Something Strange

**Date Started:** 29 November 2021
**Date Completed:** 11 December 2021
**Next Role-Play**: N/A
**Users Involved:** User:Sir Ice Man, User:ComicMaster, User:NewZeno999, User:Sekiro of the mist
**Setting:** Delhi, India (Human World)
**Characters Involved**: Jimi Strange, Red Man, Soichiro Tenma, Akio Asahi, Tomoe Bushida, Bane, Sakata

*Two birds tied together, and though they have four wings they cannot fly…*

*Such is the case with wings numbering ten, with birds numbering five…*

*A man who can see more than he should is blinded by what he sees…*

*But he may see tear through the maya, like in a forest a gentle breeze…*

## Something Strange

Two men, seated across each other, were present in a small garden, smoking their pipe, drinking their wine.

“Our finer things club has not quite been the same ever since Dolores died. Still cannot believe it has been four weeks,” spoke Sir James Strange, looking up at his friend, ever so briefly looking away from the book, *The Hobbit* by J. R. R. Tolkien.

“Yes. Sweet girl. Loved her cupcakes,” spoke Dr. Redford Man, also looking up at the man who sat in front of him, and also looking away from his own device of entertainment, a tablet on which he watched *Hamilton*. “Though cupcakes at our age could not possibly be too good, so as unfortunate as it was, it could be a blessing in disguise.”

“It is true,” Jimi sighed, “We are no longer than the prime of our lives. How often do you think about the eventual red sun?”

“Not very often, no. But I know you do very often,” Red intensified his glare, “Because you are afraid you will become one of those. Those… things… you see. Those things with masks.”

“Speaking of which, cannot wait to meet Dol,” spoke Jimi with a smile, hoping to lighten the mood.

This did not, however, amuse Red, who simply shook his head slowly.

“Yes. That is it. That is the area where all of our people disappeared,” spoke Sakata, looking at a map of the Human world. “Did ya prepare the equipment?”

“Yes, lady,” spoke the man of the Soul Society R&D Department.

“I wish I could go investigate this matter myself, but I have been assigned most immediately to the emergency situation at Akatani,” spoke Sakata, “I hope my replacement — a volunteer, apparently — is more than capable of handling this.”

“Oh, don't you worry. The volunteer is a lieutenant.”

“A lieutenant! I could not have asked for anything better if you wanted. Well, that is not true, a captain would be much better.”

With the increase of responsibility, it wasn’t unusual for Tenma to be the interim leader for both squads, since he was the 5th Division Lieutenant, and their division had merged with the Kidō Corps after current events. From the report he had received from a Hell Butterfly, his current assignment had him go off into the Human World to assist on some new project produced by the 12th Division, the thought both worrying given their “reputation”. With everything ready, one member of his division handed Tenma his Zanpakutōs, holstering them across his waist. Tenma could only surmise that his assiatance was either due to low manpower or the sheer improtance of the project demanded the assistance of a Lieutenant, otherwise they wouldn't have called for him.

“I’m Soichiro Tenma, Lieutenant of the 5th Division, is one of you Sakata? They sent me here to relieve you, apparently something’s going on back home,” Tenma said, much to his disappointment. From what they reported, there were some big waves taking place in one of the districts in Rukongai, and Tenma was here, helping, for all that he knew, could've been some crazy science experiment just waiting to explode in his face, instinctively taking a few paces back from the researcher.

“I am,” Sakata reported, “We have your equipment ready, sir. A utility belt with numerous gadgets along with a 400-page educational pamphlet. Now, here is the worst part: the briefing. Now, you may think that this is a simple R&D Department job. It is not. This is a matter of utmost delicacy. Over the past few months, several of our officers, especially among the Thirteenth Division, have disappeared. I am afraid, the damage extends to the 7th Seat. This is not simple Hollow activity. We do not know what this is. That is up to you to figure out. Good luck, Lieutenant.”

Giving her a small wave back, Tenma was left to his own devices, accompanied by the researcher he was paired up with until this job was done. "It's always the first step," Tenma muttered to himself, no stranger to the studious aspects of the job. In fact, it felt reminiscent of what he would do in his free time, completing side projects. The only difference being that there were just a few more steps added for his inconvenience, and the process required more effort on his part. Going through the pamphlet, Tenma skimmed it through, separating theory from proper application, and highlighting the key points that caught his attention. Examining the utility belt, he was careful where he touched, still not convinced it wouldn't explode at the smallest misstep on his part.

“Okay, I understand the concept, but what exactly are you trying to accomplish with this?” Tenma turned to look after the researcher, his eyes narrowed while asking.

Sakata's brows tensed. “What we trying to accomplish, Lieutenant, is try to find out what exactly is causing our people to disappear. Your objective is not to kill Hollows. It is to capture them so we can study them and get more knowledge about what we are up against. Your equipment is specifically designed to capture Hollows. I know. Ethically, it sounds murky. But we have extremely limited manpower and we just cannot afford to lose more people, nor can we allow this activity to run amok. I am sorry, and once again, good luck.”

In okinawa, Japan the sounds of multiple martial arts schools can be heard echoing in harmony. Along the banks of the beach. A young man aims his bow at a a moving target. With presise aim he fires onto the target hitting a bullseye dead on.

