Ichigo plummetted through a nearby building, a diagonal angle, shooting straight through it like a bullet. Grimmjow shot after him. Ichigo's vision was swimming. What had happened? He was on his way home and Grimmjow had just nailed him out of the blue, tore at him with some kind of shimmering brass knuckles like arrangement, only with claws. Ichigo had left his body and started fighting, signaling to Rukia, Renji, and the others in his group what had happened. Then Grimmjow had begun a fierce barrage of cero energy channeled into physical blows via his claws. The claws on his hands glowed. He'd heard some kind of cracking noise, like glass, and he was plummeting through a garganta with odd purple, black and blue energy sparking off it. (1)

It was as if he'd gone blind but with a headsplitting migrane tearing him to pieces. Grimmjow's laughter echoed in his head. Then in the dark, two figures had briefly been seen plummeting with him, one green, one blue, trying to get a good look at him. Then they were gone, there was a loud crash like breaking glass.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Through the building. Ichigo was too far gone, too weak to read the sign on top but it looked like it was topped with a globe. Then Grimmjow's release form filled his vision. Grimmjow brought his legs up in a massive kick and smashed Ichigo face first into the pavement. Ichigo had, by then, summoned his mask, and it absorbed the blow preventing a serious head injury.

Grimmjow crowed his superiority, only for a blur of red and blue to blindside him, slamming him away from Ichigo and up into the sky. Ichigo lay there, struggling to get up. He wasn't sure what was going on. His vision swum, his head throbbed. Zangetsu and Ogichi were screaming in agony inside his head.

He blacked out, and when his vision cleared a group of policemen were leaning over him. He let out a strangled groan of pain. One of the officers reached to try to remove his mask, a look of concern on her face. "no!" a man's voice said sharply. A figure stepped forwards, and the woman pulled her hand back. Ichigo took in the strange green man with orange eyes and a cape, the figure swimming in and out of focus. He could barely focus on the man, and he wanted to focus on something. They didn't know how dangerous Grimmjow was! They should run! "Respect his privacy if you don't mind... I'll take him up to the watchtower, get the civilians out of the area."

"But sir!"

"If the daily planet building comes down it will take other buildings nearby down with it. The other senior members are working on shoring it up so repairs can begin and evacuating the staff. But the intruder is still fighting with..." blackness.

King? Ogichi's voice was faint. I feel so weak, and Zangetsu, the old man is out cold.

Where are we?

I don't know, I can tell you're safe but... your reiatsu's been drained immensely King.

I need to sleep.

Okay, the doctors have your back. I can kinda sense them working on ya.

Nothingness.

Rukia and Renji brought Kon and Urahara to Yamamoto. The two of them had witnessed part of the attack, but Urahara had been too far away to intervene and the fight had happened so fast and furious that there was little time to do anything. Yoruichi had tried to grab Ichigo at the very last second, and fallen in after them.

"You're certain it wasn't a normal garganta?" Yamamoto asked, calling for Mayuri and Byakuya.

"I'm positive sotaichou, normal gargantas don't sparkle." Urahara said quietly. "and while a variety of shapes are possible depending on the arrancar's control over his reiatsu, a perfectly round garganta is very rare." (1)

"Alright, you and Kurotsuchi, I need you to analyze the space around Karakura town and see if you can find something. Captain Kuchiki will take point on this matter however, and you're to stay with his squad when you aren't working."

"Thank you..."

Kon looked really upset. "Is... is Ichigo coming back?"

"We're going to try to bring him back Kon." Kisuke told him.

"Our priority is to bring substitute shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo home alive Kon-san." Yamamoto said quietly. "We don't have central anymore, until the winter war is over the spirit king is unwilling to select a new central fourty six chambers. He's a powerful ally, and he may play a bigger part in the war this winter than we expected."

Kon nodded, gulping slightly. The insinuation was that times were different now. The Soul society must have learned quite a bit since Aizen's rebellion. Orihime had been rescued, Aizen's forces and resources decimated, and he'd been repelled from Karakura town when he attempted to make the o-ken but had evaded capture. Since then, Aizen had been sending his arrancar to raid Karakura town, wreaking havoc to buy time while he attempted to figure out a new strategy.

