~TOSHIRO VS. SHAWLONG~

Both combatants froze slightly as they felt a spiritual pressure fade. Shawlong looked to his left. "Someone killed Di Roy…figures. He pesters us to bring him along, and he ends up getting killed first. What a fool."

"Enough talking." Shawlong turned his head to look at the young Captain, who was glaring. "Why are you here? I was told the invasion is not for another month." Shawlong stared at the boy for a moment before answering.

"We came to finish the task Ulquiorra failed to accomplish."

"Ulquiorra…?" Toshiro asked with a frown, before his eyes narrowed. "What was this task?"

Shawlong smirked and his eyes narrowed as he stared down at the captain. "Why would I tell this to you, Captain?" He asked with venom, seemingly having trouble even saying his opponent's title. He glared at the Shinigami as he raised his sword slightly. "Now, no more interruptions. I will kill you here and now, Shinigami."

"Tch…" Toshiro growled, holding his sword in both hands in front of him. "Fine, but I won't lose to you."

"We'll see."

~RYOKO~

Ryoko rushed through the sky, using sonido to get to her destination faster. Her skirt flapping in the wind, and her deep blue hair whipping around her. "Where are you… Toshiro?"

"BANKAI!"

Ryoko's eyes widened and she jumped up, moving her feet in front of her and skidding to a halt. She looked around in confusion, before her eyes widened. That voice… and that spiritual pressure! She turned and rushed over to another area closer to her to see Ylfordt fighting Renji, who had just revealed his Bankai. Renji gripped the end of his zanpakuto, which is now a large snake. "Woah…"

"Hyaa!" Renji yelled out as he swung down, the snake shooting out at Ylfordt, who quickly dodged the snake's bone jaws. "Stand still, dammit!" He growled as he swung again and again, each time missing the target. Ylfordt grinned and turned to Renji.

"Gotta admit the thing's pretty fast considering how big it is, brother. However, it's not very effective."

Renji growled. "Shut up!" He exclaimed, swinging once again. Ylfordt frowned as he watched the snake get closer. As he raised his sword, a blur shot in front of him and knocked the snake's head away, making it hiss. Renji's eyes widened. "What the hell?"

Ylfordt stared down at Ryoko, whose hand was stretched out. "Ryoko?" Said girl turned and grinned mischievously at the blonde. "What the hell are you doing here? This is my fight!"

"I was bored." she deadpanned. "Grimmjow's not exactly the best company." Ylfordt's eye twitched as she turned to Renji and waved. "Hey Pineapple!"

Renji twitched, then his eyes widened. "Ryoko… What the hell…?" He stared at the horns on her head in utter shock. "What happened to you?"

"Hm? Oh, these?" Ryoko looked up as she touched her biggest horn, then smiled at him. "Pretty cool, huh?" She asked, spreading her arms out to her sides. "Aizen-sama made me even stronger! And I get these really cool horns and this awesome outfit!" Renji stared at her like she was insane.

Aizen did this…? That bastard! Renji thought, gritting his teeth.

"So uh… Pineapple… you uh… compensating for something?"

Renji blinked. "Wha…?" Ryoko continued.

"I mean, there's no real reason for this thing to be so big. You're obviously compensating. I wonder what for…?" She smiled innocently. Renji's eye twitched in annoyance, but before he could speak out, Ylfordt beat him to it.

"This is MY fight, sister!" Ylfordt growled, yanking Ryoko back. "Go bug someone else!"

"Oi!" Ryoko hissed. "I want to have some fun too!"

"Go play with someone else! You said there were what? Four other people?" Ryoko blinked and opened her mouth to interrupt but didn't get a word out. "Whatever. I can handle this. Just go!" Ryoko pouted then sonido'd away. "Finally. Now where were we?"

Ginta watched from a rooftop, eyes wide. "That girl… Moocher looked like he knew her. Who is she?"

"Hey there!"

"Gyah!" Ginta jumped in shock, turning and staring at Ryoko who stood behind him with a wide and bright smile on her face. "What the hell?! Get away from me!"

Ryoko frowned. "That's mean… Anyway, You're curious as to who I am, right?" She asked, leaning forward and letting a few strands of hair fall from her back and hanging down. Ginta stayed silent, which she took as a yes, and leaned back. "My name's Ryoko Ishida! I'm the little sister to Uryu Ishida and your current enemy! Well… Sorta."

