Bleach: The Alternate Tale

by blackout2010

We all know that Ichigo Kurosaki was a human who became a Shinigami, but what would happen if he was always a Shinigami when the events of bleach happened, perhaps an altered story. Very minor crossover with Sakura Wars. A/U A/T. Contains incest in later parts.

37. When world's collide III: Killing love

Prefic banter:

Blackout2010: Not gonna lie. Someone needs to make an Ichigo x Soifon/Shaolin x Senna x Isane x Cirucci x Bambietta harem Fic (more is optional, lemons optional too). I don't care who and I don't care how, but this needs to happen.

Soifon (sweat drop): Shouldn't you at least explain where you've been before demanding stuff?

Mayuri: What nonsense. One must always be willing to make their demands up front. How do you think I have so many research subjects?

Nemu: Master Mayuri, I've captured Uryu Ishida while he was sleeping…your orders?

Ichigo: Real smooth there.

Blackout2010: Okay I was busy with work, writing term papers, playing video games, trying to write this, and providing mental therapy for others. That's the cliff notes version.

Isshin: Mmmmmm, nope I don't believe you.

Aizen: Only I can multitask, like that.

Blackout2010: Whatever.

---

Chapter 37: When world's collide III: Kill the ones you love

(Soifon)

Chasing after the figure ahead of her through the inner garden of Las Noche, Shaolin was beginning to feel more and more uneasy about catching up with her. "Why are you running from me?" the disquieted captain muttered to herself; her mind trying to answer the question of why Subaru kept taking off every time she got remotely close to earshot.

At first, she chalked it up to the ex-third seat being avoidant of hostile pursuers during the conflict, but she countered that by flaring out her spiritual energy so she knew it was her, yet still she remained chasing. Next, she had thought that it might be because Subaru still felt guilty about her perceived betrayal of the captain after so many years of trust and love, but that made little sense since she had heard their story from Shinjiro, who would then presumably inform her. So, if anything, Subaru should be running towards her and throwing herself at her mercy and pleading for her understanding.

But, no. She just kept running.

And the more Soifon continued to chase the more she felt the warping of the spy's spiritual pressure. It was faint at first when she was with Cirucci, but at this distance, she could tell something was off. Her usual calm, if chilly, aura was replaced by a more ominous tense aura.

The woman snapped from her thoughts when Subaru stopped running, coming to a sudden halt. Digging her sandals into the sand, Soifon slid to a halt some thirty feet away from the spy, whose back remained directed at her. The two women stood there silently for a few minutes, neither making any attempt to break the silence, for one it was in the hopes of opportunity, the other the calm before the storm.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Shaolin called out to the spy. "Subaru…" she said steadily, as she took a step closer towards her, an arm raised out to entreat her. "Can you hear me? It's me Shaolin."

The Captain's stood there for a few seconds, her chest rising and falling with trepidation, unknowing of what to say next. The other woman's shoulders began to rock slightly, seemingly registering the bluenette's statement. However, instead of the shaking of her body being a sign of fear, a dark cruel laugh echoed from Subaru's throat back to Shaolin's ear. In a single callous motion, the spy turned around with a wicked grin on her lips.

And a Hollow's mask covering half her face.

"Of course, I know who you are!" the masked spy taunted. When her friend took a reflexive step back in surprise, the woman in black shaking her head, the sardonic smile widened. "Now why are you so surprised? Don't you recognize me?" she leaned forward, hand hovering over the center of her shihakuso. "It's me Subaru-chan, your dear friend and precious sister."

"No…" Soifon whispered frightfully, head shaking from side to side unable to comprehend, to accept, what she was seeing. "You're not her."

The masked creature's playful demeanor turned to stone, as she straightened up, a dull contemptful look on her face. "Yeah, I am. I'm the side of her she never had the guts to really tell you about. Like how she thought you were just a stuck-up self-center bitch or that she knew her life would be better if you're scrawny ass got killed a long time ago."

"Shut up you damn fraud!" Shaolin screamed, her anger silencing the creature, as her expression shifted to a more pleading look. "Subaru! It's me, Shaolin! I know you're in there! You need to fight it! You need to get in control agai-"

"Subaru, Oh Subaru, waaha, waha, waaaah!" the monster mocked in a pouty voice, her face scrunched up to mimic the crybaby in front of her. "My name is Soifon and I'm just a stupid bitch who can't do anything on her own, boo hoo hooo." The corrupted woman then leaned back, her face relaxing back into cool smirk, finding delight in riling up the captain in front of her. "You're too late. This is my body now; Subaru is locked up in some distant corner of my mind, begging me to stop."

Shaolin blood froze at that admittance. Not only was Subaru still alive somewhere in her, but she was trying to get this inner Hollow of hers from spilling some kind of secret. "What do you mean by stop? Stop what?"

Hollow Subaru began to open her mouth, before she started laughing maniacally to the captain's chagrin. The creature placed a hand against her side to steady herself and relax her breathing before she spoke up. "Haha, sorry, I'm just able to hear two halves to a very good conversation." She listlessly pointed at Shaolin. "She's on her hands and knees, crying her eyes out, trying to get me to shut my trap because she doesn't want you to know what she's really thought of you. (Snrk) It's like a bad soap opera, but ehh, what do I care?" the creature replied with a shrug, before leveling a cool lifeless stare at Soifon.

"You what to know what she really thinks of you, sister?" she stressed the last word mockingly, as she took a few casual steps to the side, a hand resting on the hilt of her Zanpaktou. "She's secretly hated your guts for a long time."

When the woman say the crushed look on Shaolin's face, her cheek twitched upward for a moment before settling back into a thin smile. "It's true. For a while, she kept thinking about you; about how you're such a screw up or how you selfishly cause other people trouble. She actually believed that if it wasn't for you, she'd be living a nice, long, happy life in peace with her husband in Rukongai somewhere; instead of, being some asshole's slave while her precious 'big sister' was off screwing around and acting like she's the only one with problems."

The hollow placed a hand against her hip and shook her head dismissively. "Speaking of that asshole; I gotta say that it takes a real special person to make Aizen seem acceptable after everything he put us through." She shrugged with a hand raised near her shoulder, a show of her exasperation. "I mean Jesus; for all his flaws and the trouble he caused us, at least we expected it from him, but you…tch, there were days you barely treated us like human beings."

The monster leaned forward, sadistic grin widening by the second. "You probably got off thinking you were so high and mighty, barking orders like we were some kind of lapdog to you, it was really realllly pathetic." H-Kujo taunted lowly "Yet...in spite of all the years of treating us like lackeys, poor stupid Subaru still held unto the belief that you'd come and rescue Shinjiro and her from Aizen because you cared about them…but YOU DIDN'T!"

The half-masked woman burst into a high roaring laugh, her voice grating against the other woman's will. "You left them to die," she said in a low accusingly, "and for what? A chance to go fuck your boyfriend's brains out after trying to kill him; a boyfriend I might add you wouldn't have in the first place without our help? Ahahaha!"

The woman's joyous laughter hitched twice as she reared her head back. Coming down from her high, she was about to continue, when her eyes narrowed, as if surprised. Shaolin watched in silent confusion as the creature brought a hand close as if to claw at her throat, before a familiar voice croaked out. "Tha…not… …"

"Subaru!" the captain yelled out in recognition to the voice of her friend, trying desperately to reach the woman, to get her to fight it; but as quickly as it appeared so too did it go. The Hollow in took some air, before stretching her neck up and shaking her head from side to side, as if batting something in her throat away.

"Whoooops! Got a little carried away there!" the creature replied in an overly cutesy tone, the mask pulsating with the owner's dark joy.

"You, BITCH!" She screamed in frustration, hot tears of anger pooling around her eyes, ready to fall down her cheeks.

"Ahaha! That's a funny one coming from you!" the woman replied with a casual smile that slowly dipped into disappointment at seeing the captain's body shaking with anger. "Now why that look? You are the one who created me?"

Shaolin's breath stopped momentarily when she heard those words fall out of the creature's mouth. Her anger faulting slightly under her confusion. "What the hell do you mean by that!?" she retorted hotly, hoping to keep the conversation going to see if she could get her to reveal something –anything- that could get her friend back.

Subaru saw the brief hoping look in Soifon's eyes and decided to milk it for all it was worth. "Why if it wasn't for you, Subaru never would have been captured." She stated matter-of-factly, enjoying the slow morphing of hope in the captain's heart to purposeless despair. "If she had never been captured, she never would have known about you; if she never knew about you she wouldn't try to save you; if she didn't try to save you she wouldn't be Aizen's slave; if she wasn't Aizen's slave the Hogyoku wouldn't be used on her, and if the Hogyoku wasn't used on her I wouldn't exist." The monster said all too gleefully, pausing just long enough to seem contemplative. "Actually, by that conclusion, I guess that makes you my mother." She bowed mockingly. "Oh well thank-you for giving me the kiss of life mother dearest, ahaha!"

