Kenpachi Zaraki.

Byakuya Kuchiki.

Toshirou Hitsugaya.

Sajin Komamura.

These three captains, and their lieutenants, had been sent to Las Noches on a simple mission. Scout out the enemy's strength, determine their numbers, and then return to the Seireitei. A simple mission, one that should have been a cakewalk, especially with the experience and manpower they had behind it.

That is, until Kenpachi decided he wanted to fight Ichigo, right here, right now, and proceeded to release all of his reaitsu, all at once. They'd scared two vasto lorde out of hiding by doing so, and now, those two vasto lorde turned out to be Kurosaki's sisters?

It had been confirmed that Ichigo already had seven vasto lorde under his command. Add these two and he'd be nearly powerful enough to usurp the Seireitei itself. Add in the fact that captain Soi-Fon was gone, leaving the second division, and therefore the Onmitskido itself in chaos and...

And now Kurosaki Ichigo and Ulquiorra Schiffer had come out greet them personally?

Oh, this could not end well.

"Karin?! Yuzu?!"

A flurry of petals alerted him to Senbonzakura.

"NO!" Throwing himself forward, the vizard hissed in pain as the blades dug into his back, tearing open his shihakusho. "Get down!" Kairn and Yuzu looked on in horror, witnessing his act to shield them, firsthand. "Ichi-nii!" Yuzu wailed, running to him, and immediately he dropped Zangetsu, holding both his sister's tight, as they cried into his chest.

"It's alright, I'm here." These were the face's of his sisters, but those were mask fragments lining their foreheads and ears. This was impossible, but the reaitsu told him all. Karin and Yuzu, vasto lorde? No, Karin probably fed Yuzu, there was no way the sweet innocent little girl could ever become so savage as to kill her own meal. Yeah, he could definitely see Karin doing something like that.

But still...

"Ulquiorra."

"Hai." The espada replied, but never once did he take his eyes of the shinigami before them.

"Take Karin and Yuzu away from here. Now. I losing my temper and I don't want them to be near me when i do."

"Understood." Bending down low, he scooped up the girls' one in each arm, and, despite there protests, dissapeared with a flash of sonido. Now Ichigo stood before four captains, alone. "Well," He scowled calmly. Though he could easily be overwhelmed if they were all to attack at once, such a thing would not happen. "What now?"

As if to answer, he reached for Sode No Shirayuki.

"Bankai."

Ichigo showed no interest as Senbonzakura Kageyoshi swirled about him, in fact, he actually seemed bored. "Whattsamatter? That all you got?" Yanking Zabimaru from its sheathe instead, Ichigo grinned declaring bankai in turn, then, drawing the segments of the massive serpent around his form.

"Hikotsu Taiho!"

The captains scattered as he unleashed Renji's signature attack, the flash of red digging into the sands to create a massive explosion. Too late, Ichigo was there, kicking off Rangiku, then barreling into Toshirou. Caught unawares, Hitsugaya soon found himself at the mercy of the massive snake. Of course, there was no mercy to be had, not from Ichigo.

"Hmph." The vizard snorted, barely even pressing forward but still Hitsugaya was forced back. "Looks like they reattached your hand."

"Bastard." Byakuya scowled, bursting out of the shunpo and gathering Senbonzakura about himself tightly, rearranging the formation of the endless blades into another formation. Then Byakuya pulled out his ace.

"Gokei, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

"What?!" Ichigo hissed in surprise, propelling himself away from Toshirou as the renewed technique sped after him.

Too late.

Millions upon millions of Senbonzakura petals encircled him, digging through Zabimaru, into his back, his face, his arms, his legs, every single part of him. Nowhere was safe from this sphere of endless blade, no escape was possible from this hellish void of death.

With a dull crunch, he hit the ground, Zabimaru's shattered segments lying helplessly about him. Only to laugh, slowly, as they dissolved back into a sealed state, taking the shape of a normal katana.

