(A/N: I have nothing to say)

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Tales of Symphonia

Ichigo's pov

I couldn't believe it. Inoue was standing next to Kratos. She had wings. She really had become one of Cruxis' seraphim.

"Inoue what are you doing here?" I shouted.

"Orihime has become a member of Cruxis. She has decided to fight for our cause," Kratos answered stoically.

"Don't answer for her!" I snapped.

"Inoue-san, is what he said true? Have you really joined up with Cruxis?" Ishida asked her.

"As an elevated being Orihime is not obligated to answer your inquiries," Kratos responded.

"You bastard!" Lloyd shouted drawing our swords, "You're manipulating her. I don't care what Yuan said that Yggdrasil guy did something to Orihime! Both of you get out of our way now!"

"I'm afraid I cannot do that," Kratos stated calmly as he drew out his own sword. Lloyd tensed. "Hear me out," Kratos stated, "The Derris-Kharlan core-system just finished calculating its answer. If you form the pact with the Summon Spirit, the protection around the Great Seed will be completely lost!"

"And that's exactly what we desire!" I heard Yuan's voice as he suddenly appeared and attacked Kratos who jumped out of the way.

"Don't you understand? What you're hoping for will not happen!" Kratos said angrily to Yuan.

"Silence do you think we'll pass up this opportunity?" Yuan asked charging his mana, "Lloyd, Ichigo, everyone. Nel is already on the top floor waiting for you. Go form the pact with Luna."

"You're going to fight Kratos and Inoue alone?" I asked.

"I-I'm going with Kurosaki-kun," I heard Inoue suddenly say.

"Inoue-san," Ishida said as we all turned our attention to her.

"Orihime?" Kratos was confused.

"I'm sorry Kratos-san," Orihime apologized ran into the teleporter. Kratos ran after her, but Yuan got in his way. "Focus on your opponent." Kratos let out a frustrated growl.

"Will you be all right without assistance Yuan?" Byakuya asked him. "We don't need as many of us as we have to face two summon spirits."

"Kratos and I have an old score to settle," Yuan stated with a grin, "Go on ahead."

"Nii-sama we shouldn't interfere," Rukia told him. Byakuya nodded.

"Don't go dying on us," I told Yuan.

"Worry about yourself," he returned.

Luna's chamber

We all arrived at the top floor of the tower of mana. Orihime and Nel were waiting for us there. Neither had engaged the other. It seemed that despite the Renegades and Cruxis being enemies their friendship wasn't going to get in the way of that.

"Inoue, why are you working with Cruxis?" I asked her again. "You can't hide behind Kratos now and you came here to help us form the pact with Luna. Why are you working with them?"

"I…I cannot…" before she could finish her statement a loud, proud, griffin-like screech echoed across the air as a large, golden, two headed bird appeared on the highest platform of the roof.

"Aska!" Inoue ran towards the large bird.

"You whose lulling song has called me, what is your will?" Aska asked her.

"I would like for you form a pact with this summoner," she gestured to Sheena. There was a flash of yellow colored, light affiliated mana behind Aska. When it dispersed a woman riding on a crescent moon, with a halo over her head appeared. She had long greenish hair that terminated into different colors at the bottom and had a long purple and blue gown around her lower body. She wore a very peculiar looking sash that barely covered her chest and she wasn't wearing anything on her feet. She was carrying a mage's scepter.

"I see, this black haired girl does indeed have the right of summoning, but we are already bound by Mithos are we not Aska?" the woman, who I could only assume was Luna, asked Aska.

"Yes," Aska responded.

Sheena stepped forward, "I am Sheena! I ask that thou annulst thy pact with Mithos and establish a new pact with me."

"We shall test you to see if you are worthy of wielding our power," Aska let out a battle screech.

"Prepare yourselves," Luna said twirling her scepter.

"Four of us should take on Luna and four of us will take on Aska," I said.

"Mages on Luna? Warriors on Aska?" Renji suggested.

"That actually sounds like a fairly decent plan," Ishida said.

"Then Sheena, Lloyd, Nel and I will…"

"Um," Inoue spoke up.

"What is it Orihime?" Rukia asked her.

"I…I'm fighting…I…I want to fight with Kurosaki-kun," she said.

"Inoue," what is with her? I wondered.

