Kisuke Urahara swept into the room with a smile! "Sorry for the delay everyone, had a bit of a mishap during the most recent energy pulse… I'll look into it in a few minutes, no worries!"
While obviously the new information felt most important, this other bit of business was very time critical. The new and improved Gikongan soul candy was ready to go… And NOT about to mutate into a fully modified artificial soul!
Which was apparently a concern now.
But as a downside, it needed to be consumed IMMEDIATELY after being created, and having his lab exploded already pushed the limited window of opportunity near closing.
Pill the boy, make sure he doesn't explode or something, THEN back to data!
After all, research was important but his personal projects needed a bit of love as well. Letting his new masterpiece turn into trash and be thrown away due to not waiting an hour or two felt incredibly wasteful!
Sure, this specific product was also a tad lethal to most humans and was custom designed to separate Ichigo from his body with the minimum amount of screaming and blood and long term consequences, but MOSTLY the improvements were meant to keep this thing from somehow becoming close enough to a Soul that it would accidentally pass on to the afterlife.
Like the other soul candies and mod souls had.
Best have the boy eat it before the material begins explosively decomposing.
Mostly ignoring the room, he checked to make sure his new outfit didn't have any burns, melted sections, torn segments, or fragments out of phase with reality. Good? Good. "Right! Thank you for your patience everyone!"
He absently placed the folders filled with medical data on the table. "Other than a few diet suggestions, specifically a request that young miss Orihime attempt to stick to a more balanced daily menu, the most recent circumstances have had no long term negative effects on any of you."
Carefully placing the pill on the table, too much interaction could destabilize it and cause it to be a bit too caustic, he turned to the group with a grin as he tilted his hat. "On the positive side, that odd energy managed to increase the health and stability of… Why are there two Ichigo Kurosakis?"
Isshin just sat at the table with his head in his hands, groaning. "He didn't want to eat your death pill."
He didn't shift focus from the two oddities, one radiating a familiar mountain of power and the other nearly invisible. "Please stop calling them that. Now, what happened?"
Young Orihime bounced in place, waving her arm! "Oh! Oh, ask me! I know!"
Hmm? "Yes? You, the young lady in the back."
She smiled! "That's me! Woo!"
Sigh. "And?"
The girl paused. "Oh, right. Well, Ichigo didn't want to take your death pill…" Damn it Isshin, why do you keep calling them that!? "...So he asked Shadow for help, and Shadow ate him up and popped them out! Now Tatsuki and Ichigo and Ichigo can recreate that scene with the drunken prince and the Murphle murph mumphle…"
The lady next to her with a bright blushing red face coughed, still clamping her hand around Orihime's mouth. "Right, Ichigo's shadow, not Shadow but his actual shadow? That thing grew a bunch of scary pink teeth, ate him alive, then somehow separated his Soul from his Body and popped him back out. Maybe."
The Ichigo with glowing pink eyes that looked like a Shinigami covered in plates of Hollow armor shrugged. "Didn't hurt, but it was scary as fu… Uh." He glanced at Yuzu. "It was a bit of a surprise."
The identical boy standing next to him, one that seemed like a refined samurai, nodded calmly. "Indeed. Quite stressful."
Kisuke felt the worst headache. "What ARE you two now?"
One felt like… Well, he had never felt anything like it before. Raw aggression and instinct? Power and adaptability?
The other was ALMOST an untrained mortal, yet felt like a sharpened blade hidden by dense wrappings of chains. A sword forged through constant metal folding and compression, impossible density and dedication of purpose. Cold, hard logic.
It was the calm one that answered first. "Gem says we are parts of a whole. Easily joined and easily free to roam, but never separated. Always one, but sometimes Heart and Body."
The slightly psychotic boy chuckled! "For the record, this is ridiculously freeing to experience. Like an endless inner conflict, a never ending struggle, somehow got a temporary ceasefire."
The other nodded. "I no longer feel a struggle to repress my rage and frustration and other emotions… Something wonderful to experience for short periods of time, if not always."
