Bleach is from TV Tokyo
Ash, and other characters from Pokemon is from Gamefreak/Nintendo and Cartoon Network
Chapter 2
Heroes die
Both men fell to their knees out of pain at the blood continued to pour out. 'Never get this hurt back home. Then again we let creatures of various types, sizes, shapes, colors, and genders do our fighting for us.' Ash thought to himself as he was wondering if leaping into this whole thing was a big mistake.
"Sorry it's ending this way, kids, but that's what's known as a difference in strength." The red haired man informed them while waving his serpent sword over his head. "That's because the zanpakto can change it's size and shape in response to the wielder's spirit energy. A flimsy peace of Living World metal had no chance against me, but still how do you two like my spirit energy?" He continued to explain and asked after recalling the extensions into one sword.
'Come on, Ash. Stand. You've got to.' Ash thought to himself since he believed with all of this guy's bragging about how awesome he was the out of towner could have landed at least one good blow. Sadly his body refused to move.
"Well, that's it kids. It's time for me to head out. I don't like the way the air smells here." Renji informed to the two as another insult to them. On the sidelines the female saw all of this and knew that her friend and the new warrior were outgunned.
'Now, Ichigo and the other knows there is a difference in their strength. It's made them realize there is no chance for either of them to win, and so they are backing down. That is my hope, but Ichigo will never give up. Neither will that other man. I know that.' The raven haired girl thought to herself as she gazed at the two on one fight.
"Ready?" The invader questioned the two of them as they still sat on their heels.
'If you two fools can still move than run. Please." The girl thought to herself in desperation since she did not want any blood spilled in her defense.
"No answer, eh?" Renji questioned aloud as he readied his sword for the final thrust. With no other choice she charged at him, grabbed his arm, and stood on his back all while ordering for the two to move. "What are you doing?!" The swordsman shouted in anger and surprise. "Let go of me." He ordered the powerless warrior, but she said nothing except for the two to run from this battle.
'He let down his guard, and she is just as spry even without her powers.' The observer thought to himself as he continued to watch the fight in a mute fashion. Back to the battlefield he was still trying to get his target off his back their struggle only stopped when they both saw that the duo had picked up their fallen weapons.
"But...but this can't be. You shouldn't have the strength left to move." Renji commented before feeling that Rukia wasn't pulling, so he threw her off, and focused on the two. "This will work out just fine. I've been thinkin it'd be a shame to finish off someone who couldn't move any more." He reasoned with his enemies even though a few moments ago he was going to end their non-fighting back bodies.
'I must fight.' Both men thought to themselves as they rose to their feet: ready for round two.
"I guess...the only thing left for you two is to fight hard and die." the pony tailed swordsman informed them while resting his sword on his right shoulder.
"Run! You must save yourselves. I'm begging you, Run!" Rukia shouted at the two men before feeling an unusual air around the two, and she suddenly became serious about the upcoming fight.
"What's wrong? If you won't attack then I will!" The opponent shouted out and that was when the unusual air between the two flared up causing the tie at the base of Ichigo's sword to blow up, and for half of Ash's poll shattered into a jagged side.
'Now things might get interesting.' The observer thought as he felt the raised power beside him.
'Their spiritual pressures are increasing? Impossible!' The cocky opponent thought to himself as he felt the balance of power beginning to shift. With his guard down the two went on the attack: Ichigo returned the shoulder slash while Ash used the jagged edge on the right side of Renji's stomach. "What the hell?!" He shouted in alarm before being force back with a swing from both men at the same time. The warrior used the railing beside the road to slow to a stop, and once he did the visor on top of his head fell off in two perfect halves. 'What is with those two? They were both ready to die just a second ago, so how the hell did they get that new found power?' Renji thought to himself with a dazed look on his face.
"I'll tell you exactly what wrong: it's just that somehow your moves have suddenly become a lot slower." Ash informed him as if knowing what their enemy was thinking at that moment.
'Idiot! Actually you two have gotten faster.' The red haired soldier thought to himself since he did not want to admit that to either of their faces.
