(Flashback) 2 years ago

A day prior to the Peace Treaty

(Y/N) and Wiz sat at the living room table.

Wiz: You want to do what now?

(Y/N): Turn the stuffed rabbit into a weapon. Calavera won't be returning to that body now that she has a body of her own. That way she has a form of protection on her at all times.

Wiz: How do you suppose we do that?

(Y/N): It's a stuffed animal, isn't it? We can modify it. I think we're only limited by our own imagination. I think the one thing we need to take in consideration is how to tailor it to Calavera's way of battle. Calavera is a strength enhancing Mod Soul, so she's used to a brawl. Maybe we just lean into that.

Wiz: You said you wanted her to be able to keep your body safe in case of an emergency, correct? How are you planning to overcome that if she can't leave her own body?

(Y/N): I was thinking maybe through some sort of connection. You know, something akin to a psychic link.

Wiz: It's not a bad idea, we can definitely mess around with the idea. But a psychological link between two different beings could lead to a lot of unwanted side effects and possibly dangerous consequences.

Though Wiz couldn't help but think that (Y/N) had an interesting idea.

.

.

.

Later that night, Wiz went over the list of ideas with Urahara. Tessai was also present.

Urahara: A psychic link, huh? You can make it work, but there's glaring issues.

Wiz: I'm aware. That's why I wanted to ask you if you had an idea for a work around that problem.

Urahara thought about it for a moment before he spoke.

Urahara: Maybe think outside the box. Instead of having a psychic link with someone else, why not have it with yourself?

Wiz was intrigued.

Wiz: Tell me more.

Urahara: The risk that comes with a psychic link is that the two people involved feel what the other is feeling mentally and emotionally. In the worst case scenario, one mind might completely over take the other or alter each other's personality for the worse. However that shouldn't matter if you share that link with yourself. What I'm getting at is... why don't we create another Calavera?

Wiz: Hold on. Two Calaveras? You should know what would happen if that happens.

Urahara: Oh I know. The two would fight to see who's the real Calavera. Let me rephrase things then. Why don't we create a copy of Calavera? One that's sole purpose is to battle.

Wiz: You want to create another mod soul? But wasn't the creation of mod souls abolished?

Urahara: We don't need to create a whole new mod soul. We just need a peak of Calavera's memories. We can copy them, and strip away the parts that make Calavera "human".

Wiz: That's unethical. Do you have any idea what you're doing?

Urahara: I do. It's not the first time I've done something like that.

Wiz: It's not?

Urahara turned towards Ururu who was eavesdropping from another room. Wiz saw Ururu and was able to put the pieces together.

Wiz: That girl isn't human...

Urahara: Ah, don't say that. That's pretty harsh, don't you think? Anyway, what I'm saying is Ururu has a... special ability. One where she shreds her emotions and only fights to kill. I say this second Calavera should have something similar.

Wiz: So that's what you meant by having a psychic link with yourself. But there's one last problem.

Urahara: Oh I know. The killer intent. That's something Calavera has no experience in. If they have a mental link, who's to say Calavera fails to keep her second mind under control and accidentally kills someone innocent.

Wiz: Then we keep it for a last resort.

Urahara: Though I wonder why (Y/N) changed his mind about the spiritual threads.

Wiz: Spiritual threads?

Urahara: He didn't tell you? He came up with an idea to use threads made of reishi to control the bodies of himself and the stuffed animal. We discussed it not too long ago.

Wiz then realized that (Y/N) came up with another idea while she was gone that he discussed with Urahara.

Wiz: Is that so? Well we can still keep the other idea. Who knows when it'll be necessary.

(Flashback) 2 years ago

After Calavera got her body.

After getting abruptly kicked out of Mayuri's lab after completing the operation, (Y/N), Wiz, Urahara, and Calavera were left with only one thing to do.

Urahara: Well, I guess it's time for us to head back to the World of the Living.

Wiz: And I guess I'll head back to Hueco Mundo.

(Y/N): I can't thank you guys enough for all your help.

Wiz: Think nothing of it.

(Y/N) then got a call on his Soul Phone. Checking the caller ID, (Y/N) saw that it came from Soi-Fon.

(Y/N): How did she know I was here? Give me a second, I gotta take this.

