First Contact (Isaac Kennedy, but open to other Bounts and PM requests)

(btw, love the Greed avatar)

In the middle of the small but dense forest outside of the Bount Mansion, a Senkai Gate opened, and from it a tall, gray-haired man stepped out, glancing cautiously from side to side as he did so. Excellent. Ryouta turned and gestured at the Senkai Gate, and it shut behind him. It had taken him longer than initially expected to set up the illegal gate, but some issues had come up that had demanded his immediate attention. Anyway, he had come to this section of the Real World for a very specific reason - he had pinpointed it as the source of a large collection of Bount reiatsu - powerful reiatsu at that. It seemed to him the best place to establish contact with the Bount community.

He was, of course, not dressed as the typical Shinigami. Instead, he wore a casual gray suit and matching shoes and hat with a thin blue tie. Gloves covered both his organic and mechanical hand, and he wore a pair of stylish black sunglasses to conceal both his organic and mechanical eye. The only thing that marked him as a Shinigami was his katana, which was attached to his belt via a simple looped knot. He looked, for all intents and purposes, like a rogue Shinigami, unaffiliated with Soul Society in anyway.

Now, what he needed to do was seek out a Bount. Ordinarily, he would have just let his Captain-class reiatsu flare to get attention, but here, that might be seen as a threat, so he'd have to be more subtle. Ryouta jumped upward to the top of the forest canopy, and gazed out into the distance. There, past the forest's edge and large acres of gated grounds, was a mansion. Ryouta could sense Bount reiatsu emanating from it.

Perhaps I should just knock on the front door? he mused. Well, he didn't have a better plan. With a confident grin, Ryouta sprung off toward the mansion. He easily cleared the fence, but the minute his feet touched the grounds, he slowed to a walk. He didn't want to appear hostile in any way. Perhaps a Bount might approach him while he was still on the grounds, and able to easily escape if things went awry.

(thanks)

Inside the mansion there was slight snoring noise in the living room where isaac was sleeping on the couch. Isaac was laid with his feet propped up on a nearby table with his arms behind his head snoring. until he heard a voice that startled him awake"its time to get up"it was his bracelets that was the source of the voice, its his doll in his sealed forme dalrag."im up, im up"isaac groaned as he stretched and rubbed the back of his head then standing up and putting his fur neck lined vest on then grabbing his sunglasses and putting them on as he headed to the kitchen. Isaac grabbed a glass and opened the fridge grabbing some oj then pouring it in the glass. Isaac grabbed the glass and walked to the windowand looked outside at the nice day it was until he saw something else, it was a figure approaching the house. Isaac dropped the glass"GET UP WE HAVE AN INTRUDER"isaac shouted upstairs as he ran outside flinging the door open to stop the figure from getting any closer to the mansion."who the hell are you and why are you tresspassing on our property, youre kind isnt wanted here"isaac shouted to the figure who he knew was a shinigami because of the sword he had attached to his side."Zeige Diche, Dalrag"isaac shouted as his bracelets glowed and vanished then rocks shot up from the ground behind the shinigami then dalrag shot from the ground in the center of the rocks revealing his 3 story forme overshadowing the shinigami."now tel me why you are here or ill have my friend crush you like an ant"isaac said as he had dalrag stop any escape routes for the shinigami to escape.

This was pleasing, his presence had already given fruit with hardly any effort on his part. Of course, the Bount he had encountered didn't seem to be in the best of moods, but that was expected. Ryouta smiled in what he thought was quite the disarmingly innocent way - something he had practiced for a good 15 minutes in front of the mirror to perfect. "My kind? I assume you mean, Shinigami. Well, to tell you the truth, I understand your negative sentiment." Ryouta sighed somewhat melodramatically; a remnant of his time in the 2nd Division learning how to ingratiate himself in hostile territory.

"You see, I am no fan of Soul Society either, nor would they be of me, which is why I am here - to offer my hand in friendship." Ryouta held up both gloved hands to signal he meant no harm and took a few steps closer to the Bount. "Now, I'm sure you're wondering, 'Why should I trust him? Sure, he doesn't look like he's from Soul Society, but still, he could be hostile.' Perfectly understandable." His smile broadened and he stretched so that his palms pointed straight up into the sky. "Hado#63: Raikoho." An enormous burst of electrical reiatsu erupted from his palms to sear the clouds above, causing them to evaporate extremely quickly and rise up, only to be cooled by the much lower temperature in the upper atmosphere, and fall back down to earth as a light drizzle.

"You see?" Ryouta said as he lowered his hands so they were again held with the palms out in a 'no-violence' position. "I could've eliminated this mansion from the safety of the forest if I had wanted to. Or your Doll, for that matter."

Ryouta didn't really expect this to persuade the Bount fully - but you never knew, sometimes the dumb ones thought this sort of display sufficient. Always say less than necessary - that was the 4th Law of Power, something Ryouta was acutely aware of, and the only reason why he still had a position in the Gotei 13. He had, however, intentionally let slip a hint in his first words about the motivations behind his appearance beyond what he ostensibly said. If this Bount picked it up, it would certainly be helpful to have someone of intelligence as an ally, regardless of spiritual power.

