Hello there!

Disclaimer: Maximum Ride is not mine, Bleach is not mine; if this changes, I'll alert the media.

So, as far as I was concerned, this is what was going on.

I was dying. Again.

It had only been ten minutes after hearing that the boss of all bosses wanted to meet me that I came to this conclusion. Ichigo had come up with a last-minute excuse for leaving the house, and we had started walking to the Shoten. I had been slightly irritated they wouldn't let me fly ahead, but seriously? I felt like someone had shoved a red hot lump of coal through the skin of my chest.

So, like any normal person, I fell to my knees screaming bloody murder.

"Eh? Max!"

I felt Rukia touch my shoulder delicately, almost as if she was unsure what I'd do.

"Her soul chain is corroding," Ichigo announced, crouching in front of me as I sucked laboured breaths through my clenched teeth.

"What the hell does that mean?" I hissed, he held up my soul chain, the end links were eating themselves away, as if they had minds of their own.

"Why is it already corroding, though? A soul chain should last months, even years before it starts disappearing," Rukia wondered out loud.

"Will Urahara-San know what's going on with her?" Asked Orihime, peaking over Ichigo's shoulder at me with concern.

"Possibly, it would be best if we got her there as soon as possible," Hitsugaya mused, "Can you still walk?"

I huffed, pushing myself off the ground, nodding. "I'm fine," I said firmly; the burning sensation in my chest had lessened, but it was still there, like a pot of boiling water set to simmer.

"You still better take it easy, recovering from the first corrosion is the hardest," Ichigo advised me, holding my elbow as I found my balance again.

"How would you kno-Oh!" I gasped, pausing mid-question when my feet left the ground. This is an everyday thing for me, being off the ground, but rarely am I ever being held up. "Let me down, Carrot Top! I can walk, you know!" I said, thrashing in his arms.

He shrugged, not responding as he slung me over his back, I grabbed his shoulders for support, not particularly wanting to slip off the surprisingly tall boy's back.

"Let's get going already," Hitsugaya sighed, leading our little group through the streets. It was the evening and the few people that were outside rushed by, eager to get home.

"Hey, Ichigo... Why don't people realize we're here? I get the whole spirit form thing, but they don't even flinch when they walk through me."

Ichigo shrugged slightly, holding my knees a little tighter when we were hit by a gust of cool wind. "I guess they don't have much reiatsu, so they don't feel anything."

"How many people can sense spirits in Karakura?"

"That I know of? Only a handful, they go to my school, and there's Karin. Other than that, I don't know."

"I see..."

"Max? Max!" Someone shouted, we stopped outside an alleyway, my eyes picked up some shadows moving around.

"Iggy, are you okay?!"

"Nudge?" I whispered, squinting to see better.

"Enough, Iggy, it's just a dream," Said a sad voice.

"I'm not dreaming! It's Max! She's somewhere around here!" Iggy shouted; footsteps echoed in the alley, heading towards us. Hitsugaya put a hand on his zanpakutō, leaning forward.

"Hitsugaya, don't!" I called, wriggling off Ichigo's back and running forward. "It's Iggy!"

"Max? Who are you talking to?" he asked, I watched him step out of the alley, the streetlight hitting his face. Blank eyes reeled around suspiciously, and I paused a few feet away from him.

"How can he hear me?" I asked, not expecting an answer.

"Who is he?"

"He's my brother, how is he hearing me? I'm dead!"

Iggy took a step forward. "Max, who are you talking to?"

"Iggy! Come back here, there's no one there," Fang hissed. I saw a hand latch onto Iggy's wrist and pulling him back, "What are you thinking?"

I was frozen in shock, only a few steps away from me had been two of my flock... And only one even knew I was there.

"Max... Let's go," Ichigo said softly, pulling at my elbow. After a few seconds, I nodded, turning away from the mouth of the alley and following him.

We arrived at Urahara's a few minutes later, the cheerful shopkeeper welcoming us at the door.

"Come in, come in; the Senkaimon will be ready in a moment," He said cheerfully, waving his fan at us.

"Sen..kaimon?"

"It's how we get to the Soul Society," Rukia explained.

I nodded in vague understanding. Hitsugaya pulled Urahara off to the side while I was shown to a ladder in the ground.

"Wow..." I breathed, looking at the stretching landscape of the... well, I guess I couldn't call it a basement, but more of an underground desert.

"I'm glad you like it!" Urahara called; Rukia rolled her eyes.

"Hey, you guys weren't gonna leave without me, were you?" Asked a voice, we turned around and Ichigo sighed.

"Oh, it's you, Renji," He said, the tattooed man's eye twitched.

"What do you mean by that, Strawberry?!"

"I meant I thought someone was actually going to help sort this mess out, not make it worse, Pineapple!"

"Why I ought to-"

"When you two are done, the Senkaimon is ready," Urahara interrupted, the two stopped immediately and nodded.

I followed the others over to the large, portal-like frame. "We're seriously going through that?" I asked; Rukia nodded.

"Don't worry; it shouldn't take long, since the sotaichou sent a hell butterfly for you."

I didn't feel like pointing out that I had no idea what a hell butterfly was, so I just nodded and followed her inside the portal. And to think this was just the start of my problems.

So here you have it, the 4th chapter. I have the immediate future of the fanfic set out, so I may be able to write it up sooner, but there's something I need your help with, even if it doesn't happen yet.

What should Max's zanpakutō be like? You can either tell me in a review or check out a poll I'll put on my page. But I really want someone's opinion on that.

Once again, I thank my reviewers, you are all beautiful!

Later!

-Shinigami