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Ichigo and Shiro tried to help Tenebris break through the cage's walls, but nothing they did was working. Ichigo tried a Getsuga Tenshou, forcing Tenebris to back up and for Shiro to duck and then yell at him for being reckless.

"I need to get out of here! Everyone is screaming and dying while we're stuck here trying to break through!" Ichigo shouted in rage. He was about to swing his sword again but paused in confusion when Tenebris landed on top of the cage looking down at them with an evil smirk. Ichigo began to feel nervous. "Tenebris, what are you thinking?" he asked, but Tenebris remained silent.

The dragon of darkness pushed her paws forward, causing the ball-shaped cage to roll forward and her to walk backward. Ichigo looked to where they were heading, which was to Soul Society, but Urahara's Garganta's all opened high up in the sky.

"Tenebris, whatever you're planning, don't do it," Ichigo said firmly, causing Tenebris' grin to grow.

"Wait, is she treating us like a hamster?" Shiro asked, but Ichigo shook his head and tried to stop his soul sister from moving forward.

"No, it's much worse than that. If we go through to the other side of the Garganta and are still inside this cage, what do you think will happen?" Shiro looked thoughtful for a few seconds until it dawned on him.

"We'll fall," he realized in horror, earning a childish giggle from Tenebris. "Tenebris, don't do it!" Both Ichigo and Shiro tried to stop her by going the other way, but it resulted in them losing their balance and rolling with the accelerating ball.

Ichigo looked back to see how much closer they got to the exit, only to see that they were five feet away now. "Wait, it's sealed! How are we even going to get through?" Ichigo asked.

Tenebris answered by charging up a Cero. The red ball of spirit energy grew until it was two times the size of their cage before Tenebris fired at will. The laser-like beam of death slammed into the seal, punching through it like a spiked ball through a watermelon.

Ichigo and Shiro stared at the opening in terror. Now nothing was stopping the evil dragon from throwing them off a cliff while trapped in an enclosed space.

Tenebris rolled the ball the last few feet before pausing for effect. Ichigo and Shiro looked down to see how far of a drop it was. Their eyes widened in fear, there was a fifty - maybe 100 - foot drop awaiting them. They snapped their gaze back to Tenebris, who turned to meet their eyes. Evil glee shined within her blood-red orbs as her razor-sharp teeth were shown upon her grin. Her expression made their blood run away from their faces.

"Don't-" they began, but Tenebris pushed them over the edge before they could continue. The two souls screamed bloody murder as they fell with no way of stopping, cursing Tenebris to the high heavens for having wings and hovering above them. She cackled as she watched them draw closer to the ground at breakneck speed.

The cage crashed onto the hard, blood-soaked ground, breaking the bars and setting them free. Ichigo groaned in pain. He sat up while rubbing the back of his head, he could already feel a pounding headache forming. He turned his brown eyes to glare at Tenebris, who was slowly coming down with a satisfying smirk on her muzzle.

Shiro stood up without showing any signs of pain. He dusted himself off and took in their surroundings. "Well, at least we got out of that cage," he said, but as he checked behind him, he paused. Ichigo saw the hollow's eyes threatening to pop out of his mask along with the lower jaw. Feeling worried, Ichigo turned to gaze upon what Shiro laid eyes on. His eye widen to the side of basketballs as he took in the sight of Byakuya Kuchiki, who was pinned to the wall of a building that was once white, but now red with his blood. Ichigo could hardly see any of the shinigami's white skin without a horrifying wound covering it.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ichigo saw Tenebris land next to him. If he had looked, he would have seen her shocked expression as she eyed Byakuya, but he couldn't remove his gaze from the beaten and broken form.

To send them into more shock, Byakuya proved that he was still alive. He groaned and lifted his head by less than a centimeter. As he spoke, his voice was hoarse, "Kurosaki, I see you've come." The man paused to catch his breath before continuing. "Please, help save Soul Society once more. I fear I no longer can, so please." Ichigo felt his heart break as he listened to the broken man. He could hear his pain, sorrow, and desperation within his voice as he begged him to help save the Soul Society. "Please, find Rukia, make sure she is safe." Byakuya's eyes closed after he finished speaking, causing fear, rage, and sadness to well up within Ichigo.

The orange-haired shinigami hybrid heard Tenebris growl. He slowly turned his eyes to her, seeing her glare in a direction where a lot of smoke was coming from.

"Tenebris, is the leader over there?" Ichigo asked, not looking away from the smoke.

"Yes, he has a similar scent to Zangetsu, which isn't surprising," she replied.

"I'm surprised that ya can smell him from here," said Shiro.

"I'll admit it's hard to pick up his scent, but he's throwing his reiatsu around, which allows me to get a beat on it."