Straightening back up, Subaru pulled out her knife and twirled it between her fingers, a sickeningly smug expression on her face. "Still…I don't like you very much, Shaolin. You remind me of Subaru too much and see the thing is I'm not her anymore. No, I'm me now. So I'll just cut your head off and start my own life, you don't mind do you Shaolin-sama!?"

As the Hollow erupted into another bout of laughter, Shaolin finally snapped as she ran forward with Suzumebachi, her shoes kicking up a storm of dust with each step. With each step forward, the captain's fist clenched tighter and tighter as she approached, as the tear-ridden captain savored the thought of smashing her fists into this goddamn frauds face for desecrating the image and bond between the women.

Despite her battle hardened exterior and the fury in her eyes, in the deepest recesses of her heart, she was hurting. She didn't know whether this inner hollow of hers was speaking the truth or not; she couldn't know if, deep within their heart of hearts, Shinjiro and Subaru had been mad, maybe even disappointed, with her and regretted their meeting.

During the fifty-year absence of Yoruichi, the fledgling captain had changed the group's dynamics. She brought them into the idea of revenge…her petty personal vendetta that squandered their personal opinions and punished them if they objected to it. During the Kurosaki rebellion, where she placed herself in opposition to them, and forced them to walk on eggshells in her presence, lest they incur her anger and be treated as an enemies.

Or, more pointedly, during Aizen's ascent into the sky above Sokyoku hill; where the trio were forced to part after years of inseparability. The fateful place where Shaolin felt like a powerless child watching her elder siblings walk away to the inevitable because she wasn't the one protecting them, she would learn that they were protecting her ignorant self, they were protecting a spoiled brat that seemingly didn't care about their sacrifices…it was always about her and her troubles.

It was only as she was forced to watch the backs of her dearest friends leave her, with only their sorrowful guilt ridden gazes, did purpose become instilled in her. Purpose born from the memories of her earlier callously dismissive action directed at them. Purpose raised from learning how they wanted to protect her and the world she had come to love. Purpose strengthened by all the 'I love yous', 'I'm sorry' and 'I forgive you' that she wanted to tell them, to let them know she understood why they hurt her to protect her.

It was in this moment, in this fight, that her purpose born on Sokyoku hill would be fulfilled. She would have her answers, the truth, and would rescue Subaru and Shinjiro no matter what enemy lay in front of her, even themselves.

Closing in at less than ten feet away, Shaolin watched the smug monster continuing to play with her Zanpaktou tauntingly, uncaring of the fury-instilled woman bearing down on her. As she got closer, time seemed to slow down as warning bell started ringing in her head, hard grey eyes drifting to the handheld balisong knife moving deftly between her enemies fingers, images of battles long past showing Subaru standing her ground beside her friend and captain flared vividly in her mind.

The Hollow creature remained unblinking as the cloud of dust trailing behind the captain blew past her, the only noticeable change was the smile replaced by a thin neutral look and her knife was held in a reverse grip just a few feet away from her chest. The creature let out a disappointed sigh, before dropping her arm back down to her side. Turning around leisurely, she saw the second squad captain, kneeling against the ground, her gauntlet encased arm anchored into the sand to quickly allow herself to turn around and face the Hollow after the flash step jump behind her, while her free hand was pressed against her throat, where she felt the small nick of metal against flesh.

The petite woman panted out heavily, as she quickly tried to catch her breath, before slowly getting back up into her regular combat stance. "That was a dirty trick, but an effective one." She pointed out darkly, taking just a moment to wipe away the tear tracks on her face. "You've been playing me for a fool this whole time you monster. You knew I was chasing after you in the hopes of finding Subaru and you kept running to get me to lower my guard, then you spouted all that garbage to incite me to the point I'd rush in for the kill." The captain's voice dropped lower, venom dripping in her words. "If I didn't remember Norn's abilities at the last second, you would have ripped right through my jugular, wouldn't you?"

A displeased grunt escaped the Hollow's throat as her eyes narrowed on her intended victim. "Hmmmm, guess my acting skills have gotten a little rusty since coming to the desert. (Sigh) I was really looking forward to seeing you choke on you blood while you begged me to let you go." Her smirk returned, "Damn, it would have been funny."

"You're as crafty as you are sadistic." Shaolin muttered hatefully, 'Anyone else would have been killed instantly by that trick; I survived it by the skin of my teeth. I've got to stay calm and keep my distance otherwise…'

The violent images her imagination conjured of her body being viciously dismembered one limb at a time due to her proximity to the time-manipulator left her with little confidence of mercy. A shiver went down her spine at the mere thought of the creature finding joy as her cries of pain echoed from her throat while the blood from her wounds poured onto the sand, her torment only ending when Subaru performed the coup de grace by removing her head from her eviscerated torso.

Another small but powerful shudder, reverberated through the woman's body. 'A painless death would be a blessing.' She concluded grimly, as she layered both hands in front of her, using an Eishōhaki to skip her kido spell. "Hado 40! Kuresento zanshu-ha! (Crescent beheading wave)!"

A condensed body of water manifested itself from the air within the palms of her hands, before shooting directly at the possessed form of Subaru, the spell swirling as it traveled before shooting out in two directions, creating a cutting horizontal line.

Subaru stopped twirling her blade pointlessly as she turned around fully to face the attack. In one swift motion, she cut downward, slashing through the middle of the kido near effortlessly, but to Soifon's trained eye she saw Subaru lock her gaze solely on the water scythe, if only for a moment.

'At least I can take for granted that she still needs to concentrate, just like Subaru.' The captain thought to herself as turn and ran into the nearby sands, her opponent quickly responded by giving chase.

Sprinting as fast as she could, Soifon began muttering another kido, this time with incantation. "Sprinkled on the bones of the beast. Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring." She whispered as a small glowing yellow orb formed, electric sparks crackling around it. "Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle."

The condensed ball of electricity solidified awaiting her command, but she wasn't done just yet. "And now…" she whispered, continuing the next part of her plan.

The Hollowfied ex-third seat watched her fleeing quarry. She had seen the captain's hands move away from her side in front of her and was curious to see what exactly she was planning. The monster knew Anken throwing knives would be worthless against her Hierro reinforced skin and trying any hand to hand would be a one-way ticket to hell for the captain.

"Is that all you're going to do!?" the monster taunted, "Runaway like a little bitch? This isn't flash tag you know." Her smirk grew at the knowledge that Soifon could hear her. "If you don't take this seriously I'm gonna kill you, Shaolin."

With satisfaction, Subaru saw the woman respond to the taunt, when she suddenly skidded to a halt, facing back towards her. The captain's hand extended forward with a glowing yellow ball of energy. "Shakkaho!"

Using her vast knowledge of Subaru's kido training during her school days, the Hollow quickly jumped to the side knowing the attack was a straightforward pillar shot energy type.

However, that was where she was dead wrong.

As her foot touched the ground, no fireball came barreling towards her. Instead, Soifon smirk widened considerably at her choice of action, before re-adjusting her arm towards the still recovering Hollow, the yellow ball of light still primed and ready to fire.

"Raikoho." Soifon corrected her earlier lie.

The electric ball crackled before firing off at high speed, heading straight at the stunned Hollow.

Focusing all her attention forward, the energy bullet slowed down upon entering her Zanpaktou time field. Buckling her knees and bending forward, she released her hold over time, allowing the electric kido to pass overhead.

However, she wouldn't get a chance to recover as immediately after the attack zoomed over her head, a six rod light prison slammed into her from all sides. The Hollow barely had the chance to cough up the blood from her mouth before she felt all the rage behind Soifon's fist slam into her cheek.

Subaru felt the mask covering her jaw rattle with incredible force, as she staggered back half a step before her head was snapped back the other way by Soifon's other hand.

Grabbing unto the Hollowfied spy's shoulder, Shaolin slammed her knee into her gut repeatedly, each colliding strike trying to drive home the point to the Hollow that she wasn't going to stop until she freed Subaru from her control.

As the blood flew out of the Hollow's mouth, Soifon noticed the light of her spell flicker as she upper-cutted the monster in the jaw. 'Damn, she's breaking free.' She cursed to herself, having underestimated the improvements the Hollow power gave her surrogate sister.

Pulling herself back to disengage, Shaolin watched as the six pillars of light engraved in Subaru's body shattered. Eyes widening in fear, she saw the dark smirk of the Hollow return. "My turn." The creature whispered darkly, before a cold biting strike ripped across Soifon's mid-section, her obi fighting against the balisong knife. "The stripe of inverted silver eh?" Subaru noted evilly what was protecting the grimacing captain's innards from spilling out.

"You're still dead." She muttered before speeding herself up and slashing into the neck of the dazed captain, her weapon drawing blood from the oozing jugular. Slipping behind the captain, the Hollow let go of her knife and placed one hand on the right side of her neck, while the other covered her Shaolin's left cheek. With a quick twist, Subaru heard the pleasant sound of bone cracking, which meant the captain was now paralyzed from the neck down, but still alive enough to enjoy her demise.

