SailorStar9: Chapter 33 is up, this is Chapter 34 (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts?

Disclaimers: I own nothing, except for the plot bunny.

Chapter 34: Back to Back, A Fight to the Death

"I won't be satisfied until I beat the hell outta you." Ichigo declared. "Right, you get it." He added, slicing apart a Hollow before Uryū's arrow hit. "This is a fight between you and me. So quit harping on about whoever kills the most Hollows. Let's settle this between you and me."

"Hey, Ichigo." Kon warned. "The sky is…"

"Hollows are coming together." Uryū realized as the crack in the sky got bigger. "Over here, Hollows!" he barked, gaining the Hollows' attention. "I, Ishida Uryū, the last Quincy, will take you on."

"The last Quincy?" Ichigo echoed.

"The Quincy became extinct 200 years ago." Rukia explained. "No, that's not quite right. To be exact, the Quincy were destroyed by the Shinigami. In the Soul Society, Shinigami were commonly called Balancers or regulators. The sum of all the souls in the Soul Society and the human world does not change much. And souls can travel between the two worlds. It is the job of the Shinigami to regulate that. However, one day, the Quincy appeared. The Quincy totally destroy Hollows. This means that any soul who left the Soul Society for the human world would never return. If it were left as it is, the balance between the two worlds would collapse."

"And the two worlds would end." Cosmic Mercury finished.

"There were many meetings between the Quincy and Shinigami," Rukia continued. "But the Quincy refused to heed our pleas. And the order was given to annihilate the Quincy. Do you think that this result from the arrogance of the Shinigami?"

"Damn." Uryū cursed, destroying another Hollow in the park. "Their numbers aren't going down."

"Ishida!" Ichigo roared, running into the scene.

He's so rush. Uryū twitched, Ichigo literally mauling through the horde of Hollows.

"I heard," the Substitute Shinigami stood on the hill of defeated Hollows. "The reason why you fight. I don't know who was right, the Shinigami or Quincy, and I don't intend to tell you. But one thing I do know, your ways are…"

"That story's old." Uryū cut him off. "I don't care about the slaughter of 200 years ago. I only heard it from my teacher myself. Furthermore, when I heard that story, I sort of sided with the Shinigami. That is, until my sensei died. He was a kind, gentle man who never hated or resented anyone. As the last Quincy, sensei was under strict watch by the Shinigami. And yet, sensei kept telling the Shinigami to join forces and work together. But the answer was always the same: Do not interfere with our work. Then, on that day five huge Hollows appeared and it was obvious that he couldn't take them on. Shinigami only appeared two hours after sensei had begun to fight. If they had listened to sensei, if they had acknowledged his strengths and his thoughts, they would have come to the rescue much sooner. And sensei wouldn't have had to die. Can you understand, Kurosaki Ichigo? I must prove to the Shinigami the strength of the Quincy. I realize that our ways of thinking are at opposite poles. If you think my way is wrong, stay there and watch… My true strength."

"You talk too much!" Ichigo snapped, sending the archer to the ground via a kick. "I just don't get it. Your teacher's hope wasn't to prove the power of the Quincy to the Shinigami. It was to join forces with the Shinigami to fight, right? Well then, just when will you be able to do that, if not now? Opposite poles?" both fighters took their places. "Fine. When you have too many opponents, the best way to fight is back-to-back. Kill or be killed." Ichigo stated, resuming the fight. "But it's too hard by yourself. So it can't be helped. Isn't that enough of a reason to join forces? I just want to destroy Hollows."

"Why?" Uryū asked.

"My mother…" Ichigo started. "Was killed by a Hollow. Is that the reason why I want to destroy Hollows? If you ask that, of course it is. But I just don't want others to go through what I did. After my mother was killed, my father and sisters went through a lot. I just don't want any more of that. That's how I feel."

"Geez, you talk too much too." Uryū sighed. "But I understand. Unless we survive, we won't' have a sparring partner for later."

"Fine." Ichigo grinned, the pair resuming their fight.

"Kurosaki, the sky…" Uryū's attention was diverted to the gaping hole in the atmosphere. "What… is that?" he gasped as a Menos Grande emerged from the hole. "That bait can't have this kind of result."

"It's too late now." Ichigo reminded.

"Hello." Ururu muttered, blasting the attacking Hollows with her BFG.

"Kurosaki, we came to help you." Urahara remarked, his group taking out several more Hollows. "We'll take care of the small fry." He added, Mercury's 'Frozen Core' turned the surrounding Hollows in icicles. "So that you, Kurosaki, can focus on fighting that one."

"No sense in thinking about how to fight such a giant." Ichigo grinned. "A thing like that, has to be cut and cut again with all your strength. There's no other way!"

"Ichigo!" Rukia warned, she and Kon running into the scene. "Stop, he's not an opponent you can take on. Urahara," she glared. "Do you intend to kill Ichigo?"

"Not at all." Urahara corrected, stunning her via a Shibireyubi spell. "But just watch. This battle is necessary. For you and him."

"I told you so." Uryū chided, the Menos kicking Ichigo off. "Damn it." He cursed, his arrow was deflected by the Menos' mask. What's this… he frowned, his hand resting on Ichigo's Zanpakutō and causing his bow to increase in size. It's flowing in… is this from Kurosaki's power? "Kurosaki, just listen. We may be able to beat that thing."

"Hey, are you crazy?" Ichigo wondered, Uryū having strapped his blade on his head.

"Quit babbling." Uryū scolded. "In this situation, if you release all your Spiritual Energy in this form, I'll be able to shoot an enormous arrow. We can't waste all that Spiritual Energy."

"Cero?" Rukia was stunned when the Menos charged up. "Does he intend to release a Cero here?"

"There's no other way." Uryū was insistent. "Kurosaki, grab that sword again and… What are you doing?" he demanded, Ichigo reclaiming his weapon. "What?" he gaped, Ichigo blocking off the Cero blast. What is this terrible Spirit Pressure? Kurosaki's power is increasing. That's right. He realized. There's no way that can be. No matter how high your Spiritual Energy is, if it's always at maximum, the energy will burn out in no time. If he can't control his Spiritual Energy, it means he always had more than enough Spiritual Energy.

"It's almost time, I suppose." Mercury mused, Ichigo reflecting the Cero back at the Menos, hurting it and sending it back through the Garganta.

"I win!" Ichigo declared.

"What the hell is he?" Uryū was stunned.

"Just as expected from the blood of that person." Mercury chuckled.

"What's going on?" Ichigo gasped, falling facedown as his sword started deforming.

"The shape of the Zanpakutō is deteriorating." Uryū realized. "I must do something." Stepping on the distorting blade, he released the excess energy off via his arrows.

SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.