No way, Ishida sits slumped against a stone wall as he watches the bloodied Nemu struggle to sit up. He looks up at Mayuri angrily, He actually discarded his own subordinate for the sake of attacking me...!

Grinning down at his enemy with a dark, toothy smile, Mayuri holds out his Zanpaku sword in front of him.

(Intro page - Mayuri's head is arched back and his eyes roll up towards the sky. His black-nailed fingers are raised toward the reader's direction. His face doesn't have enough human characteristics to show if he's feeling any genuine emotions - but he seems to be in some form of ecstasy.)

"Hehe..." Mayuri stares down at the fallen Ishida. His injured Vice-Captain is not far behind him, making a futile attempt to get up. However, Mayuri ignores her and says to Ishida, "You're sweating a lot... It hurts, doesn't it? You're doing well to put up with it while not screaming out... You're pretty tough." He asks, "I don't suppose this is the first time you've been cut by a sword?"

Fighting off the pain from the deep wound running across his shoulder blade, Ishida grunts, "...This is my second time...!"(1)

"Hoh, well it's good to have a rich experience. However..." Mayuri raises his sword - but his threats are interrupted by a loud thud. Nemu collapses behind him, coughing hoarsely. He glances back at her in disgust, "...Damn it, you're so noisy..."

"I... I apologize sincerely... Mayuri-sama..." Nemu's nose and mouth is bleeding profusely. "May I have... the supplement medicine as well...(2) It feels like a part of my wound has reached my lung..." She is interrupted by another harsh coughing fit. "At... at this rate, I...can't maintain... function of my body..."

Without hesitation, Mayuri turns on his heel, marches up to her fallen form, and stomps down violently on her side. Blood spurts from her wounds.

"...kahah...!" Nemu arches back as pain shoots through her body, her mouth is gaping and her eyes are wide.

"...Wha...!!" Ishida watches in shock.

Mayuri punctuates his words with every kick he lands on her, "Are! You! Trying to make a fool out of me! Huh!? Damn you!!" He screams out as he beats her, "Are you saying! Your body!! Can't make it!! This far!?"

"S... stop that!!" Ishida yells at him from his prone position by the wall. "What are you doing!? You are comrades, aren't you!? She really will die!!"

Mayuri fists a hand in Nemu's hair to raise her off the ground. He glares at Ishida, "...Are you making a fool out of me too? ...Are you saying she'll die at this rate?" He screams, "Are you saying this body I created won't be able to function due to this level of damage!? You're probably making fun of me as well!!"

"...Wait," Ishida hesitates, confused. "You... created...?"

"That's right. Shall I tell you her name?" Mayuri says over his shoulder at Ishida, while Nemu looks on dully. "Kurotsuchi Nemu. The one whom I pieced together by mobilizing the essence of artificial body and artificial soul technology - my daughter."

Ishida's eyes widen at the horrid realization that Mayuri is not just abusing his vice-captain - but his actual daughter, as well.

"Don't show off your skewed sense of righteousness," Mayuri warns him. "An outsider like you doesn't have any say in how a father should treat his daughter." Then, he brutally slams Nemu's head against the stone wall behind her.

"STOP!!!" Ishida screams, leaning forward as if to lunge at the 12th Captain. He suddenly freezes up, startled. He stares down at his injured arm, ...I can't move it...!!

"So, now you've noticed it," Mayuri strides over to him. "That's pretty slow of you..."

"'Steal movement from the extremities of live targets that are cut by it'" Mayuri recites as he lifts his strange Zanpaku sword. "That is the ability of 'Ashisogi Jizou'."

Ishida mutters, "...Anesthesia, huh...!" In the next split second, Mayuri raises his sword so that the sharp tip of the central blade is mere centimeters away from Ishida's startled face.

"Don't speak nonsense," Mayuri leans forward, "This isn't some hackneyed antique. You see, out of the countless signals which issue from your brain, it selects only the signals which say 'move the limbs' and then severs them. It generates that sort of incredible chemical on its own." He brings the blade tip dangerously close to Ishida's Adam’s apple at the base of his throat. "It's not numb. The only thing that is stolen from the limb is 'movement.' In other words..."

Mayuri stabs deeply into Ishida's motionless arm, "It means the 'pain' hasn't left the arm." He quickly repeats the stabbing, "See! See! See!"

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

"...Oh, well..." Mayuri sighs. "Just as I thought, the screams of a man compared to those of a woman doesn't have any luster. I can't bear listening." Mayuri retracts his bloodied sword and turns his back on the weaken Quincy.

"Hey! Nemu!! Wake up! I'll finish you off!" Mayuri yells warningly as he stalks back to his 'daughter'. "...Ahh. Come to think of it, you can't move because you were cut by this sword too, huh... Shit!" He stomps down on her head angrily. "You're so useless!!"

