I present to you *drum roll* my first crossover!

Little back story. I got bored and read some fanfictions of Bleach and Maximum Ride and while they were okay, they aren't great either. If there is one way to get me to stop reading a fanfiction, it's when the author puts no attempt in trying to research. Seriously. People gave Ichigo wings and his wings were #1: Too small, #2: Not even real bird colors. They just slapped together colors that would look good on him. Guys. News flash. James Paterson used real birds to make our favorite bird kids. So what did I do? Did my research and found a perfect bird that matches Ichigo. What is it you might ask? Simple. It's a Swallow Tailed Kite. Beautiful birds, lemme tell ya. Not only are they a type of bird of pray, but they are capable of both high and low speeds thanks to that forked tail of theirs. In other words perfect for our favorite Strawberry.

I'm not planning on making this into a story, however if it becomes popular enough, I just might add more. Maybe. Depends on how I feel. I've got an idea of what I would want to do if I were to keep writing this though.

I'll stop talking now.

Sorry about the tenses, still working on those ^^;

Last but not least, I OWN NOTHING NOR AM MAKING MONEY FROM THIS. This is just something I came up with for the fun of it. Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo and Maximum Ride goes to James Paterson!

Alright, now I'll stop talking and let you get on with the story.

Bleached Wings

Ichigo absentmindedly tapped his pencil on his desk as he tried to solve a math problem. With head on hand he glanced out the window to the sky dotted with puffy white clouds, eyes landing on a small bird flitting around. A small pang filled his chest.

He misses it. He missed it all. The way his life uses to be until that day he defeated that traitor, Aizen.

A year. It has been a year since he was forces to give up his powers or risk a madman ascending the throne of the Soul King and becoming 'god.'

A year now of a boring, normal human life. For as long as he could remember he could see ghosts, but for the past year he couldn't. Before they annoyed him at times, but he would do anything to have those times back.

He hated it.

At least he got some excitement from the local thugs wanting to pick fights just because his hair was naturally orange and not colored like everyone thinks.

Ever since he lost his powers, his friends began walking on eggshells around him when it came to the spirit world. Every time he would try to ask how things were going they would always change the subject. Even Chad did it.

He was getting tired. Tired of it all. Tired of the looks of pity, of knowing anything, and most importantly, being weak. His name meant 'One Protector' so how was he supposed to protect his friends and family if he didn't have a clue to what was going on? How was he supposed to protect his friends, who did have powers, without his?

A quite sigh escaped him as the bell chimed signaling the end of the school day. Yet another day of odd jobs around town awaited him...

Putting his school books in his bag and slinging it over his shoulder, he headed home. Not before dealing with a wanna-be gang first though. Once that was taken care of, he went home and changed before heading to work.

After an evening filled with heavy lifting, sweating, and a few choice explicits, Ichigo found himself walking the darkened streets not too far from his home with only the streets lights to light his path. A chill found its way down his spine making him shudder. He stopped and stared into the distance. Usually when that happened a hollow appeared somewhere. Even though he could no longer see them, he just knew it was them.

He wasn't sure why he was able to feel when one was around, but if he was to warrant a guess, then it was probably due to having fought them for the short period of time he did and his soul recognized their presence even if he no longer had any power to see them. Maybe his soul was trying to warn him? It wouldn't surprise him. After all, his Hollow tried to kill him a few times so he would actually listen to his instinct more and follow it. He supposed he should have thanks the bastard before he lost his powers.

Feeling the tingling chill again he began to move again. Out of the corner of his eye he watched a black van with its headlights off roll up next to him and stop. Something inside him spurred him to move.

Ichigo burst into a run. However, he didn't make it far when he heard feet pounding into the ground behind him before something barreled into him. Both him and his assailant fell to the ground hard with Ichigo underneath, taking the brunt of the fall with a grunt, earning scrapes on his hands, knees, and chin.

Not waiting to slid to a complete stop, Ichigo twisted and snapped back his arm, elbow smashing into what felt like a nose. They let out a grunt of pain of their own as something wet seeped through his shirt's sleeve. Before he could fight any further to escape something grabbed the back of his head and smashed it into the ground.

Ichigo fell limp as his consciousness faded to black.

BW-B/MR

Waking with a throbbing headache Ichigo knew this would be a bad day. Waking in the back of a dark and bouncing cargo plane? Horrible day. Waking to find himself in what felt like a metal cage meant for a dog? Scratch that, this is going to be a great day!

Note sarcasm.

Feeling something stiff on his cheek, making it itch, he raised a hand and scratched. Pulling his fingers away and rubbed them he felt something gritty. Smelling it he winced. Blood.

Swallowing his panic, Ichigo felt around the cage to find a latch. After a bit of searching he finally found a latch. Just as he reached his finger through the openings in the bars the plane hit turbulence, jolting him forward to hit his already bruised face into the cage.

Falling back on his back he swore as he held his once again bleeding forehead, attempting, and failing, to ignore his twice as throbbing brain.

Suddenly the overhead lights flicked on. Before succumbing to the pain, Ichigo was able to catch a glimpse of dozens of cages like his own lining the walls of the plane, stacked on top of her. What caught his eye wasn't the cages themselves. No, it was what was within.

Children.

Each cage had children.All ranging from a few years old to his own age.

Disgust filled him as he fell unconscious again.

BW-B/MR

Upon waking again, Ichigo found himself strapped to a cold table in a too bright room. His head pounded and the light wasn't helping in the slightest.

