Ch.3 Chasing Shadows

A/N: Hey all, I'd like to start off by saying thank you for all the love shown in the previous chapters and apologize for the wait; I've just begun figuring out a schedule for writing and updating due to school and work. But more on that later; for now, pls enjoy Chapter 3!

"JAPAN!" came the excited cries of Beast Boy, Cyborg, Supergirl, and surprisingly Flash. This earned the Scarlet speedster odd looks from the more mature members of each team. " What?" he said, confused by 9the stares he was receiving. " Why are you so excited? You've been to Japan multiple times," asked Wonderman. His response was immediate. "Why do you have an invisible jet when you can fly?" He asked in a deadpan voice. The comment caused Wonder Woman to blush and caused those in the room to chuckle, except Batman (of course).

"As entertaining as this is, we've gotta go," Constantine said. " He's right," Zatanna continued, " We're on a time crunch," She said as she began to walk down the hall toward the Watchtower's teleporter, the others following behind her. "Where in Japan are we going?" Lantern asked. "A town in the middle of the Tokyo area called Karakura," replied Zatanna. By now, the group had reached the teleporter, and Constantine had begun entering the coordinates; once finished, he stepped into the device along with the rest of the team. In a bright white flash, they were gone.

(Location: Karakura Town, Japan)

Appearing in a flash of light, the group lands outside of a store. The store's design is rather traditional, with paper rice doors leading inside. Once the group got a good look at the store, some seemed very surprised. " Wow, I thought it'd be more imposing," Hawkgirl said, her voice deadpan, an unpressed expression clear on her face despite the mask. " Heh, that's because you haven't seen the inside," Constantine huffed out in amusement. As the group began to make their way to the door, it opened, revealing a young-looking girl with a perpetual blush on her cheeks; she was wearing a white t-shirt with the Urahara Shop logo in pink print and a knee-length, pink skirt with white dots. She has round purple eyes and long black hair with a purple tint. (A/N; I copied and pasted this from Google hehe) " Welcome back, Zatanna-san, Constantine-san," she said with a bow. She turned to the rest of the group. " Hello, Justice Leauge; it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Ururu Tsumugiya." She introduced herself with another bow.

"URURU," a loud voice came from behind the young girl. A boy appeared from inside the store, coming up beside her. " Boss wants to know if the visitors are here yet," he said as he came to a stop. He is a small boy with red hair. He wears a white t-shirt with the Urahara Shop logo printed on the front and blue three-quarter-length trousers, the bottoms of which are noticeably turned up. "Jinta, they're right in front of you," Ururu stated softly in her voice light. Turning his head, Jinta's eyes widened slightly at the group before him. 'They dress weird,' Jinta thought. " Nice ta meet ya; the names Jinata Hanakari," he introduced himself, his voice full of bravado. The Justice League and Titans stood there, stunned at the two children in front of them. They're the all-powerful beings we couldn't keep waiting; how the hell are two kids supposed to help us out?" Cyborg exclaimed, breaking the silence. " Obviously not, you idiot," came Constantines' firm reply. "They're here to lead us inside," came Zatanna's much calmer voice. " Follow us, please," Ururu prompted, opening the door further and gesturing to the large group to enter the store.

Following the children inside the Leauge, was again surprised to see the interior was as ordinary as the outside. " Welcome all," came a deep voice. " I am Tessi Tsukabishi." the deep voice came again. The voice belongs to a tall, muscular, lightly tan-skinned man. His hair is cornrowed, and he has a large handlebar mustache connected to his long sideburns. He wears a pair of rectangular-shaped glasses. His attire consists of a white muscle shirt with regular pants and a blue apron." If you would follow me, they are waiting for you." He said, leading the group toward the back of the store; opening another set of doors, he led them into a large room with tatami mat flooring and a table with pillows around it for seating. In the room was a tall, lean man with light skin and gray eyes. His hair is messy and light-blond (almost pale), with strands framing the sides of his face and hanging between his eyes, and he has chin stubble. He wears a dark green samue. Over this, he wears a black haori, which sports a white diamond pattern along its bottom half, and a striped dark green and white bucket hat on his head. Next to him was a slender yet athletically fit, well-endowed woman of average height. She had dark skin, golden irises, and black hair. Her hair is waist-length and kept in a ponytail with chin-length bangs framing the sides of her face.[ She wore an orange over-shirt with two white straps on each shoulder, a large beige sash around her waist, and black stretch pants. " Ah, Welcome," said the man, his voice jovial and light-hearted. "Please sit; I'm sure you have many questions," the woman beside him said.

Taking their seats, the group began speaking to each other through the mental link provided by J'onn. ' The first thing we need to decide is who's going to be designated speakers,' Superman said through the link, ' The choice is obvious: You, Batman, Zatanna, and Constantine. ' Suggested Green Lantern, the others mentally nodding their heads. 'Fair enough,' Batman agreed. After they decided, they all nodded to each other, signaling to the other party they were ready to begin discussing. "So, from what I understand, you all have had some rather unsavory interactions with some hollows," Kisuke said flippantly. Nodding his head, it was Superman who took the initiative. " Yes, but what exactly are these… hollows?" he asked. Humming in acknowledgment of the question, Kisuke answered, " Put simply, a hollow is a monstrous soul-eating spirit that's created when negative emotions consume a deceased soul or is forcibly converted by other hollows.'

