And we're back back back again.

I'll admit that this chapter is where I start playing around with some new ideas regarding how certain powers and stipulations for certain beings work. Some of these will take inspiration from bits and pieces of other parts of the series, some will be logic pieced together for the sake of this arc based on evidence given in the series and what "could" be logical judgements. I suppose it's up to you guys, the readers, to decide. This one is only but a taste of that, but I figured I'd give you fair warning. It's all for the sake of making this arc interesting and above all NEW in comparison to the material I'm drawing this from.

In any event, enjoy this latest installment (I hope).

Note: Tite Kubo owns the source material.

Chapter 42: Nightmare

Can't wake up in sweat

'Cause it ain't over yet

Still dancing with your demons

Victim of your own creation

Beyond the will to fight

Where all that's wrong is right

Where hate don't need a reason

Loathing self-assassination

You've been lied to just to rape you of your sight

And now they have the nerve to tell you how to feel

So sedated as they medicate your brain

And while you slowly go insane they tell ya

"Given with the best intentions help you with your complications"

You should have known

The price of evil

And it hurts to know that you belong here, yeah

No one to call

Everybody to fear

Your tragic fate is looking so clear, yeah

Ooh, it's your fuckin' nightmare

...

Nightmare - Avenged Sevenfold

You can feel it, too, can't you?

Feel what?

It's calling out to us…Wants us to break loose…

I don't…understand…

Blood…It wants us to spill…blood…

Blood?

It's in our nature, King…to maim…to destroy…

I…I-I don't…

Our instincts…craving…I'm so hungry…

What…What is this?

Golden irises spark open brightly in the dark. "You can't keep me down forever, King! It's coming! HELL IS COMING!"

With a strangled cry catching in his throat, Ichigo bolted awake, nearly throwing Rukia off of him in the process.

"Wha…What's wrong, Ichigo?" the ravenette mumbled sleepily, rubbing at her eyes as she slowly drew herself up, clutching the sheets to her bare chest. It took a moment for her vision to clear, to take in his state in the dark of their room, muscles tensed, breathing ragged. "Ichigo, are you alright?"

He almost flinched away as she gently laid her hand on his shoulder. He was absolutely drenched in a cold sweat, the covers suffering the same fate as a result. The teen's hair was plastered to his head, his bangs hanging down before his eyes, not that he seemed to notice. His gaze was glued to the space in front of him, fixated on the opposite wall and yet not seeing it. His…golden…eyes…

"Ichigo" she called with slightly more alarm, shaking him gently. With a blink, the Substitute snapped out of his daze to look at her, the glowing gold in his orbs fading to blue-tinted brown in the dark, almost black.

"Rukia…I…I'm sorry I woke you…" he finally responded, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Are you alright?" she asked, reaching up to gently stroke his cheek.

He could see the clear worry in her expression, her violet eyes searching him intently. Had he said something in his sleep? He couldn't recall, nor could he have known what she had seen. "Yeah…Just…Just a nightmare…"

"It was…him again, wasn't it?" she asked, drawing his arm around her to hug herself to his side and rest her head in the crook of his neck.

"Y-Yeah…" After everything, he knew better than to lie to her. His first instinct to shield her still won out, though, preventing him from saying more. Only the tightening of his hold on her gave away just how much the dream scared him, the memories of it so clear.

Rukia bit her bottom lip, unable to get the image of his eyes out of her mind. They were the eyes of a predator, midnight eyes shining brightly in the pale moonlight. The same eyes he'd had when his hollow took over both times she had seen it take over. This wasn't like before. There was no outside threat to herself or to him that could be detected. This…thing just crawled its way to the surface of its own accord. Was Hirako right? Was something making it more active than before? Or…was this just…natural progression?

She shuddered to herself, forcing the thought away. "Come on…" Rukia extricated herself from him and stood up, grabbing his uniform shirt from the floor and throwing it on to cover the essentials. With that, she took his hand and gently pulled. "A hot shower will do you good."

"At this hour?" he asked, managing just a little humor in his small smirk, although it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"You're covered in sweat" she gibed with a playful smirk of her own, glad to see she was getting him out of his funk even just a little. "Forgive me if I'd rather not snuggle while you're drenched like this."