"Nice." Ichigo got back up with a wild grin on his face. A slight twinge of concern could be seen in Byakuya's face when the vizard spoke. "I haven't seen that trick before, Byakuya!" No, not concern for the traitor of course, but rather, concern for himself. Kurosaki had just survived Gokei, and granted, he was a bloody mess, but still...

When your opponent got back up and started to laugh, especially after surviving your best attack, then you were in some serious shit. He'd learned this from years of experience. And if Ichigo Kurosaki was the one laughing, oh then there would be hell to pay.

"What do you hope to accomplish alone?"

"Am I?" He clapped his hands, and in a blur, Grimmjow, followed by Agro, landed at his feet.

Then came Shaolin.

"You called?" She seemed to have reverted to her old personality somewhat, for she regarded her former captains with cold indefference in her eyes, and a merciless, thin smile. Gasps rose from some of captains and lieutenants, and even Byakuya could not remain impassive at this sudden betrayal. Kenpachi and Yachiru actually didn't seem to care, but then again, politics and betrayal were never their forte.

"Soifon taichou!"

"Don't call me that!" Just like that, she reverted back to her new personality. "I'm not on your side anymore!"

"But....why?" Toshirou finally managed. "Why are you with him?"

"Why?" She frowned at Hitsugaya, disgusted by his weakness. "Simple. He gave me what I wanted, an out, and so I took it." Before the diminutive captain could hope to reply, Soifon whirled, clipping his temple with the back of her heel throwing him into a nearby pillar.

"And that makes you my enemy!"

"See?" Ichigo chuckled as the two engaged in earnest. "You really, really shouldnta done that."

Byakuya calmly withdrew Gokei Senbonzakura as Agro stepped between them, bracing himself when Ichigo reached to his visage. But a loud thud turned his attention to one Sajin Komamura, who held Tenken aloft before him."Now, it is my turn." With a silent swish he stood beside the vizard. Too late, Ichigo whirled to see Sajin looming over him.

"Bankai!"

'Shit!'

A massive hand swatted the vizard into the wall of Las Noches.

"Ichigo-sama!" Shaolin cried out in protest, but her concern was not needed.

"Oh, that hurt." Ichigo stepped out of the rubble, dusting himself off. His Vizard mask was on now, the red and white streaks lining the left side of his face while the right half remained gone, shattered by the cero's blast. His clothing was tattered slightly and his left sleeve was completely gone. His gold and black eyes were still burning on the captain ahead of him.

"Tengen!"

He erupted out of the shunpo to see a smoldering crater where he'd been a moment ago. With a startled hiss, he leapt backwards, mere moments before another fist from Sajin's gigantic bankai crushed him flat. What this guy lacked in speed, he more than made up for in power.

A low growl made its way up the vizard's throat."C'mon! Come get me!" With a swift movement, the missing half of his mask re-grew as he waved his palm over it, the white bone moving like milk as it molded itself into a ghastly skull.

Kokojou Tengen Myou raised its fist, slamming it down into the vizard. Ichigo winced as his knees buckled, unable to tolerate the sheer power of the fox faced captain's bankai. Sajin felt a triumphant smile play across his lips.

"This ends here!"

"So it does." Ichigo replied, rooling aside to reveal the Primera, standing in his shadow. Lillenette paused for a moment, savoring the shock and horror evident upon Sajin's face, the terror in the eyes of her victim, before at last she fired.

"Cero Metralleta."

A massive wave of cero erupted from Lillenette's right gun, and rained downwards at Komamura. He scrambled to get up and run, but he knew he wasn't going to make it. The wall of red was quickly descending upon him – he could feel its heat on his retreating back. He turned and crossed both arms over his body in an attempt to guard himself from the blast, his eyes closing as the Hollow inferno charged closer.

The explosion came, but there was no pain, no burning. He felt nothing but darkness underneath his closed eyes. But, for some reason, he knew he was alive and unharmed. He opened his eyes, slowly at first, before they flew wide at the sight. His mouth hung open as the shadow of Kokujou Tengen Myo'ou enveloped his prone body.

