— — — — — —
"It's like you said, Aizen," Eevee looked around. "It's called a Space Cave for a reason. There should be a vast space here, one with no visible end…"
Uchiha Renzo nodded. "I had other possibilities in mind, but this? This is unbelievable."
"To be honest," Aizen said as he stepped in with the trio, into the place they had just broken through. "I had other doubts about the Space too. For example, why only thirty-six Renzos? The original soul should've been strong enough to split into way more. And now… the answer's in front of us."
Eevee and Uchiha exchanged a glance, both thinking the same thing: Who the hell thinks this far ahead?
"Anyway, let's explore and see if it's any different from ours."
"Okay." ×2
The new place they entered cracked their understanding wide open, revealing truths they hadn't even considered. But it also made them realize there was still so much more to discover.
And what exactly was this place? Another Mental Space. Yes, you heard that right. Another one identical in design to their own, except without the modifications Eevee had made.
It was genuinely a Mental Space, with thirty-six rifts and everything, just like theirs.
…
"Well, I guess it really is the same." After scanning every corner, Uchiha shrugged.
"That's expected. The one who created the Mental Space is the same—whether it's one, two, or a hundred, they'll all share the same shape." Eevee conjured a sofa and flopped down on it.
Uchiha nodded, then looked at Aizen. "What do you think, buddy?"
"I'm trying to connect the dots. First, Reverend Renzo claims he's the original. And, he gets caught so easily. We pulled out all his memories, and found nothing about new Mental Spaces, not even much on the system. Just basic stuff about how to enter ours—whether with his mind or even his body." Aizen laid out what they had gathered so far.
"There are two possibilities," Eevee said, materializing a soda before taking a sip. "One, Reverend stuffed fake memories in his head and deleted the important ones. Two, he's just a pawn."
"I'm siding with two," Uchiha replied. "It makes more sense. But the real problem is… why the hell would he yell his name and make such a dumb mistake? And why did we feel fear when we tried to kill him?"
"Wait," Aizen's eyes lit up. "Did we really try to kill him?"
"Huh? You were there with us, dude. We all tried. But our instincts screamed at us not to." Eevee gave Aizen a look like he was being an idiot.
"Ahem, that's not what I meant…" Aizen coughed awkwardly before continuing. "Uchiha, if you trust me, then don't defend yourself at all, okay?"
He summoned his Zanpakutō and poured a massive surge of Origin Power into it.
Uchiha Renzo blinked, but out of trust, did his best not to move.
SLASH—
"T-That's…"
Drip. Drip.
Sweat poured down Aizen's face, dripping onto the ground. At the very last moment, he diverted his blade, striking the air beside Uchiha instead of him.
"What's wrong, Aizen?" Uchiha asked calmly. He had braced himself for the attack, but since it never landed, there was no dramatic reaction.
"DANGER. FEAR." Aizen breathed heavily. "It's the exact same feeling we got when we tried to kill Reverend. The trigger is the attack itself. A real attempt makes that reaction happen." He lifted his hand, sharing his memories with them.
"…" Silence stretched after they saw it.
"So that's it."
"The trigger wasn't Reverend—it's on all of us, on all Renzos," Eevee gasped. "If anyone tries to seriously hurt the others, that instinct kicks in. Danger."
"That's the key to this whole fusion nonsense."
"So the right move back then was to trust our instincts and not kill Reverend," Uchiha said, letting out a relieved smile.
"Exactly. Which also confirms he was just a pawn—an idiot who believed he was the original. Think about it: if he really were, then why didn't we feel that danger when we were about to hit the thirty-six mark? And there were many hints that he was just a pawn." Aizen added. "But pawn for what?"
"Let's go back, tell the others, and start exploring this space together. The original clearly had some plan in mind, but we still don't know what it is." Eevee hopped off the sofa.
"Yeah. I also want to check something with Reverend before the last Renzos join us," Uchiha said, glancing around the new Mental Space. "I mean the last ones in our Mental Space."
"Alright, let's g—"
But before Aizen could finish, they all froze. Strange footsteps echoed from a spatial rift.
"Uh… where is this? And… why do you all look so familiar?"
"Uh… Aizen? Boss Aizen? And uh… an Eevee… and you—yeah, you're a Uchiha, right? That mark on your clothes gives it away. Where the fuck am I?"
The three looked at each other in silence.
"What world did you come from?" Uchiha Renzo broke the strange silence.
"Oh, I'm from Battle Through The Heavens. Ummm... where am I?"
The three looked at each other again in silence.
Eevee snorted. "Ok. Let me try."