Back in the conference room in Military Base 2, Shizuka's gaze drifted from Tsukuru to Starrk. It was as if the two were having their own little conversation that Shizuka was completely out of the loop of.
"Wait, what do you mean?" Shizuka asked. "Why wouldn't he have a physical body?"
Tsukuru glanced over at Shizuka. He then let out a sigh. It was the kind of sigh a parent would give when trying to explain something to a child.
"It's kind of hard to explain," Tsukuru replied, before glancing back at Starrk. "But essentially, Starrk is kind of like a spirit in his own world. If he had been transferred to our world exactly as he was in his, we would even be able to see him." Tsukuru' face then took on a solemn expression. "Not only that, but we would even be standing here. We'd be, well, you know…"
Starrk felt a deep pit form in his stomach.
He did indeed.
If he had arrived here in his true Arrancar form, his immense Spiritual Pressure would have killed these two. Their very souls being crushed by it. He flashed back to the eons he had spent alone in the vast desert of Hueco Mundo, surrounded by the corpses of the Hollows who were foolish enough to approach him, their souls being overwhelmed and crushed by his Spiritual Pressure once they got too close.
"Being too powerful…" Stark muttered in a low tone, causing the two to turn to him. "...Is it's own kind of Hell."
Tsukuru's eyes narrowed.
"As the saying goes, 'It's lonely at the top'," he replied.
Starrk glanced away.
"Yeah…" he muttered. "It is."
***
Back within the abandoned shelter on Pioletic, Faye sprinted towards the Training Center. Despite her having effectively lost a third of her full speed due to the Blood Ritual, Faye also wasn't in a group this time. There was no one she needed to worry about keeping up.
She also noticed that, despite it effectively being the dead of night, she could see perfectly. To her, it looked as bright as day.
As she reached the entrance of the Training Center, she drew her sword and swung it in a wide arc.
Just like back in the Ninth Family castle, she activated her new "Blood Sword Slash" Skill. A long, crescent-shaped line of red aura shot out and hit the upper part of the door. Despite technically being stronger than a base Blood Swipe, it was still unable to slice through metal, let alone Glathrium. However, the line of red aura did hit the door with enough force that it knocked the piece that Leo had already sliced off back on the floor inside the building.
Faye came to a sudden stop, causing a gust of wind to blast out in front of her. Faye then once again stepped through the opening, just as she had during the rescue mission.
Once inside, Faye then lifted the broken piece of the door off the ground. Muka had been right. Faye was significantly stronger than before. Last time, it had taken a combined effort of the whole group to lift the chunk of Glathrium. And even then, the strength boost from Hayley's Beast Gear had done most of the heavy lifting.
Faye walked down the halls until she eventually found her way to the reception room. The hidden mechanism controlling the placement of the Portal in the Arena had a special safety feature. Once the Portal back on the Base had registered that it had been used, it would send a signal back to the Portal here, causing the Portal to be hidden once again.
Faye punched the code into the passcode machine, causing the computer to boot up. She then input the activation code into the computer.
A moment later, Faye heard the familiar "chunk" from the arena.
Faye then zoomed down the hall and into the arena. There, she saw that the Portal was once again situated in the middle of the arena.
Faye smiled.
She brought her right arm up to her chest and pressed the jewel on her armband. To her surprise, it pressed down like a button.
"Leader Muka, I've arrived at the Portal," Faye replied. "I'm just about to pass through."
A moment later, the sound of crackling static could be heard.
Then, Muka's voice came through the jewel.
"Good," Muka replied. "I'm counting on you, Faye."
Faye nodded and pressed the jewel again. A moment later, the signal was cut.
Faye then took in a deep breath and walked through the Portal.
Once Faye had completely vanished through the vortex, the Portal powered down. Then, the spot on the floor under it began to lower, leaving a hole in the floor of the arena. A sturdy piece of Glathrium, the exact shape of the hole slid out from the left, slowly covering the hole. Soon, the arena floor looked to be one solid piece once again.
***
Back in the conference room at Military Base 2, Tsukuru and Starrk continued to stare at one another.
Eventually, Starrk closed his eyes and let out a sigh.
"You know, I have no idea how I'm supposed to feel right now," he muttered, opening his eyes and glancing away. "On one hand, you did summon me to this strange place against my will…" Stark then turned his gaze back to Tsukuru. "...and on the other hand, if you hadn't, I'd be dead right now."
Shizuka raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"What could possibly kill a spirit?" she muttered under her breath.
Tsukuru glanced back at her.
"Another spirit," he replied.
It was then that Shizuka's wristwatch began to flash and beep erratically. Hearing the loud beeping, both Tsukuru and Starrk turned to her.
Shizuka let out a deep exhale of air through her nostrils and brought her arm up to her chest.
Glancing down, she saw the name of some random soldier on the screen.
She brought her finger to the screen, answering the call.
"Yeah, what?" she asked. "I'm busy at the moment."
There was a pause.
"Ser-Sergeant Shizuka," a frightened male voice replied. "You asked to be informed once the Salvage Team sent to Pioletic returned, correct?"
Shizuka raised an eyebrow.
"And?"
There was another pause.
"The Red Portal in the restricted training room connected to the Portal on Pioletic has just registered being activated," the man replied. "Someone or something is coming through. It might be the Salvage Team."
Instantly, Shizuka's eyes widened. She bolted to her feet.
"Sorry, Tsu-Tsu, but I gotta go!" she replied, racing towards the door. Tsukuru and Starrk watched as Shizuka flung the door open and sprinted down the hall like a bat out of hell.
In the room, there was a pause. Then Starrk turned back to Tsukuru. He sat upright and cracked his neck again.
"So, I assume there's a reason you summoned me here?" he asked.
Tsukuru's face morphed into a warm smile.
"Yeah," he replied. "There is."
***
Down the hall, Shizuka kicked up a dust storm as she sprinted down towards the west wing.
'Why on Earth would Faye be using the Portal in the Training Center?!' Shizuka thought, anxiety running through her. 'The Salvage Team took a Portable Portal with them! Was the Portal damaged?!'
This thought made a pit form in Shizuka's stomach. If the Portable Portal was destroyed, that meant that they had run into something. And if that was the case, there was no way that a group of Level 2s would be able to handle it.
Shizuka reached the door of the restricted training room and flung it open. Inside, there was a small group of soldiers waiting. As Shizuka violently forced the door open, they all snapped their heads towards her.
A moment later, Faye emerged from the Portal. She had one of Tsukuru's daggers held in a reverse grip in her right hand.
As Faye emerged, she reached her left arm over and dusted off her right sleeve.
Shizuka's eyes widened as she saw Faye. More specifically, the state of her uniform. It looked as if Faye had decided to have a one-on-one match with a tiger…and lost.
A second later, the Portal behind her shut down.
Seeing this, Shizuka's eyes shrank to the point that her pupils became pinpricks. She knew what this meant. After all, the same thing had happened to her after her little "altercation" with Vicky Blade. It meant that Faye was the only survivor. And that the eight Level 2s whom Nathan had sent out on the Salvage Team…were dead.
"Faye…" Shizuka replied, causing the other Sergeant to look up at her. "What the hell happened?!