"Let her fight," Ishida spoke up.

"Ishida," I turned towards him wondering what made him say that.

He put a hand on my shoulder, "If you fight alongside her I can determine if she has changed much based on how she fights based on her reiatsu."

"All right fine," I looked at Inoue, "Just don't get hurt."

"I…I won't," she stated with confidence.

"I guess that leaves the brat, Miss Rukia, Captain Kuchiki, Miss Raine and I to handle Little Lady Luna then," Zelos said with a wave of his hand.

"Sounds like a plan," Sheena agreed.

"Right let's do this!" I declared. We started off the fight without a hitch. My group fought Aska while Rukia's group contended with Luna. "Getsuga Tensho!" I shouted and sent the shockwave towards Aska. The giant, golden bird whacked his wing into the attack and dissipated it. "Ah! No way!" I was shocked. Nothing I had faced had stopped my Bankai's Getsuga Tensho with such ease.

"Don't be discouraged," Inoue said, "Aska is highly resistant to all eight elements. Getsuga Tensho is dark affiliated so it makes it easier for Aska to reduce the damage."

"So physical attacks are the only way to go eh?" Lloyd asked rhetorically as he took a stance. He turned his body crossing his arms above and below his eye-line and pointing his blades in angled directions behind him, "Raging Beast!" Aska moved out of the way and dove after Nel who sliced at him and then dodged out of the way. She managed to nick him pretty good.

"Mirage Seal Absolute!" Sheena fired a blast of energy off at Aska who dodged.

I felt a surge of reiatsu come off. I thought it came from one of the individuals fighting Luna, but when I turned my head I found that the energy surge I felt came from Inoue. "N…nani?" I was completely confused. When did Inoue have such powerful reiatsu?

She aimed at Aska with both her palms stretched towards the sky, "Koten Zanshun! I reject!" I'd seen her perform that technique before, but not like this. From off her right hairpin, an orange colored, light-wave reproduction of it extended off it, 20 times the size of the actual hairpins. It spun about 45 degrees and then two of the floral petals of the extended version of Inoue's hairpins fired off her attack. It sailed up and away and split Aska in half. Inoue looked solemn and looked as though she was taking a prayer stance as if apologizing for harming the golden bird. When did she get so powerful? I wondered. As if to answer my question the Cruxis Crystal on Inoue's chest gave off a shine as her hairpin projection returned to its normal size.

"Orihime since when could you do something like that?" Lloyd seemed rather impressed.

"Oh I always could do that Lloyd-kun," she giggled tapping herself on the head, "Well I mean I could do that technique, but I couldn't do it that strong, but I guess the change in the technique doesn't make the same technique so does that mean that…" I stopped paying attention. I'd leave to Lloyd to get Inoue to stop her rambling at his own pace. I looked over to the other group to see how they were fairing with Luna. There wasn't much to watch though as Byakuya released his Bankai and Raine cast sharpness on him before he flooded Luna with a bunch of petals. She was gone after the flood. Luna then appeared, alongside a much smaller Aska.

"You have proven yourself," she said. "Our power is thine." Sheena was given Luna's pact power, but at the same time a beam of light went into and enveloped Inoue.

Orihime has gained the Mystic Arte: Summon Aska

"Ah Orihime," Lloyd called out who was standing right there as he kept her from falling backwards. She recovered in seconds.

"I'm fine," she said getting up and patting out her dress.

"What was that?" Lloyd asked her.

"Aska gave me a portion of his power. I guided Aska here when I was singing earlier and he liked my song so…"

"But why would you help us gather Aska so we can form a pact with Luna when you're with Cruxis?" Genis asked confused.

"That's…" she started to speak, but Yuan, who had appeared with Kratos, interrupted her.

"You did it!" he was ecstatic.

"No!" Kratos was anything but.

There was suddenly a fierce rumbling. "Everyone outside!" Rukia shouted. We all headed to the base of the Tower of Mana. We watched from it as a giant tree sprouted out and could be seen over the horizon near where Sylvarant's Tower of Salvation was.

"What the hell?" I couldn't even begin to describe what I was seeing other than a giant tree.

"Is that the Giant Kharlan Tree?" Genis was quaking in his boots.

"There's a woman inside its center," Inoue said.

"You're right," Colette agreed, "I feel like I've met her somewhere before too."