(Y/N) stepped away from the group for a bit. While (Y/N) took his phone call, Wiz turned to Calavera.

Wiz: My, I almost forgot something incredibly important.

Wiz took a small object out of her pocket. It looked like a Mod soul but a bit smaller. Calavera looked at it in confusion.

Calavera: What is it?

Wiz: Keep this stored in the Caja Negacion that I implanted in your little rabbit. It's to be used in case of an emergency. Me and Urahara created that in secret in conjunction with your new body.

Calavera: What does it do?

Wiz: That little object right there will bring that doll of yours to life. However it is programmed to turn your cute little doll into a killing machine. It shouldn't be used willy-nilly.

Calavera: How did you do that?

Wiz: It was one of the ideas that me and (Y/N) scrapped but Urahara here gave me an idea on how to make it work. I haven't told (Y/N) about it though. Think of it as a secret between us, alright. Once you learn how to control that little she-devil, you can spring it on him as a surprise. You know, just to show you how much stronger you've gotten.

Calavera took the object and observed it curiously.

Calavera: It looks like a Mod Soul, but at the same time it isn't.

Urahara: That's because it doesn't contain a soul. Just memories. A copy of your memories to be exact.

Calavera: Mine?

Urahara: It contains none of the happy memories you've gained throughout your time with (Y/N). That's why it thrives as a killing machine. And it's why we advise you to keep it for a situation that requires it.

Calavera nodded as she took the two adult's warnings seriously.

Calavera: I understand.

(Present) During the first Quincy Invasion.

After Luppi's disappearance and the news that (Y/N) was in potential trouble, Wiz went to make preparations for the next invasion. Wiz had left the Tres Bestias to head the training of Chad, Orihime and Calavera until she was done.

Between travelling the deserts of Hueco Mundo while fending off what little hollows were left, and the sparring matches between the Tres Bestias, Calavera felt the difference in strength and experience.

During one of the training lessons, the Tres Bestias were overwhelming the three trainees.

Apacci: You guys can do better than this. The big guy by himself should be enough to defeat us so what's going on?

Orihime: Well, it's just that, you three are really coordinated for someone who argue among each other a lot.

Sung-Sun: Well, we can't allow our pet peeves for each other to get in the way of protecting Lady Harribel. We're not that immature.

Mila Rose: If you realized that you're having trouble breaking our formation, then build a better formation among yourselves.

Orihime: It's my fault, huh? I'm not really a fighter...

Calavera: Don't say that, you're plenty helpful. If anything, I think I'm the issue. I'm not really that experienced in this kind of thing.

Chad: I never had to worry about holding back my power to ensure my allies remain unaffected.

Apacci: You shouldn't be holding back at all! We're training you to fight in a war. So come at us with that intent! We'll tell you when to stop.

Calavera then thought back to the item she got from Wiz back when she first got her body.

Calavera: Is that really alright?

Mila Rose: Of course. Have you been holding back as well?

Calavera: I haven't... But CJ was.

Sung-Sun: The stuffed animal? But you control it do you not?

Calavera: I do, but I can't have CJ think for herself. I just never done it before. If I do the only thing CJ will do is fight to kill. I don't even know how to turn her off afterward.

Apacci: Well you're going up against trained warriors. If you want to control a deadly weapon, now is the time.

Calavera: I was told by Wiz to never use it unless absolutely necessary.

Apacci: This "is" absolutely necessary. Don't go into that war thinking it's fine to fight at half your strength. Don't let your weapon control you. You control the weapon. You got that?

Calavera hesitated for a bit. Was it truly alright to use the item she was heavily warned not to use. Trained or not, her mind practically screamed that this was a bad idea.

Apacci: So what are you waiting for? We don't have all day?

Calavera flinched a bit before quickly sticking her hand into her stuffed rabbit where she felt her hand enter an empty void. No doubt her hand entered the altered Caja Negacion that Wiz implanted into CJ. After swinging her hand in the void for a few seconds, she felt the case that held the item she was searching for.

Calavera pulled out the item she dubbed the "Memory Pill". She opened the case and took out the pill, stuffing it into the stuffed animal. It took a while but the effects finally showed itself as Calavera Jr. started to change forms.

