(A/N: Special thanks to Xerosonic for writing all this out. Until the end of Soul Society arc he will be responsible for about 95% of chapter production, but the plot work is still my own. Isn't it great to have friends? Now then let's continue forward with the series)

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Tales of the Abyss

3rd Person View

Ion woke up in his room face up on the ground after last night's scandal. He rose up while rubbing his head that was throbbing like crazy, although it was mostly a hangover that he'd get over it in a bit. He got on his feet and made his way to the lower levels to see what everyone else is up to. Supposedly, everyone had been undergoing some form of training with an orb and right now it was just Ichigo and Ganju fighting over something again.

"Good morning Hakutan-san." Orihime greeted as she glomped onto Ion from behind.

"Orihime-san, what's going on with you guys?" Ion asked.

"Well we were practicing making a cannonball using our spiritual energy, but Ichigo is having a hard time with it." Chad said walking up from the side; at which Orihime lets go of Ion.

"Kurosaki and Ganju have been fighting for a while; we're just waiting for them to actually get somewhere since we succeeded with our practice." Uryu's voice was heard from the opposing direction of Chad. Ion turned to see him right next to him as well. "You've been asleep for a while though. Kukaku told us that you would be a bit ill for a while."

"No, I'm perfectly fine now. I can't remember much on what happened to me last night though." Ion told the group.

"Oh, Kukaku told us that you went off and had a good time with her. However you crashed soon after like a plane." Orihime said with her upbeat ditsy tone as usual. All that Ion could respond to that is one big question mark floating above his head.

"Actually, you better off not knowing through her explanation." Uryu said with a sweat drop. "Anyway I believe that you yourself need to get accustomed to the cannonball technique as well."

"But didn't Ion show us all an example yesterday?" Chad asked.

"Ah…" Uryu had forgotten it was Ion who had demonstrated the use of the spirit orb in the first place.

"Oh I get it you were impressed with Hakutan-san's abilities and wanted to see them performed again hai, Ishida-san?" Orihime asked.

"Y-yes that's exactly right," Uryu said frantically not wanting to admit his own absentmindedness, "Hakuntan-san if you will." Ion concentrated and created a durable sturdy barrier with the spirit orb as he had done yesterday, "Should've expected a fully developed Soul Reaper like him to be able to do it so easily," Uryu grumbled.

"Uryu-san?" Ion looked at Uryu curiously, as if to ask what was wrong, but at that moment Ganju was sent flying across the room into the wall near Ion and his group. Ganju rose back up and ran back to Ichigo, only to get jump-kicked in the face by his older sister Kukaku. "Ah, Kukaku-san."

"Hey there Ion, you feeling better?" Kukaku asked with a friendly gesture while keeping her foot planted on Ganju's face who was now face down on the ground. She stepped off and walked up to Ion. "So you managed to make one yourself already huh? Can't expect much less from someone in 4th division." Ion only giggled, knowing for sure that it was a compliment this time. "And you!" Kukaku point towards Ichigo. "Get back to work!"

"Y-Yes ma'am." Ichigo submitted as he continued to practice.

"Alright then." Kukaku turned to the others again. "Meet me upstairs by tomorrow before dawn at the cannon. By then everyone should be ready to go and I can send you off to the Seretei."

"OK." Ion and company said in unison as they scattered across the building to go by their own business. Ion himself stayed in the room with Ichigo though to observe his progress in the training.

"Ichigo-san," Ion called out as he came closer to him. Ion was noticing his struggle. "Having a hard time with generating the cannonball?"

"Yeah sorta." Ichigo replied as he scratched the back of his head. "You made it seem so easy when you did it on the first try though. That just means that I got to try harder." Ichigo said as he clenches his fist to tense his body up.

Ion shook his head and said. "It's not that hard and you're doing it the wrong way. First off you should be more relaxed when you channel your spiritual energy and focus is also a key to it." Ion explained to him. "Try to imagine yourself in a dark room and you can't see anything, and then suddenly you get immersed in a bright light and it covers all around you."