He sighed and shook his head as he allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. "You never seemed to mind before" he taunted back, resulting in his pajama bottoms being thrown into his face.

"Oh, shut up, Strawberry, you know what I mean" she replied unabashedly, no real irritation coming through around her smile. "Besides, it'll help you relax so you can get back to sleep. Now put those on. Can't have you scarring the girls for life."

"More than we already have?" he teased as he put them on.

She lightly punched his shoulder with a laugh through her nose before leading him out into the hall, heading for the bathroom a few doors down. As she locked the door behind them, she had to admit that she was glad, even now, that she could draw out his normal cattiness. Nor did it go unnoticed that his eyes were still roaming her body a bit as she dropped his shirt to the ground.

'Might as well make it a little show' she thought as she bent over to start the water, letting it heat up. Anything to distract him right now. It didn't hurt that a little feminine pride swelled within her every time her man ogled her like she was the most beautiful specimen on the planet. She'd never been a vain person in the slightest, never seeing herself as anything special beauty-standard wise. Still, feeling appreciated by her lover was something she could learn to get used to.

"Tease" he murmured as he eyed the view of her toned thighs up to her plump round buttocks, making her laugh softly while she started the shower head.

"C'mon, Berry" she said with a hint of a warble of laughter still in her voice. She retook his hand and led him into the shower, pulling the curtain behind them both.

With that, she wrapped her arms around his middle, a sigh of contentment escaping as she nuzzled into his chest and let the warm spray wash over them both. She bit her lip ever so slightly at the feel of his arms surrounding her, enjoying the feeling of safety and love his hold always brought her. Not to mention the slight swell of his manhood against her belly at her proximity to him, causing that small swell of pride to grow infinitesimally larger. She couldn't help giggling just a little to herself.

"Hey, you…"

"Hmm?" was his quiet acknowledgement as he kissed the top of her head.

She raised her head up to stare into his eyes, memorizing the sight of his warm chocolate irises to help blanket the thought of his hollowfied gaze. "You know I love you, right?" she said soft as velvet before ever so gently kissing his lips.

Ichigo chuckled lightly, returning the kiss. "I love you, too…"

Rukia settled her forehead back against the chiseled form of his chest as his chin did the same atop her crown, the both of them letting the shower's heat envelop them as the steam began to rise and surround their bodies. All the while, her smile dropped slightly as her thoughts unwilling circled back to the sight of him in their bed. The Kuchiki heiress knew he was worried enough as it was. Had he known his eyes were that of his hollow's just now, the fear already heavy on his head would be that much worse. 'Best that he not know, for now…We'll figure this out, same as always…'

Little did she know, his worries were only growing as he remembered the words of his inner maniac. Something was definitely going on somewhere out there. His hollow could sense it, and whatever it was, it was pushing the beast to the surface.

'That bastard Shinji is right…' As much as he hated to admit it, Ichigo knew that the "Visoreds," or whatever the hell they called themselves, knew what they were talking about. If he didn't have control of his hollow, like they did, then who knew when his hollow would slip whatever weak leash he had on it and do God knows what.

'I don't know if I can trust him…any of them…but I have to do something soon…'

"Two days…Can't even go two days into class without them pulling this shit…"

Right as Ichigo and Rukia were leaving the house for school, both of their devices began screaming. It was almost a pure stroke of luck that this left them with Kon and Chappy right at hand to swap out with and send off in their place for now. Absences were not a question, thankfully. Although…

"Those two better behave themselves…" Ichigo grumbled to himself. Granted, Kon seemed to be much better since his first little episode, be it gratitude over keeping him around or under penalty of Yuzu having her way with him again. This left Rukia's, which seemed to be a tad better at following directions, not to mention keeping Kon in line. That mod soul was much more chipper and emotionally expressive than Rukia, though, meaning the risk was still there if they opted to open their mouths around anyone but Orihime, Chad, and Uryu.

"Perks of an undercover lifestyle" Rukia brushed off simply as they leapt from building to building in quick succession. "Regardless, I'm not sure what to make of this signal."

While the Substitute Shinigami's badge provided a simple alert like any other, the soul pager was a bit more descript, and the signal it was reading was…odd. The detection was for foreign spiritual pressure, like usual, but the alarm was on and off, as if subdued. It was almost like the device couldn't make heads or tails of what it was detecting. That wasn't even counting the actual FEEL of the spirit energy, either.