The first snorted. "And I don't feel that endless nagging self doubt, those never ceasing fears about going too far or accidentally hurting something or someone. I mean, I won't do something bad or whatever, I'm still me, but that ongoing feeling of being repressed? Of always having to conform to society on any and every issue? Of always hesitating, of lacking certainty?"
They both seemed to connect on that, as the calm one nodded. "Abandon your fear, move forward and never stop. Retreat and you will age. Hesitate and you will die."
The one with a small grin nodded. "Yeah, that crap! Maybe less pretentious though."
With a sigh, the sharpened eyes locked on to Urahara. "Our training plans will need to be adjusted."
No shit. "I can understand why."
The cocky one snorted. "No you don't. We can't stay like this all the time. A short bit is fine, hell it feels great! And it's not like there is a limit or whatever… But while we both share abilities and skills, we each have our own specialities."
A calm nod. "Spiritual and technical control, meditation and self reflection, spirit particle and energy manipulation, energy compression, structural reinforcement. The willing chains of responsibility."
The other one shrugged. "Instincts for battle and training, drive and determination, rapid adaptation, converting emotions and other energies into usable power and improvement. The needed chaos of improvement."
With a sigh, the calm one nodded. "Together, we are stronger. Our inner conflict helps us grow and train, and increase our potential and reach. But we can accomplish more separately, at least for training purposes."
The crude guy jerked his thumb at the others. "Plus, it's easier to take care of the squirts and make moves on the hot ladies with more than one body!"
The other one sighed as Tatsuki 'eeped' in the background.
Urahara's mind was racing at this impossible turn of events. "So your training needs differ?"
A cocky grin! "I need CONFLICT! Fights for survival, either social or physical or spiritual, chances to test what works and what doesn't, chances to grow and find my inner edge!"
A nod. "I require self awareness and reflection, understanding my purpose and goals, and the determination to move forwards towards it. Pressure, to forge impurities out of my structure."
Perhaps not that different. There was room for overlap here. "I can adjust the training itineraries easily enough…"
The calm one sighed. "Unfortunately, I will not be undergoing training for the next month."
The other chuckled a touch maliciously. "No sh… No crap! Not in our body, not in THAT condition!"
That caught everyone's attention, and Isshin sat up. "Are you alright!?"
The pink eyed one snorted. "Do we LOOK alright!? This is the first time in YEARS that our body isn't being assaulted by raw power! With us separated, it can finally heal a bit!"
The calm one ignored the concern thrown his way and nodded. "I can feel my body reforging itself now that I can guide the energies that previously ravished my form. I may not be able to apply the regeneration and recovery skills as instinctively as my other half, nor to the same degree during a battle, but when precision and methodical effort is required I'm beyond capable."
That earned him a shrug from himself. "Meh, I'm just glad to get some training in! Released from my body, I can feel my power is MUCH more stable..." His eyes pulsed brighter! "Let's get this training stuff started!"
The calm one gave a light chuckle. "I will stay with the family, I feel I haven't had enough time for my little sisters or close friends as it is already." He flickered deep and soulful eyes towards Tatsuki.
Isshin groaned. "CAN you even combine again!?" He pointed at the hyperactive one! "I mean, you somehow have a SOLID FORM! You are supposed to be made of spirit particles now, a spirit form!"
Ichigo blinked… "Huh." And shrugged. "No idea, I just forced myself to be more solid. My other half doesn't mind working with less energy, and I have a bit of extra anyway."
The calm Ichigo sat at the table, one hand held up. "Spirit particles, when compressed…"
A thin short black blade formed in his hand and then vanished again.
Ah. "Instead of using spirit particles to temporarily form surfaces to walk in the air or support your attacks, you are creating solid constructs."
How much energy would that even require, to apply that concept to an entire spirit form!?
The pink eye'd boy shrugged. "Eh, it was instinctual. I was like, 'Can't hug my sisters like this!' and BAM! Solid. Pretty awesome trick, really."
The other sighed. "I suppose if I am permitted to utilize the skills and abilities of your natures then it is only just that you have some understanding of my own energy manipulation abilities."
