Disclaimer: I do NOT own the TEEN TITANS!

So, after almost three months of working on this chapter, I've finally finished! YAYYY!

This officially concludes the mini series of the titans in karakura town, and if anyone has questions about some Bleach stuff that they don't understand, I'd be happy to explain. So, without further ado, read away.

From Darkness Comes Light

By: Patattack

Heroes, Hollows and Soul Reapers – Part 4

Kisuke Urahara had seen many, many things in the course of his life, more than a few of which would certainly have qualified as mind boggling to the average person. The blond haired man was currently in his shop, kneeling beside Ururu and reassuring her while his friend Tessai used kido to heal the injuries she'd obtained while assisting Renji in his fight against one of the arrancars. However, despite his experiences and all the strange things he'd seen, he was nevertheless surprised when the door to the room they were in slammed open, revealing Shelliane, with Gale unconscious in her arms, the winged boy emitting spiritual pressure as he was still in his spirit form. She was closely followed by Ryu, with Cyborg slung over his shoulder. Shaking off his initial surprise, he gently let go of Ururu's hand and quickly set up a pair of mats for the two soul reapers to lay Gale and Cyborg down on.

"What happened?" Kisuke asked.

"Arrancars, what else?" Ryu answered. "Three attacked Cyborg until Shelly and I came around and took two of them off his back."

"And what about our winged friend here? He's the one with that mystery spiritual pressure that popped up twice today."

"Yes, and he was fighting another arrancar," Shelliane said as she was kneeling down next to her nephew, using her skills in kido to heal his injuries. "I left after finishing my opponent and arrived just in time to save him. I'll explain the rest later. Right now we should go out to look for the rest of the Titans." A small whirlwind appeared in the middle of the room, spinning around for a second until it materialized into a transparent young man floating off the floor.

"Peace, I mean no harm," he reassured them all.

"What are you doing here?" Kisuke inquired, a curious expression on his face.

"I merely came to tell you all that my lord's friends will be taken care of. Others have been informed about their location, and that they should be brought here so that they may recover."

"Thank you…" Shelliane spoke up, not knowing this particular spirit's name.

"Ventum." (East Wind)

"Thank you, Ventum."

"You're welcome, Lieutenant Rhodes," The wind spirit gave them all a short bow, then faded away into nothingness.

"It's a rare thing to see an elemental spirit," Kisuke spoke up a moment later. "It's even rarer to have the chance to speak with one up close like this. Aside from the nature of his powers, our winged friend appears to have some connection to this spirit, considering the way it spoke of him. I wonder…"

"Anyway, you were saying something about having saved the kid from an arrancar?" Ryu said.

"Not just any arrancar. This one was way more powerful and had far greater spiritual pressure than those we first encountered, even when they released their swords. I caught him in the arm with a level 80's hado spell and it only burned him. Quite frankly, I don't think I could've defeated him one on one, and I'm relieved that Amicus lasted as long as he did. Luckily enough, Gin showed up and brought him back to Hueco Mundo before anything else happened. Apparently his actions hadn't been sanctioned by Aizen."

"But once this arrancar reports what happened to Aizen, I have no doubts that that snake will have his eyes on the Titans," Ryu pointed out.

"Indeed, they'll likely catch his interest," Kisuke muttered. "Shelly…"

"Yes?" she answered, turning her head towards the blond haired shopkeeper.

"I'm curious as to how you know our winged friend's real name, assuming that Amicus is his real name. Is it possible the two of you are related?"

"There was this guy that my sister Kelly fell for one time. Never did meet him myself, but I can only assume he wasn't your average person. In other words, he's my nephew."

Kisuke nodded at this. "We should prepare accommodations for when the rest of the Titans come here."

Elsewhere in Karakura town, Ichigo Kurosaki was standing on one of the many rooftops, along with Rangiku. His friend Orihime Inoue was also with them, having been brought to heal Rukia, who'd been injured by the sixth espada, Grimmjow. "Are you sure you're going to be alright?" the orange haired teen asked the newly healed petite soul reaper.

"I told you already, I'm perfectly fine," she answered. "Orihime's healing didn't even leave a scar."

Ichigo went to speak up again, but was interrupted when a new voice spoke up. "Excuse me?" All of them suddenly turned to face the direction the voice had come from. What they saw was a young woman, no taller than Ichigo, with long hair and a serious, but gentle demeanor. But was caught their eye most of all, was the fact that she appeared to be entirely made of water.

Rukia was the first to break their silence. "Are you… an elemental spirit?" she asked, apparently in awe.

"I'm a water spirit, though this should be obvious enough."

"What're you doing here?" Ichigo asked bluntly.

"Ichigo Kurosaki… I came to inform you that your cousin has been injured while battling a powerful arrancar named Striker, who was one of the leaders behind this attack."

"Amicus is hurt? How bad? Will he be alright?"

"Fear not, young soul reaper. Though he was severely beaten, Lieutenant Rhodes arrived in time to save your cousin. She brought him to Kisuke Urahara, where he will be treated."

"Thanks for telling me," Ichigo said, before dashing off towards the Urahara shop.

"Before I depart…" The unnamed water spirit moved towards Orihime and gently placed a hand on the orange haired girl's broken arm. The water which composed the spirit's arm slid down Orihime's, surrounding it for a few short seconds, until her cast suddenly broke in two and popped off, at which the water slid back to reform the spirit's limb. "There, good as new."

"Thank you, miss water spirit," she said gratefully, feeling that her arm was injury free.

"You're very welcome, dear. Now, if you'll excuse me, I shall take my leave." The unnamed water spirit then floated away towards the river, leaving them behind.

Inside the room where Gale and Cyborg were lying unconscious, Kisuke and his associates, along with Ryu, had set up another four mats in anticipation of the other titans' arrival, while Shelliane was still looking over her nephew. Not so long after they were done, a tan skinned, purple haired woman with black, skin tight pants and an orange shirt walked into the room. She was carrying Raven on one shoulder and Starfire on the other, with the both of them being unconscious. "Ah, Yoruichi, please set our friends down here," he greeted the woman, indicating two of the empty mats.

Yoruichi complied with this, gently setting them down on one of the mattresses each. "Funny how this came about," she commented as Tessai moved next to Starfire in order to examine her, while Kisuke did the same for Raven. "I actually met an earth spirit, who came and told me about these two being knocked out because of a fight, and that I should bring them here. She also said that another one was going to get in touch with a few other people who'd be taking care of Robin and Beast Boy."

"We had a wind spirit who came by here earlier and told us about that," Shelliane said.

"And that's not the only weird thing that happened," Ryu noted. He then explained to the rest of them about what he'd seen of Cyborg's fight against Kareem, though he mostly focussed on the half-metal teen's discovery of his own spiritual powers, and the impressive abilities he'd displayed.

"I guess at least one of those bracelets of yours worked," Yoruichi noted to Kisuke.

"Cyborg's spiritual powers sound somewhat similar to Chad and his arm," Kisuke spoke. "I wonder if any of the others awakened powers of their own. I suppose we'll just have to wait until they wake up."

"Be careful with him, you clumsy baboon," Toshiro's voice was heard coming towards the room. "He's seriously injured."

"Yes sir," Renji replied. A moment later and the door slid open, showing Toshiro, carrying Robin, and Renji carrying a wounded Beast Boy. The two soul reapers were made to set them down gently on the remaining mats. Seeing the green shape-shifter's condition, and having taken care of Gale's more serious injuries, Shelliane moved from her nephew towards Beast Boy, hands glowing with the magic of healing kido.

The soul reaper lieutenant and captain took a short moment to relate to the others how they'd each been approached by an elemental spirit and pointed in Robin and Beast Boy's direction, with instructions to bring them back to the Urahara shop. "This boy with wings…" Toshiro muttered, looking at Gale. "I can sense he's the one with the mysterious spiritual pressure that appeared earlier. And the others… they all have very high spirit energy as well."

"Wow, I wouldn't have thought that the Teen Titans all had this much spirit energy," Renji said. "Beast Boy and Robin must have encountered an arrancar, but did the same happen to all of them?"

"Is it possible they have spiritual powers of their own, like Chad and Orihime?" Toshiro asked Kisuke.

"I'm not quite sure," the blond man answered. "I've actually had the opportunity to speak with most of them earlier this day, and learned that they'd encountered and defeated hollows already. Plus, they all have impressive powers and skills of their own, so it's not really inconceivable that they would've been able to fight against arrancars. Perhaps they'll agree to tell us what happened once they-"

"Where is he?" Ichigo demanded as he barged into the room, pulling the door open hard enough so that it cracked a little.

"Ichigo, take it easy on my poor little door," Kisuke half whined. The orange haired simply ignored him and went straight to Gale.

"Don't worry," Shelliane reassured him as she continued to work on Beast Boy's wounds. "He took a major beating, but given time, he will be alright."

Ichigo sighed in relief. "What about his friends?"

"Robin, Starfire and Cyborg are doing fine, they're just tired," Kisuke told him. "Raven's a little worse off, but she appears to be healing herself, so she'll be alright. As for Beast Boy… it looks like he took a cero at close range. He and our winged friend appear to have been hit with the worst of things, so it'll take them a while before they wake up."

"Ichigo… how do you know this boy?" Toshiro asked, a curious look on his face.

Before he would answer, Orihime, Rangiku and Rukia came into the room. "Ichigo?" Orihime spoke up as they noticed all the Titans. "I thought your cousin was injured and brought here, but I don't see him. And why are the Teen Titans all lying down here?"

The substitute soul reaper looked at Shelliane for a moment before she nodded at him. "I suppose you might as well know. Gale is Amicus, and he's my cousin."

"But when we met him, your cousin didn't have any spiritual pressure at all," Rangiku pointed out. "And he's got tons of it right now."

Ichigo then started to relate to them what Gale had said during his second visit, from his talk with Nebula, to his being able to turn into a spirit form and back, and how he'd concealed his and Raven's true appearances with illusions. Rukia explained her theory about how Gale's body acted like a gigai that completely supressed his spiritual pressure, and Shelliane told them what little she knew about his father, as well as the little she'd seen of his fight against Striker. Silence reigned in the room for a few moments, those who hadn't heard these things before digesting this latest bit of information. "I think this merits contacting the Soul Society and giving a report about the Titans," Toshiro noted. "I find Amicus' powers particularly interesting, as well as his connection to elemental spirits. I wish we could talk to the Titans, so they could give us their account of what happened tonight."

"Unfortunately, they're all unconscious and won't be waking up just yet," Shelliane reminded him. "You might be able to question Robin, Starfire, Raven or Cyborg before long, but Beast boy and Gale are the worst off, so it'll take them the longest before they come to. Now, we have patients to attend to, so everyone except for Kisuke and Tessai, get out."

As Robin's eyes opened, the first thing that caught his attention was how strange the sky looked, reason being that it was red, green, yellow, white, and looked like the roof of a circus tent. The Boy Wonder looked up and saw that he was sitting with his back against a large pole planted in the ground, with a trapeze platform up high. He got to his feet and looked around, noting that his surroundings appeared to be a giant, endless circus tent as far as his eyes could see. "Where am I?" he wondered in confusion. As he continued looking around, Robin could not see anyone other than himself, until he caught sight of a humanoid figure standing up high on one of the trapeze platforms. "Hey!" he called out.

The figure in question suddenly leapt off the platform, spreading out his arms and gliding down, landing smoothly in front of the Titans' leader. Robin's eyes widened a little under his mask, reason being that standing before him was a humanoid male falcon, with black feathers around his head, back, and white/black feathers on the rest of his body. "Greetings, young master."

"You… you're that voice I heard before," Robin said. "When Beast Boy and I were fighting Xabat."

"The one speaking to you back then was indeed yours truly."

"I'm still not sure I understand all this. After I tapped into your power, Xabat said my spiritual pressure was like that of a soul reaper, so from what I can remember of what Yoruichi and Kisuke said, that would make you my zanpakuto, right?" The humanoid falcon nodded his head in confirmation. "But if both my parents were humans, which I'm pretty sure of, and if I didn't die or anything, which I'm hoping isn't the case, then how did I get the power of a soul reaper in the first place?"

"I will admit it's very rare for someone to have soul reaper powers outside of traditional circumstances. In your case, the training you went through with the True Master did help, as well as the bracelet given to you by Kisuke Urahara, but I believe that the real driving force was sheer willpower."

"Okay… so what is this place?"

"This is your inner world, the place within yourself where I reside." The zanpakuto spirit closed its eyes and remained quiet for a moment, until it decided to speak up again. "You will soon be waking up in the real world. Before that happens, you must know that without the proper training, you will be unable to use my power whenever you wish for it. You might be able to use your soul reaper powers to a certain extent, but they will generally remain out of reach except in times of dire need."

"Alright then, I'll be sure to remember that. Before I wake up for real, I don't suppose you could tell me your name?"

The spirit smiled a little and chuckled at the question. "All in due time, young master. All in due time…"

When Robin's eyes fluttered open this time, he saw the interior of the room of Kisuke's shop where he and his friends had been taken. Feeling fully awake, he sat upright, catching the attention of the only person in the room who was already awake, that being Shelliane. The woman in question was in her gigai and had been sitting on a cushion in the corner while reading a book. "Good, you're finally awake," she noted, setting aside her book and walking over to him.