"I think I can sense a hollow's presence up ahead, but there's something else…on top of it. I can't tell if it's the same thing or two separate beings we're looking for."

She squinted her eyes, trying to concentrate on the feeling as they closed in. "It feels…dark like a hollow, but…strange. Old…compressed…almost human, but much denser than a normal one…"

"Whatever it is, let's just take care of it and move on. I don't want to leave our mod souls alone longer than we have to" he said dismissively, causing her to scoff at his impatient disregard.

"You need to take this more seriously-" she exclaimed as they landed on a lower building below the signal source, both squaring up and leaping high to reach their target. What they saw both made them falter midair. "What the…"

"The hell is that?!"

There were indeed two figures. One was a hollow after all, a run of the mill quadruped with what appeared to be green scales for a carapace and a snake-like mask. No further detail was visible before it tried to snap at its target only for its head to be cleaved in two by a large black blade of some kind. In that instant, as it began to crumble into reishi dust, the opponent inhaled deeply, the remains being devoured through the assailant's mask. This one wasn't a hollow's visage, however, or at least it didn't look like one. Instead of the predominant white with wide open dark eye holes, this mask was patterned much the same as a yin-yang symbol in black and white, the eyes of the mask in reddish pink. Furthermore, the body was covered in an off-black cloak, only revealing a very human physique.

"Aaahhh!" the figure exhaled in a male voice, laughing in exhilaration. "That hit the spot!"

"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo called out as they both touched down on the other side of the roof, facing the mystery man.

"What's this? I have visitors, huh?" The figure hefted up his massive blade, a cross between a great sword and a halberd in appearance. "And look who it is…"

"Answer the question" Rukia said, all business as she drew her Zanpakutō, Ichigo doing the same. "Who are you? And what did you just do with that hollow?"

"Why so aggressive?" the figure asked, humor in his tone. "I figured you Soul Reapers wouldn't mind one less hollow roaming around. Besides, I needed the reishi to keep my strength up out here. Hard to stay in the world of the living for too long without it."

'One question down. Not a "normal" human' Rukia checked off mentally, her face giving away nothing.

"Last time I'm gonna ask. Who are you? And what the hell are you doing here?" Ichigo ground out with an edge to his voice, getting fed up with the guy's evasiveness.

"Fine, Ichigo Kurosaki…" he said, making both his opponents flinch. "I am Murakumo, a Togabito…"

Before either of them had time to process, he shot forward, both hands on the pseudo polearm/handle of his weapon and thrusting it forward like a spear against Zangetsu, Ichigo's grip instantly beginning to falter. "And we are here for you…"

Before the strawberry blonde could even react, an extra push sent him sailing through the air backwards, ricocheting hard off a nearby water tower. A massive dent was left behind, water pouring out in a rush from the rupture while he continued to fly as if nothing had been in his way at all.

"Ichigo!" Rukia didn't even have a moment to square up as the Togabito disappeared after him in something resembling flash step. "Dammit! Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"

The boy in question ground his teeth and forced his feet level, grinding to a stop on the reishi of the air. Finally, he let loose a pained groan of a breath, his left arm hanging limply out of socket from the impact. "Fucking hell…the hell was that?"

"Don't tell me that was all you had…" Ichigo barely jumped back in time to miss a swipe of the monstrous sword at his legs, skidding back even further as the enemy stood before him, bravado written all over his stance. "I heard you would be more of a challenge."

"You want…a challenge, huh?" Based on the force the guy just showed off, he knew this was no time to hold back. Gritting his teeth, he smashed the butt of Zangetsu into his shoulder, a sickening pop and a pained sound in the back of his throat heard loud and clear as he relocated his shoulder. "I'll give you one…"

Rukia was flashing as fast as she could to reach the new battleground, catching sight of the faceoff just in time to see her lover point his weapon at the so-called Togabito and brace his forearm with his free hand. "BANKAI!"