Even Calavera was confused about what was happening. Wasn't it supposed to inject memories into CJ? Why was it changing forms? That was until Calavera remembered what Wiz told her.

"That little object right there will bring that doll of yours to life."

CJ was morphing into a "living being". Though, Calavera wasn't sure she could call this living. At the end of the day, CJ still didn't have a soul to call hers. Just memories and a new biological body. No wonder Wiz called her- No. Called "it" a Machine.

The moment CJ's transformation stopped, the first thing it did was attack what came into sight.

The Tres Bestias.

What Calavera and her friends saw wasn't a battle but a fight for survival. The Tres Bestias even resorted to summoning Ayon. But even Ayon was taken out. Orihime did her best to keep the Tres Bestias from dying, but with the fraccion out of the fight, CJ could only turn her attention to the only person who could fight back.

Calavera and Chad.

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Or at least that was before Wiz showed up to save the day. In one swell swoop, Wiz was able to remove the Memory Pill from CJ and turn the stuffed animal to its original form.

Wiz looked at the group a bit confused on what led to the situation.

Wiz: Was there a Hollow around that was threatening you guys? What led to you resorting to using it?

Calavera: Don't be mad, but... It was only for training.

Wiz stared at Calavera for a while before speaking.

Wiz: I guess now's a better time than any.

Calavera: You're... not mad?

Wiz: I can understand the thought process at least. However, if you're going to use "that", then do it while I'm present, alright?

Calavera: Understood.

Wiz: We don't have much time left so I'll do my utmost to help you get that thing under control. Be prepared to fight for your life.

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Back to the Present.

Calavera, once again, reached into CJ's cotton filled body and into the Caja Negacion and pulled out the case that contained the Memory Pill.

Calavera: I'll gain control over you this time... No, this time we'll work in tandem.

If there was one reason why Calavera always talked to her stuffed animal as if it was human, part of it was because she was fond of the rabbit. It technically was her body at a time. But the other was in hopes that her words would reach the memory pill. Almost as if she was trying to tell CJ she deserved to have good memories.

As the Memory Pill was put inside of the stuffed rabbit, the morphing began almost immediately. The stuffed animal changed form to a human appearance.

CJ now took the appearance of a young child who wore mostly pink outline with black. She wore a dress and a short cape that had a hood that hid her face. The short cape was held together with a red bowtie. She wore knee high socks and black shoes and comically large gloves that were definitely too big for her hands.



This was the first time Roka has ever seen anything like this. Even Mayuri had to admit he didn't know of this creation.

Once the transformation was completed, CJ was unresponsive for a while, but got up to her feet. With the eyes that were seemingly sewed onto her hood, the first person that came into view was Pernida.

CJ: First target.

Calavera: Hold on a second. That thing is too strong to fight by yourself.

CJ turned around and saw Calavera.

CJ: I don't take orders from you.

Calavera: That wasn't an order, that was a warning. Come on, work with me here.

CJ: I don't take orders from an imposter. I'm feeling a bit generous today so I'll take on that thing by myself.

Before CJ could run off, Calavera grabbed onto CJ's shoulder.

Calavera: *thinking* Psychic Link... Activate.

Calavera and CJ then began to share a consciousness with each other.

CJ: Whatever you're trying to do, it won't work.

Calavera: I was scared to face you before, but quite frankly, everything I've seen today is way scarier. Now, neither of us are going to survive if we don't work as a team.

In that moment, everything that Calavera experienced during her time at the Royal Palace was shared with CJ. Her fight with Gerard and how CJ's original form was no match for his strength was made clear to the humanoid toy.

Calavera: Know that I have no ill will towards you. I want us to be a team everytime we're on the battlefield. I wasn't strong enough to keep up with you before, but I can now. So... What do you say?

CJ stood still for a few seconds before giving her answer.

CJ: As long as I get to kill him.

Calavera: That's fine by me.

Mayuri huffed.

Mayuri: If you're done yapping then get into positions.

Mayuri gave Calavera, Roka and CJ a small headset along with a syringe.

Mayuri: We'll speak in the midst of battle.

With no hesitation Mayuri jumped off of the rooftop and started to float using his boots. Nemu began running down the side of the building and the other three followed closely behind.