"Ok, I think I get where you are going with this." Ichigo said as he calms down and closes his eyes. Ion watches as Ichigo takes several deep breaths in order to get the feeling down that Ion explained to him. After a few minutes of silence and sheer concentration on his task, Ichigo had managed to develop a cannonball with no trouble at all. "Hey it worked!" Ichigo said excitingly. However, as he did so the ball cracked and then a giant explosion came afterwards. Ion managed to release his shikai to get his barrier up to avoid getting hurt, but Ichigo was not as unfortunate since he was the center of the explosion.

"Ichigo-san!" Ion called out as he knelt next to him. "You ok?"

"Y-Yeah, just a bit shocked is all. I'll bounce back eventually." Ichigo chuckled weakly as he got off the ground. "Man that was wild."

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN THERE!" Kukaku exclaimed as she slammed the door open.

"Kukaku-san, Ichigo just finished his training." Ion told her which caught her off guard by the news. With the opportunity present, Ion sealed his Zanpakuto ad sheathed the blade. At the time though, Ichigo had fallen over and fell asleep to the side. "But it seems he just tired himself out after that blast."

"So he blew himself up huh? That figures." Kukaku sighed.

The Next Morning

The group gathered at the front of the giant cannon that was standing tall up to the sky. It was a few moments before dawn and that was the time when Kukaku wanted to begin the launch. Not too long ago, Ichigo thankfully managed to get his training down with the spirit orb. Although he almost leveled the entire building, it was still an achievement. Ion looked up to take in the sight of the immense structure. "So we're going to be fired out of that?"

"Yep. It's the easiest way to get into the Seretei besides the gates." Kukaku assured Ion as she patted him on his back. "Lighten up short stuff, you're going to be just fine. As long as nothing goes wrong that is."

"What do you mean?"

"Well put it to you this way, this is used for fireworks. If one thing goes wrong, you're going to have a very nice light show up close." The idea that Kukaku gave Ion only made him gulp in worry and fear. "But as long as Ganju doesn't screw-up things should go smoothly."

"Ganju-san is coming with us?" Ion asked.

"Yep, he needs to in order to assure safe passage. Not to mention I need someone on the inside to help you guys out in case of anything." Kukaku added. "Ok people gather round!" She barked and attracted everyone together in front of the cannon. She gave instructions to everyone about what must be down now and after her explanation she had the infiltration group go inside the cannon.

"Good luck out there guys." Kukaku said before closing the door to the cannon. "Alright, time to get to work." Kukaku loaded everyone into the canon and got the whole thing started. She prepared the chant and sent everyone off into the air. With a successful launch Ichigo and company flew through the air while trying to stabilize the cannonball's structure with their spiritual energy. Ion did most of the work since everyone else's spiritual energy was just flaring with no proper control. He acted like a regulator for them continuing to give instructions to the group on their level. Ichigo was of course having the most trouble so Ion consistently has to refer to him.

"Try to keep it low at this level and we should be fine Ichigo-san." Ion told the orange haired youth.

"Ok, how's this?" Ichigo responded after regulating his spiritual pressure.

"Too little, give it more."

"Alright." Ichigo confirmed and did so.

"Perfect, now-"

"YOU IDIOTS!" Ganju shouted. "You made me screw up the incantation!"

"Meaning?" The group asked.

"We either pour all of our energy into the sphere at once to condense the ball as we brace for impact, or we end up a smear on the dome of the Seretei." Ganju barked as he went ahead of everyone and took his own advice.

"So much for plan A." Ion said as he did the same. "Let's do this, I know for a fact that we are going to need every last drop of our spiritual power to survive the crash."

"Right." Everyone said in unison as the whole group condensed the cannonball. After a few moments, the collided with the dome and then the orb of energy that kept them inside started to swirl into a violent vortex.

"What's going on!" Orihime exclaimed.

"Everybody grab onto someone, if you don't then we'll all be separated when the vortex collapses!" Yoruichi ordered. Everyone began to close in one the person closest to them. Ichigo grabbed Ion who was only a foot away from him and held him by the collar of his shirt.

"Hey wait for me!" Ganju exclaimed as he tried to swim towards Ichigo. But before he could make contact with him, the vortex already collapsed and everyone scattered across the Seretei. However, Ganju was unfortunately knocked back outside the Rukongai. "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!"