"Martel," Yuan said solemnly.

"Martel?" Raine gasped in horror, "That women about to be enveloped by the tree is Martel?"

"Why would Martel fuse with the giant tree?" Yuan pondered.

"I was afraid this would happen," Kratos muttered.

"Afraid what would happen?" Renji asked him.

"Having lost the stability afforded by the protection of the Summon Spirits, the Great Seed has gone out of control," Kratos explained.

Yuan gasped, "No! The purpose of the Summon Spirits was to isolate the Great Seed from the outside world and prevent it from growing!"

Kratos sighed. "That was only half of it. The two worlds were forced out of phase by Yggdrasill. They should have drifted apart from each other and have been consumed by the void. But this was prevented from happening because the Great Seed was placed in the center between the two worlds."

"I don't need a lecture from you to know that!" Yuan snapped.

"The Great Seed is constantly being pulled upon from both worlds as they try to separate from one another. It's a miracle that this delicate balance held up for even this long," Kratos expounded further.

"Gah! I don't care why this happened!" I shouted, "I just want to know what we need to do to stop that thing!"

Something suddenly struck Toshiro, "Oh no."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Yuan no matter how powerful that tree is it's still a normal tree right?" he asked.

"It's highly condensed with mana and raw prana…wait you're not actually going out there on your own are you?" he asked Toshiro.

"Captain that's insane!" Rangiku chided.

"I have to, that tree is running a rampage through Palmacosta," his reiatsu was condensing and flowing outward, "Hinamori's down there. I have to go after her."

"And what do you hope to accomplish by sacrificing yourself?" Kratos asked.

"I don't plan on sacrificing anyone," Toshiro said, "If, as Yuan said, that that tree is just a normal tree, though imbued with raw magic energy, then the answer is simple. If you want to kill a tree you freeze its roots."

"Captain…Hitsugaya," Presea seemed worried about him.

"Don't worry about me," he smiled to her and then looked forward with resolve, "I'll be fine." He held up his sword in front of him. "Everyone back away and give me some room." We did so without question. Ice and snow seem to form up and down and all around Toshiro from out of nowhere, "Bankai!" Toshiro was surrounded by a flow of ice and snow and emerged in his Bankai form, a little patch of snow was beneath his feet where he was now hovering, "Daiguren Hyorinmaru!" He pushed off from the air and took off in the direction of Palmacosta.

Hitsugaya has left the party

"Well while he's off playing hero," Yuan joked, "Let's come up with an actual plan here shall we?"

"We can start but shutting off the flow of mana to the great seed," Nel suggested.

"But that won't subdue the giant tree. The process has already begun," Kratos reminded her.

"Is that giant crazy tree doing the same thing to Tethe'alla?" Zelos asked.

"Highly unlikely. Although I imagine they are feeling some effects, such as earthquakes," Kratos answered.

"That makes sense. Because Colette activated the process of world regeneration, the Summon Spirits of Sylvarant are now active," Raine theorized.

"Which means that the cause of the giant tree here in Sylvarant is due to the Summon Spirits," Byakuya continued.

"Sort of makes the Summon Spirits like the Yin and Yang of this world wouldn't you say Kratos-san?" Kyoraku-san asked him.

"Exactly," Kratos confirmed, "and currently the Summon Spirits of Sylvarant are carrying out the role of yang by providing the mana. But because the Giant Tree has over-absorbed Sylvarant's mana, it has gone out of control."

"If that's the case, couldn't we neutralize it by blasting it with the power of the opposing Summon Spirits?" all of us looked at Lloyd.

"Whoa, Lloyd! You actually understood what we were talking about?" Genis asked trying not to laugh.

"Shut it Genis!" he chided, "the Professor once said that the negative and positive of a magnet neutralize each other. This is kind of the same thing, right?"

"Not exactly, but close enough," Raine said, "nevertheless it's a clever idea coming from you Lloyd."

"Even so how exactly would we get the Summon spirit's power to the giant tree?" Byakuya asked.

"Well we could always go with Mr. Archer's enormous arrow plan," I teased Ishida.

"I'll thank you not to bring that up ever again," Ishida remarked pushing in his glasses.

"The Mana Cannon," Yuan spoke suddenly.

"Mana Cannon? That machine Rodyle was building?" Presea questioned.

