Welcome to Gaia! ::

"....So this is all that's left, huh?"

Looking over the ruins of what was once his home in disdain, a lone figure stood alone in the dark night of Karakura town and let out a small sigh as the chilly night breeze swept through the area, making him shiver slightly.

The young man was wearing a fancy tuxedo and sunglasses, as well as a black overcoat against the chilly weather which wasn't doing much to keep him warm. No longer shivering, he pulled out a box of cigarettes from his pocket and plopped one in his mouth, lighting it with a touch of reiatsu from his finger instead of a lighter. Letting out a small puff of smoke, the young wanderer stood still for a moment, gathering his thoughts for the future.

...It's finally come to down this. The final battle...It's funny...Standing here right now, I don't really feel like I've grown at all since the day I first took my sword and began rising through the ranks of the Gotei...It seems so long ago...And now I'm a captain, and going into a full out war...It's been years since I reported in, I wonder if they've replaced me? No. If they had, I would've heard about it by now... Well, time to get started.

Letting out one last puff of smoke, he let the cigarette drop from his lips and crushed it into the ground with his foot. This was no time to get side tracked with memories and emotions. He was here for a reason. Taking out a small pendant with a skull engraved on it from his pocket, the young man pressed it to his chest and held his breath as his spirtual body leapt out from inside the artificial corpse.

"...Let's do this."

Standing there was now a completely different figure than the one from before. This young man was wearing a set of pitch black obi and hakama, as well as tabi socks and straw sandals. On his left hip, hanging from a sash, was a sheathed katana with a intricate pattern of two dragons on the gold guard. His snow white hair stood out in the dark night, and his emerald green eyes were filled with a powerful, fiery determination.

Lastly, hanging from his shoulders like a cape, was the classic, snow white hayori that symbolized the young warrior's strength as a captain of the Gotei Thirteen. Silently unsheathing his sword, the weapon began to glow emerald green as the young man waved his hand over the spiritual metal.

"...Transmute, Tsumari-Renkin." (Ultimate Alchemy)

With a great flash of reiatsu, the ruins of the mansion laying before the stranger began to melt away, and new structures began to take their place as they were used as materials for the alchemic reaction taking shape. With a great flash of light, the spectacle was over and the warrior calmly sheathed his weapon.

Standing before him now was an incredibly large, powerful looking battle fortress complete with sturdy walls and battle cannons. It would be the heart of the shinigami attack force, and protect them from whatever enemy that would come.

"...Now that the fortress is ready, the last thing we need to do is finish up our preparations here in Karakura and send for the others..."

Turning to the three figures behind him, the young man allowed a small grin to form across his lips as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Alright, here's the plan. Asuma, go to the Bount leader and tell him that the preparations for Karakura are just about finished and to send the transportation out for the others at shinigami command. Yamoto, you go to the Vizards and request their help as reinforcements for the upcoming battle. And Sonia...You and I will go negotiate with the Quincy. If you understand your orders, let's get moving."

With that being said, the shinigami prodigy shunpo'd out of the area to finish his final tasks for the war. Captain Tansen Tsurugi was finally back.

A swirl of wind, bringing with it the smell of sweat, blood, tears and strangely enough Lady Speed Stick when Nicholas arrived, the broken remains of his wooden shield strapped to his left arm, a black short blade exposed to the public by his side and as always, his towering blue longsword strapped to his back. Tilting his hat politely, he let out a small whistle at the house before him, shining like a giant beacon of hope for the Shinigami and a giant finger towards the Hollows that challenged them.

His ears twitched, before he let out a sigh of exhaustion, the long travel after the tedious and rather dangerous training session had down wonders on challenging his stamina, but if anything, he felt more alive and energetic than ever before. He wasn't naive enough to believe he could take on the 10 Espada, but for some strange reason, this anomaly forming within him gave him the impression that he could take on even Aizen right now with a butter knife, and yet still win.

He rubbed his forehead, a mocking smile forming on his face. "Grim, I've gone insane."

His expression turned serious. "No holding back today."

The weights, built so very long ago by Kiba's skilled and loving hands, dropped from his arms and legs, giving Nicholas the feeling of freedom for the first time in 3 years, and he stored the now reiatsu-empty weights away in his pack, to be used later.

Now, he waited...

Nicholas smiled at the ex- and ironically Acting- Captain of his Squad, bowing low to show his respect of the woman before him, even going as far as to remove his hat for the lady, an act that he rarely showed before his peers.

Placing the brimmed head-covering on his head once again, he announced. "Tagg-taichou, its been far too long." Old habits die hard it seems, even with the introduction of Michiko as his captain, he still found himself reverting to calling Tagg his captain. It just seemed...wrong to call her anything else. Then again, it wasn't like he was unhappy with Michiko being his captain. If anything, she was a great a Captain as Tagg ever was.

"You've noticed? I must say that I've at least grown a little over the past three years, although my price of growth has not come easily." There was something bitter and ugly in Nicholas' voice as he uttered those words, as he turned his head slightly away from Tagg so that she couldn't see his expression. It was only there for a second, and when Nicholas looked back, his face was pleasantly neutral again.

