This is the second chapter for Twisted, I hope you enjoy it! Thank you for the review, it keeps me going. By the way, this chapter is still rated Teen for language, but I promise the mature part will be coming up shortly.

Disclaimer: Bleach is not owned by me, but if I don't tell you guys this, Tite Kubo will own me. I'll be pwnd.

Chapter Two: Things Get Worse

Uryuu's eyebrows furrowed. "I can't see Ichigo anymore. That hollow has completely surrounded him with its body." he muttered to himself. "That strawberry has really got himself into a situation now." His teeth gritted at the thought. As much as Ichigo and Uryuu argued with each other, he couldn't stand the thought of a hollow getting the upper hand. Soul reaper or not, Kurosaki had to be rescued.

Rukia could only stand and stare at the predicament. Even if she wanted to help Ichigo get free, she didn't have enough spirit energy to take that creature on. She could only suffer in silence while her protégé's life lay in fate's hands.

Ichigo was the only person in the scenario who seemed to be calm. He quickly calculated his moves. His first attack came quickly, right into the underbelly of the hollow. The result came as a surprise; instead of piercing a fragile stomach, his sword only caught more sharp points. He pulled the sword away, but not before a chip was taken out of its edge. "Its body is fully armored." Ichigo surmised. This was making the job a little more difficult….and fun.

His second maneuver was to jump up the coils and out of his steely prison. This proved to be a difficult maneuver, or not only did the hollow's body writhe around him, but the individual spikes moved as well. A seriating motion was made between the blades, sawing back and forth. The movement was warning enough. Ichigo tested his plan, jumping up on the first coil of hollow. His placement and steps were perfect, landing on a flat of a blade. "So far so good", he thought to himself as he prepared for the next ascent.

"Where do you think you're going, little soul?" the hollow turned inward to face Ichigo, looming closer to its prey. "I expect you to become my nourishment!" With that the hollow tensed, and its spikes became rigid. The flat that Ichigo perched precariously turned to the side, causing him to lose balance. Not entirely, off balance it seems, for Ichigo still attempted to reach a higher coil. He jumped further.

The hollow growled in anger and shifted yet again. This time, the spikes lay flat against its body, creating a smooth surface to which Ichigo could not grasp. With a squeak, he slid back down to the ground below.

Not one of the three could have predicted what happened next. It happened fast – too fast. From the outside both Rukia and Uryuu stifled a gasp when the hollow closed its steely body around Ichigo, and then in one deft movement constricted the barbs to create an iron maiden, intending to eviscerate its prisoner. Ichigo brought up his Zanpakuto horizontally to stop the writhing spikes from piercing his body. He gritted his teeth as he kept the blade perpendicular to the enclosing walls of the hollow, and sweat beaded his brow as the space became cramped and stifling.

I……can't….breathe! he thought, clinging to his consciousness. By his sheer will power alone, Ichigo kept his eyes forced open and his body alert. At any second, the steel prison in which he resided could collapse, fortifying his end.

Uryuu and Rukia both cried out in dismay. From their perspective, the hollow collapsed in on itself, sealing Ichigo in metal confinement. So much so that it seemed impossible that anything inside would have remained intact. They both knew that something had to be done – and fast, or the hollow could make short work of Ichigo.

Uryuu jumped from one rooftop to the next in attempt to close the distance between him and the hollow. Now that the hollow had directed its attention inward it was oblivious to anything around it, making it seem to Uryuu that its outside defenses would also prove to house some weakness. Raising his right hand encircled with an eloquent cross charm, he called on his innate Quincy abilities. An explosion of the air around him signified the calling of Lone Sparrow. The bluish light formed into that of a bow and with his left hand he reached toward the center of the cross, pulling from it an arrow made of the same spiritual energy. Like a laser beam, the arrow sliced through the air, tearing at high speed toward the hollow.

Then it disappeared.

Rukia could not stand by any longer. She had to try something - anything. Forming the correct hand symbols, the incanted the strongest kido she dared without harming Ichigo inside. "Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens! Number 63! Twin Lotus Blue Fire, Crash Down!" Two balls of blue flame hurled at the beast as Rukia clenched her fists in anticipation. They made contact with the hollow, but instead of destroying the beast, the orbs vanished.

Rukia's mouth dropped in astonishment. "That should've…..that would've…!"

"……destroyed it, at least its shell…." Uryuu murmured under his breath.

Rukia's GPA twittered annoyingly at her. A glance indicated it was a GPS transmission in regards to the hollow. According to the readout, the spirit energy that came in contact with the hollow did not just disappear. "in fact, the hollow actually….absorbed the energy!" Rukia exclaimed. "That could explain why the hollow has survived for so long…and could have killed so many Soul Reapers…."

Any normal person, would have not made it this far. Any shinigami would have accepted defeat, meeting a steely end. Ichigo is the only person who would taunt a hollow before the onslaught of his death.

"IS THIS THE BEST YOU CAN DO, YOU OVERGROWN INCH WORM!?! You actually had me worried at first, how I see that this rough exterior is all for show!" Ichigo started to emit a strange glow, like a bluish ethereal flame rising out of his body. "Now we'll see what you're really made out of!"

Rukia examined the output from the hollow intently. All of a sudden, the amount of spiritual energy started climbing at an exponential rate. "Oh no - Ichigo!" She remembered the amount of untamable power that Ichigo contained in his natural state. "All this spiritual pressure is going to cause him to overload….and I don't even want to know what will happen then! "ICHIGO!" she cried. "STOP!"