Mitsuhide walked up the steps. The shadows al around him where rushing up to him, and they snaked up his arm and formed a massive Nodachi blade in his hand. He let it rest on his shoulder an stood t the top of the stairs, shouting under his breath. Before he had even reached three, the doors he had shattered on his way in flew open and Ichigo burst through, carrying Zangetsu and wearing his Hollow mask.
Mitsuhide didn't even turn to deflect the Getsuga Tensho that was fired his way. He laughed and turned around, and he clashed briefly with Ichigo before sending him flying away. "Why do you insist on trying, Ichigo? You knew you can't stop me. You tried once already, remember?"
"I wont let you!" Ichigo charge forward. He fired a Cero, and Mitsuhide cursed and Flash Stepped away from the blast. Mitsuhide then turned and did something that caught Ichigo off guard- he fired a Bala. The red bullet hit Ichigo on the side an sent him spinning through the air and crashing into the remains of the staircase. Mitsuhide didn't let him rest e fired another Bala, and another, until nothing was left of the stairs, and Ichigo was forced into the air.
"How?-" Ichigo was unable to answer, as soon after, Mitsuhide fired another Bala. Ichigo fired a Getsuga Tensho at it, and both rounds hit each other an negated one another. Mitsuhide laughed and jumped into the air, and Ichigo fought with him for a while, and despite the massive nature of Mitsuhide's sword, he was moving more nimbly then Ichigo, who had to use every ounce of strength he could muster to avoid being torn to shreds.
"I was the first Shinigami, Ichigo. The Grim Reaper himself." Mitsuhide knocked Ichigo's sword aside and cut him across the mask, chipping it. "You Don't think the King would have let me fight the Hollow without giving me their powers first, right? I wasn't just the first Shinigami, I was the first Vizard!" Mitsuhide swung his sword and although Ichigo blocked it, he was still sent flying. "Except unlike you, I defeated my inner-hollow!"
Mitsuhide let his sword fall limp to his side, and his eyes glowed black for a second. Ichigo looked up, and his Hollow eyes widened for an instant, just before Mitsuhide laughed. He fired his Cero, which fired straight from his eyes in a massive cone, enveloping much of the chamber. Mitsuhide fired another one, at the space above where he had just fired, for good measure, and then fired Bala after Bala into the wreckage.
He stood there, confident that Ichigo was down for good, and he turned away. His first mistake. His second one was letting his sword dissolve. His third was not making sure Ichigo was actually dead. The orange haired boy appeared behind him in a Sonido step, and stabbed him through the gut, so the blade of Zangetsu nailed him to the ground as well. He cursed. Looked around.
Ichigo laughed. "The Tiger-Dragon-Bee manoeuvre. It took me, Hitsugaya and Soifon a long time to actually come up with this, because, well, neither of us likes working together. But oh, how it works. It especially works against Arrancar. Especially over-confident Arrancar." Ichigo placed his hand on Mitsuhide's back. Fired a Cero of his own, tearing out a large chunk of the man's spine. "If you havent guessed by now, I'm the Tiger. He's the Dragon!"
Mitsuhide looked to the left. Hitsugaya came charging in, and the dragon of ice made of his Zanpakuto sped forwards, and Ichigo darted away, leaving Mitsuhide rooted to the spot. The dragon spun around him, and encased him in ice, and although he appeared to struggle, the combined force of being nailed to the ground by Zangetsu and being encased in Hitsugaya's ice was too much for him. Both Toshihiro and Ichigo looked to Mitsuhide's right.
"Now, Soifon!" They both shouted, and the woman darted from the shadows and landed in front of Mitsuhide. She stabbed through the ice and pierced him once in the chest, making the butterfly symbol appear on his chest. She drew her hand back, ready to strike again- and saw his smirk. She tried to move back in time, but it was too late. The ice broke apart, and shards of it stick into her like bullets. Ichigo had the sense to duck behind the wreckage, and Hitsugaya blocked them with a shield, but Soifon was riddled with fragments of ice.
Mitsuhide tore Zangetsu from him and threw it away, and his wounds healed again. He held out his hand, and a massive crucifix formed in his hands, leant across both shoulders. Hitsugaya sent the dragon flying towards him again, but Mitsuhide merely laughed, and he hefted the cross, which split apart, revealing a massive blade that spurted from the centre section, and he used it to cut the dragon in two with a Getsuga Tensho.
He then spun around, knocking the shards everywhere, and he hopped up, as more of the cross slid apart, revealing a multitude of gun barrels in the sections of the cross. He laughed, and fired it at Hitsugaya, who realised the Ceros heading for him, and he darted to the side, jumping from point to point, as every time he landed, he had a split second before Mitsuhide hit the spot with another round. Ichigo charged, and was knocked away by the blade, and the guns where again turned on Hitsugaya.
Hitsugaya activated his Bankai. He charged forward with claws of ice, blocking the Cero blasts with a massive shield of ice, and as he slid forward on a slide made of ice he spewed forth, Mitsuhide's weapon changed to a massive axe. Although it looked like it was far too big for even someone like Komura to heft, he moved with surprising speed and smashed his shield and his wings, and cut Hitsugaya across the face. Ichigo charged again, but Mitsuhide brought the axe around in a massive arc and cut both him and a newly arisen Hitsugaya in one movement. Both flew away, and Mitsuhide stood there, grinning, in a centre of destruction.
Ichigo struggled up. He was now changing. The Hollow was coming to the surface, like it had done with Ulquiorra, the horns forming and the long mane of orange hair flowing from his mask, which enveloped his head. He stood there, with Zangetsu in his hand, and fired a Cero from between his horns, Mitsuhide fired his own, and sighed. He watched as the two Ceros imploded as they touched, and he raised his sword.
"I'm sorry Ichigo. This wasn't meant to happen. You where meant to live. But your in the way. So prepare to see," Mitsuhide brought his axe, which rapidly changed into the Nodachi again, close to his face. "True fear." He closed his eyes, and Ichigo knew something was up. He charged, but it was too late. Mitsuhide was already muttering the incantation.
"Take their souls, Shinigami!" Mitsuhide held his sword aloft, and a mass of black fire erupted from it. His entire body became a phoenix of black fire, but Ichigo knew something was up. Then he realised what. Behind Mitsuhide, the black fire change, from mere flames to fire that formed a massive cloaked figure with a scythe behind him. The black fire then covered him, so he looked like he was the mass of black fire, with the long flowing cloak made of pure darkness and the scythe of black flame in his hands. He ran forwards.
Ichigo didn't stand a chance.
Mitsuhide must have cut him around a hundred times before he passed by. The fire burned him with every cut, and every time the sword cut him, the scythe of black fire cut him a few moments later, the fire following him like a doppelganger. Mitsuhide didn't spare him one piece of pain, but instead tore him to shreds, cutting his mask into ribbons and tearing Zangetsu apart. Mitsuhide then fired a massive stream of black fire at him, and it engulfed Ichigo, as Mitsuhide brought his scythe down at neck height.
Something struck him that caused him searing pain. He looked down. Someone had fired a spell at him. No. Not a spell. An arrow. He looked up at the doorway to the tower, and saw a group of people standing there. He snarled. Uryu stepped forwards, backed by Chad, Rukia and Orihime.
"Sorry we're late, Ichigo." He readied another arrow. "We'll take it from here."