"Who are you?" Robin asked. "You look just like my friend's mother."

"I'm Kelly Rhodes' twin sister," she answered smoothly. "My name is Shelliane, soul reaper and lieutenant of squad 13. So, how are you feeling?"

"To tell you the truth, I feel perfectly fine." Robin then looked around, seeing all his friends who were lying down. "What happened to them? I remember we were fighting these guys who had the same kind of spirit energy as hollows, then Gale left to fight another one and… Beast Boy!"

"Don't worry," Shelliane reassured him. "He was badly injured when he got here, but I've healed him up, and he'll be alright. He just needs to rest a while longer."

Raven, Cyborg and Starfire started to stir and wake up just as Tessai was walking in with a tray holding two mugs of tea. "Oh, you're awake, young sir," he noted, offering a mug to Shelliane and giving to Robin the one he'd meant for himself. "And I see your friends are waking up as well. I'll go tell the boss and bring some more tea." Tessai then turned around and walked out to find the shop owner and fetch more tea for the Titans. Shortly after, just as Raven, Cyborg and Starfire were sitting up, Tessai returned, with a bunch of extra cups filled with steaming hot tea and Kisuke following behind him.

"Greetings, my American friends," Kisuke said to them as Tessai went around with his little tray. "Welcome, once again, to my humble little shop. How are you all doing on this fine morning?"

"How long have I been out?" Cyborg asked.

"You've all been unconscious for a little over a day. Now, last night there was a band of arrancars that came to Karakura Town," Kisuke addressed the Titans. "For those of you who don't know, they're hollows who've removed parts of their masks in order to gain the powers of a soul reaper. Often enough they look human, and have a hole somewhere in their body, along with a partial mask. You all possess impressive spiritual pressure, which would bring about the attention of any hollow or arrancar. So, with that said, were any of you attacked last night?"

Robin started by explaining how he, Gale and Beast Boy had been attacked by two arrancars, how they'd beaten one of them, and Gale having separated once Striker appeared. Raven and Starfire then confirmed that they'd also been attacked, and Cyborg did the same after them. In return, Tessai explained how they'd all gotten to be in his shop, and reassured them that despite still being knocked out, that Gale and Beast Boy would be okay. "About the bracelet you gave me…" Robin spoke up to Kisuke, holding up his wrist, showing that the bracelet was a deep red, instead of its previous dull gray color.

"Mine has changed as well," Starfire said, after noticing that hers had become stark white.

"Yeah, and mine too," Cyborg added, showing his now dark blue bracelet.

"Mine's still normal," Raven held out hers. "And it looks like Beast Boy's the same."

"Ah yes, I thought this might happen," the blond shopkeeper admitted. "Those bracelets do keep the bearer invisible to anyone without enough spiritual awareness, but if the one wearing it has dormant spiritual powers… well, let's just say it gives a little nudge to help bring them out. And in the event that its bearer does develop spiritual powers, then the bracelet will change color depending on their nature."

"You must know what happened for me since you and Ryu weren't far from my fight," Cyborg said to Shelliane, who nodded in confirmation. The cybernetic teenager then explained a little further in detail what had happened, with Kareem assuming his release form, the sudden surge of energy he'd felt just before the cero that would have otherwise finished him off, the light that had surrounded him and transformed into his armor and so on. When he was done recounting his point of view, they all turned their attention towards Robin, who apparently felt trusting enough to tell them what had happened, in the same manner as Cyborg had, safe that he left out the personal conversation he'd had with his zanpakuto before waking up.

When he was done, Starfire and Raven told them more of their battle, including when Nacyl and Lycan had turned into the creature, but only up to the moment where Raven had been knocked down onto the rooftop and it had grabbed a hold of Starfire. "Unfortunately," the alien girl spoke up. "I fear that the space between this moment and the end of the battle is a blur to me."

Raven then cleared her throat. "Let's just say you developed peculiar powers, then defeated their release form without breaking a sweat." Although there was obviously more to it than just that, no one voiced their thoughts on the subject.

"I think it might be best if we withheld this information from the Soul Society, at least for the time being," Kisuke advised them. "I don't think Cyborg's powers would cause any problems, but they're still kind of prickly about humans having soul reaper powers."

"They may find out eventually, but hopefully by that time we can persuade them to be more lenient," Tessai added.

"Right then," Robin said, nodding in agreement. "Well, we might as well get back to the hotel for now."

"You guys go on," Raven spoke up. "I'll just stay here for a while longer."

"It wouldn't happen to be because you want to look over Gale?" Cyborg said, his tone and expression suggestive.

"Yes," she answered simply.

"Okay," Robin said. "Call us if you need us."

Over in Hueco Mundo, Striker was currently walking through the halls of Las Noches. After having returned to the palace, Kaname Tosen had brought the two of them before Aizen himself. However, when 'Lord Aizen' had noticed the state that Striker's clothes were in, out of curiosity he had inquired as to what had happened. Striker had answered by merely saying that he'd encountered a surprisingly powerful foe. Then, not out of fear for any punishment, the arrancar in question had requested that he be allowed to retire to his quarters, so that he could 'recover', where in truth he only wanted to heal his burned arm, get a new outfit, and have time to think about his battle against Gale.

As he was making his way towards the throne room, where Aizen was waiting for him, Striker crossed another arrancar in the hallway. This one was tall and lanky, with black hair, a patch over his left eye, and was dressed in white, but with an open jacket and what looked like a strange, oversized collar sticking up behind his head. "And where are you heading to, Striker?" he asked, grinning.

"What do you care, Nnoitra?"

"I heard that you're in trouble for going off to the world of the living against Aizen's orders." Striker merely gave the black haired arrancar an annoyed look. "I also heard that all of your fracciones were killed in Karakura. Someone's not going to be happy about losing so many arrancars."

"I have to go see Aizen. Now get out of the way."

"You know Grimmjow got his arm chopped off and incinerated by Tosen," Nnoitra said offhandedly. "I wonder what kind of punishment you're going to get for what you did."

"Nnoitra… move."

"You know what's even more pathetic? I heard Ichimaru saying something about how you got beat up by some-" Deciding that he'd had enough, Striker suddenly slammed a fist into the other arrancar's face, sending him careening down the hall.

In the throne room, three men were waiting for Striker to come and give his report about what had happened during the attack on Karakura Town. Aizen, a man with short brown hair and wearing a white trench coat with a purple obi/sash around his waist, was sitting on the throne in a relaxed manner. At his left stood Gin, and at his right stood Kaname Tosen, a dark skinned man with black hair, wearing a sleeveless white trench coat and a blindfold over his eyes. The sounds of violence could be heard from the hallway, although none of them showed any particular reaction to it. A few moments later, Nnoitra came flying into the throne room and crashed into the wall opposite the entrance. Striker walked in a moment later, dusting off his sleeves. Aizen looked at the two new arrivals, raising an eyebrow in question. "Sorry about that," Striker said in an unconcerned tone. "Nnoitra apparently thought it would be a good idea to mess with me. It took a few seconds to prove him wrong."

"Very well then," Aizen said in a calm voice. "Nnoitra, I strongly suggest that you leave us be, so that Striker may give us his report."

"Of course, Lord Aizen," the arrancar in question said as he got to his feet. He then walked away, though not without giving Striker a vicious grin, despite the beating he'd suffered at his hands.

"Striker Williams…" Aizen spoke up again. "Would you please tell us what happened last night in Karakura Town? And spare no details, if possible."

Striker then placed his fingers to the black skull face on his tiara like mask remnant. When he pulled his hand back, a dark purple, almost black, mist like substance came out. He blew it towards the three former soul reapers, and it flew around them, showing images of his fracciones fighting against Ryu and Shelliane, as well as their fights against the Titans, which the tree former soul reapers seemed more interested in. When that was done, the mist flew back to Striker, who waved his hand, causing it to change into a crimson color and fly back to repeat the procedure, except that it showed them his own memories of the previous night's events. "Well, this is all very interesting…" Gin noted.

"My lord," Tosen spoke up. "He should still be severely punished for his actions. He disobeyed your orders and…"

"Calm down, Kaname," Aizen said. "Striker has brought us some particularly interesting information. Given that, I think we can forgive him for this transgression."

"As you wish, Lord Aizen."

"I must say, these children and their powers are quite impressive," Aizen commented. "And one of them is Ichigo Kurosaki's cousin, as well as an elemental of great power, with an apparent connection to the Soul Society. Most interesting indeed… I think I'd like to observe these children to learn more of them."

"Whatever happens to the winged boy, I still want to have my revenge on him for killing me back when I was alive."

"As I said, my intent is simply to observe him and his friends," Aizen reassured him. "I'll let you know before any further action is taken against them."

"Thank you… my lord."

Later in the day, around evening time, Raven was kneeling down beside Gale, occasionally passing a hand over his body to make sure that he was alright. She turned around when she heard the door sliding open and Kisuke walked in. "Would you like anything to eat?" he asked. "Tessai has some food cooked up if you want any. I can keep an eye on your friends if you'd like."

"Sure, thanks," the teenage heroine said, standing up and walking towards the door. "Tell me if he wakes up, will you?"

"Of course," he nodded to her as she walked out, closing the door behind her. "Good to see you're awake," he said to Beast Boy when he noticed the green teenager had rolled onto his back and sat up right.

"Hey dude. You mind telling me what I'm doing here anyway?" Kisuke then started to explain everything to him about how he and Robin had been brought to his shop following their fight against Xabat. He then filled him in on the parts of the fight that he'd missed after being knocked out as well as his friend's battles, and how Shelliane had healed his injuries. "Are the others okay?"

"No need to worry," he reassured him. "Gale's just unconscious, but he should be coming around soon enough. And the others are all fine and well."

"That's a relief. Say, you got anything to eat?"

"Tessai made some food if you're hungry. Just head down the hall and follow the smell."

"Thanks…" Beast Boy said, standing up and walking out to get food to satisfy his rumbling stomach.

Kisuke turned his attention towards Gale once the green Titan had left the room. "You really are an interesting case, Amicus Rhodes," he muttered as he knelt down next to the unconscious Titan. You can control air itself, elemental spirits call you 'lord' and run around to help your friends, and like Ichigo, you have incredible power, but seem to have not yet reached your full potential." He then pulled back the blanket just enough to be able to look at the mark on Gale's bare chest. "How peculiar… this looks as though it represents the four elements together, like that children's tale about the Soul Society's creation. I wonder if there are others like him."

Upon hearing him mutter strange words, the blond haired shopkeeper placed the palm of his hand to the winged boy's forehead to be sure that he didn't have a fever, or anything of the sort. However, when his hand touched Gale's head, Kisuke found himself assaulted by a barrage of memories that belonged to neither of them. He saw three humanoid figures standing close together as they exerted their wills over earth, fire and water, while he moved air. He saw great battles in both the world of the living and the Soul Society, watching them while floating above. He witnessed cataclysmic forces of nature at work, some of which were his fault, observed the birth of beasts, spirits, gods, demons, new lands, the Soul Society and Hell, amongst other things, and even caught a few glimpses of his own life through the eyes of the one whose memories he was seeing. All this and a mass of other visions flashed through his head, until it suddenly switched to Gale's battle against Striker, which Kisuke saw through the winged boy's eyes.

"Wow… that was unexpected…" he stated to himself. At that time, Gale stirred a little and his eyes stared to flutter open. "Wakey, wakey, little bird," Kisuke said in a sing-song voice as he took notice. Having been in a fierce battle not so long ago, Gale's sleep addled mind had not entirely adjusted, and therefore was unprepared for the sight of the sandy haired shop keeper leaning over him. "Time to-" Gale's instinctively lashed out with his powers, blasting the shop keeper off his feet and sending him on a flight that ended with him crash-landing into the room where Raven, Beast Boy, Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu were sitting around a table and eating. "… I think your friend's awake now," he said to the two Titans. Just as he said that, Raven immediately jumped to her feet and quickly ran off towards where Gale was. Beast Boy stayed in his place, deciding to wait and give his two friends some time alone.

Arriving at the room, the young sorceress walked through the remains of what was once a sliding door, her gaze locking onto her friend, who was sitting upright and wearing his shirt again and having reverted from his spirit form back to his regular body. Raven walked over so that she was next to Gale, kneeled down and threw her arms around him in a hug. The two of them remained like this for a moment, neither saying a word, simply remaining in their embrace. "Are you feeling alright?" Raven finally spoke up.

"A little sore, but nothing major," he answered. "What about you?"

"I'm fine, don't worry." The two of them then told each other a bit about what had happened from their own ends during the arrancar attack.

"I gave it absolutely everything I had, and it still wasn't enough," Gale said, describing his fight against Striker. "That bastard killed my mother and barred her soul from passing on, and I could barely lay a scratch on him. I've never felt so helpless in my life."

"It's okay Amicus, you're still alive, we're all here for you," Raven reassured him.

"Rachel… I'm really sorry I got angry at you before. I shouldn't have called you a name like that, especially since I should've known it would hurt. You didn't deserve it at all."

"You didn't deserve for me to get angry at you either. I'm the one who started it by acting mean to you. I was just jealous of how close Rangiku was to you and… I hope you can forgive me."

