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Now You Feel Like Number None [Bleach Arrancar Quest]

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Ylamona said:
It's far from the weirdest I've ever seen. Still, Luppi though...Hmm if only he was not so slimy, what a waste of perfect good smug character design.
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I do think he died kinda quick in the source material since he was portrayed as being strong as the sixth espada and after one fight with a man character was killed instantly like he was retconned becase the author didn't like his design.
 
The air was tense in Urahara's shop. On one side of the table sat the shops owner, his assistant, and a black cat. On the other sat Ichigo Kurasaki, the "Last Quincy" and Chad.

"So, are you finally going to tell us what the hell just happened?" the substitute soul reaper snapped. "Why the hell did some human looking Hollows just show up at my house with one of my best friends a hostage!?"

"Calm down, Kurasaki" Ishida said as he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder; both as a calming gesture and to try an keep him from attacking their host. "A lot seems to have happened in a short amount of time."

"To put it simply. We got out played." the cat spoke as it stretched out on the table. "That stunt grabbed all of our attention; preventing us from noticing another figure moving about."

"Arrancar." Urahara began. "Hollow that have had their masks broken. But instead of releasing the tortured soul trapped within, they've instead become fused with the monster. This is the army our enemy, Sosuke Aizen, is building to wage war on Soul Society."

"And what?" Ichigo questioned. "This was all supposed to be him showing off his forces? To brag about how awesome he his."

"In part." Urahara agreed as he pulled his hat down to cover his eyes. "But as was mentioned, it was also as a diversion. While we were helping you, another Arrancar managed to infiltrate the shop. Not only did they find my secret room, but they managed to bypass a special lock I had created that should have destroyed what it was protecting if someone other than me tried to open it."

Silence hung over the group as they let that information sink in. It was Chad of all people that eventually broke it.

"How's Ururu?" the gentle giant asked.

"She's recovering." Tessai answered with a grunt. "Somehow, she had already received some medical aid before I arrived."

"And you're certain only Ururu and the Arrancar were there when you arrived?" Yoruichi asked the man as she sat up.

"Indeed. Unless there are some member of the Stealth Corps. in the city that we don't know about, then it was just the two of them."

"Strange." Ishida muttered. "Why would the enemy help her? Strict orders not to kill and they were just making sure?"

"Unfortunately, until Ururu's feeling better, we won't get a clearer picture." Urahara replied with a sigh as he titled his head to look at the ceiling. "Orihime's looking after your friend, right?"

"Yeah. The world could be ending and you still probably won't be able to pull her away from Tatuski's side" Ichigo stated, a melancholic smile grace his face for a moment before it disappeared just as quickly.

"So what now?" Chad asked.

"Get better." The store owner answered, his gaze slowly sweeping over everyone present. "Right now its the only thing any of us can do."

---

Suddenly got the urge to write this. It could probably be fleshed out better, but I'm not a better writer.
 
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LV. Report
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    • LV. Report


    Cirucci comes back to the Red Chamber an hour after you. Sensing her arrival, you hastily close the paper folder you've been studying and tuck it inside your supply closet, then hurry out of the workshop to meet her.

    "Ugh," she grunts as she enters, looking frustrated. "Most of my esteemed colleagues are such boors."

    You wince sympathetically. The Espada as a whole never gave you the impression of having as much bearing and dignity as your mistress, even if a few stood out.

    "You weren't there to listen to my debriefing," she adds with a frown, her tone more puzzled than accusatory.

    You bow and apologize; the combined reiatsu of all presence was too much for you to bear for long. You absconded discreetly - no one noticed.

    "We'll have to work on that," she says sharply, and heads towards the tea table in the shadow of the platforms. Understanding the implicit command, you quickly hurry to prepare tea. When you bring it to the table, Cirucci is reclining in her seat, rubbing her temples in an uncharacteristic gesture of open fatigue. You give her an encouraging smile as you pour two cups of tea and sit down in front of her.

    You apologize again for leaving the meeting - it's not that you were incurious about her mission. You are, indeed, burning to learn how things went for her. Cirucci smirks a little.

    "It was… Odd." She shakes her head, then lifts the cup to her lips; the first taste of tea makes her smile, which warms your heart. You hadn't had much of a chance to serve her anything these past few days.

    "The girl you found brought us to Kurosaki's home. I set myself on the roof of a nearby house, then flared my reiatsu, confident it would draw his attention and bring him to me - Ulquiorra was standing back, hiding his strength in case there was unexpected trouble. As I thought, the boy soon reached me, dressed like a shinigami and holding a ridiculous sword, shaped like a cleaver…"

    You glance at your mistress's yo-yo-whip, but make no comment.

