I do not own Dragonball Z, Justice League, Batman Beyond, Teen Titans, X-Men Evolution, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Bleach, or Yu Yu Hakusho

I have to say this before the chapter: Sorry guys for vanishing off the planet for two weeks! As a treat, I will be putting out four chapters this week instead of two. Hope to see some reviews!

Please take the time to take the poll on my profile!

Bleach Key:

Shikai:Second released form of a Zanpakutou. Stronger and has greater abilities.

Bankai:The third and final stage of the Zanpakutou. Completely unique to the user transforming the Zanpakutou into its truest form.

Soul Society:Land of the dead. In this series, a middle ground for the dead. Heaven, Soul Society, Hell. Will elaborate in the story later on.

Seireitei:A place inside the Soul Society where only Shinigami are normally allowed to enter. Home of the Gotei 13 (13 court guard squads), a military organization of powerful Shinigami.

Shinigami:Death Gods. In charge of ferrying the souls of the living to the Soul Society and killing Hollow's on sight.

Hollow's:Evil spirits that were once human. They come in many different shapes and sizes bit all have white masks for faces in common as well as a hole somewhere on their body.

Quincy:Spiritually aware humans who fought against Hollow's opposite of the Shinigami. 200 years ago, the Shinigami tried to exterminate them leaving only Ishida's father and now Ishida as the last of the Quincy.

****Chapter 18: Deathly Hollow: Part One****

"Well, this was fun and all," Yusuke said, waving a hand casually, "but I think it's time to head back to good ole Japan for us."

"It has been a pleasure to have you five here with us," Charles Xavier said, smiling warmly. "Please, allow us to give you a ride home. Logan and Ororo need to test out the final modifications to the X-Jet, anyway."

"That's alright," Kuwabara said quickly. "I'd rather take a plane that is fully tested and working already."

"Fine, Kuwabara," Yusuke said, shrugging. "You can pay for yourself to get on a plane crowded with people alone if you want to."

A shudder went through the tall red haired boy. "On second thought," Kuwabara said, "I guess I will go with you guys."

"Excellent," Xavier said. "Logan and Storm will be ready shortly."

"I won't be going back with you," Ichigo said, shoving his hands in his jean pockets.

Yusuke looked over at him. "Why not? There a party I don't know about?"

"Trouble in the Seireitei," he said. "I'm going to go see if I can help."

"You don't need to lie to us," Hiei said, his face expressionless. "We all saw how you dislike those flying crafts."

Ichigo shook his head. "Rukia came to visit last night." He paused to let Yusuke and Kuwabara finish snickering, then continued. "She came to tell me that there is a lot of abnormal Hollow activity both on Earth and even a few instances where they have found their way into the Soul Society. They seem to think it may have something to do with Aizen."

"Who is Aizen?" Xavier asked curiously. "You have mentioned him before while here on the grounds but never elaborated on."

"Uh," Ichigo said, not really sure how much to tell him. He was just a human, not involved even on Yusuke's level in other worldly affairs but he was obviously aware of the existence of the Soul Society, found through his adventure with Caliwone. "Well, in the Soul Society, a place for normal human souls after they die, there are the Gotei Thirteen. They are like military here on Earth that protect and maintain the balance between the living and dead and kill Hollow's on sight. Each of the thirteen squads has a Captain, a Vice-Captain and seated and unseated members.

"Aizen was one of the Soul Society's Captain and betrayed all of the Soul Society and turns out he is in control of the Hollow's, though to what extent we don't know yet." Ichigo sighed. All this was a little complicated for him but maybe that's why the Soul Society kept him out of most of this stuff. "All I know is that if Hollow's are starting to cause trouble, Aizen most likely has something to do with it."

"What's a Hollow?" Kuwabara asked after a moment.

"You know those big black ghosts with the large white masks that come in all different shapes and sizes?" Hiei asked coldly. "Really, how do you remember how to walk home at night?"

"Hey, shut up, squirt," Kuwabara retorted angrily. "I just have a lot going on right now, ok? There's so much stuff to remember here so just back off!"

"So those ghosts Caliwone was talking about and apparently were present during the events with Apocalypse are called Hollow's," Xavier said. "Interesting."

"So you're going back to see if you can help?" Kurama asked softly as Hiei and Kuwabara continued to go at it in a verbal war.

Ichigo nodded. "I am supposed to wait and hear from Rukia but she was supposed to have contacted me by now. If I don't hear anything from her in the next half hour or so, I am going in."

"Well, I have been looking forward to some good exercise," Yusuke said, stretching out his arm. "I'm coming too."

