Here we go folks! Chapter two this one is a lot more jam packed I promise this one pretty much sets the foundations for things to come later on

(persons perspective)

"Hello" someone who is spirit or inner voices e.g. Zangetsu or Ichigo's hollow

"Hello" normal speech

enjoy

Chapter 2 Pain and desperation

(Ichigo)

When Ichigo had come through into whatever spiritual plane that stark had brought him to, he was mildly surprised to see green trees and blue sky with the sun beginning to set in the distance, he had half expected to end up somewhere in hueco mundo. That thought instantly left his head when he looked around to see stark jumping up into a tree and then losing sight of him. He didn't even think twice about it he took off in the direction he had last seen the arrancar and started to follow the feint traces of his sister's reiatsus.

He was so focused on getting his sisters back, that as he jumped over a small bush into the depths of the forest he didn't even notice another very familiar presence slip through the portal just before it sealed itself again.

He was running as fast as he could but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't seem to get any closer to his target even with his extra speed from his bankai and hollow. Eventually he felt his sisters reiatsu stop not too far ahead he felt his grip tighten on zangetsu in anticipation for the upcoming encounter, he knew that this was probably some trap to get rid of him but he didn't care he wouldn't rest until his sisters where back home and away from danger.

As he jumped through yet another set of bushes he stopped as he found himself in a large clearing about the size of a football field, with a large cliff at one end and thick forest creating a sort of semi circle around it. The clearing had hardly any grass and was also littered with huge boulders the size of cars obviously from the cliff face up ahead, but while he was looking around he suddenly found his sisters still tied and out cold propped up against a boulder at the base of the cliff.

But what instantly put him on edge was the fact that he couldn't see or sense stark anywhere, it didn't help that he was hopeless at sensing spiritual presences except for a few very familiar ones like his family and close friends. But even so he thought he would be able to feel someone like an espada they were meant to have huge reiatsus.

"I don't like this but I have to get my sisters before I can start playing his games" he mumbled as he got ready to dash for the two girls. He took one more look around then shot off in his sister's direction.

Just as he was almost within arm's reach of his target he saw a bright blue light coming from a boulder to his left. His body acted out of instinct and flash stepped straight up to avoid the cero and watched it as it tore through a couple of boulders on its way past. When he felt a prickling sensation on the back of his neck he flash stepped down just in time to avoid another cero aimed at his back. He kept dodging until he had been driven back from his sisters then it calmed again.

As he looked around he still couldn't find any traces of stark anywhere and he needed to find him quick but how was he going to do that when he couldn't sense him anywhere?

"are you going to come out and fight like a man or are you just going to keep hiding and keep taking cheap shots at me all day" he bellowed in no real direction as he kept sweeping the area trying to find any traces of his opponent.

"Now now, I know all about your skills and abilities as a close range fighter. While I for one much prefer medium to long range fighting. And since I would rather not have to over exert myself to fight you up close, why would I do something foolish and give up my advantage?" he said with a very smug tone in his voice.

Another cero came from his right and he dodged accordingly. He still couldn't pin point where the voice was coming from as it seemed to echo off of the cliff face and throughout the boulders.

He tried to make another dash for his sisters but was intercepted by another wolf that exploded and threw him back into another boulder. He knew he was going to have to beat this guy at his own game before he could help his sisters but had no idea how he was going to do that.

He needed to stall while he thought up a way to even the odds. "what do my sisters have to do with any of this, if you want to fight me here I am but leave my sisters out of this" he said as he started to get more agitated as more cero would keep coming at him from different directions each time forcing him to keep moving.

It was like playing hide and seek but with much higher stakes, he kept darting from boulder to boulder just trying to stay out of sight.

"Well they have served their initial purpose already" stark yelled out tauntingly.

"And what was that" Ichigo replied getting angry again

"Don't you see it was you" the voice said with a bit of a chuckle

"Huh" Ichigo grunted as he didn't get what he was implying

"my you're not really using that brain of yours, it's almost to troublesome to explain, but I'm feel generous today so ill help you out" he said "Aizen has been keeping an eye on you, watching you develop your abilities. But he wasn't fully expecting you to make an appearance so soon today but thought due to your impressive growth over the last few months he should be prepared for something like this. So before we left I was sent to find a certain pair of humans and bring them along just in case. As you can see I was chosen because of my stealth and abilities to mask my presence almost completely. But aside from that he knew you would cause problems if you became involved at this point in time before you were needed".