He was nearly bouncing with eagerness. "Meh, just thought training and fighting when I am a ghost boy would be a bit tricky. Now, let's do this!"
Karin looked at the two with concern. "I… I think this form is affecting him a bit. Both of him."
Yuzu hummed. "Consider them to be three brothers. Our brother and his other facets." She waved it off. "Don't worry, I have enough materials at home, there will be plenty of cake."
Orihime blinked as the energetic Ichigo dragged Urahara out of the room and supposedly towards training. "Do you think all three of them share one stomach?" Curiosity blossomed. "If one poops, do the others even need to!?"
The calm Ichigo sitting next to them just gave her a look.
And turned to the side. "Karin, do not fear: I will return to something similar to 'normal' when we leave for the day. But even this short separation has drastically improved my health, and hopefully my internal abilities to control this energy as well… Now, as we have a bit of time, how have you two been recently? You've been really involved with your soccer team recently, right Karin?"
Meanwhile, Tatsuki was attempting to find her inner peace, or at least some way to calm down a bit. These double Ichigo's both flaunted parts of the boy she had always found attractive… His reliability, his passion.
Having both of them seem interested in her? Double boys who can become a single hunk when desired? It was a bit much to surprise a girl with, to be honest!
Shadow was still trying to steathfully creep closer and closer to the odd orb that Kisuke Urahara had left on the table. It didn't quite smell right, but it sort of LOOKED like Candy!
Before he could reach it though, it suddenly made a 'pop' sound and melted through the table, the floor, and a few more levels somewhere deeper down.
Oh no! The Candy! It's broken!
Also, the table, the floor, and there were fumes and stuff and maybe a tiny flicker of flame or two and maybe all the other people at the table were now staring at him and the damage now.
Shadow gave a solemn nod: The Candy was, indeed, broken.
It was a terrible thing.
Ichigo blinked. "It is MUCH easier to understand you now that I am not endlessly losing control over my internal energies. And worry not, I believe that was the death pill father was mentioning earlier. Not candy."
Oh.
Oh good!
Shadow ignored the distant hissing as the goo continued to somehow consume material downwards without dispersing as he left to explore this place.
It had been carefully explained to him that, despite this being a Candy Shop, one needed to 'buy' candy or accept it as 'gifts' from others.
Or earn it directly, like he had at his previous job!
Oh, the good old coal shifting days… Gem said they were doing fine, but what if they had too much Candy!? That Shadow over there better keep the situation under control!
Anyway, point was he
couldn't/
wouldn't/
SHOULDN'T just eat all the Candy in the building.
But the story was different if someone was willing to give him some!
Hadn't there been a couple of kids around here somewhere? Hmm… Nah, they'd probably eat any Candy they had collected, most likely not worth the effort.
Wait, what about that odd big man with the awesome mustache? The one that moved like a ninja and was super quiet!?
Somehow Shadow knew that people with mustaches were the best of people. He probably had LOADS of Candy! And would be happy to share it with all the faithful!
Let's go find
Tessai Tsukabishi and see if he would share some Candy!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Ichigo had never felt this free before.
Cackling with joy, he threw a punch towards the candy shop owner, not even able to touch his hat or the edge of his clothing…
And got smashed into the rock again.
Oh, it hurt, sure.
But as he grit his teeth and his worn body struggled to stand again, he couldn't hold back the thrill of combat so easily.
He was a bit faster.
A touch tougher.
A tad sharper.
Every step had endless downfalls, each attempt smashed him aside effortlessly, his movements were insufficient, his flexibility not close to refined enough…
But he was IMPROVING!
How LONG had it been since he had felt something THIS raw, this pure!?
A flicker of memory, of martial arts class and showing off his new kata to mom and how proud she was…
Yeah, it had been a while.
Urahara chuckled. "Well, you may not have any talent or skill, but you are persistent at least!"
He snarled! "Fuck you, old man! I'm just getting up to speed!"
With will power and twisting pulses of energy he dashed close, twisting to smash a kick into the side of…
This impact hurled Ichigo through a fairly large boulder.
Several bones broke, and his meat pulped… But he just shoved raw power into it and felt his body instinctively FORCE himself to get it together!