Pulling out her knife in a vicious showering of blood, the Hollow kicked the woman forward, savoring the dazed uncontrolled stumbling of the captain, before opening her mouth and firing a light green cero that sprayed her brains and blood over the sandy dunes of their battlefield. As the left half exposed corpse of her beloved 'sister' started to fall to the ground, a dark laugh began to rise up from Subaru's lungs, both from the excitement of battle and the crushing of Subaru's hopes.

Now she was free.

"(Pant) (pant)" the light breathing of something echoed in Subaru's ear, forcing her to look to her right hand side.

Turning towards it, she saw Shaolin kneeling down against the sands, one leg stretched out as she clutched her midsection, her slightly tan skin quite pale and eyes widened in terror, as she seemed to be hyperventilating.

Looking back to where her kill was, all the Hollowfied spy saw was a Haori with the squad two symbol, no blood and no body. "A fucking cicada, forgot about that one." She tsked in annoyance, as she turned back to the captain, forcing a smirk back on her face. At least she'd get to enjoy killing her twice. "I hope you understand now, Shaolin. I ain't Subaru, she's dead, and you're going to be joining her soon."

Huffing to herself to catch her breath, Shaolin removed her arm from her stomach to inspect the damage. She closed her eyes in relief to see that the strip of inverted silver still stood, if only half way. 'At least one of us is okay.' She thought to herself as she stood back up, her fingers twitching anxiously from her nerves of having a brush with death. "…There's no way to save her huh?" she repeated just loud enough for the other creature to hear her.

The monster's smirk widened, "Yeah, too bad for you." She said holding her hands up care freely, "But if you want to keep begging go right ahead, keep entertaining me."

Dropping her hands to her side, Shaolin sighed despondently as she bowed her head. 'I guess, I was too late.' She thought to herself grimly 'Shinjiro, Subaru, I'm sorry.'

Looking back up, she raised Suzumebachi up to shoulder height as she slid her leg back, a stance the other woman recognized. "Bankai?" The spirit mocked with a hint of mirth, at the idea of Shaolin trying to shoot her here with that monstrosity. "Ha! We both know that won't work on me in this type of venue!" she then crouched down and started running straight at her, knife ready to carve into the captain's flesh "But if you want to make my job easier go ahead!"

Clenching her fist, the captain raised her spiritual output, "Bankai." She whispered, as a tornado of wind engulfed her body.

Knowing the large spear like weapon would fully engulf the captain's right side, her left, Subaru switched the knife into her other hand as she took a leaping hop to her right, before jumping up over the veiling wind to catch her by surprise.

As the assassin came down to finish off her opponent, she saw a blur of a thin metal coming straight at her through the swirling air pockets. By pure reflex, Subaru moved the knife to intercept, knocking her out of the air, several yards back, with incredible force.

Digging Norn into the sand, to slow her knockback, the Hollow narrowed her eyes to discern how that bitch moved her bulky weapon so quickly. Her answer came when the show of wind, died away revealing two long katars with silver boxes attached to her wrist extending from both of her arms. The one closest to her, Shaolin's left, raised up in show of a once protective guard. 'What the hell? I could have sworn she said 'Bankai', so where's the damn missile?' the monster questioned as she got back to her feet, before shaking her head dismissively.

It didn't matter, even if she increased her spiritual energy by using this so-called Bankai, it was still a close quarter weapon, if anything it was an even worse weapon then what she anticipated, at least that one COULD potentially hit her. "Kurōzudo kyori: Suzumebachi no rekuiemu (Hornet's requiem: Closed distance)." Shaolin whispered softly as she shifted her right arm, palm outstretched towards Subaru.

The sand once again began to swirl around her, as her already impressive spiritual energy began to climb once again. A light green wind, began to travel up around her body, becoming more and more visible as her extended arm began to rattle trying to control the air current.

Slashing the air with her weapon, the energy around Soifon exploded outward, shooting dust in all directions and forcing the hollow's mask to cover all of its hosts face. The wind around the woman destroyed the cloth gloves on her hands, and most of the clothing on her legs, exposing her thighs.

The rattling wind swirled around her form, like a protective barrier, yet anyone could tell it had the cutting power of any sword. "Fūjin, Shunko. (Wind God, Flash cry)." The woman muttered somberly.

"Fūjin?" Subaru asked wide-eyed, she knew through Norn's library that Shaolin never had this power before, her Shunko technique wasn't completed before Aizen began his domination with his army.

A chill ran down her spine at the implication she'd grown much stronger than before…a chill that was vaguely warmed by an odd feeling of relief in her heart.

Suppressing her trepidation, the Hollow sneered at the tranquil captain, "You think a little wind is going to slow me down?"

The captain closed her eyes, "No," she answered softly as she rotated her arm, the wind responded in turn, by violently shooting upwards, creating a surging vortex of air that expanded into the sky, and darkened the artificial sun.

Clouds began to form overhead, as the air current around Soifon disappeared, only to be replaced by small columns of tornados reaching down from the sky above unto the battlefield below. "But I expect you won't want to be surprised again." She finished as she opened her eyes, a sad, but determined look on her face. "Here I come."

The captain blitzed forward in a burst of speed, the sand behind her shot up, and her wind-enhanced katars, cutting through the air. Bottling her fear, Subaru ran forward as well ready to cut her down.

As the two were about to clash, Shaolin disappeared from sight with her enhanced flash step capability, forcing Subaru to grind to a halt to search her out. A small crackling of wind was all she heard, before the air between her legs swirled and launched upward in a violent vortex, engulfing her body and clouding her line of sight.

The momentary window provided by the winds was all the Captain needed, as Subaru felt her body being slammed into by passing blade cuts, shooting to and fro by the swiping captain hidden outside the wall of wind.

Another flash of steel and the back of Subaru's calf gave out, forcing her to one knee as she struggled to breath in the eye of the twister. "No…no! Not like this!" the Hollow screamed as it saw the sand in front of her painted with more of her life carrying fluids.

The surrounding air current died away, giving her full view of the slowly walking Shaolin, staring at her with pity in her eyes. The bone in Subaru's knuckles cracked as she gripped the knife in her hand, infuriated that this bitch thought she was so high and mighty. "FUCK YOU SHAOLIN!" the hollow yelled as she threw herself forward, desperate to slam her weapon into the throat of that arrogant captain.

Thrusting her right arm upward, the limb slid underneath the knife held limb and to Subaru's surprise her limb stopped in mid-air "Hanki (reverse demon)." Shaolin said quietly as her shunko's energy swirled around her surrogate sister's limb, canceling her movement.

Stepping forward, the captain brought her other arm around as she drew back her right, the steel katar pierced through the chest of the ex-spy and out of the back. The mask's eyes widened before lowering down. "ggguh…" a chocked noise echoed out of her throat as a glob of blood shot out of her mouth. "Ah…eughhh…"

Subaru's arm lowered down as the mask on her face slowly began to shatter off her face. Seeing the remorseful expression on her face, Shaolin's lips quivered when tears began to fall from the spy's eyes.

Wrapping her arm behind the spy, Shaolin dropped to her knees to cradle her. "Subaru…is that you?"

"Y…yeah." The woman whispered faintly, her voice returning to normal, as she touched her forehead against the captain's shoulder. "I…sorry…So…"

"It's okay. I know." The heartbroken girl replied as she cancelled out her Bankai and Shunko technique, trying to savor this final moment with her friend.

Closing her eyes to fight through the pain, Subaru raised her right arm up and placed Norn in the front of Shaolin's sash. "It'll keep you safe…safer than me." She muttered, as she leaned forward to embrace the captain, her vision like her consciousness almost completely gone. "Shinjiro…where are you? I'm…scared…"

Feeling the tears fall down her face, Shaolin kissed Subaru on the cheek. "I'm right here. With you." She lied to her friend.

The failed experimental Vizard's mouth twitched upward a bit, at least happy she was with her beloved. "I lo… yo…."

Hanging her head down, she slowly guided herself down, laying Subaru's corpse on the sand, before pulling out her Suzumebachi. The captain stared into the face of her sister and felt the burning hot anger and anguish from earlier course through her veins. Looking down at her sash, she saw the hilt of Norn seemingly welcoming its new master.

Pulling the time manipulating weapon out she looked into the reflective edge, her vision of herself sheened in the light, only to be replaced by the image of Aizen, staring smugly at her. The woman barred her teeth; that man had taken everything from her.

The life she should have had, her teacher Yoruichi, her makeshift family Shinjiro and Subaru.

She would be damned before she lost Ichigo and Senna to that monster too!

"No time for tears." She said to herself as she flipped the knife over, before placing the back of it against Subaru's forehead, in Konso ritual.

Turning away before she could see what happened; Soifon walked over towards the nearby building and entered. "I'm coming for you Aizen." She darkly promised her destination set.

(Ichigo)

Running as fast as he could through the sandy dunes, the orange haired Vizard continued his trek to the centermost building, his eyes occasionally glancing behind him for the signs of approaching enemies and the allies he'd left behind.

He kept moving forward until he saw something in the distance. Skidding to a halt, he brought his hand to Zangetsu and held his position. The person was a distance away, but didn't seem to notice his presence. Their back was turned to him so he couldn't see their face, but the blindingly white clothing he or she wore easily identified them as part of Aizen's army.