"We were actually manipulating Rodyle into building that. Before the mana links started to disappear. We planned to have Rodyle destroy the Tower of Salvation," Yuan explained.

"So you're suggesting we feed the mana of Tethe'alla's Summon Spirits into the Mana Cannon and fire it at the Giant Tree. Hmm…I suppose there's no better option right now," coming from Kratos that was like saying that Lloyd's idea was ingenious.

"First we need to shut off the flow of mana to the giant tree. It'll become a problem if that thing gets any bigger," Kira said.

Kratos began to formulate our operation, "Then here's the plan," he turned towards Yuan, "Yuan, I'm going to pretend I don't know who you've been working with or what you've been doing. In exchange, you're going to order the Renegades to stop firing mana at the tree immediately. Meanwhile, Lloyd's group will head for the Mana Cannon."

"Acceptable," Yuan agreed.

Nel received a hailing communication from her comm. link and then said to Yuan, "It's not possible. Forcystus just had our entire infiltration unit executed."

"Damn it that's right, the Iselia Human Ranch is still operable," I remembered.

"Then I'll go with Orihime and have it shut down," Kratos said.

"You? Are you suggesting we send our enemies to something as crucial as this?" Raine asked.

"While we can argue whether both of them are actually our enemies or not," I said trying to make it sound like I wasn't singling Inoue out of our group. I didn't want to believe she was an enemy, "Raine has a point. We can't trust you guys to go alone."

"Then I'll send Nel and some of my men," Yuan said.

"Preparations for the Mana Cannon, the shutdown of the mana reactors throughout the world—there are too many things we need the Renegades to do. You don't have enough troops to do everything," Kratos said to him.

Renji smacked his fist into his hand, "Looks like we get to go bash up some desians."

"What are you saying? We need to head for the mana cannon!" Sheena reminded him.

"You and the Renegades can handle the Mana Cannon," I told her, "The rest of us will go after the Iselia ranch and shut it down!"

"Good that means I can help Yuan with the Mana Cannon preparations, it'll be easier this way," Nel said.

"We have to go right Lloyd?" Colette asked him.

"Yeah we promised Chocolat," he said.

Sheena looked at me with apprehension. "Don't look at me like that," I told her, "I'll be back. It'll be tough without my mask though," I said remembering who exactly would be waiting for me at the ranch.

"Oh right there's that big guy with Yachiru at the ranch right?" Genis asked.

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Then here," Sheena dropped something in my hand. It was a ring with an amethyst stone embedded into it. "Take it and promise you'll come back."

"What good is this going to do?" I asked.

"It's Shadow's Ring," she said, "Your Zanpakuto is dark based. I don't know, I thought maybe it would give you like some form of extreme power or something if you were to put it on."

I clenched it in my fist, "Yeah I getcha," I told her, "If nothing else I'll keep it as a reminder to come back."

"Please be careful," she told me.

"Well you two sure are lovey dovey," Zelos totally killed the mood.

"Oh shut up you!" Sheena shouted whacking him over the head.

"Ow! That hurt!" he moaned.

"Before you all head out, Renji, I'd like you to stay with Nel, Sheena and me and help out with the Mana Cannon. Since you're a former Desian I may need some credentials. We still haven't fully overwritten the ranch over to us yet."

"Sure not a problem," Renji nodded in agreement.

"Please allow me to assist as well then," Ishida added, "The more brain power at your disposal the better and the less for Kurosaki's group to keep track of the better as well."

"Most appreciated," Yuan accepted.

"If we're finished with picking and choosing who goes where then let's head out," Lloyd stated.

"Agreed," I said.

Towards the Iselia Human Ranch

We headed for the ranch via the Rheairds. Since Sheena was staying back with the Renegades I opted to talk to Inoue, but she insisted on riding with Kratos. It was as if because she was being part of Cruxis she didn't trust us anymore. It was little disheartening. So since Renji wasn't with us I flew with Rukia clutching to me.

"Why do you get to be in front?" she complained when we reached cruising altitude, "I'm a much better pilot than you."

"Does it matter?" I rolled my eyes.

"If we want to land without crashing into anyone it does," she teased.

"Hey I've driven this thing enough times with Sheena and I haven't screwed up so just shut up and enjoy the ride will you?" I grumbled.