" Sensei I should be heading back home now. Thank you for the lesson, see you tommorow." Tomoe said to his teacher as they ended their bowmanship training for the day.

Returning home Tomoe was greeted by the sounds of his mother oppening the door to the house. She looked almost tired but neverless she had a strong attitude to her. "Tomoe im having you go investigate something that just came up. There has been a shortage of capable people in that area so you will be flying out Go get ready."

The words where both a suprise yet didnt really shock Tomoe. Being the fact most of the quincy population has died out and even apparently in the soul society shinigami where scarce. Tomoe has had to travel all over japan if major hollows where sid to be spotted. The Phenomena, of hollows with sizble power who terrorize certain areas was all to common these days. withought a word. Tomoe bowed to his mother and hurried to his room to grab his things.

“Red! Red! Get down here!” Jimi yelled outside Red's house.

“Hey, Red is here!” Red came out yelling in his balcony, and then he yawned.

Jimi yelled back at him, “There is one of those things down the street!”

Red palmed his face. “Oh, buddy. Shh. It is okay! Those things are not real, my little senile geezer.”

Jimi was exasperated, “But I saw it! It was big and black and had one of those masks!”

Red shook his head, “You just had a nightmare, buddy.”

“No, it was *real*!”

“I'm sure it felt that way.”

*A few moments later...*

“Bloody seriously?! Arr you telling me you cannot see it?!” Jimi yelled at the top of his lungs as he and Red stood right in front of a large Hollow.

Red stared around in the general vicinity. “I am telling you! I cannot see it!”

“It is going to kill us!”

“First of all, there is no *it*! And secondly, even if there is, why would you bring me to it?!”

Stepping out the plane, Akio was amazed by the feeling of Delhi, India, a place so full of history it would make an average historian shake. But learning about Delhi was not why Akio was here, he was because his friend invited him to his wedding that was happening in a few days, so without out a thought, Akio exited the Airport and called a cap, where he headed to Delhi.

While looking for a place to stay while he is in India, Akio spots a hugh hollow and two old men just standing, one screaming while the other was dead calm. Not willing to see these old men get killed by it, Aiko quickly summons his Reishi Broadsword and cuts the hollow in half, killing it in a instant.

Red stood with his mouth agape, his eyes wide open. A young just appeared out of nowhere, and did, well, something.

“Cheers — Oh! Cheers! — young person for saving us.” Jimi smiled from ear to ear.

“What just happened?! Where did that young man come from?! Young man! Explain yourself!” Red yelled.

“This. Young. Man. …Saved. Our. Ass.” spoke Jimi, each word punctuated with a clap. “I am sorry I said ass. I do not mean to be crass. Oh, look at me! I am a poet… and I did not even know I was rhyming those words… but it happened anyway.”

“From what? And by doing what? Young man! Explain yourself!” Red was pretty much a broken record at this point.

Looking at the old man, Akio was clearly aggrivated that this random old guy was basically shouting at him after he had just saved his life. But being polite Akio responded. "I'm Akio Asahi, and who may you be sir?" he said in a forged tone.

Tomoe had been on the plane from tokyo for hours. Not to mention getting onto the main island in the first place. He had much time to think about the situation his parents put him in. Being a family of full blooded quincy, this from merging the two family's. Still they took the dutys of quincy fairly seriously. Sending him out if something goes unchecked for too long. Long enough that it reaches quincy shores, rather than shinigami dealing with it.

" India seriously. Whats a japanese person like me doing all the way out here. Eh nothing I can do about it "
Tomoe was in the middle of looking out of a backseat window. The views where sights to behold, their archetecture and overall feel was so different then back in japan. Not to mention that occasional smell of dilitious dishes. Tomoe figured it wouldnt be as he origionally thought.

In the middle of his ride Tomoe sensed the spike in spiritual pressure. Off in the distance. He recognized two spiritual signitures. One of them being a hollow. In a hurry Tomoe got the driver to stop the car paying him in the process. Quickly bowing Tomoe seemed to vanish from plain sight. When he arrives Tomoe was suprised to see a hollow; the hollow in question being cut down by a male who seemed about his age. Tomoe decided to approach the person about the situation.

*"Sumimasen, Boku wa, Tomoe Des. Yoroshi-*, eh. My apologies um forgive me for asking, but I saw you kill that hollow, you dont seem to be a shinigami, but the skill you used seemed to be reishi manipulation."

"And you are?" Akio said before dispersing his Reishi Broadsword, clearly puzzled that the person infront of him seemed to know about Reishi and Shinigami.

"Tomoe Bushida" While he spoke Tomoe rose his hand in front of him and accumilated reishi around him forming a katana. this was the same skill that was just used by Akio. "Im a quincy from japan"

“Oh, wow,” Jimi's eyes gleamed, “There is two of them!”

“Two of what?” Red was the one yelling now, “What are these two chinks—”

“Eh! Eh! Eh!” Jimi interrupted him, “That word is offensive.”

“OK. What are these two …Chinese? …Japanese? …Orientals. What are these two Orientals doing here?”

“Pretty sure that word is offensive, too,” Jimi turned to the two young men, “Do you find his words offensive?”

“I do not care how they find my words! That barely matters!”