This last bit confused Ichigo even more "what the hell are you talking about, I wouldn't do anything for that prick" he shouted back

"Well not at the moment but that is beside the point. What I was trying to say is that because the others in Las noches obviously failed and you arrived early and managed to catch him of guard he knew you where past a certain point. See Aizen-sama sees potential in you for some reason and he would like to have someone with your qualities and abilities on his side. So you needed to be separated and captured quietly so that we could begin the next part of his plan. We were going to do this when we got back to Hueco Mundo but you know the situation. So I needed to draw you out so that I could get you alone and make sure there were no complications during your detainment and this is where your young sisters come into the picture" he said with that indifferent tone of his

Ichigo tensed as he realized what he was implying they were going to use his sisters as leverage against him, they were going to use them against him so that he would come quietly and become one of their filthy tools. And who knows what horrors they would be subjected to just to get him to cooperate. His blood began to boil even more as those thoughts rushed through his head. 'NO!' he wouldn't let that happen, he wouldn't let anybody threaten his sisters and live to tell the tale. As he realized the danger his young siblings where really in his mind seem to clear and he knew what he needed to do at that moment.

(Yoruichi)

Yoruichi arrived at the edge of the clearing just as stark began to speak she was definitely shocked at what she was hearing, just the thought of Aizen using Ichigo for his plans made her cringe a little bit. She also became curious as to how he would use him exactly because she knew Ichigo would rather die than help him with anything. But at the same time would do anything to keep his sisters safe

She stopped thinking about that as she saw Ichigo darting around trying to avoid all of the ceros and exploding wolves that kept appearing from every direction. She almost couldn't detect the espada at all but being an expert at stealth herself managed to find a very faint trace of him. He was using his masking ability and his sonido continuously and very well to keep Ichigo clueless as to where he was.

While she was watching how the fight was going to play out she spotted the two little girls she knew to be Ichigo's sisters propped up against a rock at the base of the cliff and was thinking how she was going to get to them when her attention was brought back to Ichigo. He had been shaking and releasing so much reiatsu in anger as the espada had been talking but then the reiatsu and tension abruptly spiked then stopped, and he seemed to be concentrating on something. His whole body seemed to relax ever so slightly his stance widened as he planted his feet just a bit more than shoulder width apart with a slight bend at the knees, as he prepared for something his breathing started to slow to a calm steady pace. She saw a black energy begin to surround zangetsu as he held him out in front in a ready stance, then as soon as a cero was fired from a boulder behind and to the right he released a getsuga tensho in a quick and controlled horizontal slash in the direction it came from.

Stark obviously wasn't expecting such a quick reaction because he was taken by surprise as his cero was ripped apart and he was thrown into another boulder due to the resulting explosion. Yoruichi saw this as her chance and shunpoed towards the hostages.

(Ichigo)

Once Ichigo had caught site of stark flying into another boulder and finally evened the playing fields again he adjusted his grip on zangetsu and charged at full pace towards the espada as not to give him a chance to hide again.

As he was approaching, stark holstered his pistols and summoned a plain looking zanpakto with a bright yellow handle and guard along with a group of wolves as he stood up. But Ichigo had covered the distance in a few seconds and already clashed blades before the wolves had a chance to get in the way.

They began a quick exchange of blows neither getting the advantage. Ichigo used his superior speed to dart around stark trying to find an opening while stark used sonido to parry and evade most of the shiniganis strikes. They were caught in a brutal dance that consisted of dodge, parry, counter, strike, dodge and this process repeated over and over.

Ichigo was trying to keep as close as he could to stark with his attacks so that his wolves couldn't get a chance to drive him back without damaging the owner at the same time.

They locked blades again and Ichigo glared at the espada who finally looked like he was going to take things seriously, but Ichigo was momentarily distracted when he saw a familiar blur of orange and purple moving past them towards his sisters. As he saw the blur he knew exactly who it was and his heart lifted slightly knowing that she was here to help him protect his family when she could have easily stayed back with everyone else. But she had come after him to help but as these thoughts rushed through his mind his eyes lost their focus for only a split second but it was a split second to long.

Stark saw the moment of distraction in Ichigo's eyes and used this moment to his advantage and gave Ichigo's blade a quick shove then spun his body around delivering a sweeping kick knocking Ichigo's legs out from under him sending the teen to the ground allowing him to put some distance between the two as the young shinigami shot back to his feet instantly. As soon as there was enough space the wolves where on Ichigo again.

