My train of thought was shattered when I heard Fruit Pop yelling at me. "How about instead of naming them, you actually help us DESTROY THEM!" He jumped off towards one of the Menos that had moved away from the main group and swung at it, splitting it in half.

"I AM!" I argued. "But even Hollows need names! What am I gonna put on their tombstones? Unless, of course, you want mindless spirits roaming around on the streets. Yamamoto would have you ass for tha-" Another Cero came our way. Ricky and I ducked out of the way, landing on the roof of a building and he let me down. More Menos were ripping their way into the world of the living through the Garganta. This was really getting out of hand.

Ricky wasn't doing anything, just staring up at the creatures pour out from the hole in the sky. "Wow," he mumbled to himself, "they're multiplying faster than Cell Jrs. Name the first one to go down Krillin." His gaze moved down, and he smiled suddenly. "Hey, look!" He picked up what looked to be an old umbrella. Seriously, where the hell do these random objects emerge from? "Oh, what a perfect weapon for a gentlemen such as myself! Have at you, knave!" He held it up and took a stance, and I could've sworn he was imitating Raphael from Soul Calibur. Another Menos came toward us and he pointed the umbrella at it. "You, alley-garbage! You lack dignity! How dare you attack me from my flank!" And then – I don't know how he did this – Ricky leapt several feet from the rooftop, pulled out a glove from his pocket, and slapped the creature right across its face. And even more surprising, its mask cracked and it fell apart, killing the Hollow. As he descended, he looked to me and yelled out, "Jo, I like this world!"

I facepalmed. And I thought I was the ridiculous one here. I looked out at the battlefield to check on the others. It didn't look like it was going as well as I'd hoped. There were still a lot of Menos coming out from the hole – and for once, I was trying my best to avoid the sexuality in this. Toshiro was slicing through them left and right while scanning the ground, probably for Rangiku. Renji was being his usual self, trying to take charge of the whole situation via bankai. Everyone else's swords were either already poking through a masked head, or moving on to the next one. And I just sat here, on the rooftop with Ricky. Useless. If it weren't for the constant rain of Ceros and Hollow remains I would've taken out my sketch book and joined in the fight. But according to the universe – its strings probably being pulled by Kubo at the moment – I couldn't. I was too scared of something potentially tearing my book to shreds. All I really did was watch everyone else fight, wishing I had my sword on me.

Dust was kicking up from the ground now, making the view of the battlefield slightly obscured. It was getting difficult to keep an eye on everyone. At the same time, I couldn't find Nikui or any of the arrancar; I couldn't even smell her. That was a bad sign – her scent was the only sign I had of tracking her movements. The arrancar didn't even have a tracking method. Other than them shooting their Ceros, of course. "Dammit," I mumbled, moving up onto my toes, hoping it would help out somehow. "How are there so many Menos over here?" And then it hit me. Bait. Someone had gotten their hands on some Hollow bait, and was spreading it like a wildfire. My money was on Komurii. Why? Probably as some part of an elaborate revenge plan for sucking her into the Garganta I made. Plus – duh! – she called them right in front of us. I had to take her out. But the dust was making finding her a difficult task. "Shit, man..." Somehow, this soot had to be cleared. "Think, think..." I hit the sides of my head with my fist.

Wind. That's what I needed. Who here had a wind-type zanpakuto? I surveyed whoever I found. Ichigo? Nope, he was a melee-type. Toshiro and Rukia: ice and snow, respectively. Yumichika? Nowhere near what I need. Where was a wind zanpakuto wielder when I needed one? "Kensei!" I yelled, suddenly remembering. Tachikaze was a wind-type. I mean, so was Senna's, but I'm trying to be canonical here. I took my bag off my back. And right on cue, another Cero blast came my way. Ricky and I ducked. I poked my head up. Okay, who was closest to us? Surprisingly, it was Ichigo... Wait, why's that surprising? He's the freaking main character. Of course he would be conveniently near me when I'm in distress! "Carrot Top!" I yelled, but he couldn't hear me. Of course this would happen. I looked up to the sky and shook my fist angrily. "Kubo, you prick! Quit making things difficult for me!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is this annoying you?" I heard the sky yell back. Yup, I knew it. I fucking knew it. "Maybe I should disable the safety and let you really see how dangerous it is to be inside the Bleach universe-"

"Are you shitting me right now?"

Kubo laughed. And it was some god-like roaring, earth-shaking laugh, like I expected. I don't think anyone else heard it, though. "Relax. There's no safety mode for the Bleach universe. But I CAN make it more difficult for you if you don't clean up your mess and leave ASAP. I gave you your first warning over a week ago, Jo. OVER A WEEK AGO!"