“Oh, yes. I forget about what does matter.” Jimi introduced Red, “Gentlemen, he is Dr. Redford Man…”

“Call me Red.”

“…and I am James Strange.”

“Call him Sir James.”

“Oh, no. Just call me Jimi.”

Red was now back on his 'baffled' mode, “Oh, now for the important stuff. Who are you two? *What* are you two?”

"Huh I'll just ignore the lack of politeness your friend has over there." Tomoe thought to himself but seeing as the two men where of the older age he held his tounge

" a pleasure to meet you Jimi-senpai and Red-senpai. Like I said my name is Tomoe Bushida and I'm Japanese not Chinese sir. While speaking Tomoe dispersed his weapon. Returning his attention to Akio .

Akio not responding to Red, was wondering what a Japanese Quincy like him would be out here. See for him, he had a reason but this Tomoe guy just appeared out of nowhere.

“Pardon my friend's tongue here. He really is the sweetest man once you get to know him,” spoke Jimi, smiling sheepishly, “Let me translate his words to a nicer tone. Basically, we just want to know who and what you are, and why you and I can see all of the strange stuff but Red here cannot.”

"I see, in that case ill give you the simple version. As far as my eyes can tell, me and him are Quincy." Tomoe said while slightly pointing at Akio. " We are hm humans who naturally have the ability to see those, *things* as you call them. Meanwhile normal people like you normally wouldnt be able to see them unless they made themselves known. This is a result of having a certain amount of spiritual energy."

"I should probably explain what someone like me is doing all the way out here. From what I was told by my mother. There has been many reports of a hollow around this area and it has gone unchecked for too long. Hence a Japanese quincy like me was sent all the way out here. (There is no way this place doent have quincy to deal with a hollow. I mean that guy doenst seem to be from around here either but come on.)"

Akio looking at Tomoe finally spoke, "So your saying, your mom send you aka her son to India because of some hollows?" He said before turning to Red, "And you old geezer, I been silent but I saved your old ass, so show some respect" Akio said.

Red yelled one more time,“Saved me from what?!” Then, he sighed. His behavior had very much not been like that of a gentleman.

In the politest of tones, he spoke again, “I am deeply apologetic for my uncouth behavior. It is just that I am having a very hard time wrapping my mind around this. I am not even sure if there is a thing to wrap my mind around.” He turned to Jimi, his voice almost breaking, “Jim…”

“Relax, Red,” spoke Jimi with an arm around his friend's neck, “We all lose our cool and our tongue at times.”

“Well, they do say the first impression is the last impression.”

“Nonsense. Both of these young men are gonna love you. You are adorable. It will just take some time, that is all.”

The two Indians warmly welcomed the two Japanese men into Red's home, which was less of a home and more of a science laboratory.

## A Rampage of The Lonely Bane

"Maintain the gate stable," commanded a short shinigami, his face obscured with face-coverings that hid his face from the public, surrounded by several other hooded figures with the very same uniform as him, all maintaining their hands clasped together as they surrounded the Senkaimon, the ritual taking place and finalizing with its opening. With their job done, the head caster was accompanied by additional members, all being members of the Kidō Corps, lining up behind their leader in rows of two. Taking off his mask, Tenma’s ears perked up from the hood, adopting a more traditional Shinigami uniform as his Lieutenant badge was out in the open, informing anyone present of his position. “It's always an experience isn’t it,” remarked Tenma, both in the sense that he enjoyed having the responsibility of opening the gateway to the Human World and that this one such occasion where he was the one going instead of opening it for others.

“Will you be alright sir?” Spoke a member of his company, with three stepping forward from the perfectly lined row of Shinigami. “If you would prefer, we can send you an escort.”

“It's just a simple job for the R&D Department, hardly worth sending more than one. In my absence, stay on standby and monitor any activity within the Senkaimon.”

With the belt hung over his shoulder, Tenma All that was left for him to do was jump through the Senkaimon. Arriving in one piece, Tenma had arrived in walked picking up on several ahead of him. Pulling out his Soul Pager, he glanced down on his flip phone, trying to find an hollows in the nearby vicinity. Almost tempted to use Hollow bait, it only reminded him of his time at the academy, and the whole mess it created, not too keen on repeating something like that again unless he needed to. With his side project at the Kidō Corps barracks, he needed something to distract him until it was ready, this assignment giving him the means to do so. And who knew, he could learn a thing or two from the nature of the job.

No Hollow showed up on Tenma's device, but suddenly a beam of Cero appeared hurling towards Tenma.

"What?!!" Tenma bellowed out, the distance too close for him to evade, resorting for Shunpo to dart in the opposite direction, covering a long distance in such a short amount of time. The Doom Blast eradicated the trees that touched it, exploding into a large dome of spirit energy that eviscerated the majority of the forest its epicenter leaving nothing but a crater behind. Tenma was more than surprised, his report and Soul Pager didn't mention anything about a Menos-Class Hollow in the vicinity, much less fail to appear on his phone’s tracker. Flicking in and out of existence from the high-speed movement, Tenma reappeared and stationed himself on a nearby tree, drawing one of his two Zanpakutō. Gripping it with both hands, he stood motionless, keeping his ears perked up for anything unusual.