Mayuri: This is my strategy. I'm now flying around to scatter highly concentrated narcotics over a wide area. I don't know how it will work on him. But with the arrow from earlier, I calculated the strength of its nerves. With this concentration, I can definitely nullify his arrows. Although this level of concentration will affect me as well, that can't be helped. Nemu, you and the others are responsible for injecting the nerve-coagulating agent directly into his nullified arrows. It's not a narcotic that blocks the nerves from communicating and drains power from him. As the name says, it's a "coagulating agent." It forcefully freezes any organs connected to those nerves as soon as the agent reaches him. In other words, when this drug reaches him, his opened eye will not shut! His deflated heart won't expand! And his open mouth won't be shut either!

Nemu: You're speaking loudly, Lord Mayuri.

Mayuri: Shut up. I don't know what's inside his body, but I was able to confirm that blood flows inside him. I will kill him with this drug by making his blood flow coagulate. His nerves on the ground have been nullified by the narcotic. You can step on them. Inject the drug before he can sever the nerve from the arrow!

The group put Mayuri's plan in action, and just as he predicted, the nerves of Pernida started to harden. As Mayuri spotted Pernida's thumb beginning to fall victim to his drug, the captain went full speed towards the Left arm.

Mayuri: It's over, Pernida.

But Pernida simply removed his own thumb to escape the drug's effect.

Pernida: That's not enough to kill me, Kurotsuchi!

Mayuri stopped in his tracks in surprise.

Mayuri: Why does he speak like that? He sounds like Zaraki...

!!!

Mayuri: *thinking* I see. He can evolve by absorbing information from objects his nerves touch! This is bad. If his nerves have evolved up to Zaraki's level, None of us will stand a chance with our reaction speed!

Mayuri: Get back, Nemu!

When Mayuri turned around to warn Nemu, Pernida completely broke out of the effects of the coagulation drug.

Nemu: Master Mayuri!





Calavera saw Pernida about to attack Mayuri and did her best to help.

Calavera: CJ, back up Nemu!

Nemu and CJ both leaped. CJ leaped past Mayuri, tackling Pernida with full force. Despite her small physique, CJ showed tremendous strength as she wrestled the Large Arm. All of a sudden, Nemu grabbed Mayuri and flew directly through Pernida.

CJ: Ah phooey... She stole the kill.

Meanwhile, Mayuri questioned how Nemu gained so much strength.

Mayuri: Nemu, how do you have such power?!

Nemu: You gave me this power. You gave me the body of a Soul Reaper. I brought its power up to 0.8 percent of tissue collapse.

Mayuri: You...

Nemu: It's not a problem. I can last another 400 seconds using this power.

Mayuri: That's not what I am talking about! When did I ever give such an order?!

Nemu: You didn't give me an order. It's my mission. My mission is to protect you, Master Mayuri.

Mayuri: No! Your mission is to grow!

~~~~

Nemu: What is it?

Calavera: You care about Captain Kurotsuchi, right?

Nemu: That's right.

Calavera: Then why don't you help him fight?

Nemu: He's never required my help in a battle.

Calavera: This is a battle against a body part of the Soul King. This isn't a fight against a normal opponent. Whether he believes he needs help or not, you should help him regardless.

Roka: If you truly have a will of your own, then you should do what you really feel. If you care for someone or something deeply then don't feel afraid to act on that feeling. That's something I've learned recently.

~~~~

Nemu: I think that I can best show you my growth by protecting you.

Nemu placed Mayuri down on a nearby rooftop before heading back to battle Pernida, who had already regenerated his body. Mayuri looked on as Nemu assisted the others in the battle against Pernida.

Mayuri: You've gotten quite the mouth... I didn't think I'd ever have to let Nemu fight in my place. How degrading.



Despite his words, Mayuri did feel a sense of pride ini Nemu.

During Nemu and Mayuri's conversation, Roka, Calavera, and CJ held Pernida back as best they could.

After regenerating his body, Pernida summoned multiple Heilig Bogens and fired at the group. Roka covered Calavera and CJ by using Bala to combat the multiple arrows heading their way. This gave CJ the opening she needed to tackle the arm to the ground. Despite her small physique, CJ was able to knock down Pernida with ease before she started to pummel him into the ground.

CJ: Die, DIE, DIE!

