The Passing Storm

[GoldenKitten]

The street vending markets of Karakura had been shut down for the day. A light drizzle dropped from the sky, of course that was hardly enough to push the hardworking men and women for whom the stalls were a way of life indoors. However a massive storm bank hung to the East over the bay with far darker clouds even further out, somewhere beyond the peninsula and out into the Atlantic. This was the precursor to the first typhoon of the season and it was forecast to be an incredibly slow and powerful one that at the very minimum would keep the population indoors for several days. Thus it was far from strange that most businesses street-side or not had decided to close down early so they could get home and set-up storm defenses.

It was thus, on the eve of the storm that another kind of maelstrom was to occur. One man, European, tall but lithe, slicked blond, blue-eyed and wearing a white t-shirt with khakis and brown boots sat in one of the plastic chairs that had apparently been forgotten at an outdoor cafe during the humans retreat. He held a newspaper up before him reading the articles there and humming to himself, it would have admittedly been an amusing situation if any humans had seen this as he was quite invisible and thus the paper would be floating in mid-air, the thought occurred to him as well and he chuckled. His name was Kitotsan, the name a leftover from when Soul Society had fewer foreigners in charge and he had intended to fit in.

The market area was just a small ways outside of the abandoned industrial sector. It was in this sector in a long forgotten schoolhouse that the Brotherhood made their headquarters, it was also from this place that a certain Vizard was walking home. Kitotsan didn't know why he was visiting the library after so much time but he suspected it had something to Faith. After all superpowered or not it would be scary for anyone to be stuck in this storm. Of course he could be wrong, he was just working off what he knew and until now Oketsu and his goings on had been of little interest to anyone meaning Kitotsan had only familiarized himself with the most basic dossier. Now that there was business in it he had pulled what he had out of the archives but it didn't amount to much, he would have to find a way to catalog excess data that didn't seem immediately useful in case of future situations such as this.

Kitotsan was the spirit worlds largest information broker, there were few factions that hadn't utilized his services behind the scenes though that wasn't to say he was widely known, only to those he needed to be. Normally that would mean he wouldn't be dealing with Oketsu hands-on but this had been a request straight from the Commander General, it did you well to do the job right in that case. The Commander General was Oketsu's old Captain, he knew the boy though his rise through the ranks had only been starting when Kitotsan had left. Though his old leader requesting the boy be aided seemed to suggest sympathy Kitotsan had an inkling that his motives weren't quite so altruistic, but he would keep that to himself.

In any case he had chosen this place because Oketsu would be required to pass it, another reason was that while he could have approached directly it might have caused a fuss. A conflict, even a short one, could have attracted their trappers which would have defeated the purpose of his being here. He figured this way Oketsu might be suspicious but since Oketsu could spot him from a ways off and couldn't be surprised there was less likelihood of a twitch response. He heard footsteps from a bit off and knew there was only one other person it could be at this time, a human would have been hurrying along to shelter not strolling along the main street.

He looked to Oketsu who appeared at the far end of the road. He knew how much of Saigotschuu-Taichou's teachings had stuck with him but it was still amusing to him how quickly he spotted a dozen critical flaws in the mans posture due to his lack of practice with the lost appendage. He remained where he was sitting until he was certain Oketsu had spotted him though that should not have been hard. He was sitting in plain view close to the edge of the road and while he wasn't blasting his spirit signature he was at least letting it show, there was no question that he was a corporeal entity. Kitotsan rose once it was clear Oketsu had focused on him, at the same time he looked at the radar he had been keeping in his hand before sliding it into his pocket as he went up.

“Oketsu!” he said in a incredibly deep voice unfitting his appearance, it could have given the mightiest bass singer a run for their money. Still it wasn't the typical menacing deep, instead it rung with joviality. Stack a few years and pounds on, give him a red suit and he could probably have made a good mall Santa. Regardless despite what seemed genuine kindness in his voice his face suggested a trained merchants smile, that didn't necessarily make him a liar, it just made him more world weary than the demeanor might point out and thus made him capable of manipulation like any smart person.

“It has been quite some time. We can talk later but right now we are in a hurry. I'll give you the short version to try to get your trust. I am Kitotsan, I was the vice-captain of tenth back when you joined the Gotei 13. Your foray into Soul Society the other day has not gone without some complications. I was contacted by an old friend of yours and asked to ensure neither you nor the Shinigami being sent to find you were injured.”

He looked to the roof of the nearest building before returning his gaze to the Vizard, despite the still plastered smile one couldn't help but detect that he was truly in a hurry to move. Though whether it was for the reason he stated or if he had a hidden agenda was up to the individuals discretion.

“Now I must ask, is your library spirit-shielded or not? If it is then this will be easy, if not...well then I'll have to put some thought into it.”

[Knightmayre]

Oketsu slowly walked in the soft rain, which brought with it ominous tidings. He hadn't seen Faith in a while, and wondered how she was doing, and figured now was a good time as any to go visit her. "Although, she doesn't know about my arm, so that could take some explaining...:" Oketsu sighed as he mused to himself, his long hair plastered to his back by the rain such that, as he tried to flick his head back to move some from hs face, the results were less than spectacular.