Isaac was amazed by the shot of electrical energy into the sky. Isaac calmed his anger down and snapped his fingers making dalrag vanish and return to his bracelets forme."well if you hate those shinigami to, i have no reason to fight you anymore"isaac said as he rubbed the back of his neck. Isaac had no thoughts of the guy but something did seem off about this man but didnt really focus on it."i would gladly make an alliance with you but its not really up to me"isaac said as he picked up on what the shinigami said."would you like to come in, but can i get youre name mr. shinigami"isaac muttered as he pointed his finger to the door then bringing it down and puting his hands in his pockets as he walked into the mansion. Isaac walked to the couch and sat down ignoring the shattered glass cup. Isaac sat there and propped his feet up on the table waiting patiently for the shinigami to come in.

Akira was awoken from a light nap by Sirene shaking his arm as he had been snozing over his desk in his room. Shaking off his daze in time to notice the lightning blast being sent into the sky, Akira froze and ran over to his window to see what was going on. He help up a finger to his lips to signal her to be quiet, then pointed at Isaac and their shinigami visitor to tell her to listen to whatever she heard from their conversation. She immediately raised a hand to her ear and listened closely, being able to hear the outside speakers clearly, even through the closed window of Akira's room.

They watched and listened as Isaac invited the shinigami into the mansion. Wanting to keep a hidden ace for Isaac, Akira chose to remain in the hallway on the second floor. Sirene could hear everything going on downstairs and Akira squatted down low so that she could relay anything important to him by whispering. He hoped that this plan would work. This shinigami didn't seem like he'd be easy to fool, but they had the bounts' odd reiatsu on their side. Shinigami couldn't normally sense them, but then again, this guy had come right to their home finding what he wanted easily. Akira wondered if he had a way of detecting them.

Ryouta inclined his head respectfully in response. "Kind of you," he said lightly. "I would be honored to set foot in such opulence," he followed the Bount into the mansion and took a seat across from him. "To Soul Society, my name is Ryouta Ayame. However...it is probably better if you refer to me by my alias 'Stein.' I have no intention of word getting out that Ryouta Ayame is ah...taking steps. Not yet." Ryouta's fingers drummed quickly against the chair of the arm as he watched the Bount intently from behind his sunglasses' lenses.

He was pleased that the Bount had expressed interest in an alliance, and so quickly. It seemed likely that the Bounts besides have no love lost on the Shinigami, in fact disliked them enough to take action by knowingly allying themselves with an obvious traitor. Or perhaps it was just this Bount, who maybe had a reason to hate Shinigami. Still- that didn't seem as likely; while the Bount had not picked up on Ryouta's subtle hint, he had not displayed any form of real personal anger when a Shinigami had wandered into his midst.

"That being said, on to business. I will be blunt-" Ryouta didn't bother asking for the Bount's name. He didn't need it; he already knew the Bount's Doll's name, and he was sure that no two Bounts had the same Doll, just as no two Shinigami had the same Zanpakuto. "I require friends in high places who dislike the Gotei 13. You perhaps would enjoy the benefits of an ally who not only knows all of their secrets, but also the strengths and weaknesses of their military force? I am a powerful potential ally, and I do not ask for much." He paused slightly, letting the implications of his words sink in. "I would even be willing to perform a test of my trustworthiness."

Isaac stretched on the couch listening to what ayame or stein whatever he likes to be called. Isaac didnt really care about the things he could tell him about the shinigamis all he wanted to know was why he really wanted to make an alliance."see mr. stein i have no care in what you know but one of my friends might"isaac said as he stood up and started to walk upstairs"let me go see if hes up, ill be back in a sec"isaac said as he walked upstairs and out of the shinigamis view to see Akira crouched down listening to isaacs and steins conversation."so akira you and sirene hear everything, so what you think of his plans, i dont really care about what his offers are i just wanna know why hes doing this"isaac said in a whisper while he leaned against a wall and waited for a response from akira.

Akira had heard everything relayed through Sirene. He honestly did not know what to make of this situation. This visitor was offering an alliance, but to what end? From that show of his power outside earlier, Akira could tell that he was very powerful. Why would he go out of his way to make friends with a handful of bounts weaker than him? None of it seemed logical. Akira continued to try and think of an answer until Isaac came up and asked for his opinion. He stood up straight and kept his voice to a low volume. Though the element of surprise regarding his presence was broken, he still didn't want their conversation overheard.

"You're right. It's strange. He's offering a lot to us. Though we don't have any immediate quarel with the Gotei, the fact remains that shinigami have persecuted our kind in the past. The information he offers about their weaknesses could prove useful in the future if this "peace" between us changes. What bothers me is what he hopes to gain from this. Alliances are made to benefit both sides, but he has only presented that he wants allies that hate the Gotei. Why is that? What does he plan to do with such allies? Or more precisely, due to the obvious answer of that question, why?" Akira stared up at the ceiling deep in thought again before turning back to Isaac. "We don't have enough to figure everything out right now. I say that, for now, we accept his offer of an alliance. We can keep an eye on him and make a better informed decision later on when we know more. What do you think of that?"

While he waited for the Bount to return, Ryouta stretched out leisurely on the furniture. It really was quite luxurious; even the Captains didn't have this sort of thing, unless they were a member of a noble family. Science might be many things, but well-paying it was not.

Things seem to be progressing as planned on all fronts, Stein's voice said in his head. I'm beginning to think you're actually capable of pulling this off.

Please, Ryouta responded. The only person I know who is intelligent enough to spot my scheming is the Sotaicho, and no one has seen head nor tail of him in ages. Our time to strike is soon.