"Of course I forgive you. I just hope you can do the same for me."

Raven smiled warmly at this. "I do." She leaned forward a little and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. They then both got up and walked back to the room where the others were waiting.

"What kept you so long?" Beast Boy asked, a slight grin on his face. "Is it possible that you two were-?"

"Shut up," Gale shot back at him.

"Hello, I'm Kisuke Urahara," the sandy haired shop keeper introduced himself.

"You're that guy who was leaning over me when I woke up."

"Yes, and if I had known how you were going to react, I would not have done that."

"Sorry, reflexes and all that."

"That's okay." The others then gave him a general overview of everything he'd missed, along with a round of introductions from Kisuke and his associates. "Although the Soul Society has been informed about your team's potential, we've withheld information about your friends' having spiritual powers. They'll probably want to talk to you all, whenever possible, to know about what happened from your end during the attack two nights ago. You should be aware that since Aizen probably knows about your existence, he may send more hollows or arrancars to test you, or something of the sort. And from the sounds of it, that arrancar Striker will surely be coming for you again." Kisuke said the last part while looking directly at Gale. "And if he does…"

"Then we'll deal with him together," Beast Boy jumped in. "After all, we're the Teen Titans. Anyway, thanks for the food, and taking care of us when we were knocked out."

"Thanks," Raven said as they were getting up.

"Could I just have a word with you for a moment?" Kisuke asked Gale.

"Sure." The others all walked out of the room. "Well, what is it?" Kisuke told the winged titan about the burst of memories he'd seen earlier, including the ones that actually belonged to Gale. "… What does that mean?" he asked when the shop keeper was finished talking.

"Have you heard the story of how the Soul Society was supposedly created?"

"Yeah, Rukia told me about it."

"Well, it seems like the one whom those memories belonged to was rather ancient. And then there's the fact that you speak freely with elemental spirits, they run around when you need them, and you have the ability to control air to such levels as I've never seen. And to my understanding, you never knew your father, yes?" Gale simply nodded in confirmation. "My theory is that your father was a powerful spirit of air, and that he was one of four who created the Soul Society."

"I guess that makes sense," Gale said, a contemplative expression on his face. "That could explain why I felt some sort of connection with Terra, and with Aqualad. Maybe they had a parent who was an elemental spirit, like my father. But there are still a lot of things I don't understand."

"Unfortunately, that's all I can come up with for now."

"I'll live with that. Thanks for everything."

"You're welcome. Just one last piece of advice… That eagle you summoned, the bond it shares with you is not entirely unlike that of a soul reaper and zanpakuto. And a bond such as that always makes the two more powerful when they fight as one." Though Gale had a somewhat confused look on his face at this, he nevertheless gave Kisuke a short bow, before walking outside, joining up with his friends and leaving the small shop behind.

Beast Boy, Raven and Gale flew from the Urahara shop, heading towards the hotel they were booked at. After a not so long flight, the three of them landed on the roof of the hotel, and made their way inside, eventually arriving walking into the suite where their friends were waiting. "Hey guys, you're alright," Cyborg noted, seeing that Beast Boy and Gale had recovered well.

"How are you feeling?" Starfire asked.

"I'm fine," Beast Boy said. "And I'm sure Gale is too, especially with how Raven was taking such good care of him," he added with a grin. The sorceress in question blushed a little bit in embarrassment at the attention this drew from her friends.

"Dare I ask?" Robin inquired, an eyebrow raised in question.

"Please don't," she answered.

"So… I understand the rest of you guys got stuck fighting arrancars," Gale spoke up, trying to break the awkward moment. "How'd that turn out?"

"Apparently, all of our fights seemed to go along the lines of us laying a smack down on the bad guys, then the bad guys releasing their true power and beating us up until one of us suddenly got spiritual powers and finished them off," Cyborg explained. "My cybernetics turned into some kind of magic armor that could turn parts of itself into whatever kind of weapon I needed."

"I discovered I have the powers of a soul reaper," Robin filled in. "I don't know the name of my zanpakuto, but when I turned into my soul reaper form, my staff changed into a katana, I could move really fast, and I felt stronger too."

"What about you?" Gale asked Starfire.

"Unfortunately, I do not know," she said. "All I remember is a great anger, darkness… and that is all. Raven has said that I gained strange powers and defeated our enemy with ease, but nothing more."

"I didn't want to say in front of the others what'd happened, but I guess it's only fair that you know," Raven said as they turned their attention towards her. "You had hollow powers." The others, Starfire in particular, had various expressions of surprise at this. "When you got angry, a white… substance, came from your mouth and formed a hollow mask over your face. Your aura was dark and felt like a hollow. Your eyes were red, instead of green, and so were your powers. You… weren't yourself, as if you had a dark side that had just come out. After you'd won, you went to attack me, but managed to stop, and I was able to pull the darkness out until you returned to normal."

"What could have caused me to act in such an evil manner?" Starfire asked, stunned at Raven's words.

"I think I know why," Robin spoke up. "You know that hollow we fought against, not so long after we all left Ichigo's house?" The alien girl nodded in confirmation at this. "When you finished it off, it exploded and you were caught right in the blast. A part of that hollow must have latched onto you, then when you got angry enough, it would've 'activated'."

"I can still sense the darkness within you," Raven muttered. "It may not be active, but it's there."

"Our spiritual powers shouldn't come out unless we absolutely need them," Robin said. "So we won't be able to just bring them up whenever we want, but that means Starfire's darker half will remain dormant short of extreme circumstances."

Starfire let out a sigh of relief at this. "That is good to know."

"So what about you, man?" Cyborg asked Gale. "How did your fight go?"

Gale had a sullen look on his face. "You remember that time when I went nuts a few months back because I was sure I could see the guy who killed my mother?" The cybernetic teenager nodded. "Well, turns out that after he died, he became a hollow, and eventually an obscenely powerful arrancar."

"Was he really that strong?" Robin inquired. "I could sense he had pretty high spiritual pressure when he showed up, but yours wasn't anything to laugh at either."

"Let me put it this way. He was toying with me all along, and he still beat the crap out of me for practically the entire fight, and even when I hit him with my most powerful attack, I barely, and I do stress the word 'barely', put a scratch on him."

"Don't worry man," Cyborg spoke up. "If he ever tries to mess with you again, he'll be messing with all of us."

They then started to talk about what they would tell the Soul Society if they were asked about how their fights had gone. Given Kisuke's words about how the Soul Society might react, they decided that it would be best to find a way to avoid telling them about their spiritual powers. As they were talking, Gale suddenly held his hand up to silence everyone. "I hear something…" He then concentrated for a moment, until a tendril of air stretched out and opened the window. "You know, it's generally considered impolite to eavesdrop on others." A simple black cat dropped down onto the window sill and walked into the room.

"Greetings, Yoruichi," Starfire said to the cat.

"Good to see you all."

"Why do you sound like a male cat anyway?" Gale asked.

"What're you talking about?" Beast Boy inquired. "What else would Yoruichi sound like?"

"If you're confused, then I can demonstrate my true f-"

"No!" Gale said sharply. "Ichigo's warned me about you, so don't even think about it."

"You're such a prude," Yoruichi whined, sounding a little disappointed.

The other Titans looked at their winged friend with confusion at this. "Yoruichi's a woman who can turn into a cat," he explained. "According to Ichigo, she has very little modesty, and can't keep her clothes on when she transforms."

"Oooooohhhhh," Beast Boy said, feeling a little embarrassed as he understood.

"So… what did you want anyway?"

"Well, the Soul Society wanted to talk to you guys, so if you don't mind following me, then that would be great."

"Sure, lead the way."

The Titans all flew out the window, with Starfire carrying Robin, while Cyborg was riding on the back of a pterodactyl Beast Boy, along with Yoruichi who was giving them directions for where to go. In order to avoid attracting too much attention, Gale cast an illusion in order to make them all invisible. After a while, they finally arrived at a simple, yet decent looking place that Yoruichi told them was their destination. Robin knocked at the door, and Orihime came answering a moment later. The bubbly, orange haired girl blinked a few times, surprised to see them, until she noticed Yoruichi. "Hello, Orihime," the black cat spoke up. "Would you mind letting us in?"

"Of course, of course," she said, moving aside so that they could enter, closing the door behind them. "Wow, you're the Teen Titans. I'm Orihime Inoue. It's nice to meet you all!"

"Thank you very much," Starfire replied in an equally cheery tone. Orihime lead the Titans and Yoruichi upstairs to a room with what looked like a huge television screen that filled the far wall. Inside the room were all the members of the soul reaper taskforce who were waiting for them.

"I'm Toshiro Hitsugaya, captain of squad ten and head of the soul reaper taskforce," the short, white haired captain introduced himself. "This is Renji Abarai, Ikkaku Madarame, Yumichika Ayasegawa, Rangiku Matsumoto, Rukia Kuchiki, Shelliane Rhodes, and Ryu Yamada."

"I'm Robin, leader of the Teen Titans," the Boy Wonder answered. "These are my teammates, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Gale, Raven and Starfire."

"I've got a question," Gale spoke up. "Why isn't Ichigo here?"

"We don't know," Toshiro answered. "None of us have seen him since the attack. In any case, with introductions out of the way, Head Captain Yamamoto would like to speak with you." The screen on the wall suddenly flickered and came to life, showing an old man dressed in a soul reaper's garb, with a white haori over his shoulders, a long white beard and moustache and his hands resting on a big wooden staff.

"Greetings," the old man spoke in a deep and powerful voice. "I am Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, Head Captain of the thirteen court guard squads. Which one of you is the leader of your band of heroes?"

"That would be me," Robin said, taking a step forward.

"I have been informed of your team, and their abilities, as well as the fact that each of you has fought various arrancars recently, and in most cases, defeated them. I must commend you for your efforts in helping us deal with such a threat."

"Thank you."

"Now, the one in charge of those arrancars is a former soul reaper captain known as Sosuke Aizen."

"Yeah, we know about him," Cyborg pointed out. "Kisuke told us about the situation with him and the other two traitors."

"Yes, but you do not know everything yet. You see, the Soul Society has a ruler, the Spirit King, who lives in a separate dimension that can only accessed with the use of an artifact called the Oken. Aizen intends to access the Spirit King's dimension and kill him. To do this, he needs to create an Oken, which requires one mile of highly enriched spiritual ground in the world of the living, as well as 100000 human souls. In other words, if his plan succeeds, Karakura Town will be wiped out from existence." The Titans gasped in surprise at the revelation.

"We've gone against so major bad guys, but this is crazy!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"Fortunately, Aizen will need time before he can move into action," Yamamoto continued. "We predict he won't make his move until four months from now. However, I believe that all of you have most likely caught his attention, and therefore, you should be ready in case he decides to take action again your team."

"We will," Robin said, a determined look on his face.

"One more thing… In regards to the battles you fought against Aizen's arrancars, I must ask how you managed to achieve victory." At this, the Titans began to tell the story that they'd agreed on, were they described some of their fights. Since he technically had no spiritual powers like his friends, Gale revealed a little more of his battle against Striker, including the giant eagle of air he had summoned, though he omitted the little conversation he'd held with Kisuke. The others all refrained from telling the entire truth, while still saying enough of it to satisfy the head captain.

"We'll have to go back home in a couple days," Robin reminded everyone. "But we should be able to help out when Aizen does make his move."

"Very good," the head captain said, nodding slowly. He then turned his attention towards Gale. "Amicus Rhodes…"

"Yes?"

"There is someone who wishes to speak with you alone."

"But I don't know anyone from the Soul Society except for my aunt Shelly," Gale said, a look of confusion on his face. "And she's standing right here."

"You should talk to her, Amicus," Shelliane spoke up.

"Okay then." Everyone else then walked out of the room, leaving him alone facing the screen. That done, Yamamoto moved aside and someone else took his place. The one in question was a beautiful woman with long black hair tied into a braid hanging down in front of her. She had perfectly smooth skin, a kind, motherly face, and was wearing a soul reaper's clothes, along with a captain's haori overtop. Gale expression's changed to surprise upon seeing her.

"Hello Amicus," she said in a soft voice.

"You look just like my mother. That must mean you're…"

"Yes, I'm your grandmother, Retsu Unohana. And you would be Kelly's son."

"Umm, grandma… can I call you that?" he asked, at which she nodded. "I just want to know… Why did you come to the world of the living, and how did you get to meet my grandfather?"

"It started during a particularly busy day in squad four's infirmary. For one reason or another, we had an almost ridiculous amount of patients to attend to. In any case, as a result, a few days later Head Captain Yamamoto ordered me to take a year's vacation in the world of the living. So I followed his order and left the Soul Society. At the time, your grandfather was a young American graduate working at the University of Tokyo. By string of chance, we met soon after my arrival and ended up living together. He was a great man, very kind, selfless and rather charming. We quickly grew attached to each other, and although we couldn't have married, I soon became pregnant with Masaki."

"Did you ever tell him you were a soul reaper?" Gale inquired.