After wandering for quite some time, Oketsu saw a man sitting at a table, reading the newspaper. A man out here? I thought all the humans had gone away by now to avoid the storm... [/color]Oketsu would have pondered the subject longer, but had other things to do, and simply continued walking, paying no heed to the man at the table until he drew within range to really notice something off. This man had a very noticable reiatsu eminating from him. Oketsu slowly moved his arm down towards Genesis, until the man called out his name in a deep and endearing voice, which bore no hint of malice as far as Oketsu could tell. He stopped for a moment, and decided that it was worth checking out what this man had to say if he knew his name, he obviously wasn't some derranged psychopath bent on total destruction, or so Oketsu hoped anyway.

The man introduced himself as Kitotsan, Vice-Captain of the Tenth division back when Oketsu was in Soul Society. "Tenth Vice huh, well that was a while ago, my memory of faces isn't that great, but I can imagine my last expedition might have kicked up a little dust. What do you suppose we do?" Kitotsan glanced up behind Oketsu, then back again, and Oketsu detected a slight change in pitch, he knew something was the matter, and was not in the mood to find out. "I was never good with that stuff, there's no spirit shielding, however a close friend of mine can ensure nothing gets in while we do our buisiness. If you're working with Soul Society for something, I can only assume you know about Faith. Her powers come in handy for situations such as this." Oketsu smiled for a moment, remembering back to several moments in his time with Faith where she had more than earned her place at the library.

As his smile slowly faded, Oketsu turned to Kitotsan, and manually pulled his hair to the side out of his face. "Well, there's little point staying around here, no? We should head off, chances are Faith will have cooked something worth eating around this time, and we wouldn't want to miss that." With a laugh, Oketsu gestured towards the main street that lead towards the library, awaiting his visitor's movement before he too would start off on his way.

[GoldenKitten]

It had gone well, Oketsu was smart enough to roll with the situation until he could find out more. As Kitotsan was moving closer to Oketsu to follow him a figure landed with a thud between them. Despite the entry it did not seem to be radiating hostile reiatsu and Kitotsans calm consideration seemed to suggest they were an ally or at least not a threat. A young girl of about twenty stood there looking angrily at Kitotsan. She had dark brown skin, white hair which hung halfway down her back and the bangs were cut straight right above her eyes. Her eyes were red, her form was of thin proportions all the way around, and she was wearing everyday street clothes.

She pointed at Kitotsan while bearing a glare, “Nuh-uh! I don't know what you're up to this time but I have business with him. This is important Syndicate business so I don't care if Ashley-sama told us to be nice to you or not, you can speak with him after I'M done!”

Kitotsan put a hand to his head and sighed before looking to Oketsu, “We don't have time for this.”

The girl rushed Oketsu and grabbed his arm while Kitotsan was distracted. She looked him up and down before concluding, “Ashley-sama has been curious as to why you've sided with the Brotherhood. She'd like to speak with you about it.”

Kitotsan made the first aggressive sound he had up until this point as he grunted and pulled the radar out. Anyone could of course sense the numerous spiritual creatures that called Karakura home, it was full of them. But only spirit radars could pinpoint them, of course that data came from Twelfth Division and so it suggested Kitotsans resources to be able to utilize the device without Soul Society being aware. He grimaced as he looked at it and then reached into his pocket again and withdrew a small stick, flicking his wrist it extended like a police baton.

He walked between the two and said simply, “Don't move.”

He held the item point-first skyward and focused a small amount of energy into it. This seemed to activate the previously dormant contraption and four rays of light extended from its points in arcs to the ground creating a dome. The dome began to rapidly spin around them and they could actively feel their latent reiatsu being reflected back toward them, he looked to Oketsu and shook his head as if to say “Don't do anything”. It had hardly finished its fourth spin when five more individuals landed on the far side of the road it only took a brief look to know they were shinigami and at least one of them looked like a Tenth Divisions Deaths Hand in heavy armor.

The other two might have been worried at first but one of the shinigami spoke up, “I could have sworn I felt something from this place.”

One of the others quipped back, “You ALWAYS think you feel something.” He mimicked the others voice, “Hey I feel something over here, hey I feel something over here, hey theres something in this house, hey theres something in this trashcan!”

“Would you shut-up?” The seeming leader of the group said, “Alright let's keep moving toward the target.”

As quickly as they had arrived they were gone, down the way Oketsu had been about to head. Kitotsan quickly realized they must have had data for where the man had spent time before and were checking them out. Secretly he hoped Oketsu didn't put that together himself as he figured it would be impossible to control him if he thought the girl was in danger. If the library was compromised then they had to go somewhere else, at the same time he knew Oketsu would realize Faiths position soon if he hadn't already. Needing all groups to get out of this alive this meant he needed to act as the go-between, that wasn't such a big deal as it was what he was used to. He quickly developed a plan and then lowered the baton which when energy stopped moving through it quickly shattered into a thousand spirit particles, he turned to the other two.

“I do hope you realize you owe me for that now? They don't come cheap.” He was looking to the girl.

“Wh-huh?” But before she could get any further he spoke up again.

“Lilith you can take him to Ash then, but move quick and keep low as they are probably not the only group.” He then looked to Oketsu, “I'm going to go to your library and get your girl so calm down. I assure you if violence was ever required I'm more capable than you so there's no concern, not egotism, simply truth. I need you to follow Lilith and I'll meet you both at the cathedral. Also if you have anything that would make it easier to convince Faith to come with me that would help. Otherwise is this an agreeable plan?”