She was forcefully skewed to a halt by the explosion of spiritual pressure before her, the enemy even having to shield himself with his weapon against the force. A burst of bright white-blue and a cloud of steam enveloped the teen before another small burst of his spirit energy revealed his smaller black katana and slim fitting cloak. "Tensa Zangetsu…"

"So this is your power…" Murakumo's eyes widened behind his mask. It was like the difference between night and day. The boy's face showed nothing but calm and fierce determination, his stance showing no openings to be taken advantage of. "I'm inclined to be impressed…"

'I have half an hour at most' Ichigo thought to himself. 'Training with Kisuke and Rukia the past couple weeks has made this a hell of a lot easier than before, but still…I can't hold this for too long…'

Not wasting a moment, he shot forward, Zanpakutō raised high to slash down at his target. A surprised yelp came from his enemy, back foot faltering in the haste to raise his own sword to defend himself as the attack slammed into him and rocketed him towards the ground. Still, he managed to right himself and bring his descent to a stop before impacting the concrete below. 'He's faster now…a lot faster…but still not enough.'

His shock worn off, the Togabito flashed forward again, slashing just as quickly at Ichigo only to catch his blade in a parry that resulted in a brilliant fireworks display of sparks.

"So you were holding back before…" Ichigo noticed aloud, gritting his teeth as he glanced one strike after another away from himself, lighting up the day even brighter time and time again from the friction of metal on metal. 'He was fast before, but now that I'm matching him, I can see how fast he really is with that thing…How strong is he to heave that sword around so quick?'

With a growl of effort, the Substitute pumped spiritual pressure into his sword, the blade set aflame in black and red as he trapped a Getsuga within. Catching the offending weapon on his edge, he spun it away from himself in a circle before lunging in with his own strike. Careful use of the long hilt defended against the potentially lethal stroke before the width of the blade was brought down to fend of the successive strikes of Tensa Zangetsu. The heat from the Getsuga was beginning to spread through the weapon, Murakumo's arms beginning to tingle from the impacts. 'Whatever he's doing is making his strikes more powerful without hindering speed…The boss was right, this kid is good…'

"Rrrrgh…Getsuga…" Ichigo reared back one last time, the black flames of his sword burning wider and with more ferocity. "Tenshō!" Slashing down, the wave of spirit energy blasted outward against the opposing sword.

"THE FUCK!" The Togabito could barely keep his weapon within his grasp as he braced against the attack trying to wash over him. "I…DON'T…THINK SO!"

With a massive effort, the man swung and detonated the explosion of power back at its sender. Thankfully, Ichigo leapt back just in the nick of time, only getting a few singes to his cloak for the trouble.

"Hakuren!"

"What?!" Murakumo whipped his head around just in time to see the torrential avalanche of ice and snow heading right for him. Flashing upward, he just barely avoided being encased within a glacier. "The hell is that?"

His eyes caught on the form of Rukia from the opposite side of Ichigo, Sode no Shirayuki still thrust forward from her attack. She had been biding her time, waiting for an opening between the battlers for her moment to strike.

"Why you…" The man suddenly appeared in Rukia's face, causing a gasp of shock from her lips as he gripped his sword in a batter's stance. "Butt out! This doesn't concern you!"

The oxygen was suddenly stolen from her lungs as the flat of the great blade was rammed against her side, the rending snaps of her ribs cracking the only thing she could hear other than the wind whipping past her as she careened into the window of an office building, her strangled cry echoing through the air.

"NO, RUKIA!"

All Ichigo could see was red. He didn't even register when or how he was on his enemy, nor when his arm started hailing an assault on the unprepared victim. His first strike slashed across the man's back, the next sending him sailing, but his body wouldn't let up. The next thing he knew, he was back in the opponent's face, swinging wildly again and again. I didn't matter what he was hitting. Some slashes hit flesh, others the alloy of an offending blade. It needed to go. Another strike batted it out of his way to land a deep stab into the man's chest before kicking him hard in the diaphragm and resulting in another chase.

"WHAT…IS…HE?" The Togabito struggled to keep up as the kid kept up the assault. He hadn't felt this kind of fear since the first time witnessing a Kushanāda hunting him down. Only…this was far worse.

The kid had turned into some kind of beast. White viscous liquid was pouring out of his mouth, but it never fell far, seeming to turn back of its own accord and meld onto his face bit by bit to form part of a mask over his left eye, blood red stripes taking form in the effigy of a tiger. His power seemed to be skyrocketing, his speed and strength beginning to exceed the Togabito's own. If that were not enough, his ferocity left no room to breathe, let alone put up a solid defense. He was even screeching like a madman with every blow he threw with reckless abandon.