He bit his tongue and held back a groan and rolled his head to the side to get a look at his surroundings only to freeze and hiss as the world around him spun. Stinging bile rose in his throat. He quickly swallowed. Running through a mental list of symptoms he came to a conclusion. Concussion. However, he couldn't be sure, but it was the most likely with his recent series of head-blows.

His stomach chose that moment to make itself known.

Great. Not only was he possibly concussed but he was hungry as well. On top of that it looked like he was in some sterile white room that wasn't helping in the slightest with his throbbing headache. Besides himself, he couldn't hear or see anyone else. Not that he really looked since he felt like he would fall off the planet if he moved his head.

A door opened to reveal a balding older man wearing a whitecoat talking in an unfamiliar language to three others, also wearing the same whitecoat, walking behind him. One of them pushing a cloth covered cart.

"What's going on?" Ichigo questioned them around a sore and dry throat. "Where am I?"

His questions went ignored. Either that or they didn't understand him.

The balding man put on a pair of latex gloves as he approached Ichigo, who at this point was giving his best glare. The man began poking and prodding various areas while making comments every now and then while someone he could only guess to be an assistant wrote something on a clipboard. The other two stood on the other side of Ichigo. All of his protests went unheard.

One of the other two, a woman, uncovered the cart. Unfortunately, it was just high enough so he couldn't see its contents. The woman unwrapped a syringe before picking up a small veil. Taking some of the veil's contents with the syringe she moved toward Ichigo. He tried moving away only to remain in place due to the straps. She forcibly held his head at an angle till his neck towards her was exposed.

"What are you doing?" He struggled against his restraints but to no avail.

His question went unanswered as the tip of the cold needle was placed against the crook of his neck. He winced as it went in and loosed its equally cold contents into his blood system. It was quickly removed and the needle disposed of. Not to long after he began to lose feeling in his body as it unwillingly relaxed due to the anesthesia.

At least the headache is gone, where his last thoughts as he fell asleep.

Over the next few hours Ichigo awoke several times but wasn't able to do anything each time except let the anesthetics to bring him back under.

The first time he woke he found himself on his front with what faintly felt like poking. The next time he awoke to find himself on his back once again, this time alone. He stayed there like that for a few hours before the woman came back to inject him with more anesthesia.

This process repeated several times. And each time he had time to think.

Where was he? What was this place? Who were these people? What did they want with him? The questions wouldn't stop and remained unanswered.

His thoughts wandered to his family. Were they alright? Where they looking for him? Did they get caught by these whack jobs as well? Ichigo wasn't worried about his father, he knew the old fool could take care of himself. He was more concerned for his sisters. Sure Karin could take care of herself, but against someone twice her size and weight? She wouldn't stand a chance. He worried more about Yuzu. She was the pacifist of the family and didn't know how to fight. She hated the idea.

His heart clenched at the idea of her being strapped to the same table, terrified.

Ichigo quickly banished the thoughts. They were fine. They had Goat-Face to watch over them as well as Chad and Uryu. They each would go to Hell and back to make sure they were safe. With that he was reassured and knew he didn't need to worry.

That led to more questions.

How long had he been here? Days? Weeks? Months? Well probably not months. He had no way of knowing unless someone finally decided to answer his questions. That wasn't likely since he stopped talking when no one answered his questions. Didn't mean he wouldn't try every time he saw someone knew though. And by no means has he given up. As soon as someone lets their guard down he would get out of here.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, he was allowed to fall asleep on his own without someone forcing him to.

A few hours later he was awakened to those same voices he first heard here, still speaking that different language. They were messing with machines, big and small, that had been wheeled in during his unwanted stay. The only machine he recognized was the one that monitored a patient's vitals. Anything else? He was at a loss of what they did.

Being attached to the multitude of machines was not a pleasant process. It wasn't like in a hospital where they used sticky pads to keep a wire attached. No. These were much worse.

On his chest over his heart, and other various places, was strapped a metal plate with sharp, thin protrusions, each varying in length and each pressed into his skin till they reached muscles underneath and past. His shirt had been long ago cut away, same with the rest of his clothes so he lay bare to the world. Luckily they were nice enough to preserve his dignity by covering him a thick leather strap.

Each part of his body where a major bone lay, except for his skull, had the same metal plate with the protrusions digging into his self. The only one not over a bone was the one at the base of his stomach.

Each time a plate was pushed into place he was forced to hold back his shouts of pain. It wasn't till a strap was placed on his forehead and chin, and one in his mouth, did he truly start to worry.

Then came the helmet.

It was like something out of a movie or cartoon. It looked like a metal water strainer with rods sticking out of half of them, wires connected to each one creating a jumbled mess where they all came together to one of the machines.

When it was put on they strapped it tight to his head, only some padding on the inside kept the metal from touching his head, before one by one the rods were pressed into him. Ichigo bit and screamed into the leather as each one was slowly pressed down till it stopped at the bone.

By the time they were done he was ready for it all to stop and for him to wake up from this horrible nightmare.

His silent plea for this whole thing to be a bad dream was soon forgotten as new pain he never felt before made itself known at the flick of a switch. This pain was easily worse than hollowfying in Kiske's Shattered Shaft. Worse than dying by the hands of Ulquiorra. Worse than losing his soul reaper powers.

Nothing could describe his pain accurately. There was no pain worse than this. Not now, not ever.

BW-B/MR

Months.

It's been months since he first came here.

Months since the pain started.

And only weeks since he began losing hope it would all end and he would either be found or escape.