Lilith looked set to argue but seemed to reconsider when she realized this mostly worked in her favor.

[Knightmayre]

Oketsu was alright, he could sense the urgency of their moving on, but he knew the sooner he got to the library; the better things would be for the lot of them. So he walked along, occasionally scanning the area around with his eyes, and failing to see anything of worth. It wasn’t long before they were interrupted by a young adult woman, with dark skin and white hair that stood at odds with one another and yet somehow seemed to work at the same time. Oketsu could tell Kitotsan didn’t register her as a threat, so Oketsu decided the best path to take was to follow his lead, and avoid confrontation that would draw the lurking shinigami towards the area.

Suddenly she went off at Kitotsan, the immediate change in pace took Oketsu by surprise, and it wasn’t until the Syndicate was mentioned he really had a full idea he was being spoken about. He knew the Syndicate, he had watched them beore, and they had watched him. Several times he had been approached by their members asking him to join them, and while he had yet to say yes, he had always been somewhat polite about it. In hindsight, his lack of simply saying no is probably why they have continued to come back over the years, though it had been some time since he had heard from them last, and he wondered what had brought their atention back to him, and also why he wasn’t getting any say in the conversation that was blaring around him. Oketsu moved to speak, but found his arm had been grabbed, inspected, and interrogated, in the space of a few seconds. ”Um…who? What? Why? Where? Ouch?” Oketsu was pulled forth until a single grunt sounded from Kitotsan, laced with aggression, Oketsu knew that meant listen, he’d been around too long to be stupid anymore.

The woman grabbing Oketsu’s arm froze, as did Oketsu himself, while Kitotsan drew forth a strange item the origins of which were a mystery to Oketsu, as was the result of its activation as four beams of light joined in the air above them, creating an energy dome. Oketsu figured something was wrong, abilities like this aren’t pulled out just to show off, and slowly as he could he turned his head, as he saw several shinigami appear behind him. Their conversation was short, they didn’t remain any longer then they had to, and in a moment they had moved on. Straight towards his library, to Faith.

Oketsu shook his arm free of the woman holding him as soon as the barrier had disappeared and placed his hand on Genesis, preparing himself to move at full speed to intercept the shinigami headed towards his library. However, Kitotsan spoke up first, and while Oketsu didn’t want to risk leaving Faith to deal with a man he hardly remembered whose ties and loyalties in general seemed questionable, he knew in his shape he couldn’t take five shinigami on at once. Oketsu reached into his chest pocket and drew a small set of keys, one of which was marked with a hollow mask identical to his own, and a seemingly blank library card. ”The masked key opens the back door, Faith will have the front door locked by now, and if they have gotten to her she likely will have set barriers up. Tell her you have a library card to return, and show her that, she will know you were with me. Also, tell her I said it is okay to use her powers around you; they may come in handy if you are attacked,. But if she ends up hurt in any way I will ensure you suffer for it.” Oketsu turned to Lilith and sighed ”You heard what he said, let’s get out of here.”

[GoldenKitten]

Kitotsan nodded as he took the key, then raised his hand to his face in classic Vizard fashion. White snaps of energy began to form over his eyes but before any solid form could be discerned he rocketed skyward. Visibly he was very obvious and yet he either had immense control of his reiatsu or was sporting some other device like the one before as he was virtually impossible to sense. He was cloaked in black energy and was akin to an aerial ping-pong ball, bouncing side to side in a erratic fashion instead of a straight path, despite this the speed he was pushed with made up for it. In seconds he had disappeared from sight in the direction of the library, assuming he didn’t attract attention he would be there long before the slower shinigami.

Lilith watched this for a time until Oketsu suggested they move on. She turned to him and gave her agreement but her expression had changed. She seemed confused by Kitotsans actions, likely not understanding his reasoning for helping the human girl. But she seemed to give up after a moment and began leading the way. It didn’t take them long; they progressed across several roads without any other shinigami showing up. Soon enough they arrived at the edge of the large Karakura Park. On the far side the governmentally protected historical cathedral stood tall, it was but a mile away and yet there was plenty of open room between them.

She peeked out from the side-road they found themselves in and looked each way, turning her attention to the roofing around them. Seeming to be satisfied that there were no shinigami there she turned back to Oketsu.

“Well I don’t know why we’re bothering to avoid them instead of just fighting. But fine, what do you think, should we go for it?”

-----------------------------

Well, at the very least it certainly screamed private library. Kitotsan had known that Oketsus home was a library through word of mouth, he had similarly known its location for this reason but he had never actually been here. Considering Oketsu had seemed somewhat hellbent on keeping it a secret it really wasn't all that subtle. It clashed with the nearby contemporary Japanese structures looking more western in structure, he would even as gone as far as to claim there were some Caribbean influences. But that was unimportant at the time, what was important was that he had arrived several minutes ahead of the shinigami. His abilities came in handy sometimes though he was loathe to show them off in the event they were compromised, but he doubted Oketsu or Lilith had deduced anything from what little they had seen.

