The Becoming: Chapter 1: Terrible Lie

”It won't give up it wants me dead
goddamn this noise inside my head”

~Nine Inch Nails “The Becoming”

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Assistant Captain Kuchiki knocked on Katrina’s door and waited until her Fifth Seat opened it.

“Rukia,” Katrina greeted, standing aside to let her in.  Kuchiki shook her head, remaining where she was.

“Captain Ukitake has a mission for you,” she replied. “I’ll wait for you to get Miasma and walk with you to Ukitake’s office.”

Katrina’s eyes widened.  This must be something serious, as she had never needed to bring her zanpakuto to her Captain’s office.  Katrina nodded, then grabbed Miasma from its stand, tucking it into her sash. “I’m ready, Rukia.”

Kuchiki nodded and turned toward Captain Ukitake’s office. Katrina followed closely behind.

Kuchiki announced themselves and entered Ukitake’s office, where their Captain was sitting behind his desk.  “Ah, Katrina-chan,” he greeted, as he motioned for her to sit down in the chair across from him.  Kuchiki went to her desk on the other side of the office to do her paperwork.  “There is a mission I have for you that I believe only you can do,” The Captain continued. “There is an unseated shinigami who had volunteered to be Captain Kurotsuchi’s test subject a while back.  Although it seemed like nothing happened at the time, she has been recently exhibiting signs of having an inner hollow.  Similar signs like yours.”

Katrina’s face darkened as she listened. She wondered if she was ready to handle something like this, as her own Inner Hollow, Lucia, had been subjugated fairly easily, but it was not without the assistance of Captains Hirako, Muguruma and Ohtoribashi, as well as the Substitute Shinigami, Ichigo Kurosaki. And then there was Assistant Captain Kira, whom she had attacked while in Hollow form, creating his Inner Hollow, Orpheus. “Um, Captain, why was I chosen for this mission and not one of the others?”

Ukitake’s face also darkened as he replied. “Captain Commander Yamamoto decreed that none of the high ranking Visored Shinigami would be involved in saving the life of an unseated shinigami.” He sighed before continuing.  “He wants her executed as a threat to Soul Society.”

“Wait, am I being sent to kill her?” Katrina exclaimed. “If so, I refuse!”

Ukitake smiled slightly. “No, Katrina, I’m sending you to find her and help her subjugate her Inner Hollow before Soi Fon’s Punishment Force locates her. Her name is Rei Sasaki.  She’s hiding out there in the Rukongai right now. I have full faith that you can find Rei-chan and help her subjugate her Inner Hollow before the Punishment Force can find her.”

“I would need space to fight her unimpeded,” Katrina said. “And what if the Punishment Force finds us before we are ready?”

“Try to find a way to get her into the underground facility. Just remember that the Punishment Force can see through Bakudo 26.”

“Captain,” Kuchiki interrupted, walking from her desk over to where Katrina was sitting. “Am I forbidden to assist Katrina?”

Ukitake thought about it. “Actually... no. Only those who are high ranking Visoreds are forbidden, which includes Izuru. I won’t stop you Rukia, so do what you think is right.”

The meeting continued with additional details and Katrina and Kuchiki set off to the Rukongai. There were many districts, but hopefully when Katrina draws down her Hollow’s mask she would be able to pinpoint Rei’s location.

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Rei was running through the back alleys of District 131, her dark brown hair flowing behind her.  She knew she was in trouble the moment she felt her Inner Hollow, although she wasn't aware of what was exactly happening. “Dammit, Rei,” she muttered to herself. “Totally fucked yourself by letting that creepo Captain bribe you into these ‘studies’. Ugh.”

”Well you are forever a gullible bimbo, Rei-Rei...,” A voice inside her head suddenly cackled.  

Rei’s green eyes widened and she stopped running, hiding herself in the shadows of an alleyway. “Go away,” she replied shakily.  “Leave me alone!”

”I can make this easy on you if you just let me take over,” the voice continued. ”The Punishment Force is after your pretty little neck you know.”

“No...no..no...I did nothing wrong!” Rei murmured. But she knew otherwise. Those ‘studies’ Kurotsuchi did were nothing more than experiments on creating Inner Hollows on purpose as a step to making a Visored type army of Shinigami who can patrol Hueco Mundo.

”They don't care about you, Rei-Rei," the voice cackled. "No one does. A lowly unseated whore like you is only good for turning a few.."

"Shut the fuck up!" Rei screamed out, attracting the attention of the few passers by. This obviously was not out of the ordinary in this part of the Ryukongai. She growled, cursing out whatever this was inside her head when it felt like her head was going to explode.

"We'll do this the hard way then."

Rei's eyes widened in horror as she began to feel some sort of mask forming on the left side of her face and a burning, tearing sensation inside herself. “What’s happening to me?”