"No way to get around them." He concluded to himself, since the Arrancar was in his way and looking towards his destination. Pulling out his sword, he brought it low to his side, gripping it with both hands. "I can't waste any more time either."

Bending his knees, he slowly began to advance forward, being careful to not press any of his weight down with his heels, so as not to alert the Arrancar with the crunching of sand. His breathing had changed, his lungs were full of air as he let out near inaudible breaths before sucking back in, to maintain his lack of presence while advancing.

As he approached closer to Arrancar, he saw that the Hollow was not only just sitting on the ground, but was meditating, their sword at his/her side. Their hair was black short and round, the back of their neck a light tan. The person seemed to be completely unaware of him until the base of their neck twitched and their head began to elevate slightly.

Playing it safe, the man went perfectly still, as he raised his sword up high overhead, prepared to swipe it down to unleash a moon fang if the enemy suddenly turned around, though he wanted that to be a last resort, since a silent kill wouldn't rouse the attention of any Arrancar his eyes didn't see.

When the person placed their hands at their side, one pressing against the sand while the other clasped their sword, Ichigo bared his teeth and held his breath waiting expectantly.

Although what happened next stopped his very blood.

"Hello Ichigo." The familiar voice of his former Sempai rang from before the man, from the person in white.

Getting up from the ground, the person slowly turned around, revealing the solemn face of Shinjiro Taiga gazing back at the man wistfully. Feeling his arms coming back down, Ichigo stared at the samurai, mouth agape, before realizing that the man had spoken.

"Shinjiro." He replied as he took a few steps forward; Zangetsu brought back to his side. "It's good to see you're alright." The man's assured smile brought a wince to the Samurai's eyes. "Shaolin will be relieved to know you're here." The man beckoned him with his hand "Come on, follow me; we can go get Subaru, if she's here too, and meet back up with Shaolin."

"That'd be nice, but…" the young man replied back, a pained frown on his face.

"But…what?" Ichigo asked, eyebrows furrowing in confusion at his friend's strange behavior.

The Vizard watched the tired looking samurai attach his sword's sheath to his hip, before holding out his right arm. Bringing his left hand around he grabbed the white cuff of the shirt and pulled it back, revealing a thin white substance that ran up his arm like a form fitting armor. The man didn't have to say a word for Ichigo to know what that was, he can now feel the twisted spiritual energy radiating from it.

Moving eyes away, the assassin looked back at his counterpart. "What happened?"

"Aizen." He replied as he pulled the sleeve back, allowing his hand to rest against the hilt of his sheathed weapon. "In order to safely implement usage of the Hogyoku on himself, he tested it out on other reapers." The man closed his eyes as the images of horror and pain flittered through his mind. "He used Subaru and myself, as the test subjects to allow his successful implementation into his body."

"That son of a bitch." The man hissed, his spiritual pressure bursting fiercely, as he tried to control his anger. He closed his eyes and shook his head quickly, now wasn't the time to waste concern on him, he needed to concentrate on his friends. "Look, it'll be okay. Kisuke can probably figure this out, we just need to get you to Karakura and-"

"Thanks, but don't bother Ichigo." The samurai declined, resigned to his fate. "I've…we've been like this for well over a week. Subaru is long gone, lost to the madness of this power. Even I'm barely hanging on to my sanity, if not for Masamune's negation and Muramasa wanting to kill me personally, I'd just be another crazed beast roaming the desert." The man let out a tired sigh that sounded more labored now, as if fighting something off like a virus or plague.

It wasn't too far from the truth.

"Shinjiro…"

The man smile serenely, appreciative of his concern. "It's alright. It works to my purpose this way."

Ichigo slowly moved his head to the side, unsure of what he meant by that. "What do you mean exactly? What purpose?"

"To make sure you're ready to fight Aizen."

"I am ready to fight Aizen." Ichigo replied, bringing a hand to his face and creating a Hollow's mask. Seeing the man's eyes widen momentarily from surprise, he dismissed it and continued speaking. "I have control over my powers as a Shinigami and a Hollow. I can win this, Shinjiro!"

Shinjiro's lips curved upwards as he relaxed, feeling the power of the young man's spiritual energy. It was good, but not enough. "No, Ichigo, it is not your power that I speak of." He said as he shook his head. Bringing his hand close, he touched the center of his chest. "I speak of your heart."

The samurai then lowered his hand back down and placed it against the hilt of his sword, slowly pulling the weapon out against the wishes of his fellow comrade and friend. "Don't do this, Shinjiro." He heard the words whispered beneath his breath, which made him smile bitterly as he pointed his blade at him.

"Ichigo, thank-you, but it's too late for me. We both know it." The youthful man replied; his gaze fixated on the sands below them, unable to meet his stare. "With what life I have left, this is all I can do to help you." He glanced back up at Ichigo, a thin neutral look on his face. "Ichigo: If you don't have the heart to kill your friends, the ones you love, how do you expect to kill someone who has nothing to lose and no qualms in exploiting your weaknesses?" he asked him flatly.

"Is there really no other way?" Ichigo asked, as he raised Zangetsu up in front of him, ready to fight, but afraid to go through with it.

Seeing his apprehension, the warped Samurai closed his eyes, thinking to himself about something. When he opened them again, he looked at Ichigo, resolved hardened. "Ichigo. Let me tell you a story. A long time ago, when I was alive, I was a captain for the Hoshigami division, based out of New York City, the New York Combat revue." The man closed his eyes, as the vivid images of friends long past flooded back to the forefront of his mind. "Diana Caprice, Charon Archer, Roseita Aries, Gemini Sunrise, Subaru Kujo, and Ratchet Altair." He rattled off fondly. "These were the soldiers under my command…my friends that I'd fought alongside and helped past their problems and personal demons."

The man tilted his head back and looked up towards the ceiling, where the false sun shined overhead. "One day, a monster attacked our city. It was a powerful demon; practically impervious to all forms of harm we knew of." The man started shaking his head remembering all the failed assault they'd tried. "Sword strikes, blunt-force trauma, bullets from tommy guns, small yield ordinances, kamikaze tactics with cars and trams, mechanoid combat suits. Nothing stopped it. It was a supernatural being that could only be hurt by supernatural means."

"I take it you found a way to stop it." Ichigo presumed, since if they hadn't the city would have fallen.

Shinjiro looked down the bridge of his nose back at his master, before nodding. "Yeah, but…it came at a cost." He said darkly. "While I was recovering from an earlier skirmish in the ER, one of our closest allies informed the ladies of an ability that could be used to contain the demon. It would create a magic circle to seal it away in a vessel. The catch was: that one of us would have to sacrifice our lives to serve as a catalyst to power the spell."

The man shook his head despondently, "Michael J. Sunnyside…he…he went behind my back about it. Telling them while I was still out because he knew that I wouldn't sacrifice any of their lives in stopping the monster; that I'd instead try to find a different way, which in hindsight there wasn't."

The samurai sighed as he remembered how those proceeding had gone, unaware at the time of the details. "Naturally, when their edited version came to me, I was ecstatic. I thought to myself: 'Finally! We could end this nightmare'. But, I started to suspect something was wrong when I was asked to pick my partner for the next battle, preferably my closest ally, the sacrifice. Ratchet, who was busy watching over me, saw what the plan was and told me instantly…I…" the man looked away, ashamed of himself. "I didn't take it well. I nearly broke Sunnyside's jaw in one punch and would have unloaded on him had I not been restrained."

Ichigo tensed a bit, imagining Shinjiro getting so mad he lashed out in anger of his own volition and attacked someone he presumably trusted greatly. Things must have been bad. Steering the conversation away from the sore spot, Ichigo decided to return to the main topic. "So why didn't you sacrifice yourself, Shinjiro-sempai?" He asked pointing out the obvious solution. "The situation needed to be resolved somehow and you weren't going to risk your friends' lives."

"I would have if I could've Ichigo!" The man barked hotly, teeth bared as he recalled the memory, but after realizing just who he was talking to, he tried to calm himself down. "Sorry, I guess I should explain." He said in a quieter voice, concluding he would need to illustrate his hedgehog dilemma. "I would have Ichigo, but the monster was male. It needed a male container and I was the only one strong enough and close enough to be used, every second wasted spent trying to find another would have been more lives lost to the demon."

"Once that was decided it fell to me to decide which of the women under me would be sacrificed. Diana Caprice: A twenty-year-old local nurse, who lost her mother as a child and had been confined to a wheel chair most of her life and only two months earlier gained the ability to walk and see the beauty of this world. Gemini Sunrise: an orphaned seventeen-year-old girl with a split personality, Geminime, her twin sister, whom managed to make amends with both her halves and become one complete person. Charon Archer: a twenty-four-year-old locally born and raised lawyer that was born into poverty, grew up fighting injustice, and protected the downtrodden from the corruption of others. Roseita Aries: a ten-year-old girl, whose father's death while protecting her, traumatizing her until we took her in and became the closest thing to a family she had. And lastly, Subaru Kujo: the woman I loved, who grew to love and cherish her allies after many years of isolating herself, to avoid having to connect with others when she passed on. She changed herself to be a better person for all of us and live a more fulfilled life."