He walked to the back door and waved it up and down in front of it seeing no obvious lock of any kind. To no great surprise, having seen plenty of strange spirit devices, the door opened and he proceeded inside closing it behind him. The inside was exactly what it looked like from the outside, a large central area surrounded by two stories of shelves filled with books. He paid them no mind though and proceeded to the center of the room, as he did so he couldn't help but feel a kitten like presence he was familiar with but he had an inkling as to what that was about so continued without concern.

Wasting no time he raised the card above his head and called out, “Excuse me, Mam? I have a library card to return.”

[Knightmayre]

Oketsu moved along with Lillith, through back streets and alleyways. And so far they had been lucky enough to avoid any shinigami so far. However, Lillith stopped and turned on Oketsu, and questioned as to why they were avoiding combat, to which Oketsu sighed. ”We do not want to get into a battle because one of them will call more of them to the scene, and we will be overpowered, outnumbered, and taken out. Which, I have an odd feeling that all parties involved would prefer for that not to happen, excepting, of course, those which are after me, that is their job after all.” Oketsu sighed and continued moving on towards the church, ”Now, with that in mind, let us move out, the longer we take to get where we need to go the greater the chances are we will regret it, so lets go.”

_____________________________________________________

Faith sat behind the desk, as usual, since she had locked the front door. With pen in hand, she sketched over her notepad as oft she did on days like this, sketching pictures of a friend it had been long since she had seen. She had hoped to see him again, as she did anyway, be he had said it would be years before he would return. She smiled as her pen traced the intricate patterns that lined the mask, until she heard a sound she knew all to well, but had not heard in a time longer than she cared to remember. The back door always made a loud click when it was opened, Oketsu had tried to fix it once, but fallen god of death or not, he wasn’t renowned for his skills as a handyman. She smiled, as only two other people had keys to that door, and Davo wasn’t due to do a delivery for another week.
She stood, and ran across to the area where she could see, but not be seen, on the second floor. A man she did not recognise walked in, which was strange, and she noticed the faint glimmer of Oketsu’s keys in his hand. She jumped down so that she landed behind him, prepared to attack. However, he called out that he had a card to return, which she hardly expected from a random nobody. She created a barrier around him, to prevent him from moving, before briskly walking in front of him and moving her hand through the barrier and holding her palm outstretched. ”Library card, now.” When he handed it over, she would see that it was the blank card, which when touched by her reiatsu, turned up with a sketch she had drawn of Oketsu’s mask when she was younger. She smiled and lowered the barrier, ”You know where Oketsu is? Is he here? Oh, where are my manners, I am Faith, and you are?”

[GoldenKitten]

Lilith made a pouty face at Oketsu, apparently not appreciating being talked to like a child. However she just nodded when he suggested they continue to move. It appeared Oketsu had no more idea how to safely cover the open ground than she did so instead they simply set out toward it. They eventually reached the more forested area of the park and Lilith began shooting from tree to tree, though if Oketsu did that was up to him though it seemed the intelligent thing if they were trying to be secretive. Surprisingly they covered the ground quickly and at no point did they even detect a shinigami much less run into one.

As they approached the Cathedral it was clearly undergoing renovations. This was part of the Historical Preservation movement that had been sweeping Japan and though few Japanese were Christians the Cathedral was the only one of its kind in the whole country. Thus under the act it had been protected, of course few people realized there was more to it than that, but that was of little concern. The only point in noting that was that the building seemed to be in far better shape than it had previously, the windows had been completely replaced and several areas where the stone had once been falling apart were being masoned. Lilith had rushed ahead as they neared and turned around to get him to come in quickly, after all a strong spirit dampener existed in the Cathedral that would make them invisible to senses.

It was when this space had been put between them that a massive figure dropped with a resounding boom in front of Oketsu. He was a massive man in the Deaths Hand armor with an olive complexion, a hardened face and a shaven head. Though not everyone had met him, even fewer had and lived, his name was well known enough in the real world. After all he was Desmae, commander of the Deaths Hand, Tenth Divisions premiere hunting squad which was responsible for ninety percent of the hollow tracking and disposal of Soul Society. At the same time several other shinigami began appearing from the forested area behind him, either Tenth had struck out into new territory again (which knowing them was entirely possible) and started a stealth corp or they had received aid from Second division.

Oketsu was surrounded and though Liliths exact power level couldn't be determined outside of a fight the baseline reiatsu she emitted did not scream powerhouse. Desmaes on the other hand did, Oketsu could likely have gone one on one before but after losing his arm it was hard to say and then there was the backup behind him. Desmae kept one hand on his large claymore zanpakutou but had not drawn yet, instead looking to Oketsu and speaking.

“Ranmyaku Oketsu. By order of the Central 46 you are to be taken into custody to undergo processing. Divisions One, Two, Three, Nine and Ten have signed this order. Will you lay down your arms and come quietly?”

Shortly after Oketsu had answered a soft voice called out from the Cathedral, “Desmae, I don't think you're supposed to be here.”

He turned his head slightly to see the young girl walking out of the cover of the building. She looked as sickly as they came being painfully anorexic, with pale white skin and large black bags under her eyes. She might have been cute at some point in time but now she looked like the worlds nearest to death chemo patient. She was clothed in numerous bundles of winter wear despite it being heat soaked summer including a scarf around her neck and a heavy wool beanie on her head all of this in white and pink arrangements. She perched on a heavy oaken cane that supported her strong limp, she walked up to stand right in Desmaes personal space which was of course almost comical not only because she was sickly and he was so strong but because he was almost a meter taller.

