CHAPTER 8

The group of four friends stood outside of the closed gates, no hope of ever opening them again, they felt totally defeated. It seemed impossible that Ichigo would ever survive long enough to get out. And who had been that guy standing behind him?

Soon they realized that even though time moved differently in the precipice world than it did in the world of the living and Hueco Mundo, their time limit was almost up, it seemed every fifteen minutes in the precipice world was two minutes in the living world, so they had to hurry.

"Oh, it seems that young Ichigo Kurosaki has fallen into the hands of Kanzin, the exile was supposed to live in Hell for eternity because of what he did." Kisuke explained to the group sitting around the table in the usual meeting room, it had taken a full day, but everyone had managed to regroup and come back from Hueco Mundo without too much hassle. Now they sat in a group once more around the table at Urahara's shop, hoping that Kisuke would have an answer. Rukia had described the strange figure they had seen pull Ichigo in.

"Kanzin? Who's he?" Uryuu always got right to the point.

"Oh, uuhh, well, nobody knows much about him, just that he was banished to Hell many thousands of years ago for doing something really bad to the soul society and the world of the living. Even I don't actually know what he did. And I'm not sure who would other than the Head captain himself." Urahara cleared his throat and sipped some of his tea. Ururu brought in some snacks for them to eat while they talked.

"Let this emergency captains meeting commence! I believe Captain Kurotsuchi should begin." The head captain spoke to the rows of captains in front of him.

"Hmph, earlier this week I received notification of strange behavior coming from the substitute soul reaper Kurosaki Ichigo. I began to monitor his progress in the precipice world. At first he remained still, then he began to move again, as if following a path instead of creating one. When I looked at the direction he was moving in, I realized he was running straight towards an unknown world."

"What is that supposed to mean, I thought the young substitute was on the path to Hueco Mundo!" Captain Ukitake spoke out of turn, looking slightly distressed.

"Yes, well, it seems inevitable. A human rescue party was sent for him made of Rukia Kuchiki, Yasotora Sado, Orihime Inoue, and Uryuu Ishida the Quincy. They arrived at the entrance to the unknown world right as Kurosaki was entering it, they did not follow. Then, about an hour later, that entire unknown world disappeared from my map! I can assure you this is no technical error!" The captain wrung his hands when he spoke of the disappearing world.

"Well, do you have any idea what was in that world?" Captain Kyoraku seemed less optimistic.

"Hell." the answer came from the head captain himself, and it was met by gasps and muttered disbeliefs.

"So, do we get to enter Hell now?" Captain Zarachi looked excited at the prospect of fighting the unknown enemies that could lie within.

"No, I already told you that the world disappeared from my monitoring system almost immediately after Kurosaki entered!" The impatient scientist spoke irritatedly to the large barbarian.

"I am afraid that this is grave news. If Kurosaki does not have control of his hollow, and it is released when he is in Hell, he will lose control of it and he could become an even bigger threat." Yamamoto called everyone back to attention with his loud commanding voice.

"But how are we going to even get in Hell? I thought we didn't even know where it was until recently!" Captain Hitsugaya rubbed his chin in thought.

"We can follow the path that substitute soul reaper Ichigo Kurosaki left, it still hasn't disintegrated yet, but it will soon if we don't act quickly." Captain Kurotsuchi said.

"Then it is decided! We will send a search team to find and enter Hell to retrieve Kurosaki Ichigo. I would like Captains Hitsugaya, Kuchiki, Zarachi, and Captain Kurotsuchi, along with your lieutenants and anyone you deem necessary for the mission. You are dismissed, the captains that will be on the mission, please meet at the Senkaimon in a few hours." Head captain Yamamoto banged his staff and the group of captains began to leave at their own pace.

Ichigo could only think about what was going on. His body was limp and he didn't feel the need to move. It felt like he was slowly drifting downwards, though he couldn't remember how to open his eyes, or do much of anything. Suddenly he remembered his friends staring at him through the closing gates, his eyes shot open and he jerked his body around to get his bearings. He was indeed falling, slowly though, as if through thick air. When he looked around him he almost screamed, there were hideous monsters that clung to red rocky cliffs all around him. The creatures seemed to be somewhat human in shape, but their limbs were horribly disfigured and blood and puss oozed out of ghastly scars. Ichigo felt repulsed by the sight of so many suffering creatures, their screams puncturing his ears. He wanted to get out and never look back.

