, with instructions to keep their distance if at all possible. They will attempt to gather intelligence on the Hollows’ strength, behaviour, and objectives without engaging them in combat.”
“Thank you.” The white-haired Captain-General looked down the row of captains, gaze settling on brilliant orange hair. “Captain Kurosaki? Have the Visored answered our request for information yet?”
Kurosaki Ichigo, captain of the Thirteenth Squad and semi-unofficial liaison to the Visored (and numerous other groups that had more-or-less friendly relationships with Seireitai) grimaced, scratching at the back of his head. “Yeah, but they don’t know much either. They haven’t run into any of these Hollow parties themselves, so all they could suggest was that maybe they’re being drawn to scenes of mass death. That kinda makes sense, I guess, since a lot of the time they show up a couple of days after one of those ‘colony terrorist attacks’ in the living world, but… it’s not consistent, y’know?”
Mayuri snorted. “If it were that simple, we would know it! There’s no correlation between the number of deaths and Hollow appearances, they’ve shown up after attacks that caused only property damage, they’ve shown up independently of any attack--”
“Yeah, yeah, we heard you the first time! Don’t pull out the damn graphs again, sheesh!” Ichigo glared Mayuri back into silence, then turned back to Ukitake. “Like the face-paint freak says--”
“Hmph!”
“--it doesn’t match up that way. One more thing, though.” He hesitated, looking uncomfortable. “I got a message from Grimmjow.”
There were murmurs of surprise, and Zaraki Kenpachi laughed. “He’s still alive? Hadn’t heard anything about him for what, a hundred years?”
“About that, yeah.” Ichigo’s mouth twitched up in a wry smile.
Zaraki’s grin bared too many teeth for comfort. “Bet he wants a fight.”
“How did you guess? Yeah, he wants a rematch, but for him that’s like talking about the weather. The interesting part was--”
“What, the challenge wasn’t interesting? Yer gettin’ soft.”
“--shaddap. He also said-- Zaraki, shaddap, this is serious!” Ichigo scowled, looking uncharacteristically grim. “He said there’s something in the living world that smells tasty enough to tempt even him out. Don’t ask me what, I sent back a message asking for details but haven’t got a reply yet.”
“…Well,” Ukitake said after a long pause. “That may be the most useful information we’ve obtained yet, and it fits with the reports of ‘unusual reiatsu’. Captain Kurotsuchi, please do your best to analyse whatever readings Captain Soi Fon’s squad members have managed to obtain for you.
“As for everyone else…” He paused again, then went on decisively. “This is a general order. All Shinigami on patrol in the living world are to retreat and request assistance immediately upon detecting three or more Hollows in one location. When such a transmission is received, Captain Soi Fon’s reinforced squads will be despatched--”
Renji scowled.
“--accompanied by either Captain Kurosaki or Captain Abarai.”
Renji grinned.
“…Not that I’m complaining, Ukitake-san, but why me?” Ichigo asked, a little uncertainly. “Renji’ll whine like a little bi-- kid if you don’t send him, fair enough…”
“I would like you to have first-hand experience of this reiatsu,” Ukitake said gravely. “Examine it from your… unique perspective.”
The orange-haired shinigami snorted. “Let Shirosaki have a sniff and see if he drools, you mean?”
“Eloquently put. Dismissed.”
* * * * *
“Duo? Have you got a moment?”
“Mmph! Nrr hmph m’rmph-- peh!” Duo’s response became intelligible as he took a screwdriver out of his mouth, wrinkling his nose at the oily taste. “Yes, I have a moment. I even have several minutes if you don’t mind talking to my rear end while I recalibrate this. Wassup?”
“Have you… I mean, lately…” Quatre’s voice was suddenly uncertain, and Duo backed out of the access panel on Deathscythe’s leg to eye him face-to-face.
“Q-bean? Spit it out.”
The blond pilot swallowed, looking around to make sure they were alone, then leaned in and lowered his voice. “Have you seen anything… different… recently?”
“Different how?” Duo asked, matching his volume.
“Not ghosts.” Quatre swallowed again. “Things. Monsters with white masks.”
