Mask: *Is happy* Five chapters, and I'm already introducing Hichi?! IT'S A FRIGGIN' MIRACLE (or a sign of the impending apocalypse)!

Toshiro: *Still hiding from Byakuya* Shouldn't you get typing now?

Mask: *Agrees with 'Shiro-chan, but doesn't want to admit it*

"Talking"

Thoughts

"Hollow/ Zanpakuto"

(Notices)

The nameless hollow was very confused. One minute, he was in King's nice, calm, sideways Inner World, and then he remembered seeing someone's silhouette (the hollow was vaguely sure that the form was a woman), and now he's randomly surrounded by a whole bunch of stupid, screaming souls.

Is this part of King's Inner World? The albino male asked himself. The nameless teen practically instantly dismissed the possibility. His King's soul was to... mellow to harbour random, loud, shrieking spirits, despite how the nameless teen's orange-haired Master acted.

Just then, not a second to soon, the albino noticed a black-haired male sprinting towards him. In the tattooed guy's hand was a katana, which the hollow assumed was actually a zanpakuto in it's unreleased state. The presumed-Shinigami looked ready for a fight, and the bleached-out teen would be damned if he couldn't give this opponent a real nice brawl.

The albino's gold-on-black eyes widened marginally, as the hollow couldn't help but feel intense, raw adrenaline flowing through his veins. How long had it been since his last real fight? The hollow didn't even know. But, the teen did know that his hands had been itching to hold the zanpakuto on his back for months, atleast, by now. Or, he assumed that it had been months. Time, after all, passes by rather slowly when one's only company is some old dude with fuckin' creepy sunglasses on. Especially when the old guy pretends that you don't exist.

Grabbing the handle of a large, fang-like sword on his back (Was that there since the beginning? The teen pondered for a mere millisecond), the hollow gave off his signature grin. Show time!

It was then that the hollow noticed a couple of differences in the zanpakuto he currently held in his had and the sword he normally walked around in his King's soul with.

1) The colors were off. The normally black clothe wrapping around the handle was, instead, a deep sapphire blue. The cutting edge of the blade itself, which was also normally black, was the same color as the new binding around the handle.

2) The zanpakuto was just a tad more slender than regular, and it was also marginally longer and lighter (the balance had always been off before, to the hollow, but the improvements of the sword had made the balance perfect).

3) The teen couldn't feel Zangetsu's power or spirit flowing from the zanpakuto. Instead, a new, yet somehow familiar, energy was being pored into the hollow through his grip on the zanpakuto, straight into the hollow's soul.

Still, the albino paid the variations little heed. Instead, he turned his focus to the impending battle at hand. He started to lazily swing the zanpakuto by the clothe hanging from the handle.

Emeral was having a mid-live crisis (does being, like, 211 count as being a 'mid-life' crisis?).

His red wine had just arrived. His beautiful, precious, perfect wine that he only let himself indulge in when the greenette was truly upset.

There was a hollow to fight. A strong one, according to the energy it was radiating.

Should he stay, and leave the fightning to the others, or leave the tempation to go aid his companions in battle?

In a split-second descion, Emeral hid the long-necked bottle in his robes and ran out of bar, zanpakuto in tow, to go help in the fighting.

Without paying first, of course.

As Shuuhei recklessly launched himself at the hollow, he realized several things that could be of great importance later.

1) The hollow looked like that ryoka leader from before (What's his name? Ichigo Kurosaki, right? Shuuhei confirmed for himself) Ichigo.

2) The ryoka look-alike didn't, despite obviously being a hollow, have a bone-like mask.

3) The albino hollow had atleast the same amount of spirit energy as Ichigo, which worried Shuuhei, since the strawberry had beaten several captains.

4) Only Kira and (suprisingly) Rangiku were following his lead in attacking the hollow (who, the black-haired fukutaicho noticed, was starting to spin his sword around like a flail).

Damnit Emeral! What the hell is he doing at a time like this?! Why are we even friends?! I swear, if he's just getting drunk, then I'm so gonna kill him after this! Shuuhei growled to himself.

The black-haired guy was almost within the hollow's striking distance now. Just as the white-haired teen was about to let his sword go flying at his opponent, he felt a shock run through his system, sapping him of his power insantaneously.

What the hell is happening?! Was the hollow's last thought before he passed out. Just as he felt his conscious start to fade, he looked up with glazed-over eyes and saw three - no, four - Shinigami come to a halt in front of the poor teen.

The nameless creature passed out with a bitter smile on his lips, knowing through instinct that he could very well be killed in his sleep by these Soul Reapers.