Hello everyone, it is finally here, this Chapter.

I have to admit this chapter gave me some trouble, getting one major segment of it done was not easy and I had to go through several rewrites. But this had come out alright in my opinions.

And yes, the Queen of Hell is 'Sylvie Laufeydottir' herself from the Loki series. The only difference is her age and powers. Don't ask me why, I just thought it would be great to portray Sylvie as the Queen.

Anyway without further ado, here is the Chapter!

Disclaimer – I do not own Bleach or any of its character.

On Previous Chapter:

Ichigo was honestly startled by the ground-shattering landing, but more importantly amazed at the appearance of the person.

She wore a crown with a long golden horns coming from her mostly covered forehead. She has a blond hair that ends a little above her shoulder and light blue captivating eyes. She also has a very defining cheekbone that can be seen from miles away. 5'2 tall, slender, thin but still muscular and had a very lithe a curvaceous form. She wore a fullest set of green and black battle worn armor only revealing her slender belly. Last of all, she was holding a golden trident almost at her shoulder length.

She eyeballed all the new comers with an interest in her eyes, than conclusively her gaze landed on Ichigo. She scrutinised him fully with her narrowed eyes, and questioned. "Are you Ichigo Kurosaki?"

"Who's asking?" Ichigo inquired, staring back at her at full intensity.

She smiled smugly at his returning question and stomped her trident on the ground, before declaring. "My Name is Sylvie Laufeydottir, and I am the ruler of the Underworld."

Chapter 13

- Kurosaki Household –

It was a pleasant dinner time at the Kurosaki household without the patriarch of the family, Isshin. What's more, Ichigo's absence for dinner hardly worried the Kurosaki twins and it was all in the light of Orihime's presence. Currently they were all seated on the dining table having girl talk they all shared once a week.

Orihime was glad she had been able to become such good friends with both the Kurosaki girls.

Yuzu was the sweet soul of the Kurosaki family. She reminded her a lot of herself actually. She enjoyed cooking, even though she didn't share Orihime's tastes but no one did really, and she was by nature a very sweet person.

Karin put up a very tough exterior but inside Orihime had known there was a lonely little girl. The death of Kurosaki Masaki dealt a very heavy blow to the entire family. All of them dealt with their grief in their own way, and Karin put up walls around herself so as not to worry anyone.

Karin pushed the hair out of her face as she laughed at Orihime's joke. The older woman was very important to Karin now. She learned that even though she acted ditsy, she was actually very smart. She was the third in the school in grades. So when Karin began having problems with maths and her English class she asked Orihime if she could help her and she happily agreed.

Orihime taught her about being a woman as well. Yuzu had begun coming along when she noticed the changes in her sister. She was wearing skirts more often. She was letting her hair grow out and she wasn't throwing punches every time someone upset her.

The girls had lost their mother when they were very young and they had not had a woman to look to or to ask questions to about their maturing bodies. That's where Orihime stepped in.

"Alright, it's movie time!" Yuzu chirped enthusiastically which made Orihime to giggle and Karin to frown at her sister's behaviour.

"Yes, I'll take care of the dishes. Why don't you and Karin select a movie to watch and prepare some snacks?" Orihime said with a gentle smile and got up to wash the dishes.

"Thank you Hime-nee, you're the best!" Yuzu said while getting up to do her part alongside Karin.

While doing the washing-up, Orihime couldn't help but wonder and be worried about her friend's safety, specially the orange haired boy that she loved dearly. 'I need to be prepared to heal them if they're injured when they return.' She thought to herself.

- Hell –

The Karakura team was stunned into silence after hearing the declaration and also after witnessing the display of powerful landing from the women standing right in front of them with an authoritarian manner. Ichigo himself was shocked to know that this place is governed by an individual, but what stunned him the most is, that particular individual looked young at about his same age.

All of a sudden, three large beings with elongated skull-like face with a large piece of armor on their right shoulders rose up from beside and behind them, surrounding the outsiders. The beings stood there stagnantly as though waiting for an order while gazing down at the Karakura team with their big glowing yellow eyes. Likewise, the guards quickly run forward with their swords drawn and encircled them, leaving no way for them to escape.

"Shit! The Kushanadas are here and we are surrounded." Renji cursed under his breath.

"Yes, but oddly it is not attacking us, 'yet' I guess." Rukia replied turning back at the Queen, troubled on the turn of event. 'What are we going to do now?' She thought anxiously.