"Ganju!" Ichigo shouted as he and Ion plummeted to the ground. "Oh man if we crash like this we're screwed!" Ichigo started to panic, but suddenly found he was floating down safely on the ground instead of crashing. When they got their feet on the ground, Ichigo pondered what had just happened. His answer was hinted on when he saw Ion gasping for breath.

"You are," Ion wheezed more. "Way to heavy."

"Wait, was that you?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, I guess you didn't have proper training on being a soul reaper since you couldn't pull this stunt off." Ion said scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah well at the very least we didn't end up like a couple of blood stains on the ground." Ichigo joked.

"Anyway we should get away right about now. I can guarantee that others will show up after that display we did." Ion said to Ichigo.

"Alright, let's get going then." Ichigo finalized as they turned to walk in the direction they needed to go.

"Uh…no." A voice called out from behind the two of them. Ion and Ichigo turned to see Ikkakku and Yumichika. The person speaking was in fact Ikkakku. "Hey there Ion? What are you doing here with my prey?" Ion could not find the words to speak after getting caught so early in the game. However Ichigo immediately reacted and grabbed Ion and ran away with him dangling under his left arm.

"Seems like Ion is actually captured by that orange haired one." Yumichika said calmly as he stepped forward. "He's a friend of Luke's, our former comrade. Even if he's forth division let's at least do Luke a favor and save the poor boy."

"As long as I get to fight that orange haired swordsman," Ikkakku started saying while grinning. "I DON'T CARE!" He exclaimed as the two began to give chase. Ikkakku ran faster than a wild boar charging blindly at his target while Yumichika follow from behind casually. It didn't take them long until they caught up to Ichigo, but strangely it was only Ichigo who was actually facing them both straight on with his blade drawn.

"Oh, so you're going to fight huh? Where's the kid?" Ikkakku questioned with a slight grin on his face. Ichigo only responded with his own grin, which signaled Ion to attack with the power of his second stone, which was a large gust of wind and it blew Yumichika away from the area. Ion then made pursuit for him as they both flew through the air leaving Ikkakku and Ichigo alone. "Bah, no bother. You were my only interest anyway." Ikkakku pointed his sword towards Ichigo. "Time to die."

Elsewhere

"What are you doing Ion?" Yumichika questioned as he regained his balance in midair.

"I'm sorry, but I have to do this. Please don't say anything to anyone." Ion requested as he landed on the ground with Yumichika in front of him.

Yumichika sighs in discontent from Ion's actions. "You do know that by working with the Ryoka that you're putting not only you position in jeopardy, but also your life correct?"

"I know, please understand that I can't turn back now." Ion said with a straight face to Yumichika. He only sighs once more though.

"Fine, lets strike a deal. If you beat me then I'll stay quiet about this. If you lose though," Yumichika drew his sword and began to charge spiritual energy. "Then you will have to turn yourself in." Ion made no response and instead took a battle stance, accepting Yumichika's offer. "Then let us begin."

Yumichika lunged forward first and swung horizontally, but Ion took to the skies and called out, "Yottsu no Ishi: Taiho!" With his incantation he summoned a ball of green energy from one of his stones the size of a large boulder and sent it straight towards Yumichika. Yumichika dodged by back flipping and to escape the explosion that came after that engulfed the area around him.

"That was close, for someone from 4th division he sure can be menacing." Yumichika commented. "I'll need to be more careful with him." Yumichika then jumped up to pursue Ion in the air. However when Yumichika came close to strike him, a barrier that surrounded Ion deflected him and he hit the side of it very hard. He fell back to make some distance and the barrier that was in place had dissipated. "What an annoying Shikai. He has a solid defense, a good offense, and a slew of support skills. This could be bad."

"Please, let's stop this already." Ion pleaded. "If we keep fighting like this we'll attract too much attention."