Now he was like an empty shell who only felt pain at the hands of those so called "scientists." He was emotionless both inside and out.

How could he not be? All these people cared about was if they could enhance him any further than they already have. They kept him in a only fed him enough to his next meal.

Sometimes he felt it. What they changed in him. Somehow his bones were growing lighter while he grew taller and what baffled him most was how he was losing weight while still maintaining his muscles mass.

After one particularly painful session, if you can call it that, he felt something move on his back. Reaching back, he felt around till his fingers brushed against something small and fuzzy sticking out of his back connected to his shoulder blade. Upon further exploring he found another on his other shoulder blade. Not long after did he discover a small nub coming out of the base of his spine also covered in fuzz. One thought raced through his mind after the discovery.

What were they doing to him?

It was easier for him to keep track of time. Three times a week they would retrieve and repeat the process with the metal plates and helmet. Then he was allowed to rest in the cramped dog cage.

More time passed and the new limbs grew. They lost the fuzz only to be replaced by something small, about an inch or so from how they felt. They almost felt like a bunch of pine needles only it hurt when he tugged on one.

A few weeks after discovering them, the protrusions finally grew enough to know what they were.

Wings.

Those freaks gave him wings and a tail.

He wasn't sure how long he had been here now, but it was long enough for his wings to finish growing to a full 23 feet and his tail feathers to grow until they went past the height of his legs and extended another foot so they trailed along the ground if he wasn't careful. As soon as they were done growing he was put through even more tests, except these ones were about his abilities.

How fast could he run? How much weight could he carry? How good was his new eyesight? His hearing? How smart was he? How fast could he react to a threat?

His favorite part was when he could stretch his wings and fly. Even though it was an enclosed space, he loved the feel of the wind flowing through his hair and over his feathers. It almost felt like he had his powers back. Ichigo wasn't sure what type of bird they used, but it oddly suited him. The flight feathers were all black while a strip of white covered the underside of his wings.

At night worries plagued while he tried to sleep.

Would his family accept this new change? Would they abandon him? Most nights he couldn't sleep because of thoughts like these.

Fortunately for him, this was not one of those many sleepless nights.

"Ichigo…"

Until now.

Ichigo bolted awake at hearing a voice he thought he would never hear again.

Hollow?!

So much for sleeping.

"'Bout time ya heard me, King."

Bu-… But how? He questions with disbelief. To say he was shocked was an understatement. I used the Final Getsuga. I lost my powers. I lost-, he cut himself off, not wanting to finish.

"Beats me, King. Last thing I remember was you losin' yer powers and everything goin' black." A sigh came from his hollow and Ichigo got the impression his look-a-like was frowning.

Wait, what about Zangetsu?

"Old man is alright. He hasn't woken up though."

What do you mean?

"I think it's because you used your soul reaper powers to end Aizen instead of my powers so the Old Man is weaker," he explained.

Will he wake up?

"Dunno. Hope so, so I don't have to deal with you."

Gee, thanks, Ichigo deadpans.

"Any time, Partner!" Silence fell between the two until, "We'll make them pay, King. We'll bust out of here an' kill them all fer what they did."

Ichigo grimaced. He didn't like the idea, but what they have done to innocent children to further their gain couldn't be forgiven. They experimented on them and didn't bat an eye when they became sick and died. How long has this been going on now? Ten? Twenty years? Longer? How many have died at the hands of these monsters? How many more are going to die before the world finds out what is happening?

He steeled his resolve. They will pay with their lives.

An eeire chuckle, one he would never admit to missing, sounded from his inner world. "This will be fun…"

Pain. It's all he, no they felt. Both of them screamed in agony, voices mixing to become one as the scientists did something. Neither was sure what was going on. It felt like they were getting struck by lightning repeatedly while at the same time it didn't. It felt like their insides were being turned inside out and turned to mush, again, at the same time it felt like nothing was happening. Their bones felt like there were ground to dust, but not.

Both ex-soul reaper and hollow thought the whitecoats would be done experimenting on Ichigo by now, now that his wings and tail were fully developed. How wrong they were. They were both quick to realize that no matter what was done to them there was always room for improvement.

Ichigo stained against his restraints as another surge passed through him.

When will this hell end?

After what felt like forever, those metal plates were removed. Ichigo remained limp from the latest treatment, if you can call it that, so moving him was easy. Being placed in a cage by what he was quick to learn were Erasers, wolf-men who were both security and punishers, he was carted away down dreary grey hallways into a dark room. An Eraser flicked on the light to reveal dozens of cages throughout the large room.

In each of the cages held sickly looking child who flinched at the sudden light.

The sight turned his stomach, but he was too weak to do anything right now. He gave no protest as his cage was roughly jolted and slammed onto his place on a shelf. Turning away, the Erasers turn the light off and left. The room fell into darkness, the only sound coming from children whimpering in pain or silently crying.

"'At wasn' so bad. Barely felt it," the hollow slurred. If Ichigo could snort he would.

Closing his eyes, he felt for the familiar path that would bring him to his inner world. Feeling the familiar pulling sensation he opens his eyes to see himself laying on his back surrounded by water. He exhaled and watched the air bubbles float up and out of sight. The sun no longer shone, having been replaced by a crescent blood moon covered by thick clouds a long time ago. Gone were the sideways buildings. The only thing remaining now in this bleak world were small houses and power poles. The only light that shone in this world were the lights from the streetlights and stoplights.

"'Ey, King."