“…A couple times, yeah,” the long-haired boy admitted, voice dropping even further. “I went the other way in a hurry.”
“Me too!” Quatre laughed breathlessly, sounding a little relieved. “I usually feel them before I get too near, but a couple of times I haven’t been able to double back. They feel wrong.”
“Sound wrong, too,” Duo muttered. “I didn’t want to mention it in case I was the only one seeing them, y’know? Maybe we both see ghosts, okay, they’re not just in my head, but that doesn’t mean I’m sane all the way,” he added, grinning.
Duo had always seen ghosts. For as long as he could remember, they had been hanging around on the edges of anything he was involved in; quiet, pale-faced people with broken chains dangling from their chests, drifting a few inches above the ground. Nobody else could see them, and he’d learned not to mention them long before the Maxwell Shrine took him in. After he’d met Doctor G he started seeing another, livelier spirit in and around Deathscythe, and just figured that his delusion was expanding into a personification of his Gundam.
Then one day he caught Quatre watching a teenage ghost on the sports field of a school they were attending, and discovered that someone else could see his ‘delusions’.
…Some of them, at least. Quatre couldn’t see Deathscythe.
“Just because I can’t see Deathscythe doesn’t mean he isn’t real,” Quatre said, echoing Duo’s unspoken thoughts. “You’ve seen ghosts all your life, but I only started seeing them a few months ago; maybe I just can’t see him yet.”
Duo mock-glared at his friend. “You sure you’re an empath and not a telepath, Q? ’Cause you took the words right outta my head.”
“If I were a telepath, intelligence gathering would be a lot easier,” he sighed. “So. We’re both seeing the white-masked monsters, so they’re real too. Somehow I’m not enormously happy about that.”
“Yeeeah, I wouldn’t really mind if they were hallucinations. Not sure what we can do about ’em if they aren’t…”
Quatre grimaced. “Me neither. Maybe we don’t need to do anything?” he went on, looking hopeful. “The ghosts don’t do any harm.”
A leather-clad arm draped itself around Duo’s neck, and long loose hair tickled his cheek. “The masked jerks do harm all right,” Deathscythe’s deep voice purred in his ear. “You can feel it. They’re hungry.”
Duo sighed, one hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Uh, yeah, Q? Given that you’re willing to believe that ’Scythe might exist? He says the mask-thingies are not harmless.”
“Oh, lovely. Does he have any useful advice on what to do about them?”
Duo twisted to eye the tall spirit smirking back at him. “Well?”
Deathscythe shrugged. “Guns won’t work. You need to put your heart into the strike. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine,” he grinned, and faded out of view before Duo could swear at him.
Quatre winced when Duo passed that helpful tidbit on. “I suppose I’d better borrow a couple of knives from Trowa, then. Just in case…”
* * * * *
When the Senkaimon opened, Ichigo had to jerk to a halt to avoid running straight over Renji.
“Well?!” the red-haired shinigami demanded, arms crossed over his tattooed chest. “Didja catch anything?”
“No,” Ichigo growled, stiff-arming him in the shoulder. “Outta the way, Renji, I gotta go report. You might as well come too, I’m gonna have to tell you anyway.”
Renji eyed the crease between Ichigo’s eyebrows as they walked, long practice at judging the younger shinigami’s mood telling him all was not well. “You look pissed,” he said bluntly, and was rather surprised when Ichigo laughed.
“Nah, this is Shirosaki,” he explained, bringing one hand up and rubbing his thumb over the wrinkle. “He’s being an asshole, won’t shut up. I’m just kinda tired. Going to the living world always feels like I’ve got a blanket wrapped around my head or something.”
Renji grunted sympathetically. “Yeah, that seal’s a bitch,” he muttered, punching his friend in the shoulder as they swung into the First Squad’s compound.
“Were you planning to learn to speak like a captain any time soon, Renji? It’s been nearly five hundred years; the rank has to affect you sooner or later,” an acidic female voice interrupted from behind him.
“Same time you learn how to speak like a vice-captain, Rukia!” he grinned, flipping her the bird without looking. “What happened to your high-class Kuchiki manners?”