"I see," Ichigo said as the massive bankai fell to its knees, the upper half of the gigantic samurai already having been obliterated by the barrage of cero. "So you were still alive?"

Komamura Sajin stood on shaky legs as his zanpakuto began to return to its sealed state. Blood was still leaking from his wounded chest, but his face remained calm despite the obviously painful gash in his flesh. His upper lip curved upwards and he snarled between labored breaths.

Byakuya briefly glaqnced towards his fellow captain

"Don't focus on me, Byakuya." Komamura growled arrogantly despite his wobbly, blood-soaked frame. "Haven't you an opponent of your own to fight?"

"Sajin…" Byakuya said reverently as another explosion shook the ground around them. He gave his companion one last look, a glance of gratitude, before he vanished in a whisper of shunpo, punctuating another buzz of sonido as Agro gave chase. Ichio watched him go with indifference, his brown irises watching him for only a moment before he turned his attention back to the blood-soaked Komamura Sajin.

"Shouldn't you be headed that way too?" Lillenette asked with a sigh, twirling one of her pistols one a finger. "Or do you think he'll be enough?"

"Why have you sheathed your blade, Espada?" Komamura asked, ignoring the taunt as his voice grew more strained by the second. In the background, Grimmjow raged against Kenpachi, the two of them going all out and having a blast.

"Because I lost interest in this fight already," Lillenette replied, punctuating the statement with a yawn and leaving her eyes closed. "Besides, nothing I do at the moment's really going to affect the outcome of your invasion. We have already been declared the victors."

"If that is so," the captain replied, taking a weak and shuffling step forward, "then you should understand that I cannot die here fighting you once more."

The primera popped one eye open, the pink orb regarding the wounded and bloody

Shinigami with slight irritation. "You really wanna die, don't you?" She sighed and took aim, the light bouncing off the metal of her weapons. She looked at the staggering Shinigami with a sense of pity; this felt...wrong somehow.

"Do it." Ichigo ordered, and without a thought, she pressed the barrel to Sajin's head and pulled the trigger. Sajin slumped to the ground, missing most of his upper another tired sigh, Lillenette blew the smoke off her barrel, ignoring the horrified, disgusted looks of his comrades.

"Well what now?" She turned her attention in the direction in which Byakuya had gone. "Should we go after him?"

"There's no need." Ichigo shook his head as Agro and Byakuya blurred back into view, then dissapeared again. Now, he turned his attention to the lieutenants and third seats that had followed their captain's into his sanctuary. "But I am getting tired of these party crashers." With a small snarl, he grabbed at the air, and at a glance, Lillenette did the same, ripping open a massive Garaganta.

"Time to send them packing."

Grimmjow cackled, touching at the air as well, as did Agro and Shaolin.

"Adios, Shinigami!"

The rips spread further and further, creating a large vaccum with an irresistable hum. That was not the danger, rather At the last moment, Byakuya seemed to sense that something was terribly, terribly wrong.

Locking one arm around Lillenette's, Ichigo held her steady as the howling wind drowned out all other sound, pulling at those who remained alive. Something was stepping out of the void, something big.

From the abyss, the entire hollow army emerged, numbering somwhere in the thousands. And behind them, came hundreds of Gillian, their roars a dull hum over the wind. One look at the forces rallied against them, and the message was blindingly clear. Stay and be massacred, or:

"Retreat." Byakuya bit out through clenched teeth. "Fall back and retreat." Toshirou made an exasperated sound at the back of his throat, but leaped towards the portal anyways along with Rangiku. Kenpachi, with Yachiru on his shoulder reluctantly did so, but not before locking eyes with Ichigo.

"Next time, Ichigo! Next time you and meet we're gonna have one helluva fight!"

The vizard smirked.

"I look forward to it."

With that the shinigami vanished. The masses milled uncomfortably behind them, that is, until Ichigo turned and showed them Sajin's corpse. "Do you still doubt me?"He didn't have to say another word, for the moment they saw the captain's corpse, everyone let out a cheer.