Glaring imperceptibly at the self called 'Ruler' as she approached them, her Guards flanking her on both sides. Sylvie radiated strict mental control, her face set in a grim expression that conveyed power and authority to those around her. If he hadn't fought against and alongside people with similar personalities Ichigo knew he would have been cowed, if only a little, by Sylvie's expansive presence.

Her heel boots clicking softly against the ground as she reached several feet away from them. Momentarily settling her eyes on Ichigo, her brow creasing at the lack of fear on the former shinigami's face, she then turned her focus on his friends behind him.

Sylvie Laufeydottir saw an utter confusion and wonder were written all over the outsiders face, thus she decided to enlighten them. "I see that you'll have no idea as to what is happening." She spoke looking at the Shinigamis. "That means your Captain Commander didn't mention anything about the development here, even though he should have." she said sharply. Sylvie knows the Old man is an egoistic person; basically he thinks he's better than anyone else. Nevertheless, she also clearly understands as to why the Old man did not reveal everything to his follow Shinigamis. Considering what happened, if he spills the beans it would undoubtedly damage his reputation among his peers.

She signed and continued. "Be that as it may, it is not my responsibility that you'll are unaware." She totally ignored Rukia and Renji and turned her focus on Ichigo. "I'll repeat my question again, are you Ichigo Kurosaki?" she inquired before glancing behind him at the Gate, noticing her Gate Keeper was lying on the floor unconsciously. Sylvie again sharply turned to stare at Ichigo with her narrowed eyes.

Ichigo tore his eyes away from the Kushanadas beside them and spoke, "Yes. And I assume you know why we're here." He intensified his glare equalling the Queen's intimidating stare. "Are you the one behind the abduction of my friend?"

Sylvie tilted her head with an amused expression at his gutsiness and looked at his eyes searchingly. She could not sense any kind of spiritual pressure from him, not even a little. As a result the atmosphere in Hell should have weakened him terribly by now, but it seems like it is not even affecting him in the slightest. Even though she couldn't sense anything, she could definitely feel a powerful aura from within him when she looked more closely into his brown eyes.

Averting her gaze away from him haughtily and not giving him a responds, she just simply looked up at the sky.

Ichigo's expression was mixed with confusion and annoyance due to the sheer ignorance he was getting from her, but he looked up at the sky anyway trying to see as to what she was focusing on. His eyes widened in worry when he saw a red haired women descending slowly to them with Tatsuki carried over her shoulder.

"Guards, stand down." Sylvie ordered casually and the guards obeyed her order in a flash backing away while the Kushanadas stood still on their spot.

She eyed Ichigo sternly and spoke, "I want you to take your friend and go away, also never again set your foot here. If you did, then I'll make you a permanent residence of this place."

Ichigo annoyedly scoffed in responds and replied, "We wouldn't be here in the first place if you, the so called 'Ruler', had made sure no one escaped Hell." His disrespectful responds to the Queen caused the guards to growl angrily at him, some even prepared to strike him, but stopped when Sylvie raised her hand indicating them to stop.

"Ichigo, provoking her isn't going to do any good for us! Let's take Tatsuki and get out of here." Uryu spoke hastily before Ichigo could say anything else again that would get under her skin and change her mind.

Sylvie laughed condescendingly and countered back by saying, "You're really mouthy for a lowly human. If I were you, I would listen to your friend and keep my mouth shut!"

Luckily their attentions were taken away by Fiona who steadily landed beside her Queen, and waited for her approval to hand over the human girl. Sylvie noticed that the Chain on Tatsuki's chest was almost going to swallow her completely and kill her in the process; as such she turned her attention to the Karakura group and spoke, "Take your friend and leave immediately before she dies."

Not wasting any more time, Fiona swiftly walked towards Ichigo to hand over Tatsuki, but she was only able to take a few steps forward before a cracking sound on the ground halted her. The crack increased and the ground beneath her begins to vibrate, but just when she tried to move back without delay, the ground burst open violently.

Months of fighting and Ichigo's supernatural body senses has honed to their maximum. As soon as the ground burst opened, he was already moving towards Fiona, who was not more than ten feet away. Just before he could reach her, something came from the crumbled hole in high speed and slammed his chest which pushed him backwards. Grinding to a halt against the ground, Ichigo quickly flipped back to his feet and paused when he saw the red haired woman was lying on the ground with a bloodied slash mark on her chest.