Yet despite it he certainly didn't seem amused and turned to her, “Ashely Ayers this is Soul Society business, please stay out of it. We have maintained amicable relations by staying away from each others issues in the past.”

Ashely cocked her head to the side and gave a creepy smile, “Now Desmae.” The tone was unmistakable, that she thought compared to her he was a joke and that a clear but veiled threat had been conveyed. “My information collection is not to be doubted. If Oketsu was a criminal I would certainly let you take him but I know full well what occurred in Soul Society and why you are here. I will address the Commander General and Central 46 in the coming days but not for a moment will I let you take a fellow Vizard off of my property. Stand down commander, do not think to test me.”

The two were left glaring at each other in what seemed the most mismatched staring contest ever.

---------------------

Kitotsan found himself frozen in place. In truth he could probably have broken out but when he ascertained it had been the girl who threw it up he decided not to. It was in his best interest for her to think she was in power here, it would make having her follow him easier. He handed over the card and waited, eventually she calmed down and her thoughts instead shifted to Oketsu. This was good enough for him, it wasn't necessarily nice but he would play up the possibility of meeting Oketsu to his benefit. The shinigami would be here any minute so skipping extensive explanation in favor of getting the hell out was necessary.

He looked at her firmly, “I am Kitotsan, I was hired by a friend of Oketsus to keep him safe. He's fine for now but he angered some powerful people. I sent him somewhere safe but those after him are looking for a way to him, in other words they will be here any moment. I can explain later but for now I must ask that we move as I would like to avoid confrontation.”

He held out his hand, “Will you come? I will take you to where Oketsu is. This place will be fine, they aren't interested in it, their interested in the people inside.”

[Knightmayre]

Oketsu moved along with Lillith until they reached a somewhat forested area. As she took to the trees, so did Oketsu, they could move faster and safer this way, which right now was the optimal combination for survival. Looking around, he saw neither hide nor tail of their pursuers, and when the reconstructed catherdral came into view, Oketsu let out a heavy sigh of relief, things were finally going....

...down hill at an incredible speed. A man who appeared to have spent years training in 100x the Earth's gravity, then taken steroids 'just for fun' and garbed in the unmistakable attire of the Death's Hand dropped in front of him, followed by more and more shinigami who appeared everywhere and encircled them. Considering how he had fared in the NWO attack not too long ago, Oketsu was far from certain of his combat effectiveness until he better learned to adapt to his injury, and this was a fight were even at full strength he would have struggled to stay on even terms with his foes.

The power coming from the armoured king of 'roids was massive, and while Oketsu was certain this was just a show, and that he simply wasn't hiding his reiatsu, the thought that there could be more in there was far from uplifting. The man, as basically every shinigami he had ever met since leaving soul society had done, informed him that he was under arrest and so on and so forth. To Oketsu, all he heard was 'Blah blah, I lack originality blah blah ROIDS'. However, Oketsu did recgonise a voice in the midst of all that testosterone and armour, but took time to think it through, as this time his arrest was different, normally they came on man a at a time, now it seemed they'd mobilised half a division againt him, and that was not to go well for him. "Well well well, Desmae you old person I met very rarely and know more by reputation than actual personage but that doesn't mean the few times we spent together weren't special to me and haven't lingered in my fondest memories ever since, while under any other cirumstances I would love to lay down my arms, but as you can see I only have one, so the plural form really isn't applicable here. As for taking me into custody, well, not a lot I can do about that, but I surely won't be rolling over and begging to be 'processed'."

That said and done, Oketsu reached for Genesis before he noticed a sickly little girl limping towards the scene. Uhh, little girl? If you can see and hear me, then now would be a good time to go back inside and let the poor cripple be beaten to a pulp by megaroid over here."
You're trying to be funny....
I could die any moment, why the heck shouldn't I?[/color
Probably because you're not funny...
You...but...no...good point...damn...

Oketsu noticed the girl did not stop, which could mean she couldn't see them, or at least, Oketsu thought until he realised she was talkng to Desmae. On top of that, she was limping straight towards him, and talking about Oketsu himself...people were going that a lot lately...then a name was said. Ashley, Oketsu recognised this name from his own research and the previous conversation with Kitotsan. She was a vaizard, somehow...and a strong one at that...

To further prove the point, she waltzed up to Desmae and declared that Oketsu was not to be taken away. Oketsu breathed a sigh of relief, 'processing' was not his favourite passtime, and something he would wish to avoid at all costs if possible. Serious as the moment was however, Oketsu struggled to keep a straight face, and a mad laughter cackled throughout his mind as his inner hollow could not contain how funny it found the situation.

____________________________________________

The man explained himself, and what's more, said he could take her to see Oketsu again. "Of course he's in trouble, he's always getting into trouble. Of course I will come with you, let's go!" She moved to the door as fast as she could, opened it, and gestured for Kitotsan to move through, "Come on now Kitotsan, Oketsu is horrible at waiting, we've gotta go!"

[GoldenKitten]

The staring match lasted for a few moments longer before Desmae angrily waltzed to the side. He grunted and then raised his hand to his face, pointed toward Ashley as if he was about to say something, lowered it as if he decided better and then walked back up to her again. The whole time he was doing this she was just watching him with what had to be the largest mix of annoyance and pity one person had ever showcased in a single expression. After a long time Desmae spoke up, the way he was ignoring Oketsu it seemed that this situation had shifted gears and was no longer so much about him as it was who was in control.