CJ then reached for Pernida's eye in an attempt to rip it out. However, CJ involuntarily stopped in the middle of her assault as she felt her arm start to twist and contort by itself. Making contact with Pernida allowed his nerves to make contact with CJ.

Pernida: You'll be the first to die!

However before the arm can be completely destroyed, the arm suddenly stopped bending.

Calavera: Not on my watch.

Calavera had a thread connected to CJ to fight the control of Pernida's Nerves.

Calavera: I know how to control CJ's body better than you can, weirdo.

Pernida: Another insult! There's nothing wrong with the Quincies!

Calavera: I was talking about you specifically. You have horrible listening comprehension.

With her free hand, Calavera controlled CJ to land another punch on Pernida, sending him flying.

Calavera: He's all yours, Roka!

Roka held a glowing sword made of Negacion threads, reminiscent of Harribel's zanpakuto.

Roka closed the distance between herself and Pernida before swinging the zanpakuto.

Roka: Trident.

Roka cut through both Pernida's body and the nerve connected to CJ. Clavera then pulled CJ out of Pernida's range as Pernida put himself back together.

The moment Pernida put himself together, Nemu jumped in the battle as she prepared an attack.



Nemu: Soul cutting 6 percent. I'll cut 6 percent of my soul and directly fire it at him to destroy him.

Gikon Jurinju!!!



Nemu shot an orb of energy directly in Pernida's eye, causing his entire... body? (entire hand? idk it's weird) to implode.

As Nemu fell she thought to herself.

"Master Mayuri..."

The pieces of Pernida's flesh that fell with Nemu all grew eyes and responded by stabbing Nemu with its many nerves causing the shinigami to burst into pieces in mere seconds.

It happened in a split moment. Nobody could see this turn of events coming.

As the pieces of Pernida's flesh started to reform his entire body (hand?), Mayuri looked up in disbelief.

Mayuri: Impossible... Nemu...

Mayuri dropped his head.



"Are you in despair? Are you feeling hopeless?"

Mayuri was beginning to hallucinate. He had to be if he was seeing Szayelaporro.

"Huh? What did you say? Did I hear it wrong? I can't hear you too well. Let me see your face. It can't be, right? You, who lectured me on what it means to be a scientist? There's no such thing, right? "The synthetic soul died"? "What's so depressing about that"? I remember you told me that. "Perfection is meaningless to a scientist." "Perfection is despair." "I detest perfection." "Her death is good then." "She died because she wasn't perfect." "That means I could make something even better." I'm sure you'd say something like that. I see. You've begun to feel that the useless meat doll you created is perfect.



"Mayuri Kurotsuchi, you have fallen. You have to thank this monster of a left hand. He killed that meat doll and crushed that arrogant attitude of yours. You are alone and helpless. Even that thing you thought of as perfect is no more. If it were me, I would be laughing out loud right now!"



The hallucination of Szayelaporro was then suddenly destroyed by Mayuri destroying his head with his bare hands.

Mayuri: You're absolutely right! To be reminded of my negligence by a fake scientist like you is utterly hilarious!

Pernida then slammed his entire being onto the rooftop where Nemu's remains were smeared across in an attempt to eat it.

Mayuri: I see. So you've come to eat what's left of Nemu? Go on. Eat up every last piece of her flesh. But...

Mayuri reached for Nemu's brain that Pernida attempted to eat.

Mayuri: I'm taking back her cerebrum.

The moment Mayuri took Nemu's brain back, Pernida's body reacted in a strange way.

Mayuri: You feel numb as soon as you touch me, right? Stop wasting time with me and eat Nemu. If you don't hurry... You'll die before you finish eating.

Pernida: What's happening?!

Mayuri: Within the Nemu pituitary gland that you ate, I put an organ that forces the synthetic soul cell to divide faster than it normally would. That was done to extend her growth past the theoretical limit, which is a unique organ that could go out of control suddenly. It is controlled directly by the brain's basal ganglia, which is linked to the parietal lobe. Let me put it simply so that a fool like you can understand. When you ingest that organ without the brain, you will end up killing yourself from overgrowth.



Pernida's body then exploded again, this time for good. Mayuri then walked back toward the group but fell in the process.