"This will be a war of attrition this winter. Odds are none of us will come away unscarred." Yamamoto mused. "Kurosaki Ichigo is not only a hero, he's an encouraging presence who spurrs the other shinigami to push themselves to their limits and beyond. His loss would be a devastating blow to the gotei thirteen's morale and to our firepower." And an enormous loss to the soul society.

When Yoruichi came to she was resting on a large satin cushion. There were bandages around her wounds, and she was still in cat form. She got up, wobbling to the edge of the bed. There was a newspaper on the floor, "Gotham Gazette..." Yoruichi read. She crawled over to the newspaper and settled herself down to read. The front page was about a robbery by some guy in a cybernetic suit named Mister Freeze, appearantly he'd gotten away with millions of dollars in diamonds, and was well known for his preference for the gems for some reason, though the reason why wasn't stated in the article.

"Oh there you are!" A woman walked in, smiling hugely. "You should take it easy little kitty..." Yoruichi yawned, noting the cat of nine tails clipped to the belt of the woman's otherwise normal outfit. "C'mere..." She scooped Yoruichi up and sat down on the bed with her in the woman's lap and a cup of coffee in hand.

Yoruichi couldn't help it, she purred, and then the woman produced a catnip mouse from her pocket, and another female cat hopped up on the bed next to them. The cat sniffed Yoruichi, yowled in surprise, and darted behind the bedroom dresser.

"Selena!" A mousy looking woman with red hair hurried in with a clip board. "You're meeting with Bruce Wayne today over lunch, those panther walkways you're trying to have the State of Florida install under the highways?"

"Oh right, he's got to look over my plans and see if he can bring the cost down for the state." The woman sighed. Yoruichi meowed, then the black cat hopped up next to her, sniffing her slightly. Yoruichi meowed again. "Oh! The new kitty's awake." The girl chuckled a little, then hurried to the kitchen and came back with two cans of salmon.

The woman set them on the bed with the two cats, accustomed to such fare the other cat bent down to begin eating. "Now you girls had better be good okay?" The woman took a long appreciative sip of her coffee. "i've got to see if Bruce can recommend a scientific assignment. With my history I could always be security to some university team or something."

The redhead rolled her eyes. "Adrenaline addict." She flicked the television on.

"We're live in Metropolis with a special news report! A bizzare half man, half cat creature is fighting with Superman after he crashed straight through the Daily Planet build..." "Selena" picked up the remote and changed the channel to a "syfy channel original movie, Sharknado returns, then its Category 6 and Category 7: Day of Destruction on our storm movie marathon, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Watch the craziest storm sy fy original movies back to back all day for three days."

"No offense, but someone is /always/ smashing something in Metropolis. Superman's a magnet for uber strong /freaks./" Selena growled irritably.

"You're one to talk, you get a cat costume on and steal artifacts from thieves." The girl pointed out.

"Priceless artifacts that they don't appreciate." Selena replied. The black cat yawned, licking her lips and Yoruichi lay there, looking back and forth from one woman to another.

"Anyway..." Selena replied. "Catwoman doesn't come out too often anymore. I just can't find the right challenge to take on with her. And as for the "one to talk" bit. Gotham has its own brand of freaks, and /we're/ more fond of subterfuge."

The phone rang. Selena got up to get it. "Selena Kyle here... oh hi there Bruce. Yes I'm still on for lunch, by the way, is it true you want to foster one of my rescue cats?" A pause. "Really, well I've got a nice one here, female, exact same markings as my Isis and the two are currently chilling on my nice clean silk sheets." Pause. "Uhuh, thats why any pricy bed coverings I have are black Bruce, hides the cat hairs when Isis decides its cuddly time."

Yoruichi inwardly smirked. So she had two names, and two people, she was going to hide until she was fully healed, and then go to this Metropolis place to find Grimmjow. Where Grimmjow was, there she was certain to find Ichigo. Hang on Ichigo, I won't let anything happen to you, I promise. She looked up at the ceiling, listening to Selena beg this Bruce character for a position on a science mission of some kind. Soifon, I'm sorry... I don't see any way I'm coming back. I miss you. Kisuke, Isshin, I'm going to take care of Ichigo, I promise. I'm not letting him disappear.