A maniacal laughter from a tall, lean-built man with a pale skin and shoulder length white hair caught the attentions of those who were present. He can be seen standing on the air above them, carrying Tatsuki and also wielding a black sword with a zigzag design at the center of the blade. The most notable part of his feature was his horribly burned right side of his face, extending all the way down past his abdomen, with the hair on the right side of his face taking on the appearance of cornrows.

Without hesitation, Uryu formed his Quincy bow and aim it directly at Kokuto while the others were also geared up to attack him, even the guards. "Let. Her. Go." Uryu said in a cold warning tone.

"Now, I wouldn't do that if I were you." Kokuto said with a psychotic grin across his face as he held his sword against Tatsuki's throat, pushing the edge of his sword harder against Tatsuki. "Nobody makes any silly moves, or else she dies."

Sylvie furiously slammed her trident on the ground and shouted. "Kokuto! You have lost and your twisted plan failed miserably! Surrender now before I-"

She was cut off mid sentence when Kokuto started laughing menacingly and tilted his head backward so that his dull sapphire eyes were staring at Sylvie, "Before you what? Send me to Hell?" Kokuto asked sarcastically, "And also you're mistaken. My objective was to bring Ichigo Kurosaki into Hell, and I have him where I want him." His focus then shifted to Ichigo.

"Welcome to Hell Ich-" Kokuto stopped speaking and his grin completely disappeared the moment he noticed Ichigo's unusual attire. "Why are you not in your Shinigami form?" He inquired with a look of puzzlement.

His sudden question caused Ichigo to quirk his eyebrows in mild curiosity.

"Answer my question dammit!" Kokuto shouted in irritation while seeing Ichigo's perplexed expression.

"Because I'm not a Shinigami." Ichigo replied coldly, getting utterly annoyed with the current dilemma. "Why is it that you're so surprised? From your expression, I can tell that you were expecting something else entirely."

'He's not wrong… If he's not a Shinigami, how about the battle that I saw? Was it a lie?!' Kokuto thought.

With a sly smirk he pointed his sword at Ichigo and spoke. "Do you take me for a fool? I witnessed your battle against Ulquiorra Cifer while you were fully hollowfied and I realized that power could break through Hell's barriers and defeat Sylvie Laufeydottir! So I passed that information onto other Togabito and my plan took shape perfectly until now."

Sylvie looked displeased and agitated with their conversation considering that she's being entirely ignored and insulted by Kokuto as well as the conversation involves her being defeated by a lowly human, and Kokuto taking over her Kingdom!? Sylvie scoffed at that and glanced at Ichigo, eyeing his entire body, from top to bottom. 'What is so special about you?' She thought.

Kokuto yet again laughed manically before declaring. "I will do anything to defeat her and take this domain for myself!" He then positioned his sword at Tatsuki's neck with a cocky grin and shouted, "Now give me that monster of yours, bring it out! Only he can save your friend!"

Ichigo stared at Kokuto for a second or two and then signed heavily in exasperation as he is starting to run out of patience. Placing his hands in his Hoodie pocket, Ichigo took a few steps forward while directing a glare at Kokuto that could kill a lesser man.

"This is what I'll give you. I'm gonna give you five seconds to let her go. If she isn't let go within the next five seconds, I guarantee that I'll do more than just punch you into submission. You understand me, scar-boy?" Ichigo said.

Ichigo's daring intimidation has everyone look at him as though he was insane, specifically from the guards. His fellow friends on the contrary were more relieved when he said what he said because it has assured them he at least has a plan to rescue Tatsuki from Kokuto's clutches. His impressive display of powers a while ago was not forgotten and they believe he still has more tricks up his sleeve.

A slow smile worked its way across Sylvie's face as she looked at Ichigo. 'Let's see what you're capable of.' She thought.

Kokuto carried an expressionless face over Ichigo's threat and insult, but that doesn't mean he took Ichigo's word lightly. 'He seems confident… meaning that he probably has something up his sleeve.' He thought, sweating a good amount under the wake of his opponents essential 'warning round'.

"Fine, if chopping your friend's head off will turn you into a monster, then so be-"

Kokuto hadn't even finished uttering the word he intended to say before Ichigo disappeared from his sight and re-appeared directly in front of him with a sly grin. Kokuto's cocky grin having been erased in the wake of his opponent's display of speed and his sword instinctively travelled to his opponent but he couldn't even manage to lift it as he was sent flying across the platform at high speed into a nearby floating white box by way of Ichigo's fist.

