In the center of town, the black bulge opened up completely and three LeBlancs emerged. The first was a thin and feminine shaped LeBlanc with a long white cape dangling from the back of broad shoulder pauldrons. Her mask was shaped like a Knight's helmet but with a four pointed crown on the top and with a single horizontal slit where her blue eyes pierced through the darkness of her mask.

Behind her was a relatively short LeBlanc with a crescent shaped mask with a pair of triangular holes for the eyes, giving the impression similar to a Roman helmet. He had a white sash across his front.

The last was a familiar one, it was the Collector. They stood in still silence as they waited in midair. Without warning a red Cero blast flew towards them but was dodged by all three. They looked down to see a small group of familiar faces (to the readers at least, not the LeBlancs).

It was Ichigo, Rukia, Isshin, Nel, Momo, and Rangiku. Yuzu was watching from the ground.

"So you came back for more huh? Well that's fine. We can dish out even more than what we started with!" Ichigo yelled as he drew Zangetsu.

"You're not taking Yuzu without a FIGHT!" Rukia shouted as she drew Sode no Shirayuki.

"Yeah you want her? You're going to have to go through us!" Momo yelled as she drew Tobiume.

"You'll find that we're tough opponents and that we don't go down easily." Isshin said as he drew Chuushuunomeigetsu.

"You have given us a reason to fight and that is in the defense of a mutual friend and comrade who never asked for any of this to happen." Nel said as she drew Gamuza.

"And we're going to take you all down for good this time!" Rangiku shouted as she drew Haineko.

"Plus you never know how many of us might show up!" Ikkaku said as he and Yumichika arrived in a flash step and drew Hozukimaru.

"That and the three of you are positively uglier than any Hollow I've ever seen." Yumichika said as he drew Fuju Kujaku.

"My master also wishes to examine your corpses for scientific study." Nemu said as she and Tatsuki appeared, with Tatsuki glowing with blue flames.

"Plus we don't like it when a bunch of punks like you try to do things like take over the worlds." Renji said as he drew Zabimaru with Uryu priming an arrow next to him.

On the ground, Orihime and Chad moved in to stand next to Yuzu. Chad had both of his armored arms prepared.

"So let's get this over with!" Ichigo shouted as he raised Zangetsu and started glowing with spiritual energy. Renji did the same as well.

"BANKAI!" Ichigo and Renji both shouted in unison and they both immediately entered Bankai form. Nel pressed the back of her Zanpakuto against her open hand as she started glowing with spiritual energy.

"Declare, Gamuza." Nel said as she entered her Resurreccion form. All around her, the Soul Reapers released their own Zanpakutos.

"Roar, Haineko!" "Extend, Hozukimaru!" "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" "Bloom, Fuju Kujaku!" "Snap, Tobiume!" "Reap Chuushuunomeigetsu!" "Tensa Zangetsu!" "Hihio Zabimaru!"

"How brave of you to believe that a simple show of your numbers and strength would be enough to stop us." The Collector said as he raised his Shepherd's crook. The shorter LeBlanc proceeded to draw a cutlass with a blade made of glowing blue energy like the Shepherd's crook. The female proceeded to draw a large axe blade attached to a long chain that was attached to her waist. The edge of the blade also was glowing blue like the Shepherd's crook as well. It was somewhat similar to Shuhei Hisagi's Kazeshini.

"You think you scare us? There's only three of you and fifteen of us!" Ichigo said with a smirk.

"Perhaps introductions are in order. I, as you all know, am the Collector. These are my comrades, the General, and the Executioner. Together the three of us are the Guerre Maitrise De La Chateau, simply known as the Guerre Maitrise. You stand no chance against the three of us." The Collector said as Ichigo scoffed.

"You're pretty damn cocky aren't you?" He asked.

"Believe what you will. We give you an ultimatum." The Collector said.

"Give us the Key Girl-…" the Executioner (the female) said.

"…-and we'll let you live for the time being." The General (the short one) said.