“Okay, now what?” Looking around, Tenma asked out loud, hoping for whoever attacked him to have the decency of doing it straight to his face. Closing his eyes, Tenma reached out to sense the presence of his attacker, trying to perceive the Reiatsu, all the while his tail flickered in all manner of directions, as if he were drawing something in the air with it.

A presence hurled at Tenma, his jaws wide open. This was Bane, the Adjuchas-level Hollow. He fired another Cero at Tenma at point-blank range, and then suddenly ceased movement. His spiritual pressure vanished. All that remained was a visage. A translucent, intangible visage.

"Just like I thought." Without bothering to dodge, the Cero clashed against a barrier he had put up prior to looking for the Hollow, his tail weaving the signs in the air all the while he tried to sense its presence. As a Kidō Master, Tenma didn’t need to use incantations or even words to create an advanced shield, but he was taken aback at the power the Hollow had, as the Cero clashed against his barrier, holding for a moment before shattering, using his Zanpakutō to deflect the rest. Although he could have fled while it took its time tearing down his defense, the reason he didn’t was simply because he couldn’t or needed to. It was for far more simpler reasons: knowledge. Although it was a high quality barrier, Tenma didn’t escape unscathed, as his Shihakusho and right sleeve were cringed up to the shoulder up. But it was more than worth the risk, examining the Hollow’s attack up-close, he got a good grasp at the speed and composition that made up the Cero’s structure and spirit energy relative to his own strength. Tenma sighed a breath of relief, if there was one thing he couldn’t stand was not understanding how something worked.

“It was my first time seeing a Cero in use, so I couldn’t help but marvel at it.” Ripping off the ruined sleeve, Tenma’s right hand began to glow, his Reiatsu changing color and fluctuating to various different degrees until fixating on a single type along the blade. “I know the rest of the guys from Kidō Corps love to know more about it, so I’d appreciate it if you could show me again.”

We’ll go with that, he thought, his left glowing as he created a Kidō net, sticking and stretching it all across the trees, creating a spider’s den of wires that covered his surroundings, Tenma touching it with one finger. “Bakudō #4: Hainawa.” Passing a yellow charge through the thread, all the other wires began to glow, adopting the spell's characteristics. As far as the Hollow knew, it was meant to capture it, but for Tenma, it served a completely different purpose altogether.

Bane did nothing, for in fact, there was no Bane, at all.

A Hollow who is 400 years old, there is a reason why he has survived this long. He has the most perfect defense mechanism known in existence. His unique, individualistic ability is that he is Quantum-locked. He literally does not exist when seen, sensed or observed by another spiritual or spiritually-aware creature. All he leaves is a visage, and if he chooses to, not even it. If he is seen by another creature, he ceases to exist. If it raises its spiritual pressure to use any ability, like Cero, and it is sensed, he ceases to exist. And you can never kill what does not even exist. Of course, what does not even exist cannot kill you either, but when you look away, when you blink, then, oh, yes, it can.

It goes without saying that Bane's greatest power is also his greatest bane.

Bane is the loneliest creature in the world.

While he waited, Tenma focused his spirit energy into the palm of his hand, his white fur glowing a soft green light that he used to place it over his damaged shoulder, performing Kaidō to heal the slight burns he suffered. While he waited, Tenma couldn't help but think that while he was here in the Human World, his secret project was near completion, no doubt the final instances of its build, the last touches left in the hands of those in his department. If he was going to move any further than where he is now, and progress past the wall he had hit in his training, “that” was the only way he was going to do it. Letting out a yawn, Tenma rubbed his eye as they teared up from the long gasp, his thoughts returning back to the battle at hand. As far as he was concerned, if he were to use a higher release of his spirit power, it’d help, but there wasn’t any telling what it would do to the environment if a stray human walked in. And even if he did want to, Tenma had the Gentei Reīn to worry about, which put a pin on that plan. The best he could do was be patient, more than confident everything would sort itself out one way or another.

While Tenma yawned, Bane popped into existence again. His fangs bared, he lunged and bit towards the Lieutenant as hard as he could. If Tenma was not fast enough, he would be enveloped by the bite. The immense force of the bite cut the air in front of it and created a powerful vacuum in its wake as the deflected air rushed back into place. Even if Tenma was fast enough to dodge the bite, the vacuum should reel him in to be ripped by Bane's fangs.

The wires all but ripped to shreds, the Hollow performing above expectations, the remains of his spell flickering in the air as the beast made its appearance. His first instinct was to dodge, but Tenma could feel a powerful force drag him toward the Hollow’s direction. Suspending his sense of amusement, it was all too clear what he could do right now. If evasion was out of the question, all he could do was charge in at the incoming bite. With two uchigatanas, Tenma was more than efficient in Iaijutsu, the quick draw of sword techniques, as it was his preferred method of combat since he dual-wielded Zanpakutō, and would capitalize on the vacuum's power. Without wasting any time, Tenma focused his Reishi across the bottom of his feet, kicking off in an explosive burst that uplifted the rock underneath, waiting at the last possible moment to draw his remaining sword from the hilt, as soon as he got close to prepare his next attack. Pointing his left sword up and the right down, Tenma began to spin like a cartwheel, the two blades running across the ground like a disk. Without letting the power he had accumulated go to waste, he gathered the remains of the spirit energy from the Kidō rope to fire his counter-attack, facilitating his next spell by skipping the pre-requisites.