Ichigo turns dull eyes toward his hollow to find him leaning against a power pole clutching his side with a forced grin. Ichigo only stared. At one point he would have gotten mad at the sight of his hollow, but not anymore. Now they only have each other in this place of horrors.

"You look like crap," was his only comment before turning to watch the various rising air bubbles that rose from him, his hollow, and the houses.

His hollow really did look horrible with slumped shoulders, sunken eyes with bags under them. The purple contrasted greatly against his pale skin making them stand out even more. If it was possible for his white skin to become paler then it would be. His hair hung limp around his shoulders.

"Me? Ya look in a mirror lately? You look like ya went 'nother round with Grimmkitty." The hollow limped toward the prone orange head and sat at his side.

Ichigo sat up, rolling stiff shoulder and maneuvering until he no longer sat on his tail feathers. His wings flared briefly in a stretch before settling back against his back, the large primary feathers stretched over the ground behind him as he leaned back on his hands.

"Can't say I have," he said with a sigh, orange hair floating around his head as he moved. Grabbing a strand and rolls it between his fingers. It now fell just below his shoulders.

"We'll get out of here, King." His hollow said, not even bothering to look at him, instead looking forward with distant eyes.

"We keep saying that but have yet to."

"'Cause there hasn't been an openin' yet." And they have been too weak to even try so far, but he left that part unsaid.

Ichigo released his hair and rubbed his head with the same hand. "It could be years till we find an opening. I'm not sure I can last that long." The current picked up slightly.

The hollow steeled his gaze into a rare scowl identical to Ichigo's except color. "Yer gonna have to if we wanna see our sisters."

Ichigo couldn't help but stare at him. "Our?"

The scowl disappeared. "'Course dumbass, we're the same. I I protect what is mine which is you and your sisters. Our sisters."

Ichigo stared a bit longer before turning away with a small smile. "Thanks."

"Chih, whatever."

A comfortable silence fell between the two. The hollow plotting ways to agonizingly kill each of their tormentors. Ichigo on the other hand was thinking about what his hollow had said.

It was odd for a hollow to be protective. That was a Zanpakto's job. Perhaps it was because Zangetsu had yet to wake up. But that didn't make any sense. How was his hollow the one who woke up but not his zanpakto? Perhaps it's like his hollow said and was because he used the Final Getsuga which was a soul reaper power. Possible. However, that didn't explain how his hollow had the large cleaver form or Zangetsu strapped to his back. That had to mean something, but what?

He turned the question over in his head and each time he came up blank. It just didn't make sense. His eyes wandered to the large blue circuit vein-like structure not far in the distance reaching toward the sky and passed the dark clouds, a pulse of lighter blue light going up every few seconds like its own heartbeat. Maybe that had something to do with it? Apparently it's been there ever since his hollow first woke up only it stretched from the clouds. With each of these fun fill treatments it grew longer and longer till it reached the surface and dug into the ground. After that more pillars began coming down around his inner world. According to his hollow it wasn't till it reached the surface that he was able to make contact with Ichigo.

Bubbles rose as he sighed. So many questions and all remained unanswered.

BW-B/MR

Ichigo scratched at his new collar.

It's been about a week since he got it. Since everyone got it. At first he wasn't sure what it was for so he treated it with caution. It's also been a week since those who could walk were allowed into a large open yard surrounded by high wall where they all shambled along in a slow circle. On top of the walls were the new robot Erasers that replaced the living ones a few weeks back. When they were first brought here a few of the newer kids tried to escape only for their new collars to send a nasty shock to their systems, nearly killing them. After that, thought of any rebellion quickly died.

He looked up at the sky, wings twitching at the sight of open air. The only time he was allowed to fly were during those tests in a plane sized hanger. For some reason he couldn't figure out why they stopped all tests last week. Perhaps it had something to do with this new development? Doesn't matter. He was finally get his health back up so he will be able to break out of this place soon.

Someone bumped into his arm making him look down to see a brown haired, brown eyed girl with a few freckles staring up at him.

"That cannot be your natural color. That has to be some side effect or something," was the first thing out of her mouth.

It took a few seconds for him to understand her and when he did he glared. Of course the first thing she said was a comment on his hair. Forget his wings and tail because those are completely normal. Granted here it really was normal…

"So… what if it is?" His speech was slow and halted as he tried to remember his English lessons from before all this. He hoped she understood.

Apparently she did. "It's cool if it is, just not every day you see a Japanese with caution cone orange hair." The girl turned slightly to get a better look at his black wings and forked tail. "So what'd they hit you with? I can see the bird, but anything else?"

He was silent for a few minutes as they shuffled along, trying to make sense of her hushed whispers.

"No. Just bird I think." He wasn't about to tell her that they somehow brought his powers back. "Do you know what is going on?" He motions around them.

She shook her head no. "Not a clue."

He didn't bother hiding his frown. Whatever was going on didn't sit well with him.

"What… about you?" Ichigo knew it wasn't his place to ask, but with her being the only one besides his hollow to talk to he was almost desperate to keep talking. Even if he could barely understand her and speak her language. "What did they do to you?"

It was her turn to scowl. "Cloned me from someone else and tried to get me to replace her."

He stares. How was he supposed to respond to that? If she was a clone, then she never had a childhood. A proper childhood. He looks forward.

"I'm sorry," was his reply. This caused her to frown.

"For what?"

"You never… got to grow up."

"And you did?"

Ichigo's scowl returned full force. "Yeah."

This surprised her. "You weren't born with those?"

His scowl deepened. "No."

Silence fell between the two. Not long after they were marched back inside where the two separated down different corridors.