"Alright," said Ichigo with a hard-eyed look, "Tenebris stay here and try to save Byakuya - I can still feel his reiatsu. Shiro and I will go take on the king." Tenebris nodded in understanding, but she grumbled in disappointment.

"Got it, just be careful," she said before turning around to remove Byakuya from the wall.

Ichigo turned to Shiro. "Let's go!" he commanded and ran off toward the dissipating smoke with Shiro following him.

The shinigami and hollow found three men at their destination, one wearing a white uniform and another wearing a black cape over his white uniform, and the final one lying unmoving on the burnt rubble. Ichigo recognized the old shinigami as the head captain, but it shocked him to know that he was taken out so quickly.

Ichigo and Shiro landed in front of the two quincies, who turned their focus to them. Ichigo glared at them. "Are you the leader?" he asked the black-capped Quincy, who remains silent. Ichigo glared harder. "You look like the old man, so you got to be him, right? So if you're him, then are you the one who ordered this?" he demanded.

{Of course, he's the one who did all of this, King,} said Shiro with a roll of his eyes.

The older man smirked in dark amusement. "You would be correct, on both accounts," he replied casually.

Ichigo's eyes gained a wild look as his rage boiled in his blood. He took his smaller sword in hand and charged at the king with a battle cry. He swung the sword at Yhwach, but he left himself open. Yhwach deflected Ichigo's attack and caught him. He slammed the young shinigami hybrid into the destroyed ground, breaking it up more, and stabbed down at his throat.

Ichigo was shocked by how fast everything moved, he didn't have time to react. Shiro was in the same boat, he couldn't believe how fast his partner was taken down. Luckily for Ichigo, however, old man Zangetsu knew something like this would happen, so he was ready to protect Ichigo at any given time.

'That was too close,' thought Ichigo as he felt Blut Vene had activated, effectively saving his life. 'I owe you one, Zangestu.'

"What have I told you about underestimating your opponent?" Zangetsu asked, Ichigo feeling the raised eyebrow of disapproval.

'Not to do it. I'm sorry for letting my anger get the better of me,' Ichigo admitted shamefully.

"I'll scold you more later, right now is not the time." Zangetsu quiets down so Ichigo may focus on the battle ahead.

It was now that Yhwach had noticed how Ichigo survived his attack. Ichigo used the man's moment of shock to blast him with a strong burst of reiatsu, pushing the man off him and ten feet away.

Shiro attacked Yhwach while he was still in the air, but the blond-haired Quincy jumped in between and blocked his attack. Yhwach landed on the ground safely, and Ichigo stood back up to face him.

{You alright, King?} asked Shiro.

{Yeah, I'm fine,} replied Ichigo, who glared at Yhwach, but the glare was more cold than angry.

"So that's how you escaped Quilge's cage. It can hold anything, but not a Quincy." Yhwach's words would have confused Ichigo and drove him nuts with questions, but thanks to old man Zangetsu, he wasn't caught off guard. Yhwach noticed this too. "You don't seem surprised."

Ichigo shrugged. "I've known my mom was a Quincy for some time now, but I do feel stupid for not trying to use my Quincy powers to break that cage open. It might have to save Shiro and me from falling 50 feet by Tenebris," he grumbled in annoyance.

"Ah, the Dark Dragon. I see she is not with you right now," said Yhwach, who shrugged dismissively. "Doesn't matter. It just makes things a little easier." Ichigo raised an eyebrow questioningly. "I'll destroy the hollow next to you and then bring you back with me so we can re-educate you." Ichigo braised himself for an attack, but as Yhwach was about to charge at him, shadows formed around him. The man looked down at the wispy shadows and sighed. He stood straight and turned around with a black portal opening up in front of him. "Come, Jugram, we're leaving."

"Yes, your highness," said the blond Quincy as he turned to follow.

"Where do ya think ya goin'!" shouted Shiro, readying himself to attack them, Ichigo doing the same.

"Stop!" Zangetsu ordered. "You two are not ready to face this man yet. Let him go for now." Ichigo and Shiro growled but didn't argue, knowing that Zangetsu was right.

"I'll come back for you, Ichigo, so until then," said Yhwach as he and Jugram walked through the portal, closing it behind them.

TBC

Okay, this is going to be my last chapter until I finish the Grand Magic Games arc in 'Master of Death in Fairy Tail'. Also, I didn't add Yhwach saying the whole "my son, born in the darkness" thing because I think the darkness was him pointing out that Isshin never told him anything about his Quincy heritage. Since Ichigo does know about it, I took it out.

Ichi: I remember that part confusing you for a long time.

Shiro: It drove her insane! XD

Enj/Dark: It was unclear to me. I understood the "son" part, but not the "born in the darkness" part, which I guess also meant Ichigo being a shinigami and hollow hybrid.

Ichi: How can something like me exist? :(

Shiro: Please review!

Enj/Dark: And see you soon! ^-^