    "Anyway," Cirucci sighs, "He demanded to know who we were and what we were doing with 'Arisawa,' whom I assume was the girl. I told him nothing, she'd been very helpful, and that I was here to fight him. That seemed to confuse him - I don't know why. He was a Shinigami, I was a Hollow, it seemed natural, right? I guess Shinigami don't constantly challenge each other for duels? That doesn't seem to fit what I know of them," she frowns. "Maybe it's something to do with why he spends time living with humans?"

    She shrugs. "Whatever the case, he didn't want to fight without cause. I could have just attacked him, but there was already motion inside the house. I think it was full of mediums, so I decided to find another spot for our fight, to slow down any interference. I was wondering what to do, when the girl I was holding just... passed out from exposure to my reiatsu. Which was fortunate, because apparently the boy thought I was using her as a hostage or something? And then he agreed to fight provided I 'didn't hurt her any more.' Which, sure, I wasn't even trying in the first place!"

    You sip your own tea listening rapturously, trying to understand the mechanics of it all. Shinigami that don't automatically attack Hollows? A Shinigami living with mortals in a house full of mediums?

    You suppose it's not that surprising. After all, it is not far removed from Esmeralda's own arrangements. Maybe Arrancars could even mingle more freely among mortals, instead of treating the living world as a forbidden place of danger - if only the other Shinigami didn't attack on sight.

    "So, the boy used some kind of sword release with a burst of black reiatsu. His sword shrank, he got a much better-looking coat, and he immediately attacked! It's a good thing I had my whip already drawn, or I wouldn't have been able to block the attack with the wire - if I'd relied on Hierro he could certainly have cut me. He was… Quite fast. A bit weak, of course, he was no Arrancar. So obviously I started laughing and taunting him, you know, I wanted to keep him in the spirit of things. We exchanged a few blows, and it was... an interesting fight. He was faster than I am, and about as strong - but he lacked the reach of my whip, so he had to rush into my attack range to cancel it, which denied him much of his mobility, and I am fairly sure his resistance was nothing compared to our Hierro. If it had gone on any longer we would likely both be sporting wounds as badges of battle, but he, uh, collapsed."

    You blink. Collapsed?

    "Collapsed!" Cirucci raises her arms in an expression of confusion. "He fell to his knees clutching his head and couldn't fight anymore. I asked Ulquiorra what was going on and he told me his reiatsu was fluctuating wildly. Which I could sense, of course; Ulquiorra was just being his typical useless self."

    Uh. 'Fluctuating wildly.' Your mind flashes back to your fight against Ururu. At the end of it, when your illusions drove her out of her "Slaughter Mode," she still had impressive spiritual power, but seemed unable to call upon it. It surged and went down the moment after, and she could barely move or land a single blow on the mist-man. Odd that the same thing would happen to Cirucci's target.

    You set that thought aside for later.

    "So anyway, I waited politely for the boy to get himself together. I'm not above weakening my opponent with a clever tactic now and then, as you well know, but this was different. I was here to test his power growth, and he was just rolling on the floor moaning in pain! There was nothing to test there! What was I supposed to do, kick him around like a ball? So I waited. After a while, he seemed to get a grip, although he was sweating and panting like mad. But - and this is to prove that even Shinigami are capable of manners and decency - he apologized for the disturbance. I graciously told him it was fine, but we were on a timer, so we would have to finish this quickly. That made him grin! The cocky bastard! Then his reiatsu flared even more than before, and his sword started bleeding out some kind of black energy, so I prepared myself to release Golondrina. And then…"

    She pauses. You realize that you've been staring at her unblinking, drinking her words. You cough awkwardly and pour yourself another cup, raising it gracefully to your lips to give yourself composure. Cirucci chuckles.

    "...and then those two damnable ex-Captains showed up to end our fight. The tall woman in these weird black pajamas and the man in these shapeless clothes with that horrible hat. Because apparently the first thing Shinigami captains have to turn in upon quitting Soul Society is their sense of style."

    You remember the two people running out of the shop before you infiltrated it, and shudder. Now, you didn't have anything against the woman's rather fetching black uniform, Cirucci's opinion aside, but the man really just looked unkempt. You nod approvingly.

    "Now, the Shinigami boy said he was fine and this was his fight, but the others were standing between us anyway, and their side started bickering. At that point, Ulquiorra said we had enough data and he didn't want to risk fighting two ex-captains and revealing too much of our abilities. I was about to disagree, but at that point I saw a grey Cero some distance away that I recognized all too well, and I decided there were more important matters to attend to." You hide a flush behind your cup. Badly. "I bid the Shinigami goodbye, and Ulquiorra opened a Garganta. I think those ex-Captains were going to make a move on us, but Ulquiorra did that glare of his and flexed his reiatsu. I don't think they were afraid, but they recognized the two of us would be too much for them. So we left! And then I had to argue Ulquiorra into going back for you. You know the rest."

