Chapter 31: The Captains Are Back! Mayuri Begins the Breakout Plan!

"Damn it!" Yammy cursed, showing the damage their attack did. "Your attack actually hurt me a little, you pests!"

'Hurt him a little?' Ichigo thought. 'We hit him with our best attack and it did a little bit of damage!'

"What's up?!" Yammy said. "You look surprised! Take a good look at my number! It's a zero. I'm Yammy Llargo, Espada number zero. None of those other espadas that you two fought before me even come close to be as strong as I am. I'm stronger than Grimmjow, Nnoitra, and Ulquiorra combined. Those others are worthless garbage compare to me!" Yammy fired a bala at Ichigo, pushing him several feet.

"Ichigo!" Luffy shouted. Yammy fired another bala at Luffy, creating an explosion.

"You like that?!" Yammy taunted. "I do! That's not a cero! It's a bala and that's real power! So tell me, do either one of you have a way to defend against that?!"

"You mean, do we have a defense?" Ichigo repeated. "I don't know about Luffy but I never really have any plan against any attacks. I just knew I had to win so I did. That's my plan."

"The same goes for me." Luffy said, getting back up. "I don't care how strong the enemy was. I knew I had to do one thing and that's to win. I don't if you're at a higher rank than everyone else, it's all the same."

"That's right, we have to defeat so we'll find a way to do it." Ichigo said. "It's simple!"

"Oh yeah?!" Yammy said as he fired balas, one after another, at Ichigo and Luffy, who started to dodge them. "You two must think you're pretty smart! But all of that confidence won't stop me from crushing the both of you because I'm too strong for you!" Ichigo and Luffy continued to dodge the bala attacks until one of hit Ichigo, pushing him back.

"Ichigo!" Rukia shouted. Then another bala hit Luffy, causing an explosion.

"Luffy!" Nami shouted. Ichigo was still being pushed back by one of the balas as he remembered what Yammy said.

(Flashback)

"I'm stronger than Grimmjow, Nnoitra, and Ulquiorra combined." Yammy said. "Those others are worthless garbage compare to me!"

(End of Flashback)

'That's odd.' Ichigo thought, remembering his battles with the espadas that Yammy mentioned. 'Why would he say that? A few of his espada comrades died. Even Orihime felt more pain about their deaths than this guy.' Ichigo swung his sword and destroyed the bala, causing Yammy to stop.

"It's strange." Ichigo said. "I've never expected any of you espadas to be friends with each other. I saw don't have any regrets of defeating you comrades. But I still don't think its right for you to trash the other espadas. Your words dishonor them." Ichigo put his hand over his face as his mask starts to appear. "Luffy, you ready to another round."

"Yeah," said Luffy as he gets back up. "Let's do this." As Ichigo's mask fully appeared on his face, it disappeared in matter of seconds. Yammy smirked and grabbed Ichigo with his giant hand.

"Ichigo!" Luffy shouted. "Bastard! Gum-Gum…Jet…" Luffy's eyes widen as his Second Gear wore off, causing him to breathe heavily. "Damn it! Not now!" Yammy saw that and hit Luffy with a bala, causing a huge explosion.

"Luffy!" Ichigo shouted as Yammy tightened his grip around him.

"I'm not sure about what just happened but it looks you two can't use those irritating attacks no more." Yammy said with a smirk.

'Damn it!' Ichigo thought. 'What happened to my mask?! Did have something with the weird feeling I had earlier?!'

"Oh well, just some bad luck." Yammy said. "You two did well to last this long. I mean you two did better the scum lying back there. Now it's time to die!" Yammy's arm began to shake as his grip around Ichigo tighted. Ichigo yelled in pain as he feels his bones starting to break.

"I…chi…go…" Luffy said weakly as he tried to get back to his feet and fight but couldn't.

Elsewhere in Las Noches, sounds of wheels rolling across the sand echoed throughout the area. A huge wagon was being pushed across the sand as a certain Soul Reaper Captain walks by it. That captain was Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

"My, my, how long is it going to take for us to reach the place where those morons are fighting?" he asked. "I wonder sometimes about that Aizen. He does his own ways and has certainly done some crazy things, like creating this giant desert below the ceiling of Las Noches. It may be best if this silly showdown of their ended before I arrive. Then I won't have to waste any time waiting. I can just collect specimens. Traveling at this leisurely pace may be such a bad idea after all."

Back the site of the battle, Luffy continued to struggle to get to at least his knees but the energy he spend using Second Gear wouldn't let him. Ichigo yells of scream got louder as Yammy's grip got tighter.

"Hado number 33…" A new voice said. "Sokatsui!" A blue ray of light was fired at Yammy, hitting him directly. Inside the smoke, a figure appeared and cut of one Yammy's leg with a single swing of his sword.

"What the hell?!" Yammy shouted as he fell to the ground.

Luffy's eyes widen, trying his best to process what just happened. Ichigo's eyes are wide as well as he looked at where the attack came. Then he crashed to the ground.

"That hurt." He said as he got up to his knees. "What caused that blast? How did I get out of his grip?" Ichigo looked up and widen his eyes.