Stark then also noticed the orange blur darting between the boulders heading for his two prisoners he couldn't have anyone interfering here, while summoning more wolves he used sonido to intercept.

(Yoruichi)

Yoruichi was definitely surprised when she stepped around the last boulder between her and the kurosaki girls and came face to face with the man that Ichigo had been fighting a second ago. She hadn't been captain of the second squad and known as the goddess of flash for no reason. Yet he had found and intercepted her so quickly she had to quickly rethink her strategy. He also now had two wolves on each side of him that where about two and a half feet tall and made of reiatsu which gave them a cloudy blue appearance.

She quickly jumped back putting some distance between the two of them as she looked around to see how he had gotten away from Ichigo. Then she saw those dam wolves again and could guess what had happened.

"I thought I felt some reiatsu flickering just outside of the clearing not much but it was still there. Well done you must be very talented in the field of stealth to be able to hide yourself from me" he said in a rather casual tone.

She just continued to stare at him trying to piece together what she was going to do now, but her thoughts were interrupted as he continued to speak.

"I cannot allow you to go any further, but I will allow you to turn around and go unharmed if you leave now and do not interfere here. You have already complicated things enough and for that I should end you but I am going to be kind and give you the choice. So what will it be missy?" he added with a questioning look.

She thought it was obvious. "Well sorry for the inconvenience but unfortunately for you I can't do that. You have two people that I cannot leave here without so we are in a pickle aren't we" she said as she slipped into her fighting stance prepared for the battle.

"Ohhhhhh boy" he sighed "I guess it can't be helped then"

As he finished his body began to shimmer then Yoruichi turned to her right to find a pistol pointed at her face. She instantly ducked and shunpoed behind him bringing her leg around aiming a kick at his exposed side. But just as she was sure she was going to connect he seemed to shimmer forward a few feet in an instant and she noticed another blue light forming under his outstretched arm.

She jumped up and pointed her palm towards stark "Hado 33 sokatsui" she cried as blue lightning gathered in her palm and shot at the espada with blinding speed. As she landed and looked to see if she had made contact through the cloud of dust that had been thrown up from the explosion, she had to jump to the side as another cero zipped buy her left side. She quickly spun around to find him standing a few yards behind her with a slight tear in his pant leg above his thigh.

"Impressive to be able to use a kido with such force while only stating the name" he said calmly as if he didn't even notice his close call.

It was true that kido was much weaker without the incantation but she had become quite proficient in the use of kido since she trained tirelessly to improve her skills because she didn't use a zanpakto and needed something to supplement her hand to hand combat.

She just gave him another smirk and charged at him again, when she got close she unleashed her hand to hand fighting style on him. She was using her speed and flexibility to her advantage, all of his movements seemed stiff and lacked any kind of flow compared to her. She almost looked like a dancer with the rhythm and grace that she was moving around with. It made you want to pause and admire the finesse the goddess was showing. She would attack and he would block or evade and she would use her momentum to immediately move into another deadly strike while throwing kido in every now and again just to mix things up a bit.

She was in the air now about to deliver a spin kick to his head when he reached up and grabbed her right ankle stopping the hit. She used the momentum and her flexibility to twist her body and bring her other leg around also aiming at his head causing him to block also at the same time releasing her leg. She managed to push off him as he released her and twist her body again in the air so that she landed on all fours, but as soon as she came in contact with the ground she was rocketing towards him again and landed two powerful punches to his chest before he could react causing him to stagger back slightly while he tried to force air back into his lungs.

She took a moment to stare at her opponent he was looking a little worse for wear his jacket was torn across his chest and down his back from more close calls with kido. He also had a few puffy spots on his face that would swell up nicely later on thanks to a few reiatsu infused hits along with a few that weren't quite visible due to his cloths. But she hadn't quite gotten of scott free either, her arms were feeling quite tender from blocking a few of his outrageously powerful hits. Also her hands and legs were beginning to ache from sticking his rock hard skin. She knew she would pay for it later on.

Yoruichi had been keeping as much pressure as she could on him not allowing him space to fire off to many more of those ceros and also keeping him from summoning his wolves to get in the way. But he had still managed to fire a few ceros which had come way to close for comfort, she had a few burns on her left shoulder were a cero had gotten particularly close and just nicked her burning away the material and leaving a nasty red mark in its place. Her pant legs were also singed in a few places from other close calls.