“I don’t waste them on people who are too low-class to appreciate them,” she sniffed primly, coming level with his shoulder and walking with them towards the main doors.
“What a surprise! Me neither.”
“Ooh, well done! That was nearly witty repartee,” she snickered, cool expression giving way to a smirk. “Captain-General Ukitake is expecting you, Ichigo, and he probably won’t kick out this uninvited freeloader either.”
“Oi!”
“Give it up, Renji,” Ichigo snickered. “You’re never going to live that one down.”
Ukitake Juushirou looked up with a smile as they entered, putting a stack of paperwork aside. “Kurosaki-kun, welcome back. Any news?”
“Yeah, some,” Ichigo told him, sitting down with a sigh. “And I’m glad you’re being informal, Ukitake-san, because it’s probably quicker if I let Shirosaki make this report and he doesn’t do formal.”
“I see,” Ukitake blinked. “He -- er -- drooled, then?”
Ichigo choked on a laugh. “Oh, yeah! If he’d been in full control of our body, I’d have a wet streak all the way down my front.” He ducked his head for a moment, closing his eyes, and when he opened them again they were blazing black and yellow.
“Yeah, well if I’d been in full control of the body we mighta actually seen something, ’stead of just smelling nummy treats,” he went on, mouth stretching into a sharp-toothed grin.
Renji and Rukia shifted uncomfortably as Ichigo’s Hollow side came to the fore and his reiatsu shifted, curdling into something dark and dangerous. ‘Shirosaki’ might have mellowed considerably in the centuries since he and Ichigo had come to some sort of agreement, but he still wasn’t a restful presence to share a room with.
Ukitake nodded gravely, seemingly unaffected. “Shirosaki-kun, thank you for your help. Could you describe what you sensed, please?”
“It’s a human,” Shirosaki shrugged. “Not that that’s really a surprise. Powerful, completely untrained -- which just makes it more attractive -- and tasty.” His grin widened, long tongue flicking out to lick his top lip. “I woulda got a better sniff at it, but one of the Hollows waiting for it was fuckin’ stupid--”
“That’s why the Hollows have been gathering like this?” Renji interrupted incredulously. “They’re trying to ambush one human soul?!”
“You wouldn’t be so surprised if you could taste it the way I can,” Shirosaki snorted. “I’m talkin’ serious nummy treat here, rich as a Shinigami but with no defences. This soul’s a fuckin’ buffet. Anyway, one of the Hollows didn’t get the memo that ambushes are meant to be sneaky and howled. Nummy treat musta heard it and started goin’ the other way fast, the Hollows started chasin’ it, and King hadda be a hero an’ take ’em out instead’a going after the treat for a better look.” He shrugged, almost pouting. “By the time we’d got ’em all, treat was either out of range or shielding.”
Ukitake frowned, rubbing his chin in thought. “Are we dealing with a living soul, or a Plus?”
Shirosaki hesitated, then shook his head. “Couldn’t tell. I’d say Plus, ’cause you don’t get that kinda strength in the living often and it smelled of death, but… it smelled of life too, somehow.” His grin returned, lopsided and almost wistful. “That’s what makes it so damn attractive. Life and death at the same time, what a Hollow is and what it wants rolled up into one juicy little package…” He shivered, voice dropping to a whisper. “I don’t get hungry the way they do, but I really want a taste. Just one lick…”
He shivered again, then straightened up, expression back to his normal homicidal leer. “You got any more questions? ’Cause if not, I want a nap.”
“No, thank you Shirosaki-kun. Your assistance is appreciated.”
* * * * *
Padding quietly through the dawn twilight towards their hidden getaway car, Duo didn’t realise Quatre had stopped until he nearly ran into his back.
“Q? What’s up?” he breathed, voice pitched to carry no further than the blond’s ear.
“Masks,” Quatre breathed back, one hand sliding into his jacket to grasp a knife-hilt. “Feel them?”
“You’re the one with the space-heart, dude,” Duo groused. “I normally hear ’em first… but yeah,” he sighed. “Now that I’m looking for ’em, yeah, they’re there all right. Turn around?”