Ichigo was floating in the most enjoyable warm void. He was floating in a reclining position, like he was sitting in an arm chair. A huge pale figure appeared in front of him, dressed in a rich green cloak and hood. "Who are you?" Ichigo blinked.

An angel of vengeance, and redemption... but I want to know, /now/ who are you, where are you from, why are you intruding in this place?

"Define intruding... you're the one in /my/ dream."

I was ordered to investigate your presence here, you aren't from this world, and there is a dark presence in your soul.

"no shit sherlock." Ogichi appeared, yawning hugely. "dafuq is your problem? King asked you a question, why are /you/ in /his/ dream."

He asked me nothing. The figure's deep baritone voice sounded annoyed now.

Ichigo sighed. "lets try this again, my name is Ichigo Kurosaki, I'm a substitute shinigami. And the grumpy guy over here is my other half, Ogichi Shirosaki."

Your name backwards and the Japanese word for white melded with your surname.

"Yeah, I couldn't just call him "hollow" all the time. I can't really cope with somebody not having a name. Now what's yours? You told me /what/ you are but not who."

The figure was silent. He looked suspiciously down at the two boys.

Shinigami? The figure questioned. What is this "Shinigami?"

"Well you see, shinigami help dead souls cross over and keep people from harming souls." Ichigo explained. I'm a substitute, which means I got my powers from another shinigami while I was still alive. So I'm neither alive nor dead, at least for now. The other shinigami deputized me after a really long battle. Kind of like a field commission!" Ichigo grinned. "I'm from Karakura town! But... I'm really worried about my friends. They're gonna miss me, I heard voices speaking english before I blacked out. I'm not that good with english but... they sounded American."

I will go and investigate this further. The figure turned to leave. You will likely only see me again if you're in trouble or I find something significant to you. He hesitated, then looked over his shoulder at Ichigo. Tread carefully upon the ground you walk, if you abuse the privilege of being in the world I guard you will not like how I punish you.

He disappeared, and Ichigo slept again. During his sleep several strange spirits invaded his dreams, peering at him and whispering in hushed tones, too curious it seemed, to wait till he'd awakened. But he didn't bother them. Spirits gawking at him and poking at him had happened since he was a boy. A couple of them stood out in his mind either as being demonic or as being particularly flamboyant looking ghosts with no visible soul chain. But he couldn't keep the details fixed in his mind other than those of that pale figure.

Superman had nearly exhausted himself by the time Grimmjow gave up, indeed, the odd half cat, half panther man/creature had fought to get to the boy until he's been teleported up to the watch tower. Then Grimmjow had thrown a temper tantrum about how Superman was depriving him of his prey.

It had taken a full six hours for Superman to drive Grimmjow out of Metropolis. SIX HOURS.

So he was glad that the medics told him their visitor was stable in the infirmary when he returned to the watchtower. He was glad that J'on had made his favorite tea to calm him down and taken care of his share of the League's paperwork, just patrol reports left to go over. He was glad that Lois called him an hour after he got in to make sure he was alright and let him know she was alright as well.

But most of all he was glad the strange visitor, savaged by his attacker, was blissfully sedated in the infirmary and in no danger of dying from his wounds.

"He's a spirit of some kind." J'on told him as the two of them sat sipping tea. J'on had gotten a pet, an elderly scottish terrier, to keep him company on his shifts in the control room. Scotch, named for the drink of Vigilante's that the elderly dog had tipped over in his exuberance the first day there, was snoozing in J'on's lap while they went over assignment reports from the lower ranking league members. "That much I can tell. But something has made him corporeal. His mind is very confused, and he drifts in and out of awareness. I can sense some kind of dialogue in his head, possibly some kind of construction in his mind. It is odd, he has no telepathic abilities, which is usually the type of meta human to have that kind of mind..."

"Like yours." Superman mused. Only psychics had the ability to create 'worlds' inside their mind. It was used to order their powers.

"We'll watch this one carefully." J'on sighed. "He might make a good league member but I'd like to know why he was fighting with that Grimmjow character. I sensed in his mind that the boy knew him."

"Well, in non super law enforcement, a lot of violent crimes are done by people known to the victim, if only briefly." Superman sighed. "Lets get through this paperwork and give the medics a chance to do their job."

"Alright."