The dark skinned goddess eyed her opponent and knew that she had to step it up a notch if she actually wanted to win. Yes she had been the one dominating the skirmish so far but to put it bluntly she wasn't physically strong enough to actually do any real damage to him. At this rate he would be battered and bruised but it wouldn't stop him. She knew she was going to have to release her shunko but was a little weary due to the close proximity to the hostages and the explosive power that came with shunko.

She was just beginning to gather reiatsu at her shoulders when the air became thick and heavy, suddenly it was hard to breath as a disturbing and twisted wave of reiatsu smacked into her and started to beat down against her body trying to force her to her knees. She managed to push herself up against the foreboding force to see where it was coming from. She was surprised to see that it wasn't coming from stark as his body was also slightly rigid from bracing himself against the force. She also noticed that he was looking in what she assumed was Ichigo's direction with a slight scowl.

Yoruichi was about to look around when the clearing was rocked with a chain reaction of massive explosions which caused a few loose rocks to fall from the cliff side and the overwhelming reiatsu to ease up a little, just enough that she didn't have to strain so much against its weight. She thought it was stark again but he still hadn't moved, but as she was looking around again to find the source she saw a shimmer around stark from the corner of her eye and before she could react there was a blinding pain followed by warm sensation flowing down her right leg. She looked down to see a long cut all the way up the length of her thigh which was pouring out with blood. She looked up again just in time to see stark bringing his blade around to cut her again, through pure adrenaline she was able to use her other leg to hop backwards dodging the main strike but still receiving another cut along her stomach.

Before she could react again she felt a boot connect with her chest with tremendous force sending her flying back to roll across the ground and come to a halt just a few yards from the two sisters.

Her entire body was screaming at her as she tried to get back up, but her head kept spinning and her vision kept fading in and out of focus from all of the blood lost. She couldn't even get up on her hands and knees, but when she saw how close she was to the girls she forced herself to move. She heard the sound of clashing blades and knew she wasn't in immediate danger from the espada. Her body was still screaming in protest as she moved inch by inch dragging herself across the ground through sheer will power. Her body was telling her to give up and rest but no matter how nice she knew that would feel right now she kept going.

Finally she made it she didn't really know what she was going to do now but knew she had to do something to help while stark wasn't looking. She painfully lifted herself up onto her knees using all of her will to sit up although her shoulders where slumped over and it took all of her concentration just to keep herself from falling forward onto her target. As she slowly began to untie the knots binding the girls she saw that they were both slowly stirring but she kept going making sure she got this done first.

As the girl with the sandy brown hair began looking around franticly trying to figure out what was going on she turned and looked straight at Yoruichi with a questioning look. The dark skinned woman gave her a slight smile to try and keep her calm as she knew the young girl was probably confused and possibly scarred at the moment.

The young girl gave her a small smile in response as she realized that she was there to help out. But she suddenly gasped as her eyes took in the appearance of her saviour and saw the state that Yoruichi was in, her purple bangs where stuck to her forehead and to the sides of her face with sweat, her eyelids where drooping slightly from exhaustion which were half covering her piercing golden eyes, her shoulders where slumped over and she looked like she was going to keel over any second now. But her eyes widened even more as she saw the blood from the gashes across her stomach and along her thigh.

"You're hurt" she cried

"You don't need to worry about me, what's important is that we get you two out of here" Yoruichi replied trying to calm the girl down

But as soon as she finally got the last knot undone she couldn't keep herself upright anymore, knowing she had given the girls the means to at least run away so that Ichigo could fight without distraction she gave in to the heavy feeling of her body and fell over on her side. She didn't have the will to fight the pain and exhaustion that was consuming her body anymore so didn't even bother to try and get up or move at all. She was content with just lying there and resting peacefully until death claimed her.

(Yuzu)

As soon as the knots where loose Yuzu shook herself free of the restraints and made sure that Karin was alright she was coming to and was just beginning to take in her surroundings, as soon as she knew that her sister was alright she instantly hurried to the woman's side to help her. She had helped her father plenty of times in the clinic to know what needed to be done for now until they could get her to a hospital

She began to tear strips from the bottom of her shirt to use as bandages but was interrupted when Karin began to speak from behind her

"Oi Yuzu were the hell are we and what are we doing here?" she asked while looking around and trying to figure out where they were.

Yuzu would normally be the one asking the questions while she hid behind her bolder twin sister, but at this moment she wasn't focused on their surroundings she was focused on saving the woman that had freed them.