“Hadō #78: Zangerin!” Firing a high-class offensive spell, Tenma unleashed two rings of circular energy at the Hollow’s mouth, the diameter larger than what his gaping mouth could visibly handle, well intent on cutting his head clean in half alongside his swords from his mouth and onward, creating a four-pronged attack. With the speed and proximity of the attack, he was going to make sure the Hollow wasn’t going to escape again.

Sensing a Kidō attack approaching, Bane prepared another Cero. With his spiritual reserves pushed to its absolute limits, after this one Cero, Bane should have only the spiritual pressure for only one more in him. Bane's Cero was fired just in time to counter the Kidō fired directly into his mouth. Of course, as his spiritual pressure flared up to fire the Cero, his most powerful one yet, it was sensed by every spiritually-aware soul in Delhi. As soon as the Cero existed, Bane ceased to. With Tenma rushing straight towards Bane, dodging was out of question for the former. Now only three outcomes were possible. Will the Cero penetrate through the Kidō blast to clash with Tenma's swords? Will the Kidō blast be strong enough to struggle with the Cero long enough for Tenma to be caught up in both attacks? Or will the Kidō blast penetrate through the Cero?

“Teleportation?! No, this is more than that…” Tenma thought, his disappearing act more complex than simply vanishing from one point to another. From the nature it exhibited, it was as if he fell off the Earth, even Hollows using the Garganta would leave the faintest traces of spirit power, but his just ceased to be. Tenma underestimated the nature of the Hollow’s ability, more than evident that he was beyond a simple Gillian, he had to be an Adjuchas, of that he was certain of. With the Cero heading his way, it was too late to simply run, and the fact he was fighting with one hand behind his back in the Human World didn’t help either. Tenma had to double down, increasing his Reiatsu, Tenma put up several barriers as his Zangerin held back his Cero, blasting through them as they shattered through his barriers, blocking most of the energy, but still caught up in the explosion. The force of which sent him flying a considerable distance, crashing through numerous trees as Tenma tried to stop himself from moving any further, thrusting both swords into the ground, leaving behind deep gashes across the ground that leveled the terrain drastically, driving a massive streak all over the woodland that deforested it.

Just stopping short against the foot of the mountain, Tenma fell down on one knee, gasping to catch his breath, his arms heavy from the force he used to block the explosion and slow himself down, blood trickling across the side of his head. “Ghaa, that stunt caught me off guard, what was that?” Pulling out his Soul Pager, he was almost considering calling command, but decided against it. From its technique, it was anything but teleporting, it meant that trying to sense or predict his next attack was all but useless through conventional means. Gathering his thoughts, Tenma tried to think about this matter more, only to realize the whole reason he came here in the first place. With the belt still in his possession, Tenma glanced at it a moment, then back to his Zanpakutō, a faint laughter ringing in his ears from a source he was all too familiar with.

“You’re loving every moment of this aren’t you Higanbana,” Tenma said in disgust. “It hasn't gotten to that point yet.”

Akio sensing Bane's presence quickly rose to action but suddenly Jimi spoke somberly, almost trembling, “Wait.” He had sensed presences and ghosts, but none of this magnitude. He sighed worriedly. He knew what kind of danger he was posing to Red, but this had to be done. He told Akio, “Take Red with you!” Handling a pack of ionic energy to Red, Jimi spoke tenderly, “You need to believe.”

Akio not wanting to argue with another old man, took him and Red outside. Putting Red on his back, Akio began maipulating the Reishi in the air, floating and floating until he was higher than most of the houses in the area, using Hirenkyaku, Akio sped towards the spot where he felt Bane's spiritual pressure surge, Akio was move fast enough to move considerable distances in short time spanes but slow enough as to not tire himself out and to keep Red from flying off his back.

In a few minutes, Akio arrived with Red on his back and his Reishi broadsword in his hand. He looked like he was ready to take on the world, and he didn't even say a thing.

At nearly the same moment. Akio made his appearance, the form of Tomoe and the accompanying Jimi arrived on the scene. Left hand outstretched, Tomoe manipulated the reishi in the air. Multiple particles accumulated around his palm and formed a smalll cluster of energy. It then shot outwards taking the shape of the reishi katana, he displayed earlier. The boy was standing beside his fellow Quincy ready to begin an assault on the hollow.

" Old man you sure you want to be here, much less taking your friend who can't sense spiritual beings, along for the ride. " Tomoe said towards Jimi whom he already safely placed down and a bit from his position.

“Could not ask to be anywhere else, young man!” Jimi was on Tomoe's back, and he vacated the premises at the earliest convenience. Gliding through the sky, he felt as though he were a superhero, or a defied hero riding his mount. He had the time of his life. The same could not be said for Red. Any other senior citizen in his situation would have dropped dead from a heart attack. Red tumbled as he disembarked Akio's back. As soon as he saw Jimi, he yelled, “I believe. I believe! I knew it all along. I knew that you were right!”

“No, you did not,” spoke Jimi. He could no longer sense the enormous presence, but now sensed another presence. He did not wonder about the source of this presence, for he could see it. A young, literally very foxy man, wounded.

