Rukia hurried back to the south gate, to give Tatsuki the signal it was safe for her to pass, now that Renji was no longer with her; however, when she arrived, the gate was closed. She had made a deal with the south guardian, Hikonyuutou, to leave the gate open, and had expected him to keep his promise. Now the gate was closed, and he was battling with the west guardian, Jidanbou.
"Open the gate!" Jidanbou demanded.
"I cannot," Hikonyuutou retaliated, "on my oath as a guardian of the south wall!"
"There is a greater honour I know of. This gate must be opened! You have already broken your oath once, when you let an intruder from Rukongai through. You were lucky that Renji was there to stop her, or you would have without any doubt lost your position here. Your reputation as the weakest of the four guardians is no lie. If you do not let me pass, I will defeat you."
"Do you think I have enjoyed being mocked as a weak guardian for all my years? My oath as a guardian is the pride of my existence. Do you really think someone from Rukongai could have snuck past me without my knowledge? I let her go. She was a mother trying to feed her starving child. I broke my oath. She was executed, and cursed eternally into becoming a zanpakuto. I will never face these consequences again. If you wish to test my strength, go ahead, but I will not let you pass!"
"Please!" Rukia begged. "I have to go through! We already talked about this!"
"I'm sorry, but there are certain circumstances that shut this gate. Don't you see, all the hollows swarming here? They were called here by Grand Fisher. There is a rumour he is inside these gates. He will not escape, and his friends will not enter."
Rukia just noticed the army of hollows trying to pass through the gate. They swarmed the hair, eyeing the ground, waiting for an opening, as they hungrily watched the inner body of Sereitei.
She wondered how so many had managed to enter Soul Society. It was impossible, but by their cries and howls, it sounded like they were called by some higher power. She guessed it was part of Grand Fisher's plan, but then did that mean Renji had something to do with it as well?
Both guardians braced all their might against each other. They traded heavy blows, bashing shins and shoulders. They locked fists, and when no other method was found, they arched their necks forward and clashed foreheads. The impact resonated, and shook the ground with ripples. There was a moment of silence, and both guardians collapsed, leaving neither with the capability to open the gate.
Rukia released her zanpakuto, and hacked at the gate, but she rebounded and received more damage to herself than was inflicted upon the inanimate entry. Soon her hands were bleeding, but she continued to slash the door. She finally was able to cause visible and tangible damage, but it soon healed itself and revealed no evidence of man's interference. She stumbled and nearly fell, but Ichigo caught her from behind.
"Ichigo? You really came," she stammered.
"Of course I came," he replied with a mixture of amusement and fatigue. "You don't have to push yourself so hard. I'll help you. I'll help you even with the radio. I came here, so please come back."
"I... there are things here that I have to do. Even if I wanted to return..."
"It's not 'even if.' I'm sure there are things I could say to convince you, but I won't say them. When you realize that you want to return, I will still be waiting. In the human world, you were happy, unless all the time we shared together was a lie. I want you to be happy again."
"That's... that's not important right now. Tatsuki is trapped on the other side of this wall, with Grand Fisher."
He didn't need to hear anything further. He rose Zangetsu high over his head and sent it crushing down against the wall. It did leave a mark, but it was immediately disappearing. It seemed the power to open the gate was lost.
"What are you wasting time here for?" Renji chuckled, masking his intense pain. Rukia gasped when she saw his condition.
"What are you doing here?" Ichigo barked. "Your zanpakuto is broken. There's nothing you can do."
"Even with this broken sword, I can still help you. Hurry up and use your other power. I saw it. You combined the power of two zanpakuto, and unleashed a greater level of attack. With that amount of energy, you can break down that wall. Whatever power I have left in this broken blade, is yours. Use it wisely, Ichigo. Howl, Zabimaru!"
Zangetsu suddenly gained the ability to curve, and it quickly struck the gate at the same spot three times in a row, not giving it time to heal; however, it still required one more strike to fully penetrate.
"It's no good," Renji sighed. "That's the limit."
"No, your zanpakuto wants to continue. Its thoughts are connected to Zangetsu's. It can do the fourth curve." With the extra curve, a hole was blasted through the gate, leaving a small opening, just wide enough for a person to slip through. "Don't waste anymore time, and go."
"But you're..."
"I'm fine."
"You're not fine!" Rukia argued. "Your zanpakuto is completely shredded now. You can't even stand! The hollows army in the sky is going to rush through the gate! You can't possibly fight them!"
"Whatever happens, I won't defy it. I made a deal with Grand Fisher, to force you to come back. I had him murder some of the executives to ensure you wouldn't receive a high punishment. It wasn't part of the deal that he would send an army, but it's still my fault."
"No, it was my fault for committing the first felony and giving my power to a human..."
"You can't honestly say to me that you regret your time in the human world. I was a fool to ever question your judgment. The first time we faced Grand Fisher, I told you to run until we could contact stronger troops, but you stayed to protect a small child and his mother. If I had fought by your side, we probably could have saved the mother as well. I am convinced, that you are the only person who can defeat Grand Fisher. Go!"
She left reluctantly, with Ichigo following, but he gave Renji one last look, a small gesture, to show gratitude. Although it was a small gesture, between them it meant more and symbolized some greater significance.
