Before dawn the next morning Kuukaku made Ichigo and Layne raise the fireworks platform to ground level.
When it was up, the group sat around waiting for Kuukaku to finish talking to Moll.
"I'm going to do Kuukaku Style Two, reckon you can handle it?" Kuukaku asked with a grin?
"Easily", and Moll's return grin was full of confidence, she felt that much better about this whole thing after talking to Layne last night, though she was still determined to make sure no one died
"Then let's do it"
Moll went and joined the others by the base of the launcher
"Get in brats!" Kuukaku yelled "I'll fire as soon as the dawn breaks"
The group got in the base of the launcher and stood around the orb in a circle with one hand each touching it, except for Yoruichi, who just stood on top of the orb in cat form
"Now listen up" she began "Our objective here is to rescue Rukia, so don't wander off on a tangent about some other stuff," and here she glanced at Layne who stared back and at Moll who affected disinterest
"If you encounter a Captain Class enemy, run, and don't take any stupid risks" Yoruichi finished, as she looked at each of them in turn
Dawn broke over the horizon and Kuukaku grinned, "Here we go Yoruichi!" she shouted as she pulled a sword from a sheath behind her back and slammed it into the podium
As the tube sealed Yoruichi shouted "Here we go, put your reiatsu into the orb!"
Outside Kuukaku began the incantation "The Red Bronze requires thirty-six degrees of adjustment, thirteen pairs of whistles, seventy-two pairs of shade."
She took a breath and grabbed her headband with her good hand, wrapped it around her hand and set it ablaze
"The Apes right hand grabs the Star" she intoned as she slammed her flaming fist into the podium
"Embracing twenty-five suns, the cradle of sands are bleeding" she finished as the ball containing the group was launched into the air
"KUUKAKU STYLE TWO – KAGIZAKI!"
In midair, Ichigo was looking around blankly "Y'know, that wasn't as much of an impact as I expected"
Layne mentally counted down the seconds before Ichigo's words would come back to bite him in the ass
"3…2…1…"
And they shot forward with such speed that Ichigo and Orihime nearly lost their balance
Moll pulled out a long sheet of paper out and responded to Layne's unspoken question almost immediately
"Kuukaku says that version two, has two incantations, one for the shot and the other one for the heading, if you wanna survive this don't talk to me"
"How are you supposed to focus your energy while you're paying attention to that?" Ishida wanted to know
"I'm not, so just cover for me"
And without any more acknowledgements to them she began to read
"Kuukaku Style Two – Follow-up Incantation, Fate of Three Birds, Fate of Four Dragons, No Road in Five Directions, No Return in Six Miles…
"Um Kurosaki-kun, you're a little too strong" Orihime mumbled timidly
"Oh okay"
"Kurosaki, Lower!" Ishida snapped
"Ok"
"Ichigo, too strong" Chad muttered
"I'm lowering"
Moll continued as if there had been no interruption "A thousand ashes, a thousand intellects, the cloud tactic…"
"Ichigo" Layne started
"WHAT!"
"Tilting towards the Yin, away from the fiery red shadows, a thousand ashes, a thousand intellects… SHUT THE FUCK UP" she screeched throwing away the scroll and punching Layne
"…What the hell?" Layne managed to say
"Sorry, force of habit" she apologized
"This is no time for stupid things" Yoruichi snapped, "Throw as much energy you can into the orb to harden it, we are about to crash into the shield!"
Various reactions were seen as the firework hurtled towards the shield
Outside the 11th division Captain Zaraki Kenpachi and his Lieutenant watched the orb with undisguised glee,
"Finally, some new enemies to fight" was the lone thought percolating in his head
Outside the 6th Division headquarters, Captain Byakuya Kuchiki watched the orb fly in with a neutral expression, while Renji mouthed "What the hell is that"
Joel kneeled on the top of a roof, taking a good look at the orb
"So you've come, Layne" he whispered to himself
Three shadows flashstepped their way into the Central 46 headquarters with their first warning of the Orb.