A cold, clear voice calls out from behind Mayuri, "...Stop."

He peers over his shoulder. "...What?"

"...I... told you... to stop," Ishida says from where he sits propped up against the wall, breathing heavily as he tries to focus past the haze of pain.

"...You're a persistent one..." Mayuri mutters. "Or else what? To have sympathy for an injured woman even when she's an enemy - could this be that 'pride of the Quincy' thing which is so precious to your kind?"

Ishida meets his gaze warily, "...What?"

"It's precious, isn't it?" Mayuri asks. "After all, all of your kind keeps saying that phrase until the moment they die."

"...What do you mean...!?" Ishida demands.

"Didn't I tell you?’I've finished my research on the Quincy.' I studied them!" Mayuri gloats loudly with a deep, sadistic passion, "I subjected them to every stimulant in their body and soul! I examined their reactions! I drilled holes in their skulls while they were still alive! I made them roast their children by their own hands! I chopped them up! I mashed them up!! I studied them until they were a bloody pulp!!!"

"And each and every one of them would say the same thing," Mayuri then mimics their words, "The one thing I will not compromise is the pride of the Quincy!! On the pride of the Quincy, I won't allow you to do such things!!" He adds in disgust, "All of them were so obnoxious!!"

"Despite all of that," Mayuri indicates his sword, "their defiant words hold no meaning when this slashes through them."

"...You..." Ishida growls.

"Wait," Mayuri makes a placating gesture. "This is where I get to the tragic part of my tale."

"Indeed, it was terrible for me," Mayuri continues his story. "By the time I was made a chief of Research & Development, the Quincy were already a rare species. The few survivors were under close watch. I would subjugate the Shinigami that where assigned to watch over them and then deliberately delay aid. This meant that the souls which were brought back would be used as research. Don't you think that makes it incredibly convenient?"

Ishida looks up at him, silently horrified by what he implied.

"The most recent one was a dingy old man," Mayuri adds. "The who~le time he kept calling out the name of his pupil or grandson or whoever. It was pathetic. Want to see a picture?" He pulls out a photo and flicks it in Ishida's direction. "Though, since it's a photo from post-examination... he's not much like he used to be."

Ishida studies the photo in his hand. His dark eyes indistinctly reflect the image of an old man's bloody face.

"...I wonder what that pupil was called... Can't remember," Mayuri turns away, muttering to his self. "I don't have much interest in things I've finished my research on-"

An explosion of spiritual energy catches Mayuri off guard, "What the...!?" He looks back.

"...Shall I tell you... the name of his pupil...?" Ishida manages to stand up with his head bowed, energy burning off his body in violent waves. "Uryuu... Ishida Uryuu."

Ishida's injured arm is raised slightly; the photo is held between his middle and index finger.(3) "This person was Ishida Souken. He was my teacher, as well as my real grandfather...!"

"Hoh..." Mayuri replies, "...so what?"

"It's a good thing that Orihime isn't here..." Ishida says as he approaches Mayuri, "this is not the sort of battle she would be able to watch..."

The cold rage in Ishida's eyes burn with as much passion as the spiritual energy surrounding him, "I pledge my pride to the Quincy that I will kill you."

Mayuri's demeanor turns deadly serious. "...Hoh."


(1)Ok, wait. He's been cut by a sword before? Sounds serious. When was the first time?? o_0
(2)That medicine easily let Mayuri regrow a severed limb - if she had a shot of that, she'd be as good as new, ne?
(3)Meaning, yes, Ishida can use his 'useless' arm, it seems. Pretty impressive, considering the situation. I'm glad he has a fighting chance now.

Notes:
-Here's my theory about the stupid strange addition of Mayuri's photo into the story: Mayuri is playing dumb just to screw with Ishida's mind.

I think that Mayuri has known all along that Uryuu is Ishida Sonkei's beloved grandson - that's why he brought the photo with him to rile Uryuu up. Why do I think this? Earlier, Mayuri was criticizing Ishida for plunging into Seireitei without even knowing what his enemies would be like.

Mayuri, on the other hand, was last seen in vol.11 threatening Ikkaku to tell him everything he knew about the intruders. It's also apparent that Mayuri was following Ishida and Orihime around for a while - it's amazing how much he could have picked up at that time. Plus, Soul Society seems to have an extensive surveillance system on the 'other' world - why wouldn't there be information available on Ishida Uryuu, supposedly the last of the Quincy?

Beating up women, denouncing Quincy honor, and topping it off with mentioning Sonkei's death... behind the blind cruelty, Mayuri knows precisely how to worm into Ishida's mind and make him break. Knowing things is what a 'scientist' like him does.

-By the way, no chapter this weekend due to KT taking a break to concentrate on 'research' of some sort. (I.e. other projects, ect.)

back?