Chapter 56

I awoke not in a grass patch this time, but on a cold tiled ground, in the middle of the night. I opened my eyes to see clouds above, building around me, and then I heard the sound of an alarm.

“Emergency!” It rang out. “Emergency!”

I slowly sat up and examined myself as I did.

“Intruder in the Seireitei! All Guardsmen to battle stations!” It continued.

The hole in my chest was gone, and I wasn’t feeling any of the pain that Freeza had inflicted on me. In fact, I felt completely normal, though I did have a scar from the chest wound, and was still covered in blood. Dried blood, but blood none the less. I stood up, and ignored the verbal alarm as I kept checking over my body. Then I heard someone else.

“Hey! You over there!” I heard call out from behind me.

I checked for my tail next, thankfully it had slid with me to where ever I was now. The voice got louder as I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“I said, hey.” The voice boomed.

I grabbed the wrist, twisted my body and threw the person over my shoulder who had grabbed me. It was a man, looking to be in his late twenties, wearing a black kimono with a white sash around his waist.

“Why does this seem so familiar?” I said to myself. “Hey, am I in the home for infinite losers or is this supposed to be heaven?” I asked.

The man scrambled to get up. He lunged at me, with his arms out. I caught him by the wrists and leaned in. I was losing my patience fast.

“You. Do. Not. Want. To. Do. That.” I said very pointedly. “Now answer my question. Where am I?”

“Damned Ryoka. You don’t even know where you are? How’d you get in here?” He asked as I let him go.

“Ryoka? What’s that?” I asked. “Why does this seem so familiar?”

“A Ryoka is an uninvited intruder.” The man said.

“Aren’t all intruder’s Ryoka then? I mean you’re not going to invite an intruder, right? Why not just say it’s another word for intruder?” I asked.

He took a relaxed stance and rubbed his chin.

“Never thought of it that way.” He said.

“Okay, so you’re saying I’m an intruder. I get it. I didn’t do it on purpose.” I said with a sigh. “Can you just bring me to someone who’s in charge?”

“Oh, um, right!” He said. “Follow me.”

He turned and began leading me down the streetway.

“So, where am I?” I asked.

“You’re in the Seireitei.” He said.

“Okay, things keep sounding familiar, but I have no idea what that is.” I said.

“Well, for lack of better explanation, it’s the center of the soul society.” He said as we rounded a corner.

“Again, sounds familiar, but I can’t place it.” I said.

“Have to admit though, you’re not what I expected a Ryoka to be like.” He said.

“Oh?” I said. “You mean the willingness to see the guys in charge? Or did you mean me looking like I was just pulled out of a garbage compactor?” I asked.

“Yeah, about that. Mind if I ask you what happened?” He asked.

“Oh, I was in a fist fight with a galactic overlord on another planet, I remember him killing me, then I woke up here.” I said. “Well that would explain how you ended up in the soul society. Everyone who dies, and doesn’t become a hollow comes here.” He said. “Though, I’ve never heard of someone coming directly to the Seireitei.”

“Again, I’m hearing words, but they are not linking up.” I said.

Not saying much else, I was lead to a strange area, with several similarly dressed people moving about doing various tasks. I was taken into a room with a sliding wooden door and told to sit on a pillow. About half an hour later, an older gentleman with a pink robe around his shoulders came in. With a young lady at his heels. He had a conical hat on, long black hair, and a bit of a five o’clock shadow. Under the pink robes, he was dressed like most of the others. With the exception of what looked like another white robe under the pink. The girl was a bit shorter than him and was dressed like the others, but had some sort of arm band on, and a clip board in her hands.

“So you’re the Ryoka.” He said.

“There’s that word again.” I sighed.

“Sorry, we’re a bit on high alert here.” He said with a smile. “I’m Captain Shunsui Kyoraku of the eighth squad.”

He looked over at the girl. She adjusted her glasses. The glint off of them caught my eye. It seemed so familiar. Why couldn’t I place it? I had obviously seen something in regards to this. I started to think about the universes so far. There was Dragon Ball and Power Rangers. This had to be another universe. So the question is, if I didn’t die, how did I get healed before I was thrown here, and could I get back? If I could, could I train here to take on Freeza again?

“And this is...” He started.

“Sorry. Gonna stop you right there.” I said. “Oh?” He said.

“Not that I don’t want to know this young lady’s name, I’m still trying to figure this all out.” I sighed.

“How so? Seems pretty simple. You died and ended up here.” The Captain said.

“Sorry, Cap. It’s not that simple.” I said.

I leaned back, putting my arms behind me to brace me, and looked up at the ceiling.

“I died in another dimension, or at least blacked out there. I was sent to this dimension after, and healed during.” I pointed out. “I’m still alive.”

“Very interesting.” He said. “Do you have any evidence to back this up?”

I stood up and let my tail whip around.

“What kind of evidence do you need?” I asked.

“Well, I’m not sure.” He said.

“Okay, tell me, why are you on high alert here. Obviously it’s not me, because just one person shouldn’t put a whole place like this, with trained soldiers on high alert ... even if they’re all weaklings.” I pointed out.

“Weaklings you say?” He asked.

“Well, yeah, their energy levels are surprisingly low. I’d say a little higher than human levels, but I know a few humans stronger than them.” I pointed out.

“Oh? And I’m guessing you’re stronger?” He said.

I gave a nod.

“Okay, Ryoka...” He started.

“Joshua.” I said.

“Okay, Joshua, I’d like you to prove what you’re saying.” He said before turning back to the door and leading me out.

He turned to one of the passing soldiers and called them over with a motion of his hand.

“Sir!” The soldier said.

“This young man says that the Soul Reapers are weak. I’d like you to run to Squad Eleven’s barracks and see if you can borrow one of their lieutenants.” The Captain said.

Again, I recognized the term. Things were starting to become clearer.

“Sir!” The solder said before dashing off as fast as he could. I raised an eyebrow before looking around. The soldiers had all stopped what they were doing.

“It’s gonna be a few minutes.” The captain said to me.