    You smile, and thank Cirucci for coming back for you.

    "Think nothing of it. As irritating as Ulquiorra is, I was right that going back for you was the rational choice, and he was right that I am too… Attached to simply leave you behind. Even if I am sure you would have succeeded on your own. After all, you are my Fraccion. I don't embarrass myself with weaklings," she says haughtily.

    You're not sure you could have. That man, Tessai… He was far more powerful than you, and knew binding techniques you have never learned to counter. But your mistress's confidence is a balm for your doubts, and you do not question her judgement. You ask her how the debriefing went, and she waves her hand daintily.

    "Lord Aizen smiled mysteriously all throughout and then told us we had done an excellent job, of course. UIquiorra said he didn't believe the boy was a threat and Lord Aizen said he trusted his judgement - certainly didn't ask my opinion, but I suppose that's what Ciffer gets for being the one with the weird magic eye."

    You tilt your head.

    "Oh, yes. He gouged his eye from his own head, smashed it, and it released a magical image of our battle. And then it grew back! Uncanny."

    Uh. You're not actually sure whether you could regrow your own eyes, and you certainly couldn't smash it to produce pictures. That is a very strange quirk, and… Could it indicate that Ulquiorra also has High-Speed Regeneration? At his level of power? Disturbing.

    "Anyway, Grimmjow was upset. He argued we should have killed the boy anyway, but our orders were clear. Then he tried to pin it on me being too weak! So I laughed in his face. I'm not even injured! Lord Aizen told him to shut up - I mean, he put it more nicely, but that was the thought - and then we were dismissed. So, all in all, a good first mission."

    You nod vigorously, glad to hear things went more or less well. Was the girl you found for Cirucci well when you left her?

    "Hm?" Cirucci says, frowning. She folds her legs, reclining against her chair after her second cup of tea. "Oh, the human? Sure, sure. When the woman showed up she used something that looked like Sonido to snatch her away and she started waking up, but I don't know what they were trying to do. Like I cared enough to hurt her? She was just a helpful guide. And I gave her flight for a moment, so really I will have been the best thing ever to happen to her. They should be grateful."

    You nod. Clearly they should.

    Cirucci yawns, stretching her arms - something she would never have done in front of you a few weeks ago - and stands up.

    "All that said, this was quite the exercise. I think I will catch a nap." She turns towards her bedroom, pauses, and turns to you. "Are you coming?"

    You smile. Of course, in a moment; there are a few things you need to put in order in the workshop.

    "Well, don't tarry, love," she says, and vanishes onto the platform above.

    You look up, pondering. There was no apology said by either of you, but things between you seem mended. You wonder if you should apologize; you still feel what you said was true and necessary, but you are sorry it hurt her, sorry to have shown a lack of trust. She told you that she loved your mercy, even if she feared it would doom you; and you in turn love her pride and confidence, even if you fear it will doom her. You will apologize first, so that she can say sorry in turn without hurting that pride.

    But first, you go back to your workshop, and pull the file out of your closet. Later you will find a more secure hiding place. For now, you brush its cover with eyes full of wonder, then open it and glance over the documents within again. An hour was far from enough time to study it - barely enough to catch a glimpse of its contents. And yet you've already learned so much. As your own recent experiences have taught you, artificial souls are powerful things. Urahara's file speaks of them with great familiarity, their creation and modification and usage, and you're fascinated by the idea of the dead creating wholly new life. At first it seemed to you like such science would be beyond your understanding, far outside your skillset, but now…

    Kisuke Urahara is not only describing his own designs, but also those of "Kurotsuchi Mayuri," the man you conjured from the mists, whom the files identify as the current captain of the Science Division of the Thirteen Squads. He was, as you figured out yourself, the man who created the girl Ururu. It was not his only project in that vein; he seems to have designed a total of seven Artificial Souls in the same mould. Some of them were never completed, others, like Ururu, Number Four, were finished but considered unsatisfying, and either discarded or stored away.

    Ururu was designed to grow and think as a human being. A child to be raised. Her body was custom-made to contain incredible physical power, hopefully to eventually reach the combat potential of a Shinigami in her adult age, without requiring a Zanpakutou. But this power was sealed, gated behind a "Slaughter Mode" that activated upon meeting specific triggers and could be turned off by her "father." The goal, as far as Urahara could guess, was to make her as vulnerable and pliable as any child in normal circumstances, so that she could more easily be controlled. So that she could never use her force of her own will and break free of her master.

