mr. 96: Okay, folks! You would not believe how hard it was to make this! I kept deleting my own changes to it! But I managed to pull this one off. By the way, I'm looking for someone to write a rewrite of this fic, since I'm quite embarrassed by the lack of quality in this work. The conditions of writing this rewrite will be given in the next chapter.

P.S. - While reading the fight scene, please play "Across the Line" by Linkin Park or "Make a Move" by Icon for Hire to achieve the desired effect.

"Okay, so how do I get to this 'Seishin-Ro' or whatever the hell it's called?" Ichigo asked.

"I honestly don't know, Ichigo," Rukia replied, "All I know is that someone creates and forges all of the Zanpaku-To by himself, and if anyone else has to do it, the only way they can is with the Seishin-Ro. But that isn't even in the Soul Society to begin with."

"That's because it's actually from the Crimson Realm, as I explained," Alastor said, "Just like Yuji's Midnight Lost Child, it can be put into a Mystes."

"How can that be right?" Ichigo asked, "I thought neither world knew about each other!"

"So did I. But then again, I didn't even know that the Seishin-Ro could even be used to forge Zanpaku-To or whatever they're called." Shana said from the back.

Suddenly, Nigo stopped in his tracks. "Hey, guys," he said, "Do you feel something?"

"Yeah," Rukia said, checking her Soul Pager, "There's a Hollow in the area. Everyone, get ready!"

"Wait!" Yuji said, "What's a Hollow?"

"There's no time to explain! Just get out of here!" Ichigo said, just as a skull-masked creature walking like an ape came out from behind a building. It had a hole in the middle of its chest, right where its heart would have been. Yuji gasped. That thing had to be scarier-looking than any Denizen he'd ever seen!

"Does that answer your question?" Nigo said, hurrying Yuji out of harm's way. The Hollow tried to punch Orihime, but was stopped by her shield.

"Stay out of this one, guys!" Ichigo shouted, reaching for Zangetsu...until he remembered that Zangetsu was stolen. "Agh! Dammit!" he shouted. "What the hell can I do now?"

"You just sit back and watch," Shana said, pushing past him, "You took out a ton of Denizens, so now it's my turn to mess with your job!"

She cut off one of the Hollow's arms, and was about to stab it in the heart, but her sword went straight through the hole in its chest.

"You idiot!" Rukia shouted. "Aim for the head! It's the weakest part of the body!"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Shana shouted back. "I've had enough of you Soul Reapers meddling in my business!"

"They're right, Shana," Alastor said, "You should incapacitate the head before-"

"Too late for that now," the Hollow said, its arm reattaching. It moved to punch Shana, but a figure jumped from a rooftop and cut its hand off with a cleaver.

"Aagh! M-My hand isn't coming back on!" the Hollow shrieked, wailing and moving away from Shana. Everyone took a good look at the newcomer. His face was clouded by a pitch-black darkness that covered his face entirely, except for his eyes and the inside of his mouth, which were glowing red and stretched into a twisted smile. Everyone thought he looked like a jack-o-lantern at night. In his left hand he held a baseball bat, and in his right hand he held a cleaver. But the most striking and eerie thing about him wasn't something about his appearance, but the atmosphere he gave off. Yuji and Ichigo could practically feel a sense of absolute terror because of the bloodlust this guy was radiating...!

"You've got a lotta nerve, brat!" the Hollow said, "Now you're gonna get it! Nobody messes with one of my meals!" He tried to crush the newcomer with his hand, but was blocked by the metal bat. The figure, breaking his own silence with a blood-curdling shriek, knocked the Hollow's hand away and jumped up, splitting the Hollow's head open with the cleaver. The figure then laughed maniacally as the Hollow dissolved, like the killer

Nigo gulped. He'd seen a lot of horrifying things through Ichigo, but this guy was brutal...!

The figure looked at Nigo and the others, then sighed. "This isn't satisfying anymore..."he said, in a raspy, metallic voice. He turned to leave, but as he did, the black fog and red glow covering his face was removed, although no one could manage to see his face except for Chad.

"You notice his face?" Chad asked.

"What are you talking about?" Uryu asked. "We didn't get a chance to see his face, dude," Ichigo added.

"I could have sworn that was Keiichi Maebara..." Chad finished.