“Who is that guy?” spoke Jimi, pointing at Tenma.

“What guy?” asked Red, “Oh, that guy! Yep. I can see him. That guy.”

Jimi glared at Red and raised a brow, “Where is the guy, Red?”

Red mumbled for a few seconds before pointing a few degrees to the left of Tenma. “There!”

Jimi smiled, “You cannot see him, can you?”

“Not at all,” Red sighed.

Jimi yelled out to Tenma, “You! Ye merry gentleman! Who are you?”

Tenma had to do a double take, the fact that these humans could see him proved that they weren’t normal, almost chalking it up as humans with an above average capacity of spirit power. It wasn’t until he saw the way one of them moved and the sword composed of spirit particles that confirmed his suspicions. “Quincy, here of all places?” It was his first time meeting one in person. After the war with the Wandenreich, he was sure they had all died out years ago, an enemy that all but vanished after nearly tearing the Soul Society apart during their bloody struggle. For a moment Tenma considered simply killing the lot, taking whatever remained off to his Division for further study, a cautionary tale to nip the bud before history repeated itself. But it didn’t dawn on him yet, that even though they were naturally enemies, they hadn't fired at him yet, even when they had the chance to do so due to his obvious condition. No. They went so far to ask his name.

Tenma couldn’t help but marvel at their technique, to gather and channel Reishi to create weapons; it was a fabulous display of ability that drew his eye. Until now, all he knew was how to use Kidō, for a chance to see something so new made him glad he took this job in the first place, making his trip to the Human World all the worthwhile. Composing himself, Tenma massaged the injured side of his head, using Kaidō to stop the bleeding, meeting up with the group of strangers as he sheathed his swords, a show of faith that he wasn’t dangerous.

“Tenma. Soichiro Tenma, Lieutenant of Squad 5. And you must be...Quincy?”

“Well, hello, there, Mr. Tenma,” spoke Jimi, “Squad Five of… what, may I ask?”

“Oh, look,” Red turned to Akio and Tomoe, “He is talking to a Tenma… which, now that I think about it, you probably already know, given that I am the only one here who cannot hear… stuff…”

“Hush, Red. The ghost is speaking to me,” said Jimi, “Now I do not know what this Quincy is. I believe these two gentlemen are among them. What I do know is that we came here tracing a large presence of a being whose energy I can sense. A presence that I can sense no more. I am assured that you are not the one who is the source of this presence because you have an entirely different feeling.”

“He means to say energy signature,” said Red.

“Yes, that. Red, do you still carry your belt gizmo?”

“A sensor, yes?” Red pulled out a mobile device out of his belt and started his search.

Red downloaded some data.

“Heat signatures are normal.”

Red downloaded more data.

“Carbon signatures are normal.”

Red downloaded some more data.

“No unusual signs of gamma radiation.”

Red downloaded even more data.

“There is no unusual magnetic distortion.”

Red downloaded yet even more data. His eyes widened, his mouth open. He started sweating in the winter, and he stammered as he spoke, “The quantum fields in this location are off the charts!”

“Ah!” Jimi smiled.

“Don't smile!” Red yelled, then he sighed and spoke, “Look at me. Using contractions, like a simian simpleton. Oh, wow! Now, alliterations, too? Like a beatnik?!”

Jimi turned to Tenma, “You had swords drawn when we arrived, which leads me to very easily conclude that you were in a combat situation when we arrived here. I now have good reason to believe that your enemy here uses quantum energy to operate. Nasty business, sure, but one we can certainly help with.”

tomoe looked at the shinigami. He had no qualms with them much like the rest of his family but the same could not always be said for both party's. Even so their feline friend sheathed his blade so Tomoe despite still being on guard for the obvious hollow signature that was present, did the same.

"We are Quincy, not from here but right now we are. Those two scientist are regular humans, well one of them is spiritually aware. The other is clueless. What's a shinigami doing in india" Tomoe spoke hiding no emotion but he knew how the soul reapers felt about Quincy. Much less the history the two groups had. For this reason he had to be prepared if Akio where to attack this cat.

Akio still slient, gripped his Reishi broadsword, he like all remaining Quincies knew about the war with the Shinigami and just by looking at Tenma's face, he gathered that he thought even for a moment about killing them, Akio was not gonna take any chances and so he took on a defensive stance. In the back of his mind however, was about the hollow presence that he had felt, that has simply disappeared.

With the wound ceasing to bleed, Tenma's mind was clear, analyzing the Quincy's question to deliberate the nature of his mission, albeit keeping some of the details out.  “I was sent here to run a small experiment from our R&D Team, before some Hollow came swinging into my business.” Placing the belt along his waist, Tenma had gone over the instruction dozens of times in his head, more than familiar at this point on how to use it. But whether or not it would work as directed was still up to debate. It was an experimental piece of hardware after all, and whether they admitted it or not, Tenma was their guinea pig throughout this endeavor.