"No, you aren't," Ichigo said. "This is Soul Society business and unfortunately, you aren't even a Spirit Detective anymore. You can't go."

"So what, you're going to take your little team instead?" Yusuke asked, glaring at Ichigo.

"Not unless I have to," Ichigo answered. "Ishida, Chad, and Orihime will be staying behind. Still, right now they are more welcome in the Soul Society than you are."

Yusuke sighed. "Yeah, there is that little problem with the death sentence Koenma's dad still has out for me, even if they do let me live here on Earth in peace now."

"Besides," Kuwabara said, having finished his little argument with Hiei. "You promised Keiko you wouldn't fight any more."

"Yeah, alright. Jeez," Yusuke said, turning to look back at his friends. "Let's all team up on Yusuke today. Fine, I guess we are going home." He turned back to Xavier. "Load us up, wheels. We'll be taking Kurosaki's body with us, too."

The large sliding doors closed behind Ichigo as he stepped into the Soul Society. The wind, so calm and different from the real world, drifted past him with a lazy attitude. The sky was clear, no gaping holes in the sky that indicated Hollow presence, nor any smoke floated skyward from the Seireitei. All seemed well. He walked through the large gates that separated the Seireitei, the city of the Shinigami, from the Rukongai, the afterlife cities for normal human souls.

"Hey, Ichigo." The Substitute Shinigami turned to see a short, molded black haired girl jog over to him wearing the familiar black Kimono of the Shinigami.

"Rukia?" he asked. "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, coming to a stop just shy of him. "What are you doing here?"

"Came looking for you. You said there was trouble and you never checked in today."

"Everything is alright," Rukia said. "We got everything handled. I was just coming to check in."

"Oh," Ichigo said. He looked around again. As he had seen from outside, the Seireitei looked undamaged, not a hint of any trouble that could have spurred Rukia to come to him for help. "Alright," Ichigo said. "If you're sure." Slowly, another Gate coalesced in space and Ichigo was escorted to it. As the doors began to close, Ichigo looked back. Rukia was walking away from the Gate but was it just his eyes or did she seem to gain a somewhat glossy composition...

He stepped out back to the real world, well before Yusuke and his team had made it back to Japan. By now, Ichigo had grown quite accustom to the almost fake looking reality after being in a place that was so concentrated in spiritual energy, even the night in which hide most of the light seemed fake by comparison. Everything seemed so faded, like someone turned up the brightness on a TV and turned down the contrast. That effect only lasted a little while, however, and by the time Ichigo made it to the Urahara shop, things seemed back to normal.

"Oye, Mr. Hat-and-clogs?" Ichigo shouted, sliding the door open.

"Ichigo. Welcome back to Japan. How was America?" Urahara Kisuke asked, peeking around a corner deeper in the store and fanning himself idly.

"Fine," Ichigo said, not bothering to smile or greet Urahara properly. "There's trouble in the Soul Society."

Urahara lost his smile and looked hard at Ichigo under his hat. "What makes you say that, Ichigo?"

"Rukia came to me last night saying that there was trouble with Hollows," Ichigo said. "She was supposed to give me an update this morning but never showed up and when I went to go find her, she was waiting for me in the Seireitei." Ichigo sighed. "She said everything was fine and that I needed to go home."

"Did anything seem strange or unusual?" Urahara pressed. "Did Rukia seem blurry or maybe glossy at all?"

Ichigo looked hard at Urahara, standing behind his counter, his eyes shaded by the brim of his green and white striped hat that matched his loosely hanging kimono top. "As the gate was closing, Rukia did seem a little glossy. How did you know?"

"Follow me." Urahara led Ichigo into the back of the shop, down the hall and to the hidden shaft that led down to a subterranean world under the shop. Ichigo followed close behind, doing his best not to knock the walls with the large Zanpakutou that reached down the entire length of his back that stopped just past his knees with the widest part of the blade nearly stretching from shoulder to shoulder.

Urahara climbed down the ladder first with Ichigo right behind and soon entered into the huge underground rocky wasteland that Urahara and Yuroichi had built together long ago to mimic their favorite training area inside the Soul Society. Not too far away from the latter sat a solid clear box no taller than Ichigo's knees where a child sat crying in misery.

"What are you doing?" Ichigo shouted at Urahara a shocked moment after seeing the child. He dropped the remaining distance to the ground and hurried over to the box. The child looked up at Ichigo with big tear streaked eyes and runny nose as Ichigo tried to find a way to free him.