"It's been more than five seconds…" Ichigo said to himself and swiftly get a hold on Tatsuki after successfully sending Kokuto a good distance.

They were in a losing streak a moment ago but then Ichigo turned the tide effortlessly with just a swift punch just like what he did to the Gate keeper and that has all gawking at him as though he was entirely a different person.

His friends rushed towards him as soon as Ichigo landed and placed Tatsuki gently on the ground. Rukia kneeled along with Ichigo beside Tatsuki and take hold of the Chain on her chest, after which she trembles and let go of it with a defeated sign. Her gesture wasn't gone unnoticed by her friends and Ichigo quickly discerned her action.

"Why? What's wrong?" Uryu asked worriedly.

"We were too late. The chain of Hell have pierced Tatsuki's soul and made her a Togabito." Rukia said downheartedly while standing up with her eyes closed. "We can't do anything to save her at this point, not even Orihime's healing ability."

Uryu felt himself go rigid, eyes widen in shock, and unable to do anything but stare in horror at Tatsuki after hearing Rukia's words. Clenching his fist angrily realizing that they wouldn't be able to do anything to save her, he glanced at Sylvie and shouted. "You! Do something about this, she don't deserve to be here!"

The single beat down Kokuto took within a second from Ichigo had mildly made Sylvie unfocused, but Uryu's voice made her turn, her eyes landing on the one who spoke. She then glanced down at Tatsuki's body noticing that her Chain has turned into blood red.

"I don't have the power to reverse the process, nobody does at this point." Sylvie spoke walking forward passing her guards with an unemotional face. Somewhere on the back of her mind she had her doubts about the human girl's survival, but what tiny hope she had disappeared the moment Kokuto showed up.

Her casual answer wasn't took well by Uryu as he was about to express something, likewise Sylvie was about to order them to leave immediately, but Ichigo beat them both to it.

"I might be able to do save her." Ichigo said. He never really tried this on anyone before but himself; also he wasn't truthfully positive if it would work on Tatsuki's current state. Nevertheless he has no choice but to test as it is their last resort of hope to save her.

Sylvie wanted to roar with laughter at his statement; nobody has the power to heal or reverse this transformation, not the Shinigami's, and not even her, the ruler of Hell. His display of power a short while ago may have been impressive but this right now is totally a different deal. A human like him will not be capable to do something impossible such as this.

'Can he?' But still there were uncertainties lingering in her mind as she stopped right behind him, her eyes widened slightly when she noticed Ichigo's hand engulfed in black flames.

"What are you going to do?" Rukia inquired, while the others were having the same thoughts and anticipations.

In front of all the watchful eyes, Ichigo's right hand engulfed in blue mix black flames, and his hand steadily reached to Tatsuki's pale hand, as soon as their hands touched, his flames spread through her whole body like setting up a human in torch.

"Remember when I said my flames have its functions?" Ichigo spoke bringing all their attentions to him while standing up calmly, the fire on his hand receding gradually. "One of it is its 'Healing' ability. It will soak into the flesh and restore biotic organisms to their optimal health, curing damaged or withered organisms, wounds, broken bones, low vitality, and diseases. Though it may potentially heal any form of bodily damage, the person must be alive, even if hanging by a thin thread, in order to be healed; once the person has died, it would transcend healing and would require resurrection instead."

His slight revelation but yet his extraordinary ability has everyone held a look of disbelief. Everyone apart from Ichigo watched in stunned disbelief as the flames soaked into Tatsuki's body, than the chain on her chest slowly rose up and disintegrates into thin air as super heat steams rushed out her body.

"It's almost similar to Orihime's, but in Tatsuki's case, mine would be more effective because not only it would soak into her flesh, but also restore her soul before it is completely consumed by the Chain of Hell." Ichigo disclosed more while watching the steam rushing out of her and her skin returning back to normal colour.

"This is impossible." One of the guards muttered in disbelief as they watched the Chain completely disintegrates into nothingness. Sylvie's overall opinion was similar to that of her guard's but at the same time was much inconspicuous, while the Karakura team wasn't as surprised as others because they have witnessed healing miracles by Orihime multiple times, but seeing Ichigo displaying almost a similar ability did caught them off guard.

Despite watching Ichigo defy the laws of nature as she knew them, Sylvie was still shocked into silence when she saw Tatsuki begins to breathe normally, her chest movement indicates that.