'This is it…This is the power we need…'

In spite of his situation, Murakumo began laughing with an ecstatic madness of his own. "YES! THIS IS THE POWER! SHOW ME YOUR POWER, ICHIGO KUROSAKI!"

As the hollowfied teenager swung again, his opponent seemed to do the unthinkable, bringing his arm up bare to block, or so it seemed. When the blade impacted, a metallic clang was heard, but the man's flesh remained intact. For a moment, chains wrapped around his fist and forearm phased into existence before fading from view yet again.

"No…It's not enough…NOT ENOUGH!" Murakumo swung back, force fueled by rage. The attack managed to land and send the monster before him sliding backward. "Need more…"

For a moment, Ichigo stood still, panting like a rabid dog. His head raised, predatory golden eyes scanning the offender in front of him. This man needed to die. His blood needed to spill. So hungry for his blood. So hungry for him to die begging at his feet. How dare he touch his Rukia? How dare-

"No…"

His free hand struggled to raise itself, joints popping from the strain to force it up. "No…I-I won't…" His voice came out in a distorted grunt, teeth gnashing against the mess of the malformed mask over his mouth. "I…I c-can't…l-let you…"

A new scream, one born of extreme agony and effort, erupted from him as he forced his hand to grip his mask, trying desperately to tear it away.

"No…No, you can't….I need your power…More power…" Murakumo seemed to plead, gripping his sword tightly once more. "A push, that's it…He said I need to push you, then you get stronger, then you free us from the chains" he muttered quicker and quicker, sounding more and more like a rambling psychopath.

Just as Ichigo managed to rid himself of the white plaster across his face, panting from the exertion and energy drain, the Togabito charged forward, set to spear him on the tip of his blade. "I'M GONNA PUSH YOU UNTIL YOU SHOW ME YOUR TRUE POWER, ICHIGO KURO-"

"San no Mai Shirafune!" a familiar feminine voice shouted in a rush.

A pale teal-white sword seemed to stretch into his field of view right as it impacted with his face, his mask shattering as his head was clotheslined backward, painfully halting his forward momentum with whiplash to boot.

The extension of ice on the end of Rukia's sword crumbled away as she stood panting on the rooftop a few meters away, her stance wide to keep herself from falling over as she clutched her battered ribcage with her free hand. She had to fight for every breath, the pain against her lungs almost unbearable. Still, none of that mattered. She had to protect Ichigo.

"Wha…What happened?" The man righted himself in a daze, looking to his left, then right, noticing that the sky and sunlight were suddenly unobstructed from his view. Mask now destroyed, his face was revealed to be very much human, an older man with plenty of age-worn wrinkles decorating his features. The only thing standing out was the strip of purple eye makeup spreading from one temple to the other. "No…What have you done?!"

He suddenly went into a panic, dropping his massive ebony sword and reaching up to his hood, fighting desperately to pull it down. "NO NO NO, THEY'LL SEE! THEY'LL SEE!"

"I-Ichigo, are you alright?" Rukia called out, her voice strained as she jumped over to his side, kneeling beside him and resting her hand on his shoulder as her sword arm tucked into herself to support her middle. He looked just as haggard as the night before, the blackened sclera of his eyes slowly retreating back to white as the gold dimmed bit by bit back to brown.

"I-I think so…but…"

"NO!"

They both turned to see the Togabito struggling against something all over his body, screaming in horror. As if a veil was slowly being lifted, ashen chains began to phase into view, coiled all across his frame and pulling tighter and tighter, restraining his movement.

To their surprise, the sky began to shift to a deep red in color, redder than even the latest sunset as the wind began to pick up. The source seemed to be a light within the forests on the outskirts of Karakura. A monstrous grey hand began to rise into view above the trees. Within its grasp was what amounted to a dagger for something of its size, while in reality, it had to be at least as big as a small skyscraper.

"NO, PLEASE, NO, I DON'T WANNA GO BACK! NO!" Even as he screamed for all he was worth, his voice cracking and going hoarse from his shear abject terror, the chains suddenly yanked him backwards towards the source of the light.