Urahara hummed. "Durable too.. Perhaps my training methods would work rather well for you after all, if you are willing to undergo a bit of short term pain for long term gains."
Too much talking! "I'm going to knock your hat off at least ONCE, old man!"
Without pause, Ichigo forced himself to move faster… Trying to modify his energy and the odd patterns he could feel into something even remotely similar to the methods this crazy guy could do.
It was probably pointless, but just because it was impossible didn't mean there wasn't a benefit to giving it a shot!
This was the seventh time he would go in for the punch, and the seventh time directly after being punted after a failed kick.
As his hand neared the guy's face, the same as every other attempt, Ichigo made his move without changing facial expressions or altering his stance in any way…
But Urahara tilted his head to one side without concern, ignoring the massive black sword that spawned out of nowhere where he had just been. "Oh? I see you can use the same spirit materialization technique as your other half!"
Ichigo didn't get a chance to respond as his body was flung off into the distance. "Though this blade feels less refined and compressed than the other one."
Struggling back to his feet, using the massive sword as a crutch, he shoved more power into his body and REFUSED to not be combat ready! "Let me give you a closer look then!"
Two crappy fragments of blade formed under his feet and he used them to DASH towards the calm man with untouched clothing, instinctively stabbing the massive blade forward!
Fucker didn't even bother to block, simply stepping to one side. "Terrible form as well. We'll need to work on that."
Oh fuck off already! "I'd say I'm doing PRETTY DAMNED GOOD for having never used a sword before!"
The other guy shrugged. "I mean, you haven't stabbed yourself yet so… I suppose you have surpassed my expectations?"
Any response was lost as Ichigo was yeeted off into the distance.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Isshin watched from a distance, fond memories of his own days in training and the many curse words he lovingly gave worship to back then. "My boy's not doing bad!"
Not great either, but then again he hadn't had four years of practice before even entering the Spiritual Arts Academy, so overall it was beyond acceptable really.
The black cat next to him grumbled. "I watch your kids all day, and the few minutes I go get a snack and take a bath your little hell raiser manages to clone himself."
He chuckled. "Well, Ichigo does tend to get into things every now and then…"
She glared at him, and he held up his hands. Even in her feline form she could easily punt him around right now due to his ongoing injuries, best not to cause problems.
The cat sighed. "He was with YOU, in Urahara's SHOP, and I was only a few rooms away! How could somebody accidentally duplicate themselves in only a few minutes!?"
Meh, no idea. Isshin suspected he was currently still dull from shock. "By asking some sort of half Hollow alien irish mexican wrestler to separate out your Soul, apparently."
She blinked. "Wait, what?"
He waved it off. "Ask the girls about Shadow. Or talk to him directly, the thing is trustworthy. After all, if he wanted to hurt me he could have easily destroyed my world by just eating my son alive and NOT giving him back."
She stared at him harder. "What!?"
Nope. "Not thinking about it, freaking gave me a heart attack. ALL of that mess is currently marked as 'Future problem' and they will stay that way."
They both paused as Ichigo somehow managed to form a 'sword' that was actually made out of fractured metal, having pulsed his power through the material to cause it to fragment during his swing while Urahara was mid dodge.
Oh, the Shinigami Captain was still under massive power limiters and barely moving and totally not taking any of this seriously… And the attack failed as expected…
But that was a VERY nifty trick. "Any idea how the hell my boy can just create
Zanpakutō's like that without needing an
Asauchi sword blank to focus his power within?"
She frowned, focusing on the fight more. "Kisuke's theory is that the kid is somehow using his Quincy abilities to force his own spirit energy to solidify… A modified coping mechanism that he instinctively used in the past to keep his body safe despite how powerful he was getting."
Huh. "And now that he isn't strained all the time or restricting his own power, he can use that same trick to just force his Soul sword into existence…"
That was just crazy, right there. "He must be wasting SO much power doing that."
She shifted her feline body slightly. "Another coping mechanism. Even now, separated, he NEEDS to use up his excess energy. Theoretically, the longer a fight goes on the more power he will be able to exhibit… Not because he grows more and more powerful, but just because it becomes easier and easier to manipulate and direct his natural output."
