~Chapter Seven~ Jailbreak

Hotaru stood there grinning as the massive gate began to crumble right in front of the small group. A slight smirk morphed into a sinister look running across his face.

"We've done it! I AM FREE!"

Chouko just stood there with an unimpressed look as she glanced at the fallen gate. The twins decided that they would cross the gate first, only to be stopped by Hotaru.

"Fools. You think I would let you pass?" Hotaru leaped at the two boys, katana in hand. Ayumu and Haru once standing next to each other were now separated by a crazy madman.

"WHAT THE HELL BOSS!? WHY ARE YOU TURNING ON US!?" they shouted in unison. Chouko even had a surprised expression on her face.

"I only used you to open the gate. Now that it's open I don't need you anymore!" With that said Hotaru charged at the twins, blood flying thickly and painting the grounds as former partners in crime traded blows. Hotaru landed a slash to Haru's shoulder causing him to stumble to the ground.

"Haru!" Ayumu cried out in concern, "Are you okay?" The teen ran over to his fallen brother, momentarily forgetting about the deranged man behind him. Haru gazed at his twin, fear clearly evident in his face.

o~line break~o

Ichigo stood with a dumbfounded face. "What the hell do you mean you're going to seal my shinigami powers, old man!? I regret what happened to Toshiro, but you can't blame it all on me; it was the hollow's fault, not mine."

"Regardless, you have shown yourself to be incapable of following our laws and you tried to resist arrest. You have left us with no other choice." Yamamoto was unrelenting and not about to make excuses for the substitute shinigami.

A resounding boom echoed through the hall as Yamamoto slammed his cane against the floor. "Kurosaki Ichigo, I hereby declare that at midnight tonight your spiritual power shall be sealed until which time your life as one of the living world comes to an end."

o~line break ~o

A group of shinigami lead by the lieutenant of the 12th squad were scattered about the area where the attack by the strange hollows had occurred. Each carried an instrument to detect and compile data on residual spiritual energy. That data was then being sent back in real time to the labs to be analyzed under the direction of Akon.

"We're not picking up much at the location of the first sighting. It seems that individually these hollows don't have much spiritual power, or at least not much that we can detect after the fact,"an officer relayed back to base.

Akon hummed thoughtfully. "Go join the other team scanning the area where the end of Captain Hitsugaya's battle took place. It supposedly split into two, so there might be more residual energy. We need as much data as we can get."

"Roger. We're on it." The officer motioned to his partner with his head to move on towards the pair at the other end of the sector. They were just passing another paired team, whom had been looking for any leftover signs of a garganta, when a bright flash lit up the sky.

All the shinigami present shielded their eyes against the searing intensity of the light until it began to dim. What was revealed in the sky left them gaping and bewildered.

"That's-the gates of hell!?"

"We're the only ones here. Why are they appearing?"

"Wait, they're… crumbling?"

"What's going on!?"

Indeed, suspended in the air above the massive gates with their skeletal adornments were gradually dissolving into the air. In their place a mass of red and black pulsed and twisted in on itself.

As the shinigami continued to stare, a small distortion formed in the center of the writhing mass. Within seconds the distortion coalesced into three figures, one of which had another slumped against its back. Set a few paces in front of the others was the apparent leader; the short stature and luminous white hair standing up it stylish spikes were quite distinguishable.

"C-Captain Hitsugaya!"

~minutes previously~

When Ryuunosuke shook himself free of the trance he had fallen into, he was taken aback by the scene that met his eyes. A crazed-looking Hotaru stood before the twins, his katana an arc of silver as it aimed for Ayumu, who was attempting to shield his already injured brother.

Rage flooded the white-haired boy's veins and, with more speed than he thought himself capable of, he flashed between the gleaming blade and its quarry. A sword made entirely of crystalline ice halted the progress of Hotaru's katana.

Mad blue eyes turned their attention to the interruption. Hotaru gave an overly cheerful smile. "Why hello, Ryuu-kun. Nice of you to join us. Now, how about you step aside and let me kill all of you?"

Ryuu scoffed, "As if. Don't think I'll just let you have your way." In an impressive show of strength, he shoved his opponent back, immediately giving chase before the taller man could regain his balance. Blades clashed as Hotaru deflected a blow even as he continued to stumble backwards.

Teal eyes narrowed in controlled anger, Ryuu once more unconsciously stepped into a shunpo as he circled trying to overwhelm his enemy from the speed and change in direction. But the other kept pace and managed to fend him off.

'More,' Ryuu urged himself, gritting his teeth. 'More power. I need more power!' Once more an aura of blue light wrapped around his body. With a yell he slashed his ice sword through the air. The temperature plummeted and everything blazed blue.

AN: I feel kinda bad since my co-author has had her part of this chapter done for a while. My inspiration comes in bursts and I don't try to force myself to write when my inspiration isn't cooperating. But today was a good day for writing so this finally got done.