Authour's note: You may want to queue up some epic music. Just saying.

"So, Hamster," Ichigo began.

"Stop that."

"How much farther was it?"

Hanataro sighed. "You know, you ask that every 75 paces."

"Seriously?"

"I counted. We've been walking a while. Not much farther." Looking up at the ceiling, Hanataro pointed at a faint light. "There, the exit's in sight."

"Finally." Ichigo darted to the manhole, quickly climbing up into the massive plaza. From here, it was just a lot of stairs between him and Rukia.

"Hey there. Heard good things about you."

And one grinning psychopath with bells in his hair. Hanataro climbed out the hole, took one look at their adversary, and promptly fainted.

Ichigo glanced back at the splash of his fallen ally. "Dude, you really should get that looked at." He turned back to the captain with a shrug. "So, captain eyepatch, got a name?"

"Kenpatchi Zaraki," he said with an evil grin. "What about you?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki. So, you seem like very fighty guy."

"You got that right, Kurosaki." Kenpatchi held up his sword, itching to get into battle. "Question is, you gonna keep me entertained, or are you all hype?"

"Only one way to find out," Ichigo said as he drew Zangetsu.


"Well, what do we have here?"

Uryu froze at the sound of that voice. He had heard it only once before in his life, but it stuck in his head like a horrible cancer of the mind. "You."

Captain Kurotsuchi smiled, truly an unnerving thing. "Oh, you've heard of me? Wonderful, that should make this a little easier." He glanced over at Orihime, who seemed a little bewildered. "For the sake of your confused friend over there, I may as well introduce myself. I am Mayuri Kurotsuchi, captain of Squad 12 and head of Reseach and Development. You Ryoka were able to infiltrate the Soul Society." His smile widened. "I would love to see what makes you so special."

Uryu, summoned his bow. "Orihime, run."

"A Quincy? How dull. I got all I needed years ago."

Uryu looked over his shoulder to see Orihime still there. "Orihime, I said run!"

"I wonder what the girl's powers are. Little girl, if you come with me, I can make sure you get the less lethal experiments. How does that sound.

"Orihime!"

"No."

Briefly taking his eyes of Kurotsuchi, Uryu saw that Orihime had summoned her Shun Shun Rikka, all 6 orbiting around her. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know who this is," said Orihime, her voice filled with uncharacteristic confidence and sterness, "but I can tell you won't back down from this fight. So- so neither will I."

Uryu was honestly taken aback. He had never seen this side of Orihime before. "Orihime…"

She fell into a martial stance. "We're doing this together. You're not convincing me otherwise."


The swords clashed in a shower of sparks. "You're a weird one, Kurosaki," bellowed Kenpatchi. "You really want to fight, but I'm not seeing an ounce of killing intent in that blade of your's."

Ichigo landed after blocking a particularly mighty blow. "Sorry, guess I just like the battle." With a grunt of effort, he launched himself at the massive captain. "Don't see why it should have to end in death."

While nothing Kenpachi did could be described as 'expertly', his parry's almost counted. "Guess that's why I'm gonna win," he said is he brought his sword down on Ichigo's head, the young Exalt dodging just in time. "I ain't afraid to kill ya, kid." Kenpachi tried to catch him a wide sweep, but wound up only taking out nearby scenery.

Ichigo took advantage of what looked like an opening, tossing Zangetsu's blade directly at him. "I don't need to kill you to win." Kenpachi effortlessly batted the blade aside, though Ichigo managed to swing it back with the bandage.

"That ain't how it works." Kenpachi managed to block the blade, though it was close. "Way I see it, you're gonna have me coming after you as long as I can stand."

Ichigo didn't even bother with a response, electing instead to pull his bade back as he divebombed the captain. Kenpachi blocked, but the sheer force drove him back a few feet. He quickly follow up with a flurry of blows from his own sword. Eventually, Ichigo found himself forced to fall back.

Ichigo decided to step up his game, going in for a risky charge. Kenpachi took the obvious opportunity to strike, but found his blade bouncing off against an unyielding shell. "The fuck?" Kenpachi managed to move enough to avoid a debilitating wound, but found himself sporting a gash along his side. "Cool trick kid. The fact you even can cut me is impressive. That I couldn't cut you? That's goddamn magic."

Ichigo dusted flecks of brass of his Shihakusho. "Ablation of Brass and Fire. And believe me," he said as his forehead took on a dull glow, "that's far from my only trick."


"You two are getting very annoying." By this point, Kurotsuchi had already been forced to unleash his Shikai. "If you would just stand still, this would be over!" Orihime was doing a good job of keep his attacks from connecting, but she was starting to be worn out, the calls getting closer.

Still, Orihime and Uryu were learning too. Both their powers worked best at range, so she had started using her Santen Kesshun to give Uryu impromptu platforms. Kurotsuchi snarled. "Won't you stop that?" Orihime barely blocked the unexpected scythe from hitting her, Uryu quickly wisking her away before he could deliver a follow up.