The next day was the same. He and the other children were marched out to the field though there was something different. It looked like there was some new kids that weren't here yesterday. Before he could follow the train of thought someone bumped into him. Upon looking he saw it was the same girl from yesterday. They were quite for a while before she spoke up.

"So you have any family?"

Not expecting the question, it caught him off guard. "Ah, yeah. Two little sisters." A smile spread across his features at the thought of them. "Karin and Yuzu, they're twins."

And so, even without asking him to, Ichigo began telling her about his family and his father's crazy antics. He made sure to leave out the afterlife as he began telling her about his friends. He wasn't sure why he was telling her all this when he just met her, but he supposed he had to tell someone in case-

A growl from his hollow cut off that train of thought. He sent his silent thanks

He figured since she had no real childhood then perhaps she would like to hear his to help picture her own if she had the chance to have her own. His guess was correct when she asked about his friends and how they interacted.

When they were herded back inside Ichigo was prepared for his group to split up like how it usually happened but he was surprised when he was instead made to follow the others. Passing through a set of large steal doors that looked like it could hold against a nuke Ichigo entered what looked like where everyone lived.

The room was roughly the size of an airplane hangar with the roof being about thirty feet high. The only windows in the room were narrow horizontal slits about a foot or two below the ceiling. Even if he could reach them, they were too narrow for him to fit through. On the stone walls hung massive TV screens, several on each wall, each playing a message in another language, one he didn't recognize. The rest of the room was filled with gray metal bunks, each covered in kicky olive drab army blankets.

At first he was unsure wat to do, but thankfully his talking buddy grabbed his wrist and led him to a bunk towards the far right corner. She motions toward the top of one.

"No one sleeps there so feel free to stay there," she says. Just as she was about to say more the TVs began playing their message in Japanese, earning his attention.

"The time of the Re-Evolution is here!" The woman on screen, a fair-haired woman, said forcefully. Various people in the room cheered. Ichigo wasn't sure where, but he could have sworn he had seen her before.

"We have begun implementing the By-Half plan! Even as you watch this, the weak, the unnecessary, the ones who drain our resources, are being eliminated." More cheers. The woman looked away from the screen with a sincere zeal that made Ichigo's stomach turn. "We are creating a new world. A world where there is no hunger, no sickness, no weakness. The causes of war will be eliminated," she went on earnestly, now looking back at the screen. "There will be plenty of food for everyone. There will be plenty of room for everyone. People will cease to fight over property, food, wealth, energy resources." More cheers then before erupted all around him.

"Remember, the whitecoat continues, "we can't achieve Re-Evolution without you, our chosen ones. All genders are equal. But illness, weakness, and other flaws must be eliminated. So if you know of anyone who experience the glory of martyrdom so that others may live in paradise, please inform your supervisor immediately. It will reflect well on you, and you will be praised." The woman the switched into another unfamiliar language and the message was repeated.

By now Ichigo was sitting on the bottom bunk and his fists were clenching his pants. "Fucking bastards want to kill anyone who they didn't mutate," he said in his native tongue. His thoughts immediately went to his sisters. Were they alright? Did these monsters already get to them? He clenched his teeth.

No. They were fine. Their dad was a soul reaper and wouldn't let anything happen to them.

The girl sat next to him. "No idea what you just said, but I think I get the idea. Unfortunately, we can't do anything or else I would have a long time ago. We're like ants to them."

"I'm going to kill them," he grits out. From his mind he felt his hollow's approval.

His comment threw her off, but hearing the conviction in his voice kept her from saying anything.

BW-B/MR

For the next week they fell into a routine. They would wake, have their measly breakfast in another room and come back. Clean a little then leave for their half-hour walk before coming inside to do more chores and sit around talking. Every other night they were allowed to take a shower, a luxury Ichigo missed dearly. Ichigo got better at both understanding and speaking English thanks to his new friend.

If he was being honest he was hesitant to call her that when it was possible they would never see each other again with the way kids were disappearing every day. Neither knew the other's name, but they were both fine with that.

Deep down both Ichigo and his hollow knew something bad was coming with the way children would disappear and new ones would appear the next day to take their place. They had to make their move and soon. And when they do, they plan on bringing a certain avian clone with they do.

Two weeks later they were walking around as usual in a comfortable silence. That is until she tensed and walks a little faster. Ichigo follows her slightly confused as to what could cause his friend to tense so suddenly only to tense himself when he saw what she saw.

There standing in front of his friend was an exact copy of her. Or rather the other way around since she was the clone. This girl must be the original, he surmised. He walks closer.

"What are you doing here?" She asks stiffly.

"Selling Girl scout cookies," the original says. "Want some? The Samoas are terrific."

His friend started walking next to who she was cloned from, two little girls and a man who looked suspiciously like an Eraser stuck between human and wolf, -and was that a dog?- follow them. He decides to join their little group and listen for now.

"Baa, baa." One of the little girls, a black girl with black curly hair and brown eyes bleated.

The original laughed while his friend only looked at her. "How can you laugh?" she asks, gesturing angrily at the walls, the guard towers, the armed robot Erasers, who everyone called Flyboys, that stood around like remote-controlled puppets.

"Well she baaed like a sheep," the original said. Man, now would be a great time to know their names… "It was pretty funny." She patted the girl's head. "Especially with her lamby hair. Maybe I should call her Lamby from now on." The girl grins up at the original.

His friend began to get angry. "Don't you realize what's going on? Where we are?"