He couldn't help but chuckle. "Well it's no surprise my boy's got stamina." Still pretty shocking though. "Is that why his healing method is so wasteful?"
Not that he should even be able to DO something like that. Not without special skills and spells, at least.
When it came to Kidō, aside from binding and destruction spells, healing was its own category. They had a whole division in Soul Society that trained and applied the healing arts, it wasn't supposed to be this simple to fix yourself up AFTER a fight, never mind DURING one.
'Oh, I shattered my arms… Better dump some power into them! Good as new!'
That would have been SUPER useful back in the day, wasteful or not. A nearly over powered life saving skill, used to compensate for the boy's unpolished fighting style. Insane.
Yoruichi chuckled. "It feels crazy to my senses. Your kid is a tank through and through, he wouldn't make it two steps in the 2nd Division… Solar flares are more subtle than this!"
True. "Don't really see my boy going the assassination route in the first place, really."
They paused as Ichigo flew in a new direction, though not by his own choice. "Ooh, he's about to hit the… Damn. Is Kisuke AIMING for all the boulders around here!?"
The cat chuckled. "Probably, he likes opening up space and getting rid of cover early in his training routine."
Sigh… He didn't know if he should be proud at the effort his boy was putting into this, or horrified at the mad cackle as he launched himself with sharpened shards back into battle.
Some bits of that felt a bit TOO familiar.
Ah well, the battlefield was long ago and he had more important things now. "I'm going to go back to the girls and check in on them."
The cat chuckled. "You want to use the elevator this time?"
He froze. "Elevator?"
She hummed. "The huge ladder in the middle of this basement is more a training tool and pranking opportunity, it would be frustrating as heck moving his sensors and equipment down here that way. There is a big freight elevator that directly connects to one of his hidden resource warehouses, over that way."
Isshin clenched his fists, remembering the tiring climb up and down that STUPID ladder to get down to this STUPID massive undergrownd cavern. "Fucking asshole."
It would have been effortless before his injury, or in spirit form, but in this body!? That ladder was horrific!
She laughed! "That's what I said TOO! Bastard didn't tell me until after I moved a bunch of hardware, claiming he 'thought I already knew'! Nearly punted him around this whole area that time. Don't tell the kids though, they could use the exercise."
Damn it. "Just show me the way, my back is killing me."
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Ichigo blinked as he looked at one wall. "Hmm…" Must be some sort of passage over that way, for father to not return via that ladder his other self traveled down. That building felt 'normal' even now, despite not sensing his dad's energy until he left the facility.
Intriguing.
"Ichigo?"
Right, he might have zoned out there for some reason again. "Sorry Orihime, I was distracted. What were you saying?"
She hummed, pointing at her and Shadow's drawing. "Right, the koala brigades. Honestly, that part of the dream got a bit odd and I'm not sure why any of them were wearing suspenders, but Tatsuki seemed pretty convinced it doesn't involve secret Russian influences attempting to force a polka revolution on slumbering high schoolers."
Her friend slumped, her head gently resting on the table, tired of life and logic and having to deal with reality. "Just because Vladimir Putin
rides a horse without a shirt, or
recovers long lost grecian urns, or '
rides a giant cracker', NONE of that in ANY WAY proves that he has nefarious connections with some sort of
underground Urkle worshiping cult."
Karin just seemed stunned and unable to contribute at the moment.
Orihime's eyes were big and wide, full of belief and innocence! "That's what he WANTS you to think! Resist corruption, fight the heretics! "
And… That was enough for today. "How about we all take a short break? I think Yuzu has a few snacks she brought with us that she was interested in having us review for Shadow's benefit?"
His sister perked up while her twin, Karin, shuddered. "I'm awake! What happened!?"
Tatsuki carefully gripped her shoulder. "Nothing. Nothing happened, nothing was said, none of this occurred. Yuzu, please share those snacks. Please."
Shadow was already back from begging for Candy and was BEYOND alright with this plan! Good plan! Great idea in general!