"Do not release it, Ichigo," Urahara said quietly from the base of the ladder.

"Why not?" Ichigo said back, hotly.

"That is no child."

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, turning to look back at the child, just in time to see the child burst outward like someone turning a coat inside out quickly into the menacing form of a Hollow, complete with a terrifying white mask. Ichigo fell backwards in surprise as the Hollow roared with the sound only associated with Hollows. "What the Hell is that?"

"Just how it looks," Urahara said, steeping next to Ichigo. His eyes looked down unafraid of the Hollow from beneath his ever present hat. "Shape-shifter."

"I've never seen anything like it," Ichigo said, getting onto his feet now that the moment of shock was over.

"Neither has anyone in the Soul Society," Urahara said softly. "I managed to capture this one on the outskirts of the Rukongai and brought it back for study. Luckily, these Hollow's are not very smart. Case in point," Urahara paused as the Hollow gave one final roar of frustration and reverted back to the child it had been a few minutes before in the tiny box, it's skin seeming a little glossy. "It revealed itself to you without any real provocation instead of continuing to play off of your emotions."

"So there are more of these things," Ichigo said, anger beginning to well up inside him. "And Rukia is now one of them."

"More of them, yes," Urahara said thoughtfully. "But these Hollow's do not possess the body, merely duplicate it. If I am correct, then that means Rukia may be safe, and perhaps the entire Gotei 13, are as well."

"You mean these Hollow's have taken over the entire Seireitei?" Ichigo asked, astonished.

"More than likely," Urahara said. "They must have all struck with surprise for them to have all been taken out like this. And then there is the question of why they simply turned you back to the Living World instead of capturing you as well."

"You said they weren't smart," Ichigo said. "Maybe they didn't think about it."

"No," Urahara said, deep in thought. "They aren't smart but this seems more and more like Aizen's doing and Aizen knows about you all too well. My guess is that he will have blocked all passage between the Soul Society to the living world." Urahara snapped his fingers suddenly and smiled broadly. "I've got it!"

"Got what?" Ichigo asked.

"Aizen doesn't know how you guys got in last time to recue Rukia. I can still get you in."

Ichigo looked at Urahara almost unbelievingly. "Even I already figured that much out."

Urahara bowed his head sadly. "You never let me take any credit."

"Anyway," Ichigo said. "Go on and open the gate, Mr. Wizard."

Urahara nodded. "It will take some time. I'm sure Aizen will have done everything he can to block alternate intrusions so I will have to reconstruct the path. Go get Orihime, Chad, and Ishida. You will need their help."

Ichigo nodded. "Looks like I may need their help, after all. What about the Vizards?"

"They have said that they will only help train you, not get involved with Soul Society affairs," Urahara said.

"Fine," Ichigo said. The Vizards, former Shinigami that were turned against their will into half Hollow's, would have been very useful in the coming battle, but Ichigo didn't really like them, or trust them for that matter, beyond that. "I'll be back with the team. Just make sure you have that ready."

"Inuoe..."

In her bed, the long red-headed girl sat up, pulling the sheets up to her chin in fright. "Hello?" Inuoe Orihime asked timidly, looking around her room nervously. Silver moonlight washed through the window next to her bed giving everything a silver glow to everything.

"Inuoe?"

Orihime shifted position on her bed to her knees, dropping the sheets and placing her hands to each side of her head where her six pointed flower hair clips held her hair back. "Are you a ghost?"

Ichigo landed suddenly on Orihime's window sill. "Well, sort of-"

"I reject!" Orihime shouted in surprise. Three pairs of Orihime's two hair clips broke off under her touch and a triangular shield sprang forward and shoved Ichigo off his perch and onto the ground one story down before returning to Orihime's hair clips.

"Inuoe!" Ichigo shouted from the ground, rubbing his behind gingerly.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo!" Orihime said apologetically, leaning out the window to look down. "You startled me."

"Nevermind," Ichigo said, as a few late night strollers looked up at Orihime as if she were crazy, since Ichigo was not visible to the normal human in his Shinigami form. Orihime sat back onto her bed as Ichigo hopped back up to her window sill. "I need you to go get Ishida and meet back at Urahara's shop. I'm going to get Chad."

"Alright," Orihime said without hesitation and hurried over to put her shoes on, nearly falling flat on her face in the process. She looked back at the window but Ichigo was already gone. She looked at the window for another moment.

"Ichigo," she said softly.

"Uryu!"

Ishida Uryu opened his eyes at the sound of his first name. Reaching over to the nightstand next his bed, he picked up his glasses and put them on. Sitting up, he looked at the window not far to his right.