"I don't know if this is happening to this other guy, and I don't understand what is happening to me, but I like it! I feel no pain from my wounds. In fact I feel totally invincible." Ichigo proclaimed proudly to their opponent. Having learned from some old friends not to back down from any threat Renji was the one to rise to his feet this time.
"Why you?! Zabimaru, time for you to roar." The snake sword swordsman shouted out and used his sword's special attack upon them. His first swing was deflected when Ash punched the flat side with his left fist. His second swing was mutually dodged, and his third was sent away by Ichigo's sword swing.
"Enough defense. We have to take them out to protect the other two." The raven haired bo-staff wielder informed before the two of them did just that – went on the attack.
'Renji's being overpowered. Incredible.' Rukia thought with a relieved smile on her face. The other raven haired warrior continued to watch this with attentive eyes.
'I might just have to step in.' The longer haired man thought as he did not like how an entry level swordsman and a club wielder were overpowering his second in command. Back on the battlefield Renji was becoming tired as the battle went on until he took a knee before them.
"You're awfully good at dodging our weapons." Ichigo pointed out to the attacker with a smug smile.
'What's happening?! How much higher can their spirit energies go!' The soldier thought with great alarm as he felt their power increase again.
"You put up a good fight, but it ends now." Ash informed him as he and the orange haired man leaped into the air for a final strike of their own.
'Can't move.' Renji thought in alarm as he tried to lift his sword to defend, but his arm refused to cooperate. The others watched the last attack of this fight in action. 'Not enough time!' Renji thought out of pure panic, and it wasn't his pride of loosing to this guy that was the last thing on his mind. It was falling in battle before his friend since he knew of her past incident. However right when the final blow was struck...nothing happened.
"Our weapons." The two of them muttered in mute surprise as they saw that more than half of their weapons were gone.
"But he didn't do anything." Ichigo stated as the man before them. The club warrior glanced over his shoulder at the warrior that had just been standing there this entire time.
"Was he the one?" Ash questioned while keeping his eyes on the other one. Ichigo heard him and also turned his attention to the other one as well.
"Impossible. He couldn't have from that distance." Ichigo pointed out to him, but as soon as he said that the two of them saw that he was holding the missing parts to their weapons in his hands. That alone got their attention.
"Get ready." Ash stated as he and Ichigo were ready to fight with what little sword they had left the instant he had his hand on his sword. However all either of them saw was him holding his hilt, something stabbing them, and someone stopping behind them.
'What just happened? Did he cut me? What's more: if he did – I can't tell if I was hit from the back or the front.' Both warriors thought as they were ready to kiss the pavement before them, but something was wrong.
"You are slow. Even when you are falling." The other swordsman informed the two as they fell to both sides of him. He heard the desperate plea from his target, but he had a mission to complete, so he attacked again.
'It's been a while since I've seen it, but he's truly awesome. Better pay more attention. I barely even saw his second attack coming, but his first one – I couldn't even tell when he drew his sword let alone when he put it back, but one thing's for sure if I couldn't see it coming I'm absolutely neither of these guys have the slightest clue what just happened to them. Regardless of that there is still the matter of that extraordinary spiritual pressure that they demonstrated earlier.' The nearly fallen soldier thought about all that had just happened in this battlefield.
"What's the matter, Renji?" The savior of the other attacker questioned a loud.
"I didn't really need your help dealing with either of these guys, captain." Renji informed back while keeping his gaze away from his savior. "There was no reason for you to interfere. I could have handled this myself." He added to his earlier statement which the other seemed to accept.
"Come now, Renji. Even I will get rusty if all I ever do is watch. Do you agree?" The other informed and questioned to the other since he knew that his second had a warrior's spirit when it came to battle thanks to the others.
'No. These two are different. They must be.' Renji thought to himself and a part of him knew that there was more to these two than meets the eye. His thoughts were interrupted by his old friend's voice.
"Ichigo! Ash!" Rukia shouted in sheer terror while running up to the two of them. "No!" She shouted out and raced over to the two of them as quickly as her borrowed skin would let her.
"No! Don't!" Renji shouted out in alarm as he got up, raced to her, grabbed her by the neck, and slammed her into a street sign.