They forgot to seal the door behind them so it was lucky that no one was close enough to hear the screams from inside
And finally, one midget Shinigami wearing a reiatsu sealing collar sat in the Senzaikyuu watching and reflecting on the narrow sky,
Hey eyes widened in surprise at the sky brightened and then darkened as if a flash of lightning had moved in slow motion
The orb collided with the shield above the Seireitei and the group were suddenly floating in midair
"Why aren't we falling?" Ichigo asked quizzically
"Don't separate!" Yoruichi shouted "This is only temporary; soon a tornado will start and blow us away!"
Almost as if by magic, as soon as the words left Yoruichi's mouth the wind picked up intensely
Chad quickly grabbed Orihime, and Ichigo grabbed a hold of Layne, who grabbed Moll, Yoruichi leapt over and snagged her claws into Moll's shihakusho.
Unfortunately Chad missed Ishida hand and he started to fall out of the vortex
"Ishida!" everyone except Chad shouted
Chad merely grunted and acting instinctively, launched himself after Ishida, leaving a surprised Orihime behind.
When he reached Ishida he tossed him back into the vortex with such force that Ishida flew directly for Orihime and she grabbed onto him
Chad shot towards the ground like a bullet
What he didn't consider was that the path that Ishida would travel would intercept the arm that Layne was using to hold onto Moll,
Layne grunted as Ishida collided with his arm and immediately let go of Moll on reflex
"Shit" he muttered as Yoruichi and Moll were sucked out of the vortex
Moll screeched after him "You idiot Layne!"
From the ground it looked like the orb split into four streaks of golden light
"Damn" Kenpachi growled, "They separated into four"
He looked at each of the streaking beams in turn, narrowing his eyes, "Now which one is the strongest" he muttered
As the beams went down each person in the beam used very different methods to land safely
Chad called out the armor for his arm and charged up one of his energy blasts
Orihime used Santen Kesshun to break her and Ishida's fall like she did when the group exited the Kouryuu
Moll and Yoruichi were slightly more screwed, had Yoruichi been alone she could have easily landed using flashsteps, but she couldn't drag Moll in cat form and there was no time to transform.
Luckily Moll didn't plan on dying because of a stupid thing like that
"Rise Inside! Sora!" she called, releasing her zanpakuto
A keyblade appeared in her hand, and Yoruichi immediately scrutinized it, she hadn't seen Moll release before and this keyblade looked different to Layne's Oathkeeper, its shaft and key part were all silver and the handle was dark blue, and it had three joined circles hanging off the end of the yellow handle guard.
"What are you going to do" Yoruichi yelled into Moll's ear
Moll didn't answer, and just shouted "Permeate!"
Moll and Yoruichi became insubstantial, almost like a traditional ghost and hit the floor, falling right through it into the sewers
Moll deactivated the ability and they began moving along the sewers in an attempt to find an exit.
Layne and Ichigo kept falling
"Shit" was all Ichigo could say
"I got this" Layne said, sounding unworried. He bent his knees in midair and began to solidify the reishi beneath his feet. Just before they hit the ground Layne pushed off the solidified block of reishi and back flipped twice before landing neatly on the ground.
The solidified block of reishi however kept moving with the speed they had been travelling at and hit the ground with the impact of a meteor, making a large crater
"Well, what do we do now Ichigo?" Layne asked when the smoke from the impact cleared,
"We make our way to Rukia" Ichigo replied curtly, sounding a little annoyed that of all the possibilities that were present from when they hit the shield, being left alone with Layne was the one that he'd ended up with
"Man, what is your problem?" Layne asked "I'm sorry alright, I don't fucking know what I did to piss you off so bad, but can we move past it?"