"Ah shit, where's the popcorn?" A faint crash could be heard. Ichigo released a mental sigh, but didn't say anything. He'll ask later.

Going unnoticed by the orange head was the little blond girl with blue eyes looking at him curiously before returning her outward attention to what was happening.

"Uh, a honking big castle of evil in Germany?" Original offered. "I've narrowed it down that far."

His friend glanced around, as if making sure they weren't overheard. Most likely so none of the Flyboys overheard. They both trusted none of the other kids to say anything at this point in time.

"This is the last stopping place," she said under her breath, not looking at her copy. "Look around. We're all rejects. They were trying to build an army out of us, but then they got the Flyboys to work. Now we're obsolete. And every day, a bunch of us disappear."

The original studied her clone. "I'm sorry-did I miss something? Last time I saw you, you were trying to kill me. Are we friends now? Did I miss the memo? Now you're clueing me in on the sitch?"

"If you're against them, then we're on the same side," His friend said firmly.

"And what about carrot top back there?" Ichigo blinked in surprise. She looks back at him with a sly smile. "Kinda hard not to realize you're there with hair like that. So what'd they hit you with? Some exotic fish?"

Ichigo scowled at the original copy of his friend as the two little girls and Eraser giggled. "Two things. Number one: It's natural. Number two: They used bird genes."

"Your part avian too?!" the dark skinned girl gasps.

"Yeah, he's like three or four percent," his friend told her.

The original copy rose an eyebrow. "And here I thought everyone passed two percent died."

"What can I say? I have a strong will to survive," was his only comment.

"That's puttin' it mildly…"

"Obviously." A few seconds of silence passed between them before she spoke up again. "So since no one is bothering with introductions I guess I'll start. I'm Max and this is Nudge, Angle, Ari, and Total." She gestured to each as she says their name.

Nudge, the dark skinned girl, grinned and waved. Angel, the blonde haired girl, smiled sweetly. Ari, the half-morphed Eraser, gave a timid wave while Total, a black scotty dog, just huffed and glared. Ichigo glared back for a second before turning back to Max.

"Ichigo." He would have given his last name, but in his time here he learned to watch what he said in case one of the Flyboys were to overhear.

"How long have you been here?" Max asks.

His friend only looks away. "Since Florida. They…were really mad that I let you beat me."

"You didn't let me do squat," Max said.

Sighing, she gave a brief nod. "I was supposed to win. I was supposed to finish you off. They never counted on you winning. And then you didn't kill me. It was awful."

"You're welcome," Max said with anger lacing her words. "I'll try not to humiliate you by letting you live next time."

His friend only looks at Max sadly. "There won't be a next time," she said. "I'm telling you, this is the last stop. They brought us here to kill us."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Max says.

"You don't understand," his friend said, agitated. "We're all slated to die. Every day, more of us disappear. When I first came here, this yard was so full, we had to take shifts. There were thousands of us. Now this is all that's left."

Max hums.

"With this many of us, I guess we have until…maybe tomorrow," she said, looking around, mentally calculating.

"Which is why we're leaving tonight. There's a new moon so the only light will be coming from the stars and whatever lights they use."

Max looks back at him, skeptical. "And how exactly do you plan on leaving?"

He shakes his head. "Sorry, can't say anything or else they'll be able to stop us." He looks to his friend who had fallen silent. He knew she doesn't like Max, but would she mind if Max and her own friends came with? He would have to ask later.

"So what about you? How long have you been here for?" Max asks him.

He had to think about that. He was almost seventeen when he was first kidnapped and then months on that table… "A year, year and a half I think."

"They took him from his family," his friend mumbles.

Nudge gasps. "You had a family?" With his nod she moves closer and hugs his waist. He blinks down at her before wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She grins up at him making a smile tug at the corner of his own lips. She let go and grabbed hold of his hand and walks beside him. He doesn't stop her.

"I still have one, but they probably think I'm dead by now. A year and a half is a long time for someone to be missing."

"I guess so. Hey! Maybe when we get out of here you can become a part of our flock. Hey Max, can Ichigo be a part of the flock?" Nudge asks excitedly.

"I don't see why not." Max smirks. "Us birds have to stick together."

Nudge looked so hopeful he didn't have the heart to tell her as soon as he could he would be returning to his home.

"Yeah, maybe…" he says.

For the rest of the time they walked in silence, the only sound coming from Nudge and Total baaing every now and then. When Ichigo first heard total talk he just accepted it. It's not like he wasn't unfamiliar with talking animals. Although if this one can end up turning into a human and said human form was a female he silently promised whoever came up with that design would pay.

Ichigo talked with his hollow about final preparations for their escape and came up with a new backup in case anything went south.

Soon it was time for them to go back inside. Much to his annoyance they were forced to separate and go different ways.

BW-B/MR

Ichigo lay awake that night, spreading his senses out to try and locate Nudge. If he could find her then he was certain he would be able to find the others. After a while he was able to find her smaller power level after that he was quick to finding the rest of her flock.

Just great. They were below the castle.

He pretended to sleep as a Flyboy walked by and as soon as it was gone he sat up and jumped down from his bed, not making a sound. He held out his hand and small blue light particles began gathering and condensing until a large clever blade with a cloth handle and small chain at the end of the guard less hilt had formed. As his sword appeared he quickly ripped off his collar. It was a bit heavier than he thought it would be, but that didn't matter since it was still light enough for him to swing with no trouble.

In a flash of blue, a section of the wall closest to the outside world exploded outward. A cloud of dust filled the air making hard to breath. Almost instantly everyone in the room was awake and coughing. Many got out of their beds and began running about n confusion.