Ginta blinked, confused. "Wait… Uryu? That Quincy guy?"

"Yup!"

"And you're teling me this… why?"

"You were curious."

"Why don't you kill me?"

"There are many reasons…"

"…"

"What? I don't like to spill the blood of someone like you. You didn't hurt me, and I wasn't told of you, so you can't be a big concern to Aizen-sama or me." Ryoko smiles a friendly smile, making Ginta blink in confusion, before his eyes narrowed.

"What are you…?"

"Well I'm a lot of things. I'm a girl, I'm a teenager, I'm dead…" she started numbering on her fingers.

"I mean what's your species?"

"I'm an Arrancar."

"Then why did that moocher seem so shocked to see you with horns?"

"Oh, because I wasn't always an Arrancar!"

"What do you—" Ginta started, but stopped when Ryoko pointed to the other side of the roof and oh so rudely interrupted him.

"Who's that?" Ginta frowned, before turning to see Ururu climbing onto the roof. His eyes widened.

"Ururu! I thought I told you to go to bed!" He exclaimed, standing quickly. He took a step, then stopped and turned to Ryoko when she rested a hand on his shoulder. "What?"

"Something's wrong with her…" The seriousness in her tone shocked the young boy. "Look at her eyes. She's not all there." Ginta looked at his friend once again, and realized she was right. Ururu's senses were fogged.

That Arrancar's spiritual pressure must be affecting her… He turned to Ryoko, only to see she vanished. He blinked. "When…?"

—

Ryoko rushed through the sky once again. Now where's Toshiro? I felt his spiritual pressure spike so he must be in Bankai. But where…? She looked around, a frown on her face as she concentrated. Her eyes widened. There! Skidding to a halt, she quickly changed course and shot like a bullet toward Toshiro and Shawlong. She stopped a good distance away and watched. Toshiro's Bankai… There's only two flowers left. That means he's losing power. She thought as she watched Toshiro rush toward Shawlong, effectively trapping him in ice for about five seconds.

"Pathetic." Shawlong said as he broke out of the ice. "Is that all there is to a Captain's Bankai?"

Toshiro looked back at him with a glare. "It's not over yet!" He growled. Shawlong's eyes widened as the tip of Toshiro's ice tail whipped at him, causing smoke to surround him. Hitsugaya stared at the smoke screen as it dissipated. His eyes widened when Shawlong reappeared, his sword and hand covered in ice. He whipped it to the side, then looked at it before freeing him and his sword from the ice.

"Hmph… Whipping your tail at me…" Toshiro turned to him with a scowl. "Such a desperate move, really. Is that the best you can come up with?" Shawlong's eyes narrowed. "This is so disappointing." He said with a sigh as the second to last ice flower on the captain's Bankai was shattered. "I can see your ice flowers starting to come apart."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Temper, young man." Ryoko snickered at the 'young' comment. "I know something about your powers. As that flower behind you dissintegrates, it serves as a countdown to when your Bankai's powers run out." Ryoko frowned as one of the four flower petals on the last one broke apart. "I'm correct, aren't I?" He asked pointing his sword at the captain. "You're young, so your Bankai has yet to be completed. Since it requires an amazing amount of spirit energy, it is hard to keep it for long periods of time, even when you're a captain. Now your once twelve petals are but three. Once that runs out, I can kill you quickly. I could wait, but that would be disrespectful of me toward a captain. So I will eliminate you while we can still fight on… equal… grounds." He said as his body gained a yellow aura.

Ryoko's eyes widened. "Is he serious…?!"

"Snip, Tijereta!"

"He's going to release?! Is he crazy?" Ryoko exclaimed in shock, staring at the new form of his.

Nakeem looked up, noticing Ryoko's appearance. "Ryoko." He said, getting the attention of the small girl. She quickly sonido'd over to him and mock-saluted.

"Aye aye, sir!" She said, grinning.

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see how Toshiro was doing." she answered, dropping her arm and turning to the fight. "I always thought he was weak, but this?" She sighed and crossed her arms, shaking her head before turning to look down at Rangiku. "So you took down Rangiku?"

Nakeem nodded. "She wasn't too strong." Ryoko frowned, her eyes narrowing, before looking up at Toshiro. Neither of them realized Rangiku was still awake, or her shocked face at seeing Ryoko.

The three of them listened as Shawlong explained the numerical system to Toshiro, and about the Espadas. Ryoko blinked. "Oh yeah… I forgot. I haven't been given a number yet. I wonder why that is…?"