"Sorry, but we can't let you do that. See Yuzu happens to be my sister. I care for her wellbeing like any older brother should. So I'm not letting you have her! KUROI GETSUGA!!!" Ichigo yelled as he raised Zangetsu and hurled a black Getsuga Tensho at the Collector.

"Now ROAR ZABIMARU!!!" Renji shouted as Zabimaru lunged towards the General.

"Lanzador Verde." Nel said calmly as she hurled her lance towards the Executioner.

Much to their surprise, their attacks were easily defeated. Nel's lance was caught in midair by the Executioner. Hihio Zabimaru was dealt a devastating blow that caused it to disassemble into its various pieces by the General. And the Kuroi Getsuga was dispelled with a single swing of the Shepherd's crook by the Collector.

"So you have decided to be foolish and get in our way. Very well then." The General said as they each raised their weapons.

"Grandiose Sangsue!" the three said in unison. Instantly a glowing blue sphere appeared around the three and then beams of glowing blue energy lunged towards each of their opponents. Ichigo quickly hurled another Kuroi Getsuga and Renji hurled the reassembled Zabimaru back at the incoming beams, dispelling them. Unfortunately the others weren't so fortunate. The beams hit everyone else in the air, sapping them of their spiritual energy. Uryu however remained unaffected for an unknown reason. (Grandiose Sangsue: Grand Leech)

"You bastards! Only COWARDS would use such a move!" Ichigo roared in anger. He and Renji had been unaffected due to their quick thinking. The others however were slowly allowing themselves to drift to the ground, struggling to keep from losing their footing all together.

"Our patience for you, Soul Reapers, has ended. Give us the Key girl immediately!" The General ordered

"Then you will have to go through us first! And on my pride as a Quincy, I will not let you pass!" Uryu said as he joined up with Ichigo and Renji.

"A Quincy? Why do you side with Soul Reapers?!" the Executioner asked angrily. Her answer came in the form of a Steele Schneider that dealt a small scratch across her mask.

"Nice shot Uryu." Renji said to the stunned Ishida.

"That wasn't me." Uryu replied.

"It was me." An older voice said from nearby. They all turned to see Ryuken Ishida standing atop a nearby house and in traditional Quincy garb while holding his bow primed for another attack.

"I may not like Soul Reapers, but I don't hate them either. My family realized generations ago that the Soul Reapers were right in stopping us. If it wasn't for them, you would continue to grow stronger. On my pride as a Quincy, I will not allow you to take an innocent soul, be they human, Quincy, Soul Reaper, or even Arrancar. The reason your Sangsue had no effect on Uryu was because he is also a Quincy and as a Quincy he is rendered immune to all of your energy based attacks. It is also why the former Bount that you sent to the Soul Society could harm him, because she relied more on physical attacks than energy based attacks." Ryuken explained as he walked through the air to stand next to Renji, Ichigo, and Uryu.

"That said. I consider myself proud to stand next to my son and his Soul Reaper comrades." Ryuken said.

"Father?" Uryu asked in shock.

"You were right Uryu. I shouldn't have condemned your actions. I needed a way to apologize and this is my chance of doing so." Ryuken said as Uryu lowered Ryuken's bow.

"But father you can't fight them like I can. Your arrows will only empower them!" Uryu said as Ryuken smirked.

"Will they?" Ryuken asked as he raised his arm to reveal his Quincy cross. It had the familiar green gem engraved within it.

"This cross was made by my grandparents and handed down to my father where it was passed on to me upon his death. This cross was made specifically to prevent the creation of additional LeBlancs. I meant to equip your cross but never got the chance. I'm glad to see that it is no longer a problem thanks to the Soul Reapers." Ryuken said as he turned back towards the LeBlancs.

"As you've probably realized now, your numbers are now finite and can no longer be regenerated by us Quincy's. When one of you dies, there will be no one to take their place." Ryuken said as the LeBlancs narrowed their eyes.