"I DON'T WANNA DIE AGAIN! DON'T KILL ME, PLEASE! NOT AGAI-"

His body impacted the dagger's edge off in the distance, disintegrating into nothing. Then, just as it was called forth, the gigantic fist retracted back into the crimson light from whence it came. Before long, all seemed to fall back to normal, the morning skies fading into to their normal pale blue.

"What…What the hell was that guy?" Ichigo managed to ask as he tried to stand, his legs still weak even as he let his Bankai fade out of existence.

"I don't know how it's…possible…" Rukia managed to spit out between clenched teeth, her hand clinging to Ichigo's Shihakusho to stay steady. "But if he was telling the truth…and after that, I'd say he was…" She swallowed hard. "A Togabito…literally an Offender or Sinner…He was a soul from Hell…"

"What?" He looked down at her, shock and confusion clear as day on his scowling face, even as he took in how seriously injured she was. "Just what the fuck is going on here?"

As they spoke, they were unaware of the audience their skirmish had had all along.

"I'll say this much, his hollow seems to have a one-track mind…" Shinji said with a grin as he stood inverted on the air far above them. Casually, he took a sip from his water bottle and sat it on the empty space beside him, completely ignoring the laws of gravity.

"Do you have to be so damn complicated, Shinji?" Hiyori cut in, her scowl etched so harshly that the lines of her mouth looked to literally pull down further than her jawline. "You creepy asshole, hanging upside down like that." To make the oddity of Hirako seem that much weirder, she herself was sat next to him right-side up in the lotus position, her cheek resting on her fist.

"What? This way, I don't have to turn much to keep watching. I get a good three-sixty of what's going on down below."

"Yeah, whatever…" she said, blowing a very unladylike raspberry in exasperation. "This kid is gonna get somebody killed one of these days. He has no fucking control whatsoever."

"True…" Shinji said with a nod. "Ish. He did lose it much faster than what I've heard he has before, which considering all that's happening right now, it makes sense. Still, he pushed it back down pretty quickly. And it looked like his hollow pretty much followed his target of aggression, like they were almost of one mind. If it would have really run wild, we would be in deep shit, especially with that power output. Makes me wonder…"

"Oh, come off it" she said as she stood up, stretching her arms above her head. "I think you're giving him too much credit. You're just trying to polish off a turd so we like him more as a prospect."

"Jeez, the mouth on you, sometimes…" he said, making a face of disapproval

"Shut the hell up, Shinji!" she exclaimed, punctuating by giving him a good sock in the teeth, made all the more comical by his hunching into a ball upside down as he clutched his face. "Point is, he's a fucking Visored, enough said. The Sereitei is gonna wipe him from existence the first chance they get, just like us. If he manages to get control and not keel over in the process, then kudos to us. We'll have a powerhouse on our side when they come knocking."

Even around his split lip, Hirako managed his usual smile as he looked up, well, er down to watch as Ichigo scooped Rukia into his arms and flashed away with her. 'I get the feeling you're gonna be something else, Ichigo Kurosaki. Something about your hollow is…different…'

And that's all for now. Reviews are welcome feedback.

For any who haven't guessed by now, you probably know after this chapter who the antagonists are, where they're from, and who's leading their little incursion, albeit more directly this time around. I do promise that things will play out differently than the source material, not to mention the fact that the Visoreds are coming into play now instead of when the Arrancars are making their first appearance. The reasons for that will be made clear before long. Notice how I'm trying to stay vague for those who haven't figured out where I'm pulling the characters for this arc from. lol

I'll be honest and say that I had a little trouble fitting in how the Togabito a.k.a. the Sinners would first make their appearance. I didn't plan on having a whole "tie-in" like they did in the anime to have the Sereitei already aware and on the lookout for their main attack, or so they played it off as in the source material, anyway. That's when the whole devouring of souls or, more specifically, reishi from hollows came to mind. They didn't seem to stick around for long in the world of the living in their first appearance, which while possibly explicable considering how their plans played out, could've meant that their unnatural presence couldn't be sustained for long. That got me thinking of Muramasa from the filler. I know, ew, filler arcs, but I thought that if a Zanpakutō maintaining its manifestation via devouring hollows was possible, why not for these guys as well? That way, the whole setup and follow through of my plans for this arc work out.

Anywho, that's all I have for this go round.

Next time: The choice.