Spectre of the Past: Zenith

Part 1
, Twelfth Division Barracks. underground. Night.

"What is this place?", asked Captain Ikiryō Kuragari.

Following Captain Kaoru Shōki and Lieutenant Akira Tanaka together with the Grand Kidō Chief Kurokawa Tadayoshi, the entered a vast underground cavern. It had a cylindrical shape, and multiple rock formations protruded from the floor.

"I sense something odd", remarked Tadayoshi.

Both he and Kuragari spoke in emotionless tone, their faces relaxed and indifferent - courtesy of Tanaka's tranquiliser.

"This is one of my greatest projects", began Captain Shōki. "A special testing ground where the time passes ten times faster than normal."

"How did you do that?", inquired Ikiryō with a jaded voice.

"I and Akira-chan have studied the for many years, and we've eventually managed to copy its  properties. It's still imperfect, though, but I believe it should be of great help to you anyway", explained Kaoru, smiling.

Eventually, the group walked down on stone stairs to the bottom of the cavern. Then, Shōki led the others to the centre of the cave and halted.

"Tadayoshi-kun, after I inject you and Kuragari-kun with the Hollow formula summon two multi-layered barriers around each of you, okay?", she said whilst examining the syringe once again.

"Sure."

"Let's go, then."

Subsequently, she administered the substance without prompting any kind of reaction from the tranquil Captains. Heeding her words, Kurokawa quickly erected two glowing Kidō barriers.

"How long will it take?", she asked Akira.

"I've condensed the formula, so it should take effect any second now", he replied.

After a moment the two enclosed Captains started moving uneasily. Their placidity was wearing down rapidly as they clutched their heads and began trembling.

Then, the screams started. The barriers flickered momentarily when immense amounts of spiritual energy emanated from their bodies. Subsequently, white masks proceeded to materialise gradually on their faces.

"It's working better than I've expected!", commented Kaoru with an unsettling smile.

Constantly shouting with deepened, reverberating voices, the two Captains lashed violently at the barriers entrapping them. Fortunately, the shields withstood their frenzied strikes.

All of a sudden, large holes opened in their chests. Afterward, bony structures started forming over their bodies, further likening them to actual Hollows. Big armour plates began appearing on Tadayoshi while a pair of additional, skeletal arms sprouted from Kuragari's sides.

"Are you sure the tranquiliser works, Akira-chan?", asked Shōki almost indifferently.

"Yes, Captain-hakase. Although, they must subdue the inner Hollows themselves, otherwise they will not gain any power", responded Lieutenant Tanaka.

Ultimately, the rapid transformations halted abruptly. The two Captains suddenly became calm again, and cracks started appearing in their Hollow-like body parts. Then, they shattered and fell to the ground, with only the masks remaining afterward.

"It's... over?", muttered Kurokawa.

Resembling an apathetic face, his Hollow mask was adorned with several orange lines. On the other hand, Kuragari's appeared similar to a menacingly smiling skull with some indigo spirals above the eye sockets.

"I feel... odd", commented Ikiryō.

Unexpectedly, his mask cracked and broke apart much to his surprise. Tadayoshi looked at him shocked, only for his mask to shatter mere moments later.

"Was that supposed to happen?", he asked uncertainly.

"It seems you've managed to subjugate the inner Hollows, congratulations!", said Shōki cheerfully. "However, now you need to harness their powers."

Kuragari lifted his left hand to his face. Then, streaks of dark energy began flowing from his fingers, prompting the mask to reappear in the blink of an eye.

Nevertheless, it started breaking apart only after several seconds.

"How do we do that?", he inquired afterward.

"This is pretty simple: you must don your masks and fight with each other. Every time the mask shatters, you should promptly summon it back and continue. I predict that with each consecutive re-summoning you should be able to maintain it for a longer period of time", explained Kaoru.

"So, we have a month to practice before fighting with Maebure, am I correct?", asked Ikiryō.

"Yes", replied Shōki with a grin.

"Thanks for your help, Shōki-san", said Tadayoshi.

The Twelfth Division Captain blushed momentarily, but she quickly regained her composure.

"No need to thank me, yet. Just make sure you'll be able to outmatch the old guy, and then we may talk about a compensation", she said with a smirk. "I and Akira-chan are gonna return to our duties; once the time comes, I'll come here and notify you. For now, have fun."

After exchanging goodbyes, Captain Shōki and Lieutenant Tanaka left the spacious cavern, leaving Kuragari and Tadayoshi alone.

"We have not trained together for quite a while, huh?", said Ikiryō whilst assuming a fighting stance.

"Yeah. You're ready?", asked Kurokawa, following suit.

"Anytime."

Then, the two Captains swiftly summoned their Hollow masks, their enhanced raising clouds of dusts as they did so.