The man closed his eyes tiredly, defeatedly. "What choice was the right choice? Was there a right choice?" the man shook his head "I…I don't know."

"What happened next?" Ichigo asked his friend sadly.

Looking back up, he took in another sharp influx of air, before speaking. "I said I made my choice. But…in actually I hadn't at all. I…just didn't have the heart to sacrifice any of them. I valued their lives more than an entire city of people. Deep in my heart, I knew that I was wrong for doing that, but I didn't care. I was adamant about not using it and promised myself to find some way to end this without having to lose another life. I just…I just wanted the best of both worlds Ichigo. The city and her citizens safe and my friends alive and well."

Shinjiro sighed deeply, "Of course, being a samurai as honest as I am, it didn't take long before the girls figured out I couldn't make a decision, so they took the decision out of my hands. After the monster knocked me down, they surrounded it and activated the spell. The demon surged into my body and I struggled to fight against it, to seal it away."

The man closed his eyes as tears began to form, as he recalled how things went from bad to worse. "The monster writhed within me, struggling to get free, before finally settling down, allowing me free control for a few seconds. I thought it was over…" the tears traveled down his cheek before falling down to the sand below. "…I was wrong. The monster took control of the opening I gave it and forced my body to draw my katana, it attacked one of the girls trying to destroy the seal to free itself again."

"It attacked Subaru, didn't it?" Ichigo finished, having remembered the samurai once mention that he was guilty of Subaru being here. Now he knew why he laid that blame on himself.

"The fucking thing knew it was going to lose!" Shinjiro spat hatefully, his voice wavering, trying to suppress the emotional toll it had on him. "But…but it sought to spite us. I…could only stare into her eyes, pleading her to not die, to hold on, that Diana could save her. I was…just fooling myself." The man chuckled bitterly as he wiped the tears off his face, trying to regain a modicum of composure. "She had been ran through the entire length of the sword; if it was removed in any way, she'd just bleed out and die quicker. Subaru, she just looked at me, touched my cheek and smiled. She said she loved me and that it wasn't my fault."

The man turned his attention to his drawn sword, his grief stricken reflection from back then looking at the monster he'd become now. "I couldn't take it and I could feel the monster preying on my negativity trying to re-gain control. I wouldn't let it cost me another friend."

"You killed yourself."

The man exhaled slowly before nodding mechanically, "I took the blade and slashed open my throat, determined to taking the monster with me to hell." The man closed his eyes, "The demon: Nobunaga Oda, became my secondary Zanpaktou: Muramasa."

"So that's why you're doing this." The orange haired youth concluded, seeing the reason why he had told him the story in the first place.

"Yes, Ichigo, I won't let this happen again." He replied as he clasped his sword with both hands, raising it up in a defensive guard. "I didn't have the guts to do what had to be done and the people I cared about most suffered for it. Right now, the entire world is riding on your shoulders, but you can barely turn your weapon against a dying man, simply because he's your friend."

The man slid his leg back as he raised the sword to shoulder height. Wincing in pain as a white liquid substance rose up his neck and formed a lower jaw similar to a canine. "Ichigo-dekai…you are the light of hope in this hell, but don't think that I won't snuff it out." He bared his teeth prepared to engage him. "Raise your sword and defend yourself, show me that Subaru and my sacrifice weren't in vain!"

"Shinjiro…" Ichigo said defeatedly, knowing that this conversation was over now. Lifting his blade up, he shifted the handle lightly so that Zangetsu's width ran perpendicular to the ground. Shinjiro looked on warily, but perked up when he heard the familiar words of long ago spill out of his mouth.

"To those who came before us," the Shinigami repeated the pair's pre-battle creed, the very ideals that symbolized their reason for fighting back when they had fought side-by-side. "watch us and guide us," Shinjiro voice picked up, speaking in tandem with the creed. "so that we may forever uphold the ideals and beliefs that not only we have lived for, but for what others have died for."

"To those who have come ahead,"

"-know that we hold the fallen within the highest of reverence."

Swiping his weapon down, Ichigo ran forward, a loud battle cry emanating from his lips as he charged forward. "Show him his humanity, Masamune." The unmoved samurai invoked, his blade letting out a small vacuuming sound of moving air, before running at his adversary as well.

"Hhhhhhraaaaahhhh!" they roared at each other, blades at their sides. Just as they were about to run into each other, both swordsmen swung, thin katana meeting hardy zweihandler.

Ichigo grunted a bit, feeling the force behind the samurai's strike. He could feel it was definitely stronger than before, certainly beyond what he was capable of normally. The man frowned as he saw the white masks, pulse as he eyed it.

The source of it all.

Feeling his blade being driven back slightly but surely, Ichigo brought a foot back and dug in, before shoving forward with all his body weight, breaking the stalemate in his favor.

With the sword out the way, Ichigo used his momentum and swung his sword, trying to cut through the man.

Although to his chagrin, Shinjiro samurai skills remained despite his slipping lack of control. Ducking down, he narrowly avoided the bisecting slash and responded in kind by thrusting his weapon forward, slicing into his calve, and causing a knee jerk reaction that destabilized his balance.

Still, while he couldn't stop the fall, he aimed to defend himself, by wildly swing the sword upward as he fell, forcing the monster samurai to jerk backwards quickly, pushing him out of the strike of the cleaver, but forcing him to hit the sands on his back.

Given the momentary respite, Ichigo quickly brought his hand over to his wound and started to concentrate. He only had to wait half a second, before realizing what was wrong and then rolled out of the immediate area to flash step some distance away from him.

'Damn, I forgot that Masamune is out.' He thought to himself, remembering the spiritual negating property of the weapon, while his hand started to release a faint green light, closing the small gash up. Looking back at the samurai that was pushing himself off the ground, Ichigo bit his lips. 'I have to be careful here. Only things that I can do at zero spiritual energy will work around him.'

The image of Shinjiro hanging in the nighttime air of Karakura town, standing just a few feet away from an armless Grimmjow, Masamune drawn and released, surfaced in his mind.

"Damn, I guess it also negates Hollow energy too. That means no mask or ceros." He cursed to himself as he stood up, ready to re-engage, much like his now awaiting opponent. 'But that isn't stopping his mask from empowering him.'

"Is that all you got Kohai? I haven't even gotten started yet." The samurai taunted as his mask pulsated before growing a bit more to cover half his face, sticking outward just a bit to simulate a dog's snout.

"He's getting worse too." He whispered to himself, sighing on the inside. 'I'm sorry it's come to this Shinjiro.'

The samurai was just about at the end of his patience and was going to advance, when he saw the man do something peculiar; the orange haired Vizard, slid his leg back and brought Zangetsu around, blade pointed at him while the white cloth wrapping snaked up his to his shoulder. Ichigo's spiritual energy surged outward and rose high, while the samurai merely narrowed his eyes, blade pointed at his side, but point its curved edge back at him.

"Bankai!" the man yelled as the surge of energy encasing Zangetsu's form shot out heading straight for the unflinching samurai. The initiation attack slammed into the negation field around the ex-third seat, parting around his invisible barrier field and shooting off to the sides, destroying anything caught in its way.

When the light died down, the samurai saw just a few feet outside of his negation zone, was Ichigo, cloaked in a night black gi and ebony sword, his stance mirroring the samurai's own, ready to cut, thrust, and parry at a moment's notice.

Deep down, Taiga thought it a powerful but scary image.

Still not to be outdone, the man let more of his sanity be claimed to the darkness of Hollows, to match him point for point, the mask growing further, covering his mouth entirely replacing it with a snarling dog's jaw with sharp teeth, leaving only the left quarter of his face exposed.

"So…you've gotten serious about killing me now?" he asked rhetorically, his sword arm now shaking with a near uncontrollable bloodlust. "Fine then. Let us see if your strength matches your resolve!"

The man raised his arm back as he stepped forward slashing wildly. The attack slashed through the unmoving swordsmen, until the corrupted samurai saw the image of Ichigo in front of him flicker and fade.

Hearing the crunching of sand behind him, Shinjiro turned around ignoring the afterimage and swiftly heel turned, dragging his sword through the sand at the crouching Ichigo, whose sword was gripped in both hands.

A resonating clang echoed through the air as Onyx blade crashed into grey steel, both men pushing their weapons forward with all their might, the blades hissed as the friction between them increased.

Baring his teeth, Ichigo shuffled his shoulders, trying to use his size advantage against the samurai. He only managed to force the blades about inch closer, before Shinjiro extended one of his legs back to brace and accommodate the shift in weight, preventing him from breaking through.

The pair stood like that for a few seconds, until an idea hit Ichigo. Leaning forward with all his weight, he quickly removed one of his hands of his hilt. "Eat this!" he yelled out as he thrusted his hand forward at the shocked monster.

Not knowing what he was about to do, but certainly not wanting to be hit by it. Shinjiro relented on the pressure and immediately jerked his body to lean heavily to one side, to avoid whatever was going to come from Ichigo hand.