"You finally woke up, a little sooner than expected I must say. We will soon reach my lair and I will introduce you to my army!" The figure appeared standing in the air next to Ichigo.

"What's your name? Why are we falling?" Ichigo quickly closed his mouth as he accidentally inhaled the putrid air. It smelled of death and decay.

"My name is Kanzin. I am the ruler of Hell! All creatures bow before me!" He answered before disappearing.

Suddenly Ichigo slammed into a hard surface, the breath was knocked out of him and it took him a few moments to sit up and look at what he had hit. It appeared to be a large crater, the bases of the cliffs rose up around him, but they were strangely absent of any life, or any death for that matter. Ichigo slowly stood up, using Zangetsu as a cane to hold onto. He noticed a cave at the base of one cliff; some odd glow seemed to come from within. He walked over to the entrance to the cave and peered inside, he couldn't see far enough to get a grasp on what was inside, so he stepped farther into the cave and began walking quietly towards the light. He rounded a corner and found himself on a balcony two stories high in a huge cavern filled with hollows and other grotesque monsters. They were all facing towards a stage in the center and seemed to be cheering for something.

"My great army! The time is almost upon us! We will soon have a new member in our ranks, one that is ultimately powerful! He will be our key into the soul society! And once there, we will exact our revenge on those evil soul reapers that banished us to eternal suffering!" It was Kanzin, he stood with his arms raised on the stage, two body guards flanking his back, he spoke into an odd looking microphone to the crowd. The crowd began to cheer and roar, making the walls and ceiling shake. Ichigo covered his ears, knowing that Kanzin was talking about him, he needed to get out, find a way to open the gates and escape. He turned and began to run for the exit from the cave, but he stopped suddenly when Kanzin appeared before him. Ichigo turned to run back the way he came, but was stopped and grabbed roughly by the two bodyguards he had seen before. He didn't even have time to draw Zangetsu before being knocked unconscious and dragged away.

When Ichigo woke up, his arms and legs were bound to chains on a rough cave wall a few inches above the ground. Wires and tubes were attached to his chest and arms, and he realized that he was only wearing the pants of his shihakushĂ´. His wrists and ankles hurt because of the metal restraints. The room before him was filled with machines and weird gizmos that littered the floor along with a few tables. Nobody seemed to be there. He pulled at the chains, trying to detach them from the wall, or slip his hands through the cuff, to no avail.

"Hey! Kanzin, or whoever you are, let me go!" He yelled.

"I'm right here you know." Kanzin appeared from the shadows behind a large cabinet full of glass jars and beakers. "I needed to make sure you were conscious to hear what I am going to do to you. Hehe. I'm going to let your hollow take control for a little bit, and I will add you to my army. I won't let you regain control though, you see this drug?" He held up one of the beakers filled with a purple-ish gray liquid. "This liquid will cause your hollow to gain enough strength to take over your mind for long periods of time, rendering you bound in your inner world!" He picked up a needle and filled it to the brim with the liquid, before slowly injecting it into Ichigo's neck. Ichigo tried to struggle and jerk away from the needle, but Kanzin had a vice-like grip that wouldn't be budged.

"Oooohhh, this feels good! I want more of this, hehehehe, Ichigo ya poor kid. I thought ya would be able to hold out longer, but oh well. More time for me to have some fun!" Ogichi screamed in Ichigo's head.

"Aaaaahhhhh, no! Stop, please, go away! I won't let you take over..." Ichigo arched his back and struggled with his bonds, his eyes went wide and he began to release as much spiritual pressure as possible, trying to break his bonds, never accepting his inevitable fate. But after only a few seconds his body went limp and he let his head drop facing the floor. His breathing was short and ragged and his fingers twitched and clenched. Suddenly his body was engulfed entirely in black and red Getsuga, he screamed and began writhing around, nearly cracking his skull on the wall behind him. Until finally a huge explosion forced Kanzin to back up and turn away. The screaming turned into a double voice, it began to laugh maniacally as it stomped out of the rubble. Ogichi had returned.


Hello Readers! I hope everybody is enjoying my story! PleasePleasePlease review! It really motivates me, and I will not take any criticisms offensively. Thanks and sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out...