“I don’t know how he’s doing it, but as soon as he disappears, it's like he was never there to begin with, he can sneak up from anywhere and we’d be none the wiser.” Tenma went over the basic impression he got from the Adjuchas. With new

“Regardless of our history, we can both agree that the Hollow cannot be allowed to live. I propose a ceasefire for the time being.” Tenma didn’t know what to think, but the level of ability this particular Hollow demonstrated was above normal, and could not be allowed to roam free. Taking a cue from the Quincy, their ability to draw in Reishi from the environment was something exclusive to them, something a Shinigami was incapable to do. But he could achieve something close to it. With both swords sheathed, Tenma held out both hands, closing his eyes as he meditated. Creating a mental projection in his mind, Tenma traced it out using his spirit energy, the result taking a very real effect on the real world, as his spirit energy was rising dramatically, Tenma now began to materialize a portion of his own Reishi that comprised his spirit out in in the open, taking the form of two blue iridescent glowing swords. He was going to combine Kidō and Zanjutsu to fight, creating a sword composed entirely of Reishi to take the place of his swords, holding on in each hand. “Hugh...agh...I don’t need you, I’ll fight on my own.”

He didn’t have to push himself so far, Tenma felt there wasn’t any need for him to try so hard. His Zanpakutō were still in perfect condition and he wasn’t too wounded to use them. But the way Higanbana Onmyōkoi was acting, at least one portion that made up its spirit, it would have preferred to see Tenma struggle than let him use its full power, a factor that made releasing it too risky in the middle of battle.

Words where not uttered by Tomoe. He instantly took up his reishi katana. Again and looked over to the humans. The hollow had to still be around waiting. If it was waiting this long then that could mean it's low on reserves.

"Ceasefire. Listen shinigami, I don't know about your way of things but it's not wise to assume one thing about others. I don't give a damn what kind of war or disagreement you all had back then. But last time I checked there are Quincy who wanted nothing to do with that. Next time don't shoot down peoples choice for peace. Because I'm sure most of us left today aren't wasting a thought on war with your kind. " Tomoe said to the soul reaper. He knew he shouldn't have let his guard down. And now the humans where in danger from being here.

“Darlings! You are not listening,” said Jimi, “There is a bloody ton of quantum energy around here. That means whatever you are trying to fight engages in quantum mechanics. This thing is dangerous. Depending upon the situation, this thing may or may not do a certain activity. Depending upon the situation, this thing may or may not be even alive. Oh, my, depending upon the situation, this thing may or may not even exist.”

“Oh, we are talking about things that may or may not exist, eh?” said Red with the utmost sass.

“Focus, Red, now is not the time to quip,” Jimi rolled his eyes, “Just tell us what to do.”

Red flicked his glasses, “We must force this thing into quantum superposition, and then attack it, and then hope — just hope — that it is actually there.”

“Great! How do we do that?”

“If we charge our ion packs with quantum energy, and fire in the general vicinity of the being, we might be able to catch it and force it into a state of superposition.”

“Brilliant!” Jimi turned to Tenma, “Where was the last place you saw the thing?”

"Fair enough," Tenma retorted. His attention was immediatly placed from where he started, Tenma had traveled a fair amount of distance, "There, East of here. The last time I saw it was just before he fired off a Cero, several miles away from this posiiton."

“Alright, let us head there,” said Jimi, and then he turned to Tomoe, “Piggy-back, please.”

Gathering this information, Akio put Red back on his back and began collecting the Reishi in the air to his feet, lefting himself in the air, "Let's find this damn hollow" He said before getting ready to launch himself to the given location.

Following straight behind the group with both blades in hand, Tenma was more than confident that they stood a chance agaisnt the bizarre Hollow, picking up the pace to stay right in the middle.

Jimi and Red disembarked the backs of Tomoe and Akio, respectively, when they arrived at the location specified by Tenma. They walked around the area, and pulled out their pipes to smoke.

Red pulled out his mobile device, and scanned for quantum energy. The device showed that maximum measurement unit was reached. Red exclaimed, “Yes, this is it! I can be most certain that this place is the source of the quantum energy. Jimi, whatever you are talking to is telling the truth.”

Jimi pulled out his ion pack, “Alright, old boy. Ready? Throw it!”

He fired the ion beam towards the sky, dispelling a cloud.

Red yelled, “You idiot! You are firing at nothing. To force the thing into quantum superposition, your ion thrusters must be filled with quantum energy.”

Jimi stopped his beam, “Great, it is. How do I do that?”

“There is a lever at the shaft of the pack. Pull it, and it will absorb the ambient quantum energy.”

“So, in terms of operation, this thing works like a pichkari?”

“Exactly like a pichkari, yes.”

The two men pulled the lever on the shafts of their ion packs, and soon, the devices were filled with quantum energy.

“Alright, Red,” spoke Jimi, “Here we go.”

“Wait,” Red motioned Jimi to, well, wait, “There is something very important that I forgot to tell you.”

“What?”

“Do not cross the streams.”

“Why?”

“It would be bad.”

Jimi was the exasperated one now, “Look. We got killed by a large thing tonight. Then, we discovered that Quincy are a thing and apparently Death Reapers are real now. A lot of crazy stuff has happened tonight, so I am more than a little fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean, "bad"?”

Red glared at Jimi, “Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.”

Jimi almost laughed, nearly panicking, “Right, that is bad. Okay, important safety tip. Thanks, Red.”