"Boy someone's in a foul mood," she commented. I growled. "You're worried aren't you? About Orihime I mean?" I sighed. "It's understandable," Rukia looked over to Orihime and Kratos' Rheaird of which Orihime was in front. "With the situation in Hueco Mundo Orihime was more than willing to be rescued, but now…she's not even willing to talk to us."

"Yeah I know what you mean," I said, "but I'm not going to give up on her. Orihime's not the type of person to just join up with the enemy without a good reason." Rukia nodded and made a noise in agreement. "Anyway, hang on tight," I said swerving the Rheaird at an angle since we were approaching the ranch.

Lloyd's pov

When we landed we all gathered together and Captain Kuchiki brought out his Zanpakuto, "Scatter, Senbonzakura." Captain Kuchiki used the small blades of his Shikai to destroy the security cameras. "Hopefully they'll think that was just a malfunction," he said sheathing his Zanpakuto as he sealed it.

"More than likely. Those blades would be hard to pick up on a camera," Kratos confirmed. "If you're all going to be here why did Orihime and I come as well? You don't need us to stop the Mana Reactor."

"Because I don't trust Cruxis," I scowled, "It just happens that this time, our goals, your goals, and those of the Renegades coincide, but we don't know what's going to happen next. It's easier to keep an eye on you if you're close by."

"Hmph, a wise decision," Kratos seemed to almost be praising me.

"Well we shut down the cameras, now what?" Ichigo asked.

"Wow Ichigo you didn't just decide to break down the gate with brute force," Genis commented.

"Shut it this is a stealth operation," Ichigo shot back, "The longer we can delay the Desians knowing we're here the better."

"I'll jump down inside from the cliff and open the door," I suggested.

"No, I'll do it," Kratos emanated his wings from his body and flew over the gate and opened it from the inside. "Let's go."

I walked up to him as everyone passed him by and said, "Hard to believe I'm fighting with you like this again."

"Does it displease you?" he asked.

"I'm just as unhappy with this as you are. And I don't trust you either," I made clear.

"Good that's how it should be," Kratos said, "because you and I," he paused and added, "are enemies." He then walked inside and I behind him. When we caught up with the group everyone was huddled around a machine. As we talked things out we decided the best thing to do would be to split up the group. Part of the group would go with me to help shut down the reactor and defeat Forcystus and the others would go free the captives. Kratos, Orihime, Ichigo, and Genis were definitely coming with me. Presea currently didn't have a weapon so she was staying behind. We continued to hammer out the details and Rukia, Captain Kuchiki, the Professor and Soifon were coming with me. Everyone else was going to help the captives. However, since the captives were on our way to Forcystus all of us were coming together as one big group.

When we arrived in the captive's quarters Shunsui, Izuru, Zelos and Rangiku combined their efforts and sent the guards packing.

"That should take care of things in here," Zelos stated as Rangiku opened the cells.

Colette turned towards me, "Lloyd I…" she started to say.

"I'll be fine, I've got Ichigo, the Professor, and Captain Kuchiki with me. You don't need to worry about me, Colette."

"I…I know," she said.

"We'll be fine from here on out, you all be careful," Rangiku said to us.

"Yeah thanks," I said.

We split our group and wandered together through the hallways until we wound up in one big empty room. We walked through it until a powerful entity came slamming down from above and struck the ground. So much dust had been kicked up I couldn't see who was speaking. "Well now, when I was told there would be intruders at first I wasn't all that excited, but then I sensed all your strong power levels and I just had to drop by to say hello." The dust cleared. Standing in front of us was the man who had taken Yachiru with him when Ichigo, Genis and I left Iselia. He was wearing a red Desian uniform like the members of Forcystus' ranch, but he also had a white sleeveless jacket worn over it. "My name is Kenpachi Zaraki. If you want to get past this room you're going to have to defeat me."

"So the 11th Division Captain degrades himself to fighting for the enemy does he?" Captain Kuchiki spoke up.

"Who said that?" Kenpachi asked and Captain Kuchiki stepped forward. "Huh? Well now so it's you all," Kenpachi said pointing to his eyepatch, "I didn't even need my flashy introduction, but it was well worth if for effect if I do say so myself."

I looked over to Genis who was shaking from head to toe. "Genis what's wrong?"