"If that's the case then we will just have to finish this quickly." Yumichika shot back as he brought his sword in front of him. "Bloom for me, Fuji Kujaku!" Yumichika called out as he swished his blade to the side, transforming it into a quadruple sickle-like blade. "Let's go!" he charges forward

"No, I have to finish this now or else I'll get caught!" Ion said as he brought his staff forward and raised it above his head. "Sa no Ishi: Hikari!" Ion called out, bringing out a flash of light upon the area, which blinded Yumichika and caused him to halt and shun his eyes. Ion took the chance and brought his right hand in front with the palm facing directly at Yumichika. "Hado number 31! Shakkaho!" The orb of red energy forms and is fired at Yumichika at high speeds. Yumichika couldn't notice the attack since he was blinded, and it struck him dead on his head. He is launched across the sky to locations unknown and Ion descends from the sky to the ground, slightly dusting off his shihakusho. "That was close; I hope he really doesn't tell anyone though." Ion said to himself softly. "I have to get to Ichigo-san now. He may need my help." With that said, Ion made his way to where Ichigo and Ikkakku were last seen. But before he could reach the area, he was surprised to see Ichigo casually walking up to him.

"Hey Ion, glad I found you." Ichigo said to Ion as he walked up to him.

"Ichigo-san, what happened to Ikkakku?" Ion asked.

"Oh I already took care of the guy. He's fine though, I left him alive since you seemed to know them."

"That's good." Ion exhaled the breath he didn't think he was holding. "We should get going, the longer we stay here the more of a chance we are to getting caught. I'm sure others will come now since we just started fighting and everyone should be alright since we caused the most commotion."

"Sounds good. Let's get running then!" Ichigo exclaimed as he runs past Ion.

"Wait a minute Ichigo-san! You're going the wrong way!" Ion called out as he tries to catch up to Ichigo.

Nebilim's pov

Captain Kurotsuchi had gathered us all in a group barking out orders. He seemed interested in capturing the Ryoka, "You men search over there. Try to take the enemy alive if you can. They might make interesting research subjects. Don't let the other squads capture them first."

"Yes sir," the unseated officers saluted and took off.

"Still, since they're only human beings, I really don't expect very many good specimens," my captain sighed.

"What should I do sir?" I asked.

"Stick close with Nemu and me and await further orders. I'll be counting on you to capture the Ryoka alive. I'd rather not dirty my own hands you understand that much right?" he asked.

"Yes sir," I saluted. These were one of the few times my captain and I actually got along.

A hell butterfly then flitted through the air and landed on Nemu's finger, "A Hell butterfly, what's the message Nemu?" Captain Kurotsuchi asked her.

"Sir recently Madarame Ikkaku fought against a Ryoka," she answered.

"What how can you just so calmly announce that Squad 11 already has their hands on a Ryoka?" my captain asked her.

"No, apparently Madarame-san was soundly beaten by the Ryoka," she answered, "According to reports 4th seat Hakutan Ion of 4th Division has allegedly been captured by the Ryoka."

Captured?

"Well now this is an interesting turn of events," Captain Kurotsuchi grinned, "Of all the Shinigami out there they capture the one that I actually have had personal contact with. Most interesting. Nebilim!"

"Sir," I answered.

"Please go and try to rescue Hakutan Ion from the Ryoka. If he has been captured and we are to recover him I can use him as quite a bargaining chip," he stated.

You want to use Ion for your twisted experiments again, I grit my teeth, but answered politely, "Sir, I'll be heading out," I shunpoed away. I wasn't about to go and recover Ion for Captain Kurotsuchi's twisted ploys. Rather I would investigate the matter on my own and see what information I could recover then report back to my captain. Ion's spiritual pressure was easy to track. According to my research members of the Gotei originating from the same living world sector are easier to track than others if you know how. Not only was I able to pluck out Ion but also quite a few members of the 11th Division, as well as the Ryoka. "Well this is going to turn into a big mess," I said to myself. I flew over to where I sensed the presences and noticed that the Ryoka and Ion seemed to be being chased by members of the 11th Division. Seeing as I hadn't had very much fun in the last few years I landed right in between Ion and his pursuers.

Ichigo's pov

Ion and I were running from a bunch of 11th Division members when suddenly there was a kick up of dust that sent Ion flying forward as being knocked off balance. I caught him under my arm and helped him upright. He and I then turned around to see what just happened. Standing in front of the Soul Reapers chasing us was a woman with white hair.

"H-head Assistant Researcher Nebilim," the guys in front of us were all panicked.

"Nebilim-san," Ion seemed to recognize her.

"Friend of yours?" I asked.

