Into the Fire: Garrett's Conviction

This article, , occurs in the immediate aftermath of the Investigating Grat arc, dealing specifically with the Second Battle of Grat and the effects The Collapse have upon Grat. Garrett Sheppard serves as the primary POV character, with Ichiro as the primary antagonist.

"No, no, no!"

Garrett moved quicker than he even knew he was capable of. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion: he saw the large cleaver-like sword rise and fall, just as he felt his hand close into a fist and fly towards that shaft of steel.

"Garrett!?"

May had been the intended target. The man who had nearly succeeded in killing her was dark-skinned with shaggy hair and a perpetually bored, albeit serious, expression. That expression registered surprise for about three seconds before boredom set in once more. He wore a white-coloured one-strap-over-one-shoulder type of jacket, a black shirt underneath, and black-as-night trousers. Garrett only took note of his stout blackened leather boots because the fellow tried to kick him with them, leading Garrett to blast away his sword with a surge of reiatsu, followed up by him ducking clear out of the way.

"What are you-"

Before she could protest further Garrett grabbed May bridle-style and vanished from view. He utilized a combination of Shunpo and Fullbring to close the distance between himself and the roof of Grat High-school, where he deposited May a little more forcefully than he intended. With good reason however. As soon as he dropped her Garrett twisted on the balls of his feet and raised his right arm to defend himself!

"Stay safe, you hear me? I'll be fine. Now go!"

May's attempted killer had tried to cleave down through Garrett whilst his back was turned. The two now stood looking at one-another with the man's cleaver-sword resting upon the uncut skin of Garrett's right forearm. Garrett's look was a glare that would have cut through steel, whilst the man maintained his bored-but-serious look.

"That's twice now you've stopped my blade." The man remarked. "Tell me, Garrett? Will you stop it a third time?"

"You're one of those Kikkasho goons, aren't you?" The widening of eyes was all the answer Garrett needed. "Are you the one that's responsible for that gaping hole in the sky!?"

"Perhaps. My name is Ichiro."

"And I don't care!"

Imagine everyone's surprise when an earthquake struck Grat. Not only that though but a frigging hole opens up in the sky that rained fire down on everyone! If you where lucky enough to survive the quakes and flames, then chances where high you where did in by the Hollow that followed. Moths to a flame indeed. Garrett had barely been keeping up with the Hollow when he saw old Ichiro here moving to cut down May.

"Make peace with your God. When you die I will kill the girl."

That did it.

Something within Garrett snapped as his reiatsu surged. He'd spent an entire year training with Kenji to defeat his father. And when the day he was going to fight him arrived Garrett decided instead to walk away, and attempt to salvage his relationship instead of answering his problems with his fists. Whilst that had indeed been a healthy decision for father and son, it also meant that Garrett had essentially bottled up all that tension. And it gave way like a busted dam! His hair spiked up and became wispy, almost like it was on fire, with a single horn of solid spirit power forming on his forehead.

Ichiro was sent skidding back by tendrils of wispy reiatsu which seemed to follow Garrett's hand-movements.

"You can imagine my teacher's surprise when I adapted his swordsmanship philosophy to the hand-to-hand he taught me."

"... Who was your teacher?"

Garrett caught his jacket and pulled it free, where he allowed it to fall to the floor far below. He angled his back towards Ichiro just enough for the man to see the stylized lightning bolt emblazoned on the back of his gi. For the first time since this battle started Garrett saw surprise register in Ichiro's face for more than a few seconds.

"That's impossible...!"

"Nothing impossible about it."

Ichiro vanished via Shunpo and reappeared right in-front of Garrett. He began attacking with wild two-handed sword strikes, which Garrett either side-stepped or ducked out of the way of.

"His style of fighting... It's got bits of the style Kenji taught me mixed in."

Garrett was suddenly happy that he had adopted it as his primary style. He saw all the holes in Ichiro's version, which would have had Kenji laughing if he where here. If what Kenji had said about the style's creator was true then she would have turned in her grave. Even when Ichiro switched to a one-handed style and began interlacing his sword-strikes with hand-to-hand attacks, Garrett was fit to avoid his sword and parry his punches and kicks. Though the fact he was wielding that big sword with one-hand was all the clarification Garrett needed: one strike, at full-power, and Ichiro would kill him. It was that simple.

"You are beginning to annoy me. Stand still."

Spiritual energy suddenly flew from Ichiro's blade! Garrett dodged easily enough but then he had never been the target. Grat High-school's roof was!

"Oh, shit!"

Instead of the building being cleaved in two it was Garrett's shoulder that got a bloody gash cut into it. He had managed to reduce much of the impact by dampening it with his reiatsu -- another trick Kenji had taught him -- but he had diffused only so much. The roof was cratered by the aftershock but thankfully it hadn't fallen through.

"Garrett! Are you okay!?"

"May? What are you still doing here!? I told you- MOVE!"

Garrett's eyes widened and a guttural roar escaped his throat. May collapsed to the floor, her back opened from shoulder-to-hip in one slash, blood flowing like water. Ichiro tutted then. Something about his strike being too shallow. But Garrett didn't hear him. Everything seemed slow and far-away again.

"She'll bleed out on her own. I think I'll kill that blond-haired bitch next."

"No! We're not going to die tonight. When life pushes hard, I'll push back harder! My friends will make it out of here alive. I'm going to show you what happens when someone like me takes matters into their own hands. It doesn't matter if you're a Shinigami, a Hollow, or an assassin. This ends right now!"

Darkness flooded the rooftop! His reiatsu manifested in a form akin to a Clad-type Fullbring complete with blackened clothes and a white scarf, which appeared to be made from wispy flames as dark as night. Garrett himself appeared almost -esque due to the presence of black-coloured mask fragments on either side of his face. Like his garments his body and hair became enshrouded in wispy black spiritual energy.

"I was hoping not to do this, but you didn't exactly give me much choice."

Garrett simply vanished. One moment he was lying in a cratered rooftop. The next he was standing in-front of Ichiro who suddenly found himself with a fist occupying the space where his left ribs used to be.

"I'm going to do to you what Hawke would do to you if he where here. !"

Garrett barely paid Ichiro any heed after that. He scooped May up into his arms and utilized the extremity of his speed to relocate himself and her out of harms way. He flew through a window and collided heavily with the floor, as a surprised gasp escaped the room's occupant.

"Not my best landing... Oww!"

"Garrett!? You broke my window!"

Anko Amatsuki smashed her fists against the top of her desk though her rage subsided when she took in the condition of May. She quickly took her from Garrett's weakening grip and laid her out on the sofa which occupied her office.

"What is with people dropping into my office unannounced today and half-dead for by!? You! Help me."

But Garrett proved to be of no further help. When Anko turned to look at him his blackened garb had dissolved and he lay on her floor unconscious with a big contended smile on his face, as if he knew everything was going to be okay.

"I'm going to kill him."