"Hah-ha, So Lucky" A voice sounded from the roof behind Ichigo and Layne, They stiffened in readiness as two figures jumped down in front of them
"Jeez," The bald one said "Originally we thought that standing guard took too much effort so we bailed, but look Yumichika, the guys we are looking for ended up in front of us anyway"
The one with peacock feathers and a weird (in Layne's opinion) haircut replied
"It's beautifully lucky isn't it Ikkaku"
"Ahh well, Lucky for us, but you two" he said, shifting his attentions to Layne and Ichigo
"Are very unlucky"
"Eh?" questioned Layne and Ichigo, staring blankly at Ikkaku and Yumichika
Yoruichi and Moll ran through the sewers, discussing what to do… and Layne
"It might actually be better this way, though I would of preferred Layne be here, since he is faster than you, no offence intended Moll"
"Don't worry Yoruichi, I'm actually a little scared that Layne can get that strong and still not complain every time I kick the crap out of him" Moll said with a tight smile
"Either way we need to set up a base somewhere, where the Onmitskido won't find us"
"Well you're the one who seems to know everything about this Seireitei place, we would have had to fight all those Shinigami waiting for us if you hadn't told me about the sewers that ran underneath this place"
"…really?"
"I don't want to use Permeate on barriers too thick because I'm not sure how long I can keep it up for and I risk getting embedded in something solid if it fails in the middle of a wall or something. I do have another move which would have made us land safely but I figured it would be better if we got away rather than wasting our energy in pointless fights like Chad is doing at the moment and like Ichigo and Layne are probably going to do"
"Well said, Moll"
They reached a ladder and Yoruichi jumped on Moll's shoulder as she began to climb up
"If we are where I think we are then there should be a good spot to hide reasonably close" she whispered into Moll's ear
"Alright"
Moll exited the ladder and flashstepped away just in time to avoid the three shadows that had been tracking her reiatsu
"Fucks sake" the female voice muttered "She's got the fuckin' cat with her, we can't fight that"
"Goddammit!" The second voice sounded, punching a hole in the wall "We should have gone for it anyway!"
The pure bloodlust in his voice would have made any other person quail in fear but the third voice just said
"Calm the fuck down, there will easily be another chance at them"
Meanwhile Ichigo and Layne couldn't believe the sight in front of their eyes.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"WHAT THE HELL!" Ikkaku screeched "I did the Lucky Lucky dance to give you guys some time to run away, but you just stand there like dumbasses?"
"…"
"…"
"Why would we run away?" Layne asked finally as he unsheathed Roxas "If you're stronger than us than you'll just overtake us and we'll have to fight anyway"
Ikkaku's eyes narrowed at that, these kids knew what they were talking about
"But if you're weaker than us, we can take you down and move forward promptly, that's what I thought at least" Ichigo finished, putting one hand on Zangetsu's hilt, surprised that Layne's thoughts had been along the same line as his, and getting annoyed at Layne all over again
"Maybe you guys aren't as dumb as you look" Ikkaku replied with a grin.
He turned his attention to Yumichika "Which one do you want Yumichika?"
"I don't really care" the effeminate Shinigami replied offhandedly, busy looking in another direction
"Then you can have the one that feels weaker" and Ikkaku's grin changed from sane, to maniacal as he looked at Ichigo, who responded by tightening his grip on Zangetsu.
"Hold on Ikkaku, this situation is most unbeautiful" Yumichika complained "It's impossible for both fights to go one on one in this most ugly cramped space"
Layne and Ichigo sweatdropped but Ikkaku took him seriously
"You're right Yumichika, we can't have a proper one on one in this small space"
"Let's take this elsewhere then" Layne said, shrugging as he flashstepped off making Yumichika follow
"I have got to learn how he does that" Ichigo muttered
Layne and Yumichika ended up next to a giant pit, so deep that Layne couldn't see the bottom
"I suppose this place is as good as any" Layne commented as he brought Roxas up into a combat ready position
"You skipping through the proper pleasantries is quite tiresome and ugly" Yumichika pouted
Layne closed his eyes and silently cursed whatever deity had plagued him with the narcissistic ones
Seriously?
"Layne Trell" he answered finally, opening his eyes and tightening his grip on Roxas
Yumichika smirked "Ayasegawa Yumichika, fifth seat of the eleventh division, the best combat division of the Gotei 13" he declared unsheathing his zanpakuto
"That's a pretty good title…but I'll believe it when I see it" Layne shot back as he began the fight, charging at half speed and aiming a side cut at Yumichika, who moved his zanpakuto to block it.
And the fight was on.
Dodge, Parry, Block, Strike, Duck, and Swing. The moves ran through Layne's head as he performed the actions they conveyed, with nearly perfect timing, only receiving a small cut on the back of his left hand and shoulder.