"Behold."

--

"Okay, lets try this again."

Ichigo was used to pain when transforming, and thus did not react when Zangetsu slid into his thigh, the blood spraying out in a crimson shower. Withoug even flinching, he pulled it out, jamming its tip into the soil, taking no heed to the crimson puddle pooling before his feet.

Ulquiorra ripped off his left arm, and black blood pooled at his own feet. As his arm regenerated, he bent down to draw a small circle around himself. However, he did not close it, but left a portion of it open at the north.

Ichigo traced his foot across the crimson, making a duplicate circle around himself. He too left a portion of it open, and now, the bloody circles pulsed a steady white. A thin line of crystal light extended from each circle connecting them.

Jacqli stepped into the line of light, and it basked her in its golden glow. The light split from her, and traveled to where the still breathing bodies of Loly and Menoly lay. As Hachi had mentioned, two souls were required for this technique. One was required to draw in the said soul, and another required to bind it into physical form.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't neccesarily kill the arrancar being used as transfer points, but it might teach them a well deserved lesson. As well as strip them of their pride and , a tendril of dread soon coiled to a knot of raw anticipation in Ichigo's gut. This kido was mighty, but once it was completed, it could only be used once in a lifetime, for the user at least.

To use it after completing the kido...

It would mean certain death for all those involved in the spell.

Knowing full well that this was a deadly risk, Ichigo took a deep breath, and began the incantation.

"Ye lord! Mask of bone and sinew, all creation abides, flutter of silent wings, ye who bears the name of Man! In the abyss of conflagration, waiting at the far heavens, I call thine name!"

Ulquiorra now took up the chant, holding both hands out in what looked to be a shrug. A column of black transparent light shot up from his circle, then a pillar of white from Ichigo's, from which they could still be seen. Now, they began exchanging incantations, with Ichigo beginning and Ulquiorra alternating:

In my right hand, I hold the stone that connects the borders of worlds. In my left hand, I hold the blade that binds existence. A bank of clouds comes, striking the gate, ripping it open!"

"Heart of the south!"

"Eye of the north!"

"Finger of the west!"

"Foot of the east!"

"Arrive with the wind and depart with the rain!"

Both lights pierced the heavens now, drawing clouds inward, creating a roiling mass of heat and moisture. An ominous rumbling sound was heard, then the very sky itself was torn asunder, literally creating a hole in the air. The rippling void was similair to a garganta, but beyond its black abyss, white light shone.

"Sprinkled on the bones of the living, renew the oath!"

"Sharp tower, pierce the heavens, draw forth the ring!"

"Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm."

"The sound of the maiden's tears fills this void." Jacqli, who had remained silent thus far, uttered this, the last line, clasping both hands over her chest. "And brings a second coming of the sacred battle." Ironically, her eyes were swimming with tears, but she blinked them away, let them stream down her face and cried:

"Bakudo# 100: Keikatsu Kio!" She declared this, Jacqli did, and the circle in which Loly and Menoly lay was abruptly consumed in a bolt of pure black of lighting. "Now!" Commanded Ichigo, and Ulquiorra flexed his wrist, summoning a Lanza del Relámpago, which he now clutched in his hand. His arm drew back, made ready to throw it at the void.

The lance of lightning struck straight and true, passing through the rip, which now began to spark furiously. Ichigo still went through the motions, a sense of elation seizing him. There, the light had begun to gather, and with three seperate individuals maintaining it, the kido was well underway.

For good measure, he'd sacrificed a few other or so arrancar.

After all, he had to be sure this worked.

There was a bolt of lightning, and a figure rose from the smoke. Ichigo peered into the cloud with anticipation.

"Urgh, wha?" A figure staggered out of the haze, clad in a ripped, tattered white uniform. But those glasses, that voice, made him unmistakeable. He blinked a few times, then pushed the spectacles back up upon his face.