Ichigo wasn't sure at first but the outcome brought a pleased smile across his and other faces. However, it soon disappeared when his ears picked up on a falling debris sound from a good distance, thanks to his enhanced hearing ability where he can hear far more sounds with far more detail and at far greater distances than normally humanly possible.

A large amount of dust and debris surrounded Kokuto's body, and it almost appeared that he wasn't even capable of movement for the time, but he mustered all his strength and managed to flip himself out of the debris.

'H-How is that even possible? For him to be capable of such speed and strenght… w-without even hollowfiying.' Kokuto thought and noticed that Ichigo is still not emanating any spiritual pressure as he should.

'So why the heck he's so powerful?' Kokuto thought.

His eyes widened as soon as realization dawned into him, he staggered backwards briefly, feeling a cold chill go up his back and sweat drip down his brow. It can't be what he thinks, can it? At present, Kokuto's initial plan had ultimately gone down the drain; more importantly he did not formulate a contingency plan just in case it didn't go the way he wanted to. Despite all that, he wasn't going down without a fight; that much was clear.

'I'll make sure you rot here with me in Hell, Kurosaki…!' Kokuto thought angrily and gripped his blade tightly in his right hand. As if to allow actions to replace thoughts, Kokuto flared his spiritual energy to the levels that could be felt from all over the First Level of Hell, be it by a guard or a normal Togabito. Blue, black-laced energy flooded the skies, surging in every direction and forcing the winds to shoot out across the Gates of Hell.

"What are we waiting for, let's get go-" The Quincy was about to finish his sentence, though one thing stopped him from doing so. It was a large burst of energy that resounded within the nearby area in the skies above the blue pathways.

An aura of black, blue-laced energy began to coat the skies, starting from where Kokuto was sent flying to and spreading over every possible direction. It looked like it was an all-consuming attack. A massive gust of wind began to flow into all blue pathways, doing so with such force that almost everyone present found the need to cover their eyes with their respective forearms.

"W-What the hell is this?!" Renji exclaimed, sweat dripping from his brow.

"So he's decided to go all out." Sylvie thought aloud, the only second person who wasn't fazed by the release of power. Steadily her gaze landed on the first, who still have not turned to look at the source but focused on the unconscious human girl.

Without delay, Ichigo swiftly took out the crystal orb Kisuke had given them to get back home. "Return home without me." He spoke, while placing the tiny orb on the palm of Tatsuki's hand and broke it without hesitation, which consumed her whole and teleport her back to Urahara's Shop.

"What about you?!" Rukia shouted through the gushing wind. "We can't just leave you here!"

"I'll be fine! Plus I need to make sure he doesn't come for me or for my family again!" He stood up and directed his sight at Kokuto, walking steadily while waiting for the opponent to make the first move. 'Plus I have to find an answer to something significantly important.' Ichigo thought.

"Go…!" Ichigo shouted one last time without looking back.

Sylvie quirked an eyebrow, impressed by his action and fearlessness. "Do not fret, I'll send him back once he's done." Sylvie added positively and slammed her trident on the ground, during which the Kushanadas and the guards moved out of their ways.

Rukia clenched her fist, totally disliking the idea of leaving Ichigo behind, but nonetheless with a deep breath she nodded to Sylvie's responds before replying back aloud at Ichigo, "Don't take too long!" Thereupon the whole Karakura team teleported back home, leaving the substitute behind.

A loud boom echoed at which point Kokuto shot towards Ichigo with such speed that it was almost ludicrous. Despite that, though, the attack's speed was still not fast enough to catch the substitute off guard as Ichigo easily countered his speed by sidestepping.

"Why you-" Kokuto found himself unable to finish his sentence as a split-second later he found the palm of his opponents right hand gripping his face, at which point he felt himself being directed into the ground aggressively.

He slammed Kokuto into the floor, causing rubble to shoot across the pathway in all directions.

"I warned you." Ichigo spoke coldly as Kokuto struggled to free himself from his death grip. "Now Die!" The minute he stated those words, something impossible happened. A massive torrent of red energy shot forth from Ichigo's palm, the sound of which echoed throughout the entirety of The First Level of Hell. The ground instantly disintegrated together with his 'Head' upon contact with the blast, which then continuously moved forth relentlessly.

To Be Continued...

Hope you guys Enjoy, and let me know what you'll think! Until Next Time!