“No, no I think not! We will take him back”, Desmae growled.

Ashley coughed once into her free hand and then leaned most of her body weight on to the cane as if it was difficult to stand so long. She looked to the large man with a tired expression, both mentally and physically, “Let us not play this game shinigami. I will win. As I have already stated I will speak with your superiors in the coming days and if I can be convinced of his guilt I will freely hand him to you for there is no Vizard that moves without me knowing where. But I will not let him go on word alone. So back down, this is not something you want to push and not something I wish to waste any further energy on.”

She bore an intense look of finality. However Desmae had apparently had a bad day or perhaps he had simply been at the end of this joust to often and was tired of it. Her words only threw him into a greater fit of anger and he turned around as to put his hand very close to Oketsu in preparation for grabbing him.

“You are not my leader! Do not mistake our neutrality with you and business manners for loyalty or any sense of seniority! My orders are to take this man in and if I have to fight you to-”

But he never got any further. The weight of a thousand worlds dropped on to everyone near including Oketsu and Lilith, most of the weaker shinigami were sent straight to the ground and even Desmae was kneeling in an instant. It was impossible to breath more than shallow breaths and a killing aura pervaded through the entire area, it felt as if to move but an inch to ones side would spell their end. Vision went monochrome with intense static in the form of powerful spirit surges and the sky which had gone white cracked like a window pane with large black lines.

The source of this energy, Ashley had not changed her posture and yet she was completely different, a black silhouette of energy surrounding her and her eyes were like deep black pits. In a split second she had drawn her zanpakutou which looked like a machete but the aura rolling off of it was what made it special. It bore an essence of pure malice and hate, in this energy field it almost seemed to be whispering. Currently it found itself pushed up against Desmaes neck and the energy that encircled Ashley moved along the blade and wreathed Desmaes head like living smoke.

When she spoke one could hear her voice though it was more authoritative but what was obvious was a second voice, clearly male and speaking in tandem with her. It sounded like someone speaking through a distortion effect but of course there was no device here and it came straight from her. Oketsus hollow might realize what it was, it was Ashley's' inner-hollow which had corrupted some of her physical form speaking with her but it was something altogether different from his inner hollow. It was impossible to tell since it was sealed within her but it seemed highly likely that the power it held was just as scary as Ashleys own strength, it also bespoke something primal and terrible.

“Little shinigami. WHO do you think you are talking to? It is YOU who is being diplomatic and business like? Oh no, it is ME that remains business like, your very EXISTENCE demands I do so. KNOW. YOUR. PLACE.” She sheathed her blade and then reached out with the hand grabbing Desmae by his chin, “Scamper back to your leaders Desmae. I will speak to them soon. But he will remain with me until then, understood?”

Desmae did not respond but Ashley let the power ease up. Slowly each of the senses that had been lost when her reishi field kicked in returned allowing them to return to their feet, though most of the shinigami behind Oketsu were slower to do so. Desmae remained in a half kneeling pose and just gave her a mean sneer, she ignored him though and turned around walking off toward the Cathedral doors.

“You may go now, theres nothing more for you here and I tire of the charade. Lilith. Oketsu. Accompany me please.”

She remained long enough to insure Oketsu walked past Desmae with no problems and then continued inside. It was immediately obvious they were hardly alone, at the entrance there were a dozen other Vizard and there were another half-dozen that had apparently been watching out the second story windows. Once inside the barrier it could also be felt that there were quite a few others deeper in the facility, it seemed the Syndicate was larger than anyone assumed.

These people closed the doors behind them and immediately Ashley slammed into the nearest wall the cane falling out of her hands with a clatter. She began a coughing spasm that lasted for nearly twenty seconds in which several of the Vizard rushed to her side and one finally appeared with a glass of water. She accepted it with a cough filled “Thank you” and then took several deep gulps before removing it and taking a sigh. She handed the glass back to the one who had given it to her and shot them all a heart warming smile, quite in absolute contrast to what she had shown outside. Once she had thanked them all she turned to Oketsu with a smile, this one was different though, the prior had been the kind you gave family while this was the kind you gave acquaintances.

“Lets go speak in my office, come with me.”

Lilith had retrieved her cane and handed it to Ashley who retrieved it graciously and then began hobbling into the main room. Though it was clearly in the form of a church its use had been converted, the main room they could see was a common room of some sort with many tables, chairs, couches and at one end a large TV. The clatter and smells from another room that would at some point have been an office suggested a kitchen. However they turned away from these sights toward what would have been the front of the church with the steeple, at the far end a elevator had been built which they boarded. It took only a few seconds to ascend to the second floor but one look at the leaders physical state told you why she didn't use the stairs.

There was a balcony here that looked out over the common room, the stares of the other Vizard there suggested they didn't trust Oketsu one bit. As they approached the one door there it opened for them as a young woman dressed in a fine summer dress opened it for them and once they were through the other Vizard couldn't very well stare anymore. Inside the room they found themselves behind the main circular stain glassed window at the front of the church which filled the room with beautiful colors. Though outside the room had been air conditioned it seemed to be shut off here and moreover there were four heaters stuck in each corner of the room making it easily uncomfortable for anyone who disliked warmth. The far side of the room was used as a sleep and study but a rice partition made it impossible to make out in detail. Instead they walked to the focus of the room a sofa and a large master sitting chair separated by a coffee table. It was in front of a fireplace though thankfully it was not currently in use.