"I don't know Karin but help me out over here. This woman saved us so we have to help her"

Karin looked over Yuzu's shoulder and didn't ask any questions once she saw the state of the women lying in front of her sister. She quickly kneeled down and also began ripping strips of her shirt to use as bandages to slow the bleeding as much as possible.

The two girls quickly set to work trying to move her as little as possible and when needed trying to shift her around as gently as possible, wrapping the strips of fabric around the wounds pulling them tight and putting as much pressure as they could in an attempt to slow the blood.

"SHIT!" the woman cried out in clear agony as they tied the bandages off and put pressure on them.

"Sorry about that but it has to be done until we can get you to a hospital" Yuzu told the women apologetically.

The woman opened her eyes and gave both girls a strained smile

(Yoruichi)

Yoruichi was allowing the darkness to take over as her body became heavier and heavier. The pain was slowly subsiding as the darkness consumed her more and more. She felt her body being moved around and voices talking somewhere in the distance but she just didn't care anymore. She just wanted it to end already, she didn't really want to die but she wasn't afraid of it now that she was basically on its front door step. She was happy with the decisions she had made in her life, well most of them anyway but she didn't regret how her life had played out. Although she had expected to have someone to share it with and had hoped to finish it together with them but that was a minor detail.

Yoruichi was abruptly brought out of her thoughts and back to the world as a wave of excruciating pain swept through her and she let out a yell

"SHIT!"

"Sorry about that but it has to be done until we can get you to a hospital" she heard a small apologetic voice say from somewhere beside her.

She slowly opened her eyes to see both of the girls looking at her with concerned looks on their faces. She gave them a smile that took a lot of effort. She then lifted her head as much as she could to look down and see her leg and middle covered in bandages of sorts. She looked around at the girls again to see that their shirts where both torn exposing their midriffs.

"I guess I've got you girls to thank for patching me up" she said slowly as she tried to get up again

But she was quickly pushed back down by her shoulders as the dark haired girl quickly said with a commanding tone "Awww no you don't. You stay right there, we were only able to patch you up enough to slow the flow of blood so we can't have you moving around and starting the flow again. Besides I can feel Ichi-nii nearby and he will be able to get you to a hospital and away from this fighting safely so just stay put."

Yoruichi paused 'she can feel reiatsu?' she thought quietly to herself she would have to ask Ichigo about it sometime. Then she remembered where they were.

"No you don't understand you have to get away from here right now, it's not safe around here and your brother is worried sick about you. So you have to get away from here for his sake" she said franticly

But before they could even comprehend what she had just said to them a wave of sinister reiatsu rooted them in place and forced them all to the ground. She turned her head and her eyes went wide as saucers in absolute horror. She turned to see stark wiping the blood off of his blade on his sleeve while walking away from Ichigo and towards them.

But the part that terrified her the most was that Ichigo was on his knees, blood gushing from a hole in his chest. Then his mask shattered and more blood spilled out of his mouth just as he started to fall forward with a look of fear and sorrow on his face. While he was falling he seemed to look over both of his sisters but as his eyes locked with hers she saw anger, grief, anguish, sorrow and longing burning in his brown eyes as they began to dim. Then she watched him mouth the words "I'm sorry" as zangetsu slipped from his fingers and clattered on the ground beside him.

The purple haired woman heard a pair of gasps beside her as the two girls finally realised just who had been fighting and why they could feel their brother close by.

"I-Ichi-nii?...Ichi-nii?...No not ICHI-NII!... GET UP ICHIGO!" Yoruichi's heart broke as she heard the two girls's crying out for their big brother.

She watched in horror as he fell forward time seemed to slow down each second seemed like a hour as it hit her, she just couldn't believe it. How was it possible? You could always count on him to pull through and overcome the odds somehow but right now she couldn't see how he would pull through as his body fell to the ground with a muffled 'thud'.

"I-chi-go?" she muttered quietly as the gravity of the situation slowly sunk in.

(Ichigo perspective of events)

(Flashback)

Ichigo was fighting those stupid wolves again and he had to keep on his toes trying to keep some distance between him and the walking explosives. He had been dodging doing his best to avoid cutting the wolves out of instinct as much as possible with his 'getsuga tensho'. He had learned quickly that these wolves when cut the two cut halves would turn into two separate wolves and cause even more problems for him.

He had been dodging these things and trying to weed the numbers out slowly by getting them to explode in different ways. But they were starting to really irk him and he couldn't really do too much about it, this made it even more infuriating.