"Renji! Let go! Let me go!" Rukia shouted out as she tried to fight his grip
"What does it matter now, you fool. They are already dead." He informed her by shouting which calmed her down a bit even though he didn't wish to use that word since she seemed to care for this individual just like the other one.
'They can't be.' Rukia thought as she glanced over at the two fallen on the road.
"Listen! If you so much as touch either of them they'll add twenty years to your sentence. Besides Rukia you'd only be increasing your sins for someone who's died." He explained to his old friend, and saw that she was only becoming even more sad.
"I got them involved in all of this. It's my fault that Ichigo and Ash are dead, so what the hell is wrong with me going to them!" Rukia shouted back at him which caught the gripper off guard. The third one heard all of this and decided to speak.
"So, even if it made your sentence harsher. You truly feel you should help them. Is that what you're saying to me?" The third man stated and questioned while realizing the raven haired one had acquired the others special talent of making friend's instantly.
"I am brother." She openly admitted, and knew what was going to be said next.
"I understand, Rukia. This young man bears a striking resemblance to him. The same for the one called Ash." He informed, but had a feeling that he lost her after the first part. It was at that moment that Ichigo grabbed their latest attacker with his right arm, and Ash grabbed him with his left arm as a pitiful way to keep him there.
"He's dead, you say. Bears a striking resemblance to him. I'd rather you quit talking to me like I'm not even here. Got it?" Ichigo stated to the group before him with a broad smile on his face while Ash remained silent.
'So, this guy has met Sir Aaron. Interesting.' Ash thought to himself before hearing with their latest attacker was saying.
"Let go." The active warrior warned them both.
"Sorry. Didn't quite catch that. Try looking at me when you're talking." Ichigo threatened to him with a silent nod from Ash. This caught both of the others attention of their fighting spirit.
'Those two can still move, but that's impossible.' Renji thought as he felt some of his brain incapable of comprehending what he was seeing.
"I see. It looks like you won't be needing those arms." The brother stated to them, and planned on doing just that.
"Bring it on. I'll still take you on with my right arm." Ash informed him, but before anything could be done by any of the men on the field Rukia rushed over and kicked both of their hands away. This caught all of the conscious men off guard.
"Rukia, what are you doing?" The more experienced of the two warriors questioned in surprise to the one he wished to save.
"You two are only human." Rukia said coldly while trying to block their time together from her mind. "You are just lowly humans. How dare you grab my brother like that! You better learn your place." She shouted at them in anger, but Ash felt something else, but he couldn't place what even when she turned to look at them.
'Wait. Did she say brother?' Ash thought as he felt more of his blood seeping out.
"We should leave here now, brother. The actions these fools have just taken have opened my eyes to the truth. I am ready now. Take me back to the Soul Society." Rukia stated in a dead serious tone. "It is time that I atone for my sins." She added to her previous statement.
"Rukia, you can't leave here, yet. I mean our work isn't finished." Ichigo said to her, praying that she would hear him. "Rukia..." He started to say something else, but the other had placed his foot on his head. Ash laid there: not saying anything, just watching.
"You don't know when to give up. Do you?" Renji questioned as he did his best to make sure that the other remained on the ground. "Look, the more you move around the quicker your going to find yourself dead." He explained to the hard to kill warrior.
"I see no need to inflict a final blow upon them now. Leave them be. Soon enough they'll die on their own. We should go now brother." Rukia informed and was about to walk off, but was stopped by her closest friend in the world of the living.
"Rukia, stop. Look at me. Is this some kind of a joke?" Ichigo asked her, but got no response. "Hey!" He shouted out, and when that didn't work either he started to rise.
"Don't move." She shouted out in anger causing the one in question to do just that. "Take even one step. Or try to come after me, and I'll...I'll...I will never, ever forgive you." She said while looking at Ichigo and then added, "Or you." As she turned to look at the other savior. "You two are going to die, so why not stay put and live a few seconds longer." She finished her statement before turning her back to them.
"All right. I will not inflict a finishing blow. With my two attacks against them. I have shattered both their soul chain and soul sleep. There's no point in finishing either of them off. They should both die in less than an hour. Even if they survive this attack. All of the Substitute's powers will be lost, and any chance of the other being a threat will be zero. Both their special powers and their spirit energy. Renji." The older brother informed them before going back to their mission.