It was a mistake.

With the pressure off, Ichigo quickly swatted away the sword, before bring it back around slashing into the side of the swordsman.

To his annoyance, he saw that despite cutting away skin and splattering blood on the sand, Shinjiro's Hollowfied form was working much as his had. Spreading a white substance over the injury clotting the wounds and allowing him to continue fighting.

The now enraged monster let out a roar as it responded in kind and shot it's fist forward, smashing into the reaper's jaw, catapulting him backwards into the sand several yards, tumbling head over heel.

After the fourth spin, the man slammed his palm into the ground, shooting upward, allowing him to arc down and land on his feet, wrist wiping away the blood from his mouth.

"You're disappointing me Ichigo! Get in it in fucking gear!" Shinjiro's voice roared as he started to run at him, almost feral in his charge.

"Fine then." Ichigo replied as he raised his sword over his head, a black energy swirling around the sword. "Getsugaaaa!" as the monster came closer to him, the man quickly planted the sword into the ground before it could dissipated "Tenshō!"

On command, the moon fang slammed into the sand, shooting up a blinding wall of sand. When the monster slashed his sword, trying to break through, the warped samurai only saw an empty space where Ichigo had been standing at just a moment ago.

He didn't even get a chance to react when from the side, a black blade slashed into the side of his neck, throwing more blood against the sand and forcing the quick regeneration into overtime once again.

The reaper's blade then changed direction and slashed into the right side, closest to the Shinigami, trying to do as much damage as possible. A loud roar of pain escaped the monstrous throat of Shinjiro, but before Ichigo could continue to press his advantage, a large flagellant appendage slammed into his side, crunching some bones as it knocked him forward into the sand.

As he rolled over to stay out of striking distance, the man saw a white swishing tail returning behind the monsters form, as the beast's jaw widened, a powerful red light of a cero forming to nuke the spot he was in.

The high-powered energy beam quickly formed as Ichigo quickly donned his own Hollow mask and thrusted his hand forward, a cero of his own charging up.

The two ball of light shot forward, blasting into each other and blowing back in all direction with incredible force. From his side, Ichigo's ragdolled body flew through the air as he slammed into the dirt some thirty yards away, the upper right side of his gi blown off and singed from the closeness of the attack.

"Egggahh." The pained wince escaped his lips as he cobbled up to his knees, trying to catch his breath, as the smoking cloud in front of him obscured both him and his opponent from each other. Raising his sword arm up, he brought his hand to his right shoulder and began to release some healing kido to fight off the immediate pain.

As the cloud of smoke disappeared, Ichigo saw the body of Shinjiro also kneeling down, using his sword as a crutch to keep him steady. Most of the Hollow parts were shattered off, save for the slivers of white that was slipping around his ear back to his chin. His head was bobbing up and down, also trying to catch his breath, before looking back up at his friend.

Both men's eyes locked on each other for the briefest of seconds, before closing in resignation.

It was time to finish this.

Pushing himself up, Ichigo rotated his shoulder, which let out a low 'cok' as it loosened back up. While this was happening, Shinjiro had pushed himself up to his feet, staggering just a second before stabilizing himself.

The samurai pulled his sheath out from its spot alongside his hip, raising it up and slipping his sword inside of it, holding it horizontally in front of him with both hands, like a makeshift barrier to stop the oncoming assault.

While Shinjiro was preparing himself, the other reaper was widening his stance as he leaned forward feraly. His dark blade held out to his right side, black reiatsu exuding from his form and swirling around him and his blade, the pull of his power inching the standing samurai through the sand into the vortex's maw.

The pair remained unmoving as they stared at each other, their respective attacks prepared to eliminate their opponent once in range, a range that was coming closer and closer. Ichigo clenched left hand was shaking violently with barely restrained fury as he kept up the pull of Shingetsu, while his blade changed from sleek jet-black to a blood hungry red.

As the seconds ticked away, marked only by the sand giving way to the samurai's feet, Kurosaki released the hold of his hand once the samurai was well within his five-second window. As the medium for the dark vortex's pull was released, it shot upward in a black swirling tower of spiritual energy and sand, protecting its master momentarily before the new moon rode across the battlefield.

Grasping the hilt of Tensa Zangetsu with both hands, the man kneeled down, before jumping upward into the air. The tower of black responded at the actions of its master, and surprised the defending samurai, when the black sky touching column suddenly fluxed and narrowed before closing, disappearing like a tornado that had ran out of steam, leaving not a trace of Ichigo anywhere, just dust and wind.

Shinjiro's eyes widened momentarily when he saw the phenomena, but quickly used his samurai instincts to refocus on the fact that he could still feel his spiritual pressure all around him. The man's barely turned his head left and right, taking a quick surveying view to scout where he might be coming from as he waited in the foreboding silence for the attack soon to come.

Hearing a distorting noise that sounded like something being blended at high speeds coming from his right, Shinjiro's eye went to the corner and saw the space in the air warped and burn behind Ichigo, who was roaring a loud battle cry from his throat as Tensa Zangetsu appeared from the distortion at should height.

However, unlike before, the blade had an enormous black and red overshadow just behind it, at least 300 feet long, most likely the concentrated suppression of the tower of reiatsu into a single stroke. 'Still…' Shinjiro thought to himself as he slid his left hand back drawing his sword.

"If you thought a surprise attack would get me, then you lose!" the man yelled as he rotated his wrist quickly spinning the blade into a reversing stance as the entire sword, turned black, filled with malicious reiatsu. "I will kill you! Akumetsu (Purge Evil!)!"

As the lightning fast sword strike streaked forward, time seemed to slow down for Ichigo, thanks in part to knowledge of this technique and his extraordinary speed granted him by Bankai.

Before his eyes, the world around him turned a blinding white, everything san Shinjiro and himself became devoid of color. From the other side of Shinjiro a streak of inky black was coming straight for Ichigo, the near invisible sword strike of Akumetsu.

Putting all his weight to one side, the black clad reaper forced his body into a barrel roll to dodge the high-speed incoming slash. Ichigo didn't get much time to consider his next move as he was forced to plant his hand in the ground and shove himself to his side to avoid a rising black pillar that appeared where he had been suspended a moment ago.

'Four seconds.' Ichigo kept track on his time limit as he dodged another pair of intersecting blade slashes. As he flipped over the X-shaped pair, the man turned his body in mid-air, holding Tensa Zangetsu defensively in front of him, as a streak of black shot in front of him, the cutting edge digging and scraping against his Bankai blade.

Falling backward, Ichigo spotted a hovering black line underneath him. Throwing his weight back to right himself, the man barely allowed his foot to touch the inky black substance, wincing slightly as he felt the pain shooting through the extremity, before jumping off it and over Shinjiro.

Touching down against the blank sand, the swordsman quickly heel turned and ran forward, a hearty cry reverberating from his throat as he raced to the samurai before more blade lines could emerge from the ether or Shingetsu could wear out.

Shinjiro's body turned slightly as he brought his arm back down, flicking away any blood that may have gotten unto it due to the attack. His head tilted back in Ichigo's direction, their eyes locking briefly, a look of resignation on his face as the black sword was inches away from his chest.

The man closed his eyes as he felt the weapon puncture through, knocking him slightly back, restoring color to the world around them, no longer within the grasp of instantaneous death.

Ichigo's teeth clenched tighter and tighter, as he heard his friend taking in shallow breaths to accommodate for the pierced lung he had, trying-fighting to stay alive. His stomach made a nauseating gurgle.

Taiga raised his right arm and gripped the blade of Tensa Zangetsu, keeping pressure on the wound as he allowed his legs to slowly buckle under his weight, lowering himself down to his knees, before unto his back. His master was accommodating his silent request.

On the ground, Shinjiro was look up at his friend, a small smile on his face despite the pain he was in. "I-Ichigo…" the man muttered as he used what little strength he had left to raise his katana up, enough to draw attention to it. "Take Masamune…it'll protect you….from Aizen."

The orange haired man's eyes flitted over to the sword as he kneeled down beside the dying samurai. "Shinjiro…" he started to say, his free hand touching the man's chest reassuringly.

The man only shook his head, still understandingly. "No…I needed to test you….I didn't want you…to suffer…like I did."

Ichigo closed his eyes and exhaled, "Yeah…I know." He then opened them back and grasped the hilt of the sword. "I won't fail you…Shin."

The samurai nodded as he let the back of his head touch against the sand, his eyes looking towards the darkening sky. "Ichigo…"

"Yeah…"

"Heaven or hell…" the man paused as he felt tears began to fall from the corner of his eyes, "…do you think Subaru's waiting for me?"

The strength of Ichigo's grip increased, but still he'd grant him absolution in his final moments. "Yeah…she is." He replied back as the man closed his eyes happily.

"Then…no more…waiting." He said as the strength in his hand faded.

And just like that Shinjiro Taiga was no more.