She motioned for Oketsu to sit on the sofa and then walked to the large chair herself, as she got there she leaned her cane against the table. Then the young girl rushed forward and supported Ashley under the arm as she slowly lowered herself to sit in the chair, a pained look rushed across her face as her knees bent but she must have been against letting others pity her and avoided yelling out. Once in the chair the girl whispered to her and Ashley nodded to which the girl quickly reached behind her chair and produced a blanket that she wrapped Ashley in. She then removed her hat and placed it next to her on the chairs arm.

Ashley removed one of her arms from the blanket and motioned to the girl, “This is Misha my helper. Now, Oketsu, would you like some tea?”

Misha nodded and as quickly as that had returned with a kettle of tea which she promptly poured for Ashley. If Oketsu had agreed she did the same for him and then returned to stand behind Ashleys chair with near military precision. With that out of the way the leader spoke.

“I do apologize. I meant to come visit you myself but my health has been particularly unforgiving in recent weeks. Try not to hold it against me, I would not have met in this manner if at all possible.”

She took a sip of the tea and then became more serious.

“So to the matter at hand. No doubt you have realized this is about the side you have taken. You've probably said to yourself, 'Why would they concern themselves with me now? I've worked with the Brotherhood before'. Well yes you have, but let us be honest Oketsu you were not as strong as you are now. I cannot ignore a Vizard as powerful as you have now become, especially under leadership I am not completely convinced of just yet. For if you make a bad decision it can shade the other races perception of ALL Vizard, as you just saw, and if that shade is negative it is my responsibility to do something about it.”

She held out her hand, “So please. Won't you join the Syndicate now? Is it such a bad thing to belong to a group of your own? We aren't so bad, once you get to know us.” She grinned at him.

[Knightmayre]

Oketsu sensed a sudden change in the emotional vibes given off by Desmae. He had totally ignored everything Oketsu had said, and had turned his focus soley upon Ashley. Oketsu could tell that Desmae was not too happy having to forgoe capturing his quarry, but the events that followed were beyond his immediate foresight.

Desmae acted first, informing Ashley that he was not going to let her take Oketsu and leave. Oketsu realised for certain he was more a catalyst than an important player in this event, which irked him, he was growing tired of being spoken about and not to, but even more than that being completely ignored simply to prove a point? Oketsu was beginning to remember why he didn't spend too much time around Desmae and his group, they never were any fun.

Ashley countered his statement, and asked that Desmae not start this, as he couldn't possibly claim victory. Oketsu noticed a slump in her stature, she appeared to be growing tired, and a cough into her hand pointed to Oketsu that she was not in the right state of body to be going up against Desmae at this stage, however something told him things were not entirely as they seemed here. Then Desmae turned on Oketsu.

Oketsu took a short step back as Desmae groped out towards him, still speaking to Ashley as he did, the rage in his voice building. "Come on Des, at least talk to me when you lunge at me..." Oketsu was cut off mid sentence, all of a sudden it seemed to him as if gravity had multiplied itself a hundredfold, and the simple act of remaining upright was a challenge beyond others. Oketsu, like Desmae before him, was dropped down to one knee, forced to pull Genesis from his waist and use it as a prop to prevent further pushing down. Breathing became harder, seeing became harder, simply being there became harder as the world shuttered and shuddered around Oketsu at the weight of whatever technique this was.

As he looked up, he caught sight of Ashley, and while Oketsu's view was crippled, from inside his mind, his inner hollow could see something Oketsu could not. A beautiful black form setthed around, through, within and without where Ashley stood. One of Oketsu's eyes turned black, and his iris shifted to a deep yellow as his inner hollow took control of one of his eyes, not that Oketsu was in a position to complain. That...is something else...[/i] Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Oketsu, Ashley spoke, although no longer was she alone. A second voice hung in the area, which Oketsu's inner hollow picked up on immediatly.

Oketsu, give me your mouth.
Do I even want to begin to wonder what it is you want my mouth for...
Talking, what else do you think, sick minded...
Right right fine, take it, not like I need it anyway.
Thank you kindly good sir, now quit your thinking, it's distracting.[/i]

Oketsu's mouth twitched a couple of times, contorting itself into a twisted smile before returning to normal, with the noticable addition of extended and serrated canines. You, you've done something else, you are amazing...you've got to tell me how you do that mate...and you!"[/b] Oketsu looked at Desmae with his one yellowed eye, before a brief mental discussion took place and the rest of his head followed suit. "One would think twice before messing with my host again. This body means a lot to me, you try and break it, and I'll make you wish you only were as crippled as Oketsu is now."[/b] As this final sentence finished, Oketsu's mouth and eye returned to normal. His hollow had done what it wished, and returned to it's section of the library.

The power that had forced him down began to let up, and slowly his senses returned to normal. Oketsu stood and walked post Desmae as Ashley called for him, hoping that his hollow had not pushed the wrong button on the steriod enhanced gorilla, but given what Ashley seemed capable of, Oketsu was certain even he wasn't game enough to push her any futher, and walked on into the catherdral.