" What do you mean by 'deceased souls' exactly," Batman inquired, " How is it possible for a dead soul to have emotions, much less negative ones," he continued. " Well, it's not very difficult, you see… Ak" Kisuke was about to answer when a foot connected with the side of his face, knocking him to the ground. " You're talking too much," Yourichi said from beside him, her voice laced with light annoyance. Looking at the group in front of them, she continued, ignoring their shocked and deadpan expressions, " Not all souls go to 'heaven' or 'hell; most actually end up in the Soul Society. Those that don't end up wondering here, on earth…" " Where they become hollows," Zattana continued for her. Shaking her head, Youroichi said, " Yes and no, there's another option: they can be manually sent to the soul society through Konsō."

" Konsō? Soul Society? what are those?" Constantine asked. " The Soul Society is of the afterlife; think of it like 'heaven,' and a Konsō is the process of [for lack of a better term} forcefully sending souls to the afterlife so they don't become hollows," Kisuke answered. " Why do you say heaven the way you do?" asked Superman; being raised in a Christian household, he picked up on the tone used when they said it. " Well, it's simple, really; it's because heaven doesn't technically actually exist," Kisuke said, shocking the group into silence.

"What" !" came a collective shout from all the present heroes, Raven and Batman included. "Yep," Kisuke said casually, picking at his ear due to the sudden cry, "What you call 'heaven' is just the soul society; you just didn't know it," Yoruichi said, seeing as Kisuke was busy cleaning the wax out of his ear. " Hell, however, is very different, but we'll get into that later." She said, waving the questions she anticipated would be asked. "Now, you are probably wondering why you've never encountered any of these hollows even though all this has been going on?' She inquired. Seeing them nod, she looked over to Kisuke, prompting him to continue, " The reason is that a few days ago, a massive amount of reishi was released from an unknown location. That usually wouldn't be a problem, but it had an odd effect on people who have had strong interactions with magic, aka you guys,". Kisuke said, pointing at the gathered group with a smile. " Now that all the questions for right now have been answered, it's time for one of our own," Yourichi said, a challenging smile on her face. " What do you intend to do with this information? Will you continue to fight the hollows or continue with your day-to-day heroics?" She finished. The answer was immediate. " We'll help. We don't ignore people in need, even if they're souls." Superman said with conviction, the others nodding in agreement. Smiling, Kisuke said, " Great, well, have to prepare you guys properly. But unfortunately, that's not our job."

"Why is that?" Zatanna asks, "Simple because that responsibility belongs to the shinigami that runs that continent." Yoruichi said. "Shini-what?" Beast boy asked, seeing as the serious discussion had ended. Kisuke nodded, " Yes, shinigami, death gods, soul reapers, that's what we call the groups of people who combat the hollows and their forces; that's what we are." He said, gesturing to Yoruichi and himself. " Not all hollows will be as weak as the ones you faced previously; due to the unique abilities of the higher-ranked hollow, you'll all need training. Even with your strength, some may prove too powerful." Yoruichi explained. " If, as you said, the job of preparing us isn't yours, Who's is it?" Batman inquired. Hearing the question, Kisuke smiled, already anticipating their reactions to what he was about to say next. While grinning, he said, " Why, the soul reapers that live in America, of course." There was a dead silence in the room as the Leaug and Titians processed the information. It wasn't long before groans of realization and shouts of annoyance filled the meeting space.

" So you're telling us we could have learned this back home?" inquired Wonder Woman, seeing the two soul reapers in front of her nod, "Then what was the point of coming to the opposite side of the planet!?" She asked incredulously. " Oh, that's easy, they just didn't to waste time explaining these things to you. So they asked us to do it." Yoruichi said easily, causing some of the heroes to face fault. "Hehe, as entertaining as you guys have been, you'd better get moving if you wanna get there in time to speak to your benefactor; he's a busy guy," Kisuke said while standing up, the others following suit. Making their way to the exit, the group again ran into the three individuals from when they first arrived. After exchanging goodbyes with the three, they made their way outside. " Thank you for your help," Superman said to Yoruichi and Kisuke, holding his hand for a handshake. One that both individuals received, " It was no problem. We hope to see you all again soon," Kisuke said.

Nodding, Superman stepped back to the group of heroes. Batman activated the watchtower's remote transport system. After the group had disappeared, Kisuke turned his head towards the street leading to where his shop resides. " So what did you think?" he asked to seemingly no one. "They're weird, that's for sure," came a male voice. " But they are strong; they'll be reliable allies," the voice ended. "Heh, never knew you took to strangers so easily, Ichigo," Kisuke stated. Stepping from behind the wall, a shock of spiky orange could be seen. "Doesn't really matter that I think; all that matters is how 'he' reacts to them." The now-identified voice of Ichigo states. Making his way inside, with Kisuke and Yoruichi following behind him.

A/N: THAT WAS A LOT OF WRITING. OH MY GOD! But I got it done, and in the next chapter, we'll finally be introduced to the mysterious figure from the first chapter, and our train arc for the Justice League begins. But pls like, review, and leave comments for any suggestions and criticisms you have; thank you and see ya'll next time.