"So you believe. Did it ever occur to you what we were in life?! We were Quincy's in life and were murdered by our fellow Quincy's. As a result, we became the most powerful of our kind and we have the power to create additional LeBlancs. Did that ever cross your arrogant mind?" the Collector asked.

"I had suspected when I heard about your rank system, that the three Guerre Maitrise were in fact the fallen Quincy's of old." Ryuken said as Uryu and the others looked at him in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Uryu asked.

"Back when the Quincy's were strong, there were three Quincy's who each craved power. They believed that the Quincy's should rule the World of the Living as well as the Soul Society. Most Quincy's believed that our purpose was to simply rid the world of hollows. However these three banded together. One collected the crosses of fallen Quincy's. Another led the Quincy forces to victory many times against swarms of Hollows. And another became a mercenary for hire and became known as the Executioner as a result of her ruthless execution style. The Quincy's joined together and decided that if these three had their way, that any hope of avoiding what would soon be an inevitable war with the Soul Reapers would be dashed. In essence those three truly started the war and caused the near destruction of our entire race. These three were executed by the Quincy's for their treasonous acts and they were put down like Hollows. That is who the Guerre Maitrise truly are." Ryuken explained.

"So you do know your history. Well war is inevitable now, and once you hand over the Key girl we can be on our way." The Collector said as Ryuken and Uryu both primed arrows.

"Forget it! We're not letting you PASS!" Ichigo shouted as he and Renji raised their Zanpakutos.

Ichigo flash stepped into midair and reappeared behind the Collector who quickly blocked a mean blow with his crook.

"Roar ZABIMARU!" Renji shouted as Hihio Zabimaru roared and rocketed towards the General again. Uryu and Ryuken proceeded to fire of volleys of arrows at the Executioner.

The Collector was in the same position he was in with Kaichou a few days ago, on defense from an opponent who could attack at lightning fast speeds. However he could tell that Ichigo was different.

"A very interesting style. But…" the Collector said as he blocked a blow with his bone covered arm, "…ultimately very weak."

"You think that's weak? You haven't seen anything yet!" Ichigo yelled as he appeared a few meters away. His Hollow mask then started to form over his face.

"What is THIS?! A Soul Reaper and a Hollow?!" the Collector asked in shock. Ichigo then proceeded to lunge at him. The Collector raised his arm to block but Zangetsu cut clean through.

"I said you weren't taking Yuzu without a fight!" Ichigo said with his voice filtered through his mask.

"So be it! Fracture!" the Collector shouted as his white bone armor shattered, revealing a man in Quincy robes similar to Uryu's. He was holding his crook in his right hand. His core was dead in the center of his chest. He looked very similar to Uryu and Ryuken in terms of facial structure. Almost instantly his crook glowed and a lesser LeBlanc appeared through a smaller portal. His core then started to glow bright blue and the lesser LeBlanc was pulled into the core, causing the missing arm to repair itself.

"Now where were we?" the Collector asked as he and Ichigo continued to battle.

Meanwhile, Renji's swing with Hihio Zabimaru had turned slightly and had begun encircling the General.

"You'll find that we don't go down easily! HIGA ZEKKO!!!" Renji shouted as the segments of Zabimaru separated while glowing with red spirit energy with the jagged points aimed inward before collapsing inward on the General in an Omni-directional attack. Almost immediately the segments exploded outward, but quickly began reassembling.

"So you Soul Reapers aren't so easy after all! But for that matter, neither are we LeBlancs!" the General yelled as he raised his cutlass over his head.

"Canon Vent!" the General shouted as he swung his cutlass down and a massive beam of blue energy flew from the end, straight towards Renji. Fortunately Renji shielded himself with Zabimaru just in time. (Canon Vent: Cannon Wind)

"Nice try! Now try this on for size! HIKOTSU TAIHO!!!" Renji shouted as Hihio Zabimaru roared and separated its segments again but this time a massive burst of red energy shot from its mouth.

