"I refuse to have him as my squad's captain!" Indignation laced the shout of the vice-captain of squad six. Renji could only see red, as he stared down the head captain who sat at his chair as if nothing was wrong and this was their new normal.
"The idiots did it this time." Kevin and the rest of Alien Force stared at Ben who just entered the meeting room. A haori hung from his shoulders like the head captain, despite that he forsaked wearing the typical shihakushu.
His style of dress could best be described as functional, a dark shirt with with white lines down the side paired with his moss colored pants. Technology integrated boots created a metallic clang sound as they impacted the hard wood floor, his brown hair was tied into a bun at the back of his head. His omnitrix extended and became a gauntlet like the one his future self possessed.
Thus revealing his emerald eyes which lost a part of their typical luminance, the usually laid back hero seemed oddly serious. Despite the outburst from his vice-captain Ben did not react he simply went stand next to the squad four captain Unohana, the others had their own thoughts but they all seemed to bury whatever sentiments they held.
This action from the captains caused Renji's rage to rise like never before he looked at each of them and shouted.
"What is wrong with all you?! Huh?! We lost Captain Kuchiki, a nobleman and one of the most loyal members of the court guards! How can you stand aside and let him be replaced by a man who worked side by side with Aizen!" Renji marched towards the alien hero.
"Renji, don't do something stupid!"
"Wait, Renji-!"
"Stop-"
Ignoring the cries of the Karakura gang, the fiery haired man pick up his technically new captain by his shirt.
"What the hell makes you think you can be the newest captain of this squad! Your own ally killed the former one!"
No response.
That was all Abarai needed, he reeled back his fist and struck the green eyed young man square in his jaw. The shapeshifter was sent flying back, nearly hitting one of the fire stands, his back hitting the hard wood wall with an audible thud.
"Ha..ha." Screaming like he did, the squad six lieutenant was left a tad winded, but his fellow lieutenants and their respective captains did not intervene.
"Come on I..ha know that ain't all you got." Struggling to his feet, Ben taunted the red haired young man the way his eye twitched was the conformation he needed to know it worked. He felt it before he saw it, punches came down on top of him many to his face others to his torso, the pain was similar to being hit by sledge hammers.
Repeated strikes to the face caused bones to break, teeth to fly and blood to spill.
"Why?! Why don't you fight back?!" His hands felt the warm blood of the human drip down and leave puddles on the floor.
The scent of blood was not unfamiliar to the gathered individuals, all of them were at one point the cause for graves to be made. Ben's face had swelled greatly he could barely see thanks to many of the bones within his skull fracturing and piercing his eyes, clutched his ribs and winced.
'They're broken brat.'
'Yeah I could guess the old man.'
Pain, they were old friends, honestly pain followed those who decide to walk the path of heroism. The young brown haired man was no exception to this, he stood his ground and stared down the red haired man. Renji was unnerved by the pummeled face of the human, deep in his core it felt like a part of him was contorting and churning. Ben was a human, he was a soul reaper, his entire existence was dedicated to protecting humans.
A question arose within him, why? Why did he just try and pummel the young man? Why was he mad at Ben who is no different than Momo? Everyone in this was a victim of Aizen's in some way shape or form and he just, thrashed the man who decided to take on the role of his captain in order to help them fight against him.
His throat felt dry, it seemed like it wanted to tighten and stop any air from entering. He had a bankai the making of a captain, but he lacked mastery. The images of his dead mentor flashed in his mind, the idea of never seeing him again was impossible to believe.
A hand patted his shoulder, the latest captain reached out and clasped his shoulder.
"Why? After everything, why?" He refused to allow any tears to fall, but his voice was still laced with sadness.
A muffled answer came from the bruised young man, "I'we..bwen..beher." The actual words were unintelligible, yet despite that he knew the meaning behind them. Despite everything they were not too different they were merely broken souls, in a broken world who were damaged even more by a terrible man.
"I-I'm sorry."
The other captains and lieutenants nodded, the other special forces breathed out a sigh of relief, Renji tried to brace Ben against himself. The action was difficult as the red haired man was similar to Kevin who was a head taller than the emerald eyed young man.
The omnitrix wielder simply waved off his help instead a green flash of light filled the room within Ben's original position stood the pungent plant man Swampfire.
All the soul reapers reacted to the alien's odor before his actual appearance. Even the Ichigo Kurasaki's group was having a less than easy time with the odor.
"Grow up!" Shouting at everyone present they all stared at him, seeing how his bruises from human form carried over to his alien form. They manifested as brown spots on his yellow face, the vines that constituted it moved and reformed the spots all healed!
"High speed regeneration?"
Ben returned to human form and looked at the source of the pleasing voice, it was Unohana. Unohana appeared to be like any caretaker, she had a smile that just said 'it's going to be ok.' Her jet black hair was tied into a large braid that covered the front of her body, she was a tiny bit shorted than Ben himself.