He had managed to slowly get rid of a majority of the stupid wolves when he laid eyes on Yoruichi battling the espada to get to his sisters. He wasn't completely sure why but when he saw her doing all of this to help him save his family he felt his heart lift and he had a warm feeling fill his chest.

But then he saw the state she was in and the burns that covered her body and his mood worsened again. She was getting hurt for the sake of his family and all because he wasn't strong enough to look after them himself. She didn't even know them yet she was here risking her life for them.

At that thought he had finally had enough with this whole thing, someone else getting hurt because of his inability to look after his family was the last straw. He just wanted this to end so that he could get his family and friend away from harms threatening grip.

With a roar he gathered his reiatsu in his core and kept building up the pressure until with another roar he released his reiatsu like a bomb. He was slightly surprised at how much he had gathered up but kept releasing more as a shockwave rocketed out from him in every direction. When it came in to contact with the wolves they all shuddered briefly from the pressure as it passed through them then exploded in a large chain of bone shattering explosions that rocked the entire clearing. When he saw that the wolves had been taken care of he eased up with the reiatsu slightly.

He looked around to see stark moving at Yoruichi and to his dismay he could see that she wasn't going to react in time to his strike. He looked on in horror as he saw blood spraying from Yoruichi's leg, at this he took off as fast as he could to stop him from hurting her more. But he wasn't fast enough he watched while his blood began to boil as the goddess of flash took another slash across her stomach and he started to see red as he watched stark deliver a devastating kick to her chest sending her rolling across the ground like a rag doll.

He didn't quite understand the emotions pumping through him at that moment, he chalked it up to just his protectiveness of his friends and family. But at the sight of her limp body rolling like that across the ground he knew one thing this man was going to regret hurting Yoruichi Shihoin dearly. He raised Tensa zangetsu above his head preparing for a overhead slash but stark turned around just in time to raise his own blade to block the strike.

They locked blades and locked gazes. Stark had a smirk on his face while Ichigo was staring at him with such venom that a lesser man would have broke down and started crying. But stark couldn't care less he was going to beat this brat into the ground and take the siblings to Aizen and be done with this troublesome mission.

"So you've decided to come out and play again ae" "did you not have fun with my little pets" stark said with a slight chuckle

"you are going to regret hurting and threatening the people close to me you bastard, I will make sure of it even if it is the last thing I ever do!" Ichigo spat back.

"If you say so" stark said off headedly "shall we begin then" he added as he gave Ichigo a shove

"Fine by me" Ichigo called out as he tightened his grip on 'tensa zangetsu'.

The two combatants just looked at the other for a while, waiting, until the other made their move

Stark getting tired of the pause reached down to grab a pistol but as soon as his arm made the movement Ichigo was gone. He spun around quickly and just bringing his blade around quick enough to stop the shinigami's upward slash. He grunted slightly at the force behind the blade even though Ichigo had only used one hand, he definitely didn't want to get hit with that power.

Ichigo grinned behind his mask as he saw the espada falter ever so slightly under his attack, he quickly used flash step again to get behind him again going for a horizontal slash at his mid section. Stark used sonido just in time to miss the blade, Stark was cutting it close with his evasions and couldn't let this drag on for too long because he could feel that the shinigami would be able to keep fighting at this pace for a much longer time then he could.

So when the vizard came again from his side with a downward slash he raised his blade on an angle and when the two swords met he gave Ichigo's blade a push as it slide down his own throwing the teen off balance and giving him a opening to strike. But Ichigo used the momentum to dive forward into a roll out of harm's way. The teen turned and was charging the espada immediately not giving him any time to think of a plan or to summon more wolves or draw his pistols.

This carried on for a few minutes, Ichigo would charge with a barrage of wild slashes while Stark dodged, parried or countered. At which point the shinigami would quickly evade and start his charge again. In some of the clashes they would sometimes throw in a punch or kick to mix it up and try to catch the other off guard. By now they both had a few cuts and bruises up their arms and legs along with a couple of cracked ribs on Starks part after Ichigo had brought his heel around with devastating force after a counter that the espada was expecting a blade to strike at him. It was safe to say that they were both a little worse for wear.

Ichigo went for a downward slash and when Stark lifted his blade on an angle to off balance him, he used the momentum to quickly spin on his front foot and bring his blade around and into a lung thrusting straight at Stark's stomach. But Stark brought his blade across his body with his arm at head height and his blade pointed down and swept Ichigo's blade to the side. He kept spinning and reversed his grip on his blade but when his back was to the shinigami instead of continuing around he brought his blade down to his side and thrust it back as hard as he could.