"JAVALOT!" the General shouted as he thrust his cutlass forward quickly, causing the blue blade of energy to launch forward and hit the burst of energy, causing it to explode. The force from the blast caused Renji to be launched away where he crashed into a building.

"Damn." He grimaced in defeat as he fell to the ground, unconscious.

"And I never had to use Fondre." The General chuckled mere seconds before a Reishi arrow came within centimeters of hitting him in the mask.

"Then perhaps we should fight as gentlemen." Ryuken said as he readied a Steele Schneider.

"Ah I would enjoy such a battle. But I'm afraid I haven't the time for such frivolities!" the General said as he began to duel Ryuken anyway.

Meanwhile the Executioner and Uryu were fighting tooth and nail but Uryu didn't seem to be getting anywhere.

"I grow weary of this! Time for you to experience a taste of my full power. GUILLOTINE!!!" she shouted as her entire axe blade started to glow with blue energy and she then hurled the blade at him.

Uryu narrowly dodged the attack, which had been aimed for his neck.

"Missed!" Uryu shouted, not noticing that the chain attached to the blade was still moving.

"Did I?" the Executioner asked as Uryu looked up and saw the blade heading straight down towards him. Suddenly he saw something fly in and block the blow. It was Nemu with her Zanpakuto.

"Nemu!" Uryu exclaimed.

"Uryu. Hurry!" Nemu pleaded as Uryu caught the hint and quickly fired off several rounds at the Executioner. However she acted quickly and raised what seemed to be another blade in time to block the shots.

"Two?!" Uryu asked in shock but the Executioner laughed.

"Look above you, fool!" the Executioner said.

Uryu looked and saw the original blade had disappeared completely. Nemu then started falling towards the ground. Uryu instinctively flew down to rescue her.

"Now that he's out of the way…" the Executioner said as she looked down towards where Yuzu was standing. Chad and Orihime had run off to help the others and Yuzu was watching Ichigo with intrigue.

Speaking of Ichigo…

The Collector had just repaired his hand several minutes earlier and he continued to battle with Ichigo. Unfortunately for Ichigo, his Hollow mask shattered just as Ichigo took a swing to the Collector. The swing hit the crook with a slight clang and the Collector arched a curious eyebrow. He then grinned and shoved Ichigo away. He then proceeded to unleash a Fleche Vent at him. Ichigo then dodged and reappeared behind the Collector with his Zanpakuto raised. However it was all according to the Collector's plan.

The Collector promptly, spun around and swung the crook upwards and across at Ichigo. Instantly Ichigo was launched towards the ground with a massive cut across his chest.

"ICHIGO!" Yuzu shouted in horror as she saw her brother injured by the LeBlanc. She reached for her Zanpakuto but found it mysteriously missing from her side along with its sheath.

"Did you lose something?" a malevolent voice asked from behind. Yuzu turned to see the Executioner holding her Zanpakuto in her hand. Yuzu was frozen in fear at the sight.

"Your brother can still yet be saved if you come with us. Otherwise he's as good as dead." The Executioner said as Yuzu started to tear up.

"If I go with you, will you promise never to harm my friends or family ever again?!" Yuzu asked as the Executioner smirked within her mask.

"As long as they never enter Le Mort Regne, then I will not harm them." The Executioner said as Yuzu looked towards her brother as he plummeted towards the ground. She looked at her father as he hurried towards her with Zanpakuto in hand. She tried to look for Karin but she didn't see her anywhere.

"Then…I will go with you." Yuzu said as the Executioner held out her free hand towards the young girl. Yuzu cried as she grabbed a hold of the Executioner's bone armored hand, shivering at the touch of the cold armor.

"Yuzu! Don't!" Isshin shouted as the Executioner hurled the still sheathed Sanctus Curator at Isshin before carrying Yuzu away in a Bleu Sauter.