"Kurosaki?"

"Uryu!" Ichigo laughed, his heart soaring at the sight of his friend, stepping out of the circle. He was slightly shaken, but aside from that the Quincy was alright. "Hey, Uryu!" The last quincy warily edged his way through the crowd towards his shinigami counterpart.

"What happened?"

"It's a long story." Ichigo chuckled, actually releived to be on the other end of Ishida's piercing glare for once.

"Wait, something else is coming through." Ulquiorra frowned suddenly as the portal began to fluctuate wildly. Everyone stiffened as not one, but two spiritual pressures' slammed into them. Wait, something was wrong, terribly, terribly wrong. This reaitsu was that of a released espada, two released espada.

Ichigo was greeted with an unplesant sight. Something had been brought back, but it was not Rukia, it was not Chad, and it certainly wasn't Rukia. There were two figures standing within the alchemic circle, and one of them now spoke.

"What is this? What...how am I here?"

"Well. This was unexpected."

"What?" Eva blinked in surprise as the first figure stepped out of the circle. Her eyed were wide, her mouth hanging slightly open at what she saw before her eyes. No, this wasn't possible, this was inconceivable, it...

The tan skin, teal eyes and blond hair were a dead giveaway.

"Sister!"

"OI! Watch it!" Grimmjow stumbled back a pace when Eva shoved him aside and ran to the blond, dissapearing in a buzz of sonido, then reappearing to tackle her sibling in a hug. The blond was clearly surprise by this, but shakily returned the embrace.

"No!" Ichigo hissed to himself, ripping at his hair in frustration. "What the hell is this?!" Was it because he'd sacrificed too many arrancar, or did it have something to do with so much hollow reiatsu as opposed to that of a human?

He felt like he'd achieved a hollow victory, no pun intended.

"Yo." The man scratched the back of his head and yawned at the dejected vizard and an equally surprise Lillenette. "So you're in charge now, eh kid?"

"How did he do that?"

A dull rumble ran through the crowd.

Halibel Tia and Starrk had returned.

Neliel shook her head sadly. "Ichigo, I'm starting to believe that there really is no hope for you."

"And why is that?" Ichigo rounded on her suddenly, his words spiteful, coarse, cruel. "Huh?! Is it so wrong for to want my friends back?! Is it?!" She stared at him blankly, refusing to be rattled by his speech, untrue words spoken out of anger.

"No, but it is wrong to go so far to do so." She elaborated then, explaining that once a shinigami died, they were similarly reincarnated in the real word, with no memories of their past existence, and not a trace of their former power, no matter how great.

"A common enemy... They say banding together in the face of a common enemy is humanity's bad habit... But that's wrong. It's not a bad habit, but an instinct that all living creatures possess. The truth is the spiritual bond formed in those instances is-"

"Oh shut up." Ichigo clicked his tongue wearily and sighed, ignoring all the praise he was receiving from the troops. "Nel, I'm sorry, but I really, really don't wanna talk anymore." He felt as if this experience had taken something from him somehow, something he couldn't take back in turn. Soul Society was, would fall at his hand. They'd lost two captain's, one to betrayal, and the other to death.

"I just....wanna go see Karin and Yuzu now."

"What of that spiritual pressure?" Ulquiorra now appeared beside him. "That was the reason we left Las Noches to begin with."

Ichigo waved towards the distance.

"Fine. Go and find it if you want. I really don't care. But take someone with you, alright?"

"I might as well go." Everyone started, even Ulquiorra when Starrk spoke up. "Nothing better to do anyway."

"Go." Ichigo grunted, and the two vanished.

Ah, and so another captain falls and two espada return. Well well, it looks like Soul Society is in some serious shit now, doesn't it? :)Sorry, but the fight between Ichigo and Kenpachi is gonna be a big one, and I'm saving it for later chapters. Next time: Victory celebrations, a tender moment, a well deserved rest, and preparations for vengance. Hehehe, any guesses as to who this 'tender' moment is gonna be with?