Mayuri: I see. So the remnants of the nerves are still alive, huh? What a pain. Now I'm no different than Zaraki.

Just then Calavera, Roka and CJ walked up to Mayuri.

CJ: Can I kill him?

Calavera: No. He's our ally.

CJ: But he took my kill. I demand something as compensation-

Calavera: Eject.

The memory pill was forcefully ejected out of CJ's body due to Calavera's psychic link with the doll. Calavera picked up the pill and put it back in the case. The human body that CJ had morphed back into a stuffed rabbit.

Calavera: *sigh* We have a lot to work on, but this was a good step in the right direction.

Roka: You ready?

Calavera: Yeah.

Calavera and Roka picked up Mayuri in each arm and dragged him towards the members of Squad 11 (and Hanataro who was paralyzed as he didn't cover his ears in time when Mayuri activated Fear Factor 4).

Mayuri: You fools are still here.

Roka: It wouldn't sit well with us if we left you to fight that beast by yourself.

Calavera: And we feel partly responsible about what happened to Nemu.

Mayuri: Don't be. Nemu displayed something today that I never thought that she would. I hate to say it but I should be thanking you.

Ikkaku and Yumichika was now in view as they took Mayuri from the two girls.

Yumichika: We'll take it from here. You two can use some rest.

Roka: Thank you.

Calavera: I can use a breather...

Mayuri: Listen. Ahead of 30 buildings from here, below the rubble on the right, there are two body containers.

As the group got to the aforementioned containers, the group opened them to reveal Toshiro and Rangiku.



Mayuri: You two go ahead with them. Don't worry. Although it took some time, they should no longer be zombies. Their life expectancies have been cut, but they shouldn't complain, as I did save their lives after all.

Toshiro and Rangiku got out of the container to make space for both Mayuri and Kenpachi. As Toshiro walked past Mayuri he simply gave him his words of gratitude.

Toshiro: Kurotsuchi, thank you.

Mayuri just huffed before getting placed in the container.

Mayuri: So for the empty one, let me... And put Zaraki in more containers.

Ikkaku and Yumichika placed Kenpachi in the second container.

Ikkaku: We'll see you soon, Captain Zaraki.

Yumichika: Take care.

The two members of Squad 11th then turned to Mayuri.

Ikkaku and Yumichika: Captain Kurotsuchi, thank you for saving Captain Zaraki!

Ikkaku and Yumichika ran off with Toshiro, Rangiku, Roka, and Calavera to join the other shinigami members. As the container closed, Mayuri kept Nemu's brain close to his chest.

Mayuri: That's a lot of thank you I'm getting today. How creepy. But all those don't really matter. Evolution! I've finally created a soul from scratch that has evolved on its own! I've surpassed you, Kisuke Urahara! I can't quite imagine the frustration on your face. But all the reason more to see it for myself then. So the next time we meet, I'll show you the difference between you and me. Me and you... The two of us.

To be continued.

With the introduction of CJ's new form I can finally talk about the inspiration of both her and the entirety of (Y/N)'s family as a whole.

Everyone in (Y/N)'s family (and Wiz) were intentionally written to fit a Halloween/Horror Character/Archetype.

(Y/N) is the Grim Reaper. Self explanatory.

(F/N) is a police officer (specifically a detective to fit the narrative of the story) but police officers are typically one of the most popular costumes to dress up in during Halloween.

(M/N) and Wiz are based off of a Witch and her pet Crow familiar but in this case, the roles are reverse in which The Crow ( M/N ) is the master while the witch (Wiz) serves as the familiar.

With the introduction of CJ's new form its now obvious that Calavera herself is based on possessed dolls (I'd like to believe that was intention when Kubo created Kon and the mod Souls) while CJ takes it a bit further and becomes a Killer Doll ( examples being Chucky or the Animatronics from FNAF)

This

So you may be wondering "What's (S/N) a reference of?"

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You'll find out eventually.

I also wish I could have found a way to write more Nemu scenes throughout this story. Would've been neat to have Calavera and Nemu moments.

What if Question of the chapter (Haven't done one of these in a while)

If small form Wiz, (M/N) (after the Aizen experiments but without Bankai) and (F/N) were to fight the Espada boss rush style with no breaks, who do you think will win?