He grinned as he felt his blade make contact with flesh and bone

After Ichigo's blade had been swept away he was about to bring it around and over in a wide arch for another strike, he had both hands on his blade above his head ready for a downward slash but was totally taken by surprise and could do nothing to evade when he saw the blade coming for him from under Starks coat in a backward thrust. He could do nothing but watch in horror as the blade seemed to slow down as it inched closer and closer to his exposed chest, then cringe as he watched and felt the blade pierce the skin and he felt the blade cutting through bones, flesh and finally organs.

Suddenly the blade was ripped back out and he just stood there as the blood started to pour into his lungs. He coughed a few times blood coming up and dripping down behind the mask, he looked up to see Stark walking away and call over his shoulder

"Time to deal with that annoying women and collect our other two guests then we shall be on our way"

Ichigo tried to go after him and tried to tell him to stop but he just coughed up more blood and his knees gave out. He was seething at the thought of him touching any of those three that he didn't notice the amount of heavy hate filled reiatsu he was releasing until his mask shattered and he saw his two sisters pressed to the ground beside Yoruichi who was in a hell of a state.

But as his mask shattered a wave of exhaustion swept through him and he coughed up more blood and his body became heavy. He tried to get up again but his body felt like it was filled with lead, at this point he knew that he wasn't going to be able to help anymore.

He looked over his sisters and anger filled him to the core as he realised that he wasn't good enough to look after his sisters. He wasn't able to keep the two most beautiful and innocent girls in his life so far that had so much potential and so much to give to the world safe from the evils of the world. 'Wasn't that the reason he became a shinigami in the first place? To protect his family', and he blew it. 'Sorry mom, dad you won't be able to see them grow and enjoy life because I failed'.

A single tear rolled down his left cheek.

Then his eyes locked with Yoruichi's golden orbs that where wide with shock.

He wouldn't fully understand why but as he looked into those eyes he felt fear and unimaginable anguish in his heart at the look of sadness that filled her mesmerizing golden eyes. He felt agony rip through his chest knowing that he was the cause of that pain in her eyes. He wanted nothing more than to rush to her side and put a comforting arm around her and reassure her that it was alright and there was nothing to worry about. He wanted to see that playful glint in her eyes again like the first time she had ever shown him her true form that always made him feel like it would be alright. But it wasn't going to be

As he was thinking all of this he felt his body getting heavier and cold he looked into those captivating golden eyes once more, he wanted to say so much. 'Thank you for being my friend, thank you for teaching me so much, thank you for always having faith in me. But I'm sorry for letting you down, I'm sorry for not being strong enough to protect everyone, I'm sorry for allowing you to get hurt, I'm sorry you had to get dragged into this, I'm sorry I can't help you anymore, I'm sorry I can't be there to comfort you when you need someone to lean on', but in that moment all he could manage was

A silent "I'm sorry"

Finally his body had enough as he felt the familiar and comforting weight of zangetsu his trusted partner slip from his weak fingers followed by the rest of his body. As the darkness consumed him he heard the fading sound of voices calling out to him, he couldn't really tell who but it didn't matter anymore then silence

(End flashback)

"Geez you're pathetic"

Ichigo's eyes shot open and instead of dirt he saw the side of a building above him. He was puzzled for only a second then he realised that he was in his inner world. He was lying down against the side of the building in a world where the laws of gravity and physics were twisted so that up and down in the real world, was actually left and right, and left and right for the real world, is actually up and down in this realm.

"Do you actually want to die?" the voice said in a sadistic tone that had a echo behind it which slightly distorted the voice.

"Man how do you manage to get yourself killed three fucking times in the space of a few god dam hours? I mean really are you actually that weak? Or do you genuinely want to throw your life away?" the voice said getting more and more annoyed with each word

At this he sat up to see a mirror image of him standing before him, except this image wore a white robe with a black under shirt, also his hair was chalky white along with his skin. His blade was the same as zangetsu but the colours were reversed. Also his eyes were bright yellow instead of light brown and the whites of his eyes were black. He also had a sadistic grin stuck in place constantly, but apart from those few differences he was the spitting image of Ichigo, this was his hollow.

"If you really don't value your life allow me to take control of this body, I will take much better care of this body then you have. Oh and I want die every five minutes!" he stated with a annoyed look crossing his face "I will also enjoy myself much more then you have so far"

Ichigo didn't like the sound of that one bit. He would probably go and massacre everyone he knew.