He felt Ichigo's reiatsu surge and swung Roxas faster than normal and managed to lop off one of Yumichika's feathers
The falling feather seemed to move in slow motion and Layne suddenly got the feeling that things were very bad
"You…chopped…feather…my…ugly…" Yumichika snarled with rage and held his zanpakuto out to the side
"Bloom! Fuji Kujaku!" he yelled and the once ordinary katana split into something that looked like four sickles leading into the hilt
"The release is out, about damned time" Layne muttered as he threw Roxas to the side "Drift! Roxas!"
The sealed zanpakuto disappeared in a flash of light and Oathkeeper appeared in Layne's hand
"Let's fight for real then, Layne Trell" Yumichika declared hatefully
Ichigo ran along the alleys of the Seireitei, having defeated Ikkaku and gotten his directions and was now looking for Layne
"Where is that guy" he thought to himself "Ikkaku said that the feather-face that Layne was fighting was the fifth strongest guy in the eleventh division, so he might need my help… but I can't find him!"
Ichigo sucked in a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"LAYNE, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU, DO ONE OF YOUR WEIRD FLASHY LIGHT MOVES SO I CAN FIND YOU!"
Unfortunately he ran past an alley containing some 11th division members who heard his shout, they pulled up their weapons and immediately began chasing after him
"Crap…" said Ichigo to himself, "I forgot that they were looking for me"
Layne heard Ichigo's shout and smiled inwardly while Yumichika smiled outwardly at the supposed stupidity of Ichigo
"Does your friend have a brain?" Yumichika asked scathingly "Doesn't he realized that the entire Gotei 13 is out to get him?"
"Do you have a brain?" Layne countered "If Ichigo is running around like an idiot then that means he defeated that bald guy"
Yumichika's eyes widened in shock and his demeanour changed "Perfect" Layne thought "Now I've pissed him off even more"
"Ikkaku can't lose; the eleventh division is the strongest of them all, and he's the third strongest of us all!" Yumichika said angrily
"Like I said, I'll believe it when I see it" Layne said calmly, taking the offensive once more and swinging Oathkeeper for Yumichika's face,
Yumichika brought Fuji Kujaku up to block it, but this time rather than just hitting the blade and stopping, Oathkeeper cleaved right through all four prongs and connected with the side of Yumichika's head and sent him flying directly into the wall, where he cratered and slumped down, unconscious
Layne couldn't resist looking back and doing a little posturing "If you let your emotions get to you in the middle of a fight, it's over" he said as he resealed Roxas
Once done he flashstepped off to join up with Ichigo
Moll and Yoruichi sprang across buildings, feeling for everyone's spiritual pressure
"I feel Ichigo, Ishida, Chad and Orihime, but I can't feel Layne at all" Moll said worriedly "He couldn't have been beaten… could he?"
"Don't worry about Layne, He won't go down so easily" Yoruichi replied, "He's probably using a special reiatsu masking technique I taught him"
Yoruichi extended her senses and counted the pulses of reiatsu she could feel. Ishida's, Orihime's, Chad's, Moll's and Ichigo's, and sure enough, Layne's hiding under Ichigo
"He's just using Ichigo's reiatsu as a shield"
"Why's he doing that?"
Well the real reason was that Layne's Vizard reiatsu was extremely pronounced to a trained observer, Ishida had his suspicions but Ichigo, Chad, Orihime and Moll just accepted that Layne felt like Layne and didn't question the hollow like feeling they got
Now Yoruichi couldn't actually say that Layne was using Ichigo's massive reiatsu as a shield to hide the hollow like feeling because the Gotei 13 would instantly zero in on Layne and Ichigo's location and send more troops than they could handle
So instead of the long explanation Yoruichi opted for the less complicated one, the one which wasn't exactly telling the truth, or exactly lying.
"He's using Ichigo's reiatsu to subtly shield himself from observers; anyone searching by reiatsu scanning will just feel Ichigo's unnatural reiatsu but ignore Layne's unless they actually know he's there"
"Oh, okay then"
Yoruichi faced forward and thought to herself, "You must not die, everyone, stay alive"