Unclutching the clothes of the man's chest, Ichigo leaned back slightly, the spiritual negation sword Masamune in hand. Concentrating for a moment, he felt his spiritual pressure aura around his body, uninhibited by the weapon. The man exhaled slowly, his mind wondering if either it was a trick of fate, a sign of Shinjiro presence, the blade accepting him as its new master, or some combination. Still though…it didn't matter, he had to focus up, his mission wasn't over yet.

Removing Shinjiro's sheath from his side, he attached it the right side of his hip using his sash, returning Masamune back into its place, before leaning forward and pulling out Tensa Zangetsu from the chest of the samurai.

The sickening squelch of the sword being pulled out brought a tense frown on his face. Closing his eyes momentarily to bat the bad images away, he looked straight ahead where his destination lay.

In the distance, an entranceway covered with blood loomed. The Shinigami supposed someone had beaten him to the final area. 'Well, at least I can slip in with less resistance.' He thought to himself as he glanced away from the building back to the body of his friend beside, he couldn't leave him like this, but…

Turning his black weapon slightly to stare into the edge, a reflexive light sheened as if responding to the silent man. "Yeah, you're right." He replied back, to his partner, before leaning over and tapping the butt of his weapon against Shinjiro's forehead, a sign of Konso.

Getting up off his knees, Ichigo took off into the direction of his target, not having the courage to stay and find out whether the man would be returned into the cycle of reincarnation or be dragged to hell for the blood on his hands.

(Soifon)

Walking through the dark corridors of the building, the captain found the area surprisingly desolate, while it was worrying at first, since this place was supposed to be heavily guarded; she was also relieved to be given a breather.

But, that breather came at a more mental cost, every time her eyes glanced down at the dagger in her hand. A heavy sigh escaped the battle weary woman's lips, her prior anger and adrenaline wading in the undertone of her thoughts. She knew that she had to stay focused on killing the Primera Espada and Aizen, but being alone with her thoughts, really caused her to wander off further then the dark corridors of this building.

Turning the corner, she spotted the next set of stairs that went up. 'That's the tenth one.' She recounted to herself as she exhaled softly, before glancing back over her shoulder, looking back the way she had come. "Where are you Ichigo…?" she muttered to herself anxiously, as her fingers started fidgeting at her side.

Biting her lip, the woman closed her eyes, contemplating exiting the building and waiting for him outside, before she turned back towards the stairs. "My time would be better spent helping us for the fight ahead, rather than fretting." She said to herself, "I can at least put my Onimitsukido training to use and spy on our enemy."

Returning Suzumebachi back into its tanto form, the captain sheathed her weapon back in its scabbard, before proceeding up the stairs, her reiatsu fully being suppressed by her will. As she walked up the stairs, she only saw blackness with each silent step she took.

When she reached the top of the stairwell, she found herself in a large unlit observatory of some sort. It was really dark and hard to see, but from when she could tell she was near a wall, and there were no other areas that led to another floor. 'Hmm, maybe the entrance is hidden.' She thought to herself as she started build up her spiritual energy. "In which case, I might have to make my own."

Lifting her hand up, a red orb formed before shooting outward and slamming into the far wall away from her. A smirk formed on the captain's face when she saw light pouring through the hole that she made, she was about to take a step closer towards it to inspect, when the chamber she was in shook with a loud hungry roar.

Using the newfound light brightening the area, the woman turned around and found her hand not touching what she first assumed to be a wall, but instead some organic purple substance that was stirring. "Oh shi-"

The word didn't get a chance to spill out of her mouth, before Shaolin was yanked off her feet onto the cold floor below by something pulling at her ankle. Seeing a slithering tentacle wrapping even further up her around her leg, she pulled out her Zanpaktou and tried to swing at it, but her strike was thrown off by another violent pull that lifted her high into the air upside down, her soul cutter wretched from her hands as she went vertical.

As she focused upwards, she grabbed Subaru's Norn from its spot in her obi, as she ignored the pop of her joints in her lower leg. Swinging her arm, she started hacking at the meaty appendage, blueish blood began to seep from it down to the giant mass below.

With another bestial groan, Shaolin closed her eyes, as her body was jerked around through the air, before she was slammed down into the giant writhing mass of the creature below. "Uggghhaahhh…" Shaolin let out a groan as she placed her arm behind her, to push herself up and regain her wits, the tentacle from earlier loosening its grip and slithering out of sight.

Feeling an unusual dampness from this creature's skin, she lifted her hand in front of her face to see it coated in some kind of viscous liquid.

Suddenly more liquid shot at her from all angles around her, covering her body and clothing in the strange substance, while her mind started race as she turned to one side, hoping beyond hope she wouldn't see what she was seeing now.

A large organic wall on both sides of her, studded with rock-like teeth prepared to gore and digest her.

With a loud bone crunching thump, the gaping maw snapped shut, while far above, an observer watched with dull disinterest. "A captain class Shinigami such as yourself will make a fine addition into my being." The robotic voice mono-toned, as its large mass shook from the mandible's doing its work in swallowing its prey for absorption.

The creature closed its eyes, trying to feel for the increase in power it was sure to get, when its concentration was broken by something else.

A sputtering of choked coughs gasping for air.

Looking back up, it saw the woman from earlier, on her hands and knees, cough violently beside her weapon that had fallen earlier.

"(pant) (pant)…Th-thanks Subaru." The woman muttered to herself, as she eyed the tiny knife clenched in her hand, before she moved her hand and picked up Suzumebachi that lay beside her.

Ignoring the slimy gunky saliva coating her body, she staggered back to her feet as she turned around, her eyes locking on the figure in white sitting atop the large monstrous purple mass. "Is this the Primera Espada?" the awestruck woman asked herself quietly, really hoping for back-up if that was the case.

The creature seemed to have heard her words to, and became incensed by it, large tentacles sprouted out from its body and slammed the ground around her in a violent display, forcing her to raise her hand up defensively, around her face.

The white figure moved down a little further against the purple creature to where Shaolin could make out a strange robotic face that was tall and mostly unarmed. "Negative. I am Aaroniero Arruruerie, the ultimate life form, Shinigami."

"Ultimate life form?" Shaolin questioned momentarily before Cirucci's words rang in the back of her mind. Her warning of the 'almost' Espada. 'I guess that explains his reaction to Espada, it's a sore point for him.'

"Yes. I am a being that strives towards perfection." The white monster intoned as it leaned back slightly, "All creatures will become one within me. Yes, even you too."

Taking a weary step back, Shaolin bared her teeth, afraid of what this creature could do if it was allowed to live. Seeing the woman flinch back, Aaroniero outstretched his arms grandly, "Do not be afraid. Your essence will live on inside me. Now die, for a more worthy creature!"

As the large bus-sized tentacles on both sides of her closed in to re-capture her, Shaolin flashed stepped backwards, getting out of it reach as the wall of flesh slammed together.

Seeing his initial attempt fail, the man controlling the creature let out a grunt as more tentacles shot out of the writhing purple mass arcing and dive-bombing towards Soifon.

Diving to the side, she narrowly avoided the overgrown appendages, as she tried to catch her breath, her sore body aching from all the earlier conflicts she had endured. Eyes darting towards the stairs she came up, she turned away when she saw running to it would be more dangerous, and ran back to put as much distance as she could, heading for the opening she created in the wall.

Using the last of her strength, the captain ran with all her might towards it, as the sound of slithering tentacles rappelled through the air, chasing after her.

As she ran into the light, she quickly saw that all that was ahead of her was a huge plummet to the ground below. Unable to stop her traction less shoes, Shaolin slid over the edges opening, but managed to grab the ledge of the wall with her Suzumebachi. "Fuck…that was close." The woman muttered breathlessly, as she glanced down to the battle fueled sands below.

Pulling herself up, she went white in the face when she saw the monster's tentacles surging towards her. Raising her arm up in a feeble defense, she closed her eyes and braced herself for the worse, but instead nothing came.

Only a loud pained roar rang in her ears.

Opening her eyes, she saw the tentacles that had entered the light, writhing in agony, burning up and disintegrating. The woman hung over the edge for a few seconds to catch her breath, before getting back to her feet. 'It…can't enter the light?' She thought to herself wearily, as turned her attention from the regenerating limbs to the lay out of the room; their arena was incredibly large and shrouded in darkness.

Closing her eyes briefly, she felt for her reishi and found herself practically on fumes. She'd have nowhere near enough reiatsu to destroy enough walls to bring this creature into the light and with no allies in sight to run a distraction, escape was also impossible, the situation was grim.

Letting out a sigh, she glanced back over her shoulder, pondering the drop over the edge before steeling herself once again. Taking another breath, she pulled tightly on her damaged obi, to strengthen it, as she mustered all the strength that she could. "Ban…egghhh..." the woman flinched as her muscles tightened in considerable pain. "Kaaai."

Acknowledging its mistress's command, the small gauntlet shined before expanding into a ginormous bi-pedal launching post, the stinger missile on the end, point straight at Aaroniero. "Now…(pant)…Shun…ko." She gritted out as a dying turbulent wind began to encase her missile arm.