Once inside, Oketsu was taken aback by what he saw. He knew his calculations on Syndicate numbers were much higher than those of the Brotherhood or the Soul Society due to his having watched them from time to time, but even he was taken aback by the sheer scale of the numbers that had gathered here. Ashley collapsed, obviously that technique took its toll on her poor health, and yet the other vaizard rushed in to aid her as she fell. She thanked them, and turned even to smile at Oketsu, and while it was not the same, it was far from deceptive, and had a strongly geniune sense about it.

The others, however, were not to kind. All of them were glaring, Oketsu knew full well they didn't trust him, his previous run-ins with the Syndicate told him so much, but after ascending an elevator and entering a private room, the doors of which were closed behind them, Oketsu was cut off from these stares, and all of a sudden he felt infinatly more comfortable.

Ashley gestured towards a couch in this private room, with a chair opposite to which she herself took her place in, with the aid of the woman who had earlier opened the doors to allow them in. Oketsu lay down on the couch, his body still not 100% happy with the effects of Ashley's technique, and as he lay back, the helper was introduced as Misha, and Oketsu was offered some tea. "Tea would be lovely, thank you." Misha moved with supernatural skill, obviously this was not a task that was new to hear, and within moments Oketsu had a cup of tea before him, into which he began pouring a grand total of ten spoonfuls of sugar, and as he noticed there was no honey to be had, he begrudgingly swirled the tea before taking a sip. "Lovely, one has not had tea in a while, I never could make it myself, Faith went out and took a course for bar staring, or whatever humans call it, just so she could learn how, good girl she is, but I'll imagine she is not why we are here."

Ashley apologised for her health, to which Oketsu smiled and gestured towards his arm "I myself have been in better sorts these past few months, nothing will be held against anyone on account of such trivial matters, I am certain." This out of the way, Ashley grew increasingly serious as she outlined why he had been called here, which grew increasingly obvious to him as she spoke, until finally she made her offer. She asked him to join the Syndicate. Something he had heard countless times, but never from someone so high up in the Syndicate, let alone its leader. She grinned at him, she certainly had a convincing arguement, but there was more to this than just sides to Oketsu.

"The offer is appreciated, as it has been every time it has been made the past hundred years and then some, but again, I must respectfully decline your offer. You all live here, in your Syndicate, shadows of the righteous beings you once were, forced to take solace in the human world when the homes you knew and loved no longer loved you. I know how that feels, but I no longer hold on to the Soul Society as my home. Pathetic as they can be, these mortal humans have achieved feats of ingenuity and wonder that us, even with the thousands of years we live, could never hope to match in twice as many lifetimes as they have. You have not lived amongst them as I have, grown to know them, to be accepted as one of them and fight alongside them for who knows or cares what. Once, a long time ago, I joined with a gang of humans, we were rough bastards who did what we wanted when we wanted, but never did we go too far. We had standards, lines we would never cross, and above all, to a man we were loyal. They made me their leader, me, who was an outsider in more ways they could ever imagine at the time, and we were eventually roped into this Brotherhood. Which, at the time, was hopeless if I do say so myself, gangs of spiritually aware humans, and then of course me, fighting battles against hollows under ever changing leaders as these humans insatiable ambition devoured each other. Eventually, we were beset on all sides, and only I survived the attack. Do you know why I survived, do you know what let me walk away from that day and live on? It was the humans. In that battle they saw what I truly was, they saw my mask, that which lurks within me, but they didn't turn on me. For all the ambition, hatred, prejudice and illogicality we attributed to them when we were among the Shinigami, they stood by me when my brothers had not. They gave their lives so that I might escape, so that I might carry on their legacy, and ensure their deaths were not in vain. Each and every hollow who fought in that battle is now dead, each and every human who betrayed us in that battle has been dealt with by the Brotherhood, who recieved tips from an unknown source which lead to their capture, trial and imprisonment. And yet, just seeing them avenged was not enough. Their legacy was that of humanity, and for them, my true brothers in this world, I will stand by mankind until the day it is wiped off the face of this world. If you had seen what I had, been through what I had with them, you would feel the same way, of that I am certain. The ways of the Shinigami are wrong, tradition has bound them into a way that prevents them from realising their potential. And you, this collection of misfits, traitors and unfortunate innocents, none of you understand the beauty of this world we have moved in to. You see it before you, and yet it means nothing, which is why I can never be among you. I have a duty to the people of this world, to the Brotherhood, to Faith, they need me, and I'll not betray them now. You know as well as I do things are getting dangerous. There are strange things afoot both in Hueco Mundo and in Earth itself, and the humans are going to need every ally they can get if they are to weather this disaster. I know you are all my people, that we have all lost something dear to us, but I have moved past that and found something more. One day, maybe you will all learn to do the same and then it will be I asking you to join me, not the other way around. Until then, again, I must apologise, I know you have gone to so much trouble to bring me here, and your help with Desmae was appreciated more than you can imagine, but I'll not betray them, not now, and not ever."

Oketsu took a long sip of his tea, which had cooled considerably in the time he had taken to give his speech. He looked over to Ashley, he wasn't sure how she would react, but his mind was made up, it was just a matter of if she could accept that or not.