"Yes, but it was only until Masaki was born that I told him I was soon to leave. Even so, he still remained understanding and promised never to forget me, despite the fact that we were to never meet again." Retsu had a sad, nostalgic look on her face, but continued nonetheless. "And yet, sometime after returning to the Soul Society, I discovered that I'd already become pregnant again. When your mother and Shelliane were born, I went to the world of the living once more and left them both in the care of your grandfather, with a note to explain everything."

"Why did you do that?"

"Because… as hard as it was, I wanted them to have a normal life, which I couldn't give them if they stayed in the Soul Society." The two of them spent a good amount of time talking, mostly about Gale's life, from his early childhood with his mother, the day that she'd died and he'd run away, a few pieces of the years he'd wandered alone, and his living with the Titans.

"I swear I'll find a way to become stronger, so I can avenge my mother the next time I see him," Gale said in relation to his encounter with Striker.

"Your loyalty and bravery are quite admirable," Retsu noted. "You're a lot like Ichigo in that sense. Now, about that teammate of yours, the one named Raven… She sounds like an impressive young woman. The two of you must be very close friends."

The winged boy's cheeks became a little red at this. "Umm… yeah…"

The motherly captained smiled knowingly as she saw his reaction. "Tell me, do you like her?"

Gale's face reddened even more. "Umm… maybe, sort of, a little…" He looked at his grandmother's face, seeing that she didn't exactly look convinced by his answer. "Okay fine, I'll admit, I like her a lot."

"You should tell her that. I'm sure she'd appreciate it, and return your feelings."

"I'll… think about it, for now."

"Very well, but try not to take too long."

"I'll try."

"You should go. Your friends will be waiting. Good bye now, Amicus."

"Goodbye, grandma."

Gale and Raven ended up spending a fair bit of the following day together. At noontime, they flew over to the house that Ryu and Shelliane shared, and at the latter's insistence, stayed for lunch, which gave Gale a chance to catch up with his aunt. During the course of their stay there, Gale and Raven nearly suffered a moment of noteworthy embarrassment due to suggestions of them being a couple and such, but left before it got too bad. Following this, the two Titans flew around for a while, stopping a few times so that the winged boy could perform konso on a couple of lingering souls.

Eventually, they found a nice, secluded place just on the outskirts of town, where they decided to sit down and meditate. "You look like you've got something on your mind," Raven said after a while. "Care to share it with me?" He then took a moment to explain about the giant eagle of air, and what Kisuke had said about the bond it shared with him, along with the part about his father. "It's great that you finally know something about your father."

"Yeah, but I just can't help thinking that there's more to him than that."

"Don't worry, Amicus, I'm sure you'll get your answers someday," she reassured him with a smile.

"Thanks Rachel," he said, smiling back.

"About this eagle of air, I've never seen you summon it before. Do you think you could…?"

"Sure, if you want to. Just give me a moment." Gale then concentrated and focused his powers. The air around them rippled and moved about strangely, until the giant eagle of air appeared above. It flapped its wings a few times, before touching down right beside them.

"Wow…" Raven said, fascinated by the majestic creature. "It's beautiful."

'Not as beautiful as you,' Gale thought, mentally slapping himself for thinking this. "You can touch him if you want. He'll only go away if he's hit with something big, or if I let him go." The young sorceress reached out and stroked the eagle's neck.

"Kisuke said the bond between you two was like a soul reaper and zanpakuto, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"And from what your aunt told me, a zanpakuto is a manifestation of a soul reaper's power."

"Uh huh…"

"I can sense that there is a part of you imprinted onto him. From what I can tell, theoretically, you should be able to join with him to become more powerful, sort of like how our team is stronger when we're all together."

Gale nodded absentmindedly, after which he allowed the eagle to fade away and turned to face his friend. "So… you wouldn't care to race, would you?"

"Sure. First one to reach the rest of the gang wins?"

"Bring it on."

In another corner of Karakura Town, Robin, Starfire, Cyborg and Beast Boy were all hanging out in a park with a soccer field. At one point, a bunch of young kids came around, one of them carrying a soccer ball. A handful of them recognized the Titans and ran over towards them, along with most of their friends, saying how awesome it was to meet them, and how cool their fight against the giant ink monster in Tokyo had looked, and so on and so forth. Smiling a little at their eagerness, the Titans talked to the kids, answering their questions, asking what their names were, and giving a demonstration of their powers, or in Robin's case, his equipment. Karin, who was amongst the band of younger kids, then came up with the idea of having the Titans playing a game of soccer with them. Robin and Beast Boy joined in on the same team as Karin, while Starfire and Cyborg were on the opposite team. The game went on for a while, with both sides relatively equal, and the Titans holding back and little and making sure to include the others, though at one point, Starfire accidentally kicked the ball too hard, sending it flying up high into the air.

"I am deeply sorry for this," she said, apologizing to the others. "I would be happy to purchase another ball to replace this one."

"No need to worry about it," Karin reassured her. "That old ball was beaten up and almost worthless anyway. Ah well, I'd best be going home anyway. It was really fun playing with you guys." All the other kids all confirmed that they had also had fun playing, and soon cleared out, heading off to wherever they were going.

"Our team totally kicked your team's butt," the green titan boasted.

"Is that right?" Cyborg asked. "Because I'm thinking that-"

The half metal teenager was interrupted when Raven flew down and landed nearby, followed closely by Gale. The two of them appeared by be having some sort of argument, although it looked relatively docile. "I still say you didn't win fairly," the winged boy insisted.

"Hey, it's not like I threw that soccer ball at you," Raven shot back.

"You still deflected it so that it hit me in the head. That's not exactly what I'd call playing fair."

"We never said anything about playing fair in the first place. And if I remember, you repeatedly used your powers to get further head."

"I would like to point out that I wasn't even using my powers, I was just taking advantage of thermals to get a bit of a boost."

"You still started the race almost a second before me."

"… True enough," the winged boy admitted. "But I wasn't really trying as hard as I could have."

"Hey guys, what's up?" Robin spoke up, drawing their attention towards him.

"Just a friendly little competition to see who's the better flyer," Raven answered.

"Mostly friendly," Gale specified.

"Tell me friends, have you been having 'the fun' spending time together?" Starfire asked.

"Yeah, I think it was a pretty fun day so far," Raven said. "So, when are we going to go back home anyway?" she asked the team leader.

"We should be leaving sometime tomorrow," Robin answered. "After all, we've been away a while, so it'd be a good idea to get back soon in case anything comes up."

"Anyone got an idea what we should do now?" Beast Boy wondered.

"We could go over to my cousin's house to visit sometime," Gale suggested.

"I thought that Ichigo hadn't been seen for the past few days," Cyborg pointed out.

"Yeah, but my uncle should still be there, along with Karin, Yuzu, and probably Rukia as well."

"Sounds like a good idea," Robin said.

Later on, at the Kurosaki household, Yuzu, Karin, Isshin and Rukia were all gathered around the kitchen table. Isshin was acting a bit frantically, wondering where Ichigo could be, and thinking up strange scenarios of what could have happened to him.

"Come on, dad," Karin spoke up, tired of her father's behavior. "Ichigo can take care of himself. Most likely he just needed some time away from you and your crazy antics."

"But what about Amicus?" Yuzu piped up. "He hasn't come to see us in the past few days. I hope that he's alright."

"Don't worry about it," Rukia reassured her. "I'm sure that he's fine."

"That reminds me, I ran into his friends earlier today," Karin said. "I didn't get the chance to ask, but from how they were acting, I didn't get the impression that there was anything wrong."

The sound of someone knocking at the door was soon heard, at which Isshin jumped up and ran from the seat to open the door, seeing that the Titans were all gathered before him in their usual disguises, except for Raven, who was wearing civilian clothes, as opposed to having Gale put up an illusion. "Little Amicus!" Isshin exclaimed, almost throwing himself at his nephew in his hurry to give him a hug.

"I told you, I'm not so little anymore," Gale reminded his overbearing uncle. "And would you mind letting us in?"

"Of course, step right through," he beckoned them as he stood straight, closing the door once they were all inside.

A round of greetings passed between the Titans and the others, before they all found a spot to sit down and talk for a bit. The conversation quickly leaned towards the subject of Ichigo's whereabouts, and that nobody seemed to know where he was. They switched over to talking about the stuff in Tokyo, with Daizo, Brushogun and the ink creatures and all that. "Hey, Amicus," Karin spoke up after hearing of Robin and Starfire's relationship. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Umm… why do you ask?" Gale inquired.

"I'm just curious, that's all. So, do you have someone special?"

"Maybe…"

"Is it Raven?" Isshin asked eagerly, causing Gale and Raven to blush in response.

"We're not really together, if that's what you're asking," Raven said.

"But you two are practically-" Beast Boy began, but was interrupted when Gale formed a gag of air with his powers to shut him up.

"So you're not together then?" Yuzu asked, at which Raven and Gale nodded slowly, shooting a glare at their friends who were finding the situation amusing. "Well that's too bad, I think you two would make a cute couple."

Rukia's face suddenly lit up as an idea came into her head. "Starfire, Robin, can I have a word with you guys for a minute?" The two Titans in question had puzzled expressions on their faces at this, but still stood up to follow her. "And please don't listen in on us," she said to Gale.

"I won't." Robin and Starfire disappeared upstairs with Rukia to discuss whatever idea she had in mind. "I don't suppose any of you know what's up with her?" the winged boy asked his Kurosaki relatives, who shook their heads in response. A few minutes later, the three of them walked back down, smiling as if they were up to something.

"Friend Raven, we should go out together the two of us for an undetermined period of time to go see the sights."

"Oooookay," Raven said, finding something strange in all this, but complying nonetheless.

"Hey Gale, I was just thinking that I felt like going out too," Robin addressed his winged friend. "Why don't you come with me?"

"I'm not saying no, but any reason why you want be to tag along?" Gale asked cautiously

"Because if you don't come I'll see to it that you have to clean up Beast Boy's room when we get back."

"Let's go," Gale said immediately, ignoring the changeling's protest of indignation.

Rukia shot Beast Boy and Cyborg a look that told them to stay, and only relented once Robin, Gale, Raven and Starfire were out the door. "What was all that about?" the green shape-shifter spoke up.

"I needed to get the two of them away so that the rest of us can start on the plan I just came up with," Rukia answered. "And here's how it's going to work." After a few minutes of her explaining, the others were all smiling.

"I like it," Isshin exclaimed.

"Me too," Beast Boy said.

"Same here," Cyborg added.

"Good idea," Yuzu piped up.

"That's manipulative, devious, and potentially embarrassing," Karin commented. "… Let's do it."

"Why did Raven and I really have to be taken away from the house?" Gale asked Robin. The two of them were currently in disguise as they were walking along the streets.

"You'll see sometime after we get back," the Titans leader answered.

"I guess you're not to tell me, are you?"

"Not a chance."

Even though Gale couldn't help but wonder exactly what was going on, he nevertheless set it aside, and agreed to act the part of a tour guide for Robin, showing him what sights he remembered from the times he'd come to Karakura with his mother.

Over at their end, Raven and Starfire were walking along the streets with no particular destination in mind, both of them still in their respective civilian disguises. They looked around at different things as they went along, with the alien girl making an effort to keep her friend's mind focussed on the moment. However, it remained obvious enough to Raven that there was something going on, and even though she didn't think her friends would do anything dangerous, she couldn't help but wonder what they were up to. "Why don't we stop here for a moment?" Raven said, indicating a nearby café. "I think I'm feeling kind of hungry."

"Come now, surely we can wait a while longer," Starfire insisted, pulling her away. "Would you not prefer to avoid spoiling your appetite before dinner when you and…" The alien girl paused for a moment, as if she'd caught herself before spilling something she wasn't meant to. "I mean, when we shall all join together to eat before we must leave on the morrow." The young sorceress raised an eyebrow at her friend's words, but refrained from any questioning.

"Okay, you won't mind if we go here then?" she pointed to a small bookstore.

"Of course not. Let us enter the store of many books."

At the moment, inside the Kurosaki household was a veritable whirlwind of activity. "Beast Boy, I need you to chop these herbs for the sauce," Yuzu piped up. "Cyborg, put the cake batter in a pan when you're done stirring then stick it in the oven."

"Dad, go find those fancy napkins," Karin spoke to her father.

"I've got the red tablecloth," Rukia said, holding up a fancy looking, light red tablecloth. "But the table hasn't been wiped off yet." Beast Boy, who was in the form of an octopus in order to multitask, snatched a rag with an unoccupied tentacle and passed it to Karin after soaking it under water. The younger black haired girl took the rag and wiped off the table, then put it down on the counter and helped Rukia set the tablecloth.

"I've got the napkins, and I found some incense too," Isshin announced.

"Good, I'll roll them up and you go find candlesticks please," Rukia requested.

"Yuzu, where's the recipe for the icing?" Karin asked.

"Don't worry, I'm taking care of that," she answered. "Can you go find that music CD? It should be on my desk."

"Cake's in the oven," Cyborg noted. "But I don't know where the pots are."

"Look down in the second door at your left," Yuzu said.

"I'm done chopping up the sauce stuff," Beast Boy declared, having changed back into his normal self.

"Then pass it over to Yuzu and go to the freezer to get a bag of shrimp," Rukia instructed.