"You're still part Soul Reaper." Ryoko turned to Nakeem. "Only Hollows can be in the system. Otherwise Aizen-sama, Gin, and Tousen would have numbers." Ryoko pouted and leaned back, both hands behind her head.

"Still it'd be nice to know where I stand." she mumbled before turning back to the battle.

Suddenly, a large blast of bright blue spiritual energy shot out onto the sky, alerting the others. "Isn't that Grimmjow's energy?" Ryoko mumbled to herself, loud enough for Nakeem and even Rangiku to hear. "That's where Carrot-Top is… but I don't sense Rukia so I guess she's either dead or very injured." Nakeem only nodded.

Hitsugaya growled as he stared at Shawlong. He breathed heavily, feeling the pain from his many injuries, especially the one to the chest. Hurry up… he thought, I can't hold on much longer…

Rangiku shifted slightly, gripping something in her fist. Come on… hurry…

"Hm?" Nakeem turned around to see her. "So, you're still breathing are you?"

"Hm?" Ryoko turned to look at Rangiku as well, lowering her hands to her sides and watching Nakeem walk toward her intent on finishing her. But before he could…

"Lieutenant Matsumoto!" Ryoko, Nakeem, and Rangiku's eyes widened at the voice. "The restriction removal has been authorized."

Ryoko froze. Crap! "Nakeem—!" Nakeem lowered his foot, but Rangiku stopped it with her forearm.

"M-message recieved… Captain, Renji! Limit release has been approved!" She said, pushing away his foot. "Go full power!"

Ryoko growled, grinding her teeth together and narrowing her eyes. I knew it… There's no way a captain could be so weak as to get killed by Shawlong! Quickly Ryoko jumped away just as Rangiku released her full power.

"What is this?"

"Gentei Kaichou…" Ryoko said, shocked. "Their full power was limited to keep from harming the souls in the town."

"And this restricts our powers by 80%." Toshiro said, making Shawlong step back. "Which means…"

"We're now five times stronger!" Rangiku finished.

Ryoko growled angrily. "This isn't good… They're too far into their battles. No way will they back down. They're idiots."

Rangiku blocked another punch by Nakeem. "You were a lot faster before. You'll need to be that fast in order to win. What was that ability called?" At this, Nakeem grinned wickedly before using said technique to get behind her.

"It's sonido." He said before trying to punch her, only for her to appear behind him.

"We Soul Reapers have something like that. It's called Flash Step, or shunpo." As she said this, blood spurted from Nakeem's shoulder from a wound, making him grunt in pain.

Toshiro swung his sword diagonally. "It's over, Shawlong Koufang." Shawlong growled.

"Growl, Haineko!" Rangiku exclaimed, swinging her sword forward as the sword dispersed into dust.

"Ryusenka!" Toshiro exclaimed, pointing his sword forward.

Ryoko stepped back, her eyes widening in shock before turning her head. Ylfordt! He's dead!

"Enough! We must retre—!" Shawlong froze when he saw Nakeem fall to the ground, dead from Haineko. He growled, then turned to flee.

"Too late." Hitsugaya whispered, then charged at Shawlong's retreating back. Shawlong glanced back with fearfilled eyes before turning into ice completely. "Farewell." He mumbled. The ice shattered, causing Shawlong to shatter too, killing him.

Ryoko stared in shock at Toshiro, eyes as wide as could be. Ylfordt… Nakeem… S-Shawlong… Di Roy… Edorad… All of you are… Her eyes narrowed in anger. Rangiku looked at Ryoko for a split second before she sonido'd up to Toshiro, making her eyes widen.

"Captain!" Too late.

His eyes widened just as Ryoko slashed his torso, causing blood to pool out and splatter everywhere, his two ice wings shattering completely. Toshiro stared in shock at the girl standing in front of him, her cold, dead eyes staring into his. He opened his mouth to speak, but only a groan came out as he plummeted to the building roof.

Rangiku shunpo'd next to him and picked him up. "Captain? Captain!" She looked up to see Ryoko frowning, before sonidoing away. Rangiku frowned, then ran to the ledge where she saw Orihime. "Orihime! Come here! Hurry!"

Ryoko quickly sonido'd to Grimmjow's location, where she watched Grimmjow start to unsheathe his sword. Before she could move, Tousen appeared, putting a hand on his shoulder. He quickly turned. "Tousen?!"

