(Prologue)

As Nelliel Odelschwanck walked through the vast desert wasteland of Hueco Mundo, She began to wonder if Pesche and Dondochakka had survived. I hope they're alright, she thought- I barely made it out myself.

As Nel continued on, she spotted what appeared to be the ruins of a long-abandoned fortress in the distance. "That might be a good place to stay for awhile." She said to herself. As she began to move toward one of the few buildings that hadn't completely crumbled away, she noticed a faint glow and sensed spiritual energy very similar to the residual from an unusually strong Kido spell coming from behind the nearby wall. Wary of danger, she decided to investigate, and discovered something that surprised her: Is this a Senkaimon? This shouldn't be here, this belongs in the Soul Society and yet… But there it was, ancient and falling apart, a Senkaimon.

This will open into the world of the living. She thought, and although it will doubtless be much different from when I was last there, I have no choice- I need their help, and there is no way I can stay here. She began to step into the portal, and as she did so, Nel felt a strange presence nearby, something with an abnormally high level of spiritual pressure, she wanted to check it out, make sure it wasn't as bad as she feared, but it was too late- She was too far in and the Senkaimon was already closing- she had no choice but to continue on and hope for the best…

(Part one: Rukia's Disappearance)

"Rukia, will you shut that thing up, I've had enough of these false alarms!" Snapped Ichigo as the denreishinki's hollow detection system blared at them for the fifth time in the past few hours.

"I don't think they are false alarms, I think the hollows are just being cleansed before we can get there," said Rukia, checking the device once more for signs of damage.

"By who" asked Ichigo, "Zennosuke went back to the Soul Society to train, we should be the only Soul Reapers anywhere near Karakura Town. Could it be Urahara?"

"No, he's gone as well, he and Tessai left on a supply run this morning, and Ururu and Jinta aren't equipped to deal with hollows on this level. I wonder if-"

Boom! Rukia was cut off mid-sentence by a huge explosion somewhere behind them, quickly followed by the sound of panic from nearby civilians as they ran away from the smoking remains of a large office building just down the road.

"Ichigo where…." Rukia started to ask, but she quickly realized that he was running towards the smoke, his sword already drawn.

Just then, Rukia felt an exceedingly powerful source of spiritual pressure behind her. She began to turn around when she heard a strangely familiar voice:

"Bakudo number 9, Geki!"

Rukia was paralyzed instantly, she could not even speak. Ichigo! She thought, wishing she could warn him somehow, wishing he hadn't blindly rushed into battle without a plan. They weren't even entirely sure what was happening, they had assumed that it was nothing more than a simple Hollow attack, they were common in Karakura, but prior to the explosion there wasn't even the slightest trace of any nearby spiritual pressure, Hollow or otherwise. Just then there was another explosion.

"Ahhh!" Ichigo yelled as he was thrown backwards by the force of the blast. He rolled just as he hit the ground. He stopped for a moment, breathing heavily before deciding to quickly rush back in to the fight.

Ichigo, get out of there! She could tell he was hurt, but there was nothing she could do about it in her current situation. Rukia felt a sharp blow to the back of her head and lost consciousness.

This isn't going well, Thought Ichigo. And I can't use my Bankai with these civilians around.

"Hey Rukia, Can you…" Ichigo trailed off as he realized that she was nowhere in sight, nor could he feel her spiritual pressure anywhere near.

Where is she? He wondered, I could have sworn she was just here.

Maybe she just went to get help; after all, this guy seems pretty tough, especially for a Hollow.

"But he isn't a Hollow." Said a strange voice to his left "he is an Arracar, and he is not very happy with you, Ichigo Kurosaki."

How did he… Can he read my… Who is this guy?

"I cannot read minds Ichigo; some people are just very predictable. I simply proposed the answer to the question that most individuals in your position would likely have." Ichigo was shocked, in fact, he had almost entirely forgotten about the fight until he was knocked backwards once more by an explosion. He quickly recovered and moved above the area to get a clear view of what was happening.

The area seems to be clear of humans, it should be safe now.

"Bankai!" Ichigo shouted with a fury of spiritual pressure as he released his Zanpakutō.

"Tensa Zangetsu." The dust settled and the now visible Arrancar stopped and looked at Ichigo, hate clearly reflecting in his eyes. The Arrancar lunged at Ichigo, sword already extended toward him. Ichigo flash stepped out of the way and slashed at the Arrancar, leaving a deep cut flowing blood down his side, but the wound quickly healed due to the innate regeneration ability that he possessed as a complete Arrancar. The Arrancar quickly turned around and began charging a cero.

He released the cero and Ichigo easily dodged, but the cero wasn't meant to hit Ichigo, it was meant to distract him. Ichigo realized his mistake just a fraction of a second too late and suffered a cut across his left leg, he lost feeling in that leg but could very easily see the damage done; the cut was deep, it had hit a major nerve which explained the loss of feeling. He couldn't use his leg; he would need to be healed soon to avoid the risk of losing it permanently.

"Bakudo number 1: Sai!" said the strange man who had revealed to Ichigo the fact that he was fighting an Arrancar rather than a normal Hollow, which had forced Ichigo to take the fight much more seriously. Ichigo's arms were forced behind his back by the power of the all too familiar technique which Rukia had used on him when they first met. His sword fell away from him and struck the ground far below.

"Give it up Ichigo" said the man, "Kotaro will have his revenge, and now Ichigo Kurosaki there is no escape." Kotaro began charging another cero, this one much more powerful than the first.

Kotaro launched the cero with a terrifying howl and there was a blinding flash as it streaked across the sky toward Ichigo.

"Santen Kesshun, I reject!" A triangular shield appeared between Ichigo and the blast, saving his life with mere seconds to spare…