Isshin then walked into the kitchen again, carrying a set of elaborate matching candlesticks. "I've got the…" he began, but was interrupted when he tripped, the candlesticks flying out of his hands. One of them flew towards Karin, who was coming down the stairs, missing her by an uncomfortably small margin, while the other smacked Beast Boy in the head.

"Watch where you're going!" Karin exclaimed.

"Sorry, sorry!" Isshin apologized.

"Okay, let's just not have any more mishaps, and try to finish this before Robin and Starfire run out of ways to stall for time," Rukia spoke up, prompting them all to return to their various tasks.

After having wandered about for a while, the two boys stepped into a shop that had caught Robin's attention. The Boy Wonder looked around at the nun-chucks, staffs, and other such items gear, while Gale, though not into martial arts like his friend, found himself interested enough to look at some of the stuff there too. After a while of browsing around, and talking to a man in his forties who owned the shop, a beeping sound from the communicator in Robin's pocket prompted him to excuse himself, then grab Gale and walk out, heading towards Ichigo's house again. "Are you going to tell me what this is all about yet?" Gale asked.

"Sorry, but you'll have to wait until we get back."

"Is there anything you can tell me at all?"

"Odds are, you're going to be pretty surprised, but I promise it's all harmless, and you're probably going to like it in the end."

As the two of them kept walking, they just so happened to run into a gang of six men, two of which were the ones Gale had beaten up after his fight with Raven. "Oh great, these morons again," he muttered in English.

"Give us your money, and no one will get hurt," a guy with black hair wearing a red hoodie said, speaking Japanese.

"Look, guys," Robin replied. "We've got somewhere to get soon, so why don't you just let us through and we'll leave you alone."

"You Americans must be pretty stupid," one of the gang members spoke up. "There's six of us, and only two of you."

"Did you want my help, or are you going take them out on your own?" Gale asked Robin, speaking Japanese so that the gang members could understand him.

"We might as well both take them. It'll save a little time." Hearing this, the gang rushed at the two Titans, only to be beaten up and;eft in a pile on the sidewalk less than a minute later.

"Let's get back now," Gale said. "So I can find out what you guys have planned."

Raven and Starfire hung around in the bookstore for a good while, looking about for anything that might be of interest. As she was browsing, the young sorceress couldn't shake the feeling that her friend was obviously part of some sort of scheme. But after some time, Starfire's communicator went off, which apparently meant that they could return to Ichigo's house. "Do I have to wait until we get back before you tell me what's going on?"

"Have patience, everything will be revealed at the proper time," Starfire answered in her usually happy voice.

"And that would be when?"

"Soon."

The two of them walked the rest of the way in relative silence, making one stop so that Starfire could buy a pair of black roses. Raven looked at her curiously at this, but refrained from asking any further questions, preferring to get back and find out what all the fuss was about. When they finally arrived at Ichigo's house, Starfire knocked at the door and Rukia answered, stepping outside quickly and closing the door before Raven could get a glimpse of what was inside. "Good, you're here," she said, apparently a little excited. "Two things before we can let you in. Don't ask questions, and I'm going to blindfold you, so don't panic."

"What?" Raven said in a confused tone, before Rukia put the blindfold over her eyes, tying securely around her head.

"Now, just follow us, and don't worry about anything." Raven felt Starfire grab her hand and guide her through the entrance. Blindfolded as she was, the young sorceress couldn't see a thing, even though she could detect a few pleasant smells hanging in the air. She walked along as her friend guided her up the stairs and judging by the sound of a door closing behind her, into a room.

"Can I take this stupid blindfold off yet?" Raven asked.

"No, not yet or you'll spoil the surprise," Yuzu piped up.

"However weird this may feel, please don't panic or anything," Karin spoke. The two Kurosaki girls then started pulling off Raven's outfit and changing her into what she could feel was most likely a dress. After that, they had her sit down, and began brushing her hair. Then, with the promise that she'd keep her eyes closed, they removed the blindfold and started working on her face. Once that was finally finished, they carefully put the blindfold back on and guided her out, down the stairs, and stopped her in the middle of the room.

"Raven? Is that you?" Gale's voice was heard in front of her.

"It's me," she replied. "I guess they blindfolded you too, huh?"

"Yeah, but they haven't given me any reason yet."

"Don't worry," Rukia reassured them. "Everything will be revealed in a few seconds."

"Just get ready for the surprise of your lives," Beast Boy added. Raven and Gale's blindfolds were pulled off a second later, Beast Boy and Rukia running off right after. When their sight came into full focus again, their faces suddenly had mirror images of surprise. Raven was wearing a sparkling, sleeveless, dark blue dress, with elegant knee high black boots. She also had a touch of dark lipstick, eye shadow, and a dab of other makeup on her face, although it had been done in a manner to accentuate her natural beauty, rather than give a perfect, but false appearance.

For his part, Gale was sporting a white shirt with a bit of black, and slits cut into the back for his wings to poke through. He also wore black pants, a pair of sleek black shoes and his hair was combed back with gel to keep it in place. "Umm…" they both said, stunned at each other's appearance. Also, the dining room table had a fancy red tablecloth overtop, with napkins, a handful of black rose petals, a pair of lit candles, and was set for two people. The smell of incense was hanging in the air, a soft, slow music was playing, and the room was obviously made to give a romantic atmosphere.

While the two Titans were staring at one another, Isshin waltzed into the room, dressed like a waiter, wearing white and black, with a clean white towel on his arm. "Good evening, sir and madam," he greeted them with a wide smile on his face. "Welcome to Chez Kurosaki. Your table is waiting for you. Please sit down." Isshin waited until they were seated, then clapped his hands twice, at which Rukia and Starfire walked in, both of whom were wearing simple dresses and carrying a plate of food. "On the menu tonight: Shrimp and Mushroom Linguini with Creamy Herb and Cheese Sauce." Rukia and Starfire set the plates in front of Raven and Gale and stepped back with a smile. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Uhh, yeah," Raven said, still a little surprised by everything.

"I guess so," Gale added.

"Busboy," Isshin called out, clapping his hands again, which prompted Beast Boy and Robin, also dressed in black and white, to enter the room, one carrying two glasses, while the other had a bottle of sparkling apple juice. Both of them were smiling in amusement at their friends as they set the glasses down and poured the juice. "And now… please enjoy yourselves," Isshin said, him and the two 'busboys' stepping back to leave the two diners alone.

"Well… this is all unexpected," Raven admitted after a moment's silence.

"You're telling me," Gale said. "I mean, it was obvious enough that something was going on, but still…"

"I guess we might as well go along with this," Raven suggested. "I am pretty hungry, and they've already prepared food for us." Gale nodded, at which the two of them began to enjoy their meal.

On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy were currently in the midst of robbing a bank in Gotham City. "Come on, come on," the jester like villainess urged her companion in an excited manner as the bank's employees hid in fright. "We've got so little time, and so much to steal. Better hurry up before the Bat comes around."

"There's no need to worry," Ivy replied calmly as she gently stroked an octopus like plant monster, then sent it to go force open a vault door. "Batman has his hands full with Two-Face on the other side of Gotham."

"But I'm ready to entertain both of you." The two women turned around to look in the direction that the voice had come from and saw the new heroine known as The Jade Spider who was hanging from the ceiling.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Harley asked.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm the Jade Spider. And I'm here to kick your butts. However, I am willing to accept your peaceful surrender."

"I don't think so," Ivy spoke up. "Baby dear," she addressed her plant monster. "Take care of this little spider for us, will you now?" The plant creature moved away from the now open vault and grabbed a desk, then threw it at the human spider girl, who jumped away from her perch before she was hit. She then extended an arm and shot out a line of webbing from her wrist at a spot on the ceiling, using it to swing around and kick the monster in its head, knocking it into the wall.

"You down for the count, ugly?" she asked the plant monster. In response, it pried itself from the wall and leapt at Jade, who dodged its tentacles with agility. As she was jumping around, she shot out multiples strings of her webbing at the monster's tentacles, trapping them all against the floor, then swung over to the detached vault door, and with impressive strength, picked it up and threw it at the plant monster, crushing its head underneath. "So, ready to give up now, girls?"

"You wish," Harley said. She then pulled out a nerf gun and fired it off at Jade. She dodged the projectiles with obvious ease, which exploded as they hit the floor and wall.

"You should work on your aim, because it looks pretty sloppy," Jade taunted her as she continued to dodge.

"Stand still so I can shoot you."

"Let me think about it for one second… nope, I don't feel like it." Jade then shot off a line of web at Harley's gun, blocking the barrel's mouth and causing it to blow up when she tried to fire again. As this was happening, Ivy managed to run over to the plant creature and used her powers to re-animate it. Seeing a grenade at Harley's belt, Jade used her webbing to grab it. "Hope you don't mind me borrowing this. Now open wide, ugly," she said, kicking the plant monster in the head, prompting it to open its mouth, at which she pulled the grenade's pin and dropped it in, causing the creature to explode a few seconds later.

"You killed my baby!" Poison Ivy exclaimed angrily.

"Sorry about that. I never was good at taking care of plants anyway."

"Let's get out of here," Harley urged her friend, both of them making a run for it.

"Where are you going?" Jade asked. "I was having so much fun." She then went to stop the two of them with her webs, but before she had the chance, a pair of batarangs sailed through the air and smacked them in the head, rendering them unconscious. "Hey Bats," she greeted Gotham's Dark Knight as he dropped to the ground next to her. "Why'd you do that? You just ruined my grand finale." Batman simply stared at her in response. "I heard you were busy with Two-Face. I guess you must be done with him now."

"…Obviously."

"By the way, I was thinking I might hop over to Jump City whenever the Titans come back and try to join their merry band. You wouldn't mind putting in a good word for me, hey?"

"I'll think about it. As for your performance here… you did good."

"Why thank you, Bats. Well, I'd best be off."

Back in Karakura Town, at Ichigo's house, Raven and Gale were both having a surprisingly good time as they were eating dinner together. "You know, under normal circumstances, I probably wouldn't too happy at everyone for going behind our backs like this," Raven spoke up. "But this is… kind of fun."

"Yeah, you're right about that," Gale agreed. "And it's good to see you happy."

"Thanks," she said with a smile.

"You look… nice, when you smile like that," Gale commented, smiling in return, causing the young sorceress to blush a little.

"You're just saying that."

"No, really, I mean it," he insisted.

Isshin entered the room and grinned a little. "Well, I've rarely seen such a perfect happy couple. Would either of you like to have dessert?"

"That depends," Raven said, her and Gale blushing because of his comment. "What's for dessert?"

"Today we have an excellent chocolate cake, with delicious chocolate icing on top."

"Sure, sounds good," the young sorceress replied.

"I'll have some too," Gale added.

Isshin then clapped his hands three times. "Bring out the dessert." At this, Cyborg walked into the room, carrying two small places, each with a slice of mouth-watering chocolate cake. The cybernetic teen winked suggestively as he took their plates and set the dessert in front of them. Gale and Raven ate in silence, both of them still blushing and embarrassed by all the hints and suggestions sent their way. Shortly after they were done, Isshin came back to the table. "So… did you enjoy yourselves?"

"Surprisingly, yes," Raven answered.

"Good, very good." Isshin then raised his hands and clapped five times, at which everyone else came into the room. "But thanks should also be given to Rukia for coming up with the idea, Yuzu for supervising the kitchen operations, Karin for taking care of the decorating, and everyone else who helped prepare all this."

"It was… nice of you all, even considering the fact that you went behind our backs," Raven said.

"Thank you for doing this," Gale added.

"You're welcome," Rukia replied.

"By the way," Karin spoke up. "Up north, a little past where the river splits, there's a spot where it's really nice at night, especially when the moon is shining."

"I believe it is a splendid idea," Starfire noted. "Go ahead and we shall take care of everything here."

"You sure?" Gale asked.

"Don't worry about a thing," Robin reassured them. "Just go and we'll meet you guys back at the hotel when you're finished."

"Okay then, thanks," Raven said as they stood up to go walk out the door.

"However…" Beast Boy spoke up, prompting them to stop and turn around. "There is a price tag attached to all this."

"You need to let us take a picture of both of you," Yuzu explained, holding up a camera. Raven and Gale looked at each other for a moment, then decided to go along with it. Yuzu instructed them to take stand close and smile, at which she took the shot. "Good one, now run along and have fun." That said, Gale put an illusion around him and Raven to disguise their appearances, then they said goodbye and walked out the door.

After a brief stop in a secluded spot where Gale dispelled the illusion surrounding him and Raven, the two Titans flew up off the ground, following along the river towards the place Karin had told them about. "So…" Raven spoke up as they were flying, keeping fairly close to each other as they moved through the silent nighttime sky. "Do you know anything about this place your cousin wants us to go see?"

"Yeah," Gale answered. "Whenever my mom and I would come over, all of us would go sit there one night for an hour and just watch." They continued flying for a short time, and landed on the side of the river when Gale declared that they'd arrived. "Hmm… this isn't really like what I remembered."

"Maybe it's because the moon is hidden behind those clouds over there," Raven pointed out. "Too bad, this is slightly disappointing."

"Just a moment," Gale spoke up. A gust of wind began to blow as the winged titan concentrated, focussing his power. He held his arms straight out, hands clapped together and pointing at the clouds obstructing the moon. A second later, he moved his arms to either side, at which the clouds suddenly split apart.