"Inuoe!" he shouted as he saw Orihime and her large bosom leaning in through his window and covering his eyes with both his hands. "What are you doing?"

"Huh?" Orihime asked, clueless.

"Put some decent cloths on before you just lean in through a guys window," Ishida said, blushing and turning his back to her. "You're still in your night cloths."

Orihime looked down at herself for a moment. "I guess I am."

"Here," Ishida said, reaching into his drawer and pulling out a clean shirt and tossed it over his head to Orihime.

"I got it," Orihime said as she tried to catch it. There was a large thud.

"Shhhh!" Ishida hissed, turning to look at Orihime, now on the floor, trying to put on his shirt. "My father might here you. I'm not supposed to have anything to do with you or the Shinigami."

"I know," Inuoe said. "But Ichigo wants us to meet at the Urahara shop right away."

"Why?" Ishida asked, adjusting his glasses.

"I don't know," Inoue said, shrugging.

Ishida sighed. "Fine," he said. "Turn around so I can change, please. Then we are going to stop at your house so you can, too."

"Alright, guys," Urahara said as the team stood in front of him. "I have been able to confirm that the Seireitei is under Hollow control for now. Every Shinigami you see there is a Hollow in disguise, not the people you know. They will look exactly like them, even their Zanpakutou's will perform like the real ones up through Shikai. That means that you, Ichigo, will be on par since your Zanpakutou is constantly in its Shikai form. However, they will not be able to perform Bankai, the third and final released state. I have also been able to confirm that the majority of the Shinigami are still alive, though I cannot pin down their location.

"The Shinigami fakes will most likely be physically stronger among other unique abilities, so be on your guard. Ishida," Urahara focused on Uryu. "You're Quincy arrows are still more or less unknown to us Shinigami but I don't believe they will affect these Hollow's in the same way that normal Hollow's are. You must destroy their mask but while they are shape shifted, their mask is hidden."

To Orihime, "You're hair clips carry the similar properties to Zanpakutou's. You're abilities are brand new and there is no information on them or how they work.

"Chad, you are going to be the most disadvantaged of the group. You're right arm holds a great deal of destructive power, but it has its limits as you found out last time in the Soul Society."

The giant boy with shaggy brown hair that covered his eyes nodded silently.

"Question," Ishida asked stepping forward, now wearing his customary white and blue-trimmed Quincy outfit. "Are we just supposed to kill these fakes and release the Shinigami, or is Aizen or one of his followers in charge now?"

Urahara shrugged. "Why would I know that?"

Ichigo sighed again. "Just get the gate open."

Urahara saluted and stepped over to a console that looked rather out of place in the underground wasteland. "I need some assistance in forcing the path through Aizen's defenses."

"Whatever," Ichigo said, tapping his foot impatiently. If Rukia and Renji, and the rest of the Shinigami were still alive, then he needed to hurry.

"Here we go." With dramatic flair, Urahara pressed a button. Nothing happened. All five stared into the empty space where the gate was supposed to appear. Nothing.

"Hmmm," Urahara said, rubbing his chin in thought. "Ah-ha!" He jogged over where one extension cord was disconnected from another in a long line that disappeared into the sky with the tall ladder into the main shop. Reaching down, he plugged it in and with a sound like thunder, the gate exploded into existence. Electricity sparked around it, looking crude in comparison with the gateways they usually used.

"What is this, Urahara?" Ichigo shouted over continuous rumble of thunder.

"I had to make the portal slightly out of phase to get it past Aizen's defense network," Urahara shouted back, smiling innocently. "It's almost safe."

"Great," Ichigo muttered nervously. One by one, the team stepped forward.

"Ichigo," Urahara said softly so that only Ichigo would hear. "Remember, if you need to use IT, you will only have eleven seconds before it wears out."

Ichigo nodded in understanding. Turning to the others, he said, "Let's go."

Together, the team jumped into darkness.

To be continued...

Hello fans. This two part chapter is designed to give those who are unfamiliar with this series a deeper look into the Bleach universe.

To those of you who are familiar with the series, the timeline takes place just before the Arracanar show up but after the Bounto arc in the TV series. Since there is no real solid timeline in the Bleach universe, I am going off the assumption that it has a fairly wide spread timeline. Of course, since this is a rough time sketch, variations in my timeline may appear.

Thank you Kobez2.0 for another great Beta and still look forward to the release of your newest story. Looking great so far.

Make sure to leave some reviews, especially if there is something you do not understand in this chapter so that I can be sure to answer it in part two