"Well sort of," Ion said staring down at her, "I know her through Luke. Her name is Nebilim Gelda, she's the 3rd seat of the 12th division. She's one of the more powerful Soul Reapers of her rank. Rumor has it that while she doesn't fight often that when she does," Ion gulped, "Her opponents aren't left standing."

"So do we run?" I asked, "Or do we fight?"

"I don't know Nebilim-san seems to have her sights set on the 11th Division members not us so…"

As if on cue Nebilim drew out her sword, it was like when I fought Byakuya except I could hardly see her move. She moved like a woman gone wild. In probably two, no three, sword strokes she cut down all the enemies in front of us. She turned her body sideways and held out her open palm towards us, "Get down," she said plainly. Ion grabbed my neck and pushed on it. He didn't have the strength to get me to the ground, but I got what he meant and we both hit the dirt, "Hado 54, Haien." A blast of purple spirit energy was fired directly over our heads and hit behind us.

There were screams of guys people fleeing as well as shouts of "Researcher Nebilim's gone rogue!"

"Stand up you two," I heard Nebilim say again. Ion got up first and I followed his lead. Nebilim put away her sword, "If word gets out about this I can just say I was under the influence of a drug I was testing," she said.

"Wait you're…helping us?" I asked.

"Don't get me wrong," Nebilim answered, "I came here to talk to the two of you. Those around us just happened to be in the way." I made mental note never to get on this woman's bad side. "Now then," Nebilim turned her full body towards us, "What's this I hear about you being kidnapped Ion?"

"Kidnapped?" Ion was confused.

"Huh?" so was I.

"Reports have stated that you've been kidnapped by the Ryoka. I came to investigate," she said.

"The reports are wrong," Ion said, "I'm…I'm helping Ichigo-san and the others rescue Rukia!" he shouted.

"Rescue Kuchiki Rukia? Is that what this is all about?" Nebilim asked.

I nodded, "I don't have the time to go into full depth but…"

"No you don't need to," Nebilim said, "I have the report of that incident on my desk. You're Kurosaki Ichigo am I wrong?"

"Huh, yeah," I answered.

"Hmph," she smirked, "It seems Captain Kuchiki needs to be a little more thorough with his battles. Ichigo, do you think you can save Rukia?"

"It's not a question of can I," I answered, "I have to save Rukia."

"I see," Nebilim took a few steps towards us. I got defensive, "No need to get so defensive," she said, "I'm not going to attack you." She walked past me and put a hand on my shoulder, "I'm going to give you some important information. Rukia's execution has thrown the whole Seireitai into controversy. There are those against and those for her being executed. I'm a member of the former," she spoke into my ear and then moved past me.

"Wait, so does that mean you're our ally in all this?" I asked.

She stopped moving, "I guess you could call us that."

"Then could I ask you a favor," I started to say, "Could you make sure my friends are all right?" I asked.

"Friends…I suppose you're talking about the other Ryoka," she answered, her back still to me.

I nodded, "We all got split up when we tried to break in. I'd be really grateful if you were to help me out."

"I'll try my best," she said after a brief pause.

I grin crossed my thanks and I chuckled a bit, "Great thanks Nebilim."

"Ah Nebilim-san about what happened here…" Ion started to say.

"Oh don't worry about the report," she said, "I'm going to say that I arrived only to find a bunch of unexplained unconscious Soul Reapers, nothing more. This'll accomplish two things," she held out a hand, her back still to us, "First it'll keep Ion's involvement ambiguous," she held up one finger and then added another, "and it'll also increase the Ichigo's reputation; make him seem more formidable."

"Not bad," I said she was pretty smart.

"Anyway I've spent enough time blathering away, I need to go check in with my captain," with that she used Shunpo and disappeared.

"Let's go Ichigo-san," Ion said.

"Right," I said and with that the two of us took off.

(A/N: So Ichigo and Ion are on the move, and Nebilim makes her alliance known. Thanks to Xerosonic for writing practically everything up to and including Ion's battle with Yumichika. Well anyway, I have more stuff than just this headed your way. Xerosonic provided me with the rough drafts for basically the entire Soul Society arc so I've got some work to do. See you all for the next chapter).