Welcome back everyone to another chapter of BotS! So we are all aware, Ichigo is having his story during this arc, told in BotS: The Lost Nachos, another of my stories. You will see him in this story again after this when the Winter War arc starts. That will happen around chapter 47 or 48. A couple weeks upload wise. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please help me with any corrections of plot holes you see.

I finally edited this so that it no longer includes the Gamer ability and I hope this story stands well on it's own without it and that you amazing people can still enjoy it as it is.

On to our feature presentation!

Hanataro had led the two Ryoka through the sewers of the Seireitei once he knew that they were here to save Rukia, common goals right? It had them backwards though. It had as many if not more twists and turns as the damned city had above though at least the kid knew more about it than they did and could lead them through.

Stopping at a ladder the shinigami turned to the pair he had been leading, truth be told he felt bad for them. He could feel for their cause and he wanted to help Rukia as much as these people but they couldn't match to a Lieutenant and even if they could they would never beat a captain. It just wasn't possible. Not in his eyes at least but maybe he was underestimating them. He prayed he was.

"This is it." He looked up and let the girl take point. He would be useless up there by himself. Once she was a fair distance up the ladder he followed with the giant of a man behind him.

Crawling out of the sewers and taking in her surroundings, Tatsuki found herself in an open area. A blanket of mist obscured their vision but not so much that they couldn't see the stairs that supposedly led up to where they were keeping Rukia. It was so close, she would be saved and they could focus on getting Ichigo back. They just needed to go a little farther.

Then again, life had this nasty way of just putting every obstacle in your way. A powerful reiatsu pushed them down and Tatsuki was thrown off balance when it hit her. Chad wasn't fairing much better but he was still standing strong. She glared at the source when he finally showed himself to them.

"So you made it this far. I wonder what you'll do when you hear I'm the guy who beat down your buddy back in the human world?" The red headed shinigami grinned. Tatsuki and Chad grit their teeth. This was one of the shinigami that had taken Ichigo away from them. He couldn't be allowed to stand, without thinking they wordlessly sprung into action and attacked from either side.

Renji got worried, he hadn't expected this kind of reaction to the news. It was supposed to make them surrender, not attack him. Now he was hard pressed to block and dodge their attacks. He needed a moment to release his zanpakuto and he decided that he had no other opportunity than to try his hand at kido again. As expected a Shakakko without incantation blew up in his face. It still served to push the two Ryoka away from him and allow him to release his blade though.

"Howl Zabimaru!" The shinigami's zanpakuto transformed into a segmented blade with alternating colors and short spikes at the end of each segment. Chad and Tatsuki wouldn't lie to themselves and say that it wasn't intimidating.

"So what? You released your Shikai. Not going to change the fact that we are going to kill you!" Tatsuki rushed him again and managed to use her Hoho training to great effect. Appearing behind him she swung her blade and managed to put a sizable gash on the shinigami's back but it wasn't enough and she was forced back as he brought his sword down on her before it exploded outward as the segments separated.

"Not so easy to beat now eh? Just like the orange haired brat, you'll need another hundred years to come to my level. I beat him at 20% my full power. Now I'm capped out you should really just surrender." Without a word Renji had to dodge as an El Directo slammed into the ground where he was standing. This was getting nowhere. Gritting his teeth he attempted to go on the offensive and started to attack the giant.

Chad attempted to block with his arm and it absorbed most of the damage but he was still bleeding heavily. He moved back as quickly as possible to take a breath as Tatsuki took the break. The shinigami stood, chin high. Che, if he thought they would surrender to him simply because they were unable to face him yet then he was a fool, an arrogant fool. Tatsuki still had her Shikai to release. He didn't have any idea why she hadn't yet but maybe it was to protect the shinigami that had brought them here, it was pretty destructive when she used all of her techniques. A small smile crossed the giants face as he thought back to their training before they had left. Tatsuki had used him during those 10 days as a test dummy but it had also built up his strength and resolve to fight for Ichigo, if Tatsuki could get this strong then why not him?

Tatsuki was running out of ideas. She hadn't wanted to exert herself before saving Rukia but it was quickly looking like she didn't have a choice. Chad was pretty banged up but it could be solved with time and she was sure the shinigami would heal him if the giant asked. Tilting her head to look at him she pointed with her blade to the staircase.

"Go save Rukia and take the hostage. Get him to heal you, I'll handle the shinigami." She hissed the word with venom dripping from the words. Chad merely nodded and turned, picking up the panicking shinigami they had adopted.

"Why are we leaving?! She's going to die!" Chad looked back to humor Hanataro.

"She'll be fine. She's not just fighting for us." Hanataro blanched at the giant's words as the Ryoka walked past the stunned healer towards their goal. Finally coming to grips about their nonchalant view on fighting a Lieutenant, Hanataro shook his head and ran to catch up to Chad. Eager to leave the range of their fight.

"You sure you want your friends to leave like that? Looks to me like you could barely hold your own against me before." Tatsuki said nothing and it bothered the Lieutenant. "Speak will you! Why are you even here? Obviously it's important enough for you to waste your life-"

"I'm not! Wasting my life." She was seething. "I could lie and tell you I'm here to save Rukia," He hands tightened at the name in reflex. "But I'm not that hard to read so I wont." She looked him in the eyes, anger and a pulsating red electricity buzzed right behind her eyes. "I'm here to kill all those that helped take Ichigo away from us." She was deadly quiet by the end of her statement and it seemed to upset Renji more than he was willing to accept. He threw his arm out and dispelled the mist.

"Why are you trying to cause yourself more pain at his loss. He died because otherwise Rukia wouldn't get her powers back!" The care in his eyes, Tatsuki connected with it but she couldn't show weakness now, she had to push forwards. Empathize with the enemy later.

"If you want to know so bad." She held her blade out in front of her and slammed it into the ground. "Let me show you my resolve." Locking eyes with Renji she twisted the blade in the ground. "Let the ground swallow you whole." She whispered the last part as the ground started to tremble. "Chikyū no haha."