In the Ninth Family castle in the Vampire Settlement, Muka and Faye continued to walk through the castle.
"Alright, I think that's just about everything," Muka replied. "I've explained the basics of being a Vampire to you."
Muka stopped near a door. As she opened it, Faye saw that it looked to be some sort of training room.
"The last thing I want to teach you before your departure is how to use your Vampire Skills," she replied. The two of them walked into the center of the room. "Do you remember that 'swipe' move that I used on the Red Portal Planet?" Muka asked.
Faye thought back, and the memory flashed in her mind. She remembered how Muka would simply swipe her hand down, and a red aura in the form of a claw swipe would be sent out.
"Yes, my Leader," Faye replied.
"Good," Muka replied. "That was a Blood Swipe. Now, I want you to do thesame."
Faye nodded.
She reached up her arm and swiped it down.
However, nothing happened.
There was a pause.
"Hmm…" Muka mused. "This may take longer than I thought."
If Faye was struggling with a simple Blood Swipe, then it might take months for Muka to give Faye even the most basic training.
However, with Faye, she felt a weird sensation. Instinctively, her gaze drifted down to her sword.
"Escuse me, Leader Muka?" Faye asked, causing Muka to turn to her.
"May I…try something?" she asked. "I feel as if…my body is trying to…tell me something."
Muka stared at Faye for a long moment.
'If she really is a Subclass, maybe her body is trying to show her how to use her Skills,' Muka thought.
"As you wish," Muka replied.
Faye nodded.
"Thank you, my Leader," she replied.
Following the feelings from her body, she reached down and drew her sword. She crossed her sword in front of her, bringing it over to her left shoulder. As she did, she felt a strange energy travel through her arm and down towards her sword. The feeling kind of reminded her of the feeling she got when she activated her Mutant Cells.
Faye swung her arm out. As she did, a line of red aura in the shape of the sword's arc was sent out. The arc of aura flew through the air like a projectile. When it hit the wall, it cut a line into it.
The two stared at the cut on the wall for a moment.
"Hmm…" Muka muttered. "Well, that certainly wasn't a normalBlood Swipe."
***
Back in the conference hall, Starkk glanced down at Tsukuru.
"Who are you?" he asked. "And…where am I?"
As Tsukuru looked at Starrk, his "Scan" Skill automatically activated. A System screen appeared in front of him.
[Name: Coyote Stark
Race: Arrancar [Gillian]
Rank: General
Grade: Knight
Pawn Points: 0/30
Skills:
Hierro
Sonido
Bala ]
His eyes narrowed as he saw the bracket after Starrk's race.
'Hmm…it looks like the Summoning Process has reset his body,' Tsukuru thought.
A 'Gillian' was the lowest rank of the Hollow evolution tree. It went 'Gillian', then 'Adjucha', and finally, 'Vasto Lorde'.
Tsukuru then shook his head.
'But, that's not important right now,' he thought. 'How do I explain to him that he's a fictional character, and that he's now in the real world?'
Tsukuru let out a sigh. He decided that the best course of action would be just to rip the band-aid off.
Tsukuru turned to Shizuka.
"Shizuka, get me a tablet," he replied.
***
Back in the Ninth Family Castle, Muka turned to Faye.
"So, is there anything else that your body is…telling you?" she asked.
Faye thought about it for a second. Truth be told, there was something else.
She looked down at her sword. It felt as if that strange energy in her body was naturally trying to escape into her sword.
Faye closed her eyes and let her body take hold. As she did, she could feel the energy flowing down her arm like a river.
Then, when she opened her eyes, they widened in surprise.
The blade of her longsword was now enveloped in the red aura. It was like how a Wind User could coat their weapons with wind to make them stronger.
Unknown to Faye, Muka's eyes were widened under her helmet.
'It can't be…' she thought.
"Faye," Muka replied, causing Faye's attention to be shifted from the aura covering her sword to Muka. "Do you mind if I…test something?" she asked.
***
Back in the conference room on Military Base 1, a skittishPrivate arrived in the room. He handed a tablet to Shizuka and then bolted.
Shizuka then walked up and handed the tablet to Tsukuru.
Tsukuru took it and used it to log into the Green Family's digital "Black Box" archive. Not only did the "Black Box" archive old TV shows, but also online media as well. Tsukuru clicked on the search bar and entered the word "Bleach".
Soon, an image appeared. It showed a teenage boy with short, spiky, orange hair in a black cloak. In his right hand, he held a jet-black katana. Behind him in the image, there was a large skull mask. The mask had red markings both above and below the eyes.
Tsukuru clicked on it and began scrolling down a long list of "chapters". Each chapter had a number. At the top, they started at "Chapter 686" and went down.
When Tsukuru reached "Chapter 335", he stopped. He clicked on the chapter and handed the tablet to Starrk.
Starrk lazily grabbed the Tablet and looked at it with a glazed-over face.
A moment later, his eyes widened.
On only the second panel of the page, he saw himself.
***
Back in the Ninth Family castle in the Vampire Settlement, Faye stared at Muka.
"Uh…sure?" Faye asked.
'She's my Leader now, isn't she?' she thought. 'Why would she need to ask permission?'
Muka nodded.
The next moment, Muka wrenched back her fist and slammed it into Faye's face.
A resounding clang filled the room.
***
Back in the conference room on Military Base 2, Tsukuru and Shizuka watched as Starrk began to rapidly swipe up pages like a madman.
"I remember this conversation," Starrk muttered in shock.
"It was the one I had with that Shinigami before our fight," he replied.
As he scrolled through more and more pages, he saw his other comrades, the second and third Espada, in their fights as well.
A moment later, Starrk snapped his face up from the tablet.
"What is this?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.
Tsukuru had a sad expression on his face.
He let out a sigh.
"In this world, Starrk, you're nothing more than a character in a fictional story," he replied.
***
Back in the Ninth Family Castle in the Vampire Settlement, Muka's fist remained pressed against Faye's face. However, Faye hadn't even moved. Underneath Muka's fist, the center of Faye's face was covered in a series of red, glowing lines that perfectly followed the path of her veins and arteries.
Faye's eyes were wide in shock.
She was currently trying to process things.
Despite the fact that Muka had just punched her, she hadn't felt anything. And even if Muka had been holding back, which was unlikely, given the speed of her punch, Faye should have at least felt something from Muka's gauntlet. And why did it sound like Muka had just hit metal?
Slowly, Muka lowered her hand.
As she did, the glowing lines on Faye's face began to fade.
"What…What was that?" Faye asked, finally discovering her voice.
"Blood Armor," Muka replied. Underneath her helmet, she was smiling.
"I think I finally discovered what kind of Vampire you are."
***
Back in the conference room on Military Base 2, the tablet dropped from Starrk's hand. It clattered to the ground, but it was unclear if Starrk had even heard it.
Starrk's eyes were wide, and his jaw was agape.
Internally, his mind was frantically trying to come to grips with what Tsukuru had just said.
"I'm…not real?" he muttered under his breath. He felt as if he were in the middle of an existential crisis.
Tsukuru glanced to the side.
"Hmm…that's a matter of perspective," he replied, snapping Starkk back to reality. "From your perspective, Los Noches, Hueco Mundo, the fight with Captain Shunsui, it was all real. But to us…" Tsukuru gestured over towards Shizuka. "It was nothing more than a story."
Starrk brought his hand up to his face and clamped it around his forehead.
"I need to sit down," he muttered.