He tried to stop shaking and stood firm, but his knees were still trembling, "N-nothing, n-nothing…I-I'm…f-fine. I-I'm not…s-scared or anything."

"Byakushi!" Yachiru appeared from over Kenpachi's shoulder and dove towards Captain Kuchiki. He sidestepped out of the way. She stood in front of him and jumped up and down like an ecstatic little kid…younger than Genis, "Byakushi, I'm so happy to see you. Did you come here to play with Kenny?"

"Unfortunately no," he said.

"We all came here to shut down the ranch," I said to her. "Your friend's in our way."

"In the way?" Kenpachi asked and then added, "Don't make me laugh? I couldn't care less about this two-bit ranch. The only thing I'm interested in is a good fight. And if you're all here that means the strongest ones here can fight me."

"Kenny!" Yachiru cried happily tugging on Ichigo's arm, "Look! Look! It's Ichi!"

Kenpachi touched a hand to his cheek and grinned, "Well well what do you know? It is. Nice to see you Ichigo." Kenpachi flared the mana…no Soul Reapers use reiatsu…reiatsu in his body.

Ichigo stared down Kenpachi for a few moments then withdrew his sword quickly from its sheathe and swung it out at his side. "Guys leave him to me," Ichigo said.

Kenpachi laughed out loud, "You're gonna take me one on one, fine by me. I've wanted a rematch with you for quite some time. This oughta be good."

"Ichigo are you insane? He's incredibly strong!" the Professor scolded him.

"That's the point," I heard Captain Kuchiki say.

"Captain…Kuchiki," Raine looked up at him.

"Captain Zaraki is the most powerful Shinigami next to Head Captain Yamamoto in terms of pure brute strength," Byakuya was saying as Ichigo held his sword out horizontally in front of him, "Ichigo has foughten Captain Zaraki once before and subsequently beaten him, though there were heavy injuries to both sides. The boy can handle himself."

"That's crazy! Ichigo let me fight with you!" I told him.

"No," he responded without hesitation.

"But," I protested.

"What's our goal right now Lloyd?" he asked me.

"That's…"

"Our goal is to shut down the Mana Reactor," Ichigo said and smirked, "Kenpachi's only interested in fighting strong opponents anyway. The only person who'd be of any help in our current group against him are Byakuya, Kratos and Soifon and I don't have enough chemistry with any of them to fight this guy two on one. Besides you'll need their help shutting down the Mana Reactor and defeating Forcystus."

"Lloyd," Rukia said to me.

"Hmm," I turned to look at her.

"There are two types of battle Lloyd: the battle for one's life and the battle for one's pride. Ichigo is currently fighting for the latter. Helping him right now would be stepping all over his pride. Dismiss his stubbornness and let him do this. If you really want to help him we need to get going," Rukia explained to me.

"She's right you know," I heard Ichigo say.

"Ichigo," I turned towards him.

"Leave this to me," he repeated.

"I won't stop you guys from heading further on in so long as Ichigo stays behind. Like I said I don't give a damn about Forcystus," Kenpachi repeated.

"To think that Cruxis had employed such a madman. Forcystus' wallet must be taxed," Kratos commented.

"Peh, I ain't no mercenary," Kenpachi spat, "I go where there's blood. It's just how I am. If you want to go though I'd be happy to take you on in place of the kid."

"I'll pass," Kratos responded.

"Well you better get going if you wanna get to Forcystus, from what I here things are going pretty crazy outside this fortress," Kenpachi grinned like a demon.

"Come on we shouldn't waste anymore time here," Raine said.

"Rai-Rai's right," I heard Yachiru say. I looked to see her on Kratos' shoulder. "Come on Red Shirt! You, Shorty, Krato-kun, Jiggles, Byakushi, Soy Sauce, Bunny and I need get to that reactor. Let's let Kenny and Ichi have their fun."

"Not the nicknames again," I moaned to myself.

Ichigo's pov

"We're gonna go now. We're gonna go find one-eye and you and Ichii can catch up later ok Kenny?" Yachiru called.

"Don't wait up," Kenpachi said with a big grin on his face, "I don't plan on rushing this fight."

"Don't get everyone lost ok!" I called out, "Let Kratos or Inoue take command of leading the group they should know where to go as members of Cruxis!"