I raised an eyebrow. Had it really been that long since our first conversation? Wow, time just flies in the Bleach universe, doesn't it? Suddenly, AIR SLAP! Right to my hair! "Whoa! Watch it, Kubo!" He laughed again, and then I no longer sensed a deceptive or trolling aura around me. Back to business! "Ricky!" I wasn't watching him, but I think he turned my way. Or not. Whatever, as long as he's talking to me.

"And how can I be of service, madame?"

"Cover me. I need to summon someone." I quickly took out my sketch book and pencil, and opened to the first available page. My hand moved rapidly – save the sex jokes for later – and Kensei was appearing in front of me... Or at least I thought he was. Instead, I got a giant air fart from the paper. "Huh?" I closed the book and reopened it to the same page – and again, I got an air fart. "Why isn't this working?" I yelled. I tried to summon Kensei one last time, and...the spirit of a moose appeared before me. Okay, out of EVERYTHING possible, why a moose?

The moose stared down at me, his jaw moving fiercely as he chewed on walnuts. He clapped his hooves together and said to me, "I am the Moon God, Lunos. And I shall rain my orgasmic moon beams upon you." He clapped his hooves together one more time, and with his eyes looking outward like a chameleon, vanished in a similar air fart from before.

I pointed to the air the moose vanished from. "Uh, Ricky," I started, "d-did you just see that? A moose just sent some sort of semen warriors down upon us."

"Jo. Give me your book," he replied to me, completely ignoring the whole moose thing.

"What?"

"Give me the book, woman! We have no time for stalling!" Without even waiting for me to face him, Ricky pulled the book from my grasp and ran to the edge of the building. His foot slid back, his shoulders turned, and swung the book from right to left in front of him. All the dust that had gathered from the fighters crashing into buildings and the ground was blown away by a fearsome wind. Everything was clear now, allowing me to see where everyone was. "Wow, I didn't think that would work." He looked back at my book. "Jo, I really really REALLY like this world. Can we get a summer house here? Maybe one on the waterfront."

I smacked him on the back of his head. "Gimme my damn book!" His little scheme had surprised me, yes, but NOBODY takes my fucking book without permission! I surveyed the battlefield that was now visible to me. Hollow bodies littered the ground. "Where are they?" I asked no one in particular. Then I spotted one. Chad. He was face down on one of the lower buildings, and he didn't appear to be moving. "Ichigo!" I yelled out, ducking whenever a piece of Hollow mask flew at me. Another my relief he actually heard me this time and deflected the Cero coming toward me.

Ichiogo landed next to me. "What's wrong?" he asked, seeing the worry written on my face. I pointed down to Chad, who still wasn't moving. He nodded to me and, to my discomfort, threw me over his shoulder.

"Hey! I'm NOT a bag of rice!"

"Quit bitching for five seconds!" he yelled back. I shut up, but only for Chad's sake. We made it down to the building and Ichigo let me down. I quickly ran to Chad and placed a finger on his neck. Ichigo looked at me nervously waiting for an answer.

I sighed. "He's still alive, but it looks like Trevvor did a number on him." His wounds were pretty bad; the worst was on his back, spanning from his shoulder down to his waist. Most likely the result of Trevvor's zanpakuto. I felt kind of bad for making it a chainsaw-sword. "Chad," I called to him, tapping his cheek. One of his eyes opened. "Stay still. You've got a huge gash on your back. I'm going to bring the others over here and have Orihime heal you all in one shot." He nodded and I stood up, turning to Ichigo. "You think you can find the others? I'll track down Orihime and-"

SLAP! Right to the side of my head. "No," he yelled at me, "you're not leaving my sight. It's too risky for you to be wandering around by yourself all defenseless." I would've argued with him if I didn't agree. He was 100 percent right, after all. Swordless, running around with just a drawing book and mediocre taekwondo skills? What kind of defense could that provide against an army of weaponry? Sighing, I just rolled my eyes and nodded. He threw me over his shoulder AGAIN and we jumped down to the ground level.

It really looked like a battlefield. Destroyed cars, buildings with cracks in the walls, shattered glass everywhere, and even downed electrical lines. How the hell did nobody notice this? Before I could register everything going on Carrot Top started running. "Whoa!" I grabbed a handful of his hair and he shrieked. "Ow! The fuck are you doing? That's my hair!"

"And that's my stomach your shoulder's ramming into! Stop running!" He didn't, of course, until we made it to a blocked off intersection. A truck had been flipped on its side and was on fire. "Dammit. I guess we need to change course." Finally, the bastard set me down. And I didn't care what our current mission was; I kicked the son of a bitch in his knee. HARD. He hopped on his one good leg and held his knee, cursing to the sky.

"What's your problem? We're supposed to be saving some lives here!"