"F-fire!" she screamed through the pain wracking her body, as the golden missile buzzed to life and shot forward, penetrating rotation granted to it by Shaolin's wind based Shunko.

The so-called ultimate being looked on in horror as the weapon screeched forward before slamming into its body and burning into a large fiery vortex, incinerating its body. On the far end of the room, Shaolin was crouching down and holding tightly to her massive weapon, praying to god that her anchor held together against the roaring back blast of the wind.

Unsurprisingly, the exhausted woman's weapon broke apart, flinging her over the edge as the large domed building blew up, the roaring flames soaring above her as she feel down below.

'So…this is it?' she thought to herself, as her body lifelessly fell past the many windows of the building she'd just been in. "This is…how I…d-die." She muttered as Suzumebachi reverted back into a jagged, near destroyed, gauntlet form. She felt tired, her eyes were too heavy to keep open, while her mind drifting back through her happier memories.

"Yoruichi…." The face of her instructor smiling at her as she walked the young woman through the motion to become a great Captain one day.

"Subaru…Shinjiro" The vast history between the trio from the fateful chase around Seireitei to worrying about them during dangerous mission to where they parted for her safety played vividly next.

"Senna…" The spunky cheerful face of the younger kurosaki sparked in her mind, her short time spent with her awakening both a sisterhood and another light of hope in her life.

"Ichigo…" the woman muttered the name of the man, who completely and totally flipped her life upside down. The image of his back planted firmly in her mind as he kept watch over her, turning just enough to give her a faint reassuring smile that everything was going to be A-Okay.

The woman's heart skipped a beat as images from the day they first met in her office to the whimsical date night created by their friends, swirled by. From the heartbreak, she felt when she believed him to be a traitor to the sweet surrender she experienced upon giving her body and soul to him with a simple 'I love you.' Her anxiety subsided as the cool wind blew against her skin, a contented smile on her face. She knew she was going to die on impact, but…she was all right with it.

It was for them.

"Thank you. For saving me." She whispered as she fell, a small trail of tears lifting upwards as she continued her descent.

Her body continued to fall until she heard a soft beating of something and a voice. "Te atrape." The voice muttered

Shaolin felt her entire body suddenly jerk downwards, before being pulled back up, her limbs snapping back and left hanging below her body, as a pattering of wind hit her.

Opening her eyes, the Chinese woman found herself staring up at a large feather wing that was attached to a woman she knew quite well. "C-Cirucci?" the tired woman whispered in disbelief, at this more bestial incarnation of the fraccion, her ressurreccion form, no doubt.

The goldrina user tilted her body to one side along with her tail to descend more naturally due to the extra weight she was carrying. "Yeah, it's me." She replied softly, glancing down at the woman under her arm.

"You…saved me." The woman replied dazedly, grateful but unsure what prompted this change in a woman she'd spent at most an hour with. "Why?"

"Because of my Espada: Ichigo." She replied, taking just a moment to look ahead to where she was going, before returning her attention to the battle-worn captain. "And because of you. We of the hollow army fight for peace just as you do; however, our reasons for doing so are different individually. Lady Kurosaki, I believe in your mission, your path to peace." Her eyes drifted down towards the woman's stomach. "That child within you, will bridge the gap between our races, I will not allow any harm to come to either of you."

Shaolin was left speechless at Cirucci's admittance, after being captured and released from her charge as her guide, she returned back to her to preserve the future that she and Ichigo fought for. Moving her eyes over to her shoulder, the Chinese woman saw short blond haired woman, unconscious.

Seeing her eyes dart over, Cirucci explained. "This is Menoly Mallia, one of the people that tied me up earlier when you left. I could not just leave her to die."

"You speak as if there was more than one."

Cirucci nodded, as she touched down on the ground gracefully despite the extra weight. "Si, there was two, but after I released to engage them, I overdid it when I slammed Loly Aivirrne into one of the pillars. She died instantly." She then shook her head as she set both women down. "Pero, funcionó supongo. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to catch you."

Shaolin looked down at the soft sand under her skin, her tired mind running through the possibilities that could have happened, were it not for Ichigo. She closed her eyes and smiled gently, before looking up at the vigilant Cirucci, who was crouching nearby in preparation for any would be attackers.

"Cirucci…" the captain whispered just loud enough for the fraccion to hear. Turning back, the purple haired woman raised an eyebrow indicating she was listening. "Thank you."

The Arrancar didn't get a chance to open her mouth, before the woman's head dropped down against the sand, exhaustion finally overtaking her.

Letting out a sigh, Cirucci nodded her head with a wry smile, before turning back forward to resume her sentry duty.

She would ensure these three survived.

(Ichigo)

Stepping into the building, Ichigo placed his hand against the entranceway and grimaced when he surveyed the area. "What the fuck happened here?" he asked himself as he saw blood spatters on the walls and severed limbs of Hollows laying on the ground, half dissolved. And the smell, Ichigo closed his eyes and shook his head to clear himself of the thoughts.

Walking through the red room, he entered into the corridor across the entranceway, and kept walking till he hit the end, where he saw a set of stairwells going downward. "That's where the tenth Espada is, if I remember correctly." He muttered to himself, which was further evident by the corridor he'd gone down, still painted with blood. 'Must not be this way then.'

Turning back around, he went back into the maze like hallways until he found the upward stairwells and began his long climb up.

His thoughts were focused on the enemy that laid ahead of him and the shrinking window of opportunity still available to him. Glancing down at Masamune attached to his hip, he wondered if this parting gift would help him as much against the Primera Espada as it did Aizen.

…at least that was the theory behind it he supposed.

Coming to what he counted to be the ninth floor, Ichigo noticed that the stairwell didn't go any higher and proceeded through the door beside him, entering him into a long corridor with a room at the end. Walking towards it, he raised his sensory abilities for any spiritual pressures in the nearby area, but couldn't sense anything, save for the very faint pressure diagonally upward.

Reaching the end of the hallway, Ichigo pushed open the door and found himself in a long room with a large oval table in the center with ten chairs lining it and a few monitors showing the lay out of the fortress and large red dots with arrows moving towards Las Noches. "This must be the command center." Ichigo muttered to himself, as he walked over to the table to get a better view of the monitors.

His eyes caught a glimpse of Soifon on the monitor looking back down the dark hallway behind her before she moved on ahead, away from the camera's view. Her appearance was heavily disheveled and parts of her uniform were destroyed, but other than fatigue and a few cuts and bruises, she looked all right. "At least she's safe and on her way." The man said with great relief as he flicked open his communicator to check mission time.

It was over two and a half hour in so far…a worrying sign.

Letting out a sigh, Ichigo looked towards the other side of the room and saw the stairs he had sought behind the head chair of the table, the place where Aizen presumably sat. Letting his eyes drift over the other chairs, he felt a small if noticeable similarity in the way things were set, it reminded him of his own circle of friends. "I'm sorry to do this Aizen…but your way isn't right." He glanced down at Shinjiro's Zanpaktou "Your utopia cost the lives and dreams of others." Turning towards the stairwell, the young man began to walk towards it. "But I'll learn from it and improve it."

In less than a minute, Ichigo reached the large double door that the spiritual pressure he felt from earlier dwelled behind. Pushing it open, he found himself in a large dojo stylized room with a large gate-like construct at the far wall and tatami flooring, just in front of the gate was a figure in white with their back facing Ichigo.

"So you've arrived at last." The person said in a low quiet voice as they slowly turned around, sad blue eyes piercing through the veil of their white burqa.

"So you're the Primera Espada, huh?" Ichigo said with mild trepidation, as he held Tensa Zangetsu in his sword arm. He was kinda hoping for some back up to arrive and was perfectly willing to stall and scope out this individual.

The blue-eyed Espada looked at the sword in the man hand and seemed to ease her posture. "My Ichigo…how you've grown."

The man furrowed his brow at her tone; it seemed familiar but more importantly pleased to be here with him. "You know me…?"

The Espada nodded her head as she raised her hand up from her side. "I am the Primera Espada." She said softly as she lifted the top part of her mask off, revealing long orange hair, "But I am also…" then the lower part was pulled down revealing her face and Ichigo's sword nearly dropped out of his hand.

"…no way…" Ichigo breathed out

"Your mother: Masaki Kurosaki." The now revealed Masaki said solemnly.

---

End Fic banter:

Masaki: Yay, I'm not dead.

Isshin (waterfall of tears): aaaaahhh! Maaaaasssaaakkkkiiiii!

Soifon (sweat drop): That's not going to be us and Senna in twenty years Fic time-wise right?

Ichigo (shakes head): No comment.

Senna: Well, I don't blame him for feeling like that. Although her name not being in the characters killed list was a dead giveaway.

Blackout2010: I guess it falls to me to wrap this up then.

Blackout2010: I hope you all enjoyed the work. I apologize for the update speed, again lots going on and these last few chapter have been nightmares to write. Please leave any comments or reviews in the bottom and messages in the PM. Also you don't have to worry, I will never ever abandon this Fic. I will finish it…eventually. So till next time later

Everyone: See ya next chapter and Merry Christmas and happy New Year!