"Wow…" Raven said in awe at the sight of the moonlight shining down on the river. The two titans then sat down right next to each other, looking at the beautiful scenery. "Karin was right, this really is nice," the young sorceress commented after they'd been sitting in silence for a while.

"Yeah… it is. Did you have a good time tonight?"

"Best I've had in a really long time. What about you?"

"It was great." Gale then stretched out one of his wings and wrapped it around Raven's shoulder, while she placed an arm around his waist.

'I should tell him how I feel right now,' Raven said in her mind.

'Better confess to her before I lose it,' Gale thought, steeling himself.

"Rachel…" "Amicus…" they spoke up at the same time as they turned to face each other.

"You first." "You first."

"I insist." "I insist."

The two of them laughed a little at this. "Go on," Gale said.

"Anyway, I just wanted to say that… you're a nice guy, and even though we've have had some ups and down, you've always been a great friend, and I really appreciate that."

"Thanks, Rachel. You've always been a great friend too. And you really are beautiful."

Raven blushed a little at this, feeling particularly happy to hear her prospective love interest compliment her so. "Thanks. So, I, umm, talked to Starfire recently, about something… and since then … I've, umm, realized that I… I believe what I've been feeling is… I don't know how to say this."

"Maybe it'll be easier if you just say it straight out," Gale suggested.

"Okay… What I mean to say is that I-" The sudden appearance of a mass of spiritual pressure cut off Raven mid-speech. "What the…"

"This can't be arrancars, the spiritual pressure isn't right," Gale noted. "It must be hollows."

"But if there's this much, then that must mean…" As if to answer for Raven, a rip appeared in the sky, followed by a second, and a third, and a mass of others until it was nearly impossible to keep count, with hollows stepping out from each one. "That… is a lot of hollows…"

The two titans looked at each other for a second and then nodded, at which Gale turned into his spirit form, while Raven put on her bracelet. Sensing their spiritual pressure, a dozen nearby hollows started flying towards them. However, before they even got anywhere close, a barrage of razor sharp gusts of wind and a blast of black energy obliterated them in a flash. "Shall we?" Gale spoke up, materializing his transparent sword as they both flew up into the air.

"Not exactly the evening I had in mind, but I'll live with it. Them on the other hand…"

"Let's go then."

All over Karakura Town, the members of the soul reaper taskforce and their allies became aware of the presence of numerous hollows. At Orihime's house, Toshiro and Rangiku swallowed their soul candy, leaving their gigai with the bubbly orange haired girl. Rukia, who was in her room at Ichigo's house after having finished helping clean up, popped her own soul candy into her mouth and jumped out the window to meet up with Renji, who had left his gigai inside the Urahara Shop. At their end, Ryu and Shelliane jumped out of their gigai and dashed out, running into a bunch of hollows shortly after they'd left the house they owned together. And as for Ikkaku and Yumichika, they weren't unhappy to have a reason to get away from Keigo, or rather, his overbearing sister who kept clinging to the bald third seat of squad eleven.

And as for the other Titans, they were walking back from Ichigo's house, heading towards the hotel they were staying in, looking forward to a good night's sleep, and perhaps some discussion about Raven and Gale's blooming relationship. Robin and Starfire had already shed their civilian clothes in favor of their uniforms, while Beast Boy and Cyborg had taken off their holo-watches. The four of them stopped in their tracks when they became aware of the hollows' spiritual pressure. "Dude, this feels just like when those arrancars appeared last time," Beast Boy noted.

"No, this is different," Robin pointed out. "This is more like… hollows." A large band of hollows stepped out from a mass of tears in the sky, while another handful came towards the Titans from down the street.

"Lots and lots of hollows…" Cyborg added as they all put on the bracelets Kisuke had given them, standing at the ready. "Alright, who wants a case of canned butt whoop?"

Half a dozen hollows charged forwards as if to answer his challenge. The first died when Starfire let loose with her eyebeams, blasting its head right off. The second was downed by a full powered shot from Cyborg's sonic cannon, which hit dead center in its mask. Beast Boy turned into a gorilla and uprooted a lamppost that he brought down on another's head with all of his rather impressive might, swatting it like a fly. Robin hit the fourth hollow in the eye with an expertly thrown birdarang, causing it to open its mouth and roar in pain, only to have an explosive disk sail into its gaping maw, blowing its head up a second later. The last two were the only ones of this group to get close, which turned out to be a fatal mistake, as Cyborg and Starfire buried their fists in one's face, while Robin jumped over the other's swing, slammed it into the ground with a downward blow from his staff, then jumped back, allowing for Beast Boy to change into an elephant and stomp on its head, crushing it like an egg.

All of the other nearby hollows froze for a second and stared, feeling some manner of surprise at seeing their intended prey fight back with such ferocity. "Who is next?" Starfire called out, hovering a foot above the ground, with a starbolt in each hand. The hollows cried out in response and started coming towards the teenage heroes.

"What about Raven and Gale?" Beast Boy asked.

"They're strong enough to take care of themselves," Robin reassured him. "Titans… Go!"

Back with Raven and Gale, the two Titans in question were both flying in the air while fighting the mass of hollows that kept coming at them. "These hollows may be weak…" Raven said as she used her powers to cut a hollow in half at the waist, while sending out a beam of black energy that punched through another's mask and came out the back of its head. "But there's so many of them that it's starting to get annoying."

"Tell me about it," Gale replied, swinging his sword, sending forth a blade of air that sped towards a group of three hollows, cutting them down and going on until it sliced off a fourth's right arm. "At least they're not as bad as those arrancars," he added, doing a mid-air roll, avoiding a hollow that lunged at him, while spinning around with his sword and decapitating it.

As they kept fighting, slaughtering any hollows that came at them, a larger rip than usual appeared in the sky, spewing forth another wave of monsters, adding onto the already annoyingly larger amount of attackers. Seeing this, Raven let out a blast with her powers to push back all their enemies and give them both a little room to breathe. The two Titans hovered back to back, both their spiritual pressures surging as they prepared to unleash their powers. Gale changed his sword into a pair of ear muffs which he gave to Raven. She put them on and began to chant as he breathed in deeply, their enemies coming ever closer.

"Azarath… Metrion… ZINTHOS!" Raven cried out, unleashing a wave of black energy that tore through the hollows like a scythe cutting wheat. At the same time, a particularly loud and devastating sonic shriek erupted from Gale's mouth, stopping the rest of the hollows in their tracks, barely holding them up for a second before they all simply began to explode from the sheer pressure and volume. When the two Titans were finished, they stood in mid-air on a disk made from Raven's powers, tired from using up this much energy, though they had more to spare. As they looked around, they saw that their combined attacks had decimated the hollows' ranks, leaving less of them alive than before.

At that moment, a black portal opened up in mid-air, but instead of a hollow, a blond man with tan skin came out, wearing a dark red jacket, yellowish shirt and black pants with a flame shaped stripe on the side of each leg, and a zanpakuto hanging at his belt. His spiritual pressure was akin to that of a soul reaper, but also like an arrancar's, though he had no hollow hole or mask remnant. As soon as he appeared, he held out his hands towards the two Titans. "Hado 73: Soren Sokatsui!" Twin blast of blue spiritual energy shot out from the palm of his hands towards the two Titans, who were fortunate to have sensed his presence in time to move out of the way. "Well hello there," the man said in a false happy tone. "My name's Dakar. I'm here to test your powers, and maybe kill you while I'm at it."

"Did Aizen send you?" Gale asked cautiously, not letting her guard down.

"Maybe he did, and maybe he didn't. For all you know, it might have been someone else entirely." He drew his zanpakuto and spoke four words. "Blaze like fury, Rekka!" (Inferno) His katana changed into a long sword with a crimson hilt and an orange tinted blade, and his spiritual pressure went up a good amount. "You're no doubt wondering about my spiritual pressure. Well, firstly, I used to be a soul reaper years back, but then I decided it wasn't my kind of thing. And as for the other, if you manage to fight well enough, then I might show you. Now let's get at it."

Back with the other Titans, they were all busy fighting a large number of hollows. While Robin and Cyborg were confined to the ground, Starfire engaged more in an aerial battle, whereas Beast Boy alternated between the two, depending on what animal forms he was using. Fortunately, despite their enemies' numbers, and despite the fact that they hadn't been able to use their spiritual powers, the four of them weren't having too much trouble holding their own. "Hey guys," Cyborg spoke up as he punched a hollow in the fact hard enough to shatter its mask. "I'm picking up some kind of strange energy in the air that looks like its responsible for attracting the hollows here, like some kind of bait."

"Can you identify where it came from?" Robin asked, jumping onto a hollow's outstretched arm, quickly running up to its head, then pulling out a pair of batons and burying one of them in each of the monster's eyes.

"Not yet, but it looks like it's starting to fade away, so we shouldn't have to deal with these hollows for much longer."

As they continued fighting, it became apparent that Cyborg was right about the bait's potency starting to fade, as less and less hollows kept showing up to replace those that were felled. At one point, when there were no more than a dozen hollows left, a pitch black portal opened, from which a hollow that looked something like a big, vicious werewolf came through. Surprisingly enough, the new one ruthlessly dove into the hollows' midst, killing and devouring them in a display that grossed out the Titans. "This does not seem good," Starfire noted as the new hollow raised its head and howled, flaring its powerful spiritual pressure.

The new hollow then lunged at the alien girl, driving a fist into her stomach and throwing her to the ground. Starfire recovered quickly enough to catch the hollow's hands, and as she held it at bay, an explosive disk collided with its back, followed by the Titans' leader hitting the hollow with a flying kick that knocked it off his girlfriend. The werewolf creature was sent flying a short distance, but shrugged off the impact and dashed at Beast Boy, who changed into a gorilla and punched him hard in the chest hard enough to send him flying into a neon sign. However, he recovered quickly and uprooted said neon sign, bringing it down on the green gorilla's head.

Starfire let loose a barrage of starbolts at the werewolf, who dodged them as well as blasts of sonic energy, then grabbed the half metal titan and hurled him at Starfire, sending the two crashing away. The creature went to make a move towards Robin, but was interrupted when Beast Boy suddenly changed into 'The Beast' and threw the neon sign that had been brought down on his head, nailing the creature in the face. The changeling followed up by lunging at their enemy, pounding it with his form's great strength, overpowering its resistance. The beating continued for a few moments, until Beast Boy hit the monster with a huge uppercut, sending it flying way up, where Starfire hit it back down with a double handed blow, using all of her natural Tamaranian strength. It crashed into the street hard enough to make a small crater, but was still able to stand up, albeit with some effort, only for Robin to throw an explosive disk from one end and Cyborg to shoot with his sonic cannon from the other, which caused an explosion that left it face-down and practically defeated.

Unexpectedly, another black portal opened up next to the winged werewolf, from which a tall figure stepped through. He appeared to be a male human, though it was impossible to know more, given that he was entirely dressed in black, along with a black cloak and hood that hid most of his face. "Hello, Titans," he spoke in a cold, deep voice.

"Who are you?" Robin demanded, him and the others ready to jump into action.

"You must be the reason so many hollows showed up, aren't you?" Cyborg asked.

"I needed a distraction big enough to keep you four and those lingering soul reapers busy. I had hoped my pet would be able to keep you busy for longer, but I guess he's not enough as it is." The mysterious man's spiritual pressure began to rise to impressive lengths as his hand was covered in dark magic. The werewolf cried out in pain as he zapped it with chaotic energy, causing it to triple in size, grow a pair of bat like wings, as well as a long serpentine tail, and mutate into a more vicious being than before. "I have other plans right now, so I won't be sticking around. But I'll leave you in his capable and deadly hands. Enjoy." The mysterious figure then opened up another black portal and stepped through, closing it behind him, leaving the Titans alone with the newly empowered hollow.

While Raven dealt with the remaining hollows, Gale concentrated on Dakar, whose new sword and power was proving to be something of a challenge. Unfortunately for the winged Titan, fighting all those hollows beforehand had tired him out somewhat, which made things a little harder, even though he was still able to meet his opponent blow for blow. "Not bad, bird boy, especially considering the amount of hollows you and your girlfriend went through. But let's see just how well you can keep up." Dakar swung a downward blow at Gale, who blocked it while holding his sword in both hands, then breathed in, pursed his lips and blew, using his powers to amplify his breath enough to send his enemy flying. The former soul reaper slid back some distance, and steadied himself in time to see Gale coming towards him, at which he pointed his sword straight out, shooting off a dozen small fireballs. Faced with this, the winged titan quickly spun around on himself, creating a whirlwind that blew away the fireballs. When Dakar dashed down, Gale stopped spinning and created a wall of air, flipping around and kicking off in the direction of his enemy.

Dakar ignited his blade and swung at Gale, who was forced to engage in a deadly dance to avoid getting burned by multiple blades of fire sent his way. The former soul reaper kept it up for a moment, then raised his sword, gathering more flames, and swung it in a wide arc, sending out a huge wave of fire. Seeing this, Gale quickly focussed his powers through his own sword and swung it hard with both hands, sending out a wave of air that blasted the incoming attack. Dakar then used his speed to appear up above and swung his fiery blade at the winged boy, who only had time to spin around and raise his sword to block it. However, the momentum of this attack pushed against him with enough force that he crashed to the ground. Raven intervened in their battle when she used her powers to grab the last two remaining hollows and throw them at Dakar, who incinerated one, and sliced the other in half.