Quatre hesitated. “What about the car?”
“I didn't leave anything in it that I can’t live without. You?”
“Same.”
“Then we steal a new one. The base commandant’s car looked shiny.”
“And memorable,” Quatre snorted, turning to go back the way they’d come. “I say we take something boring but fast from the carpool.”
----------
“There’s two of them!”
“Keep your voice down,” one of the Second Squad members hissed. “You won’t get your precious readings if the Hollows hear you!”
The three scientists from Twelfth Squad barely seemed to notice the admonishment, hunching over their portable screens as they recorded everything possible, but they did at least keep their excited discussions down to a whisper.
The creep might have demanded we drag somebody from his squad along so they could take ‘proper’ readings, but it’s gonna backfire on him if we don’t get good data ’cause the science geeks haven’t been out in the field in decades, Renji thought, not sure whether he was annoyed or amused.
=Ambushing an ambush is tricky enough when you know what you’re doing,= Zabimaru’s deep baboon-voice agreed in the back of his head.
=The only thing they could ambush is a microscope,= the snake-voice snapped. =If that.=
=Give them credit, Hebi,= the baboon rumbled, amused. =They could do it. Their microscopes are clamped to the tables, after all.=
=Ha!=
Renji resisted the urge to fidget, feeling reiatsu from the nearby Hollows prickle along his skin. All the Shinigami had their own reiatsu suppressed as far as possible, camouflaged by kidou bindings, but it still wouldn’t take much to give them away.
=The nummy treats are going the other way,= Hebi announced, sounding bored.
Oi, don’t you start calling them that! You’re not a fucking Hollow like Shiro-- wait, what?
“They’ve turned around!” one of the scientists announced in a strangled whisper, twisting to look over his shoulder at Renji. “Captain Abarai, what should we do?”
“Captain Kurotsuchi will kill us if we don’t come back with more data than this,” one of the others muttered, swallowing hard.
And with Mayuri-the-freak involved, she’s probably not exaggerating. Renji grimaced, then made a wide circling gesture with one hand. “We’ll go around the Hollows and try to catch up with the, uh, subjects once we’re clear,” he said softly. “Give them a wide margin,” he added, looking at the leader of the Second Squad personnel and jerking his chin pointedly towards the scientists; the onmitsu nodded back, and more Second Squad members fell in between the scientists and the Hollows, ushering them along.
“One’s much stronger than the other, but they share similar qualities,” the first scientist murmured under his breath, letting himself be guided by a hand on his arm as he concentrated on his screen. “Fascinating…”
Renji and the onmitsu shared a look of complete understanding, brown eyes under tattooed eyebrows meeting steel-grey eyes over a black facemask, and silently agreed to give the Hollows a little more room.
“They’re fading,” the female scientist hissed, tapping frantically at her handheld sensor. “Some sort of stealth ability, or-- I’m losing lock on them!”
“I think I can refine the scan, now that we’ve got at least a partial profile,” the third scientist mumbled, sweat glistening on his forehead as he hammered virtual keys. “Switch to an active mode, tune it to their ki signatures -- plant a tracer once we get closer -- this should do it--” Smiling in triumphant relief, he hit one last key, and his screen flashed as it accepted the new parameters.
…And it beeped. One long, loud, piercing tone that carried like a whistle.
----------
“I don’t think they noticed us,” Quatre whispered, crouched beside a car in the base parking lot as Duo picked the driver’s door open. “They aren’t following, at least.”
“That’s because Shinigami is the god of stealth as well as death,” Duo grinned, fingers making tiny, precise adjustments. “I tiptoe in, I tiptoe out, and I tiptoe the fuck away without anyone noticing a thing. Unless I blow shit up,” he added, tugging at the door handle and smirking as it opened with a soft click. “Awright! Time to--”
Something howled, a long wail of hunger and loss sending chills down their spines.
“Time to leave,” Quatre agreed, diving across to the passenger side.
“Time to leave fast,” Duo said fervently. Abandoning finesse for speed, he demolished the plastic around the steering column with one well-targeted kick and grabbed a handful of wires, yanking some loose and twisting others together with feverish haste.