Moving quick, Ichigo grabbed his friend's hand and pulled her toward the large doors. By now loud sirens pierced the air as Flyboys ran into the room. Once there was a gap in the tide of robot Erasers they ran down the hallways, Ichigo following Max and the other's spiritual pressure.

Before he had been horrendous at any sort of control, but thanks to the whitecoats he had better control to the point of locating others with little trouble.

"Where'd you get the huge ass sword from?!" His friend questioned frantically.

"Later. We need to find the others before they figure out what's going on." He said with a scowl. Even though he desperately wanted to tell her, he couldn't. Not yet. Not while they were still in the belly of the beast.

"Fine, but you better start explaining as soon as we're free."

His only response was a grunt.

They came across more Flyboys but none stood a chance against Ichigo and his large cleaver sword. All were cut down within seconds of being seen. If there was one thing he was happy about was the fact that he didn't have to take any lives other than mechanical in order for them to escape.

After cutting through a steel door as if it were made of butter they ran down a flight of stairs so find a pitch black room blaring that insane woman's propaganda through unseen speakers and four humans and a dog -well four sort of humans- and each was chained to the wall. Acting fast he cut each of their chains till only the cuff remained around their ankles.

"So is this your great escape?" Max asks as Ichigo cuts the last of their chains.

"Yeah, now if you want to get out of here alive I recommend holding back those sarcastic comments you love oh so much and save your breath for running," Max's clone replied, not being in any mood to deal with her copy at the moment. All she wanted to do right now was to escape and get the hell out of Dodge. As she spoke Ichigo worked on getting everyone's collars off.

"Look, I'll explain everything later, but right now we need to leave before we lose our distraction." With that said he turned and ran back up the stairs, the others quickly following behind.

He heard a gasp as they passed the sliced through door. He paid it no mind and kept running. His only priority right now was making sure they all got out of here relatively unharmed.

Of course it was just his luck for a large group of Flyboys heading straight for them. Gritting his teeth he quickly disappeared from sight and made quick work of the two dozen robots. He reappeared on the other side of the mess.

"You coming or what?" He called back with his infamous scowl in place before taking off.

"Where the hell did you find this guy?" He heard Max ask as they all started running after him again.

His hollow snorted. "Show off."

Shut up, we have more important things to worry about.

"Yeah, yeah..." His voice faded away.

"So do you have any idea where we're going?" Max asks him.

"Yeah," was his only response. He wasn't about to tell them he manifested his hollow to help find the way out while he and his friend rescued Max's flock. Probably wouldn't believe him anyways.

"Found it. Yer not far." Just as he said this his hollow flared his spiritual pressure. If Ichigo hadn't been with them, then he was positive the others wouldn't be able to breath, much less move.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"What's it feel like, I'm fighting," came his glee filled response. "Unless ya really want more of these things shootin' at ya."

"Fine, fine, I don't care. Just make sure you're gone when we get there."

"No promises~" His hollow cackled before his voice faded away. Just then there was an explosion in the compound.

"Damn hollow…" Ichigo muttered.

"What was that?" Ari asked.

"What else, an explosion," Max's clone answered.

"What's a hollow?" Nudge asks.

"Later," he repeated.

"Is that all you're going to say?" Max demanded.

"Pretty much." Max opened her mouth to retort back, but Ichigo interrupted her. "C'mon, we're not far."

"Wait…" Nudge speaks up. "Why are we going towards the explosion? Shouldn't we be running away from them?"

"There! See! Logic from the eleven-year-old! Now tell us something so we're not left in the dark will ya?"

Ichigo ground his teeth to keep from snapping at them. He didn't have time for this. They were almost out of this place and soon, very soon, he would get to hold his sisters in his arms again. "Look, all I can say right now is there is someone out there right now providing a distraction and we'll get out in the confusion that way."

"Wait," his friend spoke up, confused. "There's someone else who knows of the plan? I thought we were the only two who knew of it."

"It's hard to explain right now, just hang on until we get to someplace safe."

As they ran they came across sparking Flyboys cut clean in half or blown up, black scorch marks maring the wall and ceiling of where they blew. Debris from the walls and roof littered the floor, becoming more and more the closer they got to the front door.

"Wait!" Max calls, sliding to a halt, everyone else doing the same. "While we're here, we need to destroy this place so there won't be any more experimenting going on. We also need to gather information on the other Itex locations so we can destroy those too."

"We can do that later, right now we need to get out of here!" Ichigo shouted at her.

"No! We need to do it now while we still have a chance!" Max turns around and begins to run only to stumble to a stop when she sees what is in front of her.

Standing there was a man with a black skull mask with sharp horns pointing strait at her. On the mask there were two horizontal stripes running from the sides of his jaws up over his eyes and to the back of the mask where two points of white pointed forward, both only reaching the forehead. He was wearing some kind of white cloak with black fur on the hems of his sleeves, collar, and the bottom of his coat which fell to just above their clawed feet. His hands were also clawed, one of them gripping a long white blade that was easily as tall as the man was. What skin was showing was bone-white. His white hair fell around his hips and she could just barely see the edges of a white tail and wings.

However, none of this made her stop, no not even the sword. It was his eyes. They were pitch black holes of nothingness making her heart freeze.

Gasps of surprise and fear rang up behind her, but she paid them no mind. She couldn't because she felt that if she turned away this monster would lash out and kill her without a second thought.

Then it spoke.