"Yes." He responded before getting up, walking over to the others, and stuck his sword into...nothing. "Now, open." He ordered and just like that two pairs of wooden dojo doors appeared before them along with something else.
'What's the deal with those tiny black Butterfrees?' Ash thought out of curiosity while Ichigo delved into self pity as the two of them lied in the street. Eventually their bodies became heavy, and they succumbed to sleep not knowing someone new was coming toward them.
'What have we here?' The new arrival thought as he stood over to two warriors. Soon the both of them felt strange...a good kind of strange.
'It doesn't hurt. Oh no. Am I about to die. I probably don't feel pain because I am on the verge of death, but is that right. At first my body was so cold, but now I feel warmth. It's warm.' The two thought as one, and eventually they woke up.
'Hmm, is this a sneasel.' Ash thought before adding, 'No. It's just a normal cat.' He had seen normal creatures back home such as some normal fish at the Cerulean City, so seeing a normal cat was no surprise. Just as soon as he was about to pet it a very loud scream was heard from beside them. The surprise was so great that the cat fled from Ash's chest.
"Oh, what a good reaction. Quite excellent." A strange man under Ichigo's covers said as he closed the distance between his and Ichigo's faces. The other man under the covers started to push his face away.
"What the hell are you doing?!" The orange haired fighter questioned with great rage in his voice.
"Boss, you wanted to know the moment Ichigo and the other woke up. Well, they're awake." The older man shouted out causing the boy in question to recall his fight with all of those hollows along with that titan, and this man was there too.
"Wait a minute. You work for Mr. Hat-and-clogs, don't you? Why are you under the covers with me? Get off!" Ichigo shouted out and eventually got the older man off of him along with his cover. The two then sat up and took a good look around.
"Any ideas where we are friend? Because I'm a little new here." Ash informed him while looking around.
"I'm more surprised that we aren't dead, and as for where we are, I have no idea." Ichigo said.
"Really?" Ketchum questioned back.
"Yeah, I mean this doesn't even look like my small clinic that I call home." The orange haired man replied back. As the two scanned the small room, curious as to where they were the thrown man could only think.
'How is it that Yoruichi could do it without incident, but I can't.' It was then that the door before them opened.
"Ichigo and friend you guys just need to relax. We were barely able to patch the two of you up. If you move around too much. You'll die." The blonde haired man before them informed the two wounded men.
"Is that right?" Ichigo questioned to them as he kept up his guard.
"Thank you for doing that. I really appreciate it." Ash stated as he rose to his feet, and stuck out his hand which the fan carrying man accepted. "The name is Ash Ketchum." He added while thumbing to himself, but before the other could truly introduce himself he was interrupted by Ichigo.
"So, Mr. Hat-and-clogs I take it this is your house?" Ichigo questioned and received an un-huh for his question. "Are you the one who saved us, huh?" He asked while keeping an obvious edge in his voice.
"It seems to me by the underlying tone in your voice maybe you didn't want me to rescue you." The other hat wearer in the room commented, and with that the two of them recalled the last few moments of the fight.
"Hey, hold on. There was another guy over there too." Ash informed causing the other to know what he was talking about.
"You're right Uryu. Where is he? Is he all right." Ichigo stated and questioned to the man before them.
"I treated Uryu at the sight, but then he went home. He really did loose a considerable amount of blood, but his wounds weren't as serious as either of yours. Even if he laid there for a couple of days I don't think he would have died. So, after I cleaned and dressed his wounds he went home." The owner of the building informed them and then added something else. "When he left he was worried for you two." This touched them both.
"That was nice of him." Ash said with a big smile on his face since it always filled him with joy when someone was concerned for another.
"Uryu was worried. No way." The swordsman of the two commented back since he did not believe that the bowman would truly show concern for his type.
"I asked him to consider resting here a while, so that he could regain his strength..." The older man started to say and then repeated what the other man said during that small shower.