Renji let his back fall against the gate, covering the hole. The army of hollows in the sky dove at him, looking to pass through him and enter the hole in one fluid motion. They stopped, as the two guardians rose once again and put their differences aside to defeat the hollows.
"Why don't we see which one is weaker," Hikonyuutou suggested, "by competing to defeat the most hollows?"
"We may have different attitudes of honour," Jidanbou said, roused by the contest, "but neither of us will allow a single hollow to pass this wall!"
Tatsuki was having an even battle with Grand Fisher. She did not fall for any of his tricks of disguise, but because he was focusing purely on fighting, she could not gain the upper hand. She hid inside a building for a short break, but a claw burst through the window and nearly scraped her. In the process, she dropped her radio, and she seemed to forget the battle entire as she bent to retrieve it, and received a blow to the pit of her stomach with its full impact.
She realized she couldn't afford to waste anymore time; she had probably already missed the signal to exit through the south gate. She thought of her options, and decided her best bet was to risk using one of Urahara's merchandises, called Soul Candy. It was nicely piled in a cute Rabbit package, depending on one's definition of cute. When swallowed, it was supposed to force the soul to leave, and place a new, much stronger soul to use the body in battle; however, it was an illegal process.
She had to defeat Grand Fisher, however, and could not think of any other way. She swallowed the pill, and found herself a spirit, separated from her body but connected by a heavy chain. Her body was initially immobile, but life returned to it as a foreign presence began to control it.
"Hey! I know you," she realized. "You took over the body of my opponent in the finals and went berserk! Why would Urahara send you to help me?"
"I don't owe anything to him," he retorted. "I don't have to help you, but it's not everyday I get to enjoy the freedom of a real body, so I wouldn't mind a little scurry with a hollow."
"Hurry, up and be careful with my body!"
When Grand Fisher next attacked, the berserker dodged easily, like a playing child, and nudged his opponent on the nose. He seemed to be enjoying himself, as he enticed the hollow into attacking an opening, then dodging at the last moment and retaliating with what at first would seem to be a strong fist, but instead became an annoying scratch.
He continued dodging, but slowly began to realize his body was beginning to slow. He realized the problem was that he was carrying the weight of the body, with the weight of the chain and Tatsuki's spirit form.
"What's wrong?" Tatsuki asked.
"You're too fat," he snickered naughtily.
"It's heavy, isn't it?" Grand Fisher chuckled. "Allow me to fix that for you." With a quick strike, he sliced the chain.
"The chain's gone," Tatsuki said. "Now nothing's in your way. Stop playing around and hurry up and finish it."
"You fool!" the berserker shouted frantically. "That chain is what connects your spirit to your body. Now you will not be able to return. You're a spirit! You're dead!"
"And you can't stay in that body forever," Grand Fisher continued. "Once you leave, I will be free to consume anything I wish. I'll start with the girl. I love the taste of women. They seem to be full of compassion for others, the emotion I find the most delicious. I especially liked that mother, protecting her child. For a moment, I almost felt human again. And about your body, I wouldn't worry about it. It will probably become a hollow like myself. I originally sprouted from a body without a soul. Rukia stole my spirit to use in Project Spearhead, to create Soul Candy. Without my spirit, I forgot who I originally was, and could only search through other peoples' memories to create new forms. If I eat you, I might become a human, and regain my memories."
"I remember, as a young boy, I loved to fish by the river. I would get so excited when I caught a fish. I used my bare hands. I never ate them. I let them go. One day, I fell into the river and died. I stayed by the river, and refused to go to Soul Society. Rukia befriended me, and convinced me to go, but she stole my spirit. She was ordered to; she had no choice. Then, you are what became of my body?"
"What does all this mean?" Tatsuki questioned hurriedly as she gazed at her chain, slowly eating itself away and toward her body.
"There is one way out of this. I will allow Grand Fisher to eat my spirit. I will return to my original body, and destroy the hollow. Rukia and Ichigo are on their way here. If you become a hollow, they will destroy you. If you can manage to become a shinigami, you and your body will survive. You have gained the ability of a zanpakuto; therefore, I believe you can become a shinigami. Are you willing to take this risk?"
"I will take it."
When Ichigo and Rukia arrived, they saw a small innocent boy, and Tatsuki, with a glimmering, beautiful body. There were no traces of hollow anywhere. Tatsuki's form returned to her normal human state thereafter, as her shinigami powers disappeared, with her zanpakuto simply disappearing. Zangetsu followed. There were no more regrets.
The sounds of quickly approaching footsteps alerted Rukia. "There are shinigami coming," she informed hastily. "You have to leave! Humans are not allowed to trespass in Soul Society. If they see you, they will execute you immediately. Leave. I will open a portal."
"You..." Ichigo began.
"I must stay. I will tell them an excuse, so that you may escape safely. I... want to go with you, but... I'm sorry."
She blasted them both through the portal, with the young child Fisher. They were transported, through something like a river flowing strongly in one direction only. Even with a boat, there was one missing person, to row the oars, and reverse their passage and ride against the current.
Rukia watched them go with sad eyes. She noticed something on the ground. It was Tatsuki's radio. She picked it up solemnly. She turned it on. There was nothing but static, a strong electrical current. The batteries died. There was silence.