Title: When daylight goes nightmares come

Rating: G, action, humour

Pairing / Characters: Kuchiki Byakuya, Hitsugaya Toushirou, Ukitake Jyuushirou, Kyouraku Shunsui, Urahara Kisuke, Shihouin Yoruichi, Kurosaki Isshin, Kurosaki Ichigo

Word Count: 1, 161 words

Warnings: Nothing

Summary: It and Ichigo have a face off, Ichigo is victorious

A/N: Does this monster actually scare anyone? It seems no worse than a hollow, except for the skull part. I found that kinda disgusting, actually. Think about it: zanpakutou… rotting skull… crack

Yoruichi lifted her head at the thin sound in the distance.

'Trouble,' she announced dryly. 'Again.'

Jyuushirou was already on his feet, sliding open the door and stepping out into the darkness. Shunsui was a step behind him, a troubled expression on his face.

Hitsugaya sighed. 'This is really annoying.'

Ichigo backed up against the wall, unable to go any further. The distant part of his mind was unable to understand why he wasn't able to stand up and fight, but the majority of his brain was so soaked in fear that he couldn't even move. Not even Zangetsu could help him this time; Ichigo had never felt so overwhelmingly alone – until a combination of captain level reiatsu made him want to cry with relief.

Help was coming.

Through the fear, that thought was the only thing in his mind that meant anything. They were coming, even if they didn't know it was him they were coming for, and that meant that he had to get up, had to fight…

Ichigo struggled to his feet, hands wrapped so tightly around Zangetsu that his knuckles were going white. He could feel the pulsing within his mind that meant his hollow side was trying to break free, and he controlled it with an effort. Not now… this wasn't the time for recklessness…

Ichigo brought Zangetsu up, taking several deep, shuddering breaths.

'Damn you to the hell you came from,' he snarled.

They were close when Jyuushirou came to a sudden halt, his face whitening in the orange of the street lights.

'Oh…my…god…'

'Jyuu?' Shunsui demanded, dark eyes filled with worry. 'What is it, what's wrong?'

Jyuushirou turned to him. 'C- Can't you feel it, Shun? That thing… it's here –'

Byakuya's voice was sharp. 'The thing Isshin told us of? Things so evil even hell can't hold them in…'

Kisuke's expression was bleak. 'It certainly feels like it – and this feels familiar somehow…'

Jyuushirou swallowed with an effort. 'Well, we're older now,' he muttered, 'and hopefully wiser. Maybe this time…'

The reiatsu that filled the air was one they all recognized. Yoruichi gasped aloud, and Isshin went grey with sheer horror.

'Ichigo…'

It only took a second before they were flying through the streets towards the horror and the shinigami substitute who faced it.

Ichigo was surprised to feel rage slowly taking the place of his anger. This – this thing had made him feel like a fool, a small, helpless human being, when he was neither.

He was a lone flower…

And nothing, nothing was going to make him feel like an idiot again, even if it was a terrifying monster that made his insides shake with fear at a single look from those sightless eyes.

Ichigo closed his eyes, seeking the spirit of his zanpakutou.

Isshin nearly had heart failure when he saw Ichigo standing before the hellish vision, his zanpakutou held up before him like a shield, eyes closed, the pallor to his skin. Despite his fear for his son, Isshin could only stare at the zanpakutou in Ichigo's hand.

'Shikai already?' he wondered aloud.

Yoruichi shook her head. 'No, Isshin. Ichigo's zanpakutou is permanently released. It's always in shikai.'

'You had something to do with this, didn't you Kisuke?'

Kisuke tilted the brim of his hat downwards. 'I might have.'

'What the hell is he doing?' Hitsugaya demanded, resolutely keeping his eyes turned away from the monster.

'Yoruichi smiled. 'Just watch.'

Zangetsu's expression was impassive as always. Ichigo stood before him, unafraid of the mass of sideways buildings that was his mind.

'Do you notice anything, Ichigo?' Zangetsu asked at last.

Ichigo frowned. 'Something different?'

'Yes, and no. Look around you – what do you see?'

Ichigo figured that his zanpakutou was being literal so he went with it. 'Buildings… clouds… blue sky…'

Zangetsu inclined his head. 'Exactly. Even while facing that ancient horror, your mind is steady. You know what that means?'

Ichigo did. 'My power hasn't changed, I was just afraid to use it.'

'That's right. Use me, Ichigo. Don't be afraid of what you see, you can defeat it easily if you don't let fear rule your mind.'

'Then… lend me your strength, O'san,' Ichigo said softly.

'As always… as always…'

Ichigo opened his eyes, the calmness evident to the captains whose presence he no longer noticed. His reiatsu increased substantially, and only two of the six were unsurprised, having witnessed it before.

Isshin's jaw dropped as Ichigo thrust the zanpakutou forward, left hand on his right arm, the command ringing in the air.

'Bankai!'

A smile graced his face when he saw the changes to his son. The robes were longer, his zanpakutou taking the shape of a slender black katana.

'You're going down,' Ichigo informed the monster flatly – and leapt forward, swinging Zangetsu downward and taking the monster's arm with it.

It screamed; a high pitched whine that made Yoruichi cover her ears in pain. Ichigo was largely unaffected by the sound as the thing swung around towards him with near terrifying speed, disappearing from view and reappearing behind him.

'How the hell do I kill this thing?' Ichigo roared.

'Try purifying it!' Shunsui shouted back. 'Treat it like a hollow!'

Ichigo grinned bleakly, lifted Zangetsu high into the air, and bringing it down as hard as he could.

Unlike hollows, there was a sickening cracking sound and the monster actually howled in pain, lifting its arm to its head. Ichigo didn't blink as thick, black blood spattered his hands and clothes, but kept moving, dragging Zangetsu through its skull and into its neck.

An explosion of black pieces of whatever it was made of flung Ichigo against the wall, sending the captains tumbling like leaves in the wind, and when Byakuya could lift his head, the monster was gone, and Ichigo lay unmoving on the ground.

Byakuya rose gracefully, hurrying over to Ichigo and kneeling down. His eyes were closed, and his breathing ragged, which was unsurprising considering what he'd just faced. Other than that there were no injuries Byakuya could see, and as he lifted Ichigo into his arms, the boy groaned, but didn't move.

'Isshin – I think you should have a look at him –'

Isshin struggled to his feet, rubbing a welt on his temple, and moved over to Byakuya's side.

'Incredible,' Hitsugaya murmured. 'That was incredible…'

Shunsui, Kisuke and Jyuushirou exchanged troubled glances, neither of them over seeing their nightmare having come to life before them.

'That was awful,' Jyuushirou whispered. 'Oh gods, I remember why I –'

'Don't think about it,' Kisuke advised. 'It will just bring trouble for us all.'

'What will?' Hitsugaya asked.

'It's just that if something like that is here, it makes me wonder what else will follow,' Jyuushirou answered quietly.

'Never mind that, if that thing is here, then who – or what – is bringing them to Karakura?' Shunsui wondered.

Isshin glanced up, and sighed. 'I really wish you hadn't said that, Shunsui.'