She wore a regular shihakusho and haori, an obi or sash covering her mid section.
"Yeah, Swampfire does that, pretty handy in dangerous situations. Haha." Feeling awkward, the alien hero compulsively laughed. Gladly for him the charming dark haired beauty did the same while slightly covering her mouth with her sleeve.
"Enough!" Gathering all the attention in the room with his booming voice and a tap of his cane, the head captain brought order to the room.
"Our personal grievances will require a long time to completely reconcile, however for the sake of the world they must be put aside. Now we must focus on what we know about the current situation. Mayuri debrief us on your findings."
"Of course head captain. As you all know Aizen's forces invaded the human world, then were brought to Soul Society by an enigmatic figure that our otherworldly friends refer to as Professor Paradox. Aizen then used some unknown power different from the conventional spiritual energy that we know of. The result being the current state of the three worlds, with Hueco Mundo being cut off from the rest of our reality, I believe Captain Tennyson could enlighten us further on this matter." Ben nodded towards Mayuri.
"Paradox is a bit on the weird side, from what we know he used to be a normal scientist but after an experiment went haywire he got flung outside of normal reality. That's where he gained his powers, but he only ever uses them to help guide us to the best possible situation. If you're wondering why he doesn't solve the issues himself it's because there are apparently beings stronger than him, I've never met them personally. Whatever is happening here got his attention though so it's probably something major." The atmosphere in the room became more sullen. The idea that Aizen could gain more power was a frightening prospect that caused many of the people in the room to shudder.
"Do we have an idea on what exactly was the power that sealed off Hueco Mundo? The only thing I saw was a pillar made of some dark liquid stretched into the sky."
Toshiro Hitsugaya was a prodigy, a captain who appeared to be no older or taller than a blossoming teenager, his white hair was a wild mess of spikes. His turquoise eyes could draw the attention of many combined with his rare hair color.
He wore a standard shihakusho alongside a sleeveless haori, he had a serious demeanor despite what his stature and age may portray.
"I can answer that one." The cherry and confident voice of Gwen drew everyone's attention, she decided to stand next to her cousin as if to show him up.
"It took me a while, but after combing through my spell books I was able to come up with something." The magical alien hybrid lifted her hand and a faint blue glow emanated and projected before the gathered audience was the image of a golden cup. "Its name is the holy grail, a wish granting device created by human mages long ago. Wars were fought over who had the right to use such a device, which led to the creation of the Holy Grail Wars, they completely stopped after the fourth one. As the secret behind the grail was discovered and it was destroyed."
"What was the secret?" The rough voice of Sajin Komamura boomed from behind his light brown colored helmet. The man was a titan in stature; he was undoubtedly the tallest individual in the room. He wore black and red arm bracers.
Like Hitsugaya he had a sleeveless haori, however he had large shoulder pads and boots that complimented his helmet.
"The Holy Grail is fueled by the sins of humanity."
"What?!" Everyone was shocked by the revelation. What sick monster could devise such a thing to be fueled by vices of human kind?
"The grail wars were not fought by people; instead they were fought by heroic spirits. These spirits or ghost liners are the echoes of heroes of a time bathed in mystery. The older they are the more mystery they had at their disposal which correlated to their power as well. With how Aizen is he might be attempting to summon a heroic spirit from the ancient past to help him win this war."
"That cannot happen for it will mean the end of the world as we know it." Yamamoto reminded the gathered people.
"Yes, that's for certain, however there is good news. We also have a servant on our side and not just the strongest one of all the classes. Saber. We don't how exactly he got here, but he's here which means Aizen can't summon another one to help him out which helps to limit his influence. So head captain if you would allow us Alien Force to fill the remaining captain roles we are outside factors that he couldn't see coming so if anyone as the best shot at ending him it's one of us." Gwen had a confident smile on her face which resulted in Ben narrowing his eyes.
"Hey, did you just make me less special? That's mean." The emerald eyed hero looked downcast by the revelation his mock despair made his auburn haired cousin shake him up and down with an energy construct.
"Stop being so pouty, you dweeb!"
"Are they really just cousins? They remind me and my siblings." The orange haired Ichigo said to his team, who all nodded in agreement.
"Then it is decided, Gwen Tennyson will be the newest captain of squad five. Rook Blonco will be the captain of squad three and lastly Kevin Levin will be the captain of squad nine. This meeting is over, lieutenants take your newly appointed captains and familiarize yourselves with them until your cooperation is perfect."
"Yes head captain!" The lieutenants met their new captains and everyone left the meeting hall one pair at a time. On the way out Ben told Renji.
"This is just temporary by the way, I'm going when I leave you're going to be the one wearing this cape." Renji's eyes opened wide then contracted as his lips pursed.
"Thanks but that's not a cape and you're wearing it wrong."
"I completely agree I look awesome, come on I'm stupidly hungry." Ben began to run off into the distance with his red haired lieutenant pursuing him.