    That, ultimately, is why she was considered a failure. Having the mental strength and understanding of a simple child, she could not endure the traumatic procedures to which she was subjected all her life. By the time of her first field test against a Hollow, she was borderline catatonic, and had to be brought into battle on a gurney. Her Slaughter Mode functioned just fine (as you can attest from first-hand experience), but seemed to have caused even more trauma when she came out of it. Mayuri stored her away as a failed project, and Urahara stole her from him… Somehow. He doesn't go into any details.

    Ururu really was an innocent - more than that. She was a victim. Created as a tool, a weapon, traumatized by a monster on par with the Octava himself, rescued and taken into a simple life that let her forget what she was. And you reminded her. Forcefully.

    You clutch your glove, remembering the new power you accessed in that fight. Its effects… You almost think that you wouldn't wish them on your worst enemy, but you realize that this is silly. You would have no qualm using it on Findor, or Yammy, or Luppi if he crosses your mistress. And the girl was so deeply scarred by her trauma that she was uniquely vulnerable - such power is unlikely to affect Arrancars to the same extent. It's just one more tool in your arsenal.

    Remembering Cirucci's account of her fight, you wonder if Ichigo Kurosaki suffers from similar traumas. He's close to Urahara, after all, and it would explain why both he and Ururu were rendered unable to fight by a moment of spiritual instability. Perhaps he too has some kind of combat mode that makes his powers unreliable? Or he could just be ill. Who knows?

    Mayuri's designs of Artificial Souls seem to have had a rather organic bent. He worked with flesh and blood, creating spiritual constructs that were one with their body, designed from the ground up, growing in real time. Urahara's work was more abstract - he worked directly with the spiritual matter of the soul, weaving energies into mental constructs that had no existence of their own. They had to be stored within physical items, and implanted into a pre-existing body to actually function, preferably one without a soul in it. Ideally artificial bodies, but he does mention corpses. You shudder.

    On the surface, this looks to be completely outside your skillset. But you feel like you can grasp the underlying principles at work here. You couldn't make use of them yet, but you feel that, just as Mayuri and Urahara applied similar ideas in very different ways, you could channel them through the medium of La Marana.

    It would take work. You would need more skill than you currently have. Alphonse could likely make use of these principles, but even if you trust him, it would be unfair to saddle him with a knowledge stolen from the master of Las Noches, knowledge which could kill him - and you. This will remain your secret from now.

    You take out of your uniform the small candy ball you found in Urahara's secret stash, and put it on a shelf above your working table. With the help of his files, you now recognize it as what it is: an Artificial Soul of some kind. It will deserve further study before you decide what to do with it.

    For now, content in your new knowledge and in your small triumph as a thief, you hide the folder, and go to be with Cirucci.


    Congratulations! You have reached the end of Arc 7.

    For obtaining the Artificial Souls files, and for the intense study you will make of them, you gain 500xp in Advanced Skill: Marana.

    Additionally, for finally colliding with the canon timeline, succeeding in stealing valuable data from Urahara, and defeating Ururu, you gain 800xp to use as you see fit.

    [ ] Allocate XP.

    As usual, there is a two hour moratorium on this vote, although I suspect I am posting this at an hour when everyone is asleep :V
     
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    • Omicron said:
    although I suspect I am posting this at an hour when everyone is asleep :V
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    Nope. You've got plenty of readers at this time. Including Maugan Ra.

    Just so we're clear, Marana's got 550 XP, right? Important to have that straight, for allocation votes. We'd need 150 XP if we dumped all 800 we've got to get ahold of Third Weave. 550 + 800 = 1350. So we can knock a rank off Marana basically right now.
     
    I read this at whatever hour I am both awake and get an alert for it.

    Whether I have time to do anything other than make a short reply or like the update on the other hand...
     
    I just woke up about two hours ago actually.

    Anyway, we have enough for Sonido and Perception and low ranks of those already fucked us up repeatedly. No we do not have enough. Looks like I wasn't yet completely awake. /Sheepish.

    ...Not enough for Marana, but with fanworks xp and +500 bonus for the documents it might be a close thing.

    AAAALternatively you could get Champion style. That's fine, too./joke
     
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    So on a side note who else wants to see a negaverse omake from a theoretical Ichigo Quest and how that thread would have reacted to Cirucci showing up thus going completely against canon and then hearing about another Arrancar that broke into Kisuke's shop while everyone was distracted.

    Because I would think that that would be the moment where the GM is smug about people assuming that canon will remain intact.
     
    We really do need to up Nemo's control soon, once Sonido goes up a rank that will be 2 skills Nemo has higher than her control when she uses her Resureccion meaning that the horror moth will burn through her reserves rapidly.

    More importantly once she actually releases Nemo won't be in any position to even think of conserving her reserves due to the mindset she gains.
     
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