"I'm not trying to kill myself you knob! I just always end up in fricking insane situations whether I like it or not. It's like I'm a bloody trouble magnet!" he yelled back at his inner hollow.

"This is true but you are still pathetic. If you maybe let me out a bit more often you wouldn't need to worry and we wouldn't be in this fucking situation."

"Ha! If I let you out you would run rampant and wouldn't let me take back control so that is out of the question" he stated without hesitation.

"Well can you really blame me king? You never let me out at all. I just want a little bit of fun is that so much to ask for?" the hollow whined

"He has a point Ichigo" stated a deep voice from his right

Ichigo turned to the side to see a tall man with long wavy dark brown hair, wearing a cloak similar to Ichigo's bankai but it was maroon instead of black and wasn't as tight. He had thick stubble running all along his jaw line and around his mouth he also wore sun glasses that were clear with a orange tint to them.

"Old man Zangetsu what do you mean?" Ichigo asked

"Well if you used his power every now and again we wouldn't always be stuck in this situation. As you know we are both part of each other and therefore part of you so when you do not use both of us you are only using half of our full strength" he said calmly

The hollow just nodded and stayed quiet to allow zangetsu to explain

"But what about my vizard form I obtained that by making him submit his powers to me, isn't that using both?" he asked totally confused right now

"Yes and no" he stated

"What do you mean by that?" Ichigo asked even more confused now

"When you are in your vizard state yes you are using his power but that's just it, you are only using his raw power that he pumps into you when you summon that mask. You are not using any of his other attributes, such as his control of the power, his strategic abilities and basically his instinct to fight and survive" he explained in his wise all knowing tone.

"So what are you saying? That I should just let him run wild every time I face someone who is tougher than me?" Ichigo said with a sceptic tone

"Again yes and no"

"Say what?"

"You need to learn to use his other attributes along with his power. So you need to become more in tune with him when you take his power. You need to almost become one with him when you call upon him so that you may use all of our abilities to their fullest and become even stronger." Zangetsu said all of this as he kept a close eye on Ichigo as he processed the new information.

Ichigo REALLY didn't like the sound of that 'become one with his hollow' it just didn't sit well with him one bit. He didn't want to become more like a hollow! He wanted to keep his sanity and his morals, he didn't want to become a mindless psychopath while he fought then turn around and regret his actions afterwards.

"I don't want to become a psychopath when I fight, I don't want to become more like a hollow just to attain power" he said with conviction in his voice. He wouldn't stoop so low as to discard everything he believed in and fought for just to become stronger.

"What I am suggesting is not to become more like a hollow, well not entirely. But to become more in tune with its raw instincts of survival in battle, without giving in to it and keeping your morals. So you would be able to see opportunities and form strategies that you would not see normally. Almost like a level two vizard, one with a greater understanding of both backgrounds."

Ichigo thought about that for a second and was still weighing up the pros and cons when in the distance he faintly heard a familiar voice filled with pain cry out

Then finally "ICHIGO!"

Pain racked through his chest as he heard the fear and longing that filled the voice, the voice of desperation. He had to do something he realised that he could sort this out later when he wasn't dying and there weren't people counting on him.

"Fine we can discuss it later on but what are we going to do about right now? You know the whole fact that I'm pretty much dead and all of my precious people are in danger how are we going to fix this?" he asked

His hollow then stepped forward "I'm already way ahead of you on that one king"

Ichigo got on guard as he prepared for the worst but asked anyway "And how is that?"

"Well iv already taken control of your body and started my regeneration abilities but don't worry I will give it back as soon as I have my fun with our espada friend, as a show of good faith in a way" he said with a huge grin plastered to his face as he started to fade away.

Ichigo was about to have kittens, he knew it! He knew the bastard would try something while he was focused elsewhere when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked around to see zangetsu looking calm and unfazed.

"Let him be this time, enjoy the show you may be surprised and learn something new" he said

Ichigo paused for a bit contemplating then relented and decided to let him off this time since he hadn't faired to well himself anyway.

BAM there it is! man I just got on a role and before i knew it i had i had twenty pages worth so just to annoy you slightly im spliting it up.

I know i hate it when people do something like that but i just had to try it lol.

Yes i will be altering a few things about certain characters here and there to fit my story so dont worry too much.

Well if anyone is reading this let me know what you think, I am always open for constructive criticism

Please review Bye