"CEASE YOUR AGGRESSION! WE HAVE WHAT WE CAME FOR!" the Executioner shouted as everyone turned in disbelief as the Executioner grasped the still tearful Yuzu by the arm. The Collector then reappeared back in his regular bone armored form as the General kicked Ryuken away and joined up with the others.

"STOP!" a familiar voice shouted. It was Toshiro, Karin, Kaichou, Byakuya, Kenpachi, Yachiru the Visoreds and the Arrancar. Toshiro and Karin were still in their Bankai forms from earlier.

"YUZU!" Karin shouted in horror.

"KARIN! DON'T!" Yuzu shouted but it was too late.

"Kuwabara-KUWABARA!!!" Karin shouted as she hurled a lightning bolt at the three LeBlancs but the Collector used his crook as a lightning rod and absorbed the attack.

"Why thank you girl, for the energy we need. I suggest you all make peace with your lives for soon the LeBlancs will rule over all." The Collector said as he opened another black bulge. They then started to pass through.

"I SAID STOP!!!" Toshiro shouted as he launched a massive ice dragon at them but the bulge closed before the dragon hit.

"No. Yuzu." Karin said softly as tears began to run down her cheeks. She then threw her head back and let out a bloodcurdling scream of anguish that echoed across the sky like thunder.

"What…just happened?" Grimmjow asked confused. He and the other Arrancar hadn't been informed of the situation with Yuzu and the King's Key.

"Later Grimmjow…for now, we just…need a moment to ourselves." Kaichou somberly as she, Toshiro, and Karin along with Byakuya, Kenpachi, and Yachiru joined the rest of the team. Kisuke, Tessai, Yoruichi, Uluru, and Jinta were running up at the same time.

"We felt the spiritual pressure and we could tell that there was something big happening so we hurried over here." Kisuke said with a worried look.

"Oh no…where's Yuzu?!" Yoruichi asked in a panic. Kaichou simply gave her a somber glance as she helped the wounded Ichigo into the clinic.

It was a truly dark moment.



End Chapter 46

This chapter ends the "Return of the Arrancar" arc. The next arc begins with the next chapter.

Radio Kon!!!

Kon is sitting at his desk once again as the on air light blinks on.

"Yes! I'm back and ready for action! Now for our next guests! Our next guests are the Lieutenants of Squads Three and Nine! Please welcome, Lieutenant Izuru Kira, and Lieutenant Shuhei Hisagi!" Kon announced as the two Lieutenants entered.

"Hey." Shuhei greeted as he and Izuru sat down.

"So, the two of you had scenes in the "Soul Reaper Academy" arc and since then you haven't been anywhere in the story. Why's that?" Kon asked as Izuru shrugged.

"I think it's because the author hates us." Izuru sighed. Before anyone could say anything more, Hanataro interrupted.

"Uh we've got a caller. It's the author!" (Dun-dun-dun).

"Oh…well then we've got to take the call. Go ahead oh glorious author!" Kon exclaimed.

"Shut up Kon, being a sycophant won't get you any additional screen time. I'm calling in regards to Izuru's statement just now. Izuru, Shuhei, I don't hate you. The reason I didn't have you sent along to the World of the Living is because your respective squads still need you. Don't get me wrong, you guys are awesome in the show, but I felt like your place was with the rest of your squads. I know I let Kaichou go to the world of the living even though Momo was there already but don't worry. You two will both be more prominently featured in the sequel." The author said.

"That works for me." Shuhei said with a shrug.

"Same here." Izuru said with a nod.

"HEY-HEY! What about me?!" Kon asked excitedly.

"Uh Shuhei, Izuru…do me a favor…deal with the pervert mod soul." The author said before hanging up.

"Raise your head: Wabisuke!" "Reap Kazeshini"

Outside the booth, Hanataro sighed and face palmed.

"Uh please join us next time when…" Hanataro said before a piece of paper was put in his hands. He read it then sighed again.

"Uh actually, until further notice, Radio Kon is cancelled by order of the Author. Sorry folks. Thanks for listening!"

End