Well, here's my first officially published, kinda-worth-reading fanfic. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Bleach ain't mine. Obviously.
"She's gaining on me!"
Ichigo turned a sharp corner, then took off like a man deranged. He looked over his shoulder again. Nemu, drill in hand, was chasing after him. She had been sent by Mayuri to capture him so he could test some new drug or something on him, and Ichigo wanted no part in it. For obvious reasons.
"Gotta get out of here!" He jumped up on top of a building, ran across the top, then hopped back down to the street again. Nemu was close behind him, and she jabbed her spinning hand at Ichigo's torso. He dodged and continued running. Quickly turning a corner, he saw two hooded Soul Reapers blocking his path. With no time to stop, he ran right into them. The hooded men grabbed him and flash stepped away, leaving Nemu slightly confused and not a little angry.
The two mysterious men dragged Ichigo out to some patch of desert beyond the Rukon district.
The tallest one spoke first. "Are you that Kuro…sake kid?" The shorter man snickered at that.
"It's Kurosaki! Ichigo Kurosaki!"
The hooded men laughed.
"Who are you guys, anyway?" Ichigo demanded.
The taller man threw back his hood, revealing a handsome face and shoulder-length brown hair. "My name is Niritai Akyo, and I'll be your first opponent!" He drew his zanpakuto. "Raise fire from below, Ishinhanma*!"
Niritai's shikai took the form of a battle axe. The handle was six feet long, as tall as its wielder, and was topped with a huge blade. He swung it around in a full circle, then raised it and leaped at Ichigo. The orange-haired kid barely had time to draw Zangetsu and block the heavy blow. He slid back twenty feet, then stopped.
"Getsuga Tensho!" He sent a blue arc of spirit energy slicing toward Niritai, who clove it with his axe.
"Come on, Ichi. Surely that's not your best. Give it your all! Show us your bankai!" He swung his axe at Ichigo's legs. Blocking the stroke, Ichigo was sent flying through the air. He landed a ways off in a cloud of dust.
"No way I'm using my bankai!" He swung Zangetsu again, sending another Getsuga at Niritai. "Is that the only reason you brought me here? To see my bankai?"
"Your attitude is pitiful." He easily dodged the attack, then, spinning his axe above his head, hurled it at Ichigo. Ichigo ducked under it, but Niritai appeared behind him and caught the weapon. "And as for your question, yeah, pretty much. Of course, we saw Nemu chasing you, and figured you'd rather not end up as a test subject. You should be thanking us for that."
"Well, I'm obviously not! I was doing just fine by myself!" Ichigo now switched to the offensive, hammering Niritai with a flurry of strokes.
"Now that's what I want to see! Put your heart into it!" Niritai blocked Ichigo's attacks (albeit with some difficulty) and sent him flying with another wide swing.
"Let's see how he handles some Kido. Hado #31: Shakkaho!" Three red orbs flashed from his hand toward Ichigo.
Watching from beneath his hood, the shorter Soul Reaper observed the battle from a safe distance. Nirirai flash stepped over to him. "Your turn, Ukire. Thrash the kid." He chuckled.
"Whatever you say, Niri. Encircle, Shinohana!"
Ukire's zanpakuto became a heavy chain, eight feet long. Every six inches, a spike was thrust between the links, causing the weapon to resemble a thorny vine. One end of the chain was attached to a tanto, which the user would hold in the left hand while manipulating the chain's motion with his right. The other end held a three-pronged grappling hook. He cracked it like a whip, then took off running toward Ichigo.
Niritai sat down to watch the carnage. "Man, I'd hate to be his opponent right now."
Ichigo lifted his head to see another Soul Reaper running at him, this time with a spiked chain. He took a defensive stance, but Ukire aimed a flying kick at his head. Ichigo moved to the side to dodge, but Ukire grabbed his head and slammed it against his knee.
"Ow…" Stunned for a moment, Ichigo barely had time to react when his opponent slung the chain at him. He blocked it with his sword, but it wrapped around, nicking Ichigo's face with one of the spikes and entrapping his sword. Ukire then jerked on the chain, pulling Ichigo into a headbutt.
Ichigo awoke to the sight of the two men standing over him.
"Wow, Ukire. That only blacked him out for a few seconds! And here I thought you had the densest head in the Seireite. Guess I was wrong."
"Tuh. I didn't hit him that hard."
Both Soul Reapers suddenly recieved a fist to the nose.