Yoruichi slept in the carrier, trying her best not to look like she was in pain. The limo ride was nice and smooth though, hardley a jolt to disturb her bruises and broken bones. "Hey there Bruce, I brought your foster." Selena kissed a black haired, square shouldered man in a suit on the cheek and handed him the carrier. "She'll have to have her bandages changed twice a day, there's some mild strength pain drops for her too, just put the dose in her water bowl. She seems quite mellow for wounds so bad. I swear, where did a cat get such terrible impact wounds? Her whole right side is bruised and her shoulder blade is fractured."

"I'll do my best. Alfred knows more about caring for animal injuries than I do, but I'm sure she'll enjoy sunbathing in the garden. We just put new rose bushes in there last month."

Yoruichi yawned.

"Oh and she seems to like newspapers, kept crawling over to this morning's gazette and using it for a pillow." Selena smiled. "She's awefully mellow for a cat that badly injured."

Yoruichi meowed briskly, rising up to a sitting position in the cage. She had to get somebody to care for her wounds, without someone who knew healing kidou near by she was stuck recovering her broken bones the old fashioned way.

"now... about this idea of yours."

The carrier was handed off to an old man, who smiled through the front of the cat carrier. "Its alright little one, I've got a nice warm fire and soft cushions ready for your aching bones and all the fish and catnip you can eat." The old man, whom Yoruichi assumed was Alfred carried the cat carrier inside to a small sitting room in the mansion and opened the door. Yoruichi hobbled out, finding a nice velvet cushion, a dish of salmon, a dish of milk, and the same newspaper she was interrupted in reading for the car trip plus four others from different cities. Letting out a pleased meow she sat down to drink her milk. Best to keep herself quiet and act like an ordinary cat.

"Lets see the new arrival Alfred!" A couple of boys, one teenage, one in his early twenties ran in.

"aaaah, Master Dick, Master Timothy... we need to come up with a name for this young lady."

Yoruichi yawned, looking up at the two boys as the younger of the two bent down to stroke her head and scratch her behind the ears. "i set up the litter box like you asked Alfred." The boy, Timothy said with a grin. "As for names, I wanted to do something that fits our... nightly escapades." He grinned at that last bit, as though it was a shared secret between the two boys and the butler.

"Very good Master Timothy, I'll take care of the foster's medical care while she's here, but its come to my attention that Master Bruce thinks you need to develop a more responsible attitude, so you're to take care of feeding and other matters." Yoruichi was scooped up by the boy and carried firmly but gently in his arms.

"Hmm, I guess for now I'll call her Shadow." The boy grinned. "don't worry Alfred, I'll take good care of her."

"And try not to be rough, cats can become skittish if handled too roughly."

"What's with all the newspapers?" The older boy, Dick, asked curiously.

"Miss Kyle seems to think she likes laying on them. And so it seemed to be just before you arrived. She'd sat down neat as you please to drink her milk, right on..." Alfred gestured to a newspaper page with a picture of a man with a horribly disfigured face.

"HA! I like you already! You sat on Puke Face!" Timothy chuckled, scritching Yoruichi's chin. "Clever little Shadow!"

"Anyway Alfred, Barbera's coming over later. Let her know I'm in the study, not my room? I've got a paper to write." The older boy, Dick, turned to go, smiling a bit to himself.

Yoruichi purred happily. This was, if anything, going to be the most pleasant recovery she'd ever had from a battle wound! Still, she had to keep focused. Ichigo needed her!

Two days went by, three days, and finally Urahara, Byakuya, and Mayuri emerged from their investigation with startling information. Yamamoto's face grew grimmer and grimmer the more he heard what they had to say. Finally he spoke. "Call a captains and lieutenants meeting, and please inform Isshin Kurosaki we have news on his son and the vizards that I will need their assistance."

Byakuya's jaw clenched. Mayuri whirled on a heal and strode out, haori floating behind him, Kisuke put a gentle hand on Byakuya's shoulder. "Kuchiki-san, Mayuri has never been known for his social skills. We should take care of the notifications."

"Agreed."

1. I've been playing too much minecraft, the special garganta looks an end portal without the frame. *smirks* I kinda cheated on the ender dragon the other day, fought him in peaceful. The little snot still killed me three times, but I digress. The "special garganta" was inspired by the end portal.