His new found politeness would probably come off as a little strange to his old Captain. After all, he was known as one of the more...insane of his group, which was hard to pull off considering how bonkers they all were. The shadow of his old smile was beginning to form on his face as he chatted more, but it possessed none of the life of his old one, the old flame the boy once held had been snuffed out, replaced by this shell of a man who had lost so much.

Cold, cruel and efficient. Nicholas' new nature all connotated towards such emotions. It seemed strangely fitting, considering the role and nature of his squad and the origins of its name. Strike hard and strike fast was their groups unofficial law. To attack, again and again without mercy, without honour, without thought until their enemy fell. Nicholas was a Shinigami, a soldier of the Seireitei. If Tagg so ordered it, he would lay down even his own life now in the recapturing of their old home, the Seireitei.

"You've grown more powerful too." Nicholas bluntly stated as the cold wind picked up, causing his robe to billow around awesomely in the wind as he spoke. This wasn't a question, but a statement. Tagg's rather relaxed stance and cool nature suggested that she was either an inexperienced soldier in the field of war, which she was not OR she had reached a level where the prospect of falling to a foot Hollow no longer applied to her. The very idea of such a thing happening had him snorting.

((I just found out what the Squad 3 Name came from in History. I feel so smart...))

[Enters with BGM]

Just moments after Saki's appearance, another rift opens up and another lone shinigami comes into view. Stepping through within his red uniform and ancient haori, as two golden chains trailed three feet in length from the matching shackles upon his wrist. He calmly scans the area, while his white hair flowed to the soft breeze of the air. Taking quick notice of Tagg and those around her, the lone shinigami starts to memorize the reiatsu signatures of each within the area...as he makes his way towards them. Though, he appeared to hold no level of power, he oddly held a demonic aura about him. Normally one would not think much of such a thing, but the dark aura added with his non-existent levels gave the feeling that the darkness wasn't his. For, the dark demonic aura truly wasn't his to begin with...it actually belonged to the golden shackles and chains. And with each step closer, his golden chains took a life of their own and began to inspect their surroundings. Most people would have considered this to be the shinigami's doing, but they would sadly be mistaken. Slowing his pace just a few feet from the others, he gives Tagg a slight nod of respect and remained silent for the moment. As he awaited a response, his haori and hair continued to flow gently with the soft cool breeze of the air. While his chains continued to probe, prod, and inspect every little detail of the surroundings. But, their main interest were with the others within the location. And it was because of this curiosity, that would cause them to extend an extra two feet and growing to a length of five instead of three feet. Allowing them to fully inspect the others, without giving them any reason to be alarmed. While at the same time taking attention away from their master's unnerving gaze, with his demonic red eyes.

Junichiro stumbles through the rift left by Tagg and glances around panting heavily seeing Nicholas, Jinjaku and Tagg conversing not too far away and progresses to approach them slowly trying to maintain strength and balance in his legs. ''Hey Nicholas....Jinjaku...Tagg Taichou...Whats going on?'' Junichiro quickly unsheathed his Zanpaku-to and drove it into the ground using it as leverage as his legs were giving way due to the quick and forecefull awakening of his coma by Chimidoro No Tsuki....Who was also the one responsible for putting him in it in the first place. ''It has been a while Tagg-Taichou...I have gotten much stronger in you're absence...I hope I can make you proud in this fight...'' Junichiro spoke in weak but confident and determined tone as he forced himself to smile warmly.

Jinjaku raised his hand and lowered his head. "Can I ask something" He seemed unhappy and unconfident when he spoke at the moment. "You are all very strong. You could all stand a good chance to take it back..... but how am I suppose to help. I will just get in the way" He felt unneeded at the moment as he was surrounded by a lot of strong shinigami. "I am just your normal run of the mill unseated shinigami without Shikai or anything good. How can I help" Jinjaku then sat down and crossed his arms and looked up and smiled. "I will just stay here. I will be in the way" His tone of voice seemed to be happy but inside he was hurting as he knew he would never stand a chance. "If I go in there... I will just be in the way and.... Everyone will see how my talents don't match.. Squad 3 are the best I think but with me there I lower their standards. "He kept thinking to him self.

((I might as well stay out of this xd . Don't worry about it though biggrin ))

Jinjaku had a frown on his face and he stood up and sighed. "I guess I will come and get in the way..." He seemed like he didn't believe in his ability. All his bragging he done before is only in front of people he knows he will never be in a serious fight. He would never be in a fight with someone who would kill out of cold blood. Behind his wall he had no confidence at all. "And I know squad 3 isn't just about power..." He then thought in his head. "But it helps. I won't be able to help them. I will just get in the way. All I can do is fire pretty lights" He then walked over the the group and waited for instructions. He looked at all of them and this made him feel worse as he saw so many people who was stronger than him. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

Jinjaku was shocked by this as his feet came off the floor and he was very scared of the woman. "shes strong" He thought to him self. He then nodded. "Ok then.... I will fight" He said with hesitation. "Wow.. Shes scarier than Junichiro on a bad day, I wonder if Junichiro is scared of her" He thought to him self. He then smiled at the thought of Junichiro being scared of someone. The smile then turned into a look of terror. "I am sorry Tagg. I wasn't smiling at you. Something else" He spoke quickly he then tilted his head and closed hie eyes.