"Okie dokie Ichi!" Yachiru saluted and like that the group was gone.

"Is it okay letting them pass like this?" I asked.

"What are you so concerned about? I'm the one working for Forcystus. And it's like I said before: I don't a damn. Sure the guy let me execute a bunch of spies after he and his men rounded him up, but from the sound of it, you and the others seem like you're gonna be having more fun," he grinned. "So sit back and relax," he grabbed his sword and unsheathed it. "And let's have some fun!" he charged right at me. The fight had begun.

Lloyd's pov

Kratos and Orihime led the group to where Forcystus would be. I didn't mind, they were the only ones who could possibly have any insider knowledge as to the layout of the ranch. It was still a while though until we reached Forcystus.

"Lloyd," he spoke directly to me, "It seems it was a mistake to have let you live. You're causing far too many issues. You're here faster than I expected. What the hell is that blasted oaf Kenpachi doing?"

"Kenpachi abandoned you Forcystus. It's just you and us now," Captain Kuchiki said.

"Damn him, I should've never trusted that man. He was a human but I thought we saw the same vision, but it appears I was mistaken," Forcystus grumbled.

"Damn right you were mistaken," Soifon chuckled, "Zaraki will always be one of us. No matter how chaotic he may be even he knows the world must always survive," she smiled more deviously than I'd even ever seen the Professor smile, "otherwise he wouldn't be able to slash things up with his sword anymore."

"Blasted fool," Forcystus griped and cooled down, "But no matter I'll kill you all myself if I have to."

"So you're Forcystus are you?" Kratos asked, "If death is what you seek then you shall have it."

"Tough talk from a human. You're the one who's going to die, along with this tainted world," Forcystus said to Kratos.

Kratos looked like he was laughing at Forcystus, "Even if the world is lost, you can escape to Derris-Kharlan… Is that what you're thinking? How naïve."

"What did you say?" Forcystus snapped.

"Desians are nothing but expendable pawns to Yggdrasill. He'd never bother to save you," Kratos said coldly.

"Silence! How dare you speak ill of Lord Yggdrasil!" Forcystus shouted, "But it's as you say we can escape to Derris Kharlan. The destruction of this world is of no concern to us."

"Does…Lord Yggdrasil really wish for all those people to be killed just to save Martel? Why would he do such a thing? Isn't there a way to save everyone? Please think of the possibilities!" Orihime pleaded.

"I'd never take a proposition from a human, but yet you speak as if you know Lord Yggdrasil, who are you?" Obviously the news of Orihime becoming a member of Cruxis hadn't reached Forcystus.

"We don't have time to waste with this idiot! Let's go Lloyd!" Genis declared.

"I know!" I said getting ready.

"You won't get past me!" Forcystus declared.

"We'll just see about that!" Rukia declared.

Ichigo's pov

Kenpachi and I collided our swords against each other, drew away from each other and slammed our swords into each other's again. "You've improved a great deal Ichigo," Kenpachi told me.

"So have you it seems," I said. We stopped pressing our swords against each other and jumped back.

Kenpachi snickered and then burst out into full ledged maniacal laughter, "It's just like before. You're like my equal, maybe slightly better than me." He reached up for his eye-patch, "Against you, I feel like I can fight with no restraints at all!" he pulled off his eyepatch and his spiritual pressure surged.

This is it, I said, gripping my sword tightly. This is where the real battle begins.

To be continued…

(A/N: Ichigo Vs Kenpachi: the rematch of the century. And at the same time the group prepares to face off against Forcystus and Hitsugaya is battling it out with the Giant Khalran Tree to save Momo. Will he succeed? More importantly what about Sheena's group? Will the Mana Cannon work? All the action happens now as the first 'disc' of Tales of Bleach draws towards a close. To find out what's going to happen you'll have to wait for the next chapter. PLEASE NOTE: Starting tomorrow I will be on Thanksgiving break. That may sound like a good thing, but with more distractions [like my 360] it may be counterproductive with regards to fanfiction. I am also going to watch Rocky Horror Picture Show with my Mom as a bonding moment [my idea, not hers and no not as a pity moment, my family and I are close knit]. I am also going to go see Harry Potter this Friday with my folks and am spending Thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family so please understand if I do not update for a while. Ok then see ya).