"Why do you fight like that?!" Ichigo demanded of Ukire. "What's wrong with you?"
"It is my philosophy to utilise the power of pain to bring an enemy to his knees," he replied, holding his nose. "Which, within the next ten seconds, you will understand completely."
Ichigo stood, unsure of what to do. As he waited, the scratch he had recieved from Ukire's weapon began to sting. The burning sensation soon spread to his whole face.
"What is this?!"
"It's a poison developed by Captain Kurotsuchi. It spreads a burning sensation through the bloodstream, overwhelming the victim's senses with pain and incapacitating them."
Mayuri? Man, I hate that guy!
Ichigo lifted his sword and ran at Ukire.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. The more you move, the faster it spreads."
"I don't care!" Ichigo yelled. "I'll take you down before I can't fight!
"If you don't unleash your bankai, you'll lose. It's that simple." He flung the chain at Ichigo, wrapping the length of it around his body. "Besides, one jerk-" here he tugged sharply on the chain- "will send enough poison into you to completely disable you."
He unwrapped the chain, leaving Ichigo on his knees.
"Huh," Niritai said. "I feel kinda sorry for the guy."
"Yeah. Maybe-"
"Ban…kai! AaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Ichigo, now bearing his hollow mask, leaped through the air at the two. Both men jumped back from the fury of Ichigo's blade.
"Ha!" Niritai shouted. "Now it's getting good!"
"Is that a hollow mask?" Ukire asked.
"You mean you haven't heard? The kid's half hollow. He can put on the mask and it gives him extra powers. Probably lets him ignore your poison too."
"Impressive." Ukire cast his chain at Ichigo, but he grabbed the chain with his bare hand and threw it back at Ukire. He barely ducked in time to avoid being hit by his own weapon. Ichigo then followed up on his attack, punching Ukire in the jaw. The man was knocked out cold.
"Bankai! Ishinhanma Senpu**!" Niritai held a circular saw blade, eight feet in diameter, with teeth as big as his hands. He picked it up by two conveniently-located handles, then hurled it at Ichigo.
"Impressive! You made me use my own bankai, something I never do! Your spiritual pressure is pretty good, but only Kenpachi Zaraki could defend from such a weapon as this without his sword!" Niritai ran after his flying weapon.
Ichigo blocked the giant blade with his sword, but Niritai grabbed his weapon and detached two of the teeth.
"That's right! I can fight you face to face now!" He lunged at Ichigo, brandishing his small blades and grinning. "Fight me with all you've got!"
Just then, Ichigo's hollow mask cracked.
"Huh? Powers gone so soon? Playtime's over, then."
"You think I'm done?" Ichigo asked.
"I like your resolve! We shall continue, then!" He grabbed a few more teeth from the saw blade, then threw them at Ichigo.
Ichigo blocked the projectiles, then looked behind him. Where is he?
"Guess you haven't spent much time with Captain Kyoraku! Here's a little trick he taught me: Takaoni." Niritai appeared above Ichigo, then threw his massive blade down at him, crushing him beneath its weight and leaving a small crater.
Ichigo lifted the blade off of himself, then glared at Niritai. His mask was nearly gone.
"Look, kid, this fight's over. You did a good job, but you can't win."
Niritai delivered a solid kick to Ichigo's torso, then followed up by putting him in an armbar.
"Give in. You can't fight me any more." He pulled a rope from his kimono and tied Ichigo up, then knocked him out. "Man, I feel sorry for the guy. That poison might last for days."
Dragging Ichigo behind him, Niritai walked over to Ukire. He kicked him in the ribs.
"Time to get up, sleeper. We got Sake-san just as the nutcase asked. Now let's go get paid!"
Ukire groaned and rubbed his jaw. "That was fun."
"No kidding. Beats getting killed by the Captain every other day or so."
Back in the Seireite, Ichigo awoke to find himself being carried by his new 'friends'. Straight to the Squad 12 barracks.
"What are you guys doing?!"
"Well, Captain Kurotsuchi promised to pay us to capture you and bring him here. Probably wanted to test some new drug or something on you. We got to you first, so here we are." Niritai smirked innocently. "We couldn't refuse orders from a Captain, after all!"
"You guys are evil, you know that?!"
Ukire and Niritai laughed. "Yeah, you're not the first to point that out!"
Poor Ichi. My OC's are so mean and heartless. XD