Luffy managed to get up to a knee and looked where Ichigo was looked and saw two figures. "Who are they?" Luffy asked.

"Why did you move to attack him before me?" one of the figures asked, glaring at the other. "Stay out of this."

"Why should I?" the other responded, returning the same glare. "I made it here before you did. You really need to learn your place."

"It won't be my fault if I slice you up by mistake."

"Byakuya! Kenpachi!" Ichigo said in shock, identifying the two figures in front of him.

Then a fist was heard hitting the sand, catching everyone's attention. Looking behind their shoulder, Ichigo and Luffy saw Yammy struggle to get back to his feet.

"What?!" Ichigo said surprised. "He's already getting up!"

"Step aside, Ichigo Kurosaki." Byakuya said. Ichigo looked back and saw Kenpachi's deadly glare.

"Don't be stupid." Kenpachi said. "You always get your ass whipped wherever you end up. It's pathetic. Get out of the way, you loser." Kenpachi rise up his sword up and swung it down, making Luffy and Ichigo quickly out of the way.

"What the hell was that, Kenpachi?!" Ichigo exclaimed. "You really swung at me! That's dangerous!"

"What the hell was that for?!" Luffy shouted in anger, catching Kenpachi's attention.

"So, you must be the captain that swordsman was talking about." Kenpachi said. "You must be the kid with the bounty of 300,000,000. Well it'll be fun so to cut you to bits."

"Oh yeah, bring it on!" Luffy said, getting back up ready to fight.

"Don't ignore me, Kenpachi!" Ichigo shouted. "What were you trying do?! Kill me?!"

"That's right." Kenpachi said, glaring at Ichigo. "Cowards should die!" Kenpachi charged towards Ichigo, ready to cut him down.

"W-wait Kenpachi! Now isn't the time for this!" Then Yammy's fist connected with Kenpachi, sending him crashing into a nearby pillar. "Kenpachi!"

"My leg!" Yammy shouted, getting everyone's attention. "You sneaky piece of crap! That hurt! That was a bad move and you'll pay for that! How dare you interfere and cut my leg off! I'll kill you, you damn insect!" Then Yammy punched a boulder that heading towards him, destroying it with ease.

"Oh good, so you can punch." Kenpachi said, getting out the rubble. "That first one was bad. It felt like a fly was buzzing around me. If you're going to hit me, why don't do it with all your strength, maggot?"

Yammy looked over his shoulder and glared at Kepanchi. "You're the pest here." He said. "And it's time to swat you!" Yammy charged towards the captain, punching down where he stood. "How's that, you damn punk?!" Yammy continues to punch down that same spot. "You can't talk so big now, can ya?!"

"Kenpachi!" Ichigo shouted, trying to help Kenpachi but a slender hand stopped him.

"I told you to step ahead, Ichigo Kurosaki." Byakuya said.

"But I…"

"There's nothing for you to do here. Get going and return to the World of the Living."

"I will, I promise. But I got to defeat this guy first! Besides, it's not like it's that easy to get out of here. Kisuke has to open things on the other side for me to go."

"Really?" a new voice asked, surprising Ichigo and Luffy. "You sure make a big fuss about Kisuke Urahara having to help you."

Ichigo and Luffy looked over their shoulder and saw the approaching figure. "Mayuri Kurotsuchi?" Ichigo exclaimed.

"How dare you, addressing me in that manner." Mayuri said. "Well it seems like the substitute soul reaper doesn't have respect for any authority figure." Mayuri looked at Luffy. "And you must be from the Blue Sea World just the man with blonde hair I've saw before."

"You mean Sanji?!" Luffy said shocked.

"That's correct. From what I've heard you possess powers from a devil fruit. It'll a joy to experiment on you and learn more about the devil fruit and its capabilities."

"What?" Luffy said, titled his head in confusion.

"You seemed relaxed." Byakuya said in his usual calm manner. "Is it because for that wagon?"

"Very perceptive, I've obtained some very rare treasures so I'm actually in a very good mood." Mayuri said. "Furthermore, while I was obtaining these treasures, I also had a chance to analyze the structure of the garganta."

"You analyzed the garganta?!" Ichigo said shocked.

"That's right. And I've determined that it has no flaws and that it has lasts nearly indefinitely. Yes, just imagine Kisuke's frustration." Mayuri's smirk grew wider. "This has me so pleased that it's to overlook the chatting of a rude monkey like you." He looked at his lieutenant. "Prepare Nemu, we're sending this half soul reaper back to the World of the Living."

"Yes sir." Nemu said.

"Wait, I still have stuff to do here." Ichigo complained.

"Oh shut up!" Mayuri said. "Test subjects, like yourself should remain silent. This is an experiment so you have no right to decide anything at all." He pointed at Ichigo. "Listen closely, you will be known as Test Subject #1."

"Test subject?" Ichigo said nervous.

"There's no need to worry." A female voice said. Ichigo looked his shoulder and saw Retsu Unohana with Isane behind her. "I'll make the trip along with you."

To be continued…

Next Chapter: The Garganta At Last! The Way to Karakura Has Opened!