"Crap…" Ryoko said to herself.

Ichigo lay there in a crater, eyes wide. "Tousen? He's one of the captains that left for Hueco Mundo with Aizen!"

"Why the hell are you here?!" Grimmjow asked, clearly annoyed.

"Why, you ask? You really don't know?" Tousen asked. Grimmjow said nothing, so he continued. "You take it upon yourself to invade the human world, mobilize five arrancar and lose them in battle, and brought along someone who was not supposed to come here! You are in violation of your orders!" He explained, walking toward Grimmjow. "You understand now, don't you? Aizen is furious with you."

"How did you know we were here?!"

He stopped a few feet away. "Ryoko left us a note on her bed." He opened a garganta. "Come." He ordered calmly, then turned to his left toward a building. "You too."

Ichigo loosed confused, then shocked when Ryoko sonido'd next to Tousen. "Thank goodness, No-Eyes!" She whined, latching onto Tousen from behind. "Grimmjow came to my room last night and forced me to go with him! He wanted me to fight with him and he thought that since I went with him you'd think it was me and he wouldn't get in trouble!" Tousen stayed quiet for a few moments, giving Ichigo time to speak.

"Ryoko!" Said girl looked to Ichigo with a look of confusion. "Is that… really you?"

Ryoko smiled and did a peace sign. "Yep! It's me, Carrot-Top! Glad to see you ain't in a bloody mess!" Ichigo sweat dropped.

"Ryoko."

"Yes?"

"Did you fight?" Tousen asked as he walked into the garganta with Ryoko still latched on.

"Aizen-sama didn't want me to fight, so I didn't. I'm not that stupid!" She shot Grimmjow a look, making him growl. "But I'm telling the truth!" Tousen turned his head slightly to listen better as the garganta closed. "He…he came to my room… and told me to get up. If he didn't, he was going to hurt me." Grimmjow growled in anger. She looked down sadly. "He and his Fracción came up to me and gave me a deep cut on my side. They… they said that if I didn't go with them, they'd kill me…s-so I did…"

"What?!" Grimmjow exclaimed, then he finally noticed the large cut on her side. "You lying piece of—!"

"Grimmjow." Tousen stated calmly but with force, making him shut up. "We will see what Aizen says to that story."

~LAS NOCHES: HUECO MUNDO~

Ryoko relayed her story to Aizen, even showing the deep cut (that she totally didn't do when she was headed toward Toshiro after Grimmjow left) Grimmjow gave her. Throughout the story, Grimmjow was seething and plotting the death of the small innocent child. Aizen stared down at her as she finished her story.

"Alright then. Ryoko, considering you were there forcefully, and the fact you didn't show off any power of yours, you are free of any punishment." Ryoko smiled happily, but inside she was jumping for joy. "As for you, Grimmjow…"

Grimmjow stayed silent.

"Am I right to assume you did this as an act to please me, only for it to be carried away?" Aizen asked.

Grimmjow scoffed. "Sure. Whatever."

"Aizen-sama, please give me the order and I shall execute him!"

"Do not kill him, Tousen." Aizen stated calmly. Ryoko sonido'd next to Aizen and watched with amusement. "However… You attacked my subordinate, and because of that you will be severely punished."

"Eh? You're actually believing that bullshit?" Grimmjow asked with a raised eyebrow. "If you're fooled by that, then you're just patheti—!" Before he could finish, Tousen swiftly discarded Grimmjow's left arm, making him yell out in pain.

"Do not disrespect Aizen-sama." He said.

Ryoko grinned and pointed her hand at the arm. "Hado #54: Haien!" She exclaimed, swinging her arm causing a purple disk to shoot at the arm, which burst into flames when it connected.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" Grimmjow exclaimed in pain, blood oozing out of his arm. He looked up in anger at first Tousen, then Ryoko. "You bitch! My arm!" He gripped his sword with his only arm and unsheathed it slightly, running toward Ryoko.

"Grimmjow." Said Espada stopped, looking to Aizen, who for once was frowning. "I will not forgive you if you attack Ryoko or Tousen."

Grimmjow grit his teeth in anger before sheathing his sword and turning around, walking out of the room. Ryoko waved goodbye.

Oi peeps! I got a Beta Reader now! ShikiUploadz! Thank her a ton because I used to just skin through and/or white these at 2am which I am currently doing. But yeah, thanks Shiki! ^^