"Thanks. I appreciate the offer, but really I'm...I'm fine. Please, just take care of Ichigo and Ash. Because it's pretty apparent that if there's anyone to defeat those guys it certainly is not me." The Uryu of last night faded as the man finished the last sentence in the present.
"The only ones who can save Rukia is the two of you. So, he said." The man stated which touched the two of them differently.
"He said that. Then I won't let this Uryu person's faith in me go to waste. I promise I will save her." Ash proclaimed proudly which got a smile out of the man in green.
"Only us? Heh, what the hell can we do? Don't either of you get it. Rukia's gone back to the Soul Society, so how are we supposed to go after her? How are we supposed to save her? It can't be done. I can't do it!" He shouted, completely believing his own words.
"Do you really believe that?" The blonde one questioned to the doubtful one. "There is a way into the Soul Society." He informed the two of them which got their attention.
"There really is a way?" Ash questioned with a big smile on his face since that had encouraged his hope even more.
"How? You have to tell us." Ichigo ordered as he strained to rise to his feet.
"Of course I'll tell you guys, but only under one condition." Their informant stated and then that is what got their guard up. One of them asked the 'what?' question, and the man continued. "For the next ten days you two will study with me and let me teach you how to fight properly." He informed them which did sound like a plan.
"Makes since. I'll need to learn something other than swinging a club around." Ash stated out loud before thinking, 'Even though something inside of me knew the ways of a swordsman.' His thought ended just in time to hear Ichigo.
"Maybe this guy can stay and study, but I don't have time to waste training with you. I don't need to waste that kind of time, okay? Rukia is gone and she could be executed at any second, so we've got to get to the Soul Society as soon as we can." Ichigo shouted out at the two of them, or more precisely – Mr. Hat-and-clogs.
"Why don't you understand, huh?" The blonde man questioned as he placed his cane on the young man's head. With ease he had Ichigo on his back, and his cane's tip inches away from the young swordsman. "Don't act so dumb. If either of you two go down there now you'll die." He informed the short tempered one.
'Is that a sword I see?' Ash thought to himself as he could have sworn he saw a sword where the cane was, but the image faded away.
"You think you can beat them? You honestly believe that you can take them? I went ahead and let you fight them and let you prove a point. I figured you'd understand results better than words. My hope was that you would learn your lesson. With the combined strength of you and Ash neither of you will be able to do much once you enter the Soul Society." He informed the two of them.
'Really?' Ash thought as he became slightly worried after hearing that.
"Right now you two are weak, and any time a weak person enters the enemies den it's basically suicide. So, the two of you want to save Rukia? Don't make me laugh. If you two get yourselves killed there will be no one to blame." He continued to explain to them which only got Ash fired up.
"Well, I always spend time teaching my Pokemon a new move and improving it, so now it's time to feel how that feels for myself." Ketchum proclaimed proudly to the others. None of them noticing that the cat had returned to the room.
"The Soul Society has a one month waiting period before an execution. Usually they respect their own rules. Let's hope that's the same for Rukia's execution." The owner of the building said to the you others.
"Hope so?" Ichigo questioned to the standing man.
"There is always hope in any situation, Ichigo." Ash said to him with a big smile on his face even though Ash was getting the feeling that this man knew more than he was letting on, but didn't question it.
"It's all together different than the way humans are executed. So, that gives me about ten days to torture you. Then seven days to open the gate to the Soul Society. Then we'll have thirteen days once we get there to get the job done. So, we've got lots of time." He informed them of the time schedule that they had to get through.
"Will we get strong enough in ten days?" Ichigo questioned as he could still picture Rukia entering those dojo doors.
"Yes. So long as you two truly wish to save Rukia from the bottom of your hearts. Your will must be stronger than steel. You must abandon any doubts that you have. Ten days to prepare for a game of life and death." The other man informed almost testing if either of the two will back down.
"Do we really have a choice?" Ichigo questioned to the man before them.
"Let's get to work." Ash informed the others with a serious look on his face while Ichigo had one thought to describe what he felt right now.
'I feel as though the rain has finally stopped.' After a few moments the cat in the room finally called out in it's native tongue – happy that these two still wanted to fight.