"That's a pretty looking dress," he commented to the young sorceress. "It think it'd look even better if I bur-" A rising beam of wind punched him in the chin, not being powerful enough to inflict great damage, but still hurting him a little and interrupting whatever he'd been about to say. "So… it's two against one now," he noted as Gale flew up to be at Raven's side. "Not very fair, is it?"

"Not like you know the meaning of the word," Raven shot back.

"You know what? You're absolutely right." Dakar then suddenly swung his sword with both hands, sending a huge blast of fire at Raven and Gale. However, as he did so, the air in front of the two Titans shimmered and started to take form, quickly becoming the giant eagle of air, blocking his attack. "What the…?" The eagle then spread its wings and screeched as it flared to life, zooming towards the former soul reaper and ramming him with its beak. A split second later, it raked its talons across his back, then flew around and batted him away with its wings, after which it grasped him firmly in its talons. The eagle dove straight down, pulling up at the last instant, slamming its prey hard into the ground. "What… the hell... was that?" Dakar wondered, prying himself out of the ground with a certain difficulty, having suffered more than a few injuries.

"Secret weapon," Gale answered simply.

"Tough bugger isn't it?" the former soul reaper said, gritting his teeth. "Guess I'll just have to show you my own secret weapon." Dakar managed to stand up and raised his hand to his face, at which hundreds of fragments of white light began to gather in his palm. He then brought his hand across his face, revealing a stark white hollow mask with orange lines running from the eyes like tear marks. Raven and Gale's expressions showed surprise as Dakar's spiritual pressure rose to unexpected heights. "So, now you see why my spiritual pressure's different from soul reapers," he spoke in a distorted voice. He then suddenly swung his sword, sending out a much bigger and more powerful wave of fire than before. The giant eagle dived down and spread its wings wide to block the flames, though Gale could feel a little strain.

Dakar took advantage of the cover his attack provided to jump high up into the air and swing his blazing sword down at the eagle, hitting it with enough power to push it away. He then pointed his weapon at the two Titans, shooting a large fireball at them. Raven put up a shield of black energy that barely managed to hold out against the assault, but shattered when Dakar slammed his sword into it. This he followed up by taking a swing at Gale, who put up his own sword in time, but was still sent flying back a distance. The former soul reaper spun around and drove his foot into Raven's stomach, knocking the wind out of her. As the young sorceress was falling down, Dakar sent out a blade of fire, which broke through her hastily erected shield, sending her crashing into the ground hard.

Dakar then raised his sword and was going to send out another blade of fire, but Gale then unleashed a sonic shriek, forcing him to quickly move out of the way. He dodged to the side as the giant eagle zoomed towards him, only to get caught off guard when it spun around and smacked him with its outstretched wings. Gale delved into his powers and pushed him further away with a strong gust of wind. The winged boy then took the opportunity to dive down next to Raven. "Are you okay?" he asked his friend, feeling worried at the state she was in.

The young sorceress groaned a little as she managed to sit up with his help. "I'm not feeling so good, but I'll live."

"I've got to hand it to you, kid," Dakar spoke up in his distorted voice, standing still in mid-air above them, sword resting on his shoulder. "You're pretty tough, and that pet of yours can sure lay a smack down. I didn't expect you to still put up this much of a fight after I'd hollowfied. But it's only a matter of time until you get worn out."

"Rae… please stay here while I take care of this guy," Gale said as he called the giant eagle down towards him.

"But…"

"The eagle is a manifestation of my power, just like a zanpakuto is to a soul reaper. It's time I went all out."

"Just be careful," Raven said.

"What're you talking about anyway?" Dakar asked. "What do you plan on doing that could possibly defeat me?"

Gale dispelled his sword and flew up a few feet off the ground so that he was at the same height as the eagle. The two of them suddenly flew straight towards one another, the giant bird of air fading into its master upon contact. Gale stood still in mid-air, his body changing as they merged. His clothes were absorbed into his skin, leaving behind a pair of form fitting black shorts. White feathers began to sprout all over his body at the same time, with the exception of his hands, feet and the mark on his chest, which were left bare. His wings grew until they were twice their normal span, then split to form a second pair identical to the first. When he was finished transforming, Gale flew up a little further, giving their enemy a sharp glare.

Dakar suddenly swung his sword down with both hands, sending a huge wave of fire at Gale, who looked at it in an unconcerned manner, willing a wall of air to appear, stopping the wave dead in its tracks. Dakar growled angrily and shot out a set of large fireballs which crashed against the barrier with no effect whatsoever. He then ignited his blade and charged towards Gale, who commanded the barrier to disappear, then let his spiritual pressure flow freely, shocking the hollowfied soul reaper with the sheer amount he was emitting. The elemental Titan then flapped his wings at his enemy three times, shooting a veritable storm of razor like feathers. When the barrage ended, Dakar was left bleeding from a mass of various cuts, despite his efforts, while Gale's feathers had regrown instantly.

"Wow…" Raven said, awed at the power her friend was displaying.

"You asked what I planned on doing that could defeat you," Gale spoke up. "Now you know." He then extended his arm to the side, materializing his transparent sword, and charged at his enemy again.

The winged werewolf was giving Robin, Starfire, Cyborg and Beast Boy more trouble now than before the mysterious figure had zapped it with strange dark magical energy. Even though they weren't exactly getting beaten back, the empowered hollows was still successfully holding its own against them, even with the green Titan fighting as 'The Beast'. "Though this creature has not caused us terribly great problems…" Starfire spoke up during a lull in the battle. "It is proving to be much more difficult than before."

"That guy said he was just trying to keep us and the soul reapers busy, but he didn't say anything about Raven and Gale," Robin noted. "That means he must be planning to go after them."

"Then we'll just have to get rid of this thing so we can go help em out," Cyborg said.

Beast Boy nodded and gave a grunt of approval, then suddenly lunged at the winged werewolf. It jumped into the air and tried to fly out of the way, but the changeling simply crouched and sprung up off the ground, clamping his clawed hands around its ankles. The creature was then hit in by a punch courtesy of Starfire, which made a sound that suggested a breaking jaw, but managed to retaliate by whipping her with its tail, making her collide with and obliterate a set of traffic lights. Robin threw a pair of birdarangs that cut the creature's face and put out one of its eyes, allowing Cyborg to carefully take aim and hit it in the head with a shot from his sonic cannon. This in turn gave Beast Boy the chance to pull himself up and land a few big hits, which he followed up on by clawing at the hollow's wings, almost tearing them off.

The werewolf jerked and flailed wildly in pain, enough so that he managed to get The Beast off of him. Beast Boy landed on all fours, whereas their enemy crashed into the ground. The creature pulled itself up, acting as if it couldn't even feel its injuries, and let out a defiant roar. Dark, magical energy suddenly erupted from the creature's chest, identical to that which the mysterious figure had used on it before. It swirled around the werewolf's body, healing its mangled wings, resetting its broken jaw, fixing its bleeding eye and battered face. Its body now healed and sheathed in chaotic energy, the monstrous hollow lunged at The Beast, dodging his powerful fists, and slamming it away with a hard punch of its own. It then set its sights on Robin, who used his speed and agility to dodge its attacks, and drove a heel into its muzzle, only to be sent flying down the street, even though he managed an easy landing.

Cyborg fired a blast from his sonic cannon, while Starfire put her hands together and shot a beam of green energy. The winged werewolf crouched down a little and wrapped its wings around its body, shielding itself against their attacks. It then stood up, pulled back its fists and smashed them into the pavement with enough strength to cause a web of cracks to zoom towards the two Titans, knocking them down. It then flew straight towards them as they were getting up and spun around, whipping its tail, catching them in the chest and smacking them away. The magic surrounding its body began to gather in its gaping maw as Beast Boy came charging forward. The Beast jumped high in the air, closing the distance between them in one giant leap, coming down at their enemy with claws outstretched. The creature then let loose its attack, the magical energy blasting away like a cero, hitting Beast Boy full face, sending him sky high.

"Not cool," Cyborg noted as he, Starfire and Robin got to their feet and regrouped.

"Indeed," Starfire agreed. "The evil person's magic appears to have been more potent than we first believed."

"Now might be the time to pull out those fancy spiritual powers," the cybernetic teenager suggested.

"One problem," Robin said. "None of us know how to do it just like that." Beast Boy suddenly crashed into the ground hard enough to make a crater.

"I'm so sick of this thing!" the changeling declared angrily as he reverted back to his normal form, looking a little worse for wear. His spiritual pressure began to rise to impressive heights as he started to change, like the time he first transformed into 'The Beast'. He became a creature about the size of a gorilla, his head changed into a dragon's, his skin became armor, and his body changed into a dark green, almost black color. He grew a second pair of arms below the original two, massive muscles appeared all over, making his limbs look like veritable trunks with claws as sharp as his teeth. His transformation was completed when he sprouted a long whip like tail with a deadly looking crescent blade at the tip.

Leaving his friends little time to admire his new form, Beast Boy lunged at their enemy with more than impressive speed, punching it in the face with one of his huge fists, then hitting it with an uppercut that picked it up off its feet and sent it flying. The winged werewolf managed to spread its wings to stabilize itself, but only in time to see the shape-shifter rocket upwards and head-butt it in the stomach, then toss it back down like a rag doll. Beast Boy then came falling, clawed feet first, but just missed when the creature rolled out of the way. The creature uprooted a telephone pole and swung it down at Beast Boy, breaking it over his head with no effect. The evil monster threw the pole, which was caught with one hand and tossed far away like a stick, then quickly charged up dark magic and blasted it off. Beast Boy dug his heels into the ground and put up his arms, stopping the attack dead in its tracks. Once it was spent, he opened his mouth wide and let out a torrent of flames that engulfed his enemy, causing it to howl loudly in pain.

The hollow was left with a mass of rather severe burns all over its body, but a sudden outburst of chaotic energy forced it to stand up again and charge at Beast Boy, who lashed out with a barrage of punches from his four arms, pummelling it over and over. He finished it up with a head-butt, then cracked his tail like a whip, slicing the crescent blade through his enemy's neck, which fell to the ground a second later, before it dissipated into a mass of spiritual particles, along with the rest of the body. Beast Boy stood still for a few moments, then fell to his hands and knees as he reverted back to his normal form. "Beast Boy, are you alright?" Cyborg asked.

"Of course… dude," he answered, panting with exhaustion. "We still… need… to help Raven… and Gale."

"Cyborg, pick up Beast Boy and carry him on your back," Robin spoke up, prompting the cybernetic teenager to pick up his wearied teammate. "Let's hope you're not too tired by the time we find the others."

Even with his combined hollow and soul reaper powers, it was clear Dakar was no longer a match for Gale. In his merged form, the winged Titan was overpowering the former soul reaper at every turn, his powers rendering all enemy attacks futile, while smashing through any defenses. Even in terms of speed, Gale was able to surpass him without much effort. At the moment, both fighters were standing still in mid-air, with Dakar bleeding from numerous cuts. "Who sent you, and why?" Gale demanded.

"I'm not telling you anything, you ignorant brat!" Dakar spat out. "I am going to shove my zanpakuto through your stomach and burn your little girl friend while you-" Gale suddenly swung his sword, sending a huge blade of air at the former soul reaper, not only interrupting him, but blasting him a good distance away and causing further injury.

"I will not let you hurt her," the winged titan said in an unbending tone.

Dakar let out a cry of rage and used his speed to appear behind Gale, swinging his fiery blade at his exposed back, but found his attack blocked by the sudden appearance of a shield of air. The elemental teenager then spun around and thrust out with his arm, absorbing the shield in the palm of his hand and blasting his enemy with a beam of wind. He followed up by flapping his wings, shooting out a flurry of feathers, which cut Dakar's skin like razor sharp blades. The former soul reaper growled at this and swung his sword, sending out a blade of fire. Gale suddenly vanished, avoiding the attack, and re-appeared at Dakar's left, his right, front, back, on all sides, almost a dozen winged Titans surrounding him.

The many copies of Gale all charged at the lone enemy, who tried to defend himself, but without a great deal of success. He blocked one's strike, and was cut in his shoulder, retaliating with a hard fist, only to get slammed in the back, then shot a fireball that took out one copy, with another two cutting him below the ribs a second later. Dakar let loose his spiritual pressure, creating a shockwave of fire that took out a couple more and gave himself some breathing room. Gale willed his copies to disappear, revealing himself to be unscathed, standing at a distance. "Bureijingufaiagoremu!" (Blazing Fire Golems) A stream of fire extended from Dakar's zanpakuto, forming ten featureless lava golems.

"I've had enough of you, brat."

"You're right, time to end this." Gale swung his sword in a wide, horizontal arc, though nothing appeared to happen.

"Kill him!" Dakar ordered his golems.