"If ya wanna live, I recommend doin' what he says. If ya don't…" His grip tightened on his blade, his threat remaining silent.

Ichigo glared and if looks could kill, his hollow would be a puddle of mush on the floor right now. Behind him Nudge clutched his shirt while Total growled by his feet. Ari took a defensive stance in front of Angel, who oddly enough remained where she was, only looking mildly scared much to his surprise. Both Max and her clone remained frozen where they stood with identical looks of fear.

"Max," Ichigo called out. She flinched at his voice but never turned around. "Max," he tried again, this time she turns to him slowly showing him wide scared eyes. He sighed. "He won't hurt you, but we need to leave or he really might. We can come back later and get that information. Right now we need to leave and get our strength up or else they'll capture us and really kill us." He couldn't tell her that his hollow really wouldn't hurt her unless she posed a threat to his life, but as much as he hated doing it, he needed to work with that fear.

"Chih." Was the last thing his hollow spoke before disappearing in a thumping buzz.

As soon as he disappeared Max fell to her knees shaking. Ichigo stepped up to her side and knelt, having known what it was like to see his hollow for the first time as well, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Think you can stand?" He asks quietly. It was a few seconds before she nods and slowly stood up with his help. When she was standing he held her upper arm for a few more seconds to make sure she was fine and wouldn't fall back down before he was forced to block a punch aimed at his face.

"What the hell was that?!" His friend shouted, bringing her other fist back and made to punch him in the stomach. "What was that thing?!" He didn't stop it and let the punch connect. He grunted and bent over slightly from the impact. Ichigo stayed like that for a few seconds with his hair covering his face before straightening to look the only friend he made in this hell hole straight in the eyes. "Wait, don't tell me, 'You'll explain later'."

"I'm sorry, but it will take up too much time we don't have." With that said he moved passed the group. "We need to get moving. He broke out into a run again.

Even though the older ones were hesitant to follow him, the younger wasted no time in chasing after the orange head. With having no other choice, they too followed.

It wasn't long till they reached the front doors and what they saw made them stop dean in their tracks.

Where the wall lay surrounding the castle lay, a good portion of it was destroyed and bricks scattered the pockmarked ground where large gashes and craters could be seen in the ground. Destroyed Flyboys lay in heaps. Those that still moved had parts of them ripped off.

"What happened here?" Ari asks, stunned

His question was answered a second later when a massive explosion of dirt and debris rained down on them. Out of the dirt cloud Ichigo's hollow jumped out, twisting in air to release a white and red Getsuga at Flyboys chasing him.

Just how many of these things were there? Ichigo wondered. It seemed like they never ran out.

Each of the Flyboys following him were reduced to smoldering scraps. The hollow landed not far from them.

"Well? You gonna stand around lookin' like idiots or are ya gonna get out of here?" He calls, snapping them all back to reality.

Releasing his hold on Zangetsu, Ichigo allowed the blade to disappear pack into spirit particles.

"Let's go," he told the others, snapping his twenty-three-foot wingspan out he jumped into the air and beat his wings, rising higher and higher with each beat.

With those words and movement, they each followed behind, finally free from their prison.

Down below a certain hollow grinned behind his mask as he watched his King fly free for the first time since getting his wings. He could feel through their connection his elation at finally flying with no walls to hamper his flight. He could finally spread his wings and feel that freedom that was taken away from him after his fight with Aizen and his capture.

He let himself disperse back into his wielder's inner world.

Now to just get that dense idiot to realize who he really was…

BW-B/MR

Explanations:

Ichigo fighting and how easy he was to be taken down: Guys. Ichigo is still human and even the strongest of humans can't handle a blow to the head if not prepared. Caught unprepared? Good luck with that. I'm being realistic here when he passes out both times. He's only human with no powers.

Ichigo swearing to kill: He was experimented on, seen children become disfigured only to watch the die in front of him and seen them torn apart by Erasers, again right in front of him. If that doesn't make a protector furious and demand vengeance, then I don't what will.

Type of bird used on Ichigo: Like I said in the first author's note, I used a Swallow Tailed Kite. Again, go look them up.

Introducing Max and the partial flock: Yes, I did copy from the book. No, I will take no credit in owning it.

Summoning Zangetsu: The whitecoats basically experimented on Ichigo's soul. *SPOILER* Because the Zangetsu Ichigo used was his quincy manifestation, I figured it would be the Old Man weekend instead of the real Zangetsu, his hollow, Ichigo's real zanpakutō. *SPOILER OVER* With this in mind I figured that if his soul was experimented on then he would be able to survive thanks to his zanpakutō's power. They awakened his zanpakutō which saved his soul from being torn apart. All others died because they didn't have the power.

Also I'm certain this will come up eventually... I left things unanswered for a reason! If I really am going to continue writing this then why give away all the answers right now? If I did that then there would be no use to even thinking of more to write.

On that note let me make this clear. IF I do keep writing this then know that it WILL NOT GO COMPLETELY ALONG WITH THE BOOK SERIOUS! Nor am I touching the Thousand Year Blood War with a twenty foot pole until it's complete.

If I do decide to write more then understand it will be a while until the next chapter. I would write several chapters ahead and that will take me a while since I'm focusing a lot of my time looking for a new job and completing my GED (HiSET is what it's being changed to).

Hope you enjoyed and please leave a review with your thoughts. If something doesn't make sense then I will try and clarify it. Flames will be fed to Natsu. Also if anyone wants, feel free to draw my version of Ichigo (his hair will stay long).