Red then nodded at Jimi. The nod was returned. The two fired their ion packs packed with quantum energy. Two white beams with a golden glow shot towards the sky. Suddenly, the sky seemed to shine with lightning, only it did not thunder. It stead it seemed as if a thousand birds chirped, and the clouds were painted with a million different colors. From the flashes appeared Bane, clear as daylight to Jimi.

“It is here!” Jimi yelled, “Fire again”

The two fired their beams again, which now enveloped Bane.

Red looked on with his eyes wide open, his mouth agape, as if struck pure awe. “I cannot see the thing, but the streams have wrapped themselves around something, alright! Something is in quantum superposition! We need to attack it to verify if it is actually there!”

Jimi then saw red energy glow in Bane's mouth. He had seen enough modern and classic entertainment content to know what this meant.

“It *is* here! We do not need to attack it! It is attacking us!”

Bane then fired a massive beam of red energy, his final Cero, towards its attackers.

Sensing the Cero coming towards him, Akio quickly uses the Reishi in the air to create a surronding sheild around himself, before quickly changing his Reishi broadsword into a bow and arrow and then shooting a Reishi arrow at Bane.

There it was again, in and out, leaving before he could so much as bat an eye to the Hollow's onslaught. Backing away, Tenma descended as back as he could away from where the group was going to get hit, descending from the sky while putting up a barrier around their company, quickly forming into a large blue colored cube. While still holding onto his Reishi sword, Tenma extended his index and middle finger out toward the barrier, glowing as the walls and insides began to phase in and out of existance, the cube glowing just before fading out of existance, all to reminicent to the what they had to contend with from their current foe.

"Hako Okuri!" Vanishing out of thin air, the cube of spirit energy, along with the contents as to the surface as as he could, stationing it across the bush of trees where they wwould remain away from the Hollow's sight for as long as he could. Watching the Cero past by, he was astonished by Akio's use of Quincy power, from sword to bow in such a short period of time, he was the prime example of what one would think of in regards to a hunter.

Bane, with no more power to fall back on a Cero, was now helpless. Then, he saw a Reishi arrow heading towards it. He bared his fangs and caught the arrow with its teeth. Then, he spat the arrow at Jimi and Red in his one last attempt to kill the two.

already on the move, Tomoe raced towards the arrow approaching the elders. Seeming like he practiced the motion over a thousand times. Tomoe transformed the reishi into a Japanese longbow. He then jumped into the air sideways having his body just above the line of fire.

Swiftly appling a layer of reishi around his hand like a glove. Tomoe swatted the arrow out of the air by catching it. It was then as he rolled sideways on the ground Tomoe poured extra reishi into the arrow that was already powerfull. Tomoe aimed for the area in between banes eyes and fired his arrow with high speed precision

Though struggling, Bane still managed to move with enough pace and power to dodge the arrow, which harmlessly vanished in the clouds.

Jimi turned to the Shinigami, “Alright, now what?”

Touching his utility belt, Tenma took out several fo the devices that made up the build, following the instructions to the letter. At this point, conventional methods were not going to cut it, willing to give the 12th Division's a try before resorting to anything too drastic that would put the humans in harms way. "I'm going to try and capture it, if the science is sound, this should theoreticaly end this swiftly." Setting up across the floor, Tenma waved his hand around the device, using Bakudō #26: Kyokkō to obscure it from sight, blending into the earthy marsh of stone and rock, his tactic now backing to Red's side, becoming the first line of defense for the Humans should the Hollow come back.

Jimi said, “Alright, Red, I can see the death reaper's device. Hold your stream steady, and I will pull it towards the trap.”

“Be careful,” spoke Red, “and do not cross the streams.”

Jimi wrangled at the shaft of his ion pack and aimed towards the trap. Bane was now beginning to get sucked in it. He yelled out, “It is working, Red! It is working, Tenma. Alright, I am going to start bringing him down. I repeat, I am going to start bringing him down. I got him. I will most definitely not cross the streams.”

Red yelled, “Hey, tell it to never mess with a couple of guys with some positron colliders!”

“Yeah! Never mess with a couple of guys with some positron colliders! You know, on second thought, I do not think it heard me, and if it heard me, I think it would have heard you, too. I mean, you cannot see it but it can see you.”

“Be quiet and focus!”

“Alright, turn off your stream at my go. Three. Two. One!”

Jimk and Red ceased fire. Bane roared, but could do nothing but be absorbed by the trap. The battle was over.

Jimi chuckled, and then let out a hearty laugh. “Well, that was not such a chore, now, was it?”

Red was speechless.

Jimi looked at everyone around him and spoke. “Good job, team. We are a team now, are we not?”

Before he could agree, Tenma's device began to sound off from the distance, the alert informing him that something else was coming. From the cold chill creeping up along his back, the feel alone gave away the presence of what he knew would only be more trouble. "More Hollows huh," Tenma muttered, his attention still focused on the trap laid out.

Tenma's mobile device detected activity that was most peculiar. In the Delhi NCR area, the device showed four to five different Hollows pinging on and off very rapidly. Clearly, around a handful of Hollows were entering and departing Delhi through mysterious means. The phenomenon was certainly inexplicable. When the mobile device finally ceased activity, only one Hollow was shown on it. Whether more were on the way or not was not known. What was known was that the so-called team was going to find its next mission handed to it on a platter.