And then I heard some sadistic laughter. "Aww, poor baby. Did the snotty little girl hurt you again?" We turned in the direction of the voice. Komurii was twirling her zanpakuto between her fingers, staring straight at us with a menacing glare. "Well don't worry about that. She won't be a problem anymore." The blade stopped in her grasp. "I'm gonna tear your flat-chested heart out!" She lunged at us. When did she get so fast? I didn't make her that way! I quickly grabbed Ichigo's wrist and pulled him in front of me. I was pretty sure she'd kill us.

...But we managed to survive. I poked my head out from behind him and saw Rangiku guarding Komurii's attack. Komurii was bearing down, causing Rangiku to skid back. I didn't need her to say anything. I swiped Ichigo's zanpakuto from his hand and ran behind my arrancar, throwing it in her direction. Somehow – I have no idea how, my throws are terrible – the sword made direct impact on Komurii. I shielded my eyes, not wanting to see the blade easily slice through the skank's flesh. Now wasn't a time for me to be laughing like a little sadist. When I uncovered my eyes, Komurii was struggling to stand, blood dripping from her mouth and the wound I'd given her. Rangiku had fallen over, out of breath, having Ichigo support her weight. I heard more footsteps beginning to approach us, and they were gaining fast. "You're in for it now, girl," Komurii coughed, chuckling in a low tone. "You barely survived against me, but there's not a chance in hell you'd be able to defend yourself from Nikui. She's much more powerful than you created her to be. Your little book won't do shit against us, or Aizen." Behind her, the other three arrancar appeared, the evidence from their own battles barely visible. Then the lavender scent hit me. Nikui joined them, keeping the same smile on her face from when we last saw each other.

"Don't listen to Komurii, my dear," she started, walking closer to the skank arrancar. I immediately backed away from them, moving closer to Ichigo. I hoped our backup would be here soon. "I wouldn't let her touch a hair on your head. Lord Aizen wouldn't allow it. You're too valuable." She wrapped her free hand around the hilt of Ichigo's zanpakuto, and with one swipe, ripped it out from Komurii's body. A few blood drops stained the bottom of her dress. She tossed the sword in my direction and it hit the floor, sliding to me. I glanced next to me, and saw the shinigami quickly approaching us. Rukia was being supported by Orihime. Renji and Ricky held up Chad and guided him closer. Ikkaku had one arm around Yumichika's neck. Toshiro walked alongside Kisuke, whose entire right arm had gone limp. "It seems we have company." Nikui curtsied to them and summoned her zanpakuto again. "I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but I still have an objective to meet. Jo must still come with me to Hueco Mundo, and I intend to make sure that happens."

The shinigami came closer to me, as did the arrancar. Komurii was on her feet again, holding her wound and spitting blood near my feet. I thought I heard her mutter 'bitch' when she did. My eyes moved between the arrancar, Nikui and my comrades. Thoughts raced through my head. Would I have to be the one to protect them from the danger I created? How would I do that without any support? There had to be some way...

I suddenly felt a cold shiver hit my throat. The air around me became frigid. Slowly, my eyes looked downward, spotting a blade turned up toward me. The sharp edge laid against my neck. I followed the length of the blade, finding the arm that held it up. Toshiro had me in his grasp, with his zanpakuto inches from the most vulnerable parts of my flesh. "Take one more step," he started, "and she'll be leaking more than reiatsu."

"Captain, wait!" I heard Rangiku yell. "You're taking it too far. We're supposed to keep her alive!" Toshiro didn't reply.

Nikui brought her hand to her mouth and giggled. "Why, Captain Hitsugaya! I had no idea you would go to such great lengths to upset Lord Aizen." She quickly glanced past us, to where I heard Rangiku protest. "But your lieutenant is right. We both need the girl alive. Killing her wouldn't do either side good. I know you would never go through with it."

She took a step forward. The second her dress moved, I felt his grasp around my body tighten. He forced Hyorinmaru up against my skin, the blade meeting my jawline. The steel cut into me and I winced, fighting to hold back a howl of pain. It was nothing compared to the cut Kisuke slashed across my hand to prove the reality of my situation. Toshiro, one of the people I believe was going to help me, intended to kill me. Tears welled in the corners of my eyes. How deep did he intend to go before proving his point?

Blood trickled down my neck, staining my shirt. Nikui's eyes widened, bringing her to a halt. Her smile vanished. The grip on her zanpakuto tightened further, turning her knuckles white. "Open the Garganta," she ordered. The arrancar gave her confused glances. "Do it!" she demanded again, the volume slightly raising in her voice. Citlaali raised her hand to the empty air and made a slicing motion, tearing a hole in space. She and her fellow arrancar entered the dark void. Nikui followed slowly. "This won't be our final meeting, shinigami. Lord Aizen will get what is rightfully his, and I'll make sure of that." The Garganta slowly closed as she spoke, soon pulling them off into oblivion. Her eyes never left me.