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After leaving the gates and entering the Ryukongai, Katrina turned to Kuchiki.  “Rukia, if we find her, please promise me that you’ll do your best to keep everyone and yourself away from us. While Lucia’s been pretty much tranquil since her subjugation, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Kuchiki nodded, knowing that despite being an Assistant Captain, not being a visored put her at a disadvantage. “Don’t worry Katrina.  When I offered to come along, it was mostly to fight off the Punishment Force while you focus on getting Sasaki to subjugate her Inner Hollow. Last thing you need is for them to decide to take you down as well.”

“Would they really?”

“Why take chances?”

Katrina nodded.  “Rukia I’m going to see if I can trace her,” pulling down her mask from thin air.  Closing her eyes, she expanded her enhanced senses and picked her up. “She’s pretty far away,” she said, removing the mask. “I would say near District 130-131. We don’t have much time though.  The reiatsu is unstable.”

“Lead the way then,” Kuchiki said, before the two 13th Company members dashed off toward the districts in question.

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“Stay away from me!” Rei screamed as a group of thugs had decided to take advantage of a single female in that part of the Ryukongai.  The fact that she was hollowfying didn’t seem to faze them.  And suddenly Rei was outside her body, looking down at a horrifying sight: her physical  body tearing into those thugs like they were cheap rag dolls, ripping them apart effortlessly, a skull-like mask covering the left side of her head, white with green stripes. A curvy horn with a broken-off tip was also visible.

But her eyes...pitch black eyes with yellow irises..

It was over in seconds. Those thugs were no more. Body parts and blood were splattered everywhere. The few witnesses had already ran screaming.  What a massacre.

”You can call me that,” the voice chuckled in her head.

“Call..call you what?” Rei stammered, finding herself back in her body staring at her bloodied hands as she stood there. Pieces of the mask started to crumble to the ground.

”Massacre, Rei-Rei, I’ll take that as my name”

“What..what are you? Get out of me!”

"Rei Sasaki?" another voice interrupted.

Rei whipped around to see two female shinigami standing there. One had on the Assistant Captain badge around her left arm. "I..I didn't do this..." she stammered even though there was blood covering her hands and splattered around her body. "Please...you have to believe me."

The other woman nodded to the Assistant Captain, who nodded back before stepping away. "I believe you," the other shinigami replied. 13th Company Fifth Seat, Katrina Lau. And I am like you." She reached up and pulled down her hollow mask from out of thin air. Unlike Rei's mask, Katrina's covered her entire face. Only her mouth was visible through the gaping mouth of the tiger face like mask. Blue and purple stripes adorned the mask while a greenish reiatsu flared out from the eyeholes. She also had the same pitch black eyes with yellow irises. "The Punishment Force has been dispatched to eliminate you as a potential threat to Soul Society.  However, I have been sent to try to save you.” Katrina’s voice changed to a more demonic sounding tone with her mask drawn down.

“How?.. It hurts inside..”

“I know,” Katrina said, pulling away the mask. “There is a training area that I can take you to in order to have you gain control over your Inner Hollow.”

“Inner Hollow?” Rei blinked as the mask completely fell apart. “Is that what that voice in my head is?”

Katrina nodded. “I need for you to be strong. You have to will yourself to stay in control as we have a ways to go before we get to where we’re going to.”

“Katrina,” Rukia said. “It will be tricky to get her back into Soul Society. I’m pretty sure that the gate guardians are on the look out for her.”

“So what do we do now?”

“Finally found ya,” a male voice said from above.  The three looked up and saw Captain Hirako hovering upside down in the air.  But the 5th Company Captain was not wearing his Captain’s Haori and his trademark hair was covered with a hood.  

“Captain Hirako,” Katrina and Kuchiki exclaimed in unison. Neither one had detected his arrival.

“Punishment Force is gettin’ closer ta this District,” he said, noting their shock and concern. “Don’t worry about me. Yamamoto had wanted to eliminate me too in tha beginning.”

“What’s going on?” Rei asked, backing away slowly.

Hirako grinned as he landed on the ground.  “Katrina-chan’s probably already shown you her mask. I had ta help her control her Inner Hollow. I’d like ta think of her as my protege.”

Rei stopped. She recognized that Captain.  Who could forget that cheshire cat like grin or that strange cut blond hair, now that she saw it hidden in the hood.

“Captain Hirako,” Katrina said. “Why are you here?”

“Ukitake had good intentions sending ya here, Katrina-chan. And you too, Rukia-chan,” he replied.  “But he forgot how vicious the Punishment Force can be. There will be many that would swarm down at once.”

“So what now?” Kuchiki asked, keeping her distance from Rei as a precaution.  She remembered when Katrina had suddenly been taken over by her Inner Hollow and gored Kira, in the process creating his own Inner Hollow.

“We’re gonna go ta Karakura an’ use Kisuke’s training grounds,” he replied.  “I had Momo-chan use her kido on me ta mask my reiatsu and any near me.”  He took out a small object and threw it to the ground, creating a Senkaimon Gate. “Let’s go.”

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Katrina Lau, Orpheus, Lucia (c) Tygerlander
Rei Sasaki, Massacre (c) xBrokenRiversx
Bleach (c) Tite Kubo
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