Gale then raised his free hand and snapped his fingers, at which every one of the golems broke into tiny pieces. Raven's mouth dropped open a little in surprise at seeing her friend wipe out what appeared to be a powerful attack with seemingly no effort. The winged boy then sent out a blade of air that Dakar managed to block with his Zanpakuto, but was still forced back, until he slammed into a wall of air. He struggled with all his might against the rising pressure, but his fate was sealed when Gale raised his sword with both hands, the transparent blade glowing with power for a moment, and swung it down one last time. A truly massive blade of air arced from the weapon, travelling the distance between the two fighters in an instant, putting such pressure on Dakar that he was overcome after all of about two seconds, at which his zanpakuto shattered, and his hollow mask was obliterated. The former soul reaper started to fall, but was stopped by a platform of air that appeared underneath him.

"Damn… so much power…" he muttered in a defeated tone.

"If Aizen isn't the one who sent you, then who did?" Gale asked.

Dakar looked up at the Titan, bearing a look of shame because of his defeat. "He's dark and mysterious, and knows some kind of black magic that's kind of like your friend's. He never showed me his face, but he's strong, and he gave me the power of hollowfication."

"What's his name?"

"It's… S-" Dakar cried out in pain as dark magical energy suddenly erupted from his chest, enveloping his body and burning him to a crisp, leaving nothing behind. The two Titans looked shocked at this, not having expected such a thing to happen. A moment later, Gale shook off his surprise and flew down until he was standing next to Raven.

"Are you alright?" he asked in a soft voice, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine," she replied, having been able to use her powers to recover from her injuries. "Amicus… your powers were… amazing."

"Heh, thanks," he said, holding a hand to the back of his head. The winged Titan then began to turn back into its normal state, with the only exception being that his wings kept retained their increased length. "Guess my wings decided to keep their growth spurt," Gale commented as he changed from his spirit form, his uniform and feathers regaining their usual colors.

"I think you look good like this," Raven said, smiling as she gently stroked his wings, her touch sending pleasant shivers down his spine. The two Titans then found themselves leaning closer and closer, until their lips met. They kissed each other passionately, a blissful feeling coming over both of them as they were locked in their embrace. They stopped a minute later, a little out of breath, looking deep into each other's eyes with tender expressions.

"I love you, Rachel Roth," the winged boy confessed.

"And I love you, Amicus Rhodes," the young sorceress replied. Gale leaned his head down until his forehead was touching Raven's and gave her a hug, which she happily returned.

However… the fact that happiness cannot last forever was soon shoved into their faces. Gale's eyes popped open in surprise as he detected a dark presence coming from behind Raven. He immediately grabbed his friend and pushed her out of the way, extending one hand forward and conjuring a shield of air. But all the fighting, especially the energy he'd expended while merged with the giant eagle of air, had taken its toll on him, and so his defenses were overcome. Raven's mouth dropped open in horror and disbelief as she looked at her friend.

The reason for this: A black sword that had been stabbed through his stomach and was sticking out his back. It was being held by the same mysterious figure that had appeared before the other Titans. The figure held his right arm out, pointing the palm of his hand at Raven, shooting off a blast of dark, chaotic energy that swept her off her feet, sending her flying back. He then pulled on his sword, removing it from Gale's, who fell down to his knees like a puppet with its strings cut, white blood coming out of his stab wound and mouth. Raven held up her hands, conjuring a shield to fend off a blade of dark, crackling energy that arced from the villain's weapon, and followed up by lashing out with an obsidian claw. The villain raised a portal and dove into it, re-appearing behind Raven, placing a hand on her back, ensnaring her in tendrils made from his magic. Gale somehow managed to send a couple of spikes of air towards their newest enemy, only to have him cut through them with his sword and slam a boot into the winged boy's face, breaking his nose.

"You've come a long way in the past seven years, Amicus," the figure spoke, standing tall over Gale. "You're a lot stronger than that kid I used to know, the one who needed me to look after him when we were at school."

"Can't… be…" Gale muttered in surprise.

"But it is." The mysterious figure then gripped its cloak with one hand and cast it aside. He was a pale skinned young man who appeared to be 20 years old, wearing jeans, a shirt and open trench coat, both with the sleeves ripped off, boots, gloves, metal wrist bands, and a belt with a chain, all of which were black. He had a sword sheath strapped across his back, his hair was black, falling down to his shoulders, and his eyes were a cold blue, giving him a look of death.

"Seth…" Gale said weakly, struggling simply to remain conscious as blood was pouring out of him in unhealthy amounts.

"Surprised to see me, little brother?"

"… Why?"

"You've always had a better life than me," Seth said accusingly. "Sure, people may have picked on you because of your looks, but I stood by your side, and your mother always gave you everything you needed. When I wasn't around anymore, you had your powers. You were alone, but then you found new friends. Even with your little sufferings, you've always had something, or someone to keep you happy. Me… I've seen the true face of this cruel, wretched thing called humanity. And it's not a pretty picture." He punctuated his statement by slashing Gale's left arm, giving him a nasty cut, and kicking him in the chest, knocking him onto his back. "Now it's time for you to die. Goodbye, little brother." Seth then grabbed him with one hand and tossed him into the river.

Raven's spirit energy suddenly skyrocketed, catching him off guard. The tendrils binding the young sorceress shattered like twigs under the pressure, and Seth found himself picked clean off his feet, crashing down on the other side of the river. Wasting no time, Raven flew off the ground and dived in after her friend. A moment later, she emerged from the water, carrying a wounded Gale in his arms. To their enemy's surprise, she was sheathed in obsidian energy, her soul self having fused with her body just as Gale had merged with the giant eagle of air earlier. "I don't care who you are or where you came from, nobody hurts my friends," Raven said, glaring at Seth as she hovered in mid-air.

Seth stood still on the opposite bank, looking at the two Titans in a cautious manner. As strong as he might be, he could sense Raven's power was too much for him to handle at the moment. He also knew that the odds would be even less in his favor if the other Titans showed up, or the members of the soul reaper taskforce, which would quite possibly happen. "You've won this round," Seth said reluctantly, putting his sword away in its sheath. "Take care of him, patch up his wounds, be happy together, but rest assured, you haven't seen the last of me." He then opened up a dark portal to some unknown location and stepped through, vanishing from Karakura Town entirely.

With him gone, Raven flew to the spot where they'd been sitting together before the mess began, and lay her friend down on the ground. Her powers flowed into Gale, healing all of his wounds, fixing his broken nose, leaving him without a scar when it was all said and done, even if his shirt wasn't as well off. "Thanks, Rachel," Gale muttered softly. "I owe you."

Raven removed Kisuke's bracelet, the energy surrounding her dissipating as she went back to normal. "I'm just glad you're alive," she said in a heartfelt voice, then gave him a kiss, which he returned.

"If only I had a camera with me." The two Titans looked to the side and saw their teammates standing nearby, with Beast Boy having been the one to speak up.

"How sweet…" Starfire commented.

"Are you guys okay?" Cyborg inquired.

"I came uncomfortably close to death, but I'll be alright, thanks to Raven."

"What happened?" Robin asked.

"We'll explain tomorrow morning," Raven answered. "For now, I think it'd be better if we all got some rest."

The next day, the Titans were gathered back at their room in the hotel. Robin, Starfire, Cyborg and Beast Boy explained what had happened from their end, with Beast Boy showing them his bracelet, which had turned into a dark green color. In turn, Raven and Gale told them what they had gone through, with Gale's merged form, and Raven showed them her own bracelet, which had turned black. When it came to the subject of Seth, Gale spoke up, explaining that he'd known him since he was 5 years old, how he would look after him at school, and that he had been like an older brother. "Now I've got another sworn enemy who wants to kill me."

"Don't worry," Robin reassured him. "If he shows up again, we'll be there with you."

"Thanks, guys."

After all this, they got some breakfast, then packed up their things and checked out of the hotel. They made a stop at the Urahara Shop, where they found Ryu, Kisuke and Shelliane sitting in the room at the back. They explained what they'd gone through the previous night, which included telling them about Beast Boy and Raven's newly developed powers, as well as Seth's appearance. Once they were done, they all said goodbye and walked out, with Gale thanking Kisuke for his advice. Their next stop was at the Kurosaki household. There, they thanked Isshin, Rukia, Karin and Yuzu for the time spent with them, and Raven went to return the dress she'd worn the night before, only to be told that it was hers now. Before leaving, Gale took his uncle into the hallway upstairs for a word alone. He revealed what had happened with Seth, and pulled out the shirt he'd been wearing during the attack, showing him the holes the villain's sword had cut into it.

"And to think that you two were like brothers when you were little," Isshin said, surprised to hear this.

"Unfortunately, time didn't change him for the better," Gale pointed out. "And if you ever see him…" The winged boy used his powers to create an illusion showing Isshin what Seth looked like. "Be careful, because he's dangerous, and he has a grudge against me, same with this guy." He then changed the illusion to show Striker. "I trust you'll be able to take care, being a former soul reaper captain."

"How did you know?" Isshin asked, surprised that Gale was aware of his having been a soul reaper captain in the past.

"A spirit named Nebula let it slip. I haven't told Ichigo, figured you'd want to tell him yourself."

"Thanks. And take care, Little Amicus."

After leaving Ichigo's house behind, the Titans started to head towards the outskirts of Karakura Town, where the T-Ship was stationed. However, they did make a detour towards an abandoned warehouse, where a few friendly elemental spirits had informed Gale that Ichigo was inside. "Are you sure this is the right place?" Beast Boy asked. "Cause I can't sense that there's anyone inside."

"Yes," Gale nodded. "Ventum told me that this was where Ichigo's been for the past few days. Apparently these Visoreds have a forcefield that cloaks their presence."

"I can detect Ichigo's spiritual pressure," Raven said. "It's faint, but it's there."

"Can you guys wait out here? I just want to talk to my cousin for a moment then say goodbye." The others nodded, at which he turned towards Raven, who covered her hands with her powers, and pressed them against an invisible surface. After a moment of concentration, she managed to open up a space in the shield. She and Gale walked into the warehouse until they came across a wide staircase in the floor that went down. They followed the stairs all the way, and arrived into a vast area that looked like a canyon, where they could see a group of people gathered, having apparently sensed them coming.

"What're you doing here?" a gruff, muscular looking guy with short silvery hair spoke up.

"Come now Kensei, no need to be rude," a large, yet soft looking man with short pinkish hair and a moustache reminded him. "However, I am curious as to how you managed to penetrate my force-field without breaking it."

"I'm well versed in magic," Raven answered.

"Well, now that's interesting…" A tall man with long blond hair and a slightly feminine face commented.

"Hey, aren't you guys Raven and Gale from the Teen Titans?" a short girl with a childish face and green hair piped up, at which they both nodded.

"Nice to meet you both," a lanky guy with sandy blond hair addressed them. "Would you mind telling us what brought you here?"

"I came to talk to my cousin Ichigo. A wind spirit told me he was hanging around with you guys." The sound of something crashing into the ground a short distance away, followed by Ichigo letting out a few swear words prompted Gale to turn in this direction. "If you'll excuse me…" He walked towards the noise, and came upon the sight of Ichigo, in his soul reaper form, who was fighting against a short girl with messy blond hair, hollow mask and an apparently violent temper. "Hey, Ichigo!" Gale called out to his cousin.

"Hey, Amicus," he greeted him in return. "What're you-?"

"Pay attention, dumbass!" the hollowfied girl shouted as she charged at Ichigo, zanpakuto held high. Gale raised his hand and conjured a wall of air, which the girl crashed into. "What the hell was that about!?" she exclaimed turning towards the winged boy. "You want a piece of me, bird boy?"

"I'm not here to fight, Hiyori Sarugaki," Gale said, surprising her that he knew her name. "I'm just here to talk to my cousin and say goodbye before I leave."

"We're in the middle of-"

"Leave him be, snagletooth," the lanky blond spoke up, She grumbled in annoyance, but dismissed her hollow mask and walked over to the other visoreds and Raven.

"So, what's up?" Ichigo asked as they both sat down on some rocks. Gale then told Ichigo about what had happened since the fight against the arrancars led by Grimmjow and Striker, as well as the fighting that had happened last night. "That bastard," the orange haired teenager spat out after Gale had finished recounting the news about Seth. "If I ever get my hands on him…"

"He's more likely to go after me, but be careful all the same."

"Don't worry, I'll keep that in mind. I'm glad you're okay, considering all the weird stuff you went through pretty much since you got here."

Gale chuckled a little at this. "I see strange stuff back home every day. Hell, I see weird whenever I look in a mirror. Anyway, it was nice seeing you again."

"Same here. And by the way… you're one lucky guy to get a girlfriend like her."

"Thanks. Goodbye."

The two Titans walked back out of the warehouse in short order, joining up with their friends. They all got back to the T-Ship, piled their stuff inside, hopped into their respective pods, and fired it up. Then, with one last look behind, they started on the journey back home.

So, if you would please review, that would be much appreciated, even if you leave constructive criticism (not brainless flames, however). the next update will not take as long to finish, however, I won't start working on it until a week, minimum. So, hope this chapter was worth it, and until next time.

And on another note, thanks a lot to AVP5, who gave me some good ideas for this chapter, and helped me come up with some other ones. Also, he created the template for the character Seth, and I just added onto it.