Chapter 22: Caging the beast

Tom woke up suddenly as he sensed Mitch's reiatsu had suddenly vanished "Where the hell could he have gone?" he thought to himself as he got up and raced off to the 10th squad barracks in hopes that perhaps Ania could shed some light on his disappearance.

Arriving at the barracks he approached a squad member asking if they knew where Ania was as he shrugged his shoulders "Nope Ania isn't here last I remember she was in the 4th squad barracks undergoing some healing from a particularly rough training session or something" as Tom was shocked to only just find out about this now as he turned around and darted off to the 4th squad barracks to go and check on how Ania was fairing.

"I'll be alright just a few scratches and cuts nothing to life threatening so don't worry" Ania said as she sat propped up against her bed in the 4th squad's ward while Tom stood anxiously beside her as he rapidly fired off questions until a 4th squad member told him to slow down as it wasn't doing Ania any good.

"So how exactly did this happen? I heard it was from training but is Mitch really that extreme?" Tom asked as Ania laid back down and let out a sigh "Well we were training seriously for a while until his inner hollow took control for a certain amount of time and that's when I got beaten down badly. In the end he subdued the hollow but after he felt really bad for what he did, I hope it isn't weighing on his mind to much".

Tom sat on a chair as he spoke out loud to himself "So that may explain why his reiatsu has suddenly disappeared" upon hearing this Ania looked towards Tom and grabbed him by the shoulders "What do you mean his reiatsu vanished that can't be possible". Closing her eyes tightly she focused on tracking his reiatsu as she opened them her face filled with concern "I can't find it at all which means he is in an area where we can't sense him, or he is fatally injured". Upon hearing this Tom grew concerned as well as he thought to himself "Where exactly did Mitch go and for what reason?"

Meanwhile Mitch had just arrived outside the entrance to Urahara's shack only to find he was already standing there almost like he knew Mitch was coming, "So you've come back to help quell your inner hollow, well come this way then we must begin immediately" Urahara said as he disappeared and Mitch quickly followed behind arriving in a huge underground desert like place where he spotted 4 familiar faces waiting for him.

Standing in the darkness next to a rock with his arms crossed was a man Mitch had not seen for over 5 years. "Dad" was all he could say as a man wearing a pair of sunglasses smiled stepping into the light so he could clearly be seen, his hair was short and spiked back with streaks of grey through it while he wore the standard shinigami uniform with a long white cloak draped on his back with the number 3 on it but there was a line through it indicating he was an ex captain.

His zanpukto hung from his back almost the same size as his body, the blade curved slightly at the end while there was no hilt just a short handle. At the bottom of the blade there was a black drake engraved into the grey zanpukto. His blue eyes stared down at his son taking in just how much he had grown in the amount of time they had been apart "My son you've grown into quite the shinigami" he said as they both embraced in a hug.

Looking closely at his father's face he noticed the diagonal scar he had across his right eye from a fight against the Captain Commander all those years ago, his father noticing that Mitch was eyeing his scar rested his hand on it while his right eye closed slightly "Yeah this old injury still bothers me it was after all from the Captain Commander".

"Much as I'd hate to cut up the father and son bonding time I think some of the others should get to say hi to Mitch" another voice said as a tall orange haired teenager who appeared to be the same age as Mitch stepped out from the shadows. Turning to face him Mitch smiled "It's been some time Ichigo, guess Urahara collected you to assist with quelling hollow?" "I've been through it all before so I suppose it couldn't hurt for me to help out.

"Yo Ichigo speak for yourself you're not the only person who's been through the hollow training so have I" another voice said as the last person Mitch knew stepped out of the darkness. "Shinji last time I saw you it would've been around the time I quelled my hollow for the first time" Mitch said as Shinji smirked "Let's try not to make this a regular habit though I have things to do and people to see".

"Now let's save the best introduction for last!" Yoruichi's voice could be heard as she shunpoed in directly in front of Mitch grinning as he sighed "As always I'm glad for your help Yoruichi". "I guess with all the introductions out of the way let's get down to business then" Urahara walked forward with Tessai wandering in behind as his usual playful demeanor dissolved away "Alright Mitch it's time to begin are you ready".