“That’s not a Mask,” Quatre gulped, twisting in his seat to stare into the night.
Duo’s hands shook and he resisted the urge to cringe. It was like fire on his back, a presence hot as the sun, and though it didn’t feel wrong the way the white-masked things did it didn’t feel friendly either. “You wanna stick around to find out what it is?” he panted, slamming the car door shut as the engine purred to life.
“No!”
“Good, ’cause I wasn’t planning to,” he half-laughed, and floored the accelerator.
----------
“Howl, Zabimaru!”
The first Hollow was bisected in mid-air, halves dissolving into nothingness before they hit the ground, and Renji let his reiatsu flare.
=Told ya. Can’t ambush shit,= Hebi snickered in the back of his head.
The scientists were cowering and the third one was practically sweating ice, no doubt envisioning having to explain to Mayuri-the-freak that they hadn’t been able to get good data and it was all his fault, and Renji took pity on them. “You three, go after the nummy treats,” he snapped, pointing. “You, you, you, you and you, escort them. Everyone else, we’re stopping the Hollows-- what is it now, Zabimaru?!”
The snake was hissing like a teakettle, laughing so hard it was choking, and the baboon-voice wasn’t much better. =You called them nummy treats!= it chortled.
“…Oh, shut up.”
----------
The scientists and their escorts trailed back some time later, and Renji stood up from the rock he’d been sitting on to greet them.
“Manage to catch up to ’em?” he asked, stifling a yawn, and the scientists shook their heads.
“No, Captain Abarai. We did get some more readings, and we’ve confirmed that they’re almost certainly alive, though!” the woman said, looking cautiously optimistic. “We think they stole a car to escape in, and we found another abandoned vehicle with a clear ki signature on it.”
“That’s something, at least,” Renji nodded, and swung Zabimaru up to rest against his shoulder. “Think you got enough to keep your captain happy?”
They glanced at each other, shrugged, and nodded. “Probably, Captain Abarai.”
“All right then!” Renji stretched and closed his eyes, yawning openly this time. “I call this a reasonably successful mission. Hollows located and scanned to within an inch of their unlives; preliminary scans of the nu-- of the subjects obtained; subjects retreated, presumably upon sensing the Hollows; pursuit complicated by the Hollows reacting to the subjects’ movements--” One eye popped open, looked pointedly at the third scientist, swivelled to look at the lead onmitsu, then closed again. “--but detailed readings were still obtained, yay us. Anybody want to add anything?”
“…No, Captain Abarai,” the onmitsu said slowly. “I believe that is an admirably clear and succinct summary of events.”
“Good!” Renji grinned and opened his eyes, twirling Zabimaru. “Let’s get back, make our reports, then go research or poke targets or whatever floats your boat. Me, I want a beer.”
* * * * *
Duo groaned, flopping into the squishy, broken-springed chair that Trowa had hauled back from somewhere to furnish their current bolthole. “Is it my imagination, or are we getting all the field missions at the moment? Wufei’s on that long-term surveillance thing for O, fair enough, but Heero and Trowa could take some of these!”
“Heero’s doing prep for something big that Doctor J wants them to coordinate for, I think,” Quatre said tiredly. “They were supposed to start a couple of weeks ago, actually, but they’ve had to reschedule at least three times.”
“So they’re stuck doing ‘hurry up and wait’, huh?” Duo made a face. “That’s what career military are supposed to do, not dashing freedom fighters! Make the OZ grunts do it!”
“I would if I could. Speaking of us getting all the field missions…” Quatre’s voice trailed off as he looked at Duo meaningfully, and the braided pilot groaned again.
“Another one? We just got back! At least tell me I get to stomp shit in Deathscythe!”
“Sadly, no, but you do get to blow things up.”
“Well, that’s something at least. What are you doing?”
“Hacking the base computers from just outside their perimeter while you blow up the aforementioned things,” Quatre smirked, eyes glittering for a moment. “You will not believe the hole in their security I found.”
“I can believe a lot of stupid from OZ. Give,” Duo said, reaching out for Quatre’s laptop.
“…Okay, even for OZ, that’s special,” he snorted a minute later. “What bright spark came up with that idea?”
“It was probably a cost-cutting measure,” Quatre pointed out, taking his laptop back. “It does make a certain amount of sense to co-locate a lot of your computerised security infrastructure in one spot.”
“Not when that one spot is a telecommunications node outside your perimeter!”
“I said ‘a certain amount’ of sense, not ‘a lot’.” Quatre grinned, then sobered, looking down at his keyboard. “I have to wonder, though…”
“Hm?”
“Do you think we’ll run into those masked things again?”
Duo shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Dunno. Hope not,” he admitted.
“They’re showing up all the time now. Were they always there, and we just couldn’t see them? Or--”
“Ugh, that’s a creepy thought!”
“Or,” Quatre persisted, “is there some reason why they’re turning up now? Are they chasing us?”
“Oh, man, you had to come up with something even creepier, didn’t you.” Duo bit his lip, thinking hard. “…Creepy or not, I think I prefer option two,” he said eventually. “If those things are chasing us, specifically, they’re less likely to turn up around the other guys.” Who couldn’t see them, and wouldn’t know anything about it if they needed to run, both pilots understood. “And ’Scythe says they’re hungry,” he added, voice dropping to an indistinct mumble.
Quatre looked queasy. “You accuse me of saying creepy stuff, and then you tell me that? I wanted to sleep tonight, you know!”
----------
“Captain Abarai!” Rikichi skidded through the door and crashed to one knee, breathing hard. “Mission!”
“A mission? You mean one of those Hollow parties?” Renji jerked to his feet, then hesitated. “Isn’t it Kurosaki’s turn--?”
“He’s already gone,” Rikichi puffed, waving a folded paper. “There’s two groups this time, fairly close together. Maybe because there’s two nummy treats?”
“Fuckin’ hell, not you too! We are not calling them ‘nummy treats’, okay?!”
“Er.” Eyes wide, Rikichi unfolded the paper and pointed to a paragraph in the middle. “Captain Kurotsuchi is…”
“He would,” Renji snarled, stomping out.
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Quatre’s side of the mission had gone well. Maybe too well, he thought; it looked like his invasion of the base computers had gone completely unnoticed, and as a result nobody was chasing him. Normally this would be a good thing, but the shouts and gunshots from the other side of the compound were making him feel rather guilty.
“Duo?” he said cautiously, moth close to his short-range scrambled com. “Would you like a distraction?”
< < I am a distraction, Q-bean, > > a laughing voice replied. < < Don’t worry about me; in about thirty seconds the OZzies are gonna have something better to think about. You good to get clear on your own? > >
“I am if you are,” Quatre sighed, smiling despite himself. “Are you sure?”
< < Yup. I can-- wups! Duck! > >
***BOOOOOM!***
< < Told ya, > > Duo said smugly, and Quatre had to laugh.
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop fussing. See you later.”
Half the base was rubble, burning, or both; emergency vehicles from the nearby town would be arriving soon, and the blond pilot decided that it was time to leave before his concern for Duo got him trapped between the civilians and the soldiers. They’d plotted out tentative escape routes through the local scrub forest, and he headed for the nearest one, picking his way carefully through the undergrowth by the light of the moon.
Five minutes later, he slid to a stop as an unwelcomely familiar feeling crept queasily over him. Oh, not again...
Clicking his com on, he took a couple of cautious steps backwards, trying to work out how close the white-masked monsters were. “Duo?” he whispered. “Be careful, those things are out and about again. …Duo?”
No answer. Duo must be out of range.
He can take care of himself, Quatre told himself firmly. He knows to be careful-- well, he knows to watch out, at least, he corrected the thought. Worry about yourself right now. Which way can I go?
If he cut left through a slightly thicker stand of trees, there was an alternate route on the other side, a lightly-used walking track that curved well out of his way before swinging back around. Most importantly, it would take him well away from the dark and hungry feeling ahead of him.
Decision made, Quatre turned and stepped forwards -- and froze, as he felt predatory eyes on him from somewhere far too close.
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