Still, all things have to come to an end. Neither Uryu or Orihime had as much experience in long term combat, and eventually a blow got through. It was just a surface scratch on Uryu's arm, but that's all it took. Uryu raised his arm to retaliate, but found his limbs losing strength. Mayuri grinned at the Quincy as he fell to the ground. "And that settles things. Ashisogi Jizo's special ability is complete paralysis of the limbs. Though quiet better than most forms. You see…" He drove the blade into Uryu's arm, the Quincy screaming in pain. "You can still feel everything in the paralyzed limbs."

"Uryu!" Orihime quickly rushed to try and heal him, but quickly came face to face with the leering captain.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you. Those are some very interesting powers you have." One slash later, and Orihime was flopped against as wall. With one swift, practiced motion, Kurotsuchi drew a syringe and injected her with it. "Just give me a minute. This Quincy has given me far too much trouble."

"Orihime!" Whatever Uryu was about to say was interrupted as Mayuri shoved his blade into the young man's shoulder.

"Quiet you. Corpses don't speak."

Orihime watched in horror as Mayuri began his torture, crying out, begging him to stop. She tried to block with Santen Kesshune, tried to heal Uryu with Soten Kisshun, she even tried to lash out with Koten Zanshun, but she couldn't seem to bring her powers to bear. Whatever he had injected her with, it was taking over fast. Her vision began to cloud, and the last thing she heard was Uryu crying out in pain.

Then everything went black.


Ichigo took another swing at his implacable opponent, his movements trailing green fire. He was burning through essence faster than he would like, and he wasn't doing well.

Focus Ichigo. You're burning through too much power. Pace yourself.

Crush the bastard! Hit him like a sledgehammer! Set him on fire! Do SOMETHING!

It didn't help that the voices in his head refused to shut up. "Will the two of you quiet down? This is hard enough without your yammering."

Kenpatchi chuckled. "Sounds like you're starting to crack, Ichigo. You look pretty stupid talking to yourself."

"Coming from the guy with bells in his hair?" barked Ichigo. "You aren't exactly the pinnacle of stable."

"Shame you're sword arm isn't as good as your mouth kid!"

Ichigo, dodge!

No time, tank it!

Unfortunately, Ichigo couldn't focus enough to do either properly, taking far more damage than he should have. "You're slowing down kid! Looks like you can't make up your mind!"

You need to-

You've gotta-

"Step it up punk-"

Ichigo let out a mighty roar. "SHUT UUUUUP! ALL OF YOU JUST BE QUIET!" He charged at Kenpachi, swinging haphazardly like a madman, his blows easily being deflected, before Kenpachi finally sent him flying with a well-placed knee.

Ichigo tumbled through a wall, lying collapsed in a pile of rubble. "What's a matter kid? You lose your mind, or just your will to fight." Kenpachi waited for a response. "Uhg, this is bullshit. Finally find somebody to fight, and they crap out half way through the battle. Whatever…"

Kenpachi was walking away when he heard a laugh coming from the rubble. "Yo, Kenpachi. Catch." To his credit, Kenpachi was able to shatter the boulder that came flying at him, but was caught off guard by the Soul Reaper right behind it. He blocked just in time, but found himself leaving footprints in the cement from shear force. "I was thinking 'bout what you said. And you know, maybe you're right." By this point, everything around Ichigo was covered in that phantasmal fire, though nothing seemed to burn. "Maybe the reason I wasn't doing to swell was because I wasn't willing to kill you." Even if his body hadn't changed, Ichigo looked taller, more defined, as if the world around him bended to show his importance. "And because of that, I wasn't able to cut lose. So fine, let's have it your way." Ichigo let loose a burst of spiritual pressure that pushed Kenpachi back a step. "No more holding back. No more limits. Let's do this."

Kenpachi grinned maniacally. "Bout damn time."

The two of them were so focused on each other, neither even noticed the bright light on the horizon.


Orihime sat in the white void, curled up and sobbing. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong my child?"

She didn't question who it was. It didn't matter. "It- it's my friend Uryu."

"Go on."

"He's… he's gonna die. He's gonna die and I- I can't save him."

"Why not? Is he too far?"

Orihime's sobbing slowly came to a stop, though she still did not look up. "N-no."

"Unwilling?"

"No."

"Well, then I may need a pointer. Why can't you save him?"

"I… I…"

"Yes?"

Something in Orihime snapped. "I'm not strong enough!" As soon as the words left her mouth, she broke down into tears again. "I'm not strong enough, and so he's gonna die!"

The stranger knelt down behind her, pulling Orihime into a hug. "Shhhhhh. It's alright. Things are gonna be okay."

"But," Orihime choked out, "but I can't save him."

The voice chuckled, not in mockery, but that same tone of a mother who had just been told by her child that of course starts were tiny. "Oh Orihime, yes you can. You have so much ahead of you. So many to save. So many to love. The world may try to topple with sadness, hold you down with burdens. But you know what?"

Orhim sniffled. "W-what?"

"None of that matters. Because you are Exalted.

Now go forth, and spread joy."


Kurotsuchi stumbled at the sudden burst of spiritual pressure from his captive. He turned around to find her standing tall, wounds healed, and shining with an unearthly blue light, a look of unmatchable determination in her eyes.

"Get away from my friend."

Author's note: As always, please leave reviews, it makes it easier